| Date: 16 January 2008
Characters: , Location: the park Link to IJ: thread #38058 |
 He wanted a burger.With chili, cheese, onion, pickles, tomato, ketchup and extra mayo. That wasn't the surprising part. What was surprising was that he'd been able to find it - one of the little side streets. Jack didn't know what the place usually served, but today they were serving what he wanted. He wasn't even going to question what it was doing there, where the farm was or what his food was actually made of - or if it was going to kill him. He'd probably been better off throwing up. He was almost certainly going to regret it, later. For the moment he was outside on the grass, managing to eat a sandwich the size of his head without making a mess, and thinking that food was better than sex. He hoped. When someone on their way past slowed to a stop Jack looked up, sucked chili off his thumb and said, "Shut up." He was too blissed out on B-12 to sound like he meant it, though. |
 "I didn't say anything." Methos leaned against a tree nearby, out of arm's reach. "Though I usually see someone trying to eat that with a pint of beer to wash it down." He recognized the man as Jack, though whether this was the one he'd run into already or not, he wasn't sure. |
| "Never been a big beer fan," he admitted, and inclined his head slightly to Adam. "I found the Doctor." |
| Methos shoved his hands in his pockets, nodding after a brief moment. "He's not the one I remember, but he's just as strange as the rest of his regenerations. Though he is better looking than most of the ones I remember. Did you find one of the ones I ran into? My height, wild hair?" |
| Jack spent another few seconds eating, eyes staying on Adam. "Nope. Leather coat and big ears." |
| "Hmm." Methos squinted, looking up at the sky a moment. "Not one I remember, so later than his seventh regeneration." He watched Jack for another long moment. "Was he able to give you any more clues on why you're immortal?" |
| "Didn't ask," he said, honestly. "But I got some answers about my more pressing questions." He finally finished eating, and tossed his wrapper in the trash bin nearest him. |
| "More pressing qustions?" Methos raised an eyebrow, curious, but not particularly caring if Jack actually answered him or not. He'd either find out eventually, or he'd find a way back to Bucharest, and his hotel room, and move on. He was very good at moving on - even if some called it running away. |
| Not really caring, moving on and running away were attitudes Jack was familiar with and quite adept at recognizing. Though he wasn't actually sure of much about this guy, the apathy showed. "Yeah," he said, flatly. "More pressing questions." |
| Methos shrugged, remaining silent a moment before changing the subject. "Where'd you find that hamburger? Looks like a good lunch." One thing he enjoyed about most time periods were the foods of the common classes - fast food in the last half a century, cheap and easy to get. And good with beer. |
| "Down the block. There's a little shop on the corner. No idea where they're getting the food, but it's fantastic." |
| "It looked rather messy, as well." Methos gave Jack a little sardonic half-smile. "Good to know it tastes as good as it looked, though." |
| "Oh, it was amazing. I'm sure you can get enough napkins to make up for it." |
| "Probably." Methos pushed away from the tree, slouching slightly. "Care to join me for a beer?" |
| "I wouldn't mind the company," he admitted, "But I'll have to pass on the beer. How about generic 'drink'?" |
| Methos shrugged. "Whatever you want to drink. I'll bring them back here if you let me know what you want." He actually was liking the idea of sitting outside at the moment. Since he didn't have to worry about other Immortals at the moment, and it was a nice day - not that this place had really had anything but, not since he arrived. |
| That surprised him - pleasantly. Almost enough that he wasn't too worried about having his drink posioned. "Just water, please. I'm actually pretty thirsty." |
| Methos nodded, heading off to the shop, happily finding they did have bottles of beer in addition to a variety of other drinks, bringing back a couple less sloppy burgers than the one Jack had been eating, and bag with a six-pack each of beer and bottled water. "Run into anyone other than the Doctor so far?" he asked, after washing down the first bite of a burger smothered in ketchup and fried onions with a healthy swig of beer. |
| He took his bottle of water and broke the seal. "Thanks," he said, voice rough but warm. He stretched out and leaned back, a little. "A guy named Ianto, a couple of versions of myself and you. So far that's been about it. You?" |
| "A kid named Jimmy Harper, someone named Dean who tried to pick a fight, a young man called Lane, you. Been trying to avoid people, mostly, actually." Methos shrugged. "Found some nice isolated places out on the far side of some lake. An abandoned forge that looks like it might have been at home three centuries before all this." He made a vague gesture at the town around them. "Not in good enough repair to use, though." Or he'd have a sword in the works, instead of trying to fix the forge up in between exploring various places around the town. And looking for a book on sword-making, since he hadn't had to make his own blade in over a millenia. |
| "If trying to avoid people gets you that kind of company, I really need to haul my ass out of here." He hifted his eyebrow and made a low sound. "Huh. That sounds pretty interesting. Wonder what it was there for?" If he was right, it was there because Adam was looking, and because a real forge in working condition would have presented a problem. This town really creeped him out. |
| Methos shrugged. "Not certain." He wasn't going to tell Jack what he planned to use it for if he was stuck here long enough to fix it up. "Lane was helpful, and Jimmy had just arrived. Dean..." Methos shrugged. "I avoid people like him, actually, if I can." |
| "How was Lane helpful, and what was the issue with Dean again?" |
| Methos took another bite of his burger before he responded to the question with a shrug. "I don't know about Dean. And Lane directed me towards a shop with clothing. Whatever dumped me here has a nasty sense of humour." |
| He lifted his eyebrow and cocked his head. "Drop you hear naked?" |
| "Worse." Methos took another long swig of beer. "Unarmed." Naked, after all, could be corrected with the application of sharp objects to sheets, and wrapping up the relevent bits. Unarmed required finding something that was sufficiently lethal or deterring in the immediate area before starting to look around to find out what the hell was going on. |
| "That really is nasty," he agreed. He took another drink of his water, pausing long enough to make sure it still didn't taste weird to him. |
| "Could be worse. There could be another Immortal here." Any one of several he knew, at any point along their timeline after they'd met him. Or ones he didn't know, but knew of him. That knew he was the oldest Immortal. |
| "What?" He hadn't had nearly enough conversation here to be able to follow. |
| Methos shifted uncomfortably. "Immortals, my kind of Immortals, each have a Quickening - a source of energy, and the source of Immortality. It can be passed from one Immortal to another if they're present when an Immortal has their head cut off. Usually why we fight each other. The older an Immortal is, the more Immortals he's killed, the more powerful the Quickening." He finished the first beer and opened a second before continuing. "Imagine what it would be like for someone to take the Quickening of the oldest Immortal." There was a reason he was paranoid, and had been very careful to find a weapon before he bothered with clothes when he woke up without his sword or his gun. |
| He blinked several times, head a little to one side. "Right," he said, finally. "Sounds like a mess." |
| "The Game is a mess," muttered Methos darkly, before taking another large bite of his burger. "'S all something best left alone. Haven't really fought in over two centuries. Not until I ran into MacLeod." He really had to get over this sharing secrets thing, though he doubted Jack would tell anyone, and there were times when he liked to show off his knowledge. After all, what was the point of knowing all the bits of trivia when you didn't tell anyone? Well, some of the bits. Some of them he wouldn't share. |
| "Who's MacLeod?" He was perfectly happy to ask questions and let Adam talk. He was rather enjoying having the company and, to be honest, Adam was starting to remind him of the Doctor. In a good way. |
| "Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod." Methos snorted, a half-smile on his face. "The Highlander. The most annoying boyscout I've ever met, who forgets that not everyone was born into the age of chivalry. And will lose his head to a woman some day because he can't bring himself to cut off her head." He paused. "Or to someone who's carrying a grudge against him that he thinks is justified. He doesn't forgive himself for mistakes he's made, not nearly enough." |
| "Sounds like he's asking to get dead," Jack agreed, though there were a few things there that hit home, in a vague way. |
| "He should have been dead already, but the man has an incredible streak of luck." Both good and bad, but never bad enough to end with him permanently dead. For which Methos wasn't sure if he was relieved or irritated sometimes. |
| "It sounds like it," Jack agreed. "It really sounds like it." He took another long drink of his water. |
| Methos shrugged, finishing the first of his two burgers, and starting in on the second one, keeping occupied with the food for several minutes, just enjoying the day, and relaxing for the first time in a while. "I wonder if this place has any equivilent to holy ground," he mused out loud, popping the top off another beer, washing down the burger with a long swallow. "It's safe for Immortals, a place no one but an idiot will fight." He remembered what happened the last time someone had done something that stupid. It had looked spectacular from a distance, and he suspected that even Immortals had a hard time surviving the eruption of Vesuvius, in the end. |
| "I don't know," Jack admitted. "But if it's something that will keep you from having to fight, it might be a good idea to look into it. At least as long as it looks like you're not going home any time soon." |
