Fic: Sea Air, Jamie/Geoffrey
Title: Sea Air
Authors: vensre and fizzyblogic
Rating: G
Warnings: feels
Wordcount: 1462
Notes: I was going through my old emails and I found this little j/g tig with Jason from 2007. I thought he might like to participate in Monaboyd Month too. Miss you so much, Jj - for me this fandom will always have you in it.
"HellohowareyouI'mfinethanksverymuch." Jamie blushed a little and scooted away, spine arched defensively.
"Okay," Geoff nodded, a short movement mostly for himself. "Slightly odd, but okay. Your name's Jamie, right? I think that's what I heard your mum say."
"Slightly odd." Jamie seemed to accept at this point that Geoff was determined to have a conversation with him, and leaned back to look him up and down. His forehead crinkled, and he raised an eyebrow at Geoff.
"Like what you see?" Geoff brought out the cocky grin, figuring it might work, you never know.
Jamie's mouth tilted up for an instant, then the expression was gone and the blush, or perhaps just windburn, was back. "Slightly odd!"
Geoff made a sound that was somewhere approaching a snort. "Yeah. Slightly odd, yeah. I'm Geoff, by the way. Geoffrey Shawcross, I'm a detective." And I am babbling.
"You're a detective." Jamie glanced up at Geoff's face, then quickly back to the ocean, his breaths seeming to sync with the beat of the waves. "I'm not anything. Geoff."
"Oh, I'd disagree. I'd say you're definitely something." He smiled, hoping for one in return but entirely unsure if he'd get one.
"A handful; that's what me mum tells people." Jamie paused, and shook his head, apropos of nothing. "What do you detect?"
"Car thieves, lately. There was a case Mrs Wainthropp and I worked on - we're associates, you know - there was this ring of car thieves who were repainting them and selling them on at some dodgy shops. But I," he pointed to his chest, puffing it out, "knew a guy on the inside." He tapped his nose, contemplating a wink but deciding against it. "Always good to have inside info, if you know what I mean." I don't think even I know what I mean, at this point, he thought.
"You have an in in the Inn," Jamie said gravely, then burst out laughing.
It took Geoff a minute to catch on to what he'd said, but then he tucked his head into his collar and chuckled. "Yeah, spose I do," he said, part thoughtful, looking sideways at Jamie. "If you'll consent to be the friend of a roving detective, you can be my man on the inside. Anything happens Innwards, you'll be there. In." He grinned.
Jamie finally gave Geoff the smile he'd been hoping for, complete with shining eyes crinkled up at the corners. "You missed the action. All the pirates have gone."
Geoff's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Pirates?"
"Aye. And buried treasure." Gold, he mouthed. "And my cousin's a detective, Jackie. They're interesting. You are."
"I am, what? Interesting?" He looked at Jamie, curious.
"Erm. Detectives. You detectives. Never mind." Jamie shook his head again, as though trying to get an image out of it. "But. They stayed at the Inn, and I've even been kidnapped by pirates, although it wasn't much fun."
"I don't imagine it would be," Geoff nodded gravely, "even for all the treasure and that. There's still the kidnapping part. I wouldn't trust a pirate as far as I could throw him." He'd been looking off into the distance in what he hoped seemed like a vaguely dramatic pose, but spoiled the effect by turning to Jamie and saying, "Wait, you were kidnapped by an actual pirate? When? The 1870s?"
Jamie nodded seriously. "And I've been alive since the Renaissance," he said, then cackled a bit.
"You're very well-preserved, I must say," Geoff gave him an approving once-over. "You don't look a day over twenty."
"That part was a joke," Jamie told him gently. "I'm twenty-nine. And it was two years ago, the kidnapping thing. And there was treasure, and dead people, and helicopters, and it really was a lot less fun than I would have supposed it to be. But that's only because I wasn't on the pirates' side." He smiled a little, not exactly aimed at Geoff, but in the vicinity.
"I wouldn't have pegged you for a black-hearted knave like pirates are supposed to be. It's always the quiet ones," Geoff grinned. He paused. "No kidding, you're twenty-nine? You don't look older than me, and I'm twenty-one."
"Two-thirds of twenty-nine puts me at about nineteen, that's what my mum tells people. The two-thirds rule."
"I'm not sure I know that rule," Geoff said, carefully. "Care to enlighten me? I'm a very good listener, you know." He tried to arrange his features into 'trustworthy listening face'.
"For people with Asperger Syndrome, or maybe not all of us, but for me. She says I act two-thirds of my age." Jamie tucked his arms in close to body and let his eyeline lift to settle at Geoff's mouth. "Heard of that?"
Light seemed to dawn on Geoff's forehead. "Ohh. Yeah, knew a couple of kids at school with it. 'Til they were sent to a special school, that is. They were nice. Kind of strange, you know, to the rest of us, they didn't have the best of times with it. Got picked on and that, everyone did for some reason or another. Back home, it's kind of like a rite of passage, if you don't get the piss taken out of you at school you won't learn it until the real world, and it's harder out here, and I should really inhale now." He stopped, breathing.
"Slightly odd," Jamie said, distinctly amused. "I guess I'm human, but nobody could've convinced me of that eight years ago." He looked down at his hands, then back up. "Where are you from?"
"Manchester," Geoff replied. This short nod was just decisive, as if acknowledging a wealth of information that could only be conveyed by movement, and only understood if you already knew it.
Jamie tilted his head again slowly and asked, hesitantly, "Why did you come down here?"
"It's up, technically, if we're going northwards," Geoff said. "And we came up, Mrs Wainthropp and me, because she's visiting her auntie and I'm on hand in case something happens. I know Mrs Wainthropp, you see, and things tend to just happen around her and she always needs my help. I wouldn't have transport for these kinds of distances if she'd sent for me, so it's best all round if I'm just here in the first place."
"Not that. I mean. Today. Why..?" Jamie bit his lip. "Why did you come down the hill?"
"Oh, that. Just," Geoff almost blushed, "fancied some fresh air. Which you've got plenty of here, what with the harbour and the sea and all. Sea air, good for the lungs." He took a deep breath in, then loudly let it out again, as if demonstrating the freshness of the air and the benefit his lungs were already gaining from it passing through them.
"It is," Jamie said, the faint smile leaving his face. He looked around . "The seawall's open to walk on, if that's what you're looking for."
"Oh, no, I'm getting lots of sea air here," Geoff said quickly. "Besides. I like the view." He glanced over at Jamie.
Jamie licked his lips and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "It's my favourite place."
"I can see why." Geoff's eyes skipped out over the bay, the rolling waves, the green of the hill, and back to Jamie. "It's beautiful," he said, soft.
"Down there's where the pirate's boat was moored. He was killed," Jamie said. "Not the one who kidnapped me. The one who was my friend."
"Oh." Geoff looked down at his knees and fiddled with the ends of his sleeves. He squinted up, awkward. "Sorry about the - about the friend. Sorry he died, you know."
Jamie swallowed hard. "'S'not like he was my only friend," he lied.
"Well, no, but even if you had a hundred friends, losing one would be tough." Geoff stopped. "Actually, I can't imagine having a hundred friends. I can only imagine maybe, say, fifty. After that you'd forget all their names." He grinned, sideways and cautious.
"Fifty!" Jamie shook his head again. "Where would you find fifty people? Well, er." Jamie looked directly at Geoff. "Never mind, I suppose there's fifty people around. I couldn't. More than... about three, and they wouldn't all fit in my room." His cheeks went a little pink again.
"No," Geoff was watching Jamie, a small soft smile playing over his jaw. "No, I don't suppose they would." He animated. "And what's a party if everybody's scattered? No fun, is what."
"There's not much sea air in there, but." Jamie said; then, in a rush: "Would you like to see my room?"
Geoff smiled, a perfectly natural expression, eagerness and all showing through for whatever Jamie could make of it.
"Yeah, I'd like that," he said.
Authors: vensre and fizzyblogic
Rating: G
Warnings: feels
Wordcount: 1462
Notes: I was going through my old emails and I found this little j/g tig with Jason from 2007. I thought he might like to participate in Monaboyd Month too. Miss you so much, Jj - for me this fandom will always have you in it.
"HellohowareyouI'mfinethanksverymuch." Jamie blushed a little and scooted away, spine arched defensively.
"Okay," Geoff nodded, a short movement mostly for himself. "Slightly odd, but okay. Your name's Jamie, right? I think that's what I heard your mum say."
"Slightly odd." Jamie seemed to accept at this point that Geoff was determined to have a conversation with him, and leaned back to look him up and down. His forehead crinkled, and he raised an eyebrow at Geoff.
"Like what you see?" Geoff brought out the cocky grin, figuring it might work, you never know.
Jamie's mouth tilted up for an instant, then the expression was gone and the blush, or perhaps just windburn, was back. "Slightly odd!"
Geoff made a sound that was somewhere approaching a snort. "Yeah. Slightly odd, yeah. I'm Geoff, by the way. Geoffrey Shawcross, I'm a detective." And I am babbling.
"You're a detective." Jamie glanced up at Geoff's face, then quickly back to the ocean, his breaths seeming to sync with the beat of the waves. "I'm not anything. Geoff."
"Oh, I'd disagree. I'd say you're definitely something." He smiled, hoping for one in return but entirely unsure if he'd get one.
"A handful; that's what me mum tells people." Jamie paused, and shook his head, apropos of nothing. "What do you detect?"
"Car thieves, lately. There was a case Mrs Wainthropp and I worked on - we're associates, you know - there was this ring of car thieves who were repainting them and selling them on at some dodgy shops. But I," he pointed to his chest, puffing it out, "knew a guy on the inside." He tapped his nose, contemplating a wink but deciding against it. "Always good to have inside info, if you know what I mean." I don't think even I know what I mean, at this point, he thought.
"You have an in in the Inn," Jamie said gravely, then burst out laughing.
It took Geoff a minute to catch on to what he'd said, but then he tucked his head into his collar and chuckled. "Yeah, spose I do," he said, part thoughtful, looking sideways at Jamie. "If you'll consent to be the friend of a roving detective, you can be my man on the inside. Anything happens Innwards, you'll be there. In." He grinned.
Jamie finally gave Geoff the smile he'd been hoping for, complete with shining eyes crinkled up at the corners. "You missed the action. All the pirates have gone."
Geoff's eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Pirates?"
"Aye. And buried treasure." Gold, he mouthed. "And my cousin's a detective, Jackie. They're interesting. You are."
"I am, what? Interesting?" He looked at Jamie, curious.
"Erm. Detectives. You detectives. Never mind." Jamie shook his head again, as though trying to get an image out of it. "But. They stayed at the Inn, and I've even been kidnapped by pirates, although it wasn't much fun."
"I don't imagine it would be," Geoff nodded gravely, "even for all the treasure and that. There's still the kidnapping part. I wouldn't trust a pirate as far as I could throw him." He'd been looking off into the distance in what he hoped seemed like a vaguely dramatic pose, but spoiled the effect by turning to Jamie and saying, "Wait, you were kidnapped by an actual pirate? When? The 1870s?"
Jamie nodded seriously. "And I've been alive since the Renaissance," he said, then cackled a bit.
"You're very well-preserved, I must say," Geoff gave him an approving once-over. "You don't look a day over twenty."
"That part was a joke," Jamie told him gently. "I'm twenty-nine. And it was two years ago, the kidnapping thing. And there was treasure, and dead people, and helicopters, and it really was a lot less fun than I would have supposed it to be. But that's only because I wasn't on the pirates' side." He smiled a little, not exactly aimed at Geoff, but in the vicinity.
"I wouldn't have pegged you for a black-hearted knave like pirates are supposed to be. It's always the quiet ones," Geoff grinned. He paused. "No kidding, you're twenty-nine? You don't look older than me, and I'm twenty-one."
"Two-thirds of twenty-nine puts me at about nineteen, that's what my mum tells people. The two-thirds rule."
"I'm not sure I know that rule," Geoff said, carefully. "Care to enlighten me? I'm a very good listener, you know." He tried to arrange his features into 'trustworthy listening face'.
"For people with Asperger Syndrome, or maybe not all of us, but for me. She says I act two-thirds of my age." Jamie tucked his arms in close to body and let his eyeline lift to settle at Geoff's mouth. "Heard of that?"
Light seemed to dawn on Geoff's forehead. "Ohh. Yeah, knew a couple of kids at school with it. 'Til they were sent to a special school, that is. They were nice. Kind of strange, you know, to the rest of us, they didn't have the best of times with it. Got picked on and that, everyone did for some reason or another. Back home, it's kind of like a rite of passage, if you don't get the piss taken out of you at school you won't learn it until the real world, and it's harder out here, and I should really inhale now." He stopped, breathing.
"Slightly odd," Jamie said, distinctly amused. "I guess I'm human, but nobody could've convinced me of that eight years ago." He looked down at his hands, then back up. "Where are you from?"
"Manchester," Geoff replied. This short nod was just decisive, as if acknowledging a wealth of information that could only be conveyed by movement, and only understood if you already knew it.
Jamie tilted his head again slowly and asked, hesitantly, "Why did you come down here?"
"It's up, technically, if we're going northwards," Geoff said. "And we came up, Mrs Wainthropp and me, because she's visiting her auntie and I'm on hand in case something happens. I know Mrs Wainthropp, you see, and things tend to just happen around her and she always needs my help. I wouldn't have transport for these kinds of distances if she'd sent for me, so it's best all round if I'm just here in the first place."
"Not that. I mean. Today. Why..?" Jamie bit his lip. "Why did you come down the hill?"
"Oh, that. Just," Geoff almost blushed, "fancied some fresh air. Which you've got plenty of here, what with the harbour and the sea and all. Sea air, good for the lungs." He took a deep breath in, then loudly let it out again, as if demonstrating the freshness of the air and the benefit his lungs were already gaining from it passing through them.
"It is," Jamie said, the faint smile leaving his face. He looked around . "The seawall's open to walk on, if that's what you're looking for."
"Oh, no, I'm getting lots of sea air here," Geoff said quickly. "Besides. I like the view." He glanced over at Jamie.
Jamie licked his lips and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "It's my favourite place."
"I can see why." Geoff's eyes skipped out over the bay, the rolling waves, the green of the hill, and back to Jamie. "It's beautiful," he said, soft.
"Down there's where the pirate's boat was moored. He was killed," Jamie said. "Not the one who kidnapped me. The one who was my friend."
"Oh." Geoff looked down at his knees and fiddled with the ends of his sleeves. He squinted up, awkward. "Sorry about the - about the friend. Sorry he died, you know."
Jamie swallowed hard. "'S'not like he was my only friend," he lied.
"Well, no, but even if you had a hundred friends, losing one would be tough." Geoff stopped. "Actually, I can't imagine having a hundred friends. I can only imagine maybe, say, fifty. After that you'd forget all their names." He grinned, sideways and cautious.
"Fifty!" Jamie shook his head again. "Where would you find fifty people? Well, er." Jamie looked directly at Geoff. "Never mind, I suppose there's fifty people around. I couldn't. More than... about three, and they wouldn't all fit in my room." His cheeks went a little pink again.
"No," Geoff was watching Jamie, a small soft smile playing over his jaw. "No, I don't suppose they would." He animated. "And what's a party if everybody's scattered? No fun, is what."
"There's not much sea air in there, but." Jamie said; then, in a rush: "Would you like to see my room?"
Geoff smiled, a perfectly natural expression, eagerness and all showing through for whatever Jamie could make of it.
"Yeah, I'd like that," he said.