Age plot (jack)

[echolls_cursed]

Camping was the most exciting thing ever, and Logan bounced a little on his heals as he watched Jack put up their tent.

"Can we roast something on the fire?" he asked. "Will you tell me ghost stories? That would be cool," Logan babbled, still small and youthful.

He wandered over and tried to help. Dragging the blanket around and making their bed.At some point he'd acquired a teddy bear, and he placed it carefully on the make-shift sleeping bag before wandering back over to Jack's side.

"I like the fire," he said, pointing at it. "When it gets darker it'll be really cool."

Comments

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"You don't even say please," Jack chided, totally teasing. He loved the way Logan leaned against him. The way he snuggled close when they slept. Logan was always affectionate, but not like this. Jack was eating it up.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan took a big bite, chewing happily and watching Jack. He looked happy and content in a way he usually didn't, his cares easily chased away as he enjoyed the comfort of Jack's company.

"You should tell a ghost story," he said after a moment.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack took a bite of his own and chewed, visibly thinking of the tales they'd told around fires when he was a boy. Nothing too frightening- not after last night and Logan being so sure there was a monster under the bed. No, something just a little bit scary.

"Okay," he said with the bite still in his mouth. "But this isn't a story. It really happened.

A young family bought an old-fashioned house in the original part of the city, where all the oldest houses were. They moved into their dream home in the winter, bringing their six year old daughter with them.

There was a lot of refurbishing to do, so the little girl tended to go up to the attic to play while her parents were occupied with the house. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, because the previous owners had converted the attic into a playroom. It even had a fireplace at one point, but it was currently boarded up.

After a couple of weeks of hard work, the downstairs rooms were finished. The mother, realizing that she had been neglecting their daughter, attempted to try and spend more time with her now, but the little girl seemed distracted. She kept stealing back up to the attic alone to play.

Exasperated, and perhaps a little hurt the the child was not being responsive to her attentions, the mother finally asked, 'What's so interesting up there in that stuffy room?'

'It's the little boy with the shiny buttons,' the child replied. 'He's so much fun to play with!'

'What little boy?' the mother demanded, wondering if a servant child had stowed away in the room. She went to investigate, but found the room empty.

Certain that her daughter was just being contrary, she urged her husband to discipline the child. At her father's stern voice the little girl became hysterical. She kept repeating that there was a little boy and he wore a blue jacket with lots of shiny buttons on it.

As her father listened, he became more and more curious. Formerly a sailor himself, he realized his daughter was describing a child's sailor suit, complete with the brass buttons.

The girl's father made some inquires about the Smiths, the family that lived in the house before them. He learned that they had come from England, bringing their children with them, two boys and a girl. The youngest child, a boy, was described as a sweet idiot child, and added that Mr. Smith was ashamed of him and tried to prevent him from being seen outdoors.

According to the boy's parents, the neighbors continued, the young boy would often sneak out to go down to the river. The story goes on to say that one day he fell in and drowned. His body was never recovered, but his cap had been found floating in the river. Shortly after the disappearance, the Smiths put the house up for sale and, leaving town, dropped out of sight.

The former sailor's suspicions were now thoroughly aroused. He accompanied his little daughter to the attic and asked her to show him where the little boy came from. She pointed to the boarded up fireplace. Her father called in workers to open it and then to remove the mortar that cemented up a cavity beside the chimney."

Jack paused to let the tension build, and to see what Logan's reactions were before he continued with the rest of the story.

"As the mortar was chipped away, the corpse of a small boy was revealed. He was clothed in a little blue sailor jacket with four rows of brass buttons down the front. The little boy didn't drown. He was murdered and hidden and it had been his ghost the little girl had been playing with the whole time," Jack said, quiet and gravely serious.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan's eyes went very wide, and he sat in silence at first, taking the whole story in and mulling it over.

The problem with children though, was you could never tell what might upset them. You could never guess what might trigger a memory or pray on their deepest fears.

Logan's face became very grave, and he sniffed softly. "But it wasn't his fault he was stupid! He didn't deserve to be locked in the dark! He probably cried a lot. He probably was really scared! And sometimes you don't mean to be bad, and you get punished anyway, and it's not fair, and he- he didn't deserve to die like that," he babbled, starting to get upset.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Logan, Logan, it's just a story," Jack said, tossing his stick and the last bite of his sausage into the fire.

"It's just a story I heard when I was young. It didn't really happen. I promise," he continued. "Nobody should be treated like that. Not ever. Not you or anyone. And we won't be those kinds of parents, right? We'll be good parents."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan swallowed hard and nodded.

"Okay," he said softly, copying Jack and tossing his own stick into the fire.

He was quiet for a moment, and then glanced over.

"Can we have marshmallows now?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Wrapping his arm around Logan, Jack pulled him close and kissed his head.

"No," he said.

Then he lifted Logan's chin so he could look into his eyes.

"...Because we threw our sticks in the fire. We need sticks to toast marshmallows. Unless you want to just eat them..."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan looked confused by the kisses and touches, and he looked unsure for a moment until he finally crawled onto Jack's lap. It too k him a moment, but he soon settled in.

"I love you Jack," he said quietly.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I love you, too, Logan," he replied softly. He couldn't say much else around the tightness in his throat so he simply held the little boy. This...this was good. The tantrums and the kicking were a small price to pay for something this good.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Closing his eyes, Logan rested against Jack's chest and sighed softly.

"I like the way you smell. You smell like home," Logan decided, wrapping his arms around Jack as well as he could.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"You smell like sunshine and sweat and Linus," Jack laughed as he kept Logan wrapped up in his arms. "And in the morning you'll smell like jungle and tent, too."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Gross," Logan giggled.

He sighed a little and smiled. "I like when we hang out like this. It's fun. You're my best friend, Jack."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Oh yeah?" he grinned. "You're my best friend, too. And best friends should be eating marshmallows. You want to find a stick or just eat it?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I'll get new sticks," Logan decided, looking like a man on a mission as he scrambled off Jack's lap and going to fetch two nice sticks.

"Here," he said happily, handing one over.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Good job. Now, for the good part," Jack said as he pulled out the square marshmallows and pushed one onto each stick. "There. Be careful not to get it too close or it'll catch on fire."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I like when they burn," Logan replied, jabbing the stick right into the fire. "I like when they're burnt."

He pulled it back out a moment later giggling as the flames danced over the quickly burning treat.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Oh, holy crap!" Jack exclaimed as he grabbed Logan's stick and frantically began blowing on the hissing blue flames that were quickly consuming the marshmallow. It finally went out and then Jack laughed.

"You seriously like them burnt?" he asked.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Logan replied, reaching for the stick to take it back. "It tastes good like that. It's crunchy."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Jack said hesitantly as he gave it over. It certainly wouldn't hurt Logan so if he wanted to eat it like that...

Jack shrugged a little and put his own near the fire to start toasting it, keeping one eye on Logan and his burnt treat.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan happily munched on his marshmallow, nibbling until it was all gone.

By the time he was finished, he was a sticky mess.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack had his just how he wanted and then carefully pulled it off the stick to eat in one bite. He looked over at Logan and could only shake his head.

"We're going to have to get you clean before bed," he said affectionately. "But there's no point just yet. I have more marshmallows. Want another?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan nodded, holding his stick out in offering.

"Pweeze," he said, his mouth still sticky from the first.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack pushed the marshmallow on the stick for the little boy so he could burn it, too. There was one left and he didn't even need to debate with himself over whether he should eat it or let Logan have it. Of course he'd save it for the boy.

"Be careful not to get burned," he said.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I wont," Logan replied, jabbing the stick into the fire and watching the treat go up in flames.

He giggled again and then pulled it back out to try and blow it out himself.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

When it didn't go out, Jack leaned over and added his breath to the effort. The marshmallow was extinguished, but not before it was just as charred as the other one.

"How about I do the last one the way I like them and I'll share it with you and see if you like it, too?" he asked. He just couldn't imagine the charcoal thing was any good.