( open ) the all-purpose galen log 2: the reckoning

[gleans]

WHO: Galen Howard and YOU!
WHAT: Hanging around House 20 and hunting for books.
WHEN: Day 56!
WHERE: House 20, and the library.

Thankfully, after a long night of staying up with a drunk Kenzi, both Galen and Jesse manage to sleep in, the next morning. And it's a slow day, to boot -- he reads a bit, warms up his voice, spends a little time on the couch with his guitar when Jesse goes out.

And that's where he is now: Galen is stretched out on the couch with his feet propped up, his notebook wedged between his leg and the cushion, focused on working through a particularly frustrating chord progression. Between strums - which aren't bad at all, until he gets to the tricky bit -, he's muttering to himself.

"Christ, I need a fucking capo."

--

Later that day, Galen puts away the guitar and heads out to the library. Mainly, he's looking for books that might help in his attempts to learn Russian from Kenzi, but at this point, he'll take anything. In fact, once he's satisfied with a small armful of basic Russian lesson books (and a small book of Russian poems, because if there's one thing he can connect with, it's the rhythm of a language), he's nearly nested himself in the fiction section, looking for anything that might be of interest.

He's on the lookout - or listen-out, really - for anyone else who might be in here, glancing up at creaks in the floorboards and cutting off his own quiet humming. Ever since that gunshot earlier, he's a little nervous.

Comments

[gleans]

Galen opens his mouth to ask what state that's in, but lets it drop, figuring he can ask later. Hell, maybe it isn't even in the States. He keeps forgetting that, too -- maybe some places are so alternate that even geographically, they're unfamiliar.

He smiles at the question, chews at his lip a little. "Ned is one of those names that you think you'd hear all the time, but you don't." Mostly on TV. Weird, that. "And uh -- not really a story, I guess. Pretty sure they both used to watch Gunsmoke, and my mom was a pretty big fan of unusual names, so." He smirks a bit. "It means 'calm', so maybe they thought they weren't totally jinxing it, I dunno."

[nedofpies]

"I don't remember what Ned means. Something about being rich, maybe?" He's more than happy to do the biographical information give-and-take game but, like Kenzi, Ned's not going to be mentioning his family much. Or, you know, at all.

There is something else Ned has been meaning to ask, for a while, but it's a little more personal, so he hesitates briefly before saying: "So, uh. D'you mind if I ask... how'd you and Jesse meet?" There's been no official announcement or discussion of the fact that the two of them are an item, but it isn't exactly hard to deduce, living in the same house with them.

Ned is a romantic at heart, Galen. Let him live vicariously through your happiness for a little bit.

[gleans]

A little smile tugs at Galen's mouth when Ned asks, as it usually does whenever people ask how he and Jesse met. As a bit of a romantic, himself, it's something he likes to think about, and something he likes retelling. His reaction alone is a pretty clear indication of how Galen feels about Jesse.

"Oh, not at all," he says, stopping himself before he plucks too much nonsense on the guitar. "Um -- we were on tour, a little over a year ago - my band - and our crew, y'know, it isn't that big. But we had to fire one of our techs, in California, so there was a day of, shit, where are we gonna get a replacement on such short notice? Then, like, by some miracle, Jesse shows up, interviews, gets the job. Doesn't mind touring, knows his way around rigging, knows the business. The funny thing is -- at first, I thought he was gonna be kind of a shit. Pretty, but a shit."

Well, he wasn't wrong, and his shrug semi-communicates that. But hey, it's fond. "Anyway... it was a long, interesting, occasionally frustrating year. We didn't actually start dating until about four or five months ago, but... I think the crushing happened as soon as he called me 'songbird' for the first time, and I was like, 'wow, what the fuck are my feelings doing'." He bites at his lip, smiling somewhat shyly, and shrugs. "And I was right, he is a shit, but so am I, so it works."

[nedofpies]

It's all too clear to Ned that Galen is head over heels about Jesse - the way he smiles, the way he talks, the little shrugs. It makes him fiercely glad, for their sakes, that the two of them are here together. Being here at all isn't good, but at least they weren't separated.

That wasn't the kind of problem he'd had to worry about; he didn't have anyone to be separated from, save Digby, who he does miss, but in a different way.

Still, the story makes Ned happier than he would have thought possible, considering everything that happened earlier today. It's good to remember that the world isn't all psychopaths with guns and poor girls like Laura getting shot down. Good to remember there are couples like Galen and Jesse with stories about calling one another affectionate nicknames for the first time. Ned's never experienced that kind of love - at least, not in his adult life. Part of him is convinced that he never will, so it's nice to know that others can, in his place.

"That's so sweet," he says, and he means it. There is no cynicism there, no mockery. Perhaps the faintest note of wistfulness, but that comes with the territory. "I'm really... very happy for the both of you. Even though I barely know you, so it's probably a weird thing to say, but. I don't care. I'm saying it anyway."

[gleans]

If the story makes Ned smile, Galen finds no fault with it. He smiles, himself, because it is sweet, and it's always nice to hear that someone is happy for them. That month with the nightmares was emotionally exhausting, and now, Galen almost feels normal again. Like he isn't about to lose one of the most important people in his life.

"Nah, man -- that's not weird. Thank you. It means a lot." And it does. Back home, he's subjected to the opinions of people who think his personal life is their business, and not all of them are as sweet as Ned's, so it's nice to hear. He taps at the body of the guitar a little, thoughtfully.

"You should ask Jesse about his art. He doesn't bring it up much, but he's been doing a lot more ever since we got stuck, and -- it's pretty cool. Paint all over our room, but. Worth it." He grins.