kollo_rpg | Summer 10 - newcomer mingle

"You offering to set us up with an allowance?"

The tone of his voice and the look on his face should spell out pretty clearly how he feels about that, but he's trying pretty hard to not dismiss the idea outright. This isn't just about him anymore, or him and Dru. He can't just take what he wants and leave the place burning. He needs to do it right this time.

"There's still the blood problem." Need a steady supply and even if they go butcher blood or even find a hookup at a medical center, that usually draws unwanted attention. "Besides, I'll need to talk to him about it first. Maybe he prefers the vagabond lifestyle."

His lips quirk upwards into an amused smile, because of course that's exactly the reaction he anticipated - although he's intrigued by the lack of outright refusal.

"Sure, if you'd accept it," he shrugs. "I know I may not be around all the time and we're not exactly married, but we're still in a relationship and in most cultures it's considered normal to share resources within a relationship. I've got all this money that I don't have to work for anymore; why not share it with you two?"

He takes a swig of whiskey. "And yeah, there are always going to be issues like blood and whatnot, but actually, money can make a lot of those problems go away. Private, secret suppliers and so on." He shrugs. "I'm not saying you have to settle down somewhere, just that the option is there if you want it. I can help make it work. Something to think about!"

It's not the most terrible of ideas Jack's ever had, though he's still pretty skeptical about the whole thing. For one, if he wanted to, he could've set up something similar over the past century. It wouldn't have been too difficult back in the times before computers and ID cards, but it's not really part of the un-lifestyle. The freedom, not being tied down by roots, never settling down — that's part of what a vampire is and he has to start thinking of their lives as vampiric ones. The past few years, he's been indulging in the comforts of humanity, for Ianto's sake. Soon, that may not be a thing anymore.

"You say that as if I don't know." He rolls his eyes - he was in prison for tax fraud, you know. He knows his way around money. "Why don't you use it? Get a nice cottage in the countryside, herd some chickens or bees or whatever pensioners do."

If he's thought about it at all, Jack's always assumed Spike just never thought of investing money until it was too late, but now that he is thinking about it he's realising there might be a bit more to it than that. Spike's nothing if not a rebel, and he can totally imagine that living the way he does is at least in part because he's chosen to rather than from necessity.

And then he laughs, because actually, maybe they're not so different after all.

"Oi, less of the pensioner, if you don't mind! I'm not that much older than you are!" He grins. "And obviously I'm not the settling down type either. Over a century in Cardiff was enough to last me a lifetime!"

Perhaps if Jack knew exactly what kind of middle class upbringing dear old William had, he'd see exactly how much of a choice this lifestyle is. Everything was on deadly purpose, back then.

"Keep your money, then. Put it to use where it might make a difference."

Which is perhaps a weird thing for a reformed vampire to say, but... you know. There's a lot of pain in the world and if you want to save it, there are many ways to do that. He makes a soft noise, like a vocal shrug, swallowing it down with a mouthful of whiskey.

Yeah, he still doesn't have that much idea of Spike's pre-vampire life. Something about him turning his mum, and being a poet, and that's pretty much it. Mostly, Spike doesn't volunteer and he doesn't push. He knows all about wanting a past life to be left in the past.

He gives Spike a rather fond smile at the suggestion. "All right." It's kind of what he's been using it for anyway, given that it's been funding his escapades with Saavi and Taiana, and on his own since the accident. It's also been very definitely used to eek out Torchwood's meagre funding in the past.

"But if you ever need cash - you know. Either of you. You only need to ask."

"Please, Jack. You really think I can't get my hands on just about anything, if I need it?"

He's hurt! Deeply and lethally so, as is evident by the way he theatrically clutches at his chest with feigned shock.

He chuckles. "Of course. Sorry for implying that you couldn't!"

It feels good, this, sitting and drinking and laughing together. It's not something he's really done since... you know.

He takes another swig of whiskey and looks at Spike with a lopsided little smile. "I think I'd rather hoped you'd both settle down somewhere, especially because I won't - give me somewhere to come back to, you know? A home, of sorts. But I guess it's not in your nature any more than it is in mine."

"Maybe you should come visit a bit more often, in that case."

He raises a brow and although this is to a large degree just friendly ribbing, there's an undercurrent of truth to it. In or out, buddy. Spike may understand the itch to move on and have his own life, but if Jack expects to come back and share theirs he needs to actually put in the work for it. This ain't your momma's basement, it won't always stay open for you.

"Still need to talk to Ianto. Maybe he feels differently."

He lifts a brow back at Spike, mostly to cover the fact that he feels like he's being told off. And that he probably deserves it. He knows he's no good at relationships, but at least Spike will call him out on it and, more importantly, make it clear what he needs to do. If he lacks the right instincts himself, at least he has someone to guide him in the right direction.

"Yeah, maybe I should," he admits, with a slightly self-conscious smile. "I just get swept along in things, lose track of how long it's been when I don't have my guy with a stopwatch along to remind me!"

Maybe he is being told off a little bit. Spike's not stupid, he knows that no matter how good he and Ianto are on their own, Jack was part of all that and even more so, part of Ianto's life long before Spike came along. He knows how much Ianto misses him when he's not around.

"Maybe you should bring him along sometime. Have an lit'le adventure the two of you."

It's a casual suggestion, but he does have something... well. There's something to it. Something he should get into at some point but maybe not tonight, maybe not ever if he can play it right.

Yeah, and now that he's been gone a while and begun to realise what he's missed, he's starting to be a little more aware of that. Things might change for the better.

"Hey, I would love to. I've always wanted to take him out into the stars, show him other worlds; he just seems to want to stay on Earth with you!"

He cocks his head, thinking about it, how it might work. "And what would you be doing while I was off showing him the universe?"

"Have you asked?" He responds with a cocked brow and a pointed glance. Jack doesn't always have the best grasp of the romantic, as was evident by how Ianto was so deprived of being swept off his feet when they first started fraternising. Chances are there's a lot of assumptions happening here and we all know what that does.

That line of conversation comes to a limping halt however as Jack gets to the heart of the matter, as he so often does. There's a pause, because of course it is, and a gulp of whiskey as if to brush off that there was a pause at all.

"I'm sure I can find something to occupy myself."

"Of course I have!" he says immediately, before going back to really think about it. He frowns. "I'm sure I have, just... perhaps not strongly enough. Perhaps I haven't really made it clear how much I'd like him to come with me."

And perhaps, even though he's imagined it quite a bit, he's also tended to imagine that Ianto would rather be on Earth with Spike. Perhaps there have been assumptions happening and doing their thing.

Which, really, was where his question about what Spike would do with himself if left on his own came from, because he really has found it hard to imagine the two of them wanting to be apart. But that response sounds simultaneously like it's coming from somewhere deep and that Spike is trying very hard to make it sound casual.

So he quirks an eyebrow, and asks - directly, so that he'll hopefully have no chance of misinterpreting the answer: "Do you want to talk about it? Or shall we pretend I never asked?" With an ironic twitch of his lips.

Truth be told, he hadn't really thought about this neat solution before. Heck, he hasn't decided on whether he wants to go through with it yet, if at all, but the thought keeps buzzing in his head and that's the real reason why he's here. Sure, turning Ianto is a big deal and one that needs to be worked up to but honestly, he could go through with that any day. He'd just rather do it with his own business taken care of first.

"Not much to talk about." He shrugs, very much trying to play it up as casual when it's everything but. "Besides... I think you already know what I'm implying."

Well... it's only a neat solution if Ianto doesn't suss out what he's up to and insist on coming with him and, really, what are the chances of that?

And the longer Spike tries to play it casual, the surer Jack is what he's talking about here. He nods slowly, doing his best to think things through and not rush to conclusions or basically do anything stupid. But he still can't help asking, because it's the big thought that's ringing round inside his head: "You're talking about going back to Sunnydale? To die?"

Pretty high, he'd wager. Maybe lower if he can get Jack to act as a distraction.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." He makes a face - dying isn't really part of the plan, if he can avoid it. "The future has already changed. I wasn't supposed to get the soul the way I did. I wasn't supposed to leave. Everything's different."

And he's banking on that making the difference, of it allowing him to get ahead of the game.

"Wouldn't you go, Jack? If you thought you had a chance of keeping the world from ending, at least for a bit longer?"

"Well, yeah!" he says emphatically to the first part, because none of them want Spike to die!

He nods slowly, working it all out and allowing that yes, enough changes might just have been made to let him get away with it.

He grins. "Well, yes, immortal or not, of course I would." After all, he still died to give his blood to the Blessing, even thinking he wouldn't come back from it. It's what they do.

"But if you're planning on emphasizing the differences anyway, why don't we both come back and help you anyway? It is kind of the thing we do, after all!"

He gives that a moment of genuine thought and then shakes his head. "No."

Maybe they could help in the periphery, like the Slayerettes, but he's not sure it'd make that big of a difference in the long run. This is his battle to fight, his redemption to find. It's about more than the Hellmouth itself.

"Besides..." he starts, hesitant now. "...if it goes pear shaped? Someone needs to take care of him. No one better than you, for that."

He studies Spike for a long moment, and then nods. It's what he expected. "Fair enough. I get that it's something you need to do."

He leans an elbow on the table, serious now. "But if and when you do go back there, even if you don't want us with you... You need to tell him where you're going. It's not fair to him to just sneak away without giving him a chance to say goodbye."

The compliment about him being able to take care of Ianto has not gone unnoticed, but there are more important issues at stake here (pun not intended).

Spike makes a noise at that, a frustrated groan — yes, Jack's right. He knows that already, is kind of working up the courage to do just that by being here. Can't argue with any of this.

"I know, I know... and I'm going to. Eventually." He fakes a sigh, grips the whiskey bottle tighter. "Enough of that. This is a party, isn't it?"

"All right." He gives Spike a wry, gentle smile, and lets it go.

"Yeah, I guess so!" He picks up his bottle and reaches across to clink it against Spike's before taking a big swig from it, gasping as it burns.

"So," he drawls, searching for a lighter topic of conversation. "Met anyone interesting here?"

He takes a swig of his own, surprisingly relieved at how easily Jack let go of the topic. This wasn't his intention with coming here tonight — it wasn't going to be about him. Whatever. It's a nice night and there'll be more like it.

"A couple." he muses, glancing over at Jack with a mischievous look. "But I feel like you'd have more to say about that than me. Met anyone yet?"

Well, not pushing on the sensitive issues goes both ways. They both have things they don't want to go too deep into yet.

His eyebrows go up at that look. "What, because you've been too busy staying home shagging Ianto to get out and meet people?" he asks amused, and shrugs. "I've met quite a few folks here. The only one I've really got to know well so far, though, is my housemate, Hanako. She's ever so young and she's pretty badly damaged - in more ways than one - so I've kind of taken her under my wing, you know? She's a really sweet girl."

"Like most people here, I'd wager."

He takes a swig of whiskey to swallow down that casual observation. They're all here for similar reasons - time, escape, freedom. Most people are damaged in some way and he has to wonder if it's good or bad that Jack's taken on this girl. Sounds like a good way to not take on himself.

"And if you recall, I was never one for all this socialising."

Summer 10 - newcomer mingle

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