For Jag

[hollow_moon]

Their time together at his grandfather's had been lovely, and spent mostly in bed. Eventually, however, Val had been forced to return to work, and he was certain Jag would have to do the same.

"I've a lot going on in the next week, but I swear I'll call you the moment I've got it all under control," he'd promised- And he'd been true to his word, inviting Jag to join him for dinner the first chance he got.

He'd considered restaurants, but Jag wasn't much for being spoiled in Val's experience. He'd have gladly cooked a meal for the man himself, but he hadn't had a chance to pick up groceries, and they'd never be delivered on time... So he'd settled on a catered dinner at the museum. Nothing too posh, but a nice mix of South Korean cuisine that he hoped Jag would like. 

Meeting at the museum meant Val could work right up until the moment Jag arrived- Something he didn't find ideal, but was certainly necessary at the moment while they switched out several of the exhibits and went through various requests to lend out certain items.

"I'll leave the back door unlocked," he'd told Jag. "Just let yourself in, I'll likely hear you coming, but if i don't I'll just be in my office."

Comments

[jageskro]

"I don't know that I'd call them interests of mine," Jag admitted with a small shrug. "They're just... things I give a shit about?" He chuckled at himself. "That's the definition of an interest, right."

[hollow_moon]

"Kind of is," Val grinned, short nails gently scratching the back of Jag's neck gently.

[jageskro]

Jag hummed softly in answer to that scratch, but forced himself to not focus on the touch as much as he wanted to. "So, what else?" he asked, raising his arm to prop his elbow on the back of the couch, and his head on his hand, giving Val his undivided attention.

[hollow_moon]

"Hmm, let's see. ...Where's one place you'd love to visit?" Val asked curiously.

[jageskro]

"I don't know. Rome, maybe?" Jag offered, spontaneously. "With all the statues and everything. It's got to be beautiful?" And interesting. Full of history.

[hollow_moon]

"It is," Val nodded. "I could take you one day- If you wanted," he offered, finding he badly wanted to spoil Jag.

[jageskro]

"Next time we want to take a break from our lives?" Jag stated with a small smile. "So what's your favourite city? Apart from London, I imagine?" Or else why would he be living here, when he had the money to settle anywhere he liked.

[hollow_moon]

"I adore Taipei," Val smiled. "Tokyo as well. ...I love travelling and exploring."

[jageskro]

"What do you like about them?" Jag asked, all the more curious that he'd never set foot outside Britain.

[hollow_moon]

"Everything's so different," Val replied. The smells, the colours... The aesthetics. Tokyo is a whole other world. From the building designs to the people who live there. They surround themselves with totally different things than we do in London. It's lovely."

[jageskro]

"Doesn't it get..." Jag trailed off, looking for the right word. "Disorienting? If everything's that foreign?"

[hollow_moon]

"Yes, and I love that too," Val confessed. "It's wonderful, Jag. Truly."

[jageskro]

"I wouldn't know, I - I've never set foot outside Britain," Jag stated. "Well, Ireland, once, but it's a lot like here, innit. Didn't get to feel out of my element."

[hollow_moon]

"Do you want to though?" Val asked. "Do you have a bit of the wanderlust in you?"

[jageskro]

Jag laughed. "You realise who you're talking to, right? I haven't stayed this long in a single spot since I was thirteen." He shrugged. "But - home is where the heart is, yeah? I'd love to see the world, but - not for very long at a time." He wouldn't like being far from his family for that long.

[hollow_moon]

"We could go away for just a weekend," Val offered.

[jageskro]

"When you're done catching up?" Jag asked with raised eyebrows. He really liked the idea.

[hollow_moon]

"Yes, before the holidays maybe," he suggested with a smile. "Just a little trip, wherever you fancy."

[jageskro]

"It feels like Rome deserves more than a weekend," Jag thought out loud. "I don't know. You know better. Surprise me." And then he frowned as he thought of something. "Except... I don't have a passport." And it was a more complicated issue than just having one issued.

[hollow_moon]

"Ah, right, because... Right," Val said, hesitating, then wetting his lips. "I have a friend, old family friend, actually. ...If I asked him, I'm sure he could get you one," he offered, worried that Jag might be insulted by such an offer- Or the fact that Val knew the sort of people who could pull those strings.

[jageskro]

"To go with my driver's license?" Jag asked with a small frown, the implied meaning being that his license was a fake. He was very glad with his birth name remaining off the grid, for all that they'd never discussed it.

[hollow_moon]

"He has a lot of pull..." Val shrugged. "I've never asked him to do anything like that before, but he owes me a favour. ...Several, really. If you need it- I might be able to arrange it. Though... Perhaps it wouldn't be a dreadful idea to go about it in a more conventional way."

[jageskro]

Jag shook his head, frowning at the idea. "I haven't used my birth name in years. I... It's taken me a while to become someone I kind of like. I don't want anyone tracking me down. And I like being off the grid. I don't know..." He paused, chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second, then looked back up at Val. He wanted him to open up; here he went. "When my fire first came out, it jumped on my foster father. I ran and I didn't look back." He had no idea whether the man had survived, or whether the police might not want him for it.

[hollow_moon]

"Oh. Oh my god, Jag..." Val said softly, "That's... That must have been terrifying for you."

[jageskro]

Jag shrugged, and didn't quite meet Val's gaze. "It's in the past." He looked at him more directly then. "Anyway. My birth name's better left forgotten."