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[jacob w.c.]

THE BLUE AND GREEN BELOW IS A MASTERPIECE — Jacob loved reading the moment he learned how to. He wasn't interested in the business reports of his father or the news, though. He had loved stories. He'd read every single one he could. He read fantasy, mystery, science fiction, biographies, textbooks, anything. He'd even read one about close up magic once. Not real magic, of course, but card tricks and the like. His family had liked that he knew all of that, it was easier to steal that way. He had always been fairly good at slight of hand before but after that he was excellent. He didn't do it much these days, though. It was a reminder of all the things he'd used it for before, and that didn't make him particularly comfortable. These days his only goal was to make sure everyone he cared for was relatively happy and that he was happy. That meant that most days he just liked to pretend his old life in the city had never happened. He still hadn't told his Babbo about Pincher in their letters. He knew he'd be angry. For one thing, he had no idea that Jacob wasn't particularly interested in women currently, for for another, if he was going to be with a man, he knew that Pincher is not what Vito would have in mind. He was aggressive, basically ran his own criminal organization (although Jacob liked to refer to it as other things to ward off his guilt, he knew that's what it was), and he was part of the family that had brought Jacob's entire life down to ashes, both literally and metaphorically.

Jacob wished life could be more like a story. Where everyone, in the end, came together with love and support. If his life were a story, Jacob thinks maybe a good ending point would be when Pincher returned from the dead. There would be a full chapter of them reuniting and then they'd walk off into the sunset together, leaned against each other and smiling. That would be the end. There'd be no awful notes from his former (and current) stalker, there'd be no dealing with the fallout of a relationship someone's entire family was against, there'd be no more hallucinations and no more sadness. It'd just be Jacob and Pincher Roux for the rest of eternity and Jacob thought he'd like that very much. But that wasn't what happened. He was here and there was still so much pain and sadness he didn't know how to fix any of it. Sometimes he got overwhelmed by it all. It was too much for one person to fix, yet Jacob always tried to do something about it all. Then, when he ultimately failed, he'd sick into isolation for weeks on end trying to think of new solutions.

Jacob hadn't read a story in a long time, though. Most of his reading now consisted of medical books. Sometimes he would find old notes that Lottie had written in her old books or she'd reference a book he didn't remember reading. Then there was some research he'd just prompt himself to do on his own, if he was curious about a certain subject and he didn't recall looking over it much with his Ma. For example, recently he'd taken an interest in stitching. He knew some basics from Lottie but he'd never had the opportunity to ask her more about it and it'd always intrigued him, given his interest in sewing. They weren't exactly the same activity but they were similar enough that it'd gained his interest from a young age. Some time ago, he decided to do some research on various types of stitching and what the advantages for each type were. Now he felt skilled enough in the area that he carried around an emergency kit in his bag in case he ever came across a wound that'd need it in a hurry. It'd taken a lot of practicing and he'd only been able to do it a couple times on actual individuals but it worked well enough.

That was what most of Jacob's reading was. Sometimes he would find an old book he'd liked as a kid and pick it up to read but he didn't do that often. He supposed now that he was in Typhoon he could do more of that, if he ever really wanted to. He didn't have any obligations or responsibilities here so he certainly had the opportunity. He could relax, if he wanted to. Still, relaxing wasn't in Jacob's nature and so today he found himself wandering around looking for any herbs or medical related items he could use. That was when he happened to notice a stranger nearby. While he knew a lot of Typhoon, there were still a few he'd never met, even with all his visits during Snowbound. Still, that didn't mean he wanted to stay that way. The more of his new clanmates he knew, the better. So, the husky made his way over with a light smile on his maw before speaking, "Sorry ta' bother ya', I know you're readin', but I jus' wanted ta' say hi 'cause I don' think we've met before. My name's Jacob." The greeting was simple enough as he let his eyes wander to the book in the creature's paws. "Le Petit Prince. Do ya' prefer it in the French or English?" — BUT YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL LIKE I'VE NEVER SEEN

"SPEECH"

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