His (potentially) Problematic Solution

[pinata_helmet]

J.D. hadn’t slept well. He snuck back into his room late, long after the sun had gone down and little JD was sleeping snugly in his new hutch, and closed his eyes, thinking he’d find relief at least in the confines of his room. His brain made that too difficult. He’d tossed and turned until, completely fed up, he got up with the intention to

Comments

[onlythedusk]

Moritz jumped and nearly dropped his book. "Age appropriate?" he blinked, staring at the apparently vehement man. "For what? Who?" Then he realized it was probably none of his business anyway. "I am sorry -- I will leave you to your thoughts."

[pinata_helmet]

The boy's sudden appearance startled J.D. and he'd likely have fallen over had he not already been sitting in the sand. Where does the island get these people? he wondered, seeing his odd dress and general jumpiness. He took a deep breath. He looked like a kid J.D. had gone to high school with-- which was, frankly, a little creepy.

"Don't worry about it," he said, and shook his head. "Just thinking out loud." Like usual, he added, in his head, for good measure.

[onlythedusk]

"Oh..." He nodded, slowly, smiling a little. "I do that too, at times. My mother fussed at me for having my head in the clouds."

He took a few steps closer and offered his hand, "I am Moritz Stiefel. Have you been here very long?"

[pinata_helmet]

J.D. took his hand. "I'm John Dorian, nice to meet you. Just call me J.D." If he had the tendency to daydream, Moritz was certainly talking to the right person. Sometimes I wonder if it's all just an extended daydream... he thought, recalling the story of the monk who dreampt he was a butterfly. "I've been here..." he considered, "over a month, give or take." He hadn't been keeping close watch on the days, only the days of the week so he and Elliot didn't miss their clinic shifts.

[onlythedusk]

Oh Moritz always had trouble with dreams, day or night. "I have as well, J.D." Which was perhaps one of the oddest names he'd heard, but he decided not to question it; no need to be rude. "Where are you from?"

[pinata_helmet]

J.D. thought from the young man's voice that he might not be from anywhere near his time and place. "I'm from America," he said with a nod, "I was a Doctor in a large, city hospital." Was. And likely would never be again. "How about yourself?"

[onlythedusk]

"Oh! So many people here from America! I always wanted to go... I am from Germany, however. Did you like it every much in America?" Moritz would never get tired of hearing about the country he so longed to visit.

[pinata_helmet]

He nodded. "Yeah, it was great. So you're German?" he changed the subject quickly. Elliot spoke German, he wondered if they'd ever spoken. "Do you know my friend? She's a clinic Doctor, she speaks, like, perfect German." He gave an OK hand gesture when he said perfect.

[onlythedusk]

"A woman doctor?" Moritz looked surprised and a little skeptical, "I have never met a woman doctor before. They let you do that, in America?"

[pinata_helmet]

So he was from a very different time and place. J.D. didn't quite know how to react. "Yeah," he said, eyebrows drawn together. "She's one of my best friends. We have a woman running for President too," he added for good measure. Or so Jon Stewart had told him.

[onlythedusk]

"A woman? As a leader of a country?" He tried to imagine Ilse as a leader, which didn't work too well. Then he thought of Frau Gabor and nodded slowly, "I think that is a good thing. I was not even allowed to go to school with the girls."

[pinata_helmet]

J.D. shook his head. Poor guy doesn't even know what he's missing... Of course, J.D. himself hadn't known what he was missing for most of high school. Being the nerdy bio student only got you so much female attention.

"I don't know what happened though, the election was still over a year away when I left," he said.

[onlythedusk]

"Still -- what a very radical idea! Perhaps not for you, but for me. I will have to tell my friend. Melchior. He is a radical, too. He thinks that women should get to do all the same things that men do. He will be very excited to hear this."

[pinata_helmet]

"Cool," said J.D., and gave the guy a thumbs up. "Though I've gotta say," said, leaning forward a little, "you might not want to act so suprised when talking to the ladies." He glanced around to make sure there was no one nearby. "Like my Doctor friend Elliot, she'd either start yelling and screaming about feminism or calmly explain things, but her facial expression will say it all," he continued, twirling a finger in a circle at his left temple to indicate that Elliot was, indeed, a crazy person.

[onlythedusk]

"Oooh..." He nodded slowly. "I will be very careful, then. What other sorts of things can people in America do? I wanted to go there because I heard it was very free. That people could do what they liked."