OTA

[alcuin]

It had been a while since anyone had randomly recognized Alcuin. He credited this in part to the fading memory of the city (despite the tabloid flair-up around the holidays), and in part to his decision to cut his hair. He'd also taken to wearing glasses, which were a prescription weak enough that he'd typically gone without them in the past, but he was spending considerably more time in front of a computer these days than he had when Anafiel was alive. Maybe it was a little Clark Kent of him, but he definitely wasn't noticed as much this way. And it wasn't even just being recognized, but he also got less attention. Which caused... more conflicting emotions than he would have anticipated.

In any case, this all resulted in his looking like a rather normal young man sitting at an outdoor cafe drinking coffee and reading a copy of Jon Ronson's new book So You've Been Publicly Shamed. It struck a bit of a chord with him, to be honest. He was glad he hadn't spent much time on social media last year. He really didn't want to know what Twitter had thought of him.

The cafe was busier than usual, perhaps due to the weather being nice, and it was a Friday just late enough for people to skip out of work early. He reached over and took his bag out of the other seat at his table in case anyone wanted to join him, as there were no more empty seats around.

Comments

[im_torchwood]

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said, the whole thing flowing from his lips so fluidly it was clear he said that more often than just Jack.

[alcuin]

Alcuin might have guessed military from the beginning, so he was glad to find himself right. Anafiel would be proud that his skills weren't slipping.

"Pleasure," he offered again, and couldn't help but just look at him for a moment. His features were damn near perfectly symmetrical. He wondered vaguely if he was ever an artist's model.

[im_torchwood]

"So...psychology student. That's admirable. Going into the profession or just studying it for fun?" he asked, teasing a little. A little. Psychology didn't seem like the sort of thing one studied for 'fun'.

[alcuin]

"Some manner of the profession, though I haven't decided exactly what yet," Alcuin admitted. "Some days I think I want to be a grief counselor, others a criminal profiler..." He realized belatedly that those two things could possibly seem related in an unpleasant way. Which was accurate, of course.

It was nice though to talk to someone who clearly had no idea who he was and hadn't heard anything about him.

"But I've just finished the semester, so it's nice to have a bit more time on my hands."

[im_torchwood]

"Are you taking the summer off?" he asked, gently sidestepping the career options. They seemed a little personal, but from what Jack knew about psychology the specialization was always personal for the therapist.

[alcuin]

"I'm working part time in a research lab at the university," Alcuin said. "I'm hoping to do some traveling as well." He ran a thumb over the rim of his coffee cup. "Are you currently in the service, Captain?"

[im_torchwood]

"Retired. I'm in the private sector now," he said, which was sort of true. The crown paid the Torchwood budget but they were beyond the government. "Where are you going to trael?" he asked then, deflecting the conversation back onto Alcuin.

[alcuin]

Interesting that he preferred not to talk about himself, but they'd only just met, so Alcuin didn't mind.

"Perhaps back to Paris for a bit," he said. "And then more of Europe. I may travel with a friend, he suggested Prague, Vienna, Budapest..."

He never referred to Hannibal as his boyfriend, because it sounded silly, and was inaccurate. And saying something like lover was just as bad. He didn't care for labels.

[im_torchwood]

"Prague is beautiful. Vienna, too." He took a sip of water, draining the bottle to half. "It's been a long time since I went to the continent. I've got a friend doing the whole travel thing. I have this mental image of him riding the Eurorail and I laugh. he's not, for the record..."

[alcuin]

Alcuin had actually done a good deal of traveling when Anafiel was alive, though it was typically with very specific purposes. It had also helped with Alcuin picking up languages.

"Is London your home now then?" he asked.

[im_torchwood]

"For now. Home office," he said with a shrug. "We'll see how well it works out. I might pick another office."

[alcuin]

"I've been here for almost ten years now," Alcuin said. "I like it... there's something about the energy, the people. There were times when I really should have left... but I couldn't bring myself to do it."

[im_torchwood]

"Where would you go? Somewhere like Paris? Make a fresh start?" Jack asked, thinking the kid must have some serious baggage to even think like that.

[alcuin]

"Oh, if I wanted it to be fresh I'd go somewhere entirely new," Alcuin said. "I suppose somewhere where I speak the language. Though there are places I could go where despite that I'd stick out like a sore thumb."

[im_torchwood]

"Yeah, you get into that. Even in native dress it's hard to get away with just the language in, say, Istanbul," Jack chuckled.

[alcuin]

"Especially like this," Alcuin said wryly, gesturing to his pearl white hair. "As much as I'd love to be on a beach in Greece for a while, I'd probably just spend my life with a sunburn."

[im_torchwood]

"Alcuin, you go out at night," he chuckled. "Get a little morning sun, then go to bed through the heat. Best way to holiday," he said

[alcuin]

Alcuin laughed. "Ah yes, perhaps being nocturnal would be a solution to that particular problem. I'll bet you know a thing or two about night life."

[im_torchwood]

"The most interesting things happen after the sun goes down," Jack said, and strangely it sounded more sinister than romantic.

[alcuin]

"Yes," said Alcuin simply, looking at him unblinking, and it didn't seem as if he meant it romantically either.

[im_torchwood]

"It's always nice when someone agrees with me," Jack chuckled. "You don't look like a nightlife kind of guy. More like a late night in the library vibe, am I right?"

[alcuin]

Alcuin laughed. "I'm not going to say you're wrong," he said, "but that isn't usually the first impression people get of me." Maybe the glasses really did make a difference.

[im_torchwood]

"What's the usual first impression?" Jack asked flirtatiously.

[alcuin]

Alcuin's lips quirked into a smile. "That I'm just a pretty face, I suppose. I'll bet you get that, too."

[im_torchwood]

"Sometimes there's benefits to being just a pretty face," Jack grinned,