fandomtownies | Devil's Nest Monday, 9/30

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Devil's Nest Monday, 9/30

The nice thing about having spent four years of one's life on the island was that one got to know its moods -- to recognize when things were taking a turn for the better, and when it was time to quietly lock oneself in a basement and not come out until things were normal again.

The itching Jack currently had in his nose, and the corresponding heat throughout his torso, were pointing him toward the island being in heat again, and therefore it being a time when locking himself in the basement would be a good idea. But -- as a man with a strong sense of duty -- he came into work anyhow.

Which is how he learned that Tiny owned a pair of assless chaps. Worse, he found himself examining them for just a moment longer than he wanted to.

Yes. This was definitely a week for the basement.

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Talk to Jack or mod your service!

"Jack," Kaidan said, choosing to stay standing instead of sit down because sticking around didn't seem like a terribly good idea. "You mind bringing home a couple of buckets of ice cubes?"

"Not at all," Jack said, as if this were a completely normal and rational request. "Are you going to build an ice cave to ride this out in?"

"Maybe I'm just going to get out of town until my class happens," Kaidan admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Can you get me a glass of water?"

"You know, I've never tried that," Jack mused, as he went over to the tap with a glass. "I should. Either bugger off to Emma's or, at least, stay at Hopkins as much as I can. Though knowing the island I'm not sure it'll help."

"...Emma's might help. You, I mean."

Sorry, Jack, but that was where Kaidan's mind was going and--

He thunked his forehead against the bar.

"More helpful than staying here," Jack said, in a smug tone that turned vaguely affronted when Kaidan thunked forward. "For the love of god, can you ... not let me know you're thinking that?"

"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing at his forehead. "I'm not exactly usually-- you know."

"I know, normally you're a nation onto yourself," Jack said lightly. "This week confuses things for all of us. Even I don't like being made to feel things."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Kaidan said. Jack just hadn't really gotten a representative slice of his life here, the past year and a half. "I don't know. It's annoying now, in a couple of days, my brain might be leaking out my ears."

"You're pretty bad," Jack relented, "but possibly not quite that bad. Is it any comfort to know everyone else's brain will be melting too?"

As much as she tended to observe the island's inhabitants, Éponine wasn't yet familiar enough with the specifics of its moods to pick these things out, at least not this early in the game.

It was entirely possible she'd have noticed if she were more sober, but.

"Good god," she said in a tone of horrified fascination, "what's gotten into him?"

"The island," Jack said with some distaste. "Every so often, it decides to -- to put us all in heat, like animals. I have to assume Tiny is advertising his availability."

"That's not very polite of you, you know," Éponine called, chiding, and mildly annoyed with herself for looking anyway. Her expression was slightly pained when she looked back at Jack. "Nor of the island, for that matter. It wasn't very nice the last time this happened. I thought people were acting a bit odd today while I was on my rounds. D'you suppose no one will notice if the post doesn't get delivered for a few days?"

"Depends on what they're expecting in the mail," Jack said thoughtfully. "Anything in a plain wrapper might be -- urgent."

Éponine chewed on her lower lip, looking rather conflicted about the whole thing. (Her conscious attempts to be a nicer person were not winning out over her learned instincts of self-preservation at the moment.)

"But d'you suppose they might be too preoccupied to care!" she burst out, then seemed to realize that might be stretching logic a bit. "It's stupid, it is, expecting us to go about our business as usual instead of hiding somewhere until this all goes away."

"Think of it as an extreme exercise in civilized behavior," Jack offered. "Like not running to the loo while someone's talking to you, or waiting until your friends are ready before you go to lunch, even if you're starving. Not that those things are much fun, either."

"I'm not quite certain civilized behavior's always worth the trouble," Éponine muttered, only half serious, with a slightly flirtatious expression she didn't quite realize she'd affected. "But -- I'd rather not lose my job, when it comes down to that. After all, it's hardly the worst I've had to deal with."

Which still did not mean she was thrilled with the situation.

"Also a good point," Jack nodded. "And -- I agree about being civilized, for what it's worth. But still, we must pretend."

He was flirting back, and he did know what he was doing.

Well, that wasn't fair, Jack.

Not that fairness had much to do with anything, did it?

"What's in it for us if we do, in the end?" Éponine wanted to know. "It's a lot of work, pretending, and it gets tiresome after a while."

"You get to go to much better parties if you're good at pretending," Jack drawled. "And it's fun to find out what people will tell you. That's enough for me, anyhow."

"It is at that, isn't it?" Éponine allowed with a sly smile. "And all the ways there are to get them to tell you things -- d'you have any favorite methods yourself?"

"Oh, I'm their best friend they never met before," Jack laughed. "I let them see whatever they need to see in me. A charming blank slate can go a long way. Yours?"

"Men are ridiculous creatures," Éponine said with exaggerated carelessness but a trace of a grimace, "and lose their heads so easily with just one little slip of a shirt, 'specially if one lets them think one's empty-headed."

Her options had been somewhat more limited.

Which likely have more dark corners, should you be into that sort of thing.

For Eric, friends, and special friends.

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Devil's Nest Monday, 9/30

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