All Tomorrow's Parties

David’s not entirely sure what to make of Jack.

Jack’s cool and distant, a product of something David doesn’t fully understand. He’s like that to everyone, the maids, the cooks, even his own mother, as far as David can tell, but David gets the worst of it. Jack ignores David, dismisses his suggestions, takes every chance to remind David how much he really doesn’t belong here. David’s never known anyone who could treat someone like shit so efficiently, though he’s known plenty people who have tried.

David just wishes he knew what he did to deserve this treatment. He saved Jack’s life in the war on Gath, didn’t he? He crawled through mud on his stomach over enemy lines to get to where Jack was being held captive. He faced down a Goliath so that Jack could make it back to camp with all his limbs still attached. Surely a little respect was not too much to ask for.

Apparently, Jack doesn’t see it that way.

---

It’s Michelle who asks David to go with Jack to one of his parties. (Jack has a lot of parties, but other than the king, no one dares to comment on these things.) She rests her head on David’s chest as they sit in front of the fireplace, David’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. They sit together a lot, just spending time in each other’s company, and it makes David happy to simply be around her.

“He’s my brother, she says, as David strokes her soft, silky hair. “I just want you two to get along.”

David feels a cold, sinking dread. “He doesn’t like me.” He still remembers the first time he got to meet Jack while he was in his right mind, the way Jack showed up an hour late and failed to care about anything that had anything to do with David. He’s not sure he’s capable of handling an entire night of that.

Michelle laughs and swats his arm. “He’s just jealous of the way Father favors you. He just needs to get to know you better.” Her smile is so radiant David can’t say no.

He kisses her cheek. “Alright. Alright,” he says.

---

David ends up getting a ride with Jack in Jack’s car, because well, to be quite honest, Michelle arranged it somehow. They spend most of their time in silence, with David staring out the window at the passing streetlights and Jack starting straight ahead at the driver’s seat.

“My sister would like us to be friends,” Jack says, finally. His eyes are dark in the dim light, and his mouth is pulled into a straight, displeased line.

David says, “I’d like us to be friends, too.” Because it’s true that he’d like to at least try for Michelle’s sake and she’s told David enough stories of happy family breakfasts and silly childhood pranks for David to believe that there’s a lot more to Jack than what gets plastered all over the tabloids. And once, David caught Jack talking on his cell phone on the west balcony that faces towards the park and not the city streets. David thinks of the expression on Jack’s face as he spoke, something a little angry, a little bitter, and a little sad, something David hasn’t ever seen on Jack’s face before or since.

Jack grins, suddenly. His teeth are very white and almost a little dangerous. “Okay,” he says as the car pulls to a halt in front of the club. He opens the door and steps out without another word.

David feels knocked off balance, but he follows behind Jack, trying to keep up.

---

The club is even louder and claustrophobic than David thought it would be, just from what he’s heard from the loudest guy in his squad (the one who had moved to Shiloh a year before he’d been shipped out and had loved the club scene enough to talk about how he missed it all the time). The club’s too dark, and there are too many people. The moving, multi-colored lights are more distracting than anything else. David makes sure to keep track of Jack, who makes his way through the crowd with a careless, practiced ease. They have their own room, apparently, invite only, and the guard in front lets them through with a friendly greeting. He’s obviously
met Jack before.

The room is lavish, filled with plush couches and cushions, the light only slightly brighter and more intimate here. The guests (dressed in far less clothing than David is used to seeing on people) cheer as Jack enters the room. They hoot and holler and clap, and some of them might not even be faking their happiness.

But the best that Jack can manage is a tight-lipped half-smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

---

There’s a girl sucking on Jack’s neck while David watches from the sofa across from them. Her nails are a bright pink, and her blonde hair comes from a bottle, but Jack doesn’t seem to mind at all. His eyes are closed and his lips are parted. David knows he should look away, but he really can’t. Michelle is expecting him to use this time to get to know Jack better, after all. Jack is using this time to get hammered and flirt with every single girl in the room, leaning in close to whisper sweet nothings in their ears.

But there were also times during the night that Jack would look at David, assessing him in a way that made David’s skin itch.

Jack’s not looking at David now.

At the moment, David is one-hundred percent sober, mostly because he doesn’t trust any of the people in the room, especially not Jack. But he’s still feeling disoriented and woozy, because he hasn’t slept in the last twenty-two hours, and this place is so far removed from his normal life, he doesn’t quite know how to handle it.

He spots one of the girl’s pink-tipped hands pulling up Jack’s shirt. Her fingers flutter over Jack’s pale skin, before the whole hand disappears beneath the waistband of Jack’s pants. (Somewhere along the way, someone undid Jack’s fly, but David doesn’t remember when that happened.) David may be naive in the ways of court politics, but he’s not stupid. He knows what this is. Jack’s eyes squeeze shut tighter, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. His mouth moves, but the music is too loud for David to hear him.

David is hard in his pants just from watching, just from seeing. It feels wrong somehow, like he’s betraying Michelle in some way, even though he’s not doing anything. Jack’s hips jerk slightly as the girl changes the motion of her hand. David tries to remember all the reasons he should get up, walk away, ride or no ride, but part of him doesn’t want to, so he doesn’t. He likes the way Jack’s mouth falls open slightly wider as the girl squeezes what can only be Jack’s balls. David imagines her kissing Jack’s mouth like this, the way she’d push her tongue between his lips, tasting the beer on Jack’s breath.

But she’s still biting at Jack’s ear, her hair falling so that it hides her face. David shifts in his chair, trying to get more comfortable, but he still feels the flush of arousal on his skin. Her hand speeds up, and David has a good view of the way Jack’s breath quickens in the rise and fall of his chest. David wonders what it would be like to be in Jack’s position, the sharp pull of her hand on his cock. He presses a hand against his pants, trying to get his breathing under control.

When Jack’s getting close, David watches his face, trying to keep his eyes away from the girl’s hands, but then Jack’s eyes fly open. He stares straight at David, their eyes locking for just a moment, and David feels a stab of want for something he doesn’t understand and can’t explain.

Then Jack comes, squeezing his eyes shut again.

David blinks. He’s still wound up, but it’s accompanied by a feeling of shame, curling deep inside his chest. He turns his head away, trying to look at anything, anyone else. This feeling is new and unpleasant, and he wishes he knew where it came from.

He glances around the room, noting the couple in the corner who are kissing and kissing and kissing, oblivious to anything else, the group of people laughing and chatting in the cluster of couches on the other side of the room. One of them, a guy with dark hair and a tight black shirt, stands up and heads over to where Jack, David, and the girl are sitting. The girl herself has pulled away from Jack and is licking her lips, looking incredibly pleased with herself.

David lets himself turn back to Jack, who is watching the guy come closer, a drunk-happy smile on his face. It’s the warmest expression David’s ever seen on him. He almost looks like a normal person. The guy leans in, and Jack says something, the smile somehow even wider, and the guy laughs and says something back. Jack wraps his fingers around the guy’s wrist, pulling him closer. He obliges, pressing his lips against Jack’s, sliding his fingers into Jack’s hair. Their kiss is sweet, almost tender, and David feels his gut clench painfully at the sight.

He turns to stare at the floor. He’s tired. He’s not thinking straight. And the thud in his chest is the rumble of the music, not the beating of his heart.

---

David doesn’t remember how long it was before Jack’s driver tapped him on the shoulder and told him it was time to go, but it was probably a while. When he was younger, he’d lose himself for hours in the feel of the keys under his fingers, the sound of notes in his ears. He does that sometimes, still, when he’s waiting for the next press conference, the newest set of orders from Command.

The ride back to Court is quiet, a sharp, jagged silence. David is still trying to process everything he’s seen, everything he’s learned. Jack is Jack again, distant and far away and untouchable, nothing like the way he was before, warm and smiling and happy.

David finally says, “I didn’t know.”

Jack snorts, “My father likes to keep it that way. You still want to be my friend?” His mouth is pulled into a sneer, like he thinks this’ll scare David off, that what Jack is will scare David off.

David’s not sure why he does, and he’s not sure he trusts his own reasons, but he does want to see more of that Jack, the one he saw in the club, the one that’s hidden behind this one. David says, “Yes, I do.”

Then Jack is leaning in, and David can smell the alcohol, the sweat, the sex on Jack’s skin, and it only makes him more disoriented and confused. Jack cups the back of David’s neck and laughs, hard and brittle. “I don’t think you know what that means.”

Before David can say anything, Jack pushes away so he’s slumped against the seat, and his eyes show traces of exhaustion. David watches as he turns his head to stare out the window at the faintest signs of dawn as they appear on the horizon.

---

Michelle is asleep when David comes in. He’s visited her in the mornings like this before, when they just want to spend time together and talk and laugh away from the watchful eyes of her father’s staff. Her dark hair is spread out over the pillow, and she’s snoring lightly. It makes David happy to see her this at ease. He tries to be careful not to wake her, but she lifts her head anyway, yawning as she does so. “How was the party?” she asks. Her voice is still thick with sleep.

“It was fine,” David says. He kisses her cheek and makes his way to leave.

Michelle lets herself fall back onto the bed, her eyes closing as soon as her head hits the pillow. “That’s good. Tell me about it later,” she murmurs.

David sneaks back to his room. It looks exactly the same as it did when he left it, yesterday, from the uniform jacket he tossed on the desk chair to the small mound of coins emptied from his pockets on the dresser. It’s like nothing has changed.

He stares at the ceiling from his bed for a while. The back of his neck still feels hot where Jack touched him, and even though he’s exhausted, it takes him a long while to fall asleep.

FIN.