33 Apocalypse Avenue, Sunday Morning

[gotacondition]

Bruce felt weird about this moving arrangement for a lot of reasons. One of the smallest factors was the fact that, as he walked the last few steps to his new house with just a medium-sized backpack on his shoulders and a coffee thermos in one hand, he realized that this probably wasn't how most forty-two-year-olds did things, and he was pretty

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[bitten_notshy]

Jack, who had been about to run an errand, paused on his way to the door. "-- I forgot you were moving in today," he admitted. "Hi. Do you need any help carrying things up to your room?"

[gotacondition]

"Thanks, but I'm okay," Bruce said, shaking his head. "I just have this, and it's not too heavy."

Pathetically enough, it was pretty much just clothes (some stretchier than others), a box of tea, and a very old laptop with some slightly less old gadgets to go with it. He figured he could manage to bring it up a flight of stairs.

"Thanks again for inviting me," he added.

[bitten_notshy]

If Jack was a bit surprised a man Bruce's age had only a backpack to move in with him, he didn't show it.

"No problem," he said. "We have the space, and it's less lonely than the hotel."

[gotacondition]

"And hopefully less hectic," Bruce said. "A few days ago, I think they were fumigating because of some telepathic bees." Which was, frankly, one of the most horrifying mental images ever. "You don't have those here, do you?"

[bitten_notshy]

"No, and now I'm horribly curious how bees get telepathic and what they do with it when they are," Jack said slowly. He agreed it was a horrifying thought. "Emma's a telepath, though."

Somehow that was less horrifying.

[gotacondition]

"She-- oh." Yeah, Bruce had not been aware of that, and while it wasn't intimidating enough to send him running back out the front door, it was... startling. "That's -- huh. So would that be the 'carrying on a conversation in someone else's head' kind of telepath, or the, uh, 'immediately knows everyone's life story' kind?"

...Oh, he probably sounded a little paranoid by asking that question. He bit his lip.

[bitten_notshy]

"The 'can know your life story if she decides to go rummaging, which she generally doesn't admit that she does' kind," Jack explained, tilting his head at Bruce curiously. "Sorry, I'm so used to it I forget it bothers people. Should I have warned you when I asked you to move in?"

[gotacondition]

"It's fine," Bruce said, even as he wondered just how big of a problem this might really be. He didn't think running screaming was the best approach, but it was definitely awkward. He was just such a private person.

"I've just never spent much time around telepaths before, that I know of," he added by way of explanation. "So this'll be... interesting."

[bitten_notshy]

"It's an interesting house," Jack said with a little shrug and a laugh. "I'm sure you'll fit right in."

He was inclined to let Bruce and Emma work things out between themselves.

[gotacondition]

"Thanks," Bruce said, nodding. He didn't feel the need to dump his stress all over Jack, anyway. "Good to be here."

God, he was so awkward.

[bitten_notshy]

He was, and Jack hesitated; he wasn't sure if it was the kind of awkward where you were supposed to draw the person out, or the type that just wanted to be left alone.

He went for a middle ground.

"We should have a house dinner in the next few weeks," he suggested. "After you're settled, and sometime when Emma's not quite so tied up."

[gotacondition]

"Yeah, we could do that," Bruce said, seeming to respond well to this middle ground; he nodded, and his posture went from slightly curled in on himself to a little more open. "I'm not a bad cook, so I could contribute, even. Do you know of any dietary requests anyone has?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Kaidan and Emma will eat almost anything s long as there's a lot of it," Jack answered. "I don't know about Josh. I try to keep kosher, but I'm less than strict about it. Don't make pork or cheeseburgers and I'll be fine."

[gotacondition]

"Kosher, got it," Bruce said, nodding. "I've cooked kosher before. Shouldn't be a problem."

Socializing was easier when he could think of it as a task to complete rather than unstructured interaction, and cooking and sitting through a meal seemed much more structured. He could manage that.

"And if it winds up being terrible," which he doubted, "I'm also pretty adept at heating up canned soup, so."

[bitten_notshy]

"Me too," Jack nodded. "And I've also learned how to make a sandwich and follow the directions on a box of brownies. What else do you need?"

[gotacondition]

"That's... about all it takes," Bruce laughed. "I'll get some groceries and try to make it nice, though. I haven't had the opportunity to cook much more than frozen vegetables in a long time."