jane randolph (agonium) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-04-03 18:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, jane, jane x shane, shane |
Who: Jane & Shane
Where: Castle View and the Back Porch
When: Thursday afternoon, June 7th
Status: Complete
Shane had a lot to think about and no real desire to do any of that thinking. Things had been nice with Reza since their series of shitstorms and he figured Jane was lucky he hadn't gont to find her when emotions were still running high. He did want some updates on how things were going, if anything was moving forward with their little plan but mostly he just wanted to prod at her for sticking her nose in his business. It had gone better than he expected, to be fair, but he was still pissed about it. Pissed and a little bit bewildered.
He stopped by her place when he was out and about on a brisk Thursday afternoon, glad the sun was out again and the rain had stopped. There was something nice about thunderstorms but he was nothing if not a fan of sunshine. He supposed he could have called first but it was easier to just roll on by and maybe he didn't want her expecting him. At this point he wasn't sure where he had her, if she'd talked to Reza because she knew more than Shane realized and wanted his help - or if she'd been trying to sabotage whatever it was they had. All Shane had told her was that he'd brought a boy toy to keep him from getting bored and he'd really clung to that story for his own sake too. He was in no way ready to have feelings for someone, he barely even knew how to keep friends. He took a deep breath before he knocked on her door, slipping his hands in his pockets and trying to school his frown into a cocky smile.
Jane had just gotten home from buying more art supplies and was pulling them out of the paper bag when she heard the knock at the door. Well aware that there was only a handful of people who knew where she lived, Jane wasn't terribly surprised when she opened it to find Shane standing there. He was smiling and Jane gave him a look before sighing and stepping back, motioning him inside. "Are you here to thank me or yell at me?" Jane was well aware that Reza had no doubt talked to Shane about everything Jane had revealed and she was fine with it if Shane was there to call her names or bitch at her for getting involved. But she was involved, they all were, and that included Reza, even if Shane didn't want to admit it.
"I'm here to check if you're sane enough to be part of this operation," Shane told her playfully and made a beeline for her fridge to get himself something to drink. "What made you think that was a good idea?" He was genuinely curious about that part so the question was not hypothetical at least and he turned to give her a curious look as he popped open the bottle of beer he found. It was so much easier to talk about this when he'd actually had time to think and wasn't getting surprised by the turn of events, but he was well aware Jane might be hiding some cards up her sleeve so he tried to brace himself for whatever surprise might pop up during this conversation.
Jane went back to her bag of art supplies and continued unloading them. "Was it a bad idea?" She arched a brow and set some new paintbrushes aside. "He's a cutie by the way. Those eyes, you could just sink right into them. I bet they get dark during sex, huh?" Whether or not she was sane was a completely different conversation to be had and not one she really wanted to deal with at the moment. Were any of them sane, doing what they were doing right now? What they were planning to do?
Shane was momentarily distracted by that because yes, she was absolutely right and she had a way with wordsa and Reza's eyes were fucking amazing - as was the rest of him. He groaned, rolled his head and gave her a frustrated sort of smile. "You're such a bitch. I didn't want him to know anything." It had worked out in the end, sort of, except now Reza knew too much and Shane hadn't felt this vulnerable in years. "When were you last uncomfortable?" he asked, cocking a brow at her before sipping his beer. Did she even get uncomfortable? She seemed so blasé all the time which never really bothered Shane until now. She'd made him more than a little uncomfortable, he felt like turning the tables on her.
Jane merely shrugged when he called her a bitch and she carried her new acrylics to her work table across the room. She was a bitch. At least she could be. It didn’t bother her to know that. How did Shane think she survived for so long? “He was going to find out eventually, and maybe in a way that was a lot shittier than sitting in a coffee shop with me,” Jane pointed out. “You can’t protect people in this town by hiding them, or keeping them in the dark.” She put her paints away and then turned back to Shane, her hands on her hips as she arched a brow. “Define what you mean by uncomfortable.”
"Called out, put on the spot, had your secrets dragged out and shoved down your throat," Shane muttered with a little shrug as he followed her, perching his butt on the edge of the couch and eyeing her paintings. "He wasn't going to find out shit, I was going to send him home." There was nothing he could really use against Jane, no dark secrets or embarrassing details, but that didn't mean he couldn't make her feel flushed. So that's what he did, slowly but surely tuning in on her and turning up the heat. Not a lot, not at first, but enough that she would feel it. "Could've done with a warning, you know. I don't like surprises."
She definitely felt it and if she felt any shame for what she had done, Jane might have thought the rise in her body’s temperature was guilt. But since she knew it wasn’t, Jane narrowed her gaze at Shane. “That’s bullshit,” Jane said calmly, though she wasn’t thrilled with what he was doing it. “You weren’t going to send him home. You probably told yourself that you would, but if you didn’t want him here, you wouldn’t have brought him in the first place. This guy is worth being uncomfortable for and you know it.” No, there was nothing Shane could use against her but for the heat he could invoke. But that was because Jane was smart enough not to get attached to anyone. “Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.”
"I like creature comforts," Shane murmured. "Good food, good drink, good sex." He quirked a brow and raised the bottle in a little toast to her, making her just a touch warmer. He knew the limits of the human body now and this was nothing worse than something she might feel after a heavy workout or a mild fever. So far. "I don't like feeling trapped and I really don't like people making decisions for me. I definitely don't like feeling uncomfortable." She was right and on some level he knew it but that didn't mean he wanted it to be true. "I would've sent him home," he told her, looking her in the eye like she wanted. "I've seen what AIR does to people, this isn't his fight."
Jane kept her hands on her hips, despite the growing discomfort of her body. She could get angry with him, for being a child about all of this, but he was a man and men tended to behave irrationally when they were upset. "You're a liar," Jane said, her fingers pressing into her hips now. "You knew what AIR was before you came here, and you still brought him. For what? A few days of sex and then to send him home? You could have drive to Bangor or Portland if you wanted some creature comforts in the middle of all of this. I'm willing to bet your life would get just a touch easier if you'd stop lying to yourself." Jane took a breath and resisted the urge to brush her hand over her forehead. Instead, she arched a brow, telling herself she would accept Shane's form of punishment without losing her temper. That was never a pretty sight. "Are you going to set me on fire now?"
"I'm not going to set you on fire," Shane said and he couldn't help but laugh at the notion. She was his friend! "I do like watching you blush though, you're never rattled by anything. It's annoying." He upped the heat a little bit, but then cut it off, knowing it would take a while for it to fade unless she went and splashed cold water on her face and something told him she might not do that because she liked to play it cool, just like he did. "I should make you blush all fucking day, because you really ruined my day. And I was having a really nice day until Reza came back to the house with a lot of weird questions."
Jane inhaled sharply and then laughed, bringing a hand up to brush her hair back. She felt damp, like she had been working out for a while. It was unpleasant and if she was feeling petty, she would have concocted a terrible nightmare for him later. "You know you're making me blush by making me hot. That's not a genuine blush, for the record." She dropped her hand and walked over to flop down on her couch, lifting her feet to cross them on her coffee table. "Shane, I'm not going to say I'm sorry if I'm not actually sorry, because then I would be lying to you and you know I don't like to lie to my friends. Whether you want to admit it or not, you like Reza and you want him here, AIR or not. I guess if I'm sorry about anything, it's that you had to relive all the bullshit to answer his questions and I know that was probably hard for you. But now he knows and now he can stay and now you can, you know, maybe try to be happy for once."
"You have no way of knowing that," Shane protested with a roll of his eyes. "You have no way of really knowing what I'm feeling. You're not a mind reader or aura reader or any of that shit." He got up, only to walk around the coffee table and flop down on the couch next to her "He could be some vapid party boy I just really like fucking and shit... What if I totally love him and you telling him the truth scared him off? You're reckless, Jane. Telling him was fucking stupid. Just admit that at least." He didn't expect her to be sorry, he knew her a little better than that - even if these latest events had shown him he didn't really know her at all.
"Shane, do you really think I'm going to believe you would fly a vapid party boy all to small town Maine and rent a stupidly large house in the most expensive neighborhood for him?" Jane studied him closely. Maybe they weren't BFF but it had been easy to pick up on the fact that Reza wasn't some random casual lover Shane was toting around. "I can't convince you of something you're not willing to admit to yourself, and that's fine. I don't think telling him was stupid. I think telling him was necessary. If I thought it was stupid, I wouldn't have done it." Pausing, her lips twitched briefly. "Do you totally love him? I promise that'll be something I keep to myself."
"First of all," Shane started, pausing for dramatic effect as he gave her a serious look. "I got that house for myself. I get claustrophobic as fuck if I have to stay in the same room for long, I think you can guess why. Second-" he trailed off, put on a somewhat exaggerated frown because he did not like that question. "It was stupid, by the way, but yeah I like him more than I should." He could have stopped talking there but did he? No. There was some part of him that felt like Jane needed to understand why she'd been stupid to tell Reza and why she was still in the wrong.
"I've had like five friends in my life and four of them turned out not to be friends and you are on thin ice so... I'm not good with people. I don't even like people for more than just short intervals of time so, yeah. I'm not sick of him yet, that's all I can say." And that was pretty big so he felt like he'd said too much already even if he hadn't outright said he loved Reza. He took a long swig of his beer, feeling a little more ticked off now than when he'd first arrived. Trust Jane to prod him until he really did want to set her on fire.
Jane very nearly told him that she didn't have friends. Real friends. That he and the rest of their little group of misfits were there to take care of a problem and that was that. But it felt harsh, so she bit her tongue and let him say what he needed to say. Shane already had enough hang ups. Reza was just another to add to the list. "That's fine," Jane said, closing her eyes and resting her head back against the couch. After a moment she opened one eye to peer at him. "How much longer in this particular interval before you get sick of me and leave?"
"I'm enjoying watching you suffer," Shane muttered. "And I'm going to finish this beer." He wasn't actively warming her now but he knew it took a few minutes for the body to regulate itself, not that he was really watching her anymore. His brain had entered some thunderstorm territory and he was staring blankly at the coffee table and Jane's bare feet. He wondered if it had helped her, going back to her family, getting therapy, whatever the hell it was she did back then. She'd been younger, had that helped? She was such a mess too so Shane doubted it, but it wasn't like they ever talked about that whole experience in any depth. Neither of them wanted that. "I'm going out of town for a few days. This town is so fucking boring."
Jane's lips twitched briefly and the desire was there to tug her shirt away from her damp body, but that would give Shane way too much satisfaction. He knew what he was doing, or had done, and that was more than enough for him. Hearing that he was going out of town drew her gaze to his face and while she wanted to tease him about taking his boyfriend on yet another trip, she decided to let go of the topic of Reza for now. People in love could be so annoying about it, especially people in love who refused to admit that they were in love. "You're going to come back, aren't you?"
Shane wished he could say no, that he was cutting loose and heading to some tropical paradise to leave all this bullshit behind him. He frowned again, then huffed some air through closed lips. "Yeah," he muttered, the reluctance more than a little obvious. "For the children," he added mockingly, wrinkling his nose as he looked at Jane again. "Just tell me we're going to get something done, I'm this close to putting on a bulletproof vest and storming the place." They both knew that wasn't true, it wasn't bullets Shane was afraid of in that building, none of them had any idea what AIR had achieved in the last seventeen years, one small facility burning down probably hadn't set them back much.
"We can't do that and you know it." Jane stretched a little. "We're going to get something done. You have to be patient, Shane. Don't worry, you'll get to run back to Chicago soon enough." She knew that they had a much bigger problem on their hands than just one building in Maine. But if they could destroy AIR here, it was possible they could destroy the rest. Jane just didn't know how yet. But she knew it would come to her. "Go have some fun, hopefully you'll come back less grumpy."
"I will," Shane replied. "And I'll stay less grumpy if you don't meddle with my personal shit again. It's off limits, you got that? Seriously. I don't need to set all of you on fire at once, I'll start with your hair." He wouldn't, of course, and he might not threaten to if he thought for a second Jane was worried he actually would but he could make her uncomfortable again. She could retaliate if she wanted, he had no idea how nightmares would work on him since he only remembered his dreams when she was in them, but it could get ugly if they kept at it and they needed to not be fighting among themselves.
Jane sighed. "Nothing is off limits, Shane. Jesus, it's like you've never met me before. Deal with your personal shit yourself and I won't have to do it for you." Children. She was surrounded by children. Well, some of them anyway. Seriously, this whole ragtag gang needed more women. Eying the beer in Shane's hand, Jane lifted a brow curiously. "Want to go get a real drink with me? Or do you have to run on home to the lover?" If he was going to leave, that was fine. Jane could always go get a drink on her own. The Porch had some hot guys working there and she liked watching them.
"My personal shit is off limits," Shane corrected her firmly and almost added it was off limits for him too. His personal shit just shouldn't be poked at by anyone, ever. He relented though and he wasn't exactly loving this beer so she'd hit her mark with her question. "Yeah, I could go for a real drink. What you got in mind?" He wasn't going to hold a grudge, those were boring. She might piss him off badly enough that he felt like he needed to teach her a lesson again but he was ready to let this go for now.
Jane didn't respond to the correction with anything more than a hum in her throat. She was his "friend" and friends helped each other out. He might not like her brand of help, but that was just too damn bad. She would stay out of his business as long as it didn't come anywhere near her. If it did, that wasn't her fault. "Let's go to the Porch," she said, reaching over to pat his thigh before she stood to get some shoes on. "The guys behind the bar are fucking gorgeous and I like picturing them naked when I'm there. I could use a few rum and Cokes too. You have no idea how fun dreamwalking is when I'm wasted."
Shane hadn't been to the Porch, he didn't think. The name didn't sound familiar. The promise of hot guys to mentally undress was good enough for him though and if he liked it, it could be another place to bring Reza. He got up as well, put the bottle of beer on the table since he'd lost interest in it and stretched as he walked after Jane. "I wish I could join you," he said. "Go look at people's dreams. It sounds fucking fantastic. Have you ever been drunk in my dreams?" He was pretty sure they weren't as fun as other people's, he never remembered much but when Jane showed up it became lucid dreaming and she always seemed to have more control than he did.
Jane grabbed her keys to lock up and gave Shane an inquisitive look, as if she were trying to remember all the times she had slipped into his dreams. "I don't think so? I tend to avoid the dreams of people who know me well if I've been drinking before dreamwalking." She shrugged and opened the door for Shane to step out first. "Things tend to get a bit weird and slightly out of control, which can be a lot of fun with strangers who have no idea who you are, or why they're dreaming of you. It's different when it's with someone you know." Jane grinned and closed the door behind them so she could lock it. "Maybe someday I'll hone it enough to be able to take someone dreamwalking with me. Did I tell you I was able to pull together four people into the same dream and manipulate it for them?"
"You did not," Shane replied with feigned insult. "But you're gonna tell me all about it now, that sounds awesome." And if she could do that, she could probably bring him along too. One person had to be easier than four, but of course he had no idea about the connection already in place with those four particular people. "Let's take my car, you sound like you want to get wasted and I don't," he added, fishing his car keys out of his pocket. "And my car is a lot nicer than yours." Rental, but still. It was a sweet ride.
"It was awesome that I could do it, but also not awesome." She had no problem with Shane driving. Then she could drink as much as she wanted. Maybe she wouldn't get wasted but she didn't want to risk a DUI either. "Yes, let's go show off your flashy car to this tiny town and make them super jealous." Jane locked her door and pocketed her own keys to follow him to his car. "For the record, I don't want to get wasted. That makes it sound like I want to get sloppy. I just want to get respectably drunk."
Shane was getting kind of used to Jane being frustrating so he wasn't terribly surprised when she refused to tell him more about this dream while they headed to the Porch. As soon as she gave him directions he knew what bar she was talking about and that it was a bit of a dive. Not his kind of place at all but oh well, he could have a couple of drinks with her there, he certainly wasn't above a place like that. He wasn't terribly impressed with the hot guys working there, not his types at all. One was short and kind of cute in a boyish kind of way and the other was big and buff with a cute smile. So, yes they were cute. They grabbed a table close to the bar so Jane could undress those boys in her mind all she wanted and Shane bought the first round of drinks. "How many of these do I have to buy you before you tell me all about this dream business?" he murmured as he sat down and put her drink in front of her.
Jane smirked when Shane sat and she took her drink, gesturing to him in a mock salute. "At least three," she said before taking a sip. She wouldn't really do that, because she hadn't really talked to anyone about what had happened with Neil and his dreamer friends and Shane was the closest thing she had to a friend in town whom she could reveal this kind of stuff. "Honestly, it's a bit complicated. But the simple explanation is this... Neil was experiencing shared dreams with three other people in town, including the girl I told you about, the one who can open doorways into other dimensions, or whatever the fuck you want to call them." Jane took another sip before continuing. "Anyway, there was some creature in their dreams, stalking them but they could never see it... Neil asked for my help... I was able to pull all four of them back into the same dream so I could get a look at whatever this thing was. I just sort of... dream hopped between the four and connected them again. I don't know if it was all me, or if it helped that they had already been in each other's subconscious... anyway, I was the only one really able to move around in that dream. It was like they were all paralyzed. The thing that was stalking him was one of those creatures from the fog a while back."
That sounded like maybe going along on a dreamwalk wasn't as much of a possibility as Shane had thought and he felt a pang of disappointment, but hell, maybe Jane could practice or maybe this weird endeavor had opened up some new twist on her ability. That was what AIR had been trying to do to all of them, expand their powers, twist them into something more complex and exciting. "Was this dream thing somehow related to, you know," he said, glancing over at the bar but the two guys working there seemed busy enough chatting among themselves for him to feel a little more at ease finishing his sentence, although he did lower his voice. "Air." It was too easy to fall into the pit of blaming everything on the organization that had fucked up their lives but Jane had said they were experimenting on the whole town now so it wasn't too farfetched.
"I don't know," Jane admitted. "Maybe. I mean, Neil was involved and the Cooper girl. But the other two... I don't think they have any connection to AIR. It could be a coincidence...but..." She lowered her voice. "One of them is a witch and the other is a werewolf. I doubt AIR had anything to do with those two since they didn't have any recollection of being taken as a kid... but I have no idea. With AIR, who knows. I want to sneak into Wilkes's dreams and try to figure it out, but I think he'll recognize me so... I may need to go to the facility and get a look at someone else, someone who wouldn't know who I am." She took another drink, mostly to distract from the apprehension she had about that. It was a brand new building, but the same location, and Jane wasn't sure how she would feel about going there again.
Shane was still a bit stuck on the 'werewolf' bit, eyes widening slowly as Jane spoke so casually about it. Sure he knew witches were real, but werewolves? Of. Fucking. Course. He was about to stop her from talking, to tell her to 'whoa go back to the werewolf part' when she mentioned Wilkes and his expression hardened again from the curious and bewildered one to something more grim. He had to remind himself that this was not the Wilkes they had known, this was his son. And yet, the name put a bad taste in his mouth. "I mean, does he fucking know anything about us? We destroyed everything," he said quietly. "Maybe he'd know you if he read the news but I disappeared a long time ago, didn't leave a trace, didn't reappear right after you know what." It made him wonder if he could get close to Wilkes, somehow get Jane closer without Wilkes ever seeing her.
"He worked for his dad," Jane reminded him quietly. "Maybe he wasn't at the facility, but he knew enough to be able to follow in his old man's footsteps. All of our records got destroyed, but.. I don't know, Shane. Sometimes I think they know we're here, sometimes I think they think we're too dumb to stay, or come back. That's why I want to get into his head, or his nephew...." She paused and then barked out a soft laugh. "That sounded dirty. I just mean, I want to find out what he knows, if anything. It's obviously better for us if he doesn't know who we are, but the you know what killed his dad. If it were me, I would want to know what happened and who exactly was responsible."
Shane was realizing just how woefully little he knew about this new place and the people involved. He'd imagined Wilkes's son being very young during the fire but Wilkes had been an old man so his son could be in his forties or fifties now for all Shane knew. Jane was right, if Wilkes jr. was literally following in his father's footsteps, maybe he hadn't been so in the dark all those years ago. "Fuck," Shane whispered as he thought about it and he could only hope their new enemy didn't have their identities. If he did, why would he let them run around loose now? "Okay so back up, you said something about werewolves," he said more playfully and raised his glass as he hoped that was an easier topic than AIR.
"Yeah," someone chimed behind him, making him realize he probably should have lowered his voice. "Don't go out in Point Pleasant on a full moon." It was one of the bartenders as he scooted past them with a tray of empty glasses. "I wish I was joking," he added in a near sing-song voice and gave Shane a little wink that made Shane think maybe he was cuter than he'd originally assessed.
"You're only allowed to look," Jane warned Shane, after the wink. Unfortunately that's all Jane got to do too. She took another drink before answering. "He's right though. I've only seen the one... I mean, not seen seen, but I know the guy, he was one of the Dreamers. Vex told me what he really was, which makes sense because he was cagey about stuff when we were all talking and trying to find what they had in common. Nic was the witch, Neil and Jules AIR subjects, though... less Jules and more Neil since Jules was apparently only a baby at the time. Carson, the werewolf, was just... in denial, I guess, or just didn't want us to know. Thankfully Vex is as open as I am about things." With a grin, she set her glass back on the table. "I figured if there's one, there's probably more. But I haven't seen any with my own eyes."
Shane might have told her he could do whatever he wanted, thanks, but he was far too preoccupied by the weirdness she was telling him about. Of course he knew the world was crazy, he had enough proof of that already, but werewolves? People physically changing into a completely different shape? That sounded insane. "So what lore came the closest to the truth?" he asked. "Are there werecats? Werebirds?" He grinned knowing just how stupid that sounded but who even knew. "Werepigs?" It sounded like they were mindless beasts on the full moon if both Jane and their bartender felt the need to warn him about it, but that shit sounded crazy and he pulled out his phone to look up when the next full moon was. Oh he was definitely taking Reza to some nice hotel away from Point Pleasant for that occasion.
Jane laughed and shook her head. "Nah, I don't think so. But hey, who the hell really knows. We're not the only weirdos in this town, but you already knew that. Some of them are just hairier than we are. Carson's a nice guy, though. I think he came back from wherever he got sucked into in January but I haven't talked to him. I should check in with Neil and see if he has." She hadn't bugged Neil in a while and it felt like the right time to go see him and make sure he hadn't up and ditched town. She wasn't scared of a werewolf. She knew well enough to stay inside on the full moon, just in case.
"And that other guy is a witch," Shane murmured. "How does that work? Does he have a cauldron?" He wasn't quite ready to give up Reza's secrets but that wasn't the main reason he was asking. He knew so precious little about magic and witchcraft that hearing about it from someone else might help him get some insight into what all his boy was about. Until Reza told him he was a witch, Shane had been so sure he was like him and Jane, psychic abilities, one with the vibrations or whatever. His magic wasn't carefully planned and written down, it was part of him and that went against a lot of the lore Shane knew about witches in general.
"Why don't you ask him. I didn't see any cauldrons, but I didn't exactly hang out with him a lot," Jane said. "He owns that spice shop in town. I still don't know what the hell all of that was about... the dreams, but it definitely connected to the fog shit that went down last year." Jane took another drink and settled back against her chair. "One thing about this town is that you will never be bored, Shane. "It's been a quiet couple of months but it feels more like the calm before the storm, you know? You can kind of feel it beneath your skin."
Shane knew about the spice shop, Reza had gotten him into drinking tea from there and he often wondered if it was magical somehow because he'd never particularly cared for tea before. Or maybe Reza was just damn good at making it. "When I say I'm bored, Jane," he muttered. "I mean I want to have fun, not more traumatic experiences. You should try it." He winked at her and raised his glass in a mock toast. "Fun, I mean. I think we've both had enough trauma to last us a lifetime." And yet they were here, seeking out more for the sake of... revenge? Righteousness? Doing it for the kids, like Reza? It felt like destiny in some twisted way, like Shane couldn't walk away even if he'd want to.
"How much fun have you been having on your own since you left this place?" Jane asked. "You should know that we don't get to avoid trauma. It's in our DNA, being what we are. We're never going to be normal, no matter how much you try to run from it. And no matter how much fun we try and have, it's never going to last, which you also know." Shrugging, Jane picked up her glass again. "It's easier once you just accept it."
"You're such a pessimistic bitch," Shane drawled, even if he too always considered trauma and death to be just around the corner. Had he expected to make it to his thirties? Not at all. He still didn't think he'd live to see forty, so he was probably a pessimistic bitch too - with a twist of drama. "You were supposed to be undressing bartenders with your eyes," he pointed out, glancing over at the bar. "Which one is more your type? Or is your favorite not working today?"
"Don't mistake realism for pessimism," Jane said, smirking softly. She had a feeling being realistic was why she was still alive. It made no sense to go around with her head willingly buried in the sand like Neil attempted to do on a daily basis. She had long since accepted what her life was, and what it would be. There was no house with a white picket fence in her future. Arching her neck a bit to get a better look at who was behind the air, Jane hummed in her throat. "The one behind the bar. The burly one there. He smiles a lot. The other two are sort of surly and one barely emerges from the back room. The one who warned you about the full moon, I don't think he's related to the other two."
"They look nothing alike," Shane agreed but he'd seen families that didn't resemble each other before so it wasn't that out there. He assumed that meant the other three were related, cousins or brothers. He didn't really care, he was just glad the smiley one was working and not the surly ones, a shitty bartender could ruin a good night with his attitude. "Well if we were on the prowl here I'd let you have the bigger one," he murmured. "The full moon guy is a little closer to my taste." And why was he comparing guys to Reza now? He'd always been into all sorts of people, even the occasional woman so that was a little disconcerting. "I mean, they're probably both straight so you can have them both, if you want that. The tall one gives you more to work with." The blond guy was wearing a nice t-shirt that showed off his impressive arms and it was easy to go from there and Shane thought that yeah, he was probably a hot fuck.
"Yeah." Jane hummed with appreciation as she studied both men. "As it is, I'm not on the prowl and knowing my luck, they're both committed elsewhere. Like you are." She grinned and raised her glass in a mock toast to Shane. "If we ever get out of this place for good, I'll come visit you in Chicago and you can hook me up with some pretty boys there." She paused a beat. "Do you think Pastor Mal would give me a go? He could spank me with his Bible while I tell him all of my sins. Or is that only priests? I can never remember." Jane wasn't religious at all but she had to admit the guy was hot. He would probably quote scripture in bed though and that definitely was not a kink she harbored.
Shane was hard pressed to think who the hell he could introduce Jane to in Chicago but it was a hypothetical that would most likely never come true so it wasn't really something he had to worry about. Nor was it something he had to think about overly much because Jane then dropped the bomb about Mal and Shane had to laugh. "Oh my god," he groaned, still laughing. "I don't know the difference, but I'm pretty sure he already knows all your sins. I would not want to fuck a mindreader but hey, you do you, girl. I support you." He raised his glass to that as he wondered what Mal looked like when he came. Which was probably something he was going to remember when he next met him. Would Mal know? "God damn it, Jane," he drawled as he realized. "You sexualized the priest. You know he's gonna know. Might as well slip into his dreams at this point and try him out."
Jane laughed and shook her head. "I don't do that in dreams. I've never tried, anyway. As intriguing as I find it, it feels wrong." Sighing dramatically, Jane brought her drink back up to her lips. "Besides, Mal and I have a pact to stay out of each other's heads. I don't want him to know my thoughts and he sure as hell doesn't want me to tap into his sins, because you know he's got some. There's no way any of us came out of that building without issues and he was someone who was sold so he's probably a hell of a lot more damaged than we are. Men of God are always the most fucked up." Her drink was nearly gone, which was a damn shame but she supposed she ought to stop before she got stupid. "And a mind reader wouldn't be the worst person to take to bed. I would never have to tell them what they're doing wrong... they would just know and change course."
"How do you even know he's keeping his word?" Shane asked and now that he thought about it, the dream thing probably was creepy so he was glad she didn't hold that against him. "He could be scanning your every thought, he's probably got the best poker face because people's thoughts are unpredictable and messed up half the time - and Mal's not bad looking so a lot of them are probably dirty or embarrassing to read." He wasn't so sure that was a gift he'd want for himself, reading minds might help keep him safe but always knowing what other people were really thinking had to be exhausting. Hopefully for Mal he could tune it out. "I wonder how close to someone he has to be to hear their thoughts," he speculated. "Like, how does it work? Brainwaves and all, feels like thoughts are always the same volume to me."
"I think given my mental ability I would be able to feel it if he snuck into my head... but I don't know that for sure." Jane shrugged, not too terribly worried about it. "Besides, even if he can read my thoughts, is he really hearing anything I wouldn't say out loud? I'll tell him to spank me with a Bible, as long as his daughter isn't around." She waggled her brows before finishing off her drink. "Anyway, I trust him, at least in not digging into my head. I feel like if you asked him these questions, he would probably tell you the truth. His telepathy isn't a secret to us."
Shane sometimes wondered if they could really trust each other, especially the ones who hadn't actually been with them on the night of the fire. Mal had been sold, who was to say he wasn't still working for AIR in some capacity and who the hell was Diego really? It wasn't really his game to be overly paranoid though and since he really couldn't figure out why the people working for AIR would be dragging their feet if they knew their subjects were back, he figured the odds of them knowing a damn thing were slim. And if they were playing with odds, Toby was kind of their lucky coin; if he felt the urge to run away it was definitely time to do so. Shane nudged his glass away and got up from his seat. "Want another one?" he asked as he reached for his wallet. "I think the surly one just showed up." Not his type either, though he couldn't deny the guy had nice lips for a straight, surly guy.
Jane trusted very few people and even then she was her first and only priority. But she also felt like she was a good judge of character and she had believed Mal when he said he wouldn't stray into her head if she stayed out of his dreams. So far she thought they had both stayed true to that pact. "Yeah, I'll take one more," Jane said, wiggling her empty glass. She glanced at the bar and then sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "He's so gorgeous. I bet he knows how to use that mouth too. Do you think he scowls when he fucks too?"
Shane leaned down so he could speak more quietly, smirking at Jane as he did so. "DSL," he murmured, then straightened up and glanced at the sour-looking man at the bar. "Probably not," he said, half joking. Maybe the guy was just having a shitty day and Shane felt compelled to try to make him smile. Which would probably work better if he was a pretty girl so maybe Jane had a better shot at it. Whatever, she could try if she got the next round. When he returned to the table, unsuccessful, he shook his head with an amused little grimace. "Nope, definitely a sulky one in bed too," he said and set down Jane's drink in front of her. "Or he just really doesn't like men. Like really, really doesn't like them."
Amused, Jane watched Shane order their drinks. She couldn't hear what was being said, but the guy didn't even crack a smirk before handing Shane two new glasses. "Can you blame him?" Jane asked, once Shane was back. Picking up her drink, she toasted him. "Men are the worst. Did you get him to say anything or did he just grunt at you?" Two of them weren't very talkative at all, but the guy with the glasses and the burly one were always chatting away with someone. At least they struck a nice balance when it came to customer service, because Jane was pretty sure this place would be a financial disaster if they were all quiet dicks.
"I think he might have a limit of how many words he's allowed to say in one minute," Shane said with a grin and didn't even consider for a second correcting Jane in her statement. Men really were the worst, Shane might like them but he could still admit to that. He was pretty awful in the narrative of a lot of other people's stories too. "But yeah he mostly grunted and looked peeved that I was actually talking to him." He waggled his brows and laughed a bit before taking a sip of the alcohol. At least the drink was good and the place, albeit a dive, was kinda nice. "So, Diego and me are gonna try some fire tricks together. You got any plans for us?"
Jane chuckled and sipped her fresh drink. "He sounds like the perfect man for me, then. Be gorgeous, don't talk, and satisfy me in bed." Sighing wistfully, she glanced back at the bar to see Surly had disappeared again. Shame. "What kind of plans are you looking for?" she asked. "Do you mean AIR plans? Or what you two can contribute, kind of plans." She needed to talk to Mal again. Everyone would get a say, obviously, but deep down it felt like Mal should be the one she's making plans with. He was a telepath but he had something about him that made her think he was more powerful than that. If she was proven wrong, she would just take over.
"Isn't everything about AIR?" Shane muttered sardonically and let out a huffed breath. "Sure as hell feels like it. So yeah, AIR plans." Which sounded weirdly like airplanes in some off accent so he huffed again, this time with amusement. "I've been here for weeks, nothing is fucking happening." Not that he minded, not at all. He was enjoying his time with Reza away from Chicago and he was in no rush to ruin his life or even possibly end it. It was the uncertainty that was wearing him down, not knowing when or if they were going to strike. "I'm starting to think you just dragged me up here 'cause you missed me."
"Whenever I miss you, I come see you in your dreams, remember? You are so fucking impatient," Jane said with a shake of her head. "Diego's kid is getting to know Wilkes's nephew. We know where the building is. We just need to know what's inside and what they're doing. It's a process, Shane. I know you probably thought you would come here, we would charge the building, destroy it for good and you could go back to Chicago unscathed, but that's not how this works." Jane huffed out a breath. "I plan on talking to Neil... I have some thoughts and he's the only one leftover from the fog shit that is connected to all of this. Nic and Carson weren't involved with AIR. I have ideas, I just need to..." She scrunched up her face thoughtfully. "Execute them."
Shane was impatient, she was absolutely right about that. He always had been and at this point he probably always would be. He was impulsive, he needed to act on his ideas quickly before they got boring and he couldn't stand to be in the same place for too long at a time. So yes, he was impatient and everything she said didn't really help matters any. "Then execute them," he said and rapped his fingers on the table with a little grin. "C'mon Jane, you're not usually one to hold back when you have an idea."
"This is different," Jane pointed out. "These ideas could get people killed and while I don't care about AIR, I care about you. If we could storm in and set the building on fire again, I would, but we can't. Just have some faith in me, okay? Enjoy your boy and once I have something solid, I'll bug you again." She would definitely have to talk to Mal. And then Neil. Or Neil and then Mal. Mal wouldn't give her any shit, but Neil... well, it had been a while since they spoke, so he had to know she was coming around sooner rather than later. "You've got the ginormous house in Overlook, so I think you should host our next meeting of the misfits."
Shane almost pointed out that their first plan together had gotten people killed and very easily could have killed all of them but that had been different. She'd been thirteen at the time and they'd been trying to get out, not in. So he said nothing, just nodded and then smirked at her next idea. "If we're doing a big meeting, sure I'll host. I'd rather host a party though." He wasn't sure how he'd do with a big group of people who weren't just having fun and drinking or doping, it was a completely different vibe when everyone had something to say and he'd never done well at meetings.
"Let's call it a party. I bet we'll get more people to show up that way." She grinned. "Plus, I want to see where you live." She was nosy that way, but she was sure Shane would understand. "Do you think Mal will come? Maybe we can get him to swim. Actually, we should tell all the guys to bring swimming trunks. Wouldn't that be a sight?" Jane looked off into the distance wistfully. A bunch of hotties half naked and wet? Yes, please. Just because they were all there to take down a dangerous organization and potentially die didn't mean they couldn't have a little fun first.
"I don't swim," Shane told her, not really thinking about whether it was a bad idea or not to put that out there. "But I'll happily watch everyone else strip down and get in the water. Drinks on the poolside, you and me, you in? Or were you planning on getting in the pool to seduce the priest?" He thought it could be nice to actually have a party, where the topic wasn't AIR and they could relax and drink and get to know each other better. Maybe they could even get Neil to loosen up a little if they gave him enough booze. "Might wanna tell Neil it's a meeting, he doesn't strike me as the partying type."
"Mmm." She sipped her drink and then smiled. "I mean, seducing the priest could be fun. But it's probably not a good idea to complicate things with him, or anyone else in this merry little ground of misfits." Jane thought about Neil showing up and realizing it was a party. He would probably try to bolt. "I'll definitely tell him it's a meeting. He might feel better about it if we're at someone's house instead of the church. I think he's pretty convinced AIR is watching us. Or listening in or something. The sooner the better though. I think we could all unwind a bit and it might be nice to have us all in one place, you know?"
"I'm available whenever," Shane replied. "After this weekend, that is. Definitely going to Boston for the weekend. Find out if I really miss clubbing or not." He'd been so sure he was sick of the night life in Chicago but now he was itching for it in a bad way and there was only one way to scratch that itch and it sure as hell wasn't available in Point Pleasant. "But maybe you're right, maybe you should seduce someone who's not in our little party of resistance. Keep things simple." He snorted softly at the thought because since when did Jane keep things simple?
"Oh, a quickie vacation. Sounds like fun." Jane had never really been into going to clubs, but she understood the appeal. Mostly the appeal of losing oneself in a crowded room of sweaty, dancing bodies with plenty of alcohol and recreational drugs. Jane enjoyed drinking and occasionally getting drunk, but she preferred to keep her mind clear. "I've been in this town since last... September? And I have yet to seduce anyone. I may be a little rusty." And frankly, no one had struck her as someone she wanted to get naked with either. Which she was okay with. She could take care of herself just fine. "Try not to get into trouble in Boston. And make sure you come back."
"Yeah, yeah," Shane murmured. "I'll come back, but I gotta tell you; you're doing a terrible job of having fun. You should get laid, just in case we don't make it through the summer in one piece. You'll regret not getting a good fuck if everything blows up in our faces." He almost told her he'd offer to help her out there but she'd tease him about not wanting to cheat on Reza and she already had too much ammo on him in that regard and she wouldn't be wrong this time so he held his tongue. "Try Tinder," he told her before knocking back the rest of his drink. "Or go try out with the bar brothers, maybe he can have a two-for-one."
Jane laughed. "Okay, I'll work on getting laid. Thanks for the advice. But I am not using some app to find a dude. I refuse. And I like this bar so screwing one of the brothers seems like a bad idea." She finished off her drink and set her glass down. "Stop worrying so much about my sex life though. Focus on your blossoming romance." Jane winked. "Drive me home, my darling. You don't want to leave Reza alone for too long."
"Hey Jane?" Shane drawled. "Fuck you." He grinned and got to his feet, ignoring the fact that this still felt like a sore point. They were over it, Jane had said too much and he'd threatened to set her hair on fire. They were somewhat even now. "If you're gonna screw anyone in this bar, go with the smiley bro, he seems like the least drama." Did he really care about Jane's sex life? Maybe. Maybe if she had some spark in her own life, she'd stop meddling with his. She was right though, he didn't want to leave Reza alone too long, not after dark. It wasn't like Reza couldn't fend for himself but Shane still didn't like it, especially not after the conversation he and Jane had been having tonight.