A/N: Oooh, Lord. As anyone with brains can see, this one is gonna be posted at (long) intervals. I sincerely apologise, school is being hell right now and eating me alive. Probably won't change soon either. I'll try and use weekends or something. xD That said, hope you like it. ^^


Ralph managed to keep from exploding until they reached the entrance hall, at which point he twisted roughly out of the redhead's grasp, earning an amused-sounding chuckle. The loss of contact felt strange; the sharp tingling in his skin dying down to something oddly warm. He rolled his broad shoulders out of habit, as though hoping to shake it off, wanting nothing from the man who was now leaning against the banister of the stairs leading to the dance hall. Sharp cobalt eyes were boring into Ralph's, challenging.

"Merridew…" He tried to keep his voice from shaking, but by now he was angry enough not to care much. "What – the hell – is this about?"

His entire body was quivering with suppressed emotions, most of it rage. Best of all he would have liked to punch the despicable idiot in the jaw. But Jack had made no move to attack yet, and there was no way that Ralph was going to give in to rage first. The rules were still in place.

Taking deep breaths, he somehow managed to calm himself, unclenching his hands and relaxing a fraction. Jack grinned, almost fondly.

"That's better. You see, there's no need to be so angry. I just wanted to talk to you a little." Then, with a smirk, "You're frightfully uptight."

Something glinted in his eyes, some of the icy clarity disappearing.

Ralph huffed. However, taking in the stance of the other man, he gradually came to believe him. There wasn't a tensed muscle on his skinny frame. He certainly did not look as if he were preparing to pounce on anyone.

"All right, so what do you want?" He asked, throwing his hands out.

A patronising sigh. "Boy, are you slow. Just to talk, I told you." The redhead went pensive a short moment, then asked: "How's your old man?"

Ralph immediately drew back a little, frowning. Was it a threat? "He's.. fine. Why?"

Coming to sit on the stairs not far from Ralph, Jack glanced at him pointedly, his irritated look much the same as always. "I was just wondering. You said he was in the Navy."

With an effort, Ralph managed to stop looking like a goldfish.

"Well… yeah. He's fine. Things are.. fine." After a moment of quite violent internal struggle, he forced himself to ask the same question in return. It struck him that he'd never heard anything of the other's parentage, way back then.

As it turned out, Jack's parents were wealthy. Hardly a surprise. They were also busy, and cold as freezers. It appeared they had hardly reacted when their child came home. As Jack said with a smirk, after the initial fuss, he'd been dropped into the hands of an unfortunate therapist – and then another – and another. They all gave up before long, and he'd been largely left in peace. He seemed quite happy with this turn of events.

Sitting there talking to him – talking. to him. – Ralph found himself reeling a little. The change from brewing hostility to almost civil conversation had taken him very much off guard. Yet it was difficult to summon up the anger from before when the object of it was behaving so rationally for once, and Ralph found that he didn't truly want to either. Being wary was one thing, and God knows he was. But hatred wasn't his thing really. Jack had an incredible ability to bring out the worst in him, but that didn't mean he had to let him.

"Look. Ralph. This – " he directed a vague gesture at his immaculate self and the posh house around them " – is great. It's convenient, and easy, and perfectly satisfactory… but God, is it boring." Blue eyes locked on Ralph's as the other went on disgustedly, "What use is recognition, and power, if you don't even have to work to achieve it? You strive to get there, and once you're there, you're done. Finished. That's that. You have no idea what an anticlimax it is."

"I… can imagine", Ralph said stiffly, trying not to think too hard about Jack's previous claim to power.

"And I know why that is, too. It's the people. They're so damned easy to please. You throw them a high note, they fall at your feet. There's just no challenge. And you know I work best when I'm up against it," he added, his intense gaze entreating Ralph to understand.

"And…?" Ralph questioned warily, not quite seeing where Jack was going with this and not sure he wanted to know.

"I need a challenge. Or I'm going to go crazy." Ralph politely refrained from comment. "I need some more stimulating company than stupid fans and obese duchesses. And who better to give me that, than you?"

To his credit, he didn't try for a winning smile at least. He just kept up the same unwavering look.

Ralph stared.

"You want me to… to what, exactly? Be at your disposal? A bit of friendly rivalry when you feel like it?" He couldn't believe he was hearing this. After what the other had done!

"I'm not going to be your… plaything. Jack. I have a life now, sorry to tell you. I've moved on. If you can't do the same, that's your problem, not mine." Ralph got up swiftly, looking down at the other. He had been prepared to forgive and forget all these years, had figured that Jack had been just a scared child back then, like all of them. And believing that, he'd almost managed to let it go. But Jack wasn't anywhere near the guilt-ridden reformed sinner he had, perhaps foolishly, expected. He was just as bad as ever. And he was not attractive.

The other man didn't seem notably affected, nor particularly surprised. His eyes never left the blond's face as he got up. Inclining his head a little, he said in a polite manner that went poorly with the gleam in his eyes, "That's all right. I never expected another answer really."

As he headed for the double doors, a servant of some sort – who, to Ralph's mortification, had probably been lurking in the hall all along – came up to him with his ridiculously expensive coat. "Just remember," the redhead added oh-so-casually, turning, "If you change your mind, I'm in the phonebook."

And with that the servant fellow held open the door for him, and he vanished into the chilly darkness of the late evening, leaving Ralph behind with a less than intelligent look on his face.