OTA

[im_torchwood]

After John Hart, after Gray, Jack couldn't be in Cardiff. He was Torchwood now, not just what he did but who he was, and he had a small crisis and had to get away. Although he'd broken with London's Torchwood after the incidents at Canary Wharf (which it seemed the population had either forgotten or written off) Jack found himself in England's jewel. He was ready to make a new start. And, he reckoned, the Doctor would probably visit London before Cardiff if truth be told.

He'd settled into the subterranean Hub that Alice and Emily had worked in. It had been long forgotten in favor of the building of steel and glass that had been built atop it. Bloody Torchwood...they were supposed to be secret. He'd made his contacts and had put himself to work. But even Jack needed to eat.

He had all of the city to choose from and rather than just go to a pub Jack stood on the sidewalk looking at his mobile reading Yelp reviews. There was a place just down the block and around the corner. Yelp was good and all but he kind of wanted a real opinion so he looked up from his screen and he smiled at the first person whose eye he caught.

"Excuse me...do you know if this place is any good?" he asked, showing the screen. His American accent immediately marked him as a tourist, even though he wasn't.

Comments

[im_torchwood]

"Hipster," Jack repeated, not quite sure what that meant. He assumed it was something bad so being 'not too hipster' was a...good thing?

""Okay, thanks," he said. "I don't really drink, but if the food's good I'll give it a try." He flashed a dazzling smile. "You're a life saver."

[prodigalflame]

"You know, the guys with neckbeards and too much plaid and a tendency to declare they knew everything before it was cool." Which wasn't too far off from John, all things considered. At least in terms of aggressively trumping someone else's fun. And all the waiting about artisanal coffee and locally brewed beer! It was like living in Portland, John was sure, not that he'd ever visited the U.S. northwest.

"But The pub you've conaidering's got a good atmosphere too. Nice crowd. Open mic night is every Thursday," John continued, not that he was expecting the guy to play: but it went something to setting the scene, especially if he wanted peace and quiet.

He merely raised his eyebrow a little at the dazzling smile and the 'life saver' comment, lips smoothly holding back a smirk- this guy had no idea. "Happy to be of value to a fellow American, that's all."

[im_torchwood]

Jack really needed to learn more about America so he could sell himself. In Cardiff it had never been an issue. The Welsh just didn't care. Here in London there were more people with questions.

"I do appreciate it," Jack said. "I don't think open mic night is for me, though. I'll look for someplace a little more intimate, I think."

[prodigalflame]

He couldn't hold back the smirk after that comment: "I don't think a guy who looks like you will have any problem finding somewhere more intimate in London," he suggested, with a snort. "The bouncers will probably fall all over themselves to get you inside, let alone the patrons. But I wish you luck in finding some privacy along with the intimacy you're looking for."

[im_torchwood]

"I didn't say privacy. I wouldn't mind some company," Jack said, shameless as he tried to pull the bloke. Never any harm in trying, he thought.

He offered his hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

[prodigalflame]

John took it in a firm shake. "John Allerdyce." It still felt a little weird to say that: he wasn't sure if it was weirder to be able to say it or to say it and not get a goddamn reaction.

Captain, huh? That definitely lead to a once-over up-and-down look, but it was searching for weapons and weakness, beyond the obvious gorgeous facade. "Everyone's supposed to love a man in a uniform, right?" Not that this Jack seemed to be wearing one, not exactly. "I'd join you for a drink, but you'd end up hearing how great my boyfriend is, so it's probably best I pass."

[im_torchwood]

"That's a shame," Jack said, returning the once over. Boyfriend. It was so sad that even in the twenty first century people were so...proprietary.

"Not even a beer?" he asked innocently.

[prodigalflame]

"Thanks," John acknowledged it with an even look, before shaking his head just a bit. Back in his college days, he'd drunk and screwed his way through half the campus, because it had felt freeing at the time. Just a guy with a guitar and a fuckload of groupies. He thought there had even been a threesome...probably...some of his recollections weren't too clear.

But now, now he was good and respectable and everything he ever feared he was. While sure, John may have tended towards the more 'open relationship' side of the scale, the scale got tossed out the window now that Bobby was involved.

"One beer," he agreed, with just a hint of 'what am I getting into?' Still, he knew he wasn't about to do anything stupid, even if Pretty Boy Captain here turned out to be charming as fuck.

[im_torchwood]

"One beer," he beamed. "And maybe you can tell me about home? I haven't been back in years andI'm not really up on news or...anything, really..."

Jack didn't give half a shit about America or what went on there beyond Torchwood 4, but it was something to get John to talk. It was always better if they did the talking.

[prodigalflame]

"Last time I checked New York was still there," John affirmed, after giving the guy another look. John was definitely going to regret this. His accent was generic Mid-Atlantic too; John couldn't place bits of Boston, or Chicago, or anything.

Still, with a shrug, he led the guy amiably through the crowd to a pub that actually felt like a pub - sturdy wooden walls, booths, woman working the bar and glaring at most of the idiots. This was the sort of London T.V. had raised him on, none of this modern glass-everyone-and-little-stools-crap. "What do you want?" he asked as they crossed the threshold, pulling out his wallet and looking over his shoulder at the other guy. John's round, obviously.

[im_torchwood]

Water was his drink of choice but if John was having a beer he could indulge, too.

"A brandy," he said. "I need a good curry if I'm going to have a beer. Are you from New York?" he asked, slowly putting together an idea of who the man across from him was.

[prodigalflame]

"Nope. Lived there for a few years while I was studying, though. Makes you feel like you're at the centre of the world." And he liked that. Excusing himself, John moseyed through the crowd and got himself one beer and one brandy (with a bit of a shrug at the bartender for the brandy, although the dude perked up when he saw who John was getting it for.)

He came back with both drinks, and nodded towards a booth to plonk said drinks (and said self) down, easing himself onto the seat opposite new guy. "Think the bartender likes you," John told the Captain, amused. "Not exactly surprised, strictly speaking."