John Taylor (![]() ![]() @ 2012-09-06 16:10:00 |
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Current music: | Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum |
Characters: Jaime, John T
When: day after she sang to Ray
Location: front dining car
Warnings/Rating: facepalming
Summary: Jaime sings another lie to the Ray-twin
Status: Complete/gdocs’d
Honestly, Jaime thought she’d get lucky. She’d sung her lies to Ray, and once she’d gotten over the terror of it all, she’d made it up to him. Twice. She guessed if nothing else, the song had prompted some amazing sex. Not that sex with him was ever less than fantastic, but … well, it had been good. She’d woken him up that morning in one of his favorite ways, and after having a shower and leaving him to it, she’d wandered out to have breakfast. When she spotted John in the dining car on her way through, she didn’t think much of it. Lots of other people were there, too, enjoying breakfast. So she’d fetched her food and chatted with Lily, and then headed back to the dining car. Her plan had been to find an empty table and eat, but apparently the train had other plans. When she wandered over in John’s direction, Jaime started to sing. “It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe Caught up in this moment Caught up in your smile I've never opened up to anyone So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms We don't need to rush this Let's just take it slow Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight Just a touch of the fire burning so bright No I don't want to mess this thing up I don't want to push too far Just a shot in the dark that you just might Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight I know that if we give this a little time It'll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find It's never felt so real, no it's never felt so right.” She’d stopped moving a line into the song, because her hands were full of breakfast, and she knew she wasn’t going to get out of it. Apparently, once you started, you didn’t stop until the train was done with it. When she was pretty sure she was done singing, she shook her head. “Sorry. The train’s making us all lie to each other apparently.” She glanced over to John and shook her head again. “If we could not mention this to Ray, ever, that’d be awesome.” She’d tell him. Of course she’d tell him, because there were witnesses, and she didn’t imagine it would remain completely quiet. But she wanted him to hear it from her. It was just then that she very sincerely hoped he had not chosen just then to wander out to join her for breakfast. In the interest of not knowing, she very pointedly did not look toward the door as she moved to take a seat. ___________ John knew about the singing, of course. He hadn’t broken out into song yet and he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to or not. It was curiosity more than anything else, wondering what it felt like to be compelled to sing. Beyond that, he didn’t like the implication that the train could force them to do other things. He wasn’t giving those things that much thought while he ate breakfast … until Jaime broke out into song, for him, apparently. Okay, he was probably going to hell, but that was sort of funny and not really unpleasant, though he knew she didn’t really feel that way about him. He managed not to laugh, though. When she was done, he started to comment, but then she explained and just … walked off. “Oh come on. You sing me that lovely song and then you’re not even going to eat with me? What if I have one for you, you’re going to make me get up and move to sing it to you?” He asked with an arched brow, turning in his seat so he could watch her more easily. _______ “If you have a song for me, you, me, and the train are going to have words,” Jaime replied. For all the good it did, and she knew John wouldn’t be able to stop if he was pressed to sing by the train. Just like she hadn’t been able to stop. It could have been anyone on the train that she’d sung to, and she couldn’t help but feel it was deliberate it was Ray’s face-twin that she was singing to. She supposed the train really didn’t do anything half-assed. First she was singing about leaving Ray, then singing about hooking up with his face-twin. Jaime shook her head slightly before she glanced back to John. There was always a very unnerving sensation when she set her eyes on him. She knew it wasn’t Ray, but the resemblance was … uncanny. In the right light, he could have been Ray. She wondered if it was ever going to wear off, and she hoped so. Still, she did gather up her bowl to move over to his table. If he was going to insist on chatting, she may as well be closer. ____ “I bet I could sing you something pretty nice,” John countered, doing his best to make it sound like she was really missing out. He did appreciate that she moved over to eat with him, but he wouldn’t have really been that offended if she didn’t. After all, he could understand how strange it must be for her to find out her fiance had an almost twin that he wasn’t even related to. “I hear this isn’t the first time that the train’s made people sing. Did it get you the first time around too?” He asked curiously as he regarded her. He was sort of waiting to suddenly break out into song and he wondered if the train wouldn’t make him do it while he was expecting it. He wasn’t sure whether that was giving the train too much credit or not. ___ “Yup. We thought we’d be clever, and this was back before the train kept us from apparating off. So we … popped out to the beach, but the train apparently has a far reach. So I sang to Ray.” She wasn’t interested in sharing what she’d sang about -- it was something she wouldn’t have ever told him if it hadn’t come out in song. “And he sang back to me. And then I kicked the train when we got back on it. “For all the good it did.” Jaime shrugged her shoulders lightly before she started in on her breakfast. “And while I have no doubt you could sing something nice, it would be a lie. Because apparently that is our flavor of the week -- lying to each other through song.” At least … she knew that now, and it wasn’t quite as distressing as it had been when she’d sang to Ray she wanted to leave him. Jaime shivered a little at the memory of it, even now. Of all the things she feared the train doing, taking Ray away was at the top of the list. Making him fall out of love with her, even temporarily, was another. She wondered if the train had that power, but honestly, she wasn’t going to put anything past it. Ever. “How’re you settling in? Songs and … caves aside?” ________ “Huh,” John mused. That was really interesting that the train had been able to affect them, even when they weren’t on it. When he really thought about it, he guessed it made sense. It could pull them onto the train from wherever they were so it had to have something of a reach. He smiled at the imagery of her kicking the train, lifting his shoulders in a thoughtful shrug. “I’d offer to sing you something true of my own free will, but I’m really not much of a singer.” He didn’t think his voice would deafen anyone, but singing wasn’t really a past time and he doubted anyone would really appreciate it if he did. “I’m settling in okay,” he answered after a brief, thoughtful pause. There really wasn’t much to do but settle in, but maybe some people didn’t. Maybe some people were just miserable the entire time they were on the train. It looked like the majority of people made the most of it, though. It was especially interesting that people formed relationships here, but he wasn’t surprised. Throw a bunch of people into an enclosed space and it was bound to happen. “The songs seem like a nice, easy way to break me into it. Not horrible on the surface, but pretty bad when you consider the power the train has to have over you to make you to sing.” _______ “Yeah and then people might catch you at it, and think it was the train making you do it, and that just wouldn’t end well.” Jaime shook her head slightly, sipping her juice before shifting in her seat. She nodded when he said he was settling in. Most people did, sooner or later, but some of them had a harder time of it than others. Lily’s granddaughter, after all, had taken months to really adjust, whereas other people seemed to take the train as something normal. Just another day. “Mm. When you think about the train pulling people here, period … it’s kind of a mindfuck. Especially when you start considering … timelines. How is it doing it without disrupting things? You know?” Jaime shrugged. “But songs aren’t horrible. It’ll hit you once or twice and call it good. But hallucinations, or pheromones …” Well, the pheromones hadn’t been horrible -- unless you counted the one time she’d been visiting Logan and his compartment had been subjected to the mating one. That had almost been bad. “Or wasps, or murderers … those things I could do without.” Well, really, everything but Ray she could do without. But it was hard to completely despise the train when it had brought her and Ray together. Still, that didn’t mean she had to like the rest of it. _______ “Time’s tricky that way,” John mused thoughtfully, and while he tried not to think about the last timeslip he’d found himself in, his expression darkened slightly anyway. No future was set in stone, but it had happened in at least one timeline and he’d been responsible. He shook his head to clear it. He arched a brow as she listed off a bunch of things the train had done. “Songs sound pretty good after all that. At least most of those other things can be explained more easily than a compulsion to sing, though,” he mused, shrugging his shoulders. He couldn’t say he was in a hurry to experience any of those things, and he imagined he had a lot to … look forward to. He was curious about whatever force was behind the train, but he didn’t expect to ever learn what it was. Maybe that was for the best. Some things were just better off a mystery. ______ Jaime was curious about the expression change, but she also knew better than to pry. People who pried had prying turned around on them. Then again, there wasn’t a lot she wasn’t willing to fully disclose, so … pry away. Still, an expression like that, she probably didn’t want to prod the story out of him anyway. “Once we figured it out,” she agreed. “It just … at first … I thought it was another truth song. But what I sang didn’t make sense for truth. At all. It was opposite of truth. And I guess I’d rather lie through song than deal with wasps or worry about a murderer on board.” She’d rather not have the songs, but … in perspective, things could be worse. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued to eat. She didn’t plan to stay long -- she had to go tell Ray the story of her song, after all. _______ John could see how singing these things could have been disastrous if they for some reason hadn’t been able to tell they were lies. Or didn’t believe they were lies. In that case, he imagined Jaime’s relationship might have taken a hit, if it got around that she was singing love songs to him. Jaime was pretty attractive and seemed fun to hang around, but he didn’t really have any desire to break up her relationship and take his fake twin’s place. “It seems mostly harmless since we know they’re lies. Although, I guess it could still make you say something you wouldn’t want to … now it would just be the opposite.” If someone sang about how much they loved their partner … well, that might be awkward. Since he had pretty much finished his breakfast, he gathered up his dirty dishes and grinned across the table at her. “Guess I’ll leave you alone. Thanks for the serenade,” he teased her gently as he stood up. ______ “Mostly,” she agreed. She still didn’t like the compulsion, or the feeling that had accompanied her first song, but … it was the train. They’d get over it. Or … leave it. She did grin at his speculation, and she shook her head. Now that it was out the songs were lies … it would be pretty funny if someone inadvertently admitted to whatever lie they were living. Through song. “Thank you for not mentioning it again after this ever,” Jaime replied before she pulled a face at him. Even if he did mention it to Ray, which was unlikely, she had every intention of telling Ray first just so he didn’t think she was hiding it. Then they’d have a laugh, and she’d kick the train, and they’d talk again about leaving the sadistic beast. Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, Jaime returned her attention to her own breakfast. |