Dorms Gym - Tuesday Morning

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

The details of the weekend were fresh in Jack's mind. The details of his life as this older guy, a politician, were hazy. Every time he tried to think about the faces and names and details he'd known on the weekend, they slipped away. He'd spent yesterday trying to write everything down. The result was four and a half pages of snatches of memories that weren't really his and garbled messages to himself about a life he found himself forgetting. Forgetting bothered him. Jack realized that forgetting bothered him more than the fact that Fandom had changed him in the first place. This freakish island was getting to him.

There was only one thing to do.

"Four," Jack counted through gritted teeth as he pulled himself up so that his chin was level with the bar he was holding on to. He lowered himself back down and then up again. "Five." The gym was a perfect way of not dealing with the situation.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"If you haven't realized it yet, I have news for you. Mom's going to flip out no matter what you do unless it's exactly what she tells you to do."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"That's not true!" he argued, breathing hard as he dropped down off the bar. "She wouldn't tell us what to do. She wants us to be happy."

Hey, look, he almost even believed it.

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"She wants us to be happy doing what she thinks we should do. There's a difference."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

Bobby looked hopeful as he held out his hands for the water bottle. "If you became a Congressman, I bet Mom would help you raise money for your campaigns and stuff."

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"Mom would be the reason I wouldn't become a Congressman. She'd never be able to turn down a chance to tell everyone her opinion." He held out the bottle.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"So you could picture it," Bobby said quickly before Jack could either interrupt or grab the bottle back. "I think you'd be really good."

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

Jack rolled his eyes. He'd walked straight into that one. "I don't want to talk about it."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

He really had. Right through the big blinking sign marked 'Bobby wants to tell you what he thinks.'

"Why not?" he asked, apparently unable to listen to Jack on this one. He set the water bottle back by Jack and went around the bench to the mats to try to see if he could do a lot of sit ups.

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

His tone became serious. "Because I'm not that guy? Because maybe I don't want to be and no amount of pushing from this place can make me."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"I don't think it's pushing," Bobby said after a moment of thought. "Just kind of - showing. To make us think about it. You know?"

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"Why should I have to? There's enough going on now."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

Bobby grabbed his knees and looked up at Jack. "Did Mom finally send the check to sign up for the SATs?"

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. She did. Who knows whether it'll go through or bounce? Have you ever thought about being a priest before this weekend?"

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Well, if you can't do the one next month, there's one in July and then again in September," Bobby pointed out, sounding like he'd swallowed a guidebook. "I don't think even September's too late."

He shrugged. "Only a little bit when I was reading stuff last year. But I don't think I'd be very good at it."

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"I'm taking the one in July. Why don't you think you'd be good?"

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Have you been studying? Mom sent me a book on SAT words, but you probably already have it," Bobby said. He frowned a little at the question. "Um, cause people are supposed to like priests and stuff, and they have to keep everyone happy. And God calls you to do it."

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"One conversation at a time," Jack decided. "Yeah, I've been studying. I have plenty of books. It'll be fine." He sounded confident. "As for being a priest," he trailed off. "You're still a kid. There's time to figure out what you want to do."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"So why's it okay for me to have time to figure it out, but you're all 'never going to happen'?" Bobby persisted, taking that one conversation at a time thing literally.

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"You're the one who goes to church."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but everyone likes you," he pointed out. "And they have to to win elections. Mom says you're a natural leader."

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"Mom says a lot of things. And the big difference is that I don't want to be that guy. Not because I don't think I can do it, but because I don't want to."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"How do you know?" Bobby asked, not being a smart ass as much as honestly confused at the idea of being able to rule out anything about the future.

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"I just do," Jack replied sharply. The idea of that guy scared him.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Okay." Bobby gave him a Look but went back to trying to do sit ups.

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

"Make sure you clench your stomach or you'll throw your back out. You need control around your core." His own workout was abandoned now while he spotted Bobby. He crouched down nearby. "All I want is a chance to make up my own mind."