jumpthegun | WtL Mailbox

[Okay okay, the yowling gets her and she'll quit so that he can get away. She just sort of... rolls back away from him, laughing, not the most graceful things in the world, but she's gone and figured it all out.]

You're a cat! Why didn't you say that to begin with??

I'm not a cat. [The sulking is real, and it's intense as John crouches nearby and makes a go at looking like he hasn't just been wrestling with the vixen. This takes the form of dusting off one sleeve of his jumper and glancing off to the side.]

It was an accident.

[Renart sits up, her tail still going, and scoots closer to sniff him.]

You accidentally ate one of Phil's cupcakes? Really? Or did this happen some other way?

[John turns his attention back to her when she moves closer, staring silently for a long moment before he can shake off the more feline response and actually reply.]

I didn't accidentally eat anything. His magic's out of control right now. He did something to the food I made when he came over for a movie night.

[She stares right back - unlike dogs, foxes are entirely comfortable doing that - and her ears tilt back, a subtle gesture as she grows a little more cautious.]

Good to know. I'll avoid him until he's back to normal.

[She likes being a fox, thanks.]

Hmm.

[It's apparently going to be a staring contest because while John the Human would look away at this point, John the Cat is disinclined to do so. And the damn feline instincts are far more powerful than the human ones, it seems.]

Yeah, well, now you know. I'm not taking patients while I'm like this. I'll get distracted just trying to get anything out of the drawers or cabinets.

[Still staring, she iiiinches closer.]

You should have just said that to begin with. Much better than those sad attempt at lies.

[John realizes that he's crouching for really no reason at all. He rises abruptly and steps away from Renart to grab the sunglasses that had fallen off and shove them back on. He stands with his arms crossed, his hat twitching along with one let of his jeans.]

You shouldn't be so nosy.

[She stays where she is, though her gaze is now moving down to his jeans at that twitching.]

I couldn't help it, you were being cagey.

Says the fox. You're cagey incarnate.

I prefer to think of myself as rationally cautious, thank you. Anyways, you never answered my question.

Which question?

The mascot thing. Do you want one, or did that idea just come from being drunk?

[John's brow furrows and he finally looks away again. He'd mostly just been drunk.]

I wouldn't... I mean it'd be nice, but Renart, what happened on Bonfire Night? That can't happen again.

Hmm? [She inclines her head.] Why not?

[Complicated Human Reasons, she assumes, because humans are terrible at accepting a good thing as it is without making it into a huge deal.]

[He wonders how honest he should be. In the end, John really is a wretched liar and being direct will probably get this sorted more quickly than playing coy.]

Because the woman I meet and marry in my universe at some point in my future is here and from her perspective, I'm her husband.

[A little less human problems, a little more timeline weirdness problems.]

That Mary is that Mary?

[She's saying that with a very casual 'huh' kind of tone, she isn't expecting an answer to that question.]

And from your perspective you aren't, is that right? So you just pity her enough to make yourself unhappy.

Edited 2017-12-13 21:00 (UTC)

I don't pity her. [The words are snapped and his hat twitches again. He does. A bit.] I just don't want to make this any harder on her than it needs to be. She already had to deal with... a version she knew of me in the other place she was being with someone else. [John is going to very deliberately not name names on who that other person was in the Box.] I don't want to put her through that again, especially not with a woman who already has a husband-mate-whatever you call Navarro.

He isn't my husband.

[She stands, stretching her arms over her head. She's disappointed, sure, but it isn't the end of the world or anything.]

Are you going to date her, then?

[John shrugs.]

I asked her out for coffee when I'm back to normal. We'll see how things go. She seems nice.

[She seems terrifyingly devoted to him when he barely knows her. And he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to show off the side of her that apparently put a bullet through his best friend.]

'Nice'. That's it? That's a bit boring.

[But then this whole situation is totally ridiculous, so maybe nice is all she needs to be.]

Well, it's entirely your decision if you're going to date someone out of pity. [She shrugs.] That's what it is, if you're planning on arguing. You feel bad for her because of what some other version of you did, so you're trying to make up for it, even though it wasn't you who actually did anything to her.

[John balks.]

I'm not asking her out because of what someone else did. She is nice. I do ask women out. And this is about not repeating a mistake someone else made and hurting her. If it doesn't work out between us, then it doesn't work out.

[And he'll just be celibate and alone and snuggling with Phil's wolf form for comfort forever.]

It might be better if it doesn't work. I wasn't planning on staying here, anyway. I need to get back to Norfinbury.

[There isn't any argument from her this time, though her skeptical expression is more than enough on that end. There's no way he can't feel at least a little obligated towards her, but he's a stubborn adult who can make his own decisions and is going to do what he wants.]

I am fairly sure that if you go into it with that attitude it won't.

[It's not evident behind his sunglasses, but John narrows his eyes at her. The leg of his trousers twitches once more.]

Why d'you care? I just wanted to tell you I won't be fooling about again. If you want to come to the clinic to be the mascot, that's all it's going to be. I'm not looking to flirt or... whatever again.

[It's hard not to have an opinion about such a bizarre situation, especially when after bonfire night she has a slightly more pleasant view of him. But she holds her tongue and just smiles.]

It's none of my business. You let me know when the clinic is open again and when you want me to come by.

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jumpthegun - 2017-12-17 19:40 (UTC) - Expand

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aigue - 2017-12-17 19:48 (UTC) - Expand