Soul Moment [Jacky]

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Clarisse had wanted to speak with Jacky ever since Dalton had announced his returning to England. But so many things had happened…she hadn’t even seen her dear friend since the meeting at Sean’s house, let alone since the actual fight. She’d been out of commission for two weeks or so, grappling with an intense down-turn of moods due to her side effects. Additionally, her gnawing worry for her coworkers still battling with injuries had kept her from really doing anything for herself.

But not today.

She’d left work early, after filing an incident report on a particularly peculiar side effect snafu, and left a note for Jackeroe in his office that they should meet for coffee after school. She’d contemplating inviting Anya as well, but was sure she needed her rest (even if the Russian woman lived just up the stairs from the coffee shop).

Reclining in one of the plush chairs near the corner of the shop, Clarisse let her fingers play along the lip of the cup of tea that she’d ordered. The pot rested nearby, a thin tendril of steam snaking out of the spout. She even managed to smile gently at it, sighing with a measure of contentment she hadn’t felt in quite a while.

She took it as a good omen: that, as usual, time with Jackeroe would make her feel better.

[Jackeroe Connick]

Jackeroe had been having a long and trying day with his students, one that he’d like to never repeat. It just seemed that every one of them was unfocused and had decided to take a large step backward, which, if his memory served him right, was exactly the opposite of where he wanted them to go. He had been on the brink of placing the ‘hit head here’ sign he had made on his desk to help relieve his troubles, but fortunately for him (and his head) he had spotted a note on his desk before he had done so.

And his day got significantly better.

A quarter of an hour later, Jackeroe was hopping off his bike before it even came to a full stop, parking it in front of the coffee shop before locking it in place around a telephone pole. (Of course it wasn’t a motorcycle, it was a real bike. As in bicycle. Come on, people keep up.) He straighten himself up and ran a hand through his hair before putting on his hat again, pausing before leaving the coffee shop without even going in, wandering down the street instead.

When he got back, he kept his gift behind him like a child as he stepped indoors, spotting Clarisse immediately. He gave off a wide grin before stepping in front of her, tipping his hat before gracing her with his gift- a bouquet of tiger lilies. “How goes things, Clarisse?” He asked, plopping into a chair before realizing he hadn’t even ordered any coffee. Ah, well, he’d get to that later. He paused, and his grin faltered for a moment as he clasped his hands together. “I, ah, heard about Dalton. That’s... I’m sorry.”

Oh yes, Jack had heard about Dalton, and he was not happy. In fact, he was the furthest from happy one could be- he was downright enraged. Clarisse was happy with him, and he seemed happy with her. Why did he leave to England in such a rush? Brit Bastard, acting all high and mighty. Clarisse was a lady, she deserved better. Perhaps he shouldn’t have brought it up so quick.

“Do you like the flowers?” He asked, back to his chipper attitude in hopes that it would not falter again, though it was doubtful. “I hope you do, but if you don’t I’ll just eat them. You should try some too.” He crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, grin back on his face as if it had never been missing.

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Clarisse’s smile widened brightly when Jackeroe entered the café and she opened her arms to hug him, “Ja—!!“ before she could hug him, or even finish her greeting, her words were cut off by a gasp as he produced a lovely bouquet of tiger lilies. “Jacky~.” She cooed, taking them gingerly from his grasp to cradle them in her arm and smile gratefully down at them. “They’re just beautiful.” She complimented breathlessly.

Jacky’s face rarely fell, yet since Jake’s arrival, it had usually fallen in discussions about Dalton. Clarisse’s own expression turned for the worse as well as her mouth set in a bit of an awkward line. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and clearing her throat, she gently laid down the flowers and then took her seat. “…I appreciate your concern.” She said softly, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.

She managed a short huff a chuckle. “It seemed bound to happen…with everything that he went through due to that…that horrid Russian woman.” She shivered to think of the night when she driven through the blizzard to find Dalton, only to discover him half dead with cold.
Clarisse shrugged. “I would have gone home too.”

Arrested from her moment of sadness by Jack’s…strange…suggestion, Clarisse looked down at the flowers, then back to her friend. Beginning to laugh, she shook her head at him. “Why would I eat them?” She asked with incredulity. “They’re beautiful…but still, I’m sure they don’t taste very good.” Clarisse had never had suspicions that Jack was a goat in a past life, but now she was starting to wonder.

[Jackeroe Connick]

There were times that Jacky needed to remind himself that some people were more perceptive than others, especially Clarisse. If he knew that she saw his face fall every time they talked about Dalton, he would have stopped and held it all in like he did with most everything else. But, he just couldn’t help but feel a bit down whenever Dalton had been mentioned, even in passing. It was great that Clarisse had found a man she liked and all. He had high hopes for the both of them, maybe marriage and a family and all that jazz. He could only hope that she found someone else that would fill that new void.

“Oh yeah, that lady.” Jacky wasn’t behind on the times, he had heard the news about that just like everyone else. It was awful luck, that. “Even so, he still could’ve given you a bit more warning.” Along with a goodbye and an ‘I’m sorry’. A bouquet of flowers and a ‘I’ll miss you’ ‘I’ll write’ ‘I love you’ or ‘Play it again, Sam’ wouldn’t have hurt either, all things considered. But the past was the past and Dalton was gone now. Nothing could be done.

Watching Clarisse’s face light up when he had handed her the lilies was the high point of his day. The second highest point was seeing the confused look on her face when he suggested he would eat them. He laughed- all out laughter, none of that chuckling nonsense- and smirked. “Tiger Lily petals are edible. Very sugary, but edible.” He contemplated showing her, but decided against it. “I’ll spare them from the cruel fate of eating them, since you like them so much.” He smiled, winked, and got up, excusing himself for a moment to go grab a coffee.

He wasn’t one for all the frappe-iced-whipped-cream-skim-soy-milk-cappuccino bullshit, so after staring at the menu for what seemed like an eternity to eat a plain old black coffee, he forked over two bucks for a hot chocolate instead. Returning to his place, he sat, smiling as he took a sip of his drink. “So, how’s Chichi?” Yes, talking about Clarisse’s pet spider was a favorite topic of his. He had a cat- something normal people had, yes, but his cat was far from normal. He was a bastard cat. There was a difference.

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Clarisse had spent so long not getting her hopes up in relationships, and when Dalton had come along…well she’d sort of thrown herself into it. If anyone had high hopes, it was Clarisse. They hadn’t come crashing down, per se, but they had come out of the clouds with a fair amount of swiftness. Filling the void wasn’t going to be something she would jump into, not again.

A wry laugh tumbled out of Clarisse’s lips before she cut it off by looking at the floor. Lady wasn’t a term she had pinned on the Russian woman, giving the circumstances of her encounter with Dalton. But she wouldn’t ever admit that out loud to anyone but Anya, and even that meager cattiness required quite a bit of wine. She shook her head softly, indicating both her unwillingness to really discuss the matter and the fact that she knew there was no arguing with Jacky on it. He had his opinions, she had hers…hers involved a lot more forgetting than his seemed to.

She ran her finger gently over one of the petals, looking at it as if she’d never seen a flower before in her life. “I never knew that!” She exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Jacky, you’re full of such useful tidbits.” Clarisse complimented, nodding her head when he ducked away. When he was gone she took the opportunity to truly examine the flowers. Tiger Lillies were just like Jacky: unique, bold…slightly off, even. She giggled a bit at the thought. She couldn’t think of a better gift to get from him.

When he returned, she grinned at him and leaned her elbow’s girlishly on the table, resting her face on her hands. “She’s lovely, as usual.” She chuckled a bit. “You’re really the only one who asks about her.” Toying idly with the rim of her teacup, she shrugged. “An Arachnid communicator told me the other day that she preferred her view in my office to the one in my home, so I’ve taken to leaving her there.” She explained.

[Jackeroe Connick]

If by ‘useful’ knowledge, Clarisse meant ‘stupid and totally impractical’ knowledge, then yes, Jackeroe was overflowing with it. He knew just about everything there was to know about nothing, and he was proud to tell anyone who listened anything useless they wanted to know. Some of it came from reading, but the Tiger Lily tidbit was from something else entirely. “I blame growing up in Indiana. You get your head stuffed full of good knowledge for camping trips.” Not to mention that he would get lost in the woods enough as a child that it was crucial for him to know that eating random flowers and berries all willy-nilly could easily kill him. He knew more about what was not edible over what was.

Mimicking Clarisse’s position as he sat down, Jackeroe smiled and took a sip of his cocoa carefully. He did not want to spill it down his front under any circumstance- that would make for a sticky hot mess and not in a good way. He wasn’t in the mood for either kind, at the moment. “I’m the only one who asks? That’s a shame.” He rather liked the spider, considering how in the beginning of his adventures with Clarisse, Chichi was often the receiver of all his wayward, glitter-encrusted gifts. He was certain that the friendship bracelet he had bestowed upon Clarisse during his first semester working at Hammel was still in the bottom of her cage. “I didn’t know we had someone who could talk to spiders. Did she say anything about liking me?” He perked up, hoping that the answer was a good one. He really had a fondness for Chichi, along with her owner.

Speaking of which, he reminded himself that he had something to ask her. “Hey, have you made any plans for Memorial Day?” He had reserved it as his day off, and he was making plans all around, but he wanted someone else to join in his revelry. “Because if not, I was planning on kidnapping you for the day. But I’ll bring you back. Maybe even in one piece.” He hoped she didn’t have plans. That would ruin all his fun. Well, not all of it. But some of it would be somewhat spoiled.

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Clarisse nodded slowly. “I’d forgotten you were from Indiana. Did you camp a lot when you were younger?” She chuckled and leaned her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand. Relaxed into the conversation, her tea went forgotten for quite a bit. “Or do you camp a lot now, even? I’ve never been camping.” Unless one counted the extreme isolation of her ‘schooling’ in France, Clarisse wasn’t much one for the outdoors. She liked high heels too much.

Shrugging, Clarisse made a face of indifference. “Well she is a tarantula, Jacky. Not many people realize what wonderful creatures they are.” She sighed, pouting slightly. “They just can’t see past the fangs.” Clarisse had never had a fear of being bitten by her darling pet, and would never handle her in such a way that she would be bitten…but some people couldn’t think of anything else. Ah well, those who enjoyed the furry critter quite enjoyed her, and that was all that mattered to Clarisse. She chuckled again. “Well yes, Jacky. We have someone who can do pretty much anything. Though I don’t suppose you do much training with the animal communication gifted…” She murmured. “But yes, we do. And come to think of it.” Clarisse’s quiet smile broke into a grin. “I do believe ChiChi mentioned someone with a rock on his head.” To indicate what the spider could have meant, Clarisse gestured to Jacky’s hat. “I asked the student to explain that the word was ‘hat.’ Apparently spider’s have quite a knack for English.”

Blinking rapidly, Clarisse drew herself up a little straighter. “Memorial Day? I…” She looked out the window, then shyly to her knees. “I had planned to do some paperwork, actually. Just a quiet day in the office, since it will be open for me.” ‘Open’ was a term used loosely. Clarisse was always on call, holiday or no, so long as students were around in case her services were needed. Since the office was the easiest place for students in need to find…well she tended to simply hole herself up with her work and her tarantula and let the day pass.

[Jackeroe Connick]

Growing up in Indiana wasn’t just fun and games and camping. It was getting up early to till the ground because the ground was finally dry and staying up late to get the seeds in on the same day because the rain just wouldn’t stop. It was about running to the neighbor’s at midnight because the storms had smashed her porch roof. It was about riding a bike five times too big down the road a mile and a half to jump into your friend’s pond. It was about making snowmen to rival Calvin and Hobbes creations in the winter and tanning to the point of being a walnut in the summer. Camping was only a small chunk of the experience, but it was a part of it. Jackeroe couldn’t find a good way to explain that though. “Yes and no. More so than most people here, but not as much as some people I know back home.” He knew people who all but lived at Chain o’ Lakes State Park during the summer.

“As for now, I do when I can. Sometimes I get the time off too, but I don’t like being away too long.” The trainer shrugged and sipped his coffee. The kids needed him. People asked why he wasn’t married; he told them he was. He was married to his job.

Jackeroe had never once worried about ChiChi’s fangs. In fact, the only thing he worried about was accidently hurting the spider when he was around it. He knew she wasn’t a fragile thing, but he was still bigger than her, and a drop from his hand to the floor couldn’t be a good thing. He smiled at Clarisse and leaned back in his chair, sitting up and grinning like a madman when she got to the part about ChiChi mentioning him and his head-rock-hat. “That is fantastic~!” He was beside himself with excitement, bouncing in his chair as he set his cup down.

Listening to Clarisse’s predicament, he nodded and thought for a moment. “Would you like to take a half day? We could have an afternoon trip to the state park. It’s like camping but more fun.” He really wanted to take her out for a while and try to help her forget everything about Dalton and all that mess along with the attack on the school, a subject he was nowhere near ready to touch, not even with a ten foot pole behind bulletproof observation glass. “I could bring my grill and we could have a picnic and we could even go swimming. The weather’s warming up real nice.” The storms looked like they wouldn’t hit them too. “What do you say?”

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Many people fantasized about the France: the country side, the wineries, the romance of Paris. For Clarisse, that fantasy had been her life, as well as her nightmare. Her fantasy-land was wherever the wistful look in Jackeroe’s eyes as the memories flickered in his mind took him. Jacky had always had a simple happiness about him that Clarisse quite envied, along with his ability to be as...off the wall…as he was without shame. “I don’t think I’d survive well camping…” She mused off-handedly, thinking of how difficult it would be to wear the same pair of shoes for an entire weekend: sneakers. Yuck.

When Jackeroe bounced like a child, Clarisse shook her head and laughed outright. “Yes, I thought so too. Who knew you’d be able to teach ChiChi some new words?”

Clarisse pondered the thought of a day out: something normal like the other employees would be doing. Something fun. As she turned over the options in her mind she looked over Jacky’s face scrutinizingly. Not because she was scrutinizing the poor man, but simply because he was in her line of vision. When her glassy eyes cleared from thought, she met Jackeroe’s gaze. “Jacky, I think that’d be lovely. I bought a new swimsuit earlier in the season that I haven’t gotten to wear yet.”

A half day couldn’t hurt, right?

[Jackeroe Connick]

Most men would fidget under the direct gaze of a woman, but Jackeroe had sisters and a mother who all liked to do the same thing. Most of the time they would follow up with a comment about his hair being too long or something similar, but he would just grin at them and let it slide. In this case, he watched Clarisse look at him and he looked back, smiling brightly in response. He also didn’t pass up the opportunity to look her over, noting her perfectly curled hair and the tiny mole just next to her left eye. Jacky would never tell her so, but above everything else about her- the vintage clothes, the bright red lipstick- he absolutely adored that beauty mark. It reassured him, in some trivial way, that she was just as human as everyone else and wasn’t really some sort of angel or vampire out to get his soul. (Not that he wouldn’t let her have it if she asked, of course.)

Her affirmative reply caused Jacky to jump from his chair and raise his fist into the air in victory. “YES!” He whooped, and the whole café seemed to pause to stare for a moment until he plunked back down into his seat, and they turned away, muttering to themselves about the crazy man. If they had been in Hammel, no one would have even looked. Most of them were used to Jackeroe’s crazy outbursts. He didn’t even think about the swimsuit part yet, he’d get there. “I’ll bring a big red and white checkered blanket and everything. We can go canoeing too! You’ll love it, I promise.” He’d go online and look up prices for camping and the like on Memorial Day over in Smuggler’s notch later that night. He’d buy wine. Good wine. He’d buy fireworks- always fun to set off, when it’s legal.

He had so much to plan now, and so little time to plan it. But instead of rushing off to plan and connive, he merely shifted in his seat and drank his cocoa. “A new swimsuit, hmm? Sounds nice. Polka-dotted? I could see you in polka dots.” He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked, expecting her to have picked out a swimsuit reminiscent of WWII styles or something. “Where do you GET all your clothes, anyway?” He was dying to know. Well, not really dying, but you get the picture. Pilot Ridge wasn't exactly 'beautiful vintage' central.

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Jacky’s smile was always such a bright spot in Clarisse day. When he perked up, she simply giggled, shaking her head slightly at him. Not that anyone should need a reason to smile, but Clarisse was always impressed that Jackeroe could just…smile out of nowhere! Her polite titter turned into a full on peal of raucous laughter with Jacky leapt from his chair to celebrate. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand when other patrons began to stare, but was still giggling quietly when Jacky quickly settled. He was quite the firecracker, that one.

“I can bring a picnic, if you’d like. Or at least some sweets and a bottle of wine.” She offered. If they were going on an outing together, she at least wanted to bring something to metaphorical table. While her bread-baking was a disaster, she’d become rather good at baking tea cakes. They were always fun to put together anyway. Clarisse nodded and peeked into her tea cup, realizing it had grown cold. It didn’t bother her much, so she ignored it. “I’m sure I’ll have fun, Jacky. You always make a lovely time, promise or no.”

Wiggling a bit in excitement as the subject turned to her favorite thing (fashion, of course), Clarisse nodded more enthusiastically. “How did you know?!” She cheered, clapping a bit. “Spots are my favorite pattern.” She explained, justifying her acquisition of the suit. She hadn’t really needed it, but she couldn’t resist the lovely vintage style. In a world full of bags-on-strings, it was nice to have a forties-style swim suit to romp around in without fear of exposing a little too much. Clarisse waggled her finger at Jack and winked. “A lady never gives away her secrets, Jacky.” She scolded playfully. “But the internet is a lovely place, I’ve found.”

[Jackeroe Connick]

Or Clarisse could buy the wine. That was good too; Jackeroe wasn’t too good with acquiring decent alcohol. If anything, he tended to be the opposite. “Sounds like a plan. You get the wine, I’ll bring the food.” Strawberries. Yes, he had to remember strawberries. Maybe pineapple, but none of the canned stuff, it had to be fresh. Hmm. He’d go to the grocery store after their chat and pick out a good pineapple core. He’d have to remember that. “You will? I do? Always? Really?” The man started bouncing in his seat, pleased with the compliment. He liked making Clarisse happy. Really. She had gone through a lot, and so seeing her happy made him happier too. And if she was unhappy, then it rubbed right off on him and he got damn near depressive.

After all, there was always a bit of frantic desperation behind everything he did when it came to Clarisse, these days.

Watching the woman wiggle in her seat made Jackeroe laugh again as he finished off his cocoa with a large gulp, sitting it down as she described her fashion tastes. “Educated guess. You wear them a lot.” Not to mention she wore them well. His eyes followed her finger much like a cat’s eyes followed a laser pointer, and he smiled before looking back to her face. “I’ll take your word for it. Finding clothes for myself is so hard these days.” It wasn’t really finding clothes in general that was hard, it was finding what he liked. He had personal issues with regular old suits and ties- for one, he absolutely hated them. That was enough of a problem.

“How’s work, anyway?” He piped up, realizing that he hadn’t asked. “Did you notice nobody came in for burn treatment this week? I’m so proud of Sam.” Oh yes, he had been working with Sam on not burning people for a while now, and after weeks of work, they were finally starting to get somewhere. Soon Jackeroe wouldn’t have to bring the fire extinguisher. (Okay, 'soon' being 'a couple months', but he was optimistic.)

[Clarisse Prideaux]

Clarisse’s face was starting to get sore from all of the smiling she was doing, and yet another quiet giggle escaped her mouth. Such was an afternoon with Jacky. “Yes! Of course, really!” She replied enthusiastically. Folding her hands in her lap, Clarisse nodded slowly. She supposed she did wear spots a lot…they were just too cute. The more she thought about it, the clearer her love for the pattern became: she even had polka-dotted throw pillows on her bed! “Good guess.” She complimented. “But at least the color will be a surprise!” she chirped.

The conversation about work took them well beyond the time Clarisse had planned to spend out. When she looked outside, the sun was starting to sink low in the evening. After a lull in the conversation, she blinked and looked around for a clock, gasping when she caught sight of it. “Oh my!” She exclaimed, shaking her head. “Jacky look at the time! I have to get home or I’ll be eating dinner far too late.”

Standing, Clarisse tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her annoying cowlick once again mussing the hair style she had meticulously planned. “Would you like to join me? I feel terrible for keeping you out so late.”