hot_guitarist (hot_guitarist) wrote in btvsal, @ 2009-10-16 18:26:00 |
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Current mood: | thoughtful |
Two Old Friends Hanging Out
Who: Jack and Pat
When: Friday Evening, Late
Where: Pat and Patience's Home
Jack sat across the table from Pat in his home, knowing that this form of a 'bachelor' party was incredibly tame next to the one he had thrown for him when Pat and Iris were married. Then again, look what that had eventually led to. The very beginning of a relationship downfall. So, maybe this was better. He tipped his beer up to his friend, saying, "So, really finally head over heels, huh?"
"Come on, Jack... you know damn well me and Patience were inseparable since we met back in Sunnydale." He laughed, thinking back on all the crap they'd gone through. "Most people just... don't have DEATH manage to be a temporary setback in a relationship."
"And yet it seems to be a constant in your life," Jack stated. "Of course, they only come back in your case." And his, it seemed, but he didn't mention that.
"You know..." Pat grinned and raised his beer to Jack. "Our lives really are NOT like most people's, are they?"
Jack snorted. "Not in the least," he said. "Not sure I'd trade it, though. Sure, some things would be easier, but I actually kind of like my life."
"It's certainly looking better lately, hm? You finally got a CD coming out, your daughter's career is looking up, and well..." He had to say it. HAD to. "Looks like I'm not the only one getting a second chance in the relationship department. If you're even interested in taking it, anyway."
He shrugged. "It's not just up to me," he pointed out. "This is something that's going to go slow at best." Just knowing that she was alive meant a lot to him, though.
"I think me and Patience are both at the point that we just want you to be happy." Pat at least felt comfortable being sincere around Jack, which he didn't around most of his male friends. "Don't get me wrong, Jack The Funny Drunk is pretty hilarious, but we want you to actually, you know, function like a normal guy again too."
"I'm normal," he protested, then laughed. "OK, maybe not, but I'm not bad off. My life might not be perfect, but it's something that I like. Some things could be better, but that's all stuff I'm working on."
"We just want you to stick around, you know? I don't have a lot of friends I can count on. Don't wanna lose the best one I got." He put it in a way that didn't sound like a lecture, and left it at that. "So... how you feeling about Mere;'s new beau? Liking him better than Ben?"
He just sort of looked at him for a moment. He understood what he meant, but just wasn't sure of a way to reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere. "Well, I like her with him better than I like her with Ben, if that means anything."
Pat just snickered and nodded. "For... well... for what he is, he seems nice enough. At least he's respectful enough. Probably old enough to be our ANCESTOR, but treats us with respect."
"Now that's something that you really can't tell," Jack admitted. "Mere just shrugs when I ask, so who knows what that means." Sometimes he thought that Mere just did and said some things to mess with him.
"Gonna check out Bale's new club when it opens? For you, that place gotta be like an all-you-can-eat buffet." Pat laughed teasingly, knowing he was saying the exact truth. "All those morally loose women in one place? Sounds like your idea of heaven on earth."
Jack actually shook his head when Pat asked that. "Not sure if I approve of what he's doing, and, for me to not approve of that shows how bad it really is, doesn't it?"
"Wait... are we talking about Skylar or the titty bar? Because... I find it hard to believe YOU don't approve of the bar." He said honestly, thinking back to how many of the blasted things they'd gone to together.
"Not the bar, you ass, Skylar," he pointed out. "We both know I'm less than innocent of committing situations similar to that, but nothing I've ever done has had that sort of downfall."
"Well... you know damn well I'm not happy about the situation myself... but I hate to say it... I think I'm with Gwen here in not blaming Ben as much as most people are." He held up his hands, as if asking for a moment to explain. "He's been after Skylar for years. I doubt he did anything he hasn't BEEN doing. It's not like he actively sought her out. You don't know Skylar like I do, Jack. If she hadn't WANTED to be with him, nothing in the world, not his charm, not any stupid line he spouted, could have convinced her otherwise."
He sighed. "I know, but he still helped. He's not blameless," Jack pointed out. "I know that he didn't seduce her. I'm not dumb. Still, I'm not going to go there and patronize his new club when I sort of want to strangle him."
"You're a better man that you like to let people see, Jack. I mean that." It was hearing things like this that reminded Pat of why the two of them had bonded so easily to begin with. Beneath Jack's jaded, rockstar image, was a decent, mostly-moral guy,
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect," he said with a grin, putting his finger over his lips in a 'shh' motion. There was something of the idealist kid that he used to be buried under the years of cynicism after all. Who knew?
"Besides... I look at it this way. At least if he's with Skylar, who frankly, he deserves right now, Ben can't be more than friends with Meredith. And she's practically a daughter to me, too. So... that fact makes me smile." So call Pat a jerk... but that fact DID make him smile.
Jack laughed. "Always gotta see the bright side of something, don't you?" he asked, still grinning at his friend.
"Hey. When you've seen as much of the dark side as I have these last few years... you learn QUICK to look for any brightness you can find." As if as an aside, he raised his beer again. "And no matter WHAT she says to you, do NOT take Gwen drinking. We don't need her drowning herself in booze."
"I personally had no intention of doing so," Jack said. "Still, really can't stop her from exercising her own free will. Not to a certain extent, anyway." He raised his own beer as well.
"Wesley wants her to live with him again..." Pat looked slightly guilty here. "Patience wants her to stay with us for a while, but frankly... I kinda hope she DOES decide to stay with Wes. I love Gwen, but... damn, we're about to be a newlywed couple. You know?"
He nodded. "I get Patience's want, but it would be better if she stayed with him," he said. "Wouldn't want Patience to eventually resent her, right?" He took a swallow of his beer.
"That would never happen. Those two are thick as thieves..." Pat gave a sheepish grin. "I'd be more afraid of ME resenting her in time. I mean, everything that happened, with the memories and everything... I have my issues with it too. I just try to tell myself it was never meant to hurt us."
Jack nodded. He understood, but he got the frustration from it, too. "She probably would rather stay with him, anyway."
"If nothing else, he needs HER. Not like he and I are best buds or anything, but the few times I've seen him, he's been really torn up over Ami. She'd been staying with him, and... I think he feels really alone right now."
"Maybe," Jack said. "And maybe feeling needed is something that would be good for Gwen right now. Maybe not the needing that she wants, but it's something."
"Maybe it makes me selfish... but I think I'm even more pissed at Skylar because she pulled this so close to my wedding." Pat finally admitted it, as he knew Jack wouldn't say a damned thing. "That's Patience's maid of honor she just destroyed. You don't think that's going to affect the wedding? Especially with Ben THERE?"
"Well, she's being pretty damn selfish, so why not join the party?" Jack asked. "May not have been intentional, the timing, that is. Still, they picked a shitty time, didn't they?"
"They really did. I'm... considering telling Ben not bother showing up. I really DON'T have much against him right now, but I'm trying to support Gwen, and she doesn't need him there." He nodded firmly, taking a deep breath. "I've got one or two others I think would be willing to step in."
"You could bring it up," Jack told him. "He might even understand. Are you sure that Gwen's actually going to show up?" He couldn't help but ask. Was she even up to it?
"I know Gwen. Patience, right now, is probably the only person left she thinks she can count on. She'd die before letting her down." Pat gave a sad smile there. "She's a better person than she gives herself credit for. Kind of makes me feel bad, you know? For getting with her and Skylar. I feel like I used her. I was in love with Skylar... but I feel like while I loved Gwen, it was more because when I looked at her... it made me think of Patience."
Jack nodded. "Then you might want to ask Ben to stay home," he said finally. "If only to keep the peace...and not have Iris telekinetically throw the wedding cake at Ben's head in anger."
"See, NOW you're tempting me to let him show up." He said with a laugh. "Who would have thought that despite all of this, me and Iris would end up close again? And weirder yet, that she and Patience would end up so close?"
"Now that is something weird," Jack agreed. "I think it might have helped that Patience was before her, and you two were friends in the beginning." He laughed, amused. "Damn, she was drunk last night, though. I've never seen Iris act quite that abrasive."
"Come on. It was fucking HILARIOUS. I know Mere got a little pissed, but the look on Skylar's face when she saw the shirts was priceless." And then, with a mischievous grin. "And I'm backing Patience, by the way. I fully intend to autograph every shirt she gave out."
"It was funny, but I think that Mere was aggravated at the booing, not the shirts," Jack said. "She'd probably wear a shirt if it wouldn't cause such a fuss. She's known Gwen for years. Ben's her friend, though, too. I think she's just stuck."
"Yeah. I know Chloe's torn too. Lexi... she's staying neutral, but I know she's been friends with Skylar for a long time, and she and Gwen never really saw eye-to-eye." This was all a huge mess, and Pat knew it. "My hope is that this all blows over eventually."
"I think it will blow over eventually," Jack said. "I think it just needs some time, though. Maybe a lot of time, but time is all that's really gonna solve it."
"Yeah. Time and maturity. Which worries me, because frankly I don't think either girl has that in spades." Hey. Pat was just being honest.
"Hopefully at least one of them will develop it soon enough," Jack said. "Or hell is going to rain down on us."
"And I think we've ALL had enough hell in our lives for one lifetime." Pat agreed, sitting back.
He nodded, finishing off his beer. "How about for two or three?" he asked with a grin.