OOC LOG: HAINE AND JASPER
Who: Haine and Jasper
What: Intense talks and beanbag shopping
Where: Alice's little yellow Porsche, and the...beanbag store?
When: The day before yesterday? Or something? Maybe the day before that? A few days ago
Why: Last Thursday, the 27th
Notes: Your character didn't see this, rated PG-13 for language, which there isn't all that much of!
---
Jasper juggled Alice's keys in his hand as he led Haine over to her bright yellow Porsche. He didn't ask to drive her car often, but no store sold things like beanbags in Forks and Port Angeles was much too far to walk. The car ride would give them an opportunity to talk, anyway, which was the real reason he'd offered to go in the first place. The uneasiness washing from Haine was distracting.
He motioned for the albino to get in as he slid into the driver's seat. He was relatively full, so he wasn't very worried about being left alone with the human. Still, he wanted them both relaxed just in case. He kept the atmosphere in the car fairly mellow and let Haine make of that what he would as it took the tension from the air.
Haine sighed heavily, and without a word slid into the passenger's side of the car, glad to be getting away from the house, and Badou, for at least a little while. Jasper's calming influence helped a lot too.
"Do you know what kind of things you're looking for?" Jasper asked him as he pulled the little sports car onto the drive, almost forgetting to flip on the headlights when he reached the main road. Edward was the mind reader, usually he was the one to talk things over with anyone pretending not to have a problem with something. Jasper wasn't sure exactly where to begin.
Haine shrugged. "Badou'd probably be better at this than I would," he admitted, sheepishly. "Cool stuff, I don't know. I still feel bad that you guys are paying for all this shit."
"Don't," Jasper reassured him again. This seemed to be a constant topic between his family and any of the humans who actually knew them. "Money means very little to us. It's really not a problem."
Haine nodded. "I know. But still." Haine looked out the window and got quiet again.
Jasper nodded and let him fall silent for a little while. He understood Haine's position, but he wasn't sure what else to say to change it.
"This is a nice car," said Haine, absently.
Jasper nodded again, his eyes breezing over the bright blue dash. "Edward bought it for Alice last year," he explained absently. "For helping with Bella's house arrest. She stole one in Italy and decided she liked them."
Haine smiled. "You guys are fucking awesome."
Jasper glanced over and smiled back. "Thank you? Alice has always been impulsive. Have you ever been to Italy?"
"Before I came on that journal thing I'd never been anywhere but the Underground City." Haine said, shrugging. "My brother is Italian, though."
"I thought you were German," Jasper said with a frown.
"I am."
"Then how can your brother be Italian?"
"He's my brother like Emmett and Edward are your brothers. He's like me."
"Ah." Jasper should have known that. "Do you have any others?"
"Sisters. Two." He paused for a moment. "I killed the rest."
"How many were there?" Jasper asked, hoping he wasn't probing too deeply. Haine's background was as close to his own as he'd ever seen in someone else. It interested him.
"Many," he said. "They've probably made new ones that I don't know since I left, though."
"You escaped?" Jasper clarified, glancing at him again.
"Yes."
"Was it difficult?"
"I killed everyone."
"And that wasn't difficult?"
Haine shrugged again. "Not really. I don't really remember, though."
"How long ago was it?" Jasper kept the mood surrounding them calm, but kept a sharp eye out for any subtle changes. He really didn't want to try into something this personal if it made Haine uncomfortable.
"A few years. I don't remember."
"Do you remember how many there were?"
"I don't know." Haine started feeling a little uncomfortable with the line of questions. "A lot."
Jasper soothed it automatically, but he didn't ask anything else for a moment. He kept his eyes on the road when he did. "And you feel guilty for this?"
Haine got quieter. "Yes."
Jasper nodded. "Well," he told him honestly, "I don't know that that will ever go away. But you seem happy enough now. Certainly that helps?"
Haine nodded back. "Yeah."
"And what was wrong with you this morning?"
Haine's stomach clenched uncomfortably. He'd known that Jasper would probably have felt the surge of confusing emotions he'd felt this morning, and that Edward probably knew exactly what was up, but he'd been hoping that neither would confront him about it. "Uh. Nothing."
Jasper glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. "You do know that won't work on me, right?" He'd felt the sudden rush of tension a moment ago as well, as if he'd needed further proof.
Haine sighed heavily. "I just....realized something."
"What did you realize?"
"Does it really matter?"
"If it caused a reaction that strong in you, I'd like to know," Jasper prompted. "I can guess it had something to do with Badou. You can talk if you like, but I won't force you."
Haine frowned. "Yeah. Badou."
"Was it something serious?"
Haine's chest tightened painfully. "I'll get over it."
Jasper calmed the feeling and glanced at Haine again. "So it was."
Haine glanced back out the window. "It shouldn't be."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want it to be."
Jasper risked another glance at him. "Why not?"
"Because I want to get over it."
"So it's a feeling?"
"...yes."
"For Badou," Jasper reasoned. "A serious feeling for Badou. Why has that upset you so much?"
Haine rubbed his eyes. "Because it's too serious."
Jasper slowed the car a little so that they wouldn't arrive before the conversation was over. "Why do you say that?"
Haine hid his face in his hands. "Because I have feelings for him."
"You mean romantic feelings," Jasper clarified, glancing at him again. It was no secret that the two had been fooling around together since they'd come here, and while he hadn't known exactly what to make of that at first, he'd had more than enough time to grow accustomed to it since.
Haine flushed furiously. "...yes."
Jasper was curious now. "How long have you known him?"
"A couple years."
Jasper looked over at him, the rest of his senses automatically keeping the car on the road. "Why are you so embarrassed of it?"
"Because there's no way that he'd ever feel that way about me. And I've never felt this way about anybody before. It's stupid. I want it to go away."
"Does feeling this way change anything between the two of you?"
"I hope not."
"Why would it?"
"Because that's fucking awkward. If he finds out he'll be fucking awkward."
"But he's been reciprocating," Jasper reminded him. "He trusts you. Perhaps he feels the same, he just hasn't...realized it yet." It was obvious Badou wasn't 100% in synch with his feelings.
"Badou likes girls," Haine said, weakly.
Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Badou doesn't seem to mind gender when it comes to you."
Haine stiffened slightly. "That's different. I think. I don't know."
"Why is that different?" Jasper asked, curious.
"Because there's a line. I don't know." Haine said, really not knowing what he was talking about.
"Where is this line?" Jasper pressed. He had more of an idea now of what Haine was talking about, but he was also aware that he was confused, and he thought forcing him to think about it might alleviate some of that.
"I don't know," said Haine, slightly exasperated, "but I think I crossed it."
"I think you're a bit more worried than you need to be," Jasper told him after a moment, thinking his situation over carefully. "Badou may not know what to think of it if you tell him, but he'll come around. He seems the forgive and forget type of guy."
Haine sighed heavily. "I don't want him to know."
"I won't tell him," Jasper promised. "Are you all right with this?"
Haine shrugged. "I feel sort of all right with it right now, but you're here,so I'm not sure if that's how I really feel," he answered honestly.
"I'm just calming you down," Jasper admitted with another glance. "I could lift it, if you'd like."
Haine shook his head. "No. It's fine. I feel better than I have all day."
Jasper offered him a small smile. "I usually refrain because people feel like I'm messing with them, but I can keep you calm if you want me to."
Haine sighed. "People mess with me all the time. It's fine. Thanks."
That caught Jasper's attention again. "What do you mean?"
Haine thought for a moment. "I guess it's only fair to describe all the weird shit about me, since you guys have been so generous in explaining all your weird vampire shit. Has Badou told you anything about the Black Dog?"
"No," Jasper replied, a little startled by the sudden honesty. "He hasn't told me anything personal about either of you. You don't have to."
Haine shrugged. "You're my friend, right?"
"I..." Jasper shook his head, chastising himself for his hesitation. "Yes, of course. But you shouldn't feel obligated to. You're our guests, you owe us nothing for staying."
"I don't feel obligated," Haine countered. "In fact, you guys should probably know anyway. Just in case."
Jasper looked at him, wondering if this was something like Badou's alter-ego. "Just in case?"
Haine inwardly winced a little. "Ah. Yeah. You guys would probably be fine. Being vampires and all. Actually, it's probably safer for other people that I'm around you guys."
"What do you mean?"
"...well you at least know that I'm a fucking genetic engineering experiment, right?"
"You told me." Jasper glanced at him again. Haine's tension was palpable. He lowered it. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Haine nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Uh. Have I showed you the collar?"
"I've seen it," Jasper said slowly, cautious. "I assumed they put it there?"
Haine's hands raised to finger the wrappings around his neck. "Yeah. They did."
Jasper watched him out of the corner of his eye. "Does it still bother you?"
Haine laughed humorlessly. "Bother me how?"
"Does it...irritate your skin?" Jasper waved his hand a little as he tried to remember the various things he'd wondered upon seeing it in the past. "Chafe? Hurt? Is it heavy? Can they still use it for whatever they originally put it there for?"
"I heal fast enough that any irritation or chafing doesn't really matter," Haine explained. "I guess it's kind of heavy, but I've gotten used to it...I don't remember ever not having it on. And it's original purpose is still there, yeah."
"Was was its original purpose?"
Haine sighed. "The main goal of the people who made me was to make human weapons. The Cerberus Project. They implanted a second personality in my spine through the collar. The Black Dog."
Jasper frowned as he thought the implications of that over. "For combat?"
"I guess. I wasn't exactly privy to their plans."
"But you're good at it," Jasper thought aloud. "And I've never seen a human keep pace with Emmett the way you do. It would be my guess. Is this Black Dog aggressive?"
"Yes. Very. He's...He killed them all. It was me, but it was him."
"Were you aware of it?" Jasper asked, looking over at him again. "Or does he push your consciousness aside?"
"It depends on how much control he has. When it's absolute...like it was then...then I'm not." Haine sighed and shuddered lightly, remembering.
Jasper took the time to soothe Haine's emotions again, taking care to make sure he was calm and relaxed instead of comatose. He knew Haine was around nineteen, a child even by human standards, and that he'd had anything but a normal human life so far. He sighed and shifted in his seat, switching hands on the wheel.
"When I was young, around your age now, I was made to kill people as well."
Haine turned to look at Jasper. "You were?"
"Yes." Jasper met his eyes briefly, offering him another small smile. He still felt uncomfortable talking about this. He'd told Bella recently, yes, but that had been for a reason. Before that it hadn't been brought up for nearly sixty years.
Haine frowned. "Before or after you turned into a vampire?"
"After," Jasper clarified. "I served in the Confederate Army for nearly four years prior, and the vampires who turned me did so because of my rank. I served them for nearly ninety. I routinely created and killed dozens of my kind every year."
Haine raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
Jasper nodded. "I don't even have a rough estimate of their numbers. And they were on top of the humans I fed from and the rival vampires I killed in our wars."
"Wow." Haine frowned. "I kill people for a living, now. It's the only thing I know how to do."
"Me too," Jasper admitted with a wry smile. "Edward likes to make fun of me for my lack of hobbies. Carlisle is the only vampire I've heard of with an actual job."
Haine smiled back. "Well Carlisle's like the ultimate in non-vampirey vampires."
Jasper chuckled. "Yes. I don't think he's ever even tasted human blood. I've had so much I can't differentiate between tastes anymore."
"Different people taste different? I guess that makes sense. Their blood smells different, after all..."
"You can smell it?" Jasper asked, glancing at him sharply.
Haine shrugged "Heightened senses. And I spill a lot of blood at my day job. I doubt it's at all the same as what you can do, though."
"Well, not me," Jasper corrected. "Humans smell different to the rest of them, though. Bella, for instance. She's known as a singer. Did Edward tell you about that?"
"I remember him mentioning it once or something."
"But he didn't explain it?" Jasper wanted to know.
"Briefly? I don't remember."
"Mmm, well." Jasper rubbed his mouth a moment and wondered how to say this in terms a human would understand. "Edward hasn't messed up since I met him in 1950, and by that I mean he hasn't lost control and killed a human. Aside from Carlisle and Rosalie, he's the only one. He's very self-contained. But Bella smells so good to him that he got one passing whiff of her scent and very nearly massacred that entire high school of children just so he could taste her."
"Holy shit. That's intense." Haine raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "The Black Dog is more like you, then. Doesn't care who."
"Yes," Jasper nodded, relieved Haine had caught on so quickly. "Bella smells so good that everyone but Carlisle has difficulty around her when she's spilled blood. I've nearly killed her once already, over a slip. But she smells no different to me than anyone else does."
Haine nodded back. "I've nearly killed Badou a few times," he admitted.
"It's frightening," Jasper confided softly. "I have no control over it either. At least I can assure you we won't let you slip while you're with us. The slightest smell of his blood will have one or more of us there in moments."
Haine frowned. "Last time I nearly strangled him."
"Then the sounds would summon us," Jasper promised him. "I'm not sure you understand exactly how powerful our senses are."
Haine nodded. "He hasn't been very vocal at all since we got here. He's been talking a lot today, though." He sighed.
"The Black Dog?" Jasper was surprised. "He talks to you?"
"Ah. Yeah."
"What does he say?"
"He plays on my insecurities. He's good at it, because he lives in my fucking head." Haine sighed deeply.
"What sorts of insecurities?" Jasper asked. "Is he talking to you now?"
Haine shook his head. "You shut him up. Today he's been reminding me of things that Badou has said, picking at things I don't like about myself and further convincing me that no one will ever want me. The usual."
Jasper frowned. "Is this typical of him?"
Haine nodded. "Well. Usually he's convincing me that I'm weak and alone and that I should let him take over, because he would do it better."
"You don't actually listen to him, do you?" Jasper looked at him. "Did you say I shut him up?"
"I try not to. When I'm really weak or upset he gets to me, though." Haine sighed. "Yeah. You did. With your calming thingy. Badou does that too. Well. Not the same way, obviously."
Jasper nodded. "That's good. Just let me know if he acts up again, it's a very simple matter to calm people down."
Haine smiled. "Thanks."
Jasper smiled in return. "Don't mention it."
Haine sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Now. Where are we going?"
"Port Angeles," Jasper told him, turning back to the highway and pressing on the gas again. "We're nearly there. They have a wider variety of stores."
Haine sighed. "...will it be crowded?"
Jasper gave him another smile. "No. I dislike crowds. It's late enough that the stores will be clearing out."
Haine nodded. "Ah. Good. I don't like crowds either."
"I know." This time he offered Haine a real grin. "Our family is well known enough that they would clear the store if we asked them to anyway. I believe Edward bought a rather ornate bed from them not long ago."
"Really?" Haine laughed. "That's awesome."
Jasper chuckled as well. "Yes. And rather convenient." He pulled the car into the parking lot of a store he was fairly certain would sell the kinds of things Haine and Badou would like, beanbags included.
Haine unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the car, stretching just a bit. "Well. That was the best car ride I've ever had, I think."
"Have you not had many, then?" Jasper tucked the keys into his pocket and led him toward the building.
"I'd only ridden in a car once before I came here." Haine followed close behind.
"Really?" Jasper asked, glancing back at him in an attempt to get him to walk side by side. He trusted Haine, but he still didn't like people behind him like that. "Don't mention that to Edward. He won't let you out of his for a week."
Haine caught up, smiling. "He's teaching me how to drive, starting tomorrow."
Jasper grinned at that. If Haine wasn't familiar with vehicles, he was going to drive Edward mad as he slowly learned them. "That's good. Don't listen to whatever he tells you about speed limits and try to stay under them."
Haine grinned back. "I was under the impression that it was customary to go just a little bit over the speed limit."
"After you've learned to drive," Jasper corrected with an amused grin of his own. "Not before. And never as fast as Edward."
"Yessir!" Said Haine, mock-saluting. "I don't think it'll be that hard. I pick things up quickly."
"Good," Jasper laughed, leading him inside. "Let me know how you do."
"Of course." Haine followed Jasper and looked around the store, eyes wide. "This place is huge."
Jasper smiled at him, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to that blinking flourescent light. "It's adequate. What would you like to look at first? Just the beanbags?"
Haine nodded. "Yeah. That's fine."
"They're this way." Jasper led him in what he was fairly sure was the right direction. He was used to being led about by Alice here, but he hadn't exactly forgotten.
Haine followed, glancing around the store, vaguely interested. He finally started thinking aboutthe actual reason he was here and sighed. He hated shopping. Usually mostly because he didn't have any money. Not that he was particularly materialistic to begin with, but being surrounded by things you can't afford is never very fun. Haine sighed and tried to change his mindframe. He was here for a purpose. Beanbags. Easy enough, right?
"Are you all right?" Jasper asked after a moment, noticing Haine's slight discomfort.
Haine nodded. "Yeah. I just realized that I suck at shopping," he said smiling sheepishly.
"Me too," Jasper said with a small grin. "But I figured the two of us could manage a simple task like beanbags."
Haine's smile widened. "Yeah. This shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"Right," Jasper agreed, leading him over to the section. "It would be very hard for the two of us together to fail."
"Oh, who knows. We could always fail twice as hard," Haine grinned, following.
Jasper chuckled. "You think? You're not colorblind, are you?" They reached the beanbag section and he stopped to look them over.
"I don't think so, but then again, color has never been particularly important." Haine stoped too, and scrutanized the selection. "Badou would probably pick something retarded looking."
"Define that," Jasper mused, glancing over their rather wide selection. "And then point it out to me."
"Probably something with a bright pattern or something. Something that would hurt my sensitive freak eyes," Haine thought out loud. "Can't we get something classy instead? As classy as beanbags get, anyway?"
Jasper chuckled quietly to himself, wondering if there was such a thing. "Why don't we let Badou have his beanbags, and we can counteract it with some other classy furniture."
"Fair enough." After some searching, Haine found some beanbags with crazy retina-burning stripes on them. "Ack. These hurt, I think Badou would love them."
Jasper grinned and picked one up. "I agree. Find something shaped like something hideous. He'd like that too."
"These aren't going to fit in the porsche, are they?" Haine asked, picking up one shaped like a frog with a smirk.
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that." Jasper frowned as he tried to come up with a solution. "Perhaps one can fit in the back. I'm sure Alice has bungee cables in the trunk, we could probably tie the rest to the hood."
"That's going to look hilarious. You'll have to drive slowly." Haine grinned, picking up another retina-offending beanbag.
"I hadn't thought of that either," Jasper said with a grin, reaching for one shaped like an enormous pair of lips. "Do you think four is enough?"
Haine laughed at the lips-shaped beanbag. "Yeah, for now at least, I think that's good. I'd consider the trip successful, then."
"As do I," Jasper agreed, holding up said beanbag to grin at. "Alice and Emmett will appreciate these, at least. Edward will probably think avoid them at all costs. Which means we've done our job."
"Brilliant. Can we leave, then? I fucking hate fluorescent lights."
"Me too," Jasper sighed, relieved. He turned towards the exit.
Haine followed, carrying a few of the beanbags. "This treehouse is fucking awesome, you know."
Jasper grinned at him from over his shoulder. "Yes. I've never done anything quite like it."
"Me either." Haine grinned back.
"You'll have to come up with more furnishings with Badou," Jasper told him, dumping the beanbags on the checkout lane for the cashier. "We can go shopping for more tomorrow."
"Can't we make Emmett take Badou to do it?"
"You don't want to go?" Jasper asked, glancing at him. "I'm sure we could."
"I dunno. I'm not very good at this, and if it's much longer than this I'll get impatient."
"Perhaps Alice will take him, then," Jasper thought aloud, reaching for his wallet to pay. "She likes shopping."
Haine nodded. "Oh yeah. I always forget about the girls," he said frowning and coloring lightly in embarassment.
"It's fine," Jasper reassured him with a smile. "Do they bother you?"
Haine nodded, still embarassed.
"Has Alice been leaving you alone?" Jasper asked curiously. He picked up two of the beanbags to take out to the car. "I asked her to, but she can get overexcited."
"Yeah, for the most part. I feel bad because she keeps offering to do things with me, and I keep telling her no." Haine frowned harder, and blushed lightly.
"Don't worry, you can't offend her," Jasper reassured him, smiling a little. "At least she's not trying to coerce you into things. That's all I can promise you."
"Yeah," Haine said, sighing. "Thanks."
"It's fine," Jasper said dismissively. "Let's just get out from under this lighting. It's distracting."
Haine nodded in agreement and grabbed the other two beanbags and followed Jasper out of the store.
Jasper had to set them down on the roof so that he could open the trunk and rummage around inside for the bungee cables. "How do you propose we do this?"
Haine eyed the car. "Well. I've never done this before. "
Jasper grinned and shoved one inside before closing the trunk. "Nor have I. We'll figure something out. Heft them up there."
"Yessir!" Haine tossed his beanbags on top of the car.
Jasper reached up and rearranged them so that he thought they might stay down, then set about creating a net of sorts with the bungee cables, careful not to hook them anywhere that would scratch the paint. "Open that door and roll down the window for me," he instructed, doing to same to the opposite.
Haine obliged, helping Jasper stretch the bunge cords overthe beanbags.
Jasper hooked them together underneath and checked again to make sure nothing would scratch. "This should work."
"Sweet," Haine said, grinning. "Mission accomplished."
"Yes." Jasper grinned back. "Let's go back."
"Okay!" Haine climbed back intothe passenger's sideof the car and strapped himself in.
Jasper did the same in the driver's seat, buckling in, turning on the car, flipping on the lights, and pulling out in a single fluid motion.
Haine sighed, rubbing his eyes lightly. Stupid fluorescent lights.
"Are you all right?" Jasper asked when he noticed.
Haine nodded. "Yeah. The fluorescent lights hurt my eyes."
"I'm pretty sure they hurt regular humans' as well," Jasper remarked, speeding up after turning onto the main road. "I'm not sure why they still use them."
Haine shrugged. "It's mostly becauseof the no-pigment thing for me. And I think fluorescent ischeaper or something, probably."
"Yes, I know. And your skin too, right?"
"Yeah. It wasn't a big deal underground, but up here....I fucking hate sunny days."
"At least there aren't many around here," Jasper remarked, smiling again at finding so much in common with the albino. "We couldn't go out before nightfall in Texas."
Haine smiled too. "I'd fucking hate that. Lucky, really, that the friends we happened to make on the internet were vampires."
"Lucky," Jasper chuckled wryly. "That is not the word I would use."
"What would you use, then?" Haine asked, glancing at Jasper.
"Lucky that we met, yes," he conceded, "but not lucky that we're vampires."
"If you weren't a vampire you'd be dead and we wouldn't be friends at all. Or you'd be living in the south and I wouldn't come visit you."
"Technicalities," Jasper said with a small smile. "You're not quite sure of the danger you two have placed yourself in, are you?"
"Dying isn't the worst thing that could ever happen," Haine said, shrugging.
"No, but getting there can be awfully painful."
"I know pain very well."
"This is a pain from the inside," Jasper explained, tapping a loose fist against his chest. "I don't know that you would heal from it. It does no actual damage."
"What do you mean?"
Jasper glanced at him. "We're venomous. The smallest nick will set the wound on fire from the blood out."
"I've been poisoned. I've been shot. I've been stabbed. I've bled out. I've broken nearly everybone in my body. I've been burned..."
Jasper raised an eyebrow at him. "All physical. Are such injuries a part of your work as an assassin?"
"Some of them. But anyway. I'm not afraid of pain."
"You don't have to be afraid of it to feel it. I would rather you didn't have to."
"I won't."
"Let's hope not."
Haine shrugged and looked outthe window.
Jasper glanced at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag the conversation down. I just worry about it a little more than the rest of them do."
Haine nodded. "I understand. But don't worry about me."
"I worry about both of you," Jasper told him. "And Bella. Why should you be excluded?"
Haine shrugged again. "I'm not worth the worry."
Jasper turned to regard him fully, frowning. "Why do you say that?"
Haine shrugged for a third time.
"I'm curious," Jasper pressed.
"Because I'm just not."
"I disagree."
"Why?"
"You're one of the first friends I've made in nearly a century and a half," Jasper told him, still frowning. "I like you more than most humans. You're easier to talk to, probably because you understand death and pain on a deeper level. Your past doesn't make you worth less. Would you tell my family not to worry about me?"
Haine was quiet for a moment. "...no. Of course not."
"Then why should anyone worry less about you?"
Haine shrugged. "No one ever did before."
"That's not a reason, either," Jasper sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. "If our pasts outweigh both our futures and the present, neither of us would have much to live for anymore."
"I guess." Haine sighed, looking back out the window.
"It took me a long time to accept that," Jasper told him softly, watching the lines go by on the road rather than the highway itself. "I still have difficulty with it. I hope one day you'll come to the same conclusion on your own."
Haine sighed and nodded, his face coloring lightly.
Jasper glanced at him, the tinge of embarrassment alerting him. "What is it?"
"You care. It's weird."
If Jasper could have blushed a little, he would have. "Ah. Yes, well. For me perhaps more than you."
"You think so?"
"You don't?"
"I don't know. You have a family and shit."
Jasper smiled a little. "It can still be awkward, especially when you try to kill your brother's fiancee. You have friends now as well."
Haine flushed deeper. "A few."
"No less than me. No more, either."
Haine nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah."
"Good." Jasper smiled back.
Haine sighed heavily. "Anyway. Living here with the slight chance of being your lunch compared to living back in the Underground City...no fucking contest. I choose vampires."
Jasper chuckled. "I'm loathe to imagine a city more dangerous than a vampire's coven. You're welcome to stay."
"Did I not mention all the bleeding I did back there? Not to mention the broken bones and poisoning?" Haine smiled. "Thanks."
"I attributed that to your occupation, not your home."
"You run the risk of getting shot or stabbed just walking down the streets most days too."
"Then stay here," Jasper told him with a look. "There's no point in making your home in a place like that."
Haine shrugged. "It's where I came from." He sighed. "I really do want to stay here. Forever. But I feel bad imposing on you guys, and please don't say that we're not an imposition, because even if you say that and mean it, I still feel that way."
"I know the feeling," Jasper chuckled. "But America is very big. You can stay without living inside our home."
"Yeah. Badou and I have been thinking about that."
"Farming, yes?"
Haine colored. "Yeah."
"Where?"
"Someone suggested Virginia. But I don't know about the sun."
"Hmm." Jasper thought about that for a moment. "I'm not that familiar with Virginia. Emmett and Rosalie know the east coast better. What would you like to grow?"
Haine flushed deeper. "...tobacco."
Jasper smiled. "For Badou?"
Haine nodded.
"I should have known," Jasper chuckled. "Well tobacco is originally from Virginia, but you can grow it most anywhere, as long as it doesn't get too cold."
"I should probably research that shit."
"Probably," Jasper mused, still smiling. "I don't know that you'll be able to grow it in a place as cloudy as this one, but you can certainly look."
Haine nodded. "I want to stay relatively close. I love it here."
"It's nice," Jasper agreed. "Easier. Northern California, perhaps?"
"Maybe. I'll look shit up."
"Tell me what you find. I'm curious."
Haine smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Jasper returned the gesture. "I've farmed a little. I'll help if I can."
"You have? Thanks." Haine grinned.
"A long time ago," Jasper said, grinning as well. "We'll see how much I remember."
"What did you grow?"
"Mostly cotton," Jasper said thoughtfully. "Very different from tobacco."
"Cotton? That's pretty cool. I have no idea how to farm either, so..."
"You can learn. It's more a lifestyle than a career."
"I'm cool with that."
"Then you'll do fine," Jasper promised with a grin.
Haine smiled back. "Sweet."
"Shall we take the beanbags back to the house, or put them in the tree house for Badou to find tomorrow?"
"Ooh. Put them in the treehouse." Haine grinned.
Jasper grinned back. All right. I'll park near it, then, and we can drive back the rest of the way afterwards. Otherwise Badou may come out when he sees the lights." So saying, he reached around the wheel and flicked them off.
Haine grinned wider. "Awesome."
Jasper grinned as he slowed down and guided the car off the drive and towards the tree house in the somewhat distant trees. "I'll go with you two tomorrow to see his reaction to our choices."
"But of course, I wouldn't have you miss it for the world."
Jasper chuckled, letting the small car glide up to the tree house and flipping off the engine. "Shall we?"
"Yes!" Haine hopped out of the car and started carefully undoing the bungee cables.
Jasper leaned around his seat and undid the ones inside the car before joining him.
Haine grabbed two of the beanbags and started climbing up a rope ladder to the main room of the treehouse.
Jasper grabbed the other two and followed, keeping pace. When they got to the top he glanced around once before looking at Haine. "Where would you like them?"
Haine scratched his chin thoughtfully before throwing the frog beanbag haphazardly into the center of the room. "Wherever!"
Grinning, Jasper followed suit. "Is that good?"
Haine glanced around the small room. "Yes. Looks great." He grinned. "Thanks, Jasper."
Jasper shook his head. "It's fine. Let's go back."
"Really," Haine insisted. "Danke." He paused for a moment, a little awkward. "Okay, let's go."
Jasper nodded and quickly slipped back down the ladder, feeling awkward as well. He wasn't used to helping humans like this, and hearing their thanks still felt strange alongside his unquenchable urge to kill them.
Haine followed down the ladder "I think I'm gonna walk back up to the house," Haine said, glancing over at the window of the room he shared with Badou. "It's a nice night."
"All right." Jasper noticed his gaze, but said nothing about it. He hoped the two would work out their differences soon. "I'll wait for you there, then. I shouldn't leave Alice's car out here."
Haine nodded. "All right. Thanks again."
Jasper glanced at him as he opened the driver's door again. "You don't need to keep thanking me."
Haine smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. People don't do nice things for me very often."
"You should talk to more of them," Jasper suggested, returning the smile. "You probably just don't give them a chance."
"It's a distinct possibility," Haine admitted. "All right. I'll see you back at the house."
"All right." Jasper nodded and slid into the low car, closing the door behind him. He would keep an eye on Haine just in case, but he trusted the boy to figure things out on his own.
Haine sighed, feeling Jasper's calming influence fade away. He felt a little less panicked and confused than he had before, but still dreaded going back inside. With another heavy sigh he began to walk back to the house, hands shoved in his pockets.
What: Intense talks and beanbag shopping
Where: Alice's little yellow Porsche, and the...beanbag store?
When: The day before yesterday? Or something? Maybe the day before that? A few days ago
Why: Last Thursday, the 27th
Notes: Your character didn't see this, rated PG-13 for language, which there isn't all that much of!
---
Jasper juggled Alice's keys in his hand as he led Haine over to her bright yellow Porsche. He didn't ask to drive her car often, but no store sold things like beanbags in Forks and Port Angeles was much too far to walk. The car ride would give them an opportunity to talk, anyway, which was the real reason he'd offered to go in the first place. The uneasiness washing from Haine was distracting.
He motioned for the albino to get in as he slid into the driver's seat. He was relatively full, so he wasn't very worried about being left alone with the human. Still, he wanted them both relaxed just in case. He kept the atmosphere in the car fairly mellow and let Haine make of that what he would as it took the tension from the air.
Haine sighed heavily, and without a word slid into the passenger's side of the car, glad to be getting away from the house, and Badou, for at least a little while. Jasper's calming influence helped a lot too.
"Do you know what kind of things you're looking for?" Jasper asked him as he pulled the little sports car onto the drive, almost forgetting to flip on the headlights when he reached the main road. Edward was the mind reader, usually he was the one to talk things over with anyone pretending not to have a problem with something. Jasper wasn't sure exactly where to begin.
Haine shrugged. "Badou'd probably be better at this than I would," he admitted, sheepishly. "Cool stuff, I don't know. I still feel bad that you guys are paying for all this shit."
"Don't," Jasper reassured him again. This seemed to be a constant topic between his family and any of the humans who actually knew them. "Money means very little to us. It's really not a problem."
Haine nodded. "I know. But still." Haine looked out the window and got quiet again.
Jasper nodded and let him fall silent for a little while. He understood Haine's position, but he wasn't sure what else to say to change it.
"This is a nice car," said Haine, absently.
Jasper nodded again, his eyes breezing over the bright blue dash. "Edward bought it for Alice last year," he explained absently. "For helping with Bella's house arrest. She stole one in Italy and decided she liked them."
Haine smiled. "You guys are fucking awesome."
Jasper glanced over and smiled back. "Thank you? Alice has always been impulsive. Have you ever been to Italy?"
"Before I came on that journal thing I'd never been anywhere but the Underground City." Haine said, shrugging. "My brother is Italian, though."
"I thought you were German," Jasper said with a frown.
"I am."
"Then how can your brother be Italian?"
"He's my brother like Emmett and Edward are your brothers. He's like me."
"Ah." Jasper should have known that. "Do you have any others?"
"Sisters. Two." He paused for a moment. "I killed the rest."
"How many were there?" Jasper asked, hoping he wasn't probing too deeply. Haine's background was as close to his own as he'd ever seen in someone else. It interested him.
"Many," he said. "They've probably made new ones that I don't know since I left, though."
"You escaped?" Jasper clarified, glancing at him again.
"Yes."
"Was it difficult?"
"I killed everyone."
"And that wasn't difficult?"
Haine shrugged again. "Not really. I don't really remember, though."
"How long ago was it?" Jasper kept the mood surrounding them calm, but kept a sharp eye out for any subtle changes. He really didn't want to try into something this personal if it made Haine uncomfortable.
"A few years. I don't remember."
"Do you remember how many there were?"
"I don't know." Haine started feeling a little uncomfortable with the line of questions. "A lot."
Jasper soothed it automatically, but he didn't ask anything else for a moment. He kept his eyes on the road when he did. "And you feel guilty for this?"
Haine got quieter. "Yes."
Jasper nodded. "Well," he told him honestly, "I don't know that that will ever go away. But you seem happy enough now. Certainly that helps?"
Haine nodded back. "Yeah."
"And what was wrong with you this morning?"
Haine's stomach clenched uncomfortably. He'd known that Jasper would probably have felt the surge of confusing emotions he'd felt this morning, and that Edward probably knew exactly what was up, but he'd been hoping that neither would confront him about it. "Uh. Nothing."
Jasper glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. "You do know that won't work on me, right?" He'd felt the sudden rush of tension a moment ago as well, as if he'd needed further proof.
Haine sighed heavily. "I just....realized something."
"What did you realize?"
"Does it really matter?"
"If it caused a reaction that strong in you, I'd like to know," Jasper prompted. "I can guess it had something to do with Badou. You can talk if you like, but I won't force you."
Haine frowned. "Yeah. Badou."
"Was it something serious?"
Haine's chest tightened painfully. "I'll get over it."
Jasper calmed the feeling and glanced at Haine again. "So it was."
Haine glanced back out the window. "It shouldn't be."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want it to be."
Jasper risked another glance at him. "Why not?"
"Because I want to get over it."
"So it's a feeling?"
"...yes."
"For Badou," Jasper reasoned. "A serious feeling for Badou. Why has that upset you so much?"
Haine rubbed his eyes. "Because it's too serious."
Jasper slowed the car a little so that they wouldn't arrive before the conversation was over. "Why do you say that?"
Haine hid his face in his hands. "Because I have feelings for him."
"You mean romantic feelings," Jasper clarified, glancing at him again. It was no secret that the two had been fooling around together since they'd come here, and while he hadn't known exactly what to make of that at first, he'd had more than enough time to grow accustomed to it since.
Haine flushed furiously. "...yes."
Jasper was curious now. "How long have you known him?"
"A couple years."
Jasper looked over at him, the rest of his senses automatically keeping the car on the road. "Why are you so embarrassed of it?"
"Because there's no way that he'd ever feel that way about me. And I've never felt this way about anybody before. It's stupid. I want it to go away."
"Does feeling this way change anything between the two of you?"
"I hope not."
"Why would it?"
"Because that's fucking awkward. If he finds out he'll be fucking awkward."
"But he's been reciprocating," Jasper reminded him. "He trusts you. Perhaps he feels the same, he just hasn't...realized it yet." It was obvious Badou wasn't 100% in synch with his feelings.
"Badou likes girls," Haine said, weakly.
Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Badou doesn't seem to mind gender when it comes to you."
Haine stiffened slightly. "That's different. I think. I don't know."
"Why is that different?" Jasper asked, curious.
"Because there's a line. I don't know." Haine said, really not knowing what he was talking about.
"Where is this line?" Jasper pressed. He had more of an idea now of what Haine was talking about, but he was also aware that he was confused, and he thought forcing him to think about it might alleviate some of that.
"I don't know," said Haine, slightly exasperated, "but I think I crossed it."
"I think you're a bit more worried than you need to be," Jasper told him after a moment, thinking his situation over carefully. "Badou may not know what to think of it if you tell him, but he'll come around. He seems the forgive and forget type of guy."
Haine sighed heavily. "I don't want him to know."
"I won't tell him," Jasper promised. "Are you all right with this?"
Haine shrugged. "I feel sort of all right with it right now, but you're here,so I'm not sure if that's how I really feel," he answered honestly.
"I'm just calming you down," Jasper admitted with another glance. "I could lift it, if you'd like."
Haine shook his head. "No. It's fine. I feel better than I have all day."
Jasper offered him a small smile. "I usually refrain because people feel like I'm messing with them, but I can keep you calm if you want me to."
Haine sighed. "People mess with me all the time. It's fine. Thanks."
That caught Jasper's attention again. "What do you mean?"
Haine thought for a moment. "I guess it's only fair to describe all the weird shit about me, since you guys have been so generous in explaining all your weird vampire shit. Has Badou told you anything about the Black Dog?"
"No," Jasper replied, a little startled by the sudden honesty. "He hasn't told me anything personal about either of you. You don't have to."
Haine shrugged. "You're my friend, right?"
"I..." Jasper shook his head, chastising himself for his hesitation. "Yes, of course. But you shouldn't feel obligated to. You're our guests, you owe us nothing for staying."
"I don't feel obligated," Haine countered. "In fact, you guys should probably know anyway. Just in case."
Jasper looked at him, wondering if this was something like Badou's alter-ego. "Just in case?"
Haine inwardly winced a little. "Ah. Yeah. You guys would probably be fine. Being vampires and all. Actually, it's probably safer for other people that I'm around you guys."
"What do you mean?"
"...well you at least know that I'm a fucking genetic engineering experiment, right?"
"You told me." Jasper glanced at him again. Haine's tension was palpable. He lowered it. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Haine nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Uh. Have I showed you the collar?"
"I've seen it," Jasper said slowly, cautious. "I assumed they put it there?"
Haine's hands raised to finger the wrappings around his neck. "Yeah. They did."
Jasper watched him out of the corner of his eye. "Does it still bother you?"
Haine laughed humorlessly. "Bother me how?"
"Does it...irritate your skin?" Jasper waved his hand a little as he tried to remember the various things he'd wondered upon seeing it in the past. "Chafe? Hurt? Is it heavy? Can they still use it for whatever they originally put it there for?"
"I heal fast enough that any irritation or chafing doesn't really matter," Haine explained. "I guess it's kind of heavy, but I've gotten used to it...I don't remember ever not having it on. And it's original purpose is still there, yeah."
"Was was its original purpose?"
Haine sighed. "The main goal of the people who made me was to make human weapons. The Cerberus Project. They implanted a second personality in my spine through the collar. The Black Dog."
Jasper frowned as he thought the implications of that over. "For combat?"
"I guess. I wasn't exactly privy to their plans."
"But you're good at it," Jasper thought aloud. "And I've never seen a human keep pace with Emmett the way you do. It would be my guess. Is this Black Dog aggressive?"
"Yes. Very. He's...He killed them all. It was me, but it was him."
"Were you aware of it?" Jasper asked, looking over at him again. "Or does he push your consciousness aside?"
"It depends on how much control he has. When it's absolute...like it was then...then I'm not." Haine sighed and shuddered lightly, remembering.
Jasper took the time to soothe Haine's emotions again, taking care to make sure he was calm and relaxed instead of comatose. He knew Haine was around nineteen, a child even by human standards, and that he'd had anything but a normal human life so far. He sighed and shifted in his seat, switching hands on the wheel.
"When I was young, around your age now, I was made to kill people as well."
Haine turned to look at Jasper. "You were?"
"Yes." Jasper met his eyes briefly, offering him another small smile. He still felt uncomfortable talking about this. He'd told Bella recently, yes, but that had been for a reason. Before that it hadn't been brought up for nearly sixty years.
Haine frowned. "Before or after you turned into a vampire?"
"After," Jasper clarified. "I served in the Confederate Army for nearly four years prior, and the vampires who turned me did so because of my rank. I served them for nearly ninety. I routinely created and killed dozens of my kind every year."
Haine raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
Jasper nodded. "I don't even have a rough estimate of their numbers. And they were on top of the humans I fed from and the rival vampires I killed in our wars."
"Wow." Haine frowned. "I kill people for a living, now. It's the only thing I know how to do."
"Me too," Jasper admitted with a wry smile. "Edward likes to make fun of me for my lack of hobbies. Carlisle is the only vampire I've heard of with an actual job."
Haine smiled back. "Well Carlisle's like the ultimate in non-vampirey vampires."
Jasper chuckled. "Yes. I don't think he's ever even tasted human blood. I've had so much I can't differentiate between tastes anymore."
"Different people taste different? I guess that makes sense. Their blood smells different, after all..."
"You can smell it?" Jasper asked, glancing at him sharply.
Haine shrugged "Heightened senses. And I spill a lot of blood at my day job. I doubt it's at all the same as what you can do, though."
"Well, not me," Jasper corrected. "Humans smell different to the rest of them, though. Bella, for instance. She's known as a singer. Did Edward tell you about that?"
"I remember him mentioning it once or something."
"But he didn't explain it?" Jasper wanted to know.
"Briefly? I don't remember."
"Mmm, well." Jasper rubbed his mouth a moment and wondered how to say this in terms a human would understand. "Edward hasn't messed up since I met him in 1950, and by that I mean he hasn't lost control and killed a human. Aside from Carlisle and Rosalie, he's the only one. He's very self-contained. But Bella smells so good to him that he got one passing whiff of her scent and very nearly massacred that entire high school of children just so he could taste her."
"Holy shit. That's intense." Haine raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "The Black Dog is more like you, then. Doesn't care who."
"Yes," Jasper nodded, relieved Haine had caught on so quickly. "Bella smells so good that everyone but Carlisle has difficulty around her when she's spilled blood. I've nearly killed her once already, over a slip. But she smells no different to me than anyone else does."
Haine nodded back. "I've nearly killed Badou a few times," he admitted.
"It's frightening," Jasper confided softly. "I have no control over it either. At least I can assure you we won't let you slip while you're with us. The slightest smell of his blood will have one or more of us there in moments."
Haine frowned. "Last time I nearly strangled him."
"Then the sounds would summon us," Jasper promised him. "I'm not sure you understand exactly how powerful our senses are."
Haine nodded. "He hasn't been very vocal at all since we got here. He's been talking a lot today, though." He sighed.
"The Black Dog?" Jasper was surprised. "He talks to you?"
"Ah. Yeah."
"What does he say?"
"He plays on my insecurities. He's good at it, because he lives in my fucking head." Haine sighed deeply.
"What sorts of insecurities?" Jasper asked. "Is he talking to you now?"
Haine shook his head. "You shut him up. Today he's been reminding me of things that Badou has said, picking at things I don't like about myself and further convincing me that no one will ever want me. The usual."
Jasper frowned. "Is this typical of him?"
Haine nodded. "Well. Usually he's convincing me that I'm weak and alone and that I should let him take over, because he would do it better."
"You don't actually listen to him, do you?" Jasper looked at him. "Did you say I shut him up?"
"I try not to. When I'm really weak or upset he gets to me, though." Haine sighed. "Yeah. You did. With your calming thingy. Badou does that too. Well. Not the same way, obviously."
Jasper nodded. "That's good. Just let me know if he acts up again, it's a very simple matter to calm people down."
Haine smiled. "Thanks."
Jasper smiled in return. "Don't mention it."
Haine sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Now. Where are we going?"
"Port Angeles," Jasper told him, turning back to the highway and pressing on the gas again. "We're nearly there. They have a wider variety of stores."
Haine sighed. "...will it be crowded?"
Jasper gave him another smile. "No. I dislike crowds. It's late enough that the stores will be clearing out."
Haine nodded. "Ah. Good. I don't like crowds either."
"I know." This time he offered Haine a real grin. "Our family is well known enough that they would clear the store if we asked them to anyway. I believe Edward bought a rather ornate bed from them not long ago."
"Really?" Haine laughed. "That's awesome."
Jasper chuckled as well. "Yes. And rather convenient." He pulled the car into the parking lot of a store he was fairly certain would sell the kinds of things Haine and Badou would like, beanbags included.
Haine unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the car, stretching just a bit. "Well. That was the best car ride I've ever had, I think."
"Have you not had many, then?" Jasper tucked the keys into his pocket and led him toward the building.
"I'd only ridden in a car once before I came here." Haine followed close behind.
"Really?" Jasper asked, glancing back at him in an attempt to get him to walk side by side. He trusted Haine, but he still didn't like people behind him like that. "Don't mention that to Edward. He won't let you out of his for a week."
Haine caught up, smiling. "He's teaching me how to drive, starting tomorrow."
Jasper grinned at that. If Haine wasn't familiar with vehicles, he was going to drive Edward mad as he slowly learned them. "That's good. Don't listen to whatever he tells you about speed limits and try to stay under them."
Haine grinned back. "I was under the impression that it was customary to go just a little bit over the speed limit."
"After you've learned to drive," Jasper corrected with an amused grin of his own. "Not before. And never as fast as Edward."
"Yessir!" Said Haine, mock-saluting. "I don't think it'll be that hard. I pick things up quickly."
"Good," Jasper laughed, leading him inside. "Let me know how you do."
"Of course." Haine followed Jasper and looked around the store, eyes wide. "This place is huge."
Jasper smiled at him, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to that blinking flourescent light. "It's adequate. What would you like to look at first? Just the beanbags?"
Haine nodded. "Yeah. That's fine."
"They're this way." Jasper led him in what he was fairly sure was the right direction. He was used to being led about by Alice here, but he hadn't exactly forgotten.
Haine followed, glancing around the store, vaguely interested. He finally started thinking aboutthe actual reason he was here and sighed. He hated shopping. Usually mostly because he didn't have any money. Not that he was particularly materialistic to begin with, but being surrounded by things you can't afford is never very fun. Haine sighed and tried to change his mindframe. He was here for a purpose. Beanbags. Easy enough, right?
"Are you all right?" Jasper asked after a moment, noticing Haine's slight discomfort.
Haine nodded. "Yeah. I just realized that I suck at shopping," he said smiling sheepishly.
"Me too," Jasper said with a small grin. "But I figured the two of us could manage a simple task like beanbags."
Haine's smile widened. "Yeah. This shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"Right," Jasper agreed, leading him over to the section. "It would be very hard for the two of us together to fail."
"Oh, who knows. We could always fail twice as hard," Haine grinned, following.
Jasper chuckled. "You think? You're not colorblind, are you?" They reached the beanbag section and he stopped to look them over.
"I don't think so, but then again, color has never been particularly important." Haine stoped too, and scrutanized the selection. "Badou would probably pick something retarded looking."
"Define that," Jasper mused, glancing over their rather wide selection. "And then point it out to me."
"Probably something with a bright pattern or something. Something that would hurt my sensitive freak eyes," Haine thought out loud. "Can't we get something classy instead? As classy as beanbags get, anyway?"
Jasper chuckled quietly to himself, wondering if there was such a thing. "Why don't we let Badou have his beanbags, and we can counteract it with some other classy furniture."
"Fair enough." After some searching, Haine found some beanbags with crazy retina-burning stripes on them. "Ack. These hurt, I think Badou would love them."
Jasper grinned and picked one up. "I agree. Find something shaped like something hideous. He'd like that too."
"These aren't going to fit in the porsche, are they?" Haine asked, picking up one shaped like a frog with a smirk.
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that." Jasper frowned as he tried to come up with a solution. "Perhaps one can fit in the back. I'm sure Alice has bungee cables in the trunk, we could probably tie the rest to the hood."
"That's going to look hilarious. You'll have to drive slowly." Haine grinned, picking up another retina-offending beanbag.
"I hadn't thought of that either," Jasper said with a grin, reaching for one shaped like an enormous pair of lips. "Do you think four is enough?"
Haine laughed at the lips-shaped beanbag. "Yeah, for now at least, I think that's good. I'd consider the trip successful, then."
"As do I," Jasper agreed, holding up said beanbag to grin at. "Alice and Emmett will appreciate these, at least. Edward will probably think avoid them at all costs. Which means we've done our job."
"Brilliant. Can we leave, then? I fucking hate fluorescent lights."
"Me too," Jasper sighed, relieved. He turned towards the exit.
Haine followed, carrying a few of the beanbags. "This treehouse is fucking awesome, you know."
Jasper grinned at him from over his shoulder. "Yes. I've never done anything quite like it."
"Me either." Haine grinned back.
"You'll have to come up with more furnishings with Badou," Jasper told him, dumping the beanbags on the checkout lane for the cashier. "We can go shopping for more tomorrow."
"Can't we make Emmett take Badou to do it?"
"You don't want to go?" Jasper asked, glancing at him. "I'm sure we could."
"I dunno. I'm not very good at this, and if it's much longer than this I'll get impatient."
"Perhaps Alice will take him, then," Jasper thought aloud, reaching for his wallet to pay. "She likes shopping."
Haine nodded. "Oh yeah. I always forget about the girls," he said frowning and coloring lightly in embarassment.
"It's fine," Jasper reassured him with a smile. "Do they bother you?"
Haine nodded, still embarassed.
"Has Alice been leaving you alone?" Jasper asked curiously. He picked up two of the beanbags to take out to the car. "I asked her to, but she can get overexcited."
"Yeah, for the most part. I feel bad because she keeps offering to do things with me, and I keep telling her no." Haine frowned harder, and blushed lightly.
"Don't worry, you can't offend her," Jasper reassured him, smiling a little. "At least she's not trying to coerce you into things. That's all I can promise you."
"Yeah," Haine said, sighing. "Thanks."
"It's fine," Jasper said dismissively. "Let's just get out from under this lighting. It's distracting."
Haine nodded in agreement and grabbed the other two beanbags and followed Jasper out of the store.
Jasper had to set them down on the roof so that he could open the trunk and rummage around inside for the bungee cables. "How do you propose we do this?"
Haine eyed the car. "Well. I've never done this before. "
Jasper grinned and shoved one inside before closing the trunk. "Nor have I. We'll figure something out. Heft them up there."
"Yessir!" Haine tossed his beanbags on top of the car.
Jasper reached up and rearranged them so that he thought they might stay down, then set about creating a net of sorts with the bungee cables, careful not to hook them anywhere that would scratch the paint. "Open that door and roll down the window for me," he instructed, doing to same to the opposite.
Haine obliged, helping Jasper stretch the bunge cords overthe beanbags.
Jasper hooked them together underneath and checked again to make sure nothing would scratch. "This should work."
"Sweet," Haine said, grinning. "Mission accomplished."
"Yes." Jasper grinned back. "Let's go back."
"Okay!" Haine climbed back intothe passenger's sideof the car and strapped himself in.
Jasper did the same in the driver's seat, buckling in, turning on the car, flipping on the lights, and pulling out in a single fluid motion.
Haine sighed, rubbing his eyes lightly. Stupid fluorescent lights.
"Are you all right?" Jasper asked when he noticed.
Haine nodded. "Yeah. The fluorescent lights hurt my eyes."
"I'm pretty sure they hurt regular humans' as well," Jasper remarked, speeding up after turning onto the main road. "I'm not sure why they still use them."
Haine shrugged. "It's mostly becauseof the no-pigment thing for me. And I think fluorescent ischeaper or something, probably."
"Yes, I know. And your skin too, right?"
"Yeah. It wasn't a big deal underground, but up here....I fucking hate sunny days."
"At least there aren't many around here," Jasper remarked, smiling again at finding so much in common with the albino. "We couldn't go out before nightfall in Texas."
Haine smiled too. "I'd fucking hate that. Lucky, really, that the friends we happened to make on the internet were vampires."
"Lucky," Jasper chuckled wryly. "That is not the word I would use."
"What would you use, then?" Haine asked, glancing at Jasper.
"Lucky that we met, yes," he conceded, "but not lucky that we're vampires."
"If you weren't a vampire you'd be dead and we wouldn't be friends at all. Or you'd be living in the south and I wouldn't come visit you."
"Technicalities," Jasper said with a small smile. "You're not quite sure of the danger you two have placed yourself in, are you?"
"Dying isn't the worst thing that could ever happen," Haine said, shrugging.
"No, but getting there can be awfully painful."
"I know pain very well."
"This is a pain from the inside," Jasper explained, tapping a loose fist against his chest. "I don't know that you would heal from it. It does no actual damage."
"What do you mean?"
Jasper glanced at him. "We're venomous. The smallest nick will set the wound on fire from the blood out."
"I've been poisoned. I've been shot. I've been stabbed. I've bled out. I've broken nearly everybone in my body. I've been burned..."
Jasper raised an eyebrow at him. "All physical. Are such injuries a part of your work as an assassin?"
"Some of them. But anyway. I'm not afraid of pain."
"You don't have to be afraid of it to feel it. I would rather you didn't have to."
"I won't."
"Let's hope not."
Haine shrugged and looked outthe window.
Jasper glanced at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag the conversation down. I just worry about it a little more than the rest of them do."
Haine nodded. "I understand. But don't worry about me."
"I worry about both of you," Jasper told him. "And Bella. Why should you be excluded?"
Haine shrugged again. "I'm not worth the worry."
Jasper turned to regard him fully, frowning. "Why do you say that?"
Haine shrugged for a third time.
"I'm curious," Jasper pressed.
"Because I'm just not."
"I disagree."
"Why?"
"You're one of the first friends I've made in nearly a century and a half," Jasper told him, still frowning. "I like you more than most humans. You're easier to talk to, probably because you understand death and pain on a deeper level. Your past doesn't make you worth less. Would you tell my family not to worry about me?"
Haine was quiet for a moment. "...no. Of course not."
"Then why should anyone worry less about you?"
Haine shrugged. "No one ever did before."
"That's not a reason, either," Jasper sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. "If our pasts outweigh both our futures and the present, neither of us would have much to live for anymore."
"I guess." Haine sighed, looking back out the window.
"It took me a long time to accept that," Jasper told him softly, watching the lines go by on the road rather than the highway itself. "I still have difficulty with it. I hope one day you'll come to the same conclusion on your own."
Haine sighed and nodded, his face coloring lightly.
Jasper glanced at him, the tinge of embarrassment alerting him. "What is it?"
"You care. It's weird."
If Jasper could have blushed a little, he would have. "Ah. Yes, well. For me perhaps more than you."
"You think so?"
"You don't?"
"I don't know. You have a family and shit."
Jasper smiled a little. "It can still be awkward, especially when you try to kill your brother's fiancee. You have friends now as well."
Haine flushed deeper. "A few."
"No less than me. No more, either."
Haine nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah."
"Good." Jasper smiled back.
Haine sighed heavily. "Anyway. Living here with the slight chance of being your lunch compared to living back in the Underground City...no fucking contest. I choose vampires."
Jasper chuckled. "I'm loathe to imagine a city more dangerous than a vampire's coven. You're welcome to stay."
"Did I not mention all the bleeding I did back there? Not to mention the broken bones and poisoning?" Haine smiled. "Thanks."
"I attributed that to your occupation, not your home."
"You run the risk of getting shot or stabbed just walking down the streets most days too."
"Then stay here," Jasper told him with a look. "There's no point in making your home in a place like that."
Haine shrugged. "It's where I came from." He sighed. "I really do want to stay here. Forever. But I feel bad imposing on you guys, and please don't say that we're not an imposition, because even if you say that and mean it, I still feel that way."
"I know the feeling," Jasper chuckled. "But America is very big. You can stay without living inside our home."
"Yeah. Badou and I have been thinking about that."
"Farming, yes?"
Haine colored. "Yeah."
"Where?"
"Someone suggested Virginia. But I don't know about the sun."
"Hmm." Jasper thought about that for a moment. "I'm not that familiar with Virginia. Emmett and Rosalie know the east coast better. What would you like to grow?"
Haine flushed deeper. "...tobacco."
Jasper smiled. "For Badou?"
Haine nodded.
"I should have known," Jasper chuckled. "Well tobacco is originally from Virginia, but you can grow it most anywhere, as long as it doesn't get too cold."
"I should probably research that shit."
"Probably," Jasper mused, still smiling. "I don't know that you'll be able to grow it in a place as cloudy as this one, but you can certainly look."
Haine nodded. "I want to stay relatively close. I love it here."
"It's nice," Jasper agreed. "Easier. Northern California, perhaps?"
"Maybe. I'll look shit up."
"Tell me what you find. I'm curious."
Haine smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Jasper returned the gesture. "I've farmed a little. I'll help if I can."
"You have? Thanks." Haine grinned.
"A long time ago," Jasper said, grinning as well. "We'll see how much I remember."
"What did you grow?"
"Mostly cotton," Jasper said thoughtfully. "Very different from tobacco."
"Cotton? That's pretty cool. I have no idea how to farm either, so..."
"You can learn. It's more a lifestyle than a career."
"I'm cool with that."
"Then you'll do fine," Jasper promised with a grin.
Haine smiled back. "Sweet."
"Shall we take the beanbags back to the house, or put them in the tree house for Badou to find tomorrow?"
"Ooh. Put them in the treehouse." Haine grinned.
Jasper grinned back. All right. I'll park near it, then, and we can drive back the rest of the way afterwards. Otherwise Badou may come out when he sees the lights." So saying, he reached around the wheel and flicked them off.
Haine grinned wider. "Awesome."
Jasper grinned as he slowed down and guided the car off the drive and towards the tree house in the somewhat distant trees. "I'll go with you two tomorrow to see his reaction to our choices."
"But of course, I wouldn't have you miss it for the world."
Jasper chuckled, letting the small car glide up to the tree house and flipping off the engine. "Shall we?"
"Yes!" Haine hopped out of the car and started carefully undoing the bungee cables.
Jasper leaned around his seat and undid the ones inside the car before joining him.
Haine grabbed two of the beanbags and started climbing up a rope ladder to the main room of the treehouse.
Jasper grabbed the other two and followed, keeping pace. When they got to the top he glanced around once before looking at Haine. "Where would you like them?"
Haine scratched his chin thoughtfully before throwing the frog beanbag haphazardly into the center of the room. "Wherever!"
Grinning, Jasper followed suit. "Is that good?"
Haine glanced around the small room. "Yes. Looks great." He grinned. "Thanks, Jasper."
Jasper shook his head. "It's fine. Let's go back."
"Really," Haine insisted. "Danke." He paused for a moment, a little awkward. "Okay, let's go."
Jasper nodded and quickly slipped back down the ladder, feeling awkward as well. He wasn't used to helping humans like this, and hearing their thanks still felt strange alongside his unquenchable urge to kill them.
Haine followed down the ladder "I think I'm gonna walk back up to the house," Haine said, glancing over at the window of the room he shared with Badou. "It's a nice night."
"All right." Jasper noticed his gaze, but said nothing about it. He hoped the two would work out their differences soon. "I'll wait for you there, then. I shouldn't leave Alice's car out here."
Haine nodded. "All right. Thanks again."
Jasper glanced at him as he opened the driver's door again. "You don't need to keep thanking me."
Haine smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. People don't do nice things for me very often."
"You should talk to more of them," Jasper suggested, returning the smile. "You probably just don't give them a chance."
"It's a distinct possibility," Haine admitted. "All right. I'll see you back at the house."
"All right." Jasper nodded and slid into the low car, closing the door behind him. He would keep an eye on Haine just in case, but he trusted the boy to figure things out on his own.
Haine sighed, feeling Jasper's calming influence fade away. He felt a little less panicked and confused than he had before, but still dreaded going back inside. With another heavy sigh he began to walk back to the house, hands shoved in his pockets.