tampered | Log; Complete

Log; Complete

When; October 1st; afternoon
Rating; PG (unlikely to be more)
Characters; Abby

notapreacher
Summary; The "family" goes for a walk
Log; She can't keep the smile off her face. Jethro has been excited about this ever since she first mentioned Gren's name. Her puppy (even if he's big now) really likes him. In her mind, who wouldn't? Gren is just so nice. And his gentleman attitude is just too cute.

The other reason why she wants to see him though? Because he's so happy. Due to Lestat. It's so great to see her friend like that. She's been around when he's struggled a bit so to see him this happy is just beyond anything she could hope for. Back to the gentleman thing, she really should finish getting ready. Since Gren will be here to pick her up soon, that's kind of important.

"Come on, Jethro Jr. You need your leash."

Turning around, she finds him sitting there with his leash in his mouth. "Aw! You want to go right now, don't you? He'll be here soon. Then we can go. After you lick him into nothingness. I know you want to."

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As fond as he is of exploring the City by night, he's no vampire and as such hasn't lost any of his own liking for the sun. Three years spent on Callisto, so far from the sun and its warmth, left him yearning for those very things. Fortunately he's got people to share this part of the day with him.

He knocks quietly at Abby's door, a fresh tennis ball in one hand and his pocket full of puppy-sized dog biscuits. He knows how to treat the kid.

Instantly the leash falls from his mouth and Jethro Jr. is bounding out of her room to the door.

"Jethro!" Running after him, making sure to grab the leash on the way, she finds him scratching at the door. Whimpers come from him as he stops and looks back at her. "You, are still totally a puppy. Overgrown and everything."

Shoving her way past him, she opens the door. "Hi, Gren! You might want to come in before I get knocked over by the overly-excited puppy. Oh...and I haven't given him any Caf-Pow today. So, you can't blame it on caffeine." With that, a German Shepherd nose wiggles its way between her legs to see Gren.

She's really glad she decided to go with pants today.

"Jethro. Your mom's not a dog. Don't treat her legs that way." The very concept makes him laugh; he gives Abby an amused little smile before reaching over to take Jethro by the collar. "Let's let her get ready. If you sit, I'll get that leash fixed up for you."

It's worth a try, and anyway, the greeting is just adorable.

From both of them.

"And how's my favorite Abby today?" His eyes are bright, happy.

With Jethro taken care of, she backs up awkwardly then heads back into her room.

"Your favorite Abby is great. Her kids have been beeping at her though. But that's pretty normal so she's used to it. She told them they could have attention after she gets back."

She grabs her shoes and sits in a chair while she puts them on. The funny thing is that this isn't the first time she's talked about herself in third person before. Smiling, she looks up as she works on her shoes.

"So, Abby is great. Just like she said before."

He takes a minute just to make sure the leash is on right, fitted just the right way, then glances over at Abby.

"You forgot to say she's sweet and beautiful and about to be going on a walk with this guy she keeps accusing of being something called 'hot.' Can you explain that to us, please? Because Jethro and I don't really understand. We're only males, after all."

Right now he's being a terrible tease and he knows it; he rubs Jethro behind the ears, then trails that patting all the way down to the dog's tail. When Jethro sits, his tail won't stop thumping. He can probably smell the treats.

The other shoe goes on and she stands. Then paces with her hands behind her back. Almost as if briefing her 'men'.

"It's simple. It's a fact. According to any healthy girl and guy interested in guys, you're sexy. You're tall and slender. But, with some definite muscle. And wanna know what makes you even hotter now?"

She spins on her heel causing her pigtails to fly around. Walking over to him, she looks so proud of herself for figuring this out.

"You're taken now. Even if not a lot of people know, it'll be like a sensory type thing. They'll just know there is something unattainable. Did that clear things up boys?"

He's so amused.

"Like some sort of pheromone thing? We exude this air of sexiness because we're off-limits, me and Jethro?" At the sound of the name the dog perks up measurably, although it could just be a reaction to the tennis ball in Gren's hand. That's held out for the dog; Jethro takes it gently between his teeth, drops it, rolls it across the floor with his nose, and snaps it up again.

"Two questions, Abby. Where are we going? That's the first one. And... what do you think of him?"

He really wants to know.

"Exactly!" She beams and hooks her arm around his. A little pout appears. For once, she's not wearing platforms so she's closer to her actual height this time.

"And I don't know. You offered, remember?"

Her face becomes thoughtful. It's obvious that he's talking about Lestat. He wants to know what she thinks about him. That's probably really important to him. Not that she can blame him for that.

"He's really charming. Lestat knows how to handle situations like that without any effort. I like that he's willing to be affectionate with you in front of other people. That means something. A big something. What really matters to me though, is that he cares about you. I can tell. It's not that you're pretty or anything like that. He open about how he feels. That's hard to find in guys. Especially guys who were born in the 1700s. I think he's lucky to have you and that you're lucky that he found you."

Looking up at him, she pauses then nods. "Does that answer the second one?"

It does; there's a smile on his face. "You know, I've never once thought of him as some guy born in the 1700s. Isn't that weird? In my time, he'd be even older. Closer to 300 than 200."

An eternal 21-year-old: that's his lover. A twenty-one-year-old with the thought processes of someone far older and the capriciousness of a baby: if it was up to him he'd have Lestat all to himself. But it's not up to him and never has been up to him. He's riding along on the coattails of circumstance and for now, he's content with the way things are.

And as far as the first question goes...

"If the two of you don't mind the beach again, I'd love to go back. The last time I saw it was at night, so I wouldn't mind going again during the day." It's quiet and beautiful and it makes its own brand of music.

Hm. She never thought about that before. Maybe Lestat is still around in Gren's time. That's kind of weird to think about. It's the time and space thing again. She doesn't get any of it.

It's not her thing.

Besides, Gren went to the beach at night, huh? With who? She studies him very closely then very slowly smiles.

"Did Lestat take you last time?"

"He did."

Shy at heart, there are some things he won't share. Like the fact that they flew, or that Lestat took him clothes shopping first and they spent most of the night taking off clothes instead of trying them on. No, those details don't get to be shared.

"It was really beautiful. We watched the moon and stars over the ocean, and sat in the sand and listened to the tide." Actually, it was one of the more romantic things he's done with anyone else in years and it was amazing.

"But I think he misses the daylight."

"You think so?"

It makes sense. He probably hasn't seen the sun in so long. Though, from her research and his tanned skin, he has been in the sun recently. Only, it wasn't his body. It was someone else's. If a curse has allowed him to here then she hasn't found that out yet.

She can't help herself. She had to research him.

"Yeah, I do."

He knows so. It was in that conversation they had about resenting the sunrise, but like other details that's private and he doesn't need to tell it to Abby.

"I think I would. Imagine not being able to watch a sunrise or sunset for more than 200 years." If he knew Abby better he could tell her what he really thinks about Lestat -- about how he's so much more human than he lets on -- but he doesn't know Abby better and he's already protective by nature: why give away anything at all about the man he's fallen for without having a really good reason to do it? He's not a gossip by nature and if Abby has questions, she can ask.

He might even answer.

"So the beach is okay?"

Apparently it's fine with Jethro, who tosses that tennis ball up into the air, jumps up and catches it, and tries to kill it.

Never seeing the sun again. That would just suck.

She really feels bad for Lestat now...

"Yep. The beach is okay. And obviously Jethro approves of the idea too."

Grabbing her bag, she starts pulling at his arm. Jethro, catching the eagerness of his owner, starts tugging on the end of his leash. The beach is fine. So why are they still standing here?

"Come on. Let's go."

"Let's." Because he's a gentleman -- taken or not -- he offers Abby his arm and leads her out into the City. It's a beautiful day: a little crispness to the air, but the sun shines brightly over them and Jethro seems obliviously happy with his tennis ball and the very concept of the beach looming.

And once they're out there, he turns to Abby with a fond smile. "So you know everything that's going on with me. Tell me about yourself. What have you been doing to occupy your time while I've been off playing with... famous goth icons?"

Oh, her imagination can come up with all kinds of stuff to go with the word 'playing'. And it does. And why not? Two very attractive men doing who knows what together?

Alone.

In the dark.

Oh yeah. Imaginations are really good things.

"Let's see. DS came back so he and I spent some time together. And I went to lunch with A.Z. Remember the kind of middle-aged lady that went shopping with us that one day? Well, she's really a he. And he got genderbended. But taking him shopping, he took me out to lunch."

A.Z. still owes her a story too. Hm, she wonders if she can get the real one out of him at some point.

"Work has been slow though. Not a lot of work for forensics recently. Because of that, I've been teaching Jethro how to push buttons to make my kids work. He's pretty good at it. Oh, and he's a great guard dog. Still a puppy but he's got the instincts. It shows. And that's what I've been doing while you've been off playing with famous goth icons."

She smiles up at him wondering if he knows this fact yet.

"Goth icons who were once rock stars."

He's about to tell her that sure, he remembers A.Z. and ask what happened with his gender -- if it was just that day or if it was the same kind of thing that got Machi -- and that sure, Jethro's got to be a great guard dog but the thing she says last stops him in his tracks.

Absolutely.

"Abby. I'm still on the first book."

He can't tell if she's teasing or not.

She's giving herself all kinds of points for that bit. He has no idea. And the look on his face. Grinning, she lets go of his arm and takes the leash. Taking a few steps forward, she flashes a knowing look over her shoulder.

"Then you need to hurry up and get to the next one."

Gotta make sure to add that part.

Oh, no, she doesn't get to do that: in a minute he's caught up to her. "I've been a little bit busy." It's his way of saying he's had better things to do than sit around and read, although he's sure he'll get to it his next free night.

"But maybe I can read more tonight. It's my last night off until Sunday."

Jethro's having way too much fun; he reaches into his pocket for a treat. "Unless of course some extremely handsome vampire calls and says come on over. If that happens, all bets are off."

The scent of treat causes Jethro to stop and go for it. Forgetting about the ball in his mouth. While he tries to figure out how to get the treat without getting rid of his ball, she tries to contain her grin from getting any bigger.

"Did some extremely handsome vampire tell you to come on over recently?"

This conversation is just too much fun.

"He has been a rock star, by the way. In the '80s. But, I won't say anymore. I'll let you read about the rest."

It's not such a huge stretch of the imagination to think of Lestat in all his vain glory prancing around on stage in a rock band. He's an actor and a musician after all, so in love with the spotlight. "I'd guess after more than 200 years, I'd try a little bit of everything too."

Staying the same would be dull.

"And as far as the other thing goes, I forget. I might have told an extremely handsome vampire to get his ass over to my house, or it could have gone the other way around. Or maybe both happened." It was definitely both, but he has too much fun teasing Abby. She's a little bit spectacular that way and he likes her so much.

Kneeling, he holds the treat out in his palm for Jethro who, despite the impossibility of logistics, manages to end up with both the ball and the biscuit, although he can't figure out how exactly to eat one and not the other. "Here, give me the ball. I'll keep it safe for you."

The look on the dog's face is absolutely priceless.

He's teasing her. She just knows it. Otherwise she'd be getting more exact answers to her questions. If she didn't like him, this would be frustrating. Oh, who is she kidding? It is frustrating.

"You're not telling me on purpose. I know it. You're terrible, you know that?"

But, she keeps smiling as she pats Jethro's head. He's a clever dog, even if he is a puppy. On the other hand, he is still a puppy. So, he's convinced that he can find a way to keep the ball in his mouth and eat the treat.

"Jethro. You'll get your ball back in a couple seconds. It's okay to let it go."

The look is turned on her and she plants her hands on her hips.

"Jethro..."

A whimper.

"Jethro Jr..."

The ball drops. She smiles and watches him finish off the treat. That settled, she looks back at Gren. Her next question is to satisfy her curiosity. Ever since she found out about Lestat, she's been wondering. Gren doesn't have any obvious marks though...

"Has Lestat drunk your blood? Come on. At least give me a definite answer on that."

"That's kind of a personal question." He takes another treat out of his pocket and holds it out for Jethro: at least he's not asking invasive questions. "Kind of on a par with what's your favorite position in bed or how many women have you picked up in bars over the course of your life? or how old were you when you lost your virginity?" None of those are questions he expects to be asked; none of them are questions he'll answer. They're nobody else's business.

He's not insulted -- but only because this is Abby -- and doesn't mind distracting her. "How come you want to know? Will it... you know, change your world outlook or make you think differently about me one way or the other, or is it just curiosity?"

Maybe she's concerned about his health; he has no idea. As far as he can tell he isn't looking particularly paler than usual: he's dead. In normal adults it takes red blood cells about four to six weeks to regenerate fully after losing a pint of blood, or that's what they used to say when he'd donate blood way back when. Here -- because he's already dead -- he guesses that process is much faster. Kind of like Anita dying and coming back the very next day.

Sure it's personal. But, is it really such a bad thing to ask that? Maybe Lestat has taken his blood. What would that be like?

She shrugs a little and the smile fades away. "There are vampires in my world. But they're just people who think that they're like that. Looking at them scientifically shows that they're just humans. So, the whole vampires are real thing is still new. It's a brand new thing. They aren't just book and movie characters now. Or from TV. They exist."

Crouching next to him, she rests her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. She's been here several months now but it still takes a lot of getting used to that everything once believed to be false is reality now.

"It's curiosity mostly. But it might change my world outlook too. You never know. This place has already done a lot of that. It's so weird. Other than Lestat though, the only other vampire that I've talked to here wanted to kill me."

Explanation done, she looks right at him. "So, has he?"

No, he's not that easy.

"Who wanted to kill you?" The part of him that has to protect the ones he loves is mortally offended that anyone would want to kill Abby. Of course, if she keeps pressing him for personal details, he might want to kill her... eventually.

It's still a personal question. Too personal, and he won't answer it to satisfy anyone's cuiosity. Musician or not -- performer or not -- at heart, he's still shy and very, very private.

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