VESPER
Whatever Vesper had expected Jack to send back across the narrow space between their minds, it wasn't that. His brows lift before he can stop them, surprise cutting too cleanly through his expression to be mistaken for anything else, and he turns it into a cough a heartbeat later, knuckles brushing briefly against his mouth as if the whiskey has caught wrong in his throat. No one is looking their way, he knows that well enough, and Jack knows it better, but the habit remains useful.
For all the vitriol Jack has always carried around Flora, Vesper had assumed the lesson sitting at the centre of it was regret. Not just pain, not just anger, but the kind of backwards-looking certainty that says he should’ve done it differently, should’ve left sooner, should’ve kept his mouth shut, should’ve spared himself the pleasure of being known if the cost was going to be that high. Hearing otherwise sits strangely beneath Vesper’s ribs, not soft enough to comfort and not sharp enough to reject. He bites at the inside of his cheek, still too caught on it to form anything worth sending back, and when the server arrives with the second round, he reaches for his glass with fingers just a little too quick to make the distraction look casual, but it gives him something clean to hold while the rest of him tries to work around the shape of what Jack has offered.
His eyes stay on the whiskey for another moment, though surprise sparks bright through the thoughts he hasn’t quite drawn fully behind his shields. When he finally glances across the table, the look he gives Jack is careful, edged with disbelief and something almost amused despite the subject of it. What, you’d go say, hey, so my kid’s a telepath, that’s why he broke up with you, try to keep your mouth shut about it?
For all the vitriol Jack has always carried around Flora, Vesper had assumed the lesson sitting at the centre of it was regret. Not just pain, not just anger, but the kind of backwards-looking certainty that says he should’ve done it differently, should’ve left sooner, should’ve kept his mouth shut, should’ve spared himself the pleasure of being known if the cost was going to be that high. Hearing otherwise sits strangely beneath Vesper’s ribs, not soft enough to comfort and not sharp enough to reject. He bites at the inside of his cheek, still too caught on it to form anything worth sending back, and when the server arrives with the second round, he reaches for his glass with fingers just a little too quick to make the distraction look casual, but it gives him something clean to hold while the rest of him tries to work around the shape of what Jack has offered.
His eyes stay on the whiskey for another moment, though surprise sparks bright through the thoughts he hasn’t quite drawn fully behind his shields. When he finally glances across the table, the look he gives Jack is careful, edged with disbelief and something almost amused despite the subject of it. What, you’d go say, hey, so my kid’s a telepath, that’s why he broke up with you, try to keep your mouth shut about it?
And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?
☆ has a pale star tattoo beneath his left eye, and freckle-sized constellations move across his skin
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
