The Park, Friday After Dark

[bitten_notshy]

Most of the ducks and all of the flamingos were asleep by now, but one intrepid mallard kept flapping his wings to incite Jack to throw him more crumbs.

And Jack, cozy on his bench with his thermos of warmed TruBlood and his bag of day-old bread, was happy to oblige. He hadn't given wildlife a moment's thought when he awoke as a wampyr in Paris, but after even a few years ... it was good to see an animal in action. He'd missed it.

He wondered idly if Sebastien remembered ducks at all. He'd need to ask the next time he visited him in Baltimore.

[OOC: Open post. Up early for SP and to keep me from flaking.]

Comments

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie was cutting through the park on her way to work when she spotted Jack and made her way towards him. "Hi Jack. What's up?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Nothing much," Jack said, with a brief smile that stopped just short of showing his fangs. "There's a nocturnal duck out tonight, if you're interested in wildlife."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Only if he wants to keep me company while I wander the island tonight," she replied. "It gets too quiet sometimes."

[bitten_notshy]

"Way too quiet," Jack agreed. "You'd think on an island full of unsupervised teenagers, at least some of them would be out past midnight, wouldn't you?"

He tossed another crumb of bread at the duck. "He might follow. Not sure how fast he can go, though."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I think even unsupervised teenagers have sense enough to stay indoors where it's warm the way the weather's been the last few months." Cold didn't bother her and even Allie had stayed in during a few of the coldest nights.

"No, somehow I don't think he can waddle along fast enough to keep up with me."

[bitten_notshy]

"Oh right," Jack said with a frown. "The weather."

He tended to forget about it, somehow.

"I could waddle along with you, if you want," he offered. "I've no plans for the rest of the night."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I'd never turn down company," Allie said. "But I thought you saved the all-nighters for the full moon?

[bitten_notshy]

"... sorry, I missed something."

Jack's all-nighters had been basically continuous for two years and more, after all.

"But hopefully nothing that will stop me from keeping you company."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie was starting to suspect she might be missing something herself. "Jack, what did you do the other night during the full moon?"

[not_a_whiner]

"Didn't think I'd find you here at this time of night," Kaidan said.

He'd been jogging - might've sounded a little out of breath.

[bitten_notshy]

"I can't lurk in the graveyard every night, can I?" Jack joked. "Besides. There's a duck out tonight."

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan shot the mallard a brief glance. "I guess so," he said after a beat.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack could tell when he had failed to impress. "Ah, they probably aren't special to you," he said. "But when they're always asleep when you're out, it gets to be a bit of a treat."

[not_a_whiner]

"Pretty sure you're not that much of a late riser, Jack," Kaidan said, his mouth twitching into a wry smile. "But I guess we should let Allie know all about it - bet she doesn't see a lot of ducks."

[bitten_notshy]

"There aren't a lot around when either of us can go outside," Jack told him. "I suppose I could watch them through the window, if I was desperate."

[not_a_whiner]

"Am I missing something here...?" Kaidan said slowly. Yes, you were. Showed what happened when your brain was elsewhere. "Why can't you go outside, Jack?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Because burning to death isn't a hobby of mine?" Jack said slowly, then remembered his conversation with Allie. "Oh no. You don't know about me, either."

[icecoldfrost]

Jack's texts had been... odd... for the past few days, and Emma had finally gotten to bolt for the nearest Portalocity office the moment her summer session class was done for the week.

From the moment she arrived, everything had felt off. Like a buzzing she could almost barely hear, brushing up against the edges of her telepathy. It hadn't stopped her from locating Jack, however, and Emma picked her way through the Park in her heels, trying not to fall over in the dark.

"Not all of us have super senses, you know," she called out when she sensed Jack close by. "Or even just decent night vision. If I break my neck, darling, I am going to be quite upset."

Stupid werewolf boyfriend.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack was startled by the words and their intimate tone, but he laughed anyhow.

"Let me near your neck, and I promise breaking it isn't what I'd want to do," he said. "Hello, Miss Frost."

[icecoldfrost]

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Emma scolded, laughing, since she assumed he was talking about Naked Things.

She absently rubbed at her temple, stopping to take the bothersome shoes off and go barefoot instead. "Ugh, isn't it summer here yet? I swear, Spring always takes forever to go away."

[bitten_notshy]

"It was snowing last week," Jack told her, then stood to offer his arm so she could steady herself if she wanted. "It's all very ... changeable lately."

[icecoldfrost]

Smiling, Emma reached for his arm and -- stopped. Every ounce of friendliness dropped from her as if it had been a glove she'd cast aside, and she regarded him with cool suspicion.

Jack had not become a body builder in the wake of his change, but he was certainly not the slight young man she'd first met. The scratching in her brain was getting louder, and Emma abandoned the polite privacy she usually allowed him. The barest twitch of her fingers, and she was in-and-out of his brain, already finding enough to tell her this was not her Jack and taking a step back.

"What did you do with him?"

[bitten_notshy]

"What did I do with who?" Jack asked, echoing that step back with sincere puzzlement. "I know you might not be used to me being a vampire" -- as Allie and Kaidan had made clear -- "but I'm not a monster."

[icecoldfrost]

Oh shit.

"I'm not particularly fond of vampires to start with," Emma replied calmly, although not any friendlier. "Especially not when I come to check up on my normally-living boyfriend and find him a member of the undead."

"Did Mitchell do this? I am going to kill him. Re-kill him. Permanently."

[bitten_notshy]

"Haven't heard from Mitchell in a few months," Jack said, puzzled. "Sebastien turned me, if that's what you mean. But you need to back up to the part where the furry version of me is your boyfriend. Does he scent-mark you?"

He and his Emma had a relationship in high school, but it was long over, and she'd made it perfectly clear she Didn't Like Vampires. He counted himself lucky she was still his friend.