Survival Instinct - OTA

[angelica_jinx]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was the truth more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughted and consumed by the horde of the living dead.

"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you

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[codenamepyro]

"What?"

He wasn't exactly used to that kind of response. He'd seen her sitting there, engrossed, so he'd only wanted to see what the hell she was reading. The fact that she'd picked up P&P&Z was a little bit cool.

"I didn't even sneak." He hadn't, St John never really managed to quieten his footsteps, mostly because he didn't give a shit who heard him or not. Peering at the girl, who he didn't really know very well beyond her being 'Angel' and well, a girl, St John just stood there until he got a little anxious.

"Y' okay?"

[angelica_jinx]

As soon as Angel realized he wasn't a flesh eating zombie she cracked up. Her hand covered her racing heart willing it to return to normal. "No! I mean, yes, I am. Oh geez, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just jumpy. This book!" She exclaimed, showing him the title and laughing again.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you."

[codenamepyro]

He just nodded slightly, a small smile on his lips. "I'm fine." Which, surprisingly he was. He hadn't even reached for his lighter when she'd practically jumped out her skin.

"Why read it if it makes you jumpy?" Because he wasn't sure what the point was in scaring yourself for no reason. It didn't really make sense to him.

[angelica_jinx]

"You know, I don't know." She giggled and sat back down on the couch. "I guess it's kind of fun. Your heart is pumping. Your skin feels tingly. The hair is standing up on the back of your neck. I mean I know it's less fun when it's real or all the time but when it's just a book or movie or like a haunted house, It's fun."

[codenamepyro]

Instead of sitting on the couch, St John took a seat on the table, still frowning. The way she described it kind of sounded like his first mission back in Russia. And that wasn't fun at all.

"Right, so you scare yourself for a kick?" Sounded weird but whatever. He'd never really bothered with the horror genre because it seemed so very tedious to him. Things got predictable, most horror movies were terribly cliché and the fact that going into a haunted house fun ride was a known ride just sort of made it, well, dull in St John's opinion. "Ever tried sky diving? Bungee jumping? Rock climbing?"

[angelica_jinx]

"Well, don't look at me like that. Do you know how many horror movies and books sell every year? TONS of people get a little thrill off being scared. Like I said, it's different than being for real scared. You can stop it whenever you want. You can fast forward through the really gory bits." She protested when he looked at her like she was bizarre.

A little smirk formed. "Actually, I can fly as part of my ability."

[codenamepyro]

"Ah, actually, on average every year, horror and suspense novels make around twenty seven percent of the yearly sale rates in novels. Romance is the highest grossing genre with fantasy close behind." It wasn't so much that she was bizarre, just that the interest in horror was a little strange considering their current situations.

Her comment about flying though, well, that made him nod slightly in a self depreciating sort of way, "Hmm, kinda defeats the purpose of the point, I'll give you that." Really lost the charm when you could stop yourself falling, he guessed.

[angelica_jinx]

Angel blinks. "How do you just know that off the top of your head?" She smiles. "Are you just making that up?"

"I like reading stuff about the supernatural. Stuff that can't be explained. Ghosts, ghouls, demons, even zombies. There's so much we can see with our eyes but that stuff... It's scarier because we don't know." Angel smiled again pulling her knees to her chest. "Sky diving is still pretty fun though."

[codenamepyro]

"Not made up, I uh, I have a vested interest." Which was pretty much as close as he was going to get to saying he actually wrote stupid, cheesy romance novels. What no one else knew, well, whatever really.

"Ghost stories are different though. There's always that nagging little thought that what if, y'know? Zombie and demons are just, I don't know. Too far out there?" Because really, humans with super powers, but demons and zombies weren't real. St John figured there had to be a line. "I can pull the party line on ghosts."

[angelica_jinx]

"So you read a lot?" Angel asked excitedly. Don't worry, Pyro, she's just hoping for another word nerd on base. One more and they could start a book club.

"You believe in the possibility of ghosts but not demons? I mean I could understand not believing in zombies. At least not the Romero version where hell is just closed. That's a little crazy but demons aren't something made up for movies. There are lore and stories as old as the human race."

[codenamepyro]

"Yeah, I do." For an uneducated kid, he reads a hell of a lot; he doesn't do badges and club houses though. "Mostly the classic stuff. Like that one," points to her book, "without the zombies." And his intellectual side allows him to admit that without shame, okay.

"I just think it's a little far fetched. I mean, sure some of the movies might have a graspable story line, but most of them just make it all Angels versus demons and if you don't believe in one, the other isn't really that plausible." And he's not going to start talking about faith and religion, but that's his opinion.

"Is it just the supernatural stuff you like, or is sci-fi one of your little reading tastes?" Not mocking, actually curious.

[angelica_jinx]

She grinned. "Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorites. You don't see a lot of men into it though. At least none that admit it."

"Yeah, I guess it would be hard to believe in demons if you don't believe in God or angels." Angel conceded but she wasn't able to keep the sad expression off her face. He may not be a religious guy but Angel couldn't imagine her life without God in it.

The redhead scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Not really. I'm more of a romance girl. You know, stuff with a happy ending."

[codenamepyro]

"Austen is a typical chic-lit, but hey, the writing is pretty damn good." He even had his own battered copy of Emma, not that anyone knew that. "I prefer Fitzgerald and Orwell though."

Shrugging, St John ignored the sad expression. So long as she wasn't one of those 'batter you with a bible' types, he had no issue with other people's faith. Since he'd been battered with a bible in the past, it really didn't change his views.

"The Disney sort of stuff or the ambiguous sort of stuff that you just fabricate your own end to?"

[angelica_jinx]

"Thank you! I've tried telling that to just about every guy I've ever dated and they just look at me like I'm crazy." She laughed and shook her head. Why did guys always have to be so macho? Though even as she thought it, she saw the irony. Logan was one of the most macho men she'd ever met. He wouldn't be caught dead reading Jane Austin. "Fitzgerald? Like the Great Gatsby or another guy

[codenamepyro]

"Yeah; that guy. He did 'The Beautiful and Damned' too, and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'." Shrugging slightly, St John saw no need to deny what he liked to read. He'd cultivated enough of a knowledge with novels and the like, he wasn't about to hide it all.

"Comfort stories." He supposed he couldn't really fault her. "The ones were, against all odds, the princess gets her prince." Sure, everybody kind of wanted that. St John never really saw it as realistic, but that was the point of a book, it was fantasy, it wasn't real. It was this dream to hold on to. "Nothing really wrong with it." So long as you didn't put your life on hold to get something that wasn't real.

[angelica_jinx]

"I've never read Benjamin Button but I saw the movie and cried like a baby. It was so beautifully tragic. Being that in love with someone but it could only be a passing embrace because they were headed in opposite directions. I'm going to cry just thinking about it." And she was getting a little misty eyed but her brown eyes were just cloudy really. There would be no tears.

"Exactly!" She smiled glad he understood and didn't just write her off as soft. "It's not like it ever really happens like that. At least not consistently. Romance is special but it's like a smile. It doesn't mean anything if you're doing it all the time. Those stories are more like a snapshot than a movie. It shows a piece of life but even happily ever after has it's rough patches."