When Egos Collide

[thenothingth]

Who: Zaphod Beeblebrox, Jack Harkness, open.
Where: The Lounge
When: Afternoon
What: Zaphod finally meets Jack Harkness face to face~

Zaphod was seated entirely alone in the center of the lounge, legs butterflied, and all his arms fully occupied.  One of them was busy shoveling cereal into his face from an open box, while the second held aloft a

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[capj_harkness]

Jack sauntered into the lounge shortly after lunch, thinking about having a cup of coffee and putting his feet up on a table of some sort.

Almost immediately, he spotted a two-headed man eating cereal and reading a magazine. He sat down opposite him, even as the waiter brought him his familair blue and white mug.

"Tell me that's an interstellar gossip mag," he said. "I haven't seen one of those since my spaceport hopping days."

[thenothingth]

Zaphod's left hand glanced over, while his right continued devouring cereal, because hey, there was a prize to be claimed at the bottom.

"No, it's better than that. It's some old news magazine from Earth. I was just reading about Earthling politics. This stuff is hilarious. It says here they actually make their candidates declare their positions on things before they vote for them. Don't you think that takes all the surprise out of everything?"

[capj_harkness]

"Ah," Jack said with a comprehending nod. "I tend to stay out of Earth politics. They bore me. It's like reading a book when you already know the ending."

[thenothingth]

"I tend to actually stay out of all politics. It's the safest thing for a President to do," Zaphod said, sagely.

[capj_harkness]

Jack grinned. Two-Heads might have a point, there.

"What are you president of?" he asked curiously, trying to think where he'd seen the distinctive looking man before. He seemed vaguely familiar.

[thenothingth]

"The Galaxy," Zaphod said smoothly, hoisting one of his legs up on the table to mirror Jack. "Or y'know, Ex-President, sorta. Tomato, tomatoe."

[capj_harkness]

President of the...

A history lesson from his school days came into sharp focus.

"Are you Zaphod Beeblebrox?" he asked. He grinned. "You're the President who stole the prototype infinite improbability drive starship from its launch ceremony. What was it called?" he mused. "The Heart of Gold!" he said, remembering the fact from that long ago classroom.

[thenothingth]

Finally, someone who'd heard of him. Zaphod basked in the recognition with an easy grin or two.

"The very same."

[capj_harkness]

Jack leaned forward to reach across the table and offer Beeblebrox his hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said. "Nice to meet you, Zaphod Beeblebrox."

[thenothingth]

Zaphod spent a second mentally collecting what was most expendable: the magazine, the cereal, or the Gargleblaster. To no one's surprise, he set the magazine down, so he could shake Jack's hand.

"Harkness, Harkness... Not ringing any bells, but give me a minute."

After a second, he straightened up again, pointing dramatically. "Oh, yeah!"

"... Wait no, I got nothing."

[capj_harkness]

"That's alright," Jack assured him, leaning back in his chair after the handshake. "If someone in your position had heard of me, it would probably have been under a different name and/or under fairly unpleasant circumstances," he said.

He took a sip of his coffee. "I'm surprised I haven't heard that you're here though. Most of the people in the hotel are human. I hear about this Betelgeusian named Ford-something all the time, but nobody's mentioned the two-headed former Galactic President. You can't have been here long."

[thenothingth]

"Ford!" Zaphod repeated, brightening at the mention of something recognizable. "Yeah, he's my semi-cousin. We had a party a little while ago, and I don't remember much of the next couple weeks. That must be why."

"But I am surprised nobody else has mentioned me, yeah."

[capj_harkness]

"You and Ford are related?" Jack asked. That was weird. He could see the point of bringing a Galactic President into the hotel. Why his nobody of a semi-cousin?

"What does he do?"

[thenothingth]

"He's a reporter for the Guide," Zaphod said casually, assuming that a space-worthy guy like Jack who knew who the President of the Galaxy was would know what the Guide was. "He's probably writing an article on this hotel or something."

Ford had actually already point-blank told him this wasn't the case, but there had been a lot of Gargleblasters between that point and this one.

[capj_harkness]

Jack looked at Zaphod sceptically. "You think he came here on purpose?" he asked. "Well, if he did, I bet he regrets that now."

[thenothingth]

"Who knows! With Ford it's usually the last thing you'd expect. Until you start expecting that, and then he does the first thing you'd expect. He's a canny guy like that."