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The Devil's Nest, Tuesday Evening

It hadn't really hit home for Emma that the summer was almost over until her ESU orientation packet in the mail.

Whenever she wasn't busy with her hostess duties or trying to convince Tiny to give her a drink, Emma would be going over her information. Apparently she had a survey to fill out to help match her with a roommate.

The Devil's Nest was open, and the DJ was spinning the best of Madonna remixes. Come celebrate the end of classes!

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Jack stared at everything over people's shoulders. You learned more that way.

"Graduate," he corrected. "Working on the island for the summer. One of my jobs is Caritas, so this is" -- his eyes flickered to Emma -- "consorting with the enemy."

And Peter recognised a fellow information-magpie when he spotted one.

"Spying on Frost?" Peter said, plastering a friendly smile all over his face. "You've got guts."

Jack shrugged. "Yes, and I'm fairly certain she won't try to throw me out a window today," he said. "We've dated. You know her?"

He smiled back, but he didn't exactly trust Peter's.

"She knew my siblings prior to me getting here," Peter replied, with a light shrug that implied whatcha gonna do? "I think it's only polite to keep plowing away at the path they laid down for me."

"I knew them too," Jack said, lightly. "Unless you're just doing a remarkable impersonation of Peter Wiggin. I'm sorry -- we met when you were visiting your brother last year. Or, rather, I met a different you, is I believe how it works."

He offered his hand. "Jack Priest."

Oh, great. Yet another one of his siblings' 'buddies'.

Peter took Jack's hand and shook it anyway. "Well, you already know who I am," he said, "Jack Priest, graduate. I take it you went to school with one or both of my siblings?"

"Both of them, though I knew Val better before she went home," Jack explained. "Your brother's several years younger."

Three or so, but this was high school.

"And I'm sure you're tired of hearing about them."

Yes. Oh god, yes. In fact, if Peter didn't hear the name Ender again in his life, it'd still be too often.

"I have gotten my fair share of 'before I came here' stories," he acknowledged, trying to take care not to smile too much. "I hope they haven't spread too much gossip about me, but I guess that can't be avoided."

Was Jack worth ingratiating himself with? He wasn't sure, yet.

The most interesting thing Jack knew about Peter was that apparently someday he ruled the world and/or established peace on earth, and he saw absolutely no benefit in bringing that up in chitchat.

"Nothing comes to mind," he said glibly. "Is your Valentine in space? She went to work on the colonies, when she left here."

"What?" That actually got a surprised frown from Peter. "Little Val's at home. In high school." The little pest.

...Did that mean she was going to leave him?

"I suppose that makes sense, doesn't it?" Jack said, almost simultaneously surprised and realizing he had no reason to be surprised. "It's hard to imagine someone younger than they were when you knew them. It may well not happen for" -- there was some irony on this -- "Little Val."

Peter snorted softly. "Val's thirteen," he explained, "At least, the Valentine I know. She hasn't hit her growth spurt yet, poor thing."

"She eventually gets one," Jack promised, trying to picture a teeny version of Val. She'd been adorable, he would bet. "... anyhow. How do you like the island, when you aren't hearing far too many stories about alternate versions of your siblings?"

"It's a nice place," Peter lied through his teeth. "A lot of different cultures, you know? It's both calming and educational."

"Calming, after a week with monsters and a horrible disease?" Jack was distinctly skeptical. "Well, at least you're taking it in stride."

"It's better than running off screaming," he said, "And if I can accept people that can fly, I can accept that occasionally it goes awry."

"That rhymed," Jack said idly, then shook his head to clear it. "And, sadly, the parts that go awry are often more interesting than the parts where it's all genuinely calm. But I tend to find the island a little too small."

So did Peter.

"I'm from a little town in the middle of North Carolina," he said. "I'm used to small, I guess."

"I'm not really from anywhere," Jack explained. "Europe. England and Spain, mostly, but I was born in Prague."

"What year's that?" Peter asked, sanely. "I know I'm a few centuries ahead."

"It would be 1901, but I didn't go back after graduation," Jack said. "It's easier to be Jewish in the present. Good question, by the way."

Peter shrugged. "I'm a 22nd century boy," he said, "I get these questions a lot." With a wave of his hand, he finally shut off the holographic display. "You seem like you've settled in well."

Jack made a face. "Thank you, but I've had two years, and the other option was spending all my time asking people about things I can look up on my own," he said. "I don't like being in the dark."

He glanced to the recently-turned-off holograph. "Things I don't think I can look up would be an exception."

Edited 2011-08-17 03:28 (UTC)

"Hey, that's all a question of which website you hit up," Peter assured him, erroneously and on purpose. "Well, depending on how the nets work here, anyway. It's been giving my history muscle a good workout." He tapped the side of his head.

"You'd know better than I would," Jack granted. "It must be frustrating, though. I'm sure there are things they won't do here that are perfectly simple at home."

Re: The Bar

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Re: The Bar

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