redrighthanded | IC; Duplicity Inbox

[ Jacob stops by the buffet to grab food. There's strange triangles of tomato-covered bread, chips, various breaded meats, and a few other odds and sods, some he recognises and some he does not. And as such he collects an array of food, enough for both of them and bringing it up to the room, setting it down and sitting back on the new enlarged bed just in time for Hellboy to get back.]

There you are, dear. Dinner is ready.

[ It's been a long and slightly strange day, even for Hellboy. The festival celebrations seem to be difficult to avoid, though he's managed to drag himself away to get a few odd jobs done, which means he can at least afford to support himself for another week or so.

He raises his eyebrows as he steps in the door, closing it behind him and immediately heading over to pick up a slice of pizza. He takes a bite and glances around. ]

Makes the room look bigger.

[ Jacob is picking at chips, enjoying the thick-cut and wishing there was ketchup to dip them in, but glad just to have a taste of home. ]

It does. You've almost got room to swing a cat in here now.

[He gestures for Hellboy to take a seat] I did a few little favours today, so hopefully that'll get us some better pillows. I think these ones double as pancakes.

Yeah?

[ Hellboy finishes his slice and reaches into his pocket, tugging out a bottle of whiskey. He offers it out to Jacob, then shrugs out of his coat and tosses it onto one of the two chairs by their crappy little excuse for a table. ]

Figured I owed you a drink. [ He sits carefully on the bed and reaches over for more pizza. ]

Turns out the black market barter system is alive and well. And there's some flat sheets of wood underneath, between the two beds? Thought it might help reinforce it.

[ He must have looked quite the sight carrying them in, but no one had stopped him or even commented on it. ]

You mean because I shared the brandy? You don't owe me anything, but I won't say no.

[ And he doesn't, but he does take a healthy swallow from the bottle before he passes it back.]

Had a productive day?

[ Hellboy chases the pizza with a swallow of booze -- it tastes like he'll live to regret it, but he doesn't care -- and shrugs. ]

Helped out a few people. Even got paid instead of having someone trying to grab my ass.

Should I be jealous?

[ Jacob chuckles, picking up what appears to be a sandwich of some sort with a thick slab of baked meat, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. An odd mix, but... it's not bad. ]

[ Hellboy watches him negotiate that sandwich with slightly raised eyebrows. ]

Jealous you're not getting your ass grabbed?

Not normally many ass-grabbers on the rooftops.

[ He's grinning, taking another bite. It's a sandwich. Its filling between two slices of... very soft bread. With seeds on it. But that's a sandwich, where he comes from.

The modern world might call it a burger, but in the 1860s? They're not there yet.]

Should I be jealous that someone is grabbing your ass, and it's not me?

[ Hellboy snorts a laugh at that and drinks more whiskey. Heaving himself up from the bed again, he walks back over to his coat and starts feeling the pockets for his cigarettes. ]

I dunno. Are you jealous? [ He sounds, if anything, a little surprised at the idea. ]

[ Now isn't that a question and a half? He'd just been messing around but maybe there is something,
a little twisting jealousy that had inspired him to say it in the first
place. ]

I've got no right to be.

[ Which isn't a yes or a no, but is perhaps just as telling.]

[ It definitely feels like they've wandered sideways into a conversation neither of them are prepared to have just yet. Hellboy studies Jacob for a moment, then lets him off the hook with a vaguely thoughtful noise as he taps a cigarette out from a battered pack and lights it with a match struck off the back of his stone wrist. Shaking it out, he lowers himself into the chair rather than going back over to the bed, exhaling smoke as his tail waves back and forth. ]

You're a strange kinda guy. Anyone ever tell you that? [ Not that he makes it sound like a bad thing. ]

I've got an older sister, I've been told that every day of my life since she learnt how to talk.

[He finishes off the burger at that point, dusting his hands together and leaning back, crossing his feet at the ankles, hands behind his head.]

How do you reckon I'm strange then? Aside from inspecting roofs?

You think I'm.. [ He can't even make himself say it, just waves his stone hand vaguely. ]

You never even flinched looking at me.

[ A look of confusion flashes over his face, and then he gets it.]

Why would I flinch? You look different to me, that doesn't mean you aren't handsome.

[ Hellboy laughs a little at that, though there's not much humour in it, and scratches his bristly cheek. He picks up his bottle of whiskey off the table and swaps out his cigarette for a swallow, then leans over to offer the booze over to Jacob. ]

I oughta take you back with me. Keep you around when I need to feel good about myself.

I don't think I'd make a good ghost hunter. [But he takes the whiskey offered to him, taking a couple of good swigs.]

People give you shit back in the world?

Sometimes. [ He lifts a shoulder, not wanting to downplay how lucky he's been, really, with the B.P.R.D., his father and Kate, Liz and Abe and the others. He had a good family, for a while. Now.. he's not so sure. ]

I had a, uh.. relationship for a while. Twenty -- thirty? Years ago. She.. it was only for a couple of years. The press and the church groups, they gave her a lot of trouble for what she was doing with me. She didn't care, but.. [ He rubs his jaw with his fingertips. ] I did. Couldn't stand seeing what they did to her.

[Jacob had just assumed that Hellboy came from a place where everyone looked like he did- tall and red and tailed- he hadn't considered any other possibility. Nor had he considered at any point how old Hellboy might be- he hadn't even stopped to think about it, but somehow hearing that he was in a relationship three decades ago seems strange.

It's enough to make him realise how very little about Hellboy he knows, but he likes him, there's nothing about him that makes Jacob feel on edge, nothing about him that inspires fear. And because of that, Jacob moves silently off the bed to be closer to him.]

She sounds like a good woman. Like she would have stuck by you.

[ Hellboy looks over at Jacob, but doesn't move. If he knew the turn of his thoughts, he might advise there's a lot about him that he ought to feel on edge about. ]

Yeah, she was. Still is, somewhere. [ It's been a few years since the last time he and Anastasia saw each other. ] She woulda stayed with me if she could. [ He eyes the younger man thoughtfully. ]

She would've liked you. She's British, an archaeologist. Woulda enjoyed talking to a guy lost in time.

[There's very little he's scared of. He's certainly not scared of people, even ones that could probably kill him. Partly, that's being an assassin and knowing one day, someone will get you. You still run in, head first.]

You should have let her.

[He scoffs] I'm not lost in time. It's you lot who rushed ahead. There's nothing wrong with 1868.

[ Hellboy makes a vague noise at Jacob's assessment of his situation with Anastasia, unwilling to dig too deeply into that old scar. ]

Dunno about that. You ever meet a guy called Edward Grey?

[ And that change of subject is enough for Jacob to shy away from talking about past loves. It's probably for the best, if only because Hellboy seems morose already, and Jacob doesn't want to think about Roth. ]

No, not that I know of. Another time-traveling friend of yours?

[Jacob does know a few other interesting figures: Darwin, Marx, Dickens. But London has a population of three million in his time- he can't be expected to know them all.]

Nah. [ Hellboy taps ash onto the floor. ] He was a paranormal investigator in your time. Hunted the Ripper. Pretty intense guy. Probably hung out on a bunch of rooftops.

[ Jacob shakes his head again. ]

Never heard of him, or the Ripper.

[Not yet. It will be another twenty years before Jacob's adoptive son goes on his killing spree, and so for the time being, Jacob is blissfully ignorant. ]

What about Spring-Heeled Jack? He still scaring old ladies in your time, or did someone catch him?

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