Lincoln dipped his head with a tight-lipped smile, “Of course,” he drummed his fingers against the table. “Why wouldn’t I. You’re…” he trailed off and stood up out of his seat. “What kind of roast do you prefer for your coffee?”
(i gtg to bed. Good night!)
Jack raised his eyebrows slightly at that trail off. "Okay." He sighed softly. "Uhm…Medium." he replied. "Although I don't really care either way."
(Oke doke, Goodnight!)
“Medium it is,” he smiled easier this time, and turned on his heels to walk towards the coffee bar. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, shoulders slightly hunched while he thought.
Of course he didn’t plan on setting him up with a girl from his college, the girl didn’t even exist. But he had to come up with some sort of excuse for his odd question. Especially an excuse that didn’t suggest anything to anyone listening in on their conversation…
Jack stretched, leaning back in the chair and watching him go for a long moment. I wonder…all these questions, and… He sighed softly. Could he be…? No. Stop projecting what you want onto someone from the past. He told himself, shaking his head a little.
Lincoln swallowed to suppress his shaky breaths while he ordered the coffee.
Obviously, well he assumed that Jack was… like him. But it was all too complicated, would it even be worth confessing his attraction? And who was to say this attraction was anything more than physical at this point?
He chewed on the inside of his lower lip.
He ends up with a daughter, remember? Probably an illegitimate child with a girlfriend or something. Jack tore a hand through his hair, a few of the red strands fell into his face, curling slightly over his forehead.
Lincoln thanked the man behind the bar as he took the two steaming mugs by the handles. He took ginger steps back to Jack, avoiding eye contact by setting his gaze to watch his path. “Medium roast coffee for you,” he set the first mug down in front of Jack. At last, he glanced up to his face again and smiled. The curled strands over his forehead were too cute, he silently admired.
Jack smiled at him. "Thank you." He replied, noticing how Lincoln was avoiding looking at him, but didn't say a word about it. He took a sup, then sputtered. "Ouch! Hot hot hot hot hot!!" He exclaimed, sticking his tongue out.
Lincoln’s eyebrows raised with some concern, but his expression mixed with stifled humor, “Are you alright?” He sank down into his chair again, sitting forward, and keeping his first and third finger wrapped around the handle of his own mug. He didn’t dare to take a sip yet.
Jack nodded, tongue still hanging out of his mouth. "Fine." He replied, panting a little so that air would flow over the overheated sensors on his tongue. "Just burned my tongue." He pulled his tongue back in his mouth, making a face.
“Ouch,” he smiled empathetically. “Someone told me once that if you blow at the same time you’re tipping the mug, it will cool off before it burns you. It’s never worked for me, but you could try it.” He shrugged, picking up his own mug to lightly blow away the steam. It returned half a second later.
Jack nodded, and tried it. The air flowing over his tongue helped, as well. He chuckled softly, blowing on his drink almost hard enough to make it bubble over the side. He took a tiny sip, then set the cup back down. "Still too hot." he announced, looking at Lincoln.
“Not surprising,” Lincoln humore and set his mug on the table again. He glanced down, then back up again. “So, ah…do you have any ideas about what tools I’ll need to fix Tip?”
Jack chuckled softly, then sighed. "Uhm…good question. Pliers, blowtorch, uhm…mostly he just needs new parts." he shrugged a little. "I don't know." he raked a hand through his red hair, shaking his head slightly.
“Blowtorch…” he echoed slowly as of tasting the word. “I’ll have to see if the shop sells that sort of thing. It’s a very simple hardware shop, it’s more likely to have pliers than that expensive sort of thing .” He rubbed his hand against his chin in thought, “But I could be mistaken,” he shrugged.
(FYI I’ll be on a trip for a few days and won’t have wifi, so I probably won’t be able to be very active until about Wednesday)
Jack nodded. "And I can help pay for anything, too. I'm not going to ask you to take on that expense." He added. "I don't want to do that to you." He raked a hand through his hair, taking a tiny sip of the drink to see if it was cool enough yet.
“Oh, thank you,” Lincoln smiled gratefully, “I assume you have this decade’s English currency?” He placed his lip on the rim of his mug to test his own drink as well. He deemed it cool enough to take a ginger sip. He kept his brown eyes warmly set on Jack’s hair with an air of admiration.
"Ah…yes." Jack replied. "I wouldn't come back to the past without the correct money. That would be stupid." He chuckled softly, sipping a bit more of his drink.
“Indeed it would..” he quietly laughed along. He took a moment to turn a thought over in his head, “A question about you, if I dare,” he tapped the side of his mug, “Are you generally a person who takes risks?”
(i gtg to bed, sorry. Good night!)
Jack glanced up. "Hmm? Oh. Uhm… depends on what kind of risks we're talking about." He replied, holding the coffee and taking another sip. "Specify?" He asked, smiling.
Lincoln loosely shrugged, “I was thinking in general, but, more specifically…” he tapped his chin. “Socially? Or with your job?”
"Socially, I guess so. With my job…that one's tricky." He shrugged a little, drumming his fingers on the table for a moment. "It really, really depends. If I'm in a time period I'm familiar with, then maybe. Usually, no."
He took a few minutes to absorb the information, slowly nodding, “Are you familiar with this time period?” He lifted his mug to take another sip, and he began to bounce his heel again, nervously.
"Hmm. This is the third time I've been here, so yes. Why?" Jack replied, taking another sip of his coffee and looking at Lincoln over the rim of the mug.
“Oh,” Lincoln shifted in his seat, crossing his other leg over his knee, “Driven by curiosity, I suppose. Given that your stay is so short, I’d like to learn as much about you as I can.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe a few stray drops of coffee from his lips.
Jack nodded. "Oh. Alright." He replied. "Just…do me a favor and don't ask me about your own future, alright? I don't want to have to tell you or dodge the questions." He said.
He lifted an eyebrow, “Why would I ask you about my future if I want to learn about you?” He lightly humored, “…Unless you’ve personally met my future self—but you don’t have to answer that.”
He shook his head. "As far as I know, no I haven't." He replied with a soft chuckle.
“Alright, Alright,” he echoed the chuckle. “I don’t think our visit to the shop and my friend will take all day. Is there any activity around town that might interest you?”
Jack smiled, and shrugged a little. "Hmm. Not sure." He thought for a moment. Are there any buildings I want to see? That will be destroyed in one of the two World Wars? He thought.