mountains beyond mountains,

[hungrylike]

So, yeah, like, this place has all sorts of things, more'n I thought there'd be of what I was looking for, but there ain't any people I seen yet. Anybody around out there? Me, I'll be in the cafe, I guess. I'm brilliant with burgers.

Comments

[sebastard]

"Yeah. I read 'em, and then they make me write about what I thought about them." It's not particularly labor-intensive. Mostly just a pain. He frowns at Tom. "Who's 'we'?" Skinheads? But he's not one, so...

[hungrylike]

"Huh," Tom says, thinking about what that'd be like. He's taken out of his reprieve by the realization that he's yet again said too much, and scrambles to cover his tracks. "Uh, us. My, uh-" Pack. He thinks of Alison and Nina and George and McNair. His father. "My family."

[sebastard]

"Oh. Sorry to hear it." Sebastian leads them into a restaurant with an awning that says Gioachino's in a fancy script. Anthony, whom Sebastian knows from school, seats them at a little table near a window and raises his eyebrows suggestively at Sebastian. He replies with rolled eyes before turning his attention back to Tom. "No reason not to do what you like, though."

[hungrylike]

Tom misses any suggestive eyebrows or eye-rolling, being too distracted by the restaurant, very spacious and fancy. He hopes he's well-dressed enough for it. He looks to Sebastian, nodding. "Guess so. Dunno really what I like." He shrugs. He's really never thought of it at all.

[sebastard]

It's not that fancy, Tom, don't worry. Sebastian's in jeans, after all. "I guess you have to figure that out first. I had it easy--I grew up 'round theater, so I always knew I wanted to act."

[hungrylike]

"Oh, really?" Tom says, faintly happy to have the subject back off him. With normal people, he realizes, you always have to watch yourself. Like vampires, in a way. "Your mum was an actor, or something?"

[sebastard]

"Well, uh. My dad's a stage manager--he's the bloke who makes sure everything works backstage." Sebastian's had good luck so far, so he figures he might as well press it a little further. "And my father's a carpenter. But I'm not all that great at carpentry, so..." He shrugs.

[hungrylike]

Tom frowns. He thinks he's missing something. "So- so your dad's both?"

[sebastard]

"Oh," Sebastian says, shaking his head. Usually people get what he means when he refers to Father and Dad. "My dads're gay."

[hungrylike]

This takes Tom a moment, but eventually understanding blossoms across the landscape of his face. "Oh! Took me a minute, there." He chuckles. "Heard that could happen. Once-" And then he stops. If he told that story, he'd have to explain baby Eve, and Annie, and Eve's parents, and everything-- no, better to skip it. "Well, never met anybody who did that, though. I mean- you know."

[sebastard]

"Well, Sebastian Bush-Kennedy, nice to meet you," he says with a laugh, holding out his hand to shake. And then, before Tom can stare blankly at him again, "I'm gay, too. So I guess I'm your first."

[hungrylike]

"Oh!" It makes sense, now that Tom pieces it together. He wonders is Sebastian is gay because he wears women's clothes, or if he wears women's clothes because he's gay. Do straight men do that, too? Good question, he'll have to ask later. "Huh. Got lost in a- a pride parade? Got lost in one, once. Didn't talk to anybody, though."

[sebastard]

"That must've been fun to walk into. Pride parades're always great." Sebastian grins. "Where'd you live that there aren't any gay people?"

[hungrylike]

"It was pretty weird." Tom says, and then his brain catches up with his mouth. "I mean- not in a bad way. I wasn't expecting it." He thinks a bit before answering Sebastian's question. "It was just me and my dad for a long time. Didn't see a lot of other people." Shrug.

[sebastard]

Sebastian shrugs, smiling, in that sort of 'don't worry, I know what you mean' way. And then he nods, trying to look properly serious. "That was back when you lived in a van?"

[hungrylike]

"Yeah," Tom says, oblivious to any potential levity to the situation. "Just me and my dad. And my dad wasn't gay-- least, I think he wasn't." He certainly didn't chat up girls, but that was because he was too busy respecting them.

[sebastard]

"Most people's dads aren't, I hear." Sebastian grins again. "I didn't know that for a really long time, though."

[hungrylike]

"Oh, really?" Tom can't imagine that. Wait, no. He can. "I- I guess I'm kinda the same. But, you know. Without the dresses." And a lot more howling.

[sebastard]

"You'll, uh--you'll have to tell me how, then." He just said his dad wasn't gay, after all--how'd he grow up thinking gay was the default? Have a confused frown, Tom.

[hungrylike]

Tom rushes to explain himself, clearly having confused his companion somehow. "Oh- you know, uh... Thinking you grew up the normal way, but it's not how you thought?"

[sebastard]

"Oh," Sebastian says, nodding. "What was weird for you?"

[hungrylike]

"Oh, uh..." Tom shrugs, frowning. He doesn't really want to say it, and so despite himself, it comes out in something like a conspirator's whisper. "Starting to think, like... maybe not everything my dad said was right. Not that-- not that he was lying or nothing, just..." frowning and unsure, Tom trains off, frowning.

[sebastard]

Lucky once again, Tom: Sebastian's got plenty of issues with his fathers, many of them poorly understood but keenly felt. He catches on immediately, which is to say that he doesn't catch on at all. "Sometimes they just don't tell the whole truth," he agrees. "Or they tell you the truth, but they don't explain what it means." All of the troubled concerns for and occasional bouts of anger at Archie, all of the time.

The waiter comes over then, and Sebastian quickly glances over the menu. He ends up ordering spaghetti with meat sauce--if he's going out for a treat, he's going to eat something a bit heartier than salad, thank you very much.

[hungrylike]

"Yeah," Tom says. "Yeah, just like that." This distinction is helpful to Tom, who dearly loves and misses his father, but is feeling more and more conflicted toward him as time moves on. When the waiter comes, Tom orders the same thing as Sebastian, not really knowing what else is safe in this environment. He doesn't really trust restaurants.