(no subject)

[sonofrapture]

This is ridiculous, I don't have time for this. I have work to do, places to go, people to see... all that jazz. And you don't even know what you're doing!

[He rubs his face, frustrated, and mutters to himself.]

My father is not going to be happy about this.



((OOC: AU Jack is from the fabulous fic Batya, from just after chapter one.))

Comments

omg yES

[did_unkindly]

...Your father.

[ Same face. Same voice. Much less expensive fashion sense. Oh, and caked in dry blood and grime and who knows what else. He's not like, raving or tumorous or anything, but there's a light behind his eyes betraying the fact that he's recently spliced.

Jack Ryan, meet your double from another lighthouse! ♥

There's half a pep bar hanging out of the side of his mouth. Jack actually stopped eating in order to respond to this incredible dad-related statement. ]

those icons are going to be a Huge Problem for me fyi

[who_is]

[ what

what, what. what

okay. Atlas is too surprised at first to keep himself from looking it, but he recovers quickly enough. ]

And your father has plenty enough to be unhappy about, I imagine?

HAHAHAHAHA ALREADY THIS IS BETTER THAN I EVER DREAMED

[sonofrapture]

[Well that's a horrifying image. Horrifying enough that Jack stops right in the middle of lighting a cigarette to stare open-mouthed in shock.]

What the hell happened to you?

not sorry at all

[sonofrapture]

[Jack blinks. He has no clue who this is but he feels like he should, for some reason.]

He's a busy man.

And between you and me, I'm not entirely sure anything makes him happy.

you're a monster

[who_is]

[ After a very quick assessment of the situation — the kid's appearance, talk of a father who doesn't sound like a Kansas country bumpkin, and mentions of some business that apparently does not involve beating splicers' faces in — Atlas very quickly decides that the best course of action is to play it cool. ]

Between you and me, huh... If you ask me, that's hardly the sort of thing you'd need to keep in confidence.

you're the one playing Atlas

[sonofrapture]

[He flashes a grin and shrugs his shoulders.]

You may be right about that.

you're the one with the icons

[who_is]

[ Weirder and weirder. It's all jarring enough that Atlas has some momentary difficulty getting a read on the kid; he'll have to resort to the basest of basic tactics. ]

And you, ah... You feel just fine about that?

that is true bwahahahaha

[sonofrapture]

[Meanwhile Jack still has the nagging feeling that he should know this guy, but he can't put his finger on it.]

About what? Not needing to keep it in confidence or the fact that he's never happy?

[who_is]

Why not both?

[ He's already making some guesses as to what's going on, but he still needs to feel this out as much as he can. ]

It can't be easy, knowing what people think of him... But maybe you think they haven't quite got him all wrong.

[ It's doubly jarring to hearken back to a time when there was enough of a public in Rapture to have any concerted opinion on Ryan, but based on what the kid's been saying so far, that's what seems to be the case here. ]

[sonofrapture]

Rumors and gossip generally are based on truth.

[He rubs his temple gently and shrugs again.]

Some things, it doesn't matter if people know about them or not. Or what people think about them.

i'm so glad I'M SO GLAD

[did_unkindly]

[ Jack's face darkens. He's not a huge fan of being gawped at.

On the bright side, it's very easy to turn the conversation around on him! ♪ Maybe he's born with it, maybe it's programming ♫]

A lot.

[ ...although that doesn't mean he's super into elucidating. Instead he wrinkles his nose at the other Jack's suit. It's too tailored. It makes him think of Ryan. ]

What are you wearing.

oh god this is going to end in tears

[sonofrapture]

[Well then, dammit, he's not going to elucidate either. Two genetically engineered test tube babies can play at that game.]

What I always wear.

[He finishes lighting that cigarette and takes a drag off it.]

it's ok i won't tell dad we cried if you don't

[did_unkindly]

[ The smoking reminds Jack that his midmorning snack is still hanging out of his mouth. He takes it out, and rolls it restlessly between finger and thumb.

He's not stopped scowling at the other Jack's clothes. Imagine trying to fight in that. It must be so restrictive. ]

It looks new.

[ Did you know that that can be an accusation? Now you do!

Disclaimer: Jack's standards for calling clothes 'new' range all the way from 'fresh off the shelves' to 'blood-free and not full of bullet holes'. ]

ok good

[sonofrapture]

[He hears the accusation. How could he not? It's his own goddamn voice! He glances back up, eyes looking over the bloodied and dirty and torn clothes and he takes his cigarette between two fingers and exhales a long stream of smoke.]

It's not. It's clean. And I don't wear it every day.

[did_unkindly]

Why not?

[ If you asked him, Jack wouldn't be able to articulate exactly why this bothers him so much. It's just so... it doesn't line up with anything he's experienced. He's sure he wasn't like this for the brief time he was topside. He knows he's not like this now. He doesn't know if he might've been like this earlier, in the time they scraped out of his memory, and that's a sore spot that didn't need scratching -- especially when his only tried and true method for dealing with things that unnerve him is to lash out at them.

...but seriously 'how dare you have clean clothes' is the stupidest criticism ever jack, what are you four ]

[sonofrapture]

Because I have a lot of them.

[And it bothers him that this... other him is so accusatory. What the hell happened to him? Why is he covered in blood? What the hell happened?]

[who_is]

[ Okay, he just might be getting somewhere... ]

And what about other things?

[did_unkindly]

[ Honestly I blame the parents. ]

Why? [ Here we go again. But no -- Jack's actually going somewhere with it this time. ] I never had...

[ Well. We've covered this. Memory shenanigans; he can't say for sure.

His hands make fists, but some of the aggression in his stance drains out, and he looks a little smaller as he interrupts himself: ]

I don't think I did.

[sonofrapture]

[Okay what is going on here. Jack's shoulders relax a little as his brow furrows.]

You didn't?

[...all right, maybe... it's time to figure out what's going on here.]

Aren't you from Rapture?

[sonofrapture]

Other things are what makes the man not happy.

[He says it casually, almost flippantly, but there's something else in there as he thinks of how much he disappoints his father without really fully understanding why.]

[did_unkindly]

[ Well, at least one of them is being an adult about this.

Although Jack would like it to be known that he considers that a very loaded question. His first instinct is to say no, and he's not sure if it's because of the false memories or because he just really wishes that was the answer.

He stops making fists. The pep bar is a little squashed. ]

I'm... from Rapture.

[ Let's just say he doesn't sound thrilled about it. ]

[sonofrapture]

[Well it's a start at least.

Maybe it's time to stop dancing around the subject.]

And your father's Andrew Ryan, correct? He had you made to be his heir.

[He might hesitate on the words to the second statement, but only because the subject is still strange to him, even knowing it for as long as... well. Not so long as all that.]

[did_unkindly]

[ The scowl that name earns from Jack is incredible. It's more like a silent snarl. It's the kind of face that leads to people coining the phrase 'if looks could kill', but only once they've gotten a safe distance away.

But there's confusion in his eyes as well. Ryan had him created? How many conflicting stories about his past can he possibly encounter??

He takes a deep breath. ]

Ryan's dead.

[ It's easier than giving a straight answer. To any of that. ]

So it doesn't matter.

[ (You keep telling yourself that, kid.) ]

[who_is]

[ Ah, there it is.

Atlas has no idea what sort of relationship the two might have if Jack is close enough to call a man like Andrew Ryan father, but based on the Ryan he's come to know, he can guess that it isn't anything good.

So he adopts a more sympathetic tone of voice. ]

I don't suppose you would happen to be one of those things, would you?

[ryanizing]

"Your father."

[ .....

what in everything that is holy is happening here ]