Jasper Lucas (sinsoftheson) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-09-08 13:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, gavin, gavin x jasper, jasper |
Who: Gavin and Jasper
When: early evening, Tuesday, July 3
Where: home
Status: complete
After spending some nice self-indulgent time with Logan at his empty house, Jasper had brought his ‘boyfriend’ home with him to enjoy the family party -- or at least enjoy the free food and the Lucas eye candy. Jasper had gone downstairs solo to check on Ruby. She was still sound asleep, thankfully, with no fresh injuries that he could see. He hoped it stayed that way and she slept quietly through most of the night. Jules probably wouldn’t be happy that Ruby was in his bed -- or Elodie, for that matter -- but she wouldn’t have been happy about anything else he’d done that day either. Jasper had texted her to let her know he probably wouldn’t make a visit that day since it was Gavin’s birthday, and she’d understood. She just didn’t need to know about anything else and they weren’t all the way back together, right? Right.
Jasper got cleaned up in his basement bathroom and changed clothes, then fished the little present he’d gotten for his dad out of his nightstand drawer. He wasn’t super eager to hang out with the entire family again, but he definitely wanted to wish his dad a proper happy birthday. Jasper hadn’t even really seen him yet today, he’d been preoccupied with Ruby and then out of the house for a few hours. Jasper went upstairs to find him and then mingle a bit like he was expected to do.
Gavin was quite used to worrying and being in pain so it didn't actually impede his ability to have a nice time at his birthday party. When he noticed Jasper he was listening idly to a conversation going on near him without really participating, content to be quiet and eat cake and avoid more questions from everyone. He hadn't been sure his son would actually attend today, they'd gotten close in the last year but there was no obligation between them for things like this so he was pleasantly surprised to see him, especially when Jasper made a beeline for him. "Hey kid," he murmured, not getting up from his seat because if he had to hug more people he was sure his ability to withstand pain was going to eventually dissolve or something. "I didn't know you were home."
“I wasn’t, ‘til a little bit ago,” Jasper answered as he pulled another of the plastic chairs over, closer to his dad. It was kind of amazing to see him out there with a bunch of people around, even if he wasn’t actively mingling and chatting. He wasn’t hiding elsewhere, and that was a change. Jasper had to think that Charlie had a lot to do with it. “Logan came with me.” He nodded to where Logan was talking to Charlie and Shan at the food table ... and pretty obviously flirting with the latter. Obvious to Jasper anyway. He turned his attention back to Gavin and offered the small, oblong, badly-wrapped present out to him. “Happy birthday, old man,” Jasper murmured with a little grin.
"Aww you didn't have to do that," Gavin murmured but he smiled anyway, a little surprised and a little moved by the present. It didn't even really matter what it was, both his kids had gotten him something and it made him feel dumbly emotional. Maybe his emotions were just closer to the surface today, the dream and worrying about Kat as well as himself had him feeling all sorts of things. He'd wondered what would happen to the people he loved if he died from the next dream that came along, how they'd cope without him, if they'd end up happier or worse off, if they'd miss him. Would the kids stay in touch with Charlie or would they all drift apart? It wasn't something he was going to talk about to anyone, but it was certainly weighing heavily on his mind today and it had ended up making him want to actually be around his people, watch them and memorize them the way they were right now. He opened the present Jasper had given him, his smile widening a bit when he saw it was a knife - and a nice one at that. "I hope you stole that, you're not making enough money yet," he said and he wanted to reach over and rub his head just to make sure he knew he was just teasing but everything still hurt and that kind of movement would just make it worse.
Jasper wasn’t a huge gift-giver -- honestly, he was awful at keeping track of anyone’s birthday at all and bad at thinking ahead for Christmas -- but this year he’d felt like he really wanted to get Gavin something. It had taken him forever to think of what, because his dad didn’t really have any hobbies but working and drinking, but every man needed a good solid pocket knife, right? Jasper used his own all the time, especially now that he had a hands-on sort of job. Gavin’s smile when he opened it made Jasper grin in return, and he laughed a bit. He’d paid real money for the knife like a responsible citizen, but maybe it would have been more appropriate to swipe it. “Such a good influence,” he teased, slouching a bit in the plastic chair now that the possibly-awkward part was over. “I’ll plead the fifth so you can claim ignorance if the cops come for me. ... So how ya doin’? Enjoying all this?” Jasper gestured vaguely at the party.
"Eh, the cops owe me one," Gavin murmured, though that wasn't true so much as that he was on weird terms with the cops right now. He kept handling the knife, looking at the blade and slipping it back in the sheath, then glanced around when Jasper spoke again. "Yeah," he said, sounding surprised. "Maybe I'm getting old, but yeah. It's nice to have everyone here. Even that new girl." He huffed with some amusement as he looked over to the food table. "You should probably keep Logan in line before Caden takes his head off." At least Shan looked more amused than charmed and Logan was practically family so Gavin wasn't particularly worried about him. He was just a kid, mesmerized by a powerful pair of tits.
Jasper chuckled as he watched Logan for a moment, vaguely wondering what Gavin would think of knowing Logan had called him his boyfriend earlier in the day. He doubted Caden would worry much about his wife being stolen away -- he knew better than anyone else how close Logan was to family. “Nah, Caden will just pull him inside, give him a swirly or something,” he said with a little grin. “He knows he’s harmless.” Logan was flirty as hell with almost everybody he came across, he couldn’t seem to help himself, he was used to people just rolling their eyes at him. Hopefully that was all ‘that new girl’ would do. He looked at his dad again, a little closer this time. “Ruby’s here too ... she came over this morning all shaken up from this dream she had ... about the Dark Man?” he said, his voice dipping a bit at the end to keep it just between them.
Gavin hadn't been able to keep from smiling about Logan being harmless and all, that much was true and he wasn't really worried about Caden getting pissed at him. It was pretty amusing until Jasper dropped the name Gavin had been fretting about all day. His smile was instantly wiped away and he frowned as he looked at Jasper. "She's seen him too?" he asked and he doubted she was just shaken up. "Is she hurt?" He was showing his cards but he didn't really think about that, Ruby was Jasper's friend and Daniel Fox's daughter so while Gavin didn't know her as well as he did Logan, she might as well be family too. Who else had the dark man visited, he wondered, a tight knot in his stomach.
Gavin’s reaction answered the question that had been floating in Jasper’s mind, and his stomach gave an uncomfortable twist. He hadn’t noticed anything wrong with his dad yet, but this was the first time Jasper was seeing him today, so that didn’t mean much. “Yeah,” he murmured slowly, looking intently at Gavin’s frown. “Her leg got all scratched up. Did ... did the same thing happen to you? The dream and everything?” It sounded crazy, people sharing dreams where injuries followed them out, but most of Jasper’s life sounded pretty fucking crazy these days, so he didn’t doubt that it was possible for a second.
As much as Gavin had meant to keep this to himself, it now seemed like everyone was going to end up knowing about his dream and he sighed as he nodded. Yet again he felt that weird line shifting, where he as the parent should probably protect his kids from any and all darkness by not telling them a damn thing, but they were so grown up now and they had been through so much more than he ever had. "Pretty sure my ribs are fractured," he muttered and it had been a while since he last had fractured ribs but he thought he remembered enough to make the comparison. "We're not the only ones either, something big happened last night." His gaze found Kat across the room and she looked as uncomfortable as ever, now wearing a pretty shawl she had borrowed from Charlie to cover up her bruises.
Jasper had mostly expected Gavin to say no, that he was fine, whether that was a lie or not. His dad’s actual answer made him frown, an uneasy feeling snaking through his gut. He followed Gavin’s gaze to his aunt Kat, and his frown deepened. Kat had seen the dark man too? The way her neck was wrapped up was kind of conspicuous for a party in July. Jasper looked at his dad again, concern etched on his features. “Kat’s seen him too?” he asked quietly, like she might overhear from so far away. “That’s fucked up. Is it bad? Your ribs? Like, should you go to Mercy or anything?”
"Kat too," Gavin replied and waved off any notion of going to Mercy. They didn't do shit for broken ribs unless they were poking into organs and he was fairly sure that wasn't the case here. Just annoying fractures and soreness that would last a couple of weeks. At least with age, pain seemed more easy for him to ignore until it went away. "Roxy too, and the sheriff. God only knows who else." Ruby and probably countless others. "Not a moment's peace in this town," he added with a sigh, then looked at Jasper with a little worry in his eyes. "You never saw him. Have you been okay?"
“Jesus,” Jasper muttered as Gavin named off a couple more people. He wondered if anybody else he knew had this happen and he just hadn’t heard yet. How many people were out there thinking they were the only ones? The sheriff too? No wonder it had been so easy for Barrett to believe what they’d told him about finding Rebecca, if he was really in the know about the Weird Shit. Jasper glanced over at his dad again. “I haven’t been attacked in my fuckin’ dreams, that’s for sure,” he said, shaking his head. He had plenty of other problems, but that wasn’t one of them. “Not like that, anyway. But I mean ... yeah I’m doing okay. Going to see Jules tomorrow before work, I think.”
"Oh yeah?" Gavin said and momentarily forgot to keep that hopeful tone out of his voice. He'd gotten close to Jules while Jasper was away, she'd even texted him a happy birthday that morning, so it was hard not to wish she was Jasper's end game. He was sure she was good for him and she was such a sweet girl. It didn't work that way though and he didn't want Jasper to feel pressured so he tried to swallow that down as quickly as it floated to the surface, clearing his throat. "Tell her I said hi and to get better quickly." Not that he hadn't already told her that via text himself.
The recovery wasn’t fast enough and Jasper had to smile a bit at Gavin's first reaction. He knew that his dad really liked Jules and wanted them together ... it had been surprisingly hard, not being able to tell him all of the reasons why they’d split up. But Jasper wanted to protect their fragile relationship, and he really didn’t know how Gavin would react to the truth. “I will,” he promised, that little smile lingering on his face. “We uh ... we talked when I went to see her, and I think that once she gets out, we’re gonna ... y’know, try again. To like, be together.” He gestured vaguely with one hand, hoping it was at least a bit of good news for Gavin on what sounded like a tough day.
Gavin had managed to school his expression and reactions for this one but he still smiled faintly and nodded. "That's a good thing," he said simply instead of overreacting like some chump. "I like her." It was weird to think about the grandchild that could have been, even weirder to think about how he'd actually kind of wanted it - especially since he hadn't thought he'd ever see Jasper again - and it was probably dumb to think maybe in the future that child would come back when it was wanted but there it was, a man's innermost thoughts could be pretty fucking dumb.
Even though he kept it low key, Jasper could tell that Gavin was pleased. He probably shouldn’t care about that, but it gave him a warm feeling inside. “Yeah, I know,” Jasper murmured with a little smile of his own. “I do too. I love her, even.” He also liked and loved Logan in an oddly different-but-similar way, but Jasper couldn’t really tell Gavin that. Not the extent of it, anyway. Jasper didn’t know if his feelings for his best friend would continue to be a problem for him and Jules, but he had no idea how to just turn them off. Nor did he really want to. He kind of felt like he should cling to all of the love he could get in his life, especially these days. He just wished it didn’t make anybody feel bad. “I’m sure she’ll wanna come see you whenever she’s feeling better.”
"Tell her she's always welcome," Gavin said and the fact Jasper might love Jules didn't surprise him in the least. They had a very complicated past, the kind that could only be overcome with love but he believed they could - or he hoped he could, he wasn't sure there was much difference. "You should bring her some cake," he added. "Don't think she's getting much good stuff in the hospital and there's plenty here to go around." He hadn't made or bought any of it but he still felt entitled to share the good since it was his birthday and if asked, he knew Charlie would want to share it too. Jules was practically family now and not a lot of people earned that place with the Lucas clan.
It made Jasper happy in the weirdest way that Jules and his dad had gotten close. It had been for a terrible reason, but he could sense that they’d really helped each other, and he was grateful for that. He just didn’t know how to express it without sounding like the lamest dork on earth. But that was okay, he could appreciate it silently. “Hell yeah, I will,” he said with a little smile. “Might just take her a whole plate. I bet she’s tired of like, turkey sandwiches and jell-o, or whatever they give them.” If he couldn’t take it to her tonight, he could save her some leftovers -- Jasper knew visiting hours were limited, but he didn’t want to rush out of his dad’s birthday party when he’d been late getting there. Just briefly thinking about why he’d been late made his cheeks feel a bit hot, so he tried not to, glancing around at everybody but Logan. “So what’d you get from Amelia?” he asked idly, his eyes coming back to his dad.
"A shirt that's probably too nice for a guy like me," Gavin said with a little chuckle. "But nah it's... it's really nice. I like it." He might have even worn it today if the thought of trying to change wasn't such a pain in the ass. He just wanted to sit on his ass and do nothing right now and it was probably what a doctor would order him to do anyway. He wasn't sure what other occasions he could wear it on, maybe if they had a reception party or something. It made him wonder if he should tell his kids about the engagement before he announced it to the whole family, it probably would have been more considerate but the whole idea was to tell everyone at once so he didn't have to say it over and over again and deal with people's reactions on an individual level.
Jasper gave a dismissive puff of air and shook his head. “You’ll find some place to wear it,” he said, sounding sure of that. There was Aaron’s wedding coming up, and hopefully more of those kinds of happy events in the future. God knew their family needed more happiness injected into it. “Hell, just take Charlie somewhere nice. You’ve got somebody to date now.” He sounded amused as he reminded Gavin of that fact. He couldn’t remember his parents ever spending that sort of time together, even when they weren’t fighting. But Charlie wasn’t insane, she seemed like an actual good woman who deserved to be taken on nice dates. Jasper wasn’t sure that Gavin actually had a romantic bone in his body, but he could still expend the effort sometimes.
"Yeah, there's gonna be plenty of occasions," Gavin replied, purposefully ignoring the fact that there might not be. He wanted to marry Charlie and take her on as many dates as she wanted to go on, live long enough to watch his kids have kids of their own and hopefully heal from everything they'd been through. If the Dark Man got in the way of that, Gavin would do whatever he could to take the son of a bitch with him. "Guess I should do the whole birthday speech thing," he sighed, glancing over the room again. "I promised Charlie I'd say a few words. You wanna go get her for me?"
Jasper couldn’t help but be kind of surprised -- had Gavin ever given a birthday speech in his life? He’d maybe raised a beer and told everybody to eat up a few times, but that was about the extent of it. Jasper still wanted to make it to the hospital to see Jules, but if his dad was giving a speech, he definitely wanted to stick around to see what the hell that was about. All he could imagine was a mumbly and awkward ‘thanks for being here.’ “Uh yeah sure,” Jasper said as he pushed himself to his feet. “And I’ll send anybody else I find this way too.” He paused, then reached out to gently squeeze his old man’s shoulder, not wanting to thump him too hard when he didn’t know how much pain he was in. “Happy birthday, Dad.” Jasper gave him a faint smile, then turned to go do as he was asked.
He was right that Gavin didn't do speeches, but this wasn't a birthday speech, it was an engagement speech and he was only doing it for Charlie. Funnily, she hadn't pushed him to do it, not even passive-aggressively, but he wanted to because he knew it would make her happy. Caden would probably say he was pussy whipped and he'd probably be right, but it sure as hell didn't feel like whipping. He cleared his throat and drank a little as he waited for Charlie to join him, hoping his kids wouldn't be pissed they were only hearing about it now. It just felt right, telling everyone at the same time, and it was also a lot less emotional work and Gavin was a fan of skipping as much of that as he could.