Office Hours, Thursday, 7/25

[bitten_notshy]

Jack wasn't in his office much.

Or, really, ever.

But he had to teach tomorrow, and between being a terrier puppy and being a werewolf, he had a lot to catch up on if he wanted his class to be halfway useful. He busied himself at his computer, typing up his thoughts on how to interview witnesses without seeming like you were doing it.

[OOC: Open office hours.]

Comments

[filleauloup]

It was still something that surprised her when she thought about it, but Jack had become enough of a friend that Éponine considered him someone to go to when she didn't feel like being alone with her thoughts.

"Well, hello there, monsieur," she said from the doorway with a tired half-smile. "Fancy that, I've never seen you in these surroundings before."

[bitten_notshy]

"It's supposedly been mine since January," Jack said, with a small crooked grin. "I don't make much use of it. And I could say the same to you."

[filleauloup]

"That's silly of you, having a perfectly good room like this to use and letting it gather dust," Éponine informed him as she wandered inside; she hadn't actually assessed the office's state of dustiness. "But why ever did you decide to use it today?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Because I was a terrier last week and then it was the full moon," Jack said. "And I have to teach tomorrow, and honestly I'm sick of the sight of the walls of my house."

The office wasn't that dusty; Jack may not have used it often, but the janitorial staff stopped by regularly nonetheless.

[filleauloup]

In that case, apologies to Fosse and crew for Éponine's casual slander.

"Yes, it's good you got out, then, as it's too pretty outside to stay indoors all the time and miss it all -- oh, did you turn into something too?" she asked. "I'd never had it happen before."

[bitten_notshy]

"Terrier," Jack nodded. "The island likes to keep me on my toes with it once in a while. Why, what were you?"

[filleauloup]

"A wolf, but a young one," Éponine told him, and actually the more she thought about it the more discouraging that was, which was why she was here seeking a distraction. "Mistaken easily enough for a dog, I suppose."

. . . that was possibly a bit less discouraging. Maybe.

"Which explains quite a bit about why it seems like it's been a while since I've seen you!" she went on, with a laugh. "Unless I did, while we were both in that state, and I simply didn't recognize you."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack smiled again, more sadly. "I should have known there was something of the wolf about you," he said. "Did you -- enjoy it?"

[filleauloup]

"Oh, well, yes," she answered breezily -- it covered up the flash of disappointment. "Though I did get awfully bored with it after a while. I'd much rather be myself, I think."

[bitten_notshy]

"We all would," Jack said, and there was something restless about his face.

He sighed. "You know I'm -- not exactly human anymore."

[filleauloup]

Éponine blinked, which made her slow answer of "No, I didn't know" somewhat redundant.

She seemed to take it in stride, though.

"Like Allie, d'you mean?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Heavens, no," Jack said, mock offended. "I hope I'm in the sun a bit more than that. But I am a werewolf."

A pause. "It should be easier to work that into conversations."

[filleauloup]

"Of course. I've seen you out during the day, after all, I should have known. But really now," Éponine said, countering his mock offense with some feigned indignation of her own, "it isn't very nice of you to keep that from me, though of course I've no idea how one introduces oneself that way. It isn't at all like exchanging names, is it? D'you mean to say you become one every so often? Well, we've something else in common after all, even if it is only a little bit."

[bitten_notshy]

"Three days a month," Jack nodded, feeling relieved Eponine hadn't run away screaming. (Though after a year in Fandom, it would have been odder yet if she had.) "And no, it's not a bit like exchanging names. Sometimes it comes up naturally, but sometimes it, well -- doesn't."

[filleauloup]

"That's what you meant about the full moon," Éponine realized; it wasn't hard for her to put together the pieces. She wasn't frightened by the concept, though, since as far as she was concerned there were far more human beings who were worse monsters. "That's nice, though, that it doesn't sneak up on you unexpectedly. I'm glad you told me, anyhow. But when did this happen, and how?"

[bitten_notshy]

"I got bitten," Jack said, because sometimes he thought he was funny. "Honestly, it's a long story. We went hunting monsters and got what we deserved."

There was some bitterness in his tone there.

[filleauloup]

"Well, that's what happens when one goes looking for trouble," Éponine said in a mildly lecturing voice, "and I hope you won't do that again, but it could have been much worse, couldn't it? After all, here you are, teaching and working on your studies, and a perfectly handsome and respectable young man."

[bitten_notshy]

"Well, yes," Jack said. "But -- and don't take this the wrong way -- I never know what to say when people say that. Was I supposed to curl up in a gutter and cry? I've worked to damn hard to give up now."

[filleauloup]

Éponine snorted emphatically, which was not terribly decorous but she didn't care.

"Good heavens, no, though I'd hardly have blamed you if you did! But that's the thing, you see." She started to pace, her hands curling into loose fists and uncurling again repeatedly, but looked at him as if he'd just accomplished some impossible feat. There was a touch of envy in her voice. "Look where you've landed, and likely without cheating your way there."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack's eyes went shifty. "Cheating is such an ugly word," he said loftily. "Luck's got everything to do with it."

[filleauloup]

Éponine was just going to pretend she hadn't noticed the shiftiness; she'd built up a little bit of an idea for herself that Jack was proof she could salvage her life, and she didn't care to give it up. "Oh, certainly luck's got plenty to do with it," she allowed. "And work, like you said yourself. I could envy you the luck, you know, but as your company suits me I don't think I shall."

[bitten_notshy]

"Good, as your company suits me as well," Jack said lightly. He was uneasy, being made someone's role model, but he supposed that as fans went he could do worse than Eponine. "Want to help me work? I'm writing a lesson on finding things out without being spotted as a sneak."

[filleauloup]

Yes. As for example the ones who'd arrived on the island this morning.

Well, maybe that was subjective.

"Me help you write a lesson for class!" Éponine burst out laughing. "As if there's anything I know fit for teaching children."

Never mind that she was barely older than them.

"But very well, it's your class, and I'm happy to help if you'd like."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm not so sure this class is fit for children," Jack laughed. "But all right. Say you wanted to find out something personal, like where I was born, without actually saying 'where were you born, Jack?'. What would you do?"

He knew what he would do, but it was always good to get a second perspective.

[filleauloup]

"Oh, that's the question." Éponine settled herself into the nearest chair, smoothing her skirt down over her knees and folding her hands in her lap. "It's not so hard if you've got a chatterbox on your hands -- then all you've really got to do is find a way to get him, or her, in a mood to share. Then it's only a matter of leading the conversation 'round to that."

If not, well, it got more complicated.

[bitten_notshy]

"Right," Jack nodded. "And if they aren't a chatterbox, sometimes it works to just keep talking about and asking whatever runs through your head, so the thing you actually want to know won't stand out."

Though that tactic had sometimes made Jack feel as if he were talking to a brick wall.

[filleauloup]

"That gets tiresome after a while, though," said Éponine, who had had that brick-wall experience with the tactic a few times herself. "When d'you decide it's stupid to keep trying, and find some other way?"

[bitten_notshy]

"When I feel like they're about to walk away," Jack allowed. "You can push people so far, but once they're past it -- no point wasting your time. Usually there's someone else you can ask."

[filleauloup]

Éponine made a vague noise of agreement. "That's tricky as well, but sometimes easier, if one knows who to ask, and how to do it carefully. I've a hunch it isn't so easy nowadays to simply follow someone home and find out."

Thanks, modern transportation.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack shook his head. "Not at all. Half the time you can't even get a bloody cab. Might be worth picking a pocket, but I can hardly tell children to do that."

[filleauloup]

A dark expression flickered across Éponine's face for a moment. "No," she said firmly. "Sometimes you've got to, but telling them that wouldn't do, not one bit."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm trying to keep them at least slightly on the right side of the law," Jack agreed. "Not that I think the school pays much attention."

[filleauloup]

"You ought to know; you study law," remarked Éponine. "Would you do that anyway, try not to teach them to break the law, even if you knew for certain the school didn't care whether you did?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Depends which law it is," Jack admitted, leaning back in his chair. "I think everyone should be able to pick a lock if they need to."

[filleauloup]

"Of course, one never knows when one might need that, and it's a handy skill to have anyhow," agreed Éponine readily; her moral landscape was still a bit of a mess, and she had no idea where exactly this fell but it didn't strike her as bad in and of itself. "Even if it's a bit trickier these days. I don't mind, it's not as if I have to do it now --" and her eyes lit up with pride when she said that -- "but I don't think it would hurt to stay in practice."

She trailed off, stared past Jack for a few moments while she hummed, then cut herself off to ask, "Are you going to teach them to do that, too?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack bobbed his head in a nod. "I was going to do it next week, actually. Modern locks are tougher, but thankfully most houses have the same locks as ever."