Re: [Evans & Peel: Jack & Holly]
If a list were drawn up of the sort of thing he expected to learn while drinking, it would have been the names of long-lost lovers from the wasted, inarticulate punch-lines or the extent to which there was a morose undercurrent in even the happiest of buggers. Jack hadn't actually factored in an education on how the porn industry bought and sold its content; after a youth of consuming whatever dirty magazines could be surreptitiously smuggled into boarding school, the extent to which the internet catered for every bloody taste you might have was still bloody wondrous.
"Better than one on the street, I suppose." His understanding and experience of the sex-industry was limited; the very very tail-edges of whatever Cat deigned to say about it and sitting in the edges of Destiny's trailer feeling as if his free range of motion had now been shrivelled down to whatever couldn't be misinterpreted. There was some from before Repose, of course, Jack had been to Amsterdam, but yes, Pornhub sounded better than a lurking presence on the street to Jack's untutored ear.
"Assuming I've been with someone? Thanks, ever so bloody much." Jack reached for a third glass now, the bartender summoned back. "Yes, I've done it when with someone. Why? Oh christ, it depends what you're looking to get out of it. It's not better, it's just - selfish, I suppose. You don't have to give two shits about who they are, what their day is like, it's about what they want in that moment, what you want in that moment and you don't have to think about it afterward." He looked at Holly, slurring away and articulating a desire to know what his preference was.
"I thought it was all about ambiguity, these days. I've never wanted to be with a man," Jack said frankly. "Right, so you've been doing it a while and never wanted to engage the clientele."
Holly was bang on the bloody money, actually. A kid with a buzz, and one far more articulate than Jack had expected, and he laughed: "If I've learned anything in Repose, it's not to write someone off. They cause far more bloody trouble later. You can't be wasted forever, no, but you can do yourself a decent job of seeing yourself through your first hangover. You don't want to be a drunk, Holly. You're having an exponentially shit time, and I can't say I can think of a better coping mechanism, because I can't. But this isn't one to grow attached to."