[closed] oh my god, look at that face --

[fulminants]

CHARACTERS: Jack Benjamin & Johnny Storm
LOCATION: Base Camp.
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: First meetings.
NOTES: n/a


[ Johnny's been testing the perimeters of his flight for as long as he'd arrived, pushing boundaries and enduring punishing physical consequences to figure out hard limits the difficult way (which is the only way Storms generally learn; his sister being the exception sometimes). It's been frustrating and arduous, but he's come to a few conclusions of his own, in between helping out the people at the camp and exploring on his own.

He's getting steadily used to flying solo, to not being able to depend on the others to back him up if trouble happened -- which is, as it turns out -- pretty often. But even so, this place affords an odd kind of freedom that he embraces; the fact that he doesn't need to fight to be taken seriously, that this is a brand new slate, so to speak.

The girls here, too, are pretty hot and there's plenty of eye candy to go around, so what's not to like, brand new weird world aside? He's taking a break from the grueling, backbreaking work (after awhile it just gets tedious, guys), and he'd taken to the skies for a breather. Even if he can't go far, it helps to be alone with his thoughts, surveying the landscape for anything that could be seen as a threat.

Right now, however, he's seeing the farthest thing from a threat, spotting a lone man with a bottle of something he's sorely missed since his sober days here. Johnny Storm likes a good party and brew like any other redblooded American playboy, and he swoops down just as swiftly, landing lightly on his feet before he recognizes that face. Handsome in an objective sort of way, stand-offish, snappy, with a sense of humor he sort of liked. Sort of. More importantly, he recognizes the label on the bottle. ]

Well, hey. [ He grins, stepping towards him as if men like him dropped from the sky every day (well, in his case, they do). ] You know what they say about great scotch -- always best not to drink it alone.

Comments

[benumbing]

[A brand new slate. That's how Jack sees it too, grounded optimism even in the face of attacking animals and strange disappearances. He could die here, Jack knows that. But if he does, at least he can die fighting. At least chances are that it'll be a quick death instead of a slow or living death.

The few possessions that he arrived with are useless for the most part. The two exceptions were a loaded gun and the bottle in his hand. It's the good stuff, expensive, maybe not quite up to his father's standards. It's more likely to be found in clubs than his father's wine cellar.

So of course Johnny would recognize it. Jack's eyes snap up to him when he lands, his posture tensing at the surprise of it. It's raining men. Hallelujah. Jack glances over him and then back up at his face, his own expression circumspect.]

Funny. I've never heard that expression.

[He holds the bottle up and gives a shake, so that the liquid inside sloshes audibly. Like a cat dangling cheese in front of a mouse.]

[fulminants]

First time for everything, I always say.

[ Johnny counters breezily. To be honest, he'd just come up with that himself. After everything he's been through on this weird little place with no explanation, he's in sore need of a little alcohol to take the edge off. He takes a seat on a log opposite him, casual as you please. ]

Jack, right? [ He gives him a lopsided grin, tracking the bottle offhandedly. Well, at least the guy doesn't look like he's going to kill him. ] I'm the guy who accidentally stepped on your tail.

[benumbing]

You have a lot of sayings. So far they're all bullshit.

[He's still watching him. Most of the people that he's spoken to are more like him - wary. If they possess a sense of humor, it's sardonic. This guy is too at ease in his own skin and with everything around him that Jack doesn't know whether to mock or admire him.

Jack's eyes light up with recognition at that. What was it...Johnny Storm, and of course someone with that name would look and act exactly like this. He keeps his eyes on him as he unscrews the lid and takes a long swallow, an exaggerated sigh when he comes up for air.

After what feels like a small eternity, he holds the bottle out to him. It's not like one bottle's going to last him forever anyway. So fuck it.]

I know your name too. [He smiles and tips his head to the side, a little warmed by the alcohol already.] It's Peter Pan, right?

[fulminants]

Ha! You're funny. [ He laughs as he cheerfully takes the bottle -- hey, he's heard worse names for him than that. The jab rolls off his back because there's hard liquor to be had and the warmth in the swig that he has from that same bottle provides a pleasant little tingle. Okay, just for that, he can overlook the bullshit part.

All right; alcohol, good. Loosens up the tension and all that jazz. Jack's left a relatively deep impression, he's never met anyone quite like him before, in the midst of the many, many people that he'd talked to. An unhappy prince of a kingdom he's never heard of before; and he bets half the world's actresses will still fall all over themselves to marry him. Be the second Grace Kelly, or something. Hell, that kind of life must be tough, even with all the hot chicks.

Johnny pauses for a few moments before he hands the bottle back to him, open mischief in his eyes. So, he wants to play, huh? ]

That's right, Richie Rich. What are you doing out here on your own?

[benumbing]

[What would have happened if he hadn't given him the drink. Jack wonders now that it's too late. People are one way when they have something to gain from you, and an entirely different way when they don't. He's mostly just seen the one side. A prince, a Benjamin always has something to offer.

What's hiding behind this man's irreverence. Something ugly behind that pretty face? Jack squints at him, like that will somehow help him see the truth.]

The same thing I do every day. [He takes the bottle back, glancing at it. He didn't even drain it.] Did you really just fall from the sky?

[fulminants]

You sit around here and drink alone every day? Dude, that's sad.

[ Who knows, really? Johnny's not interested in the conventional royal status Jack can offer because -- hello, fellow dude; and he doesn't need the money, not when he's got plenty of it rolling in already.

Which leaves, of course, the bottle of scotch. But Johnny's not hankering for another go, not when one's done the job for him. Jack looks at him like... well, like he'd love nothing more than to open him up and take a look inside. Yeah, he knows that look. Reed sports a version of it from time to time, although with much less suspicion. ]

Well, yeah. Wait, I didn't tell you that I could fly?

[benumbing]

And exactly what qualifies you to judge my life?

[Jack doesn't bother to correct him. He might want to sit around drinking every day, but he's always had just the one bottle. Most days he sits alone so that no one will see the tremble in his hands.

Maybe the better question would be, why does he care? Why does the accusations sting more than it should?]

You probably did. I was only half-listening at the time. [He didn't. Jack takes another drink before putting the lid back on.] You can only go so far up?

[fulminants]

Yeah, only so far up before I have to come down again, or get a concussion.

[ Johnny stretches his legs, looking up at the sky as he contemplates Jack's first testy question. His gaze turns back to him, then, as he leans back on his hands, relaxed and open. He's sizing him up in his own way, but he still can't quite figure him out aside from the fact that he's a wonderland of invisible minefields, and he's not entirely positive he'd get out of this encounter without the bottle thrown at his head.

Jack is prickly, cutting, and while Johnny would normally leave his type alone, he figures this one's a little different. Consider him a glutton for punishment, right? ] Hey, no real judgement here. Thanks for the drink, by the way. Where'd you get it?

[benumbing]

[Jack has better days than this, days when he can joke, days when he can charm. Johnny's not the first one to catch him on a bad one - but he's certainly handling it better than anyone else has. He silently appreciates it. The one person he was even close to trusting is gone now. He wouldn't really call anyone in camp a friend.

He breathes out, heavily, like the final act of an exorcism.]

I've had it since I arrived. I hadn't decided if I was going to open it or not until you showed up.

[fulminants]

So I was the deciding factor, huh? Nice.

[ Johnny cocks his head at him thoughtfully a few moments after the cocky statement. Despite his occasional bouts of narcissism and suchlike, he knows enough to be aware of another person's moods, even if they're strangers. And also male. ] You look like you need it. Everything okay?

You know, [ He gestures vaguely around them. ] aside from the obvious.

[benumbing]

A celebration of our union.

[There it is, his humor starting to show itself, a little nipping but no worse than that. Jack smiles before closing his eyes for a moment, like he's flipping a light switch and throwing them both into darkness. Like it will stop him from seeing. You look like you need it. And Jack knows that he does - on both counts. It makes him angry, but he holds it in this time. He doesn't fire it such a convenient target.

Becaue whatever else exits in Johnny Storm, there's some kindess too. ]

Take it. [Jack grits it out, and his eyes are wide when he opens them, like he can't believe his own words.] Take the rest of it. I need it gone.

[fulminants]

[ Johnny's brows raise, not just at the little nip of words, but the sharply worded offer, like Johnny's touched another sensitive nerve somehow. Seriously? He straightens, trying to figure out just what it was that had pretty much set him off.

It's difficult enough decoding women, but this guy here is nigh impossible to figure out. But at least he's got his answer: totally not okay.

He has enough presence of mind to hesitate instead of reaching for it immediately as he meets his eyes. ]

Sure you don't want to use it as a molotov cocktail when you need it? Add some petrol and you're good to go.

[benumbing]

[Jack laughs, and the sound is a little too laugh, maybe a touch hysterical. He's already regretting it, and he has to clench his hand into a fist to keep from snatching the bottle up.

His other hand falls from his hair as he lifts his head to look Johnny in the eyes.]

I don't need any help destroying things. [Jack does pick it up now, giving it a flip so that he's holding the bottle by the neck.] Now do you want it, or shall I show you?

[fulminants]

I'm not a leftovers kind of guy.

[ There's something in Jack's voice that makes Johnny want to push him further, to egg him on. There's something in his tone that irritates him, like he's used to people doing everything that he says, taking whatever he asks. He might've enjoyed that back in his kingdom, but here?

Nope. Wrong guy. And besides, Jack looks dangerously like he'd do something he probably needed to do for a long time, and as someone with incredible impulse issues, Johnny decides to add fuel to the proverbial fire. He raises his head, a challenging gleam in his eyes.

Go on, then. Show me. ]

What're you waiting for?

[benumbing]

[Only his father pushed back. But his father didn't stop, his father would push and push until Jack was in the ground, pushed until he became the dirt under the king's shoes. When Jack turned and pushed the next guy, sick and angry, they just went down and stayed down. It was never a fair fight, never between equals.

This guys stares at him like he would get up and push back, and Jack can't rightfully be pissed when that's what he's always wanted. (Can't rightfully be, but maybe is anyway.) He snorts at him, a little flame coming to life in his own eyes. There's no turning back now, no sparing the bottle. He sends it spinning, aimed for the nearest tree.

The plan was for it to shatter there. Isn't that what always happens in the movies? But it doesn't, it bounces off instead and hits one of the rocks ringing his campfire. There's where the glass breaks, and the alcohol gives a brief roar and rise to the flames. Jack recoils a bit, brow arched.]

That was dramatic.

[And ridiculous. There's a laugh trying to claw its way out of Jack's throat.]

[fulminants]

[ Johnny stares for a long moment when the bottle bounces off, hits a rock, and ridiculously enough, gives the nearby campfire a little flare of flames. It's almost comical in the wake of the moment they'd pretty much had. But he didn't miss the flare that comes to life in Jack's eyes, too -- the one thing that's been missing (but look like it belonged).

Johnny's the first to really, truly laugh; bright and unrestrained and endlessly entertained by Jack's reaction and the subsequent dry words. Come on buddy, laugh, it was really funny! ]

Dude! That was cool!

[benumbing]

[Jack shakes his head, but there is laughter there. He wipes his mouth with his hand like he can smother the sound of it, but the smile that remains is damning enough.]

Do things always go wrong when you're around?

[Because he's thinking that they do. And it's probably the best entertainment he's had in weeks.]

[fulminants]

Let's not make it all about me.

[ But Johnny's smirking, stretching his limbs with a pleased twinkle in his eye. Don't think he's missed that laughter and that smile, friend. He doesn't know him well, but it doesn't take a life partner to pick up on the fact that it comes quite rarely to him.

Jack wears it well, though. ] So, wanna go find other things you can assault innocent trees with? You won't be very popular with Greenpeace, just saying.

[benumbing]

[So that's a yes. But Jack's not exactly the type to shy away from trouble. He considers him for a long moment, trying to decipher if the invitation is a sincere one.]

I've had enough popularity for two lifetimes. You want to take a look around?

[fulminants]

[ Johnny is an open book, as sincere as they come. He's never seen the point of playing games, or hatching ulterior motives; after all, he has never had a need for lies or subterfuge, not when the world had most effectively been his oyster. Jack is fascinating to him because he is so different from everything he's ever known, the kind of guy who's never given him the time of day. But even so -- there's more, and he figures that perhaps they could be friends.

Can't hurt to make some in this weird world, right?

He grins at him, gesturing to the risks that lay unknown beyond. ]

Well, of course. Think we'll bump into more of those crazy animals?

[benumbing]

[Johnny is...simple. He probably wouldn't have given him the time of day back in Shiloh - or if he had, it would only have been because of his looks. Jack might've played around with him, but ultimately have no interest in him beyond that.

Here, it's different. Their numbers are small, and the constant threat of death or suffering is the only thing that keeps it from being as boring as the room that would've been his tomb.]

Are you afraid?

[Jack grins, looking back at him as he takes the lead.]

Don't worry, I'll protect you.

[fulminants]

[ Why make things complicated? Johnny Storm approaches everything with a boldness that is reckless, pursuing the things he wants with the unshakable knowledge that it will be his. Johnny might not be a prince, but the world's his oyster; and he thrives in it, a preening lion in the limelight with his pick of beautiful women. (But it's boring sometimes, when the same types of women come and go, and none of them have managed to hold his attention for more than a few months).

He laughs loudly, eyes bright and gleaming with challenge -- it's been boring these days without people making it fun, and he's come across someone who's more than happy to spice up this snoozefest. Jack's shaking things up, and Johnny's eager to play. ]

Why don't you try keeping up with me first, hot stuff?

[ He's teasing him, taking to the air six feet above him, lazily floating backwards as he addresses him, resting the back of his head on his arms. ] Maybe I'll fry everything. Protect you instead. How's that sound?