De Ulloa Residence, Baltimore, 1900
Jan. 31st, 2010 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bitten_notshyWhen he got home from school this weekend, Jack hung his coat neatly, gave the maid three days off, and took Sebastien to bed before he could say much of anything.
Well, the wampyr did look pale. That was justification for ... about half of it. Though, in truth, Jack might have done much the same even if Sebastien were the picture of undead health.
Sebastien had the good grace not to ask what was wrong until they were dressing early Sunday morning in a dim room, candelight bouncing off Jack's curls. Sebastien wound his fingers through them to tap the lad on his temple. "You didn't come home alone."
Jack swept his eyes around the room in an exaggerated manner. "I certainly don't see anyone else," he pointed out, idly. "Were you hoping for someone?"
Sebastien hesitated before speaking precisely. "Mental company. You're preoccupied. What has you so troubled at that school of yours?"
"Nothing," Jack dissembled. "We had some long weeks. I'm likely just tired, Sebastien."
Tired didn't explain the faraway look in Jack's eyes, the solicitousness with which he kissed Sebastien -- as if the kisses were proving a point. Sebastien raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He knew how to make a silence so uncomfortable that Jack, young man that he was, would feel obliged to fill it.
"I care for one of my school friends," Jack blurted. "And I told her that when I was hurt. It can't and won't come to anything, and we both know it. Don't you dare use it as an excuse to walk away: You can't lose me that easily."
Sebastien threw up his hands in mock protest. "I shouldn't dream of it." Though his head was spinning. Jack care for anyone else? It had been inevitable -- the fact Jack could and would want his own life someday was one of the things that made him worth keeping as a protege -- but somehow he'd never prepared for the actual fact of it. "I appreciate your honesty."
"Well," Jack said, still indignant, "good. And -- can you pass me that clean shirt?"
Sebastien meekly played valet. Things had just gotten more complicated, but he found himself enjoying that.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC-OK]
Well, the wampyr did look pale. That was justification for ... about half of it. Though, in truth, Jack might have done much the same even if Sebastien were the picture of undead health.
Sebastien had the good grace not to ask what was wrong until they were dressing early Sunday morning in a dim room, candelight bouncing off Jack's curls. Sebastien wound his fingers through them to tap the lad on his temple. "You didn't come home alone."
Jack swept his eyes around the room in an exaggerated manner. "I certainly don't see anyone else," he pointed out, idly. "Were you hoping for someone?"
Sebastien hesitated before speaking precisely. "Mental company. You're preoccupied. What has you so troubled at that school of yours?"
"Nothing," Jack dissembled. "We had some long weeks. I'm likely just tired, Sebastien."
Tired didn't explain the faraway look in Jack's eyes, the solicitousness with which he kissed Sebastien -- as if the kisses were proving a point. Sebastien raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He knew how to make a silence so uncomfortable that Jack, young man that he was, would feel obliged to fill it.
"I care for one of my school friends," Jack blurted. "And I told her that when I was hurt. It can't and won't come to anything, and we both know it. Don't you dare use it as an excuse to walk away: You can't lose me that easily."
Sebastien threw up his hands in mock protest. "I shouldn't dream of it." Though his head was spinning. Jack care for anyone else? It had been inevitable -- the fact Jack could and would want his own life someday was one of the things that made him worth keeping as a protege -- but somehow he'd never prepared for the actual fact of it. "I appreciate your honesty."
"Well," Jack said, still indignant, "good. And -- can you pass me that clean shirt?"
Sebastien meekly played valet. Things had just gotten more complicated, but he found himself enjoying that.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC-OK]
