[log] fuck [closed]

[devoutish]

Characters: Alfie Solomons, Emily Kaldwin, Gregory House, John Watson, Royce Melborn, Tifa Lockhart
Location: building 120 and building 101
Date: evening of 190 to morning of 192
Summary: when you see "House" and "Royce" in the same log you know it's gonna be a party
Warnings: ear removal

Catch-all for EVERYTHING - death, murder, torture, yelling, etc. Top-level and tag as you see fit.

Comments

[devoutish]

I'd never have the patience for it.

[jumpthegun]

We ate out more than a bit, too. He'd never cook, but we'd go out after finishing up a case of on a case on a stakeout. Angelo's was the first place he ever took me. Little Italian joint. Helped get the Angelo off a murder charge.

[devoutish]

Italians. Mm.

[His tone says he clearly doesn't think much of them, because anytime is time for a little casual racism, apparently.]

You cook, then?

[jumpthegun]

Yeah. I did a lot of cooking when I was a kid. Harry didn't much care to learn or do it herself, and Mum and Dad were busy. [He shrugs, and tries to throw on a joking tone.] It was self-preservation.

[devoutish]

That's a bit sad, mate. Your mum should have cooked for you.

[jumpthegun]

[John backpedals.]

She cooked sometimes. She and Dad were just working a lot. They wanted to have food in the cupboards, I don't think it's too much to ask us to pull it out and do something with it ourselves.

[devoutish]

How old were you?

[jumpthegun]

Old enough. Does it matter? We made do.

[devoutish]

This sort of thing is why mothers should stay at home.

[jumpthegun]

And that sort of talk is why women are still paid less than men for the same work. You can't expect a woman to sacrifice everything if you're not willing to do the same. There are stay-at-home dads these days, too. And there are kids who've got two dads and no mums for gay couples. And there's day care and things if you've got the money for it. Or your kids can't figure it out. Me and Harry, we sorted it. It worked.

[For a given value of 'worked.']

[devoutish]

All right, then - it's why one parent or the other should stay at home.

[jumpthegun]

We survived, none the worse for wear. [In spite of what Sherlock's deductions yesterday about John and Harry making up a secret language together might have said.] It's not like they left us to starve or out in the cold. Maybe it was better. I learned to take care of myself. Life skills, right?

[He lightens his tone again, trying to get Alfie to just laugh it off as the bizarre vagaries of the future.]

[devoutish]

[He doesn't laugh.]

It's a sad story, John.

[jumpthegun]

[John shifts a little farther away from the other man, taking another bite of the apple as his shoulders stiffen.]

It was what it was. They're dead. Doesn't much matter anymore. [Dead like Sherlock and Fiona, except Sherlock and Fiona hurt so much more.]

[devoutish]

[Alfie's eyes move towards the stairs.]

That little girl up there is having to learn things far too quickly, too.

[jumpthegun]

[John follows the line of Alfie's gaze.]

Is she the reason you're having second thoughts about kids?

[devoutish]

I see what's being done to her here.

[So yes, partly.]

[jumpthegun]

And what's been done is like nothing either of us have ever experienced in our lives. It's like nothing that exists back home in the places we live in. You know your world better than I do, Alfie. But sometimes it's worth the risk if you can work it out. A son or a daughter would change things. You'd have more incentive to keep things safer, take fewer risks, right? That benefits everyone, including you, your wife, and your child.

You have more control back home. Just remember that. Everything here, it's designed to break us down. That's not how it is.

[devoutish]

[But does he really have enough control back home? The doubt seeps in, even as he tries to remind himself that it's artificial; externally-caused. It has to be. Sure, he's depressed and discouraged, but he doesn't normally think like this.]

Still hoping I'll go straight, eh?

[jumpthegun]

I'm hoping you'll do what's best for the people you love, whatever that means. I'd prefer you go one way, but I know that's not who you are. Figure I can learn to live with that while we've got time left together.

[devoutish]

I would have to change some things. Fewer risks. Fewer chances to get shot.

[jumpthegun]

So, it's doable, right? Make some compromises, but that's just what you have to do sometimes.

[John isn't entirely sure why he's trying to talk Alfie into feeling like he can have kids again. It's keeping the doctor's mind off of Sherlock. And it really is unsettling in its own way, to hear Alfie talking like this.]

[devoutish]

I'd be terrified, all the time.

[Like he is now.]

[jumpthegun]

Not all the time. And your dad managed it, right? You grew up all right. Loved, cared for.

[devoutish]

Why does it matter to you, John?