(Untitled)

[mentalistjane]

It had been a long time since Patrick Jane had been to the tiny hut called home. So after he had spent time with both Daniel and Cole, and found out there were no more therapists left on the island to help him with his own particular 'issues', well, there really was nothing left to do but go home, and clean up what remained of his life

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[anger_sideways]

Hawkeye was actually heading to the clothes box to get some clean socks, and had intended to steadfastly avoid the rec room and all its troublesome furniture, but the melancholy music drew him in despite himself.

He wandered through and stood near the man playing the piano, waiting in appreciative silence.

"Now, was that Clair de Lune or Fur Elise?" he asked, as the music drew to an end. "I always get the two names mixed up, if not the songs. Either way, that was beautiful."

[mentalistjane]

"Clair de Lune. Fur Elise tends to have more bass." Patrick said quietly, before he lifted his head to look at the spare man standing near to him. He straightened a little, blinking but managed a quiet smile. "You're new. Of course, I'm oldish and now new again, so really, so I'm just a little behind the times."

[anger_sideways]

"Oldish and new again," Hawkeye mused, recalling a conversation he'd had a few weeks back. "I think I might be that too. Apparently there was another version of me here once, and he slept with somebody's mother. But this version of me doesn't know anything about that. Which is a shame, as I'm told she was a fox."

He moved to lean against the side of the piano, elbow resting on the top of it, and extended his free hand to be shaken.

"I'm Hawkeye, and I've been here a little over two months. How about you?"

[mentalistjane]

"Well, it's considerably shameful that you can't remember a fox. Especially one you got lucky with." Patrick said with a faint smile, as he started to play something new - one of Cole's. He played a few more bars, before he stopped, and shook the other man's hand.

"I'm Patrick Jane - and I've been here, ooooh, nearly a year now. Except two months ago I had a panic attack and left. Ran, really, in the forest. I just recently re-emerged and became civilized again."

[anger_sideways]

"You ran away to live in the jungle?" Hawkeye said, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe you ought to change your first name to 'Tarzan and'." Never let it be said that he could pass over the opportunity for an obvious joke.

"Actually, was that what it was like? Foraging for berries and having conversations with monkeys? I don't think I'd be able to last ten minutes having to rely on my own wits to survive," he went on. He was quite impressed, actually; this man didn't look like the survivalist type. Then again, it was amazing the places you found yourself when things got to you; Hawkeye could empathise with that at least.

[mentalistjane]

Patrick snorted out a laugh, one of the few since he had come back. "I like that - clever twist on words there, my friend."

He rubbed his face over his smooth cheeks, and shook his head. "It's easy to survive when you need to, when everything else in your mind has shut off and you're just doing things by instinct. Instinct is the greatest motivator we have, you know."

[anger_sideways]

"Really? I thought that was sex," Hawkeye said. Lines like that reminded him of Sidney, made him wonder if this guy was a shrink or something like it. They were generally the only people asides from cops who talked of motivations.

"So, what made you decide to run away from civilisation?" he asked, the words coming out before he realised how blunt a question that was to ask a stranger. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

[mentalistjane]

"Sex is a great motivator, but it does also fall under instinct. The need for closeness, physical affection, breeding ... hits you right in the Mother Nature, my friend." Patrick's smile twisted faintly. Something well learned from his father - from so many unhappy couples around him that stayed together because of the fantastic sex.

He looked at him, sharply, before he let out a long breath. "Well, Hawkeye, I fell in love for the first time since my wife died."

[anger_sideways]

The grin dropped from Hawkeye's face. Well, that was what he got for sticking his nose in, though he respected Patrick for trusting him with that.

"I'm guessing from the way you said it that things did not go well for you," he said, fidgeting with his collar. "Victim of Valentine's Day, or just bad luck?"

[mentalistjane]

"Valentine's Day, and no. It didn't. It kicked off a panic attack, that sent me into the forest and ... yes, well, messed up half of my relationships." Patrick said contemplatively. "Of course, they were messed up to begin with, so there you go."

[anger_sideways]

"I do wish this island would make its mind up whether it's trying to be the Tempest or Midsummer Night's Dream. Though I suppose we should all just be thankful it hasn't tried out Titus Andronicus yet," Hawkeye said, with a regretful half-smile. He paused, brushing his hair from his eyes.

"It's certainly a downside of enclosed communities like this. When things go wrong for you, there's nowhere to go. You can't even apply to be transferred elsewhere." There were certain things about this place which were a lot like the camp: long periods of inactivity interspersed with madness, the frantic couplings and uncouplings, the fallout that happened when things went wrong in a community of no more than a couple of hundred people. Except here there was nowhere else to go.

[mentalistjane]

"Just as long as it's not Hamlet and most of us are dead at the end, I'm fine with the idiosycrancies. Most of the time. This is one of those rare times that I wish I could burn this entire place to the ground. Except you make an excellent point - none of us can escape this place, until we've learned ... whatever lesson we're supposed to learn." Patrick finished off his piece, and arched an eyebrow at Hawkeye.

"Any requests?"

[anger_sideways]

Hawkeye pondered it, tapping his fingers on the top of the piano. So many things to choose from, but he was feeling like something light, something fun, something to help pull Patrick away from all this introspective.

"Hmm," he said, with a thoughtful tilt of the head, "Do you know anything by Cole Porter?"

[mentalistjane]

A sudden smile curled over his face, and Patrick tilted his head back a little more to let out a loud laugh. He trailed off to a chuckle, and nodded his head, as he skimmed the keys. "I am quite ... intimately acquainted with the man's work, yes. You have a favorite?"

[anger_sideways]

"Oh, plenty, though for your sake I think we'll skip the love songs," Hawkeye said, pleased that his request had been met with recognition. He was used to feeling culturally out of the loop around here, but at least people from the future remembered the classics.

"How about 'Anything Goes'? I always liked that one - and boy, if Porter felt we'd hit the heights of liberty in 1934, I'm sure this place would make his eyes pop."

[mentalistjane]

"I rather like Cole's love songs..." Patrick mused quietly, picking up the plucky tune, and humming along as he played the opening bars. "He's got a touch. A real feel for that emotion. It makes you think - well, it makes you think feeling that way wouldn't be as bad as you think."

One corner of his mouth lifted. "And you should ask him what he thinks. I think the answer will surprise you."