A/N: Just a little Jumper fic to test the waters.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine... thanks for ruining my day by reminding me. I can haz Jamie Bell? The poem I used is also not mind, it's by the fabulous Pablo Neruda!
David enjoyed the moments he had for reflection, because they were rare, usually. Hunting Paladins was far from easy, and living like a fugitive had never been on his list of "fun things to do." He remembered…
At the time David wasn't sure if he was hallucinating, or if the world had been tilted off its axis. He had just had the most bizarre experience of his entire life. (Including that time he'd seen Mr. Boquite, his algebra teacher, dressed as a woman!) He'd been eating lunch in Tokyo, at a tiny sushi bar, on the south side of the city. Just his standard post-break up moping. He'd felt a hand fall on his shoulder and BAM! He was on a beach somewhere unfamiliar. Whirling around, he'd been stunned by who had abducted him. "Griffin?" At that point, he'd been sure the sushi was bad. The last time he'd seen Griffin, it had been in Chechnya, when David himself had trapped him in the mangled ruin of an electrical pole. Just so he could rescue the woman he'd thought he'd loved.
"That's right you bloody wanker!" Shocked into silence, he'd only been able to listen to Griffin rant about him being a "tricky bastard" and a "prat with no taste in women" for about ten minutes. "Right then, now that we have that cleared up. How have you been?"
"Whoa, Griffin. Give me a minute here to adjust to your light speed moods swings!" David had said, struggling to keep up with the dizzyingly fast change. He'd looked a bit miffed at that, so David was quick to make amends, not wanting to ruin this sudden benevolence on Griffin's part. The idle chit-chat continued for another ten minutes, ranging from where they'd been (Tokyo, for him obviously. Greece, for Griffin.), to where they were currently (Phuket, Thailand), before Griffin just seemed to give up. Unexpectedly, he had flopped down onto the white sand of the lovely beach. Letting out a giant sigh, he'd shocked David for the hundredth time that day.
OOO
"Some things aren't ever what they seem, are they David?" Griffin drawled. Sensing this wouldn't be a short conversation, David cautiously lowered himself to the sand next him.
No, I suppose they aren't… At least they never are for me. David thought.
Griffin continued, without waiting for David to answer. "Take us. We look normal. We speak normally… well I do at least. We eat the same food and breathe the same air. However, we aren't the same. Yet you'd never know otherwise, unless you found out we could jump. Strange, really. One thing that sets us apart. One thing that makes them believe they have the right to kill us." Without being told, David knew whom Griffin referred to. Paladins and their superiority complex. "They're jealous, I think. Afraid of us. God damn it! I just don't understand!" Griffin shouted to the heavens. It was probably a good thing they were sitting on a beach in Phuket, because the screaming surely would have drawn attention to them. As it was, a few birds in the nearby trees were startled and took flight. Without realizing he was doing so, David moved closer to Griffin, and propped himself up on his elbow, in order to have a better view of him as they talked.
"I don't know, Griffin. What drives all religious nut-jobs to the extreme? All I know is the look in their eyes tells me it's them or us. I'd rather it was them, you know?" That was apparently exactly what Griffin needed to hear. The tension melted from his features, and he turned to look David in the eye.
"I suppose you're right, yeah? Kill or be killed." He turned to stare out at the sea, and continued to speak.
"The truth about you and me is… we're different. We don't have to live by society's rules. We're free, David. It's about time you figured that out." Griffin's tone was less scathing than he expected. It wasn't condescending either, for that matter. It was almost… kind. The difference was enough for David to pay very close attention to Griffin's next words. "Even if we wanted to live normal lives, we couldn't. I tried once, you know. When I was younger, I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico for a few years. I was happy. I had a family! I earned my money, and I bought the things I needed. I even did my fuckin' homework like a good lad! I almost never jumped, and I was bloody careful when I did. That isn't how they found me though. Do you know how they found me, David?" Griffin asked expectantly, so David figured he'd better ask the obvious question.
"How'd they find you, Griffin?"
"My fuckin' dental records! I'd had a filling done,and they tracked me down and tried to kill me like an animal! I was done living by society's rules then!" he took in a deep, shaky breath. David was surprised to see that Griffin had pressed his eyes shut somewhere along the way. Almost as if he was remembering what it was like to be normal for once…
"Well that just fucking sucks." He managed to startle a laugh from Griffin, if nothing else. The English jumper turned to look him in the eye, again.
"You know, you're surprisingly good company for an American." the grin on his face said he wanted to know what David would say to that, but he didn't say anything. "Cat got your tongue, David?" David laughed.
"You're the strangest person I've ever met."
Griffin mock scowled at that. "I would think not! You have met Roland, haven't you?" They both laughed then, the sound as open and free as they were.
"Um… Griffin? I'm sorry, about all that…" he said, making a vague hand motion, indicating everything that had passed between them. The serious look on the other jumper's face was a bit worrying, but it quickly broke into a crooked grin.
"It's all in the past, yeah? Bygones and all that rubbish? I can't really hold a grudge, since I was trying to blow up the love you your life."
"Yeah, about that…" Now Griffin looked unnaturally interested.
"She dump you then? Decide a fugitive wasn't her type? Maybe she turned you in to them?"
"No! No. Ok, it just didn't work. I dumped her all right? I didn't love her like I thought I did. I mean, I thought I would love her forever, and one day I realized it was just… Just…"
"Just lust, eh? Infatuation? It happens mate." Was Griffin trying to comfort him?
"Not doing a very good job making me feel better, Griffin."
Suddenly serious again, Griffin said, "It'll get better with time, you know? Love isn't easy, especially when you're like us. Always on the run, fighting for your life every day." Again, Griffin's lightning fast mood swings were making him dizzy.
"No, I suppose not." With a tremendous sigh of his own, he collapsed back into the warm sand. When he turned to look at the jumper in question, he realized he was closer than he intended, but now the closeness was familiar, and somehow, right.
"So, who was she?" David asked.
"She who?" Griffin looked a bit confused.
"The girl you loved. The one who, um…" It was awkward.
"Betrayed me? Nearly poisoned me? That who you mean?" He was agitated now, and sat up abruptly, looming over David. Silence. "Well?" he looked expectant.
"Uh, yeah. Her, I guess…" David was sure he should have dropped the whole thing. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound I guess. Griffin surprised him, though. The anger faded, leaving remorse in its place.
"Her name was E.V. We met in Mont-Saint-Michael… It was good for a while, yeah? She even liked my ears." he chuckled, "But they ruined it. They slit her father's throat right in front of her. Kidnapped her mother and brother, and used them against her. Just to make her poison me, because they decided I was too much of a threat." He sighed dejectedly, head hung low.
Reaching up, David gently cupped the side of Griffin's face. Their eyes met, but nothing was said, both afraid to ruin this new-found peace. Carefully, he whispered, "I like your ears…"
It was the right thing to say, because suddenly David couldn't breathe. Griffin pressed his lips firmly to the other boy's. Softly moving his mouth against David's, tongue reaching out to trace the edge of his lower lip. Not quite innocent, but still shy and gentle. The hot breath against his lips made David shudder with pleasure. Startled by his own actions Griffin pulled back, but David's hand on the side of his face quickly slipped into the wild hair at the back of his head. Unwilling to let this opportunity to escape, David pulled Griffin down into another heated kiss. He tastes like ginger and lime. This time, David took the initiative, his tongue sneaking out to caress Griffin's lips. Eagerly, they parted, allowing him entrance to the heated depths behind. Pleased with the tortuous fire beginning to grow in his body, Griffin moaned quietly in appreciation. Their tongues danced together, an echo of their past struggles. Griffin's hands found new resting places, one tangled in David's short locks, one resting over the other man's heart, feeling the steady beating. Slow to pull back, David stroked the hair back from Griffin's face. "What is it about you?" he whispered, "What is it that makes me want you so much?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Griffin asked. With a smirk, he explained, "I'm bloody perfect, yeah?"
David chuckled, and craned his neck up for another kiss. "Yeah, I guess so."
Sometime later, Griffin whispered, "Drunk as drunk on turpentine. From your open kisses…" Running his fingers through Griffin's unruly hair, David didn't want this perfect moment to end.
"Keep going."
Looking up from where his head rested on David's chest, Griffin asked, "What?"
"The poem. I love that poem. Pablo Neruda, right?" Grinning, Griffin happily complied.
"Drunk as drunk from turpentine.
From your open kisses,
Your wet body wedged
Between my wet body and the strake
Of our boat that is made of flowers
Feasted, we guide it- our fingers
Like tallows adorned with yellow metal-
Over the sky's hot rim,
The day's last breath in our sails.
Pinned by the sun between solstice
And equinox, drowsy and tangled together
We drifted for months and woke
With the bitter taste of land on our lips.
Eyelids all sticky, and we longed for lime
And the sound of a rope
Lowering a bucket down its well. Then,
We came by night to the Fortunate Isles,
And lay like fish
Under the net of out kisses."
OOO
I guess it's all right if the world has tilted off its axis or something. It all worked out. David thought, but his musings were interrupted by a familiar snarky voice.
"Come on you old granny! The sun is setting in twenty minutes, and we still need to pick up dinner!"
Smiling, David turned to the man he loved (mood swings and all), and remembered… "The truth about you and me is… were different. We don't have to live by society's rules. We're free, David."
I'm still free.
Hope you enjoyed it, reviews are appreciated. 3 Sin