Solitary Confinement (Access to Aithne Asylum Required)

[Peter Parkman]

Peter felt as if he were out of his depth, and he often found himself glancing at Enver, as if Enver should have the answers. Peter had distinctly heard the name Kacee too, but now Jonah was referring to someone else entirely. Perhaps it had been a Freudian slip. Perhaps Kacee was a name that he hadn’t meant to say, but which had slipped out in the heat of the moment.

He also got the feeling that, though Enver might not have recognised him to begin with, he knew Jonah. It was obvious that Jonah was going through some kind of emotional turmoil, and perhaps he would like someone to talk to about it. Someone, one on one. Get it off his chest. Peter, being a relative stranger, would be hindering that kind of progress, if Jonah wished to open up to Enver but wouldn’t do so with a stranger present. Peter decided, off the cuff, that he would do as he was accustomed to doing, whether he realised it or not – whatever he could do to bring peace to two warring parties, or to just bring peace, whatever the cause of disruption.

As Jonah asked what there was to do, Peter cleared his throat.

”I might be new to all this, but I would think… I should think that just because we are v-vampires, now, doesn’t mean that our old hobbies become things that we cannot indulge in,” he said. He himself still did the majority of the things that he had done before turning. Not that his hobbies were anything special – reading, researching, walking the dogs, playing with the dogs. He’d been accustomed to hermitude for the past six months, before his turning, so social activities were out of the picture.

”So what did you… what did you used to like to do?” he asked. Trying, at least, to be helpful.

[Enver Marshall II]

AJ.
Enver was pretty sure he knew who Jonah was talking about, but didn't want to assume anything. Plus, relationship advice wasn't really his forte. For the first time in his entire adult life span, his relationship [with who just so happened to be the leader of this family], was nice. Sure, there were moments where things seemed to be over the top and flat out ridiculous, but somehow Keara and him always managed to sort things out and move past those trials. He wouldn't call it easy, but it certainly was comfortable and worth a damn. So, no. He couldn't really give the guy any advice because his relationship was still too new to have a real worthwhile opinion.

He chuckled, loudly at the question. What was there to do? Jonah had to be kidding, yeah? "Anything you damn well want to do." Enver said gruffly before he ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room. Maybe they should move from the room. Just to keep things positive. Bad Feng shui and all that. "But we can't really do much if you, well, you know." Enver made a hand motion at Jonah, indicating his appearance wasn't quite up to par with the idea of going out.

Peter had some good ideas, or at least the right train of thought. So Enver nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You know, hobbies before you became like this. A vampire." Enver rubbed at the stubble on his jaw from his five o'clock shadow and then offered some suggestions. "Like back in the day, I used to be a gambling man. Spent a lot of time pissing away money and making some back. Playing pool too and getting shi-" He stopped, realizing he might be telling a bit too much about his seedy past when he lived life like Jonah. For years. Miserable and in a form of pain he'd never admit to anyone.

"But now I like watching movies." There. Something safe and something that wouldn't get back to Keara and might cause something that wasn't there to suddenly be there.

[Jonah]

Jonah drew his hands over his face, taking slow breaths and calming himself down as he thought about the questions that the two men were asking him. They were repeating each other but, to be fair, he wasn't giving them much to work with. What did he like to do? It had been so long since he had really thought about it. Everything was about his duty, what he had to do. Or about AJ...

He cut that line of thought off. "Working out. Used to do that a lot." Stretching his muscles, he looked at his large hands. "Not much reason to do that anymore though." Sighing, he looked up at the two men. "I liked school too. Doing the research and writing the papers. Wanted to go back and get my Master's..."

A strained smile forced itself on to his face. "Not much chance of that happening now though."

[Peter Parkman]

”School. School is good. You don’t have to go anywhere in this day and age – you can do it all online,” Peter blurted. In that single sentence, that single utterance of something that Jonah enjoyed doing, Peter had found his common ground. He’d found a way that he could legitimately be helpful in this situation. Research and study and school had nothing to do with being a vampire – a topic upon which Peter knew barely a thing. No, instead, Research and study and school happened to be Peter’s expertise.

”I teach… taught History at HRU. Majored in Philosophy when I went through – the evolving nature of human thought is what interests me most. What area did you belong to? What’ll you do, when you go back?” he asked, as if Jonah had never exhibited any pessimism that he would be able to go back. It was never too late, in Peter’s opinion, to go back and study. The search for knowledge, and for the betterment of one’s own mind, is a noble cause. If the urge was there, it wasn’t something that ought to be ignored.

Peter himself had no interest in movies. He read books. There wasn’t even a television in his cabin – just a fireplace, and a couch with one very well-worn corner. The one hobby he did have that didn’t quite fit with his profession was his collection of graphic novels. He loathed the film adaptations of his favourite superheroes – instead he preferred to read the comics as they were released, one edition at a time.

Whatever the case, he was suddenly very enthusiastic about the turn of events, his focus entirely upon Jonah, Enver having faded into the background.