(Untitled)

[before_w]

June is a good month for roses.

V has set an armful of them on the table, and is carefully examining each one before setting it aside, gingerly, more for fear of hurting the rose than from being scratched by the thorns.

His gloves are thick, anyway.

Comments

[_to_the_bone]

"Red roses are supposed to mean true love" says Jack from a nearby booth, leaning over the back of the seat and smiling.

"Are you courting? Or are you a botanist?"

[before_w]

"I do have an interest in the sciences, but I grow these more for a lady."

Or three. One for someone he never met, one for a lady with bone white skin, and one for the lady with blind eyes.

[_to_the_bone]

"They are lovely."

He sets his chin on folded hands.

"She will appreciate them, I hope."

[before_w]

"She will never see them, in all probability," he says cheerfully from behind the mask, "but I grow them for her anyway. Those who will receive them--well, perhaps some will appreciate their beauty."

[_to_the_bone]

"You grow them for one and then give them to another?"

That's a startling thought. Jack has only ever given three roses away, and each of them was very important.

"Oh. And hello. Jack of the Frost, at your service."

[before_w]

"The growth is one thing, the gift is another," he says mildly.

"And what services do you offer, Jack of the Frost?"

[_to_the_bone]

"It is" with a long suffering sigh, "an expression."

He’s been over this.

"Or so I am told. I need to find a new greeting. One that Mercutio does not make sound like an innuendo."

[before_w]

"I do realize. Perhaps it is not best to use it, however, unless you know who it is you are offering the service to, merely an expression or otherwise."

[_to_the_bone]

"Perhaps. But 'hey you there' is rather inelegant."

It's worth considering.

"Also, I am attached to it. The reactions are interesting. Or telling. When someone tries to hold me to my greeting they are generally cynical, rude, or very interesting. Or all of them."

[before_w]

"And does that happen often?"

[_to_the_bone]

"Not verily. Mercutio, and we are lovers now. Satan, and he is Satan."

It's actually a rather bizarre list.

[before_w]

"As in the Morningstar?"

It is possible V is going O_O under his mask, but only possible, and you certainly couldn't tell.

[_to_the_bone]

"There are sixteen hundred some names, but I call him Belial."

It's possible- okay, lets face it, he does sound affectionate.

"It has a very pretty ring to it."