[NaNo scene] and a [Character Interview]
This came out of nowhere. It's the first scene to my NaNo, I'm thinking. Tim is very obviously modeled after my dad, and he will kill me if/when he finds out about it. Especially because of this scene. xD
When Tim discovered that his contracting protégé was a "pre-op transsexual," the first thing he did was nod, and the second thing did was steal the library's wireless and hit Google. The third thing he did was stare, and the fourth thing he did was hit Wikipedia. After that, he laughed himself into a sobbing mess, and hit the steering wheel of his pick-up while he palmed the tears away. Jesse had dropped the comment like an atom bomb and carefully vanished into the recess of students milling toward the library doors.
"Hey, uh. Tim. Remember when you said I could tell you anything? You remember, right? Well a friend of mine told me to tell you because you'll find out sooner or later, and--" Jesse had been nervously sifting the bristles of his damp paint brush through each of his fingers, staring at them with a meticulous eye for detail that had made Tim a lot of money over the last couple years. He avoided Tim's fairly neutral expression, heaving a sigh that could blow a brick house down.
"Tim, I'm a pre-op transsexual."
This was when Tim nodded, clearly not hearing correctly. No words were spoken.
"Tim, did you hear me? I said I'm a--" But then Jesse was choking up. He eyes grew wide, and muttered curses to himself. Tim knew what he was thinking, it was obvious. What Am I Doing, and What A Freak He Must Think Me. Jessie tumbled out of the pickup with a stumbling nod, and said something about seeing him tomorrow. If Tim still desires his company.
"I'll walk from here," Jessie said, because he was sure Tim was in no state to desire anything at the moment.
And Tim let him go because he was fairly ignorant. How many times a day did your co-worker confide in you that he was in fact, not a man, but a woman in very good disguise? Pulling out his company laptop, Tim watched Jessie's departing back and stole wireless from the library to ensure his own piece of mind. Tim was a fifty year old diabetic and he hadn't been laid in years, but even he knew kink when he saw it. It put all the wrong images into his mind.
Ugh. Oh well, Tim thought to himself after several minutes of doing absolutely nothing. If she... if he... if she? If Jesse does his--her--Jesse's work, who am I to care?
Strangely, he felt like a comrade in the military that had discovered one of his fellow recruits were gay. Knowing it was foolish to feel dirty, seething with a sense of betrayal regardless. Hating, because he had been forced onto a Straight White Male podium with the viciously pointing fingers of wronged minorities, and he didn't even know what he was supposed to be defending himself against.
Shrugging it off, he called his wife and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner.
Anyway, Topi suggested that I do what she did with Julian and start a character interview. This means if you're reading this you HAVE to ask Jesse a question and I will answer in IC. And when I mean that you have to, I mean that you'll do it or I'll get the hammer! *wields threateningly* Mwahhahahahahahha!
*ahem*
Jesse:
My life is wonderful. I mean, people usually run away once they get to know me, but that's to be expected. I'm used to it. I can be happy regardless. I mean, how can I help what I am? I didn't ask for it, I was born this way. God made a mistake, is all. It's just a thing, you know, like... being born a minority, or having an ugly birthmark on your face. Everybody's got problems, we learn to deal. I can deal. I'm always dealing. That's not denial, by the way, it's just life.
And anyway, my life is wonderful. I have friends, and they enjoy my company. I don't need family when I have friends like these. And wasn't there something about making your own family? No... well, no, I don't want family, but I love my friends. They don't care about what I am, and they don't know about what I do. You know what I mean?
No? Well, no one really knows what I do so it doesn't matter. People don't know what I mean half the time anyway. I mean, you tell them that you slaughtered a succubus in the 7/11 on Rawling Street at three in the morning, so you're a bit tired, and they just roll their eyes. Life's not a comic book, things aren't that entertaining, you know? There are no commercial breaks, things aren't always politically correct. But I'm still alive, so that's good, isn't it? Wonderful. And better than most people, I might add. If they don't believe me, well, that's their problem.
This is the part where you comment and ask a question. Yes, I do love to babble.