Devil's Nest, Monday, 2/04

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Devil's Nest, Monday, 2/04

Jack spent Sunday shut in his bedroom with books he'd already read, not wanting to move or act or even think too hard.

Seeing dead people took a lot out of him. Seeing his friends see dead people wasn't much better -- was worse, in some ways, because at least he could tell himself Irina would be dead by 2013 no matter what, which wasn't true of Laura, Lionel or Christian. (And Ashley shouldn't even exist yet.) Time travel could be a decidedly mixed blessing.

But now it was another Monday, and Jack was at the club even before Tiny in an attempt to snap himself out of this -- whatever it was. He settled in with a restaurant equipment catalog and began putting together a fresh order for glassware and bar tools. That was one good thing about his job; there was always something to do.

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Bother Jack or mod your service.

Edited 2013-02-04 14:09 (UTC)

For more private conversations.

For moving and grooving.

For Eric and invited guests.

And we're out.

"Mind getting me a scotch?"

Kaidan wasn't really in the mood for beer at the moment.

"Never," Jack said, with a slightly anxious glance as he went to get the glass and the bottle. "Are you doing all right?"

"I'm fine," Kaidan said. Automatically. "Just trying to piece my head back together."

"The island wasn't playing fair," Jack said. "Irina's been dead a hundred years anyhow, and Emma lost her brother long ago. But you and Derek got people who are barely cold. It's not -- I'd be a wreck."

"It's..."

Yeah. Quite something to be happening to you just as you thought you were finally starting to get along again. "It was something."

Words frequently weren't adequate at the worst of times.

"I don't know."

"I don't know either," Jack said. "What I just said is about as far as I got, thinking about it."

In a smaller voice: "I liked her."

"Ash could kick some ass and take some names," Kaidan said. There was something faraway and fond in his voice. "The Commander and I met her right at the start. When everything started going to hell..."

Jack shook his head, splashed an inch or so of scotch into a second glass for himself. "You never told me this story," he said. "Where did you meet her?"

He wondered if this was a good idea, decided he didn't care if it was or not. He wasn't in a place where he could offer distraction.

Kaidan had to take a big sip off his own glass before he could continue. "It was that damned shakedown run to Eden Prime," he said. "Her unit got wiped out by the geth. She survived, of course. Takes more than-- took more than a couple of geth to take Ash out."

Eric was there, staring intently at the floor.

He was very, very interested in deciding if they needed new hardwoods. Really. Not missing anyone at all.

And now that Kaidan told the story, Jack felt like he'd heard it before. He shook his head. "How long did you get with her before the end?"

Jack hesitated, but went on back.

"The martini glasses keep breaking and we need replacements," he said. "Should I order the Callaway or the Felix?"

That was clearly the only reason he'd interrupt Eric's brooding, of course. Bar business.

"A few months," Kaidan said, blowing out a breath. "Maybe less. It feels like more, though. The three of us against the universe."

"Some people do that," Jack said. "Not the us against the universe parts, exactly, but I was only with Irina three or four months. Some things just change you."

"Where did you two meet?" Kaidan asked.

Partly because he wanted to know, but also because he needed some time, here. It hurt to share and it hurt not to and he wasn't sure which impulse to go with.

"The Callaway," Eric decided. "It has more style."

"Right," Jack said, and then hesitated as if he was trying to come up with another question to ask.

He went with an honest one. "Are you all right?"

"It was a thousand years ago," Jack said, and if he sounded a bit lighter he was; he liked telling this story. "The winter I was 16 Sebastien got some mad idea to spend some time in Moscow. (Which was horribly cold, by the way, I'm still not sure what he was thinking.) I had the days to myself if I didn't want to hide in our flat with him until the sun set. I spent a lot of time in artists' cafes, and ... I caught her eye."

Jack was... a lot better at telling stories than Kaidan was; he found himself enjoying hearing it.

"And you got along," he guessed, once his brain had processed the fact that a brief silence had fallen.

"We did," Jack confirmed. "She got me to come to an exhibition with her paintings in it the next night. She ran into some trouble, I tried to be gallant, and ... things went quickly from there."

He rubbed the scruff of his neck. "We both had a lot going on," he said. "Vampire drama, mostly, and politics. But when I was alone with her none of that mattered."

He was being sentimental in how he told the story, but Irina deserved it.

Edited 2013-02-04 19:40 (UTC)

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Devil's Nest, Monday, 2/04

The Bar [2/04]

The Lounge [2/04]

The Dance Floor [2/04]

The VIP Section [2/04]

OOC [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The VIP Section [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The VIP Section [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The VIP Section [2/04]

Re: The VIP Section [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]

Re: The Bar [2/04]