Good Vibrations
Characters: Eric and Jeremy Setting: Courtyard of Block A, afternoon
Characters: Jeremy and Eric Setting: early afternoon, Block A Courtyard
Jeremy had gotten himself settled, amused by the collection of clothes he’d been given and given the weather, while the three piece suits were tempting (and oh so fitting), he went with something slightly more casual, his fedora perched back as he followed the map he’d been given back towards the non-farm courtyard. He got there, through the cafeteria which had a bar which was interesting and definitely not prison like at all. He had to wonder what Violet would say about that. He left that room, walking towards the courtyard and stopping as he got there, hands tucked into his pockets, casual slacks of course. Well, if he was seeing things right, those were stocks, with people in them. That was definitely not something you saw every day.
After eating breakfast, Eric had returned to his room to take a long shower, which was nice for the privacy even if communal showers hadn’t really bothered him. You either let it bother you and eat you up inside, or you went with the flow - he’d always just gone with it. That done, he poked around on the computer a little more, trying to figure out a little more of what the hell kind of place this was and who he was stuck in here with. It was a lot to take in, but Eric was willing to go with it without too much question. What else could he do?
Not one to stay cooped up in his room when he had a whole new place to explore and the freedom to do just that, Eric left his room after a while and took his time exploring the block his room was on. The garage was pretty kick ass, not that he knew more than the very basics of car repair. He’d ended up spending far more time in the music room than he’d even realized, excited at the instruments there, several of which he knew how to play a little, and a couple he knew well. He was rusty, but by the time he left the room, he felt like it had mostly come back to him, and he wondered if there might be anyone around here he could jam with. It was more fun high, but he’d make do. There was alcohol, after all.
As he left the music room, Eric headed toward the elevator to make his way to the other block, leaving the cafeteria and wandering out toward the courtyard. He’d pull his map out soon to figure out what was where, but for the moment, he was distracted by a man standing staring at the stocks. “You look like you’re trying to figure out if what you’re seeing’s real,” he noted with a humorous tone, stopping a couple paces away from the guy.
Jeremy heard the voice, glancing off to the side to see the other man there, and after a moment he let a slow smile creep onto his features as he shrugged and took a tentative step towards him. “You’ve got me. I’m still trying to figure out just where I am, let alone if it’s not some sort of dreamworld. Actually that’s sort of what I feel like. Nemo in Slumberland.” He smiled at the memory, a distant one of an old film, something animated and probably too young for him at the time. He’d always enjoyed the story though, even in his early teens.
Eric quirked a brow at that. “Nemo in Slumberland, huh?” he repeated, the reference tickling something in the back of his head that he couldn’t quite remember. “Well, I woke up here this morning, so unless I took something really fucked up and am still asleep in my cell and this is some really whacked out dream, I think it’s safe to say this is real,” he assured him with a crooked grin.
“I’d pinch yourself, that seemed to be the standard way to get out of a dream,” Jeremy said with a small smirk before nodding, fedora casting a shadow on his features for an instant with the movement. “Nemo in Slumberland. It was a comic from around the turn of the century, and has been recreated in plenty of different forms. Nemo would go to ‘Slumberland’ in his dreams where things were often surreal.” He nodded towards the stocks for emphasis. At one point in his life he’d had a bound copy of the comics, though he supposed that had gone with everything else in his apartment when he’d been arrested.
“That’s all right. Even if this is a dream? It’s interesting and entertaining enough to not be any rush to get back to three stone walls closed off with a set of bars,” Eric threw back, smiling a bit wider. Maybe he should care a little more about what this place was all about, but he just didn’t right now. “Ahh, yeah, that sounds familiar,” he said with a nod. Probably something he’d watched in college high as a kite. “So, you just get here?” he asked, wondering just how often they should expect new people to come along.
“I was expecting more bars,” Jeremy said looking around and mostly just seeing open green space. With stocks in the middle. “Just this afternoon. I’m guessing if you got here this morning you can’t exactly explain that?” he asked, gesturing towards the medieval punishment in the middle of the courtyard.
“Can’t say I miss the bars,” Eric said with a shrug. He looked back at the stocks, trying to work out what all he knew about that, which really wasn’t much. Just what he’d read on the journals and heard in the courtyard this morning, which had been pretty freaking confusing in all honesty. “Well, the short explanation that I’ve been able to piece together from the journals - have you seen your room and computer and stuff yet? - is that those two did something wrong, and this is their punishment. The Administration, as they call themselves, made the group here be the ones to carry it out, and there was a whole to-do about it this morning. Like near-fighting trying to figure out if they were gonna do it or not. A riot was avoided, though, when they both came down peacefully to accept their punishment,” he finished the explanation in a way one might read the end of a fairy tale, an ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ tone.
Jeremy nodded in response to the man’s question regarding his computer, letting him speak through his explanation without interrupting, more just intently listening. At the end of it, he made a face as if he found all of that rather curious and glanced back towards the stocks. “Seems as if I missed all the excitement. Can’t say I’m not a little relieved about that though. Might have been too much for a first day and all. You’re a trooper for not having locked yourself in your room.” He gave the man a smile that almost beamed, slight glint of something in his eyes.
Erica laughed at that, smirking a bit at the other man. “It’s been some kind of interesting, that’s for sure,” he agreed. “But lock myself in my room and miss out on all the new places to explore? Nah. Still can’t figure out what to make of this place. There’s a farm, a garage with an actual car and repair stuff, a music room, and that’s just on the other block. Haven’t really explored over here yet. You wanna take a look around with me?” he offered, nodding in a random direction which was actually toward the corner where the tool shed and pool were.
“I saw the farm; it’s right outside my door. I missed the rest though.” He hadn’t been that interested really, more just curious if he could find other people, which surprisingly enough, he had. “If you don’t mind the company of course. Name’s Jeremy by the way,” He offered, holding out a hand.
“Ahh, mine too. Maybe we’re neighbors,” Eric said with a distinct smirk. He took the offered hand, giving it a shake that was firm without any signs of vying for dominance. “Eric,” he offered. “And I definitely don’t mind the company,” he assured him, eyes skimming over the guy, wondering if he’d be as boring to flirt with as Reece had been this morning. It would be interesting to find out.
There was a lot that could be learned from a handshake and Jeremy took in what he could, noting the way that Eric went through the motion without trying to prove something. It probably was something he wasn’t used to doing then. “Charmed to meet you,” he greeted with another smile, his attention squarely on Eric’s eyes, as if nothing else mattered. “We might be. I’m in thirty-eight. You?” The once-over was hard to miss, but Jeremy knew there wouldn’t be anything out of place, there never was.
“Right back at ya,” Eric returned the greeting. Well now, maybe he could have a bit of fun with this. Never hurt to test the boundaries, right? Then again, that was sort of what had spiraled him into this whole situation, not that he was really thinking about that just then. “Well look at that, looks like we are! I’m in thirty-nine,” he recalled. He headed off across the courtyard, glancing back to grin at Jeremy. “Coming?”
“That so? There’s a fire-cracker of a nurse staying in thirty-seven. We arrived together.” Violet wasn’t exactly a fire-cracker, more a bundle of energy and positive thinking, but he liked the description and usually it gave off good connotations. He held on to his hat while he took a few quick steps to catch up, still smiling. He didn’t need to hold it, he’d managed to art of perching the damn thing for years, but it always gave the impression of eagerness, which he guessed might work well with Eric. “Of course.”
“Oooh, a nurse, huh? And a firecracker at that? This place is gonna be loads of fun,” Eric said with a laugh. He lifted a hand, ran his fingers through his hair as he paused to give Jeremy a chance to catch up. “Now you’ve put images in my head of spunky little nurses in those tight, short nurse dresses girls wear at Halloween - you know? The sexy ones?” he accused, but nothing from his tone to his overall demeanor indicated he was in any way disappointed by said images. “It’s been far too long since I’ve been around women. Real women.” Not the female prison guards who looked more like they could eat him alive.
The admission was definitely a change from what Jeremy had just decided about Eric, at least as far as preferences went, but he rolled with it shaking his head a little. “I remember. Though I doubt that Violet is the type. Think more...cute.” Coming right out about the women part was a touch curious but nothing about Jeremy displayed that. “I dare say I might have missed the finer sex myself, though I wasn’t in prison all that long.” And he hadn’t planned on being there very much longer, though the transfer to this place threw a wrench into that.
Eric chuckled at the clarification about Violet, shrugging. “Can appreciate cute just as much as sexy,” he said. And he fully intended to look at and appreciate all the beauty around him in this place. “Not long, huh?” he said as he continued on across the courtyard. “Been in six years. That’s a long time to really miss the finer sex.” Not that he hadn’t found some pretty boys in prison to play with, but that really wasn’t the same.
Maybe there was something about Eric that made him appreciate anything. “Six years? Really? How miserable.” Not that was definitely not happening to Jeremy. Not even with the extra years they’d tried to tack on to his sentence. “How goes keeping your hands to yourself?’ he ventured, tease in his voice and tone.
“Yeah, really. Felt like it barely scratched the surface of my sentence, though. Can’t let it be miserable, you just gotta roll with the punches,” Eric said with a grin. He could have let it eat him up, and he certainly had his moments where it started to, but he’d just never let it suck him all the way down. He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes at the question. “Who ever said I kept my hands to myself?” he countered, wiggling his brows at the guy.
Jeremy nodded as if that was wise advice, though he did agree with it. He hadn’t wanted to stick around long enough to let it bother him, nor was there that much of a fear running high in the cushy white collar prison they’d stuck him in. At the advance from Eric he grinned just a touch, holding his eyes for a moment before looking away, seeming almost embarrassed. “I’d never want to imply...”
Well now, Eric was choosing to see that as encouragement, and his gaze didn’t waver even after Jeremy looked away. “Imply away. I’m real hard to offend, especially when it’s the truth. I’m an equal opportunist, always have been.” He just came right out with it, no trace of embarrassment in his expression. Jeremy really didn’t strike him as the homophobic, kick your ass for it type.
Jeremy wasn’t, he just knew how to a mean hand of poker. Glancing back Eric’s way he smiled. “Just a habit. Used to rich old men who while I might know better, certainly don’t want me talking about what they say behind closed doors.” It never bothered him one way or another, playing an ace where he might need it. “Anything else I should know about this place?”
“I’m not rich or old,” Eric pointed out with a crooked grin. He couldn’t really figure the other guy out, but the fact was that he just wasn’t trying very hard. He was content in keeping things simple - just an amusing conversation. At the question, he laughed, shaking his head. “Man, I’ve only been here a few hours more than you. If there’s anything else you should know, I’m not really the one to ask,” he answered as they reached the tool shed. He opened the door and poked his head in. “And here we have a variety of gardening and maintenance tools,” he said in his very best tour guide tone.
“I could tell about the old part,” Jeremy pointed out with a smirk, shrugging his shoulders. “Anything else about you I should know then?” Beyond his non-particular preferences for partners. Peeking into the shed, Jeremy nodded, not at all sure what most of those devices were for, but didn’t let that show. “Handy of course.”
Eric took his time skimming his eyes over Jeremy again. The guy was attractive, but in that kind of more polished way. If his features were a little softer, he’d definitely qualify for a pretty boy. “Oh, there’s plenty you should know about me, but do you expect me to just give it up? You wanna know, you gotta work for it,” he said cheekily, winking at him. “Handy, yep.” He glanced back at Jeremy as he closed the door to the tool shed. “You don’t really look the handyman part. Bet you’d look real good in a low pair of jeans and a tool belt, though.”
“You can’t give me anything?” Jeremy asked innocently, smirking a little at the wink, but not giving much more than that. “Not really. More used to someone else doing that for me. And stop thinking of me as a member of the Village People, that’s not really my place either.”
“What do you want to know?” Eric asked, enjoying that little smirk and wondering just what more he might be able to get out of the guy as far as responses went. “The Village People? Nah, wouldn’t lump you in with them. They’re old. I’m imagining it more like... male model dressing up for a dirty magazine.” He smiled widely at the thought, though somehow he thought Jeremy wouldn’t like it any more than the Village People thought.
“Anything. Is there something I should be worried about you?” Jeremy asked, raising an eyebrow before laughing a little. “They are, though they weren’t always and the look keeps making a comeback.” He laughed again and shook his head. Model. That was a new one to him. “Never been in a position to consider that as a career path. Good to know I might have a shot.”
Eric laughed shortly, brow raised at that. “You know there’s no right answer to that,” he non-answered. “If I say that there isn’t, why should you believe me? And seeing as how we’re in prison, that implies that there could be. So what do you think? Do you feel like you should be worried about me?” he asked, but even with the more serious topic, he couldn’t quite keep his tone or expression completely serious. “Oh yeah, I’d say you’ve got a shot, but I’d have to see ya without the shirt to be sure. Whaddya say? I find a camera, you wanna give it a go?” he asked, wiggling his brows at him again.
“You make a valid point, though it does say something about whatever you might offer up,” Jeremy pointed out, though his tone matched Eric’s, not entirely serious, but curious. “If you can find a camera I might let you start down the path of coaxing me into it.”
“Does it? So what does it say, then?” Eric asked, curious about what the guy was reading into his words. Well now, that answer put a little extra bounce in Eric’s step, and he laughed appreciatively as he turned to continue on with the exploration of the place. It was now his mission to find a camera. “Then find one, I will,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to smirk at him. “So, is there anything I should know about you?” he asked, tossing his question back at him, and he really ought to have expected that.
“I’m guessing if you were to offer something up, you wouldn’t think of it as something I should be warned about, just something you’d want me to know under the guise of warning.” Jeremy thought it would be different with someone else, but Eric seemed pretty easy to understand from this point. He’d already offered up plenty in such a short time that it wasn’t really a surprise. “I’m a pretty open book. What you see is what you get.”
“Huh, okay,” Eric said, dragging the word out just a little. He was pretty simple on the surface. Maybe there was something more underneath, but it had been a really long time since anyone had really tried to look deeper. He was used to being overlooked. “Right. I’m not buying that. So, where’re you from? What did you do in the real world?” Just because Jeremy hadn’t asked him anything specific didn’t mean he wasn’t going to.
“Am I wrong?” Jeremy asked, wondering if his interpretation of the man had missed a beat. He was used to a different type of people, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t figure out these people too. “New York City, I was a consultant.”
Eric quirked a brow at that, though he probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but he ended up shrugging. “I don’t know. There’re some things I don’t see a point in being secretive about, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna pour my heart out to a perfect stranger.” He tended toward honesty veiled by jokes, but usually when people asked, and most of the time people didn’t ask. “NYC? Yeah, I could see that. So what did you consult on?”
“That’s how most people feel I think. Some vary when it comes to what kind of secrets they think aren’t secrets, but overall that’s the attitude.” Jeremy said with an understanding nod. “Where people should invest their money. Not entirely interesting, just something I had a knack for.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” Eric replied simply, leaving it at that. His brow creased a bit at the answer, though, and he couldn’t help but say, “Ya know, for an open book, you’re really not giving much away. What did you do when you weren’t telling people where to put their money?”
Jeremy laughed and raised his shoulders in a small shrug. “Because there’s not that much to know. It was a job. When I wasn’t working I was a socialite I guess. Parties, functions, wherever I was needed.”
“A socialite, huh? And wherever you were needed? Now, that doesn’t sound like you enjoyed it much. What really got your blood pumping? What excited you?” Eric asked, thinking that Jeremy was making his life sound pretty damn boring.
There were a list of answers Jeremy could have given to that question, but he didn’t. “It wasn’t that boring. Not to me. I enjoy being around people, talking to them, learning about them. I’ve just found that not everyone thinks of it as interesting as I did.”
It didn’t get past Eric that the guy didn’t really answer his question. “Okay, so it wasn’t boring to you, but that doesn’t mean it got your blood pumping. I wanna know what makes you tick. C’mon, Mr. Open Book, give me something here,” he urged him.
If only Eric knew. “Fast cars,” Jeremy said after a moment, completely ignoring what he was really thinking, what really had his blood pumping. “A really nice sports car. Every single time.” The words of the last sentence were punctuated, just to bring out the emphasis.
Eric wasn’t sure if that was a serious answer or not, and he made a show of looking Jeremy over again, as if considering if it was believable or not. “Hmm, every single time, huh? I’d have pegged you as the dark, discreet sedan type,” he said with a shrug. “Anything else really get you going? Or are fast sports cars your only proclivity?”
“Well when appropriate, which is most of the time, a black Towncar gets the job done, but a really nice, European sports car? Thats like flying. They’re built so you can actually feel the engine under you. Almost makes a guy wish it was worth the effort to have a car in the city, but it never was. Saved them for special occasions.” Jeremy grinned, obviously meaning every word he said. “Not the only thing, but...well if I tell you now you’ll be halfway down that road to convincing me to let you take my picture and you haven’t even found your camera yet. Open book or not, you’ve got to earn that one.”
And now Eric thought he could believe that, and he smirked at the thought of being able to feel the engine under him. “Who doesn’t like a good... vibration under him?” he asked, voice dropping just a little lower, tinging with innuendo. At Jeremy’s next words, he couldn't help but laugh. “All right, all right, I’ll give you that one. We’ll table it for after I’ve found a camera.” He was a little bit of a mystery for an open book, but Eric wasn’t going to let that deter him. It was like a game, and he liked a good game. “All right, then, onto the next place to explore,” he said as he started around the tool shed toward the pool room.
“No one I know,” Jeremy said, something a little extra to his smirk. It really was that simple with this one wasn’t it? He wondered if he’d prove more difficult after a while, but Jeremy was thinking not so much. “Consider it tabled. Makes it more fun anyway.” He followed after Eric, letting him guide him about and take control of the situation.
Even if he didn’t really learn anything more about Jeremy, Eric was filing this conversation under entertaining, which worked for him. Serious just didn’t suit him, not when he had any say in it. “I’m always up for more fun,” he commented, grinning.