Jasper Tyler Dunbar

Henry honestly didn’t understand how Jasper was single. He was one of the sweetest people Henry had ever met, delightful company, great in bed, yet somehow there wasn’t a steady stream of admirers waiting for admission into his hospital room. Oh well. That also meant there wasn’t a jealous partner glaring at Henry’s proximity to Jasper, so he supposed he shouldn’t press his luck. 

“That wouldn’t be Caleb Goldstein, would it? He is very nice.” Henry asked, only a little bit alarmed. He liked Caleb. But the way Jasper spoke he clearly hadn’t been killed, so that was just another visit Henry could attend to later. “Well, next time you feel like museum-hopping, call me; clearly you need a body guard.”

At the question, Henry made a small face. “Not much, honestly. Work has been really intense; something about a Hogwarts professor who’s in Azkaban without a trial date has everyone in a fuss. Ah, I’ve decided to move, too. Turns out househunting in London is a total mess.”

Jasper’s face lit up at the possibility of dragging Henry to all his favorite museums. He’d not really had a chance to take anyone through a museum in ages. Granted, the other people at the museums didn’t tend to like it as much because he had a bad habit of chattering on during guided tours. He just couldn’t help it, all the stuff was so cool.

“Really? Okay! Once you find a new place, and I get out of this bed.” He missed his plants and all the bees and Luka. Maybe they could magically expand the flat so Henry could move in. Probably shouldn’t mention that possibility until after he’d checked with Luka.

Henry was relieved when Jasper shifted and pulled him down, both because he didn’t want to sit in an uncomfortable hospital chair, and also because when there was a warm body nearby he’d always rather cuddle than not. Settling next to Jasper on the bed, Henry swung an arm over the man’s shoulder and rested his forehead against Jasper’s temple for a moment. He was alright. St. Mungo’s scares seemed to be a regular part of everyone’s life these days, and Henry hated that extended to Jasper, who thus far had only ever been perfectly bright company.

“Art thieves?” Henry raised his brows. “Were you robbed for a precious painting you’ve got stored at your flat? Or did I miss the part where you decided to moonlight as a museum guard?”

When Jasper apologized Henry just shrugged. He really was transparent, wasn’t he? Some of his favorite people were healers, but he couldn’t stand to be here.

“No, but I like you,” he tapped Jasper’s chest over his heart with one finger. “So I’ll be alright. As long as I’m not the one in the bed.”

Jasper snuggled into Henry’s side gladly. He liked having someone to lean against, the hospital beds weren’t that comfy and the blankets kinda itched. It wasn’t so bad but he’d rather be at home with his bees and Luka. He’d given Luka instructions on what to do for the bees while he was in here, but it wasn’t the same. 

“No I think I just have really bad timing. I was just there looking at paintings, honest. But they got Mr. Goldstein too, so maybe they were after him the whole time. I hope not. He’s nice.”

Han handed over the plant without complaint, mildly amused that it was the first thing Jasper seemed to focus on. He and Luka were a complimentary pair to live together. Han hadn’t had many doubt, but it was still nice to see it confirmed. Anyone who kept bees in his home had to be a unique personality, though, and like did seem to call like on such things.

“Good to know,” he said, looking around and catching sight of some. They did seem to be concerned with their own business. Beesness? He made a mental note not to repeat the joke aloud as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Han looked up as he watched Jasper settle the plant into place. 

Now that he was here, Han wasn’t sure exactly what to do or say. He obviously couldn’t slide into flirty or aloof, and as those tended to be his initial impulses when meeting new people, Han wasn’t sure where that left him. He opted for relaxed instead, mentally pretending he’d been here before, even as he looked around, interested in the blending signs of fun personalities around here.

“So it feels weird that we’ve never actually met, but I was pretty sure Luka wasn’t living with an ax murderer,” he commented. He might have sat down, but Han didn’t want to intrude.

“Oh, I’m Buddhist, don’t worry no axe murderer potential here.” Jasper assured him, chewing on his lip as he looked around for the best place to put his new plant. Maybe in his room? Or by the window. That could encourage the bees to come and go a bit more. They’d been a bit morose since he’d split the hive but he’d done his best to try and ease the transition.

He noticed the way Han seemed to force himself to relax and didn’t really know what to say about it. Everything than Luka said about Han made him seem really adaptable and kind, Jasper hoped that nothing in their home made him nervous. Han mattered a lot to Luka, and Jas wanted his roommate’s people to feel welcome here.

“Do you wanna sit down?” He asked gesturing towards the couch. “Luka’s still in the studio but he won’t be there too much longer. You wanna stay for dinner? I’m just making pasta and sauce and I always make way too much anyways, Mum always says I cook for a village but that’s what she gets for raising me in a bed and breakfast, y’know?”

@jasperthetenderhearted​

As long as Han and Luka had been friends, it surprised Han sometimes to realize that he hadn’t actually met Luka’s roommate, but he didn’t want to impose on boundaries Luka had set. Still, when he realized Luka had accidentally left a plant for the bees at his place, Han was torn. Finally he decided he might as well take it over himself. He knew the address.

When he knocked on the door, though, he was still expecting Luka to answer. The man who answered was decidedly not Luka. He seemed like an interesting guy and–although Han wouldn’t say anything to actually create the connection–like someone Henry would like to get to know. Han wondered when things had changed that he started meeting new people and wondering which of his friends to set them up with.

Han flashed him a smile and held out the plant as a sort of peace offering. “I believe this belongs here? I’m Han, by the way.”

Jasper opened the door because the cutie on the other side was neither Yuri nor Jamie. He’d heard all about Han of course, from Luka and his friends. Until now though he’d never actually had the chance to see him in person. No way this could ever be anyone else but Han Lee. And he was holding the plant Luka had mentioned! 

“Oh hey, my new plant!” He said, happily reaching out to take the plant from Luka’s Henry. From his understanding of Luka and Han’s relationship, it was a bit like his and Henry’s. Did Henry know Han too? So many questions, so little time. “I’m Jasper. Come on in, have you been here before?”

Stepping back, he let Han in. He hardly thought Luka would mind. After all Han wasn’t on the list and Luka liked him. All that added up to more than welcome in Jasper’s books. “Don’t mind the bees, I promise that they’re nice.”

Jasper froze. Of course, of course Jamie had found their way here, too.  Nothing was sacred any more. Much less one of the parks Jas had gotten his bees to form a colony in. The hive in his and Luka’s place had grown large enough that he needed to relocate most of it. It wasn’t hard, but it did get kind of testy afterwards. His bees were very particular.

At the sight of Jamie though, he wished he could just run away. He wasn’t a Gryffindor like Juni. He could run without feeling bad about it but… Jamie’s voice. It had been so long since he’d heard it, months now. Jas had missed the sound.

Jasper let out a shaky breath and didn’t move. If Jamie kept the distance between then he could manage this interaction. Any closer and things might start to get painful, memory-wise at least. From here he couldn’t smell Jaime or see all of their mirco-expressions and the tilt to their mouth.

“I can’t really leave right now.” He said, bees bumbling around his head.

Jasper was still so beautiful, in face and spirit, that it nearly hurt Jamie to look at him across the small divide. He didn’t seem to mind the bees either as they buzzed around lazily, but Jasper had always had a soft touch for living things. 

Couldn’t leave? Jamie lifted their chin slightly and assessed Jasper curiously, not able to make any sense of the man’s declaration. The idea of causing Jasper pain by being here was painful itself to contemplate, but Jamie couldn’t bring themself to move. They couldn’t bring themself to do much of anything, even as the bee automata took off from their hand and began to flutter with mechanical inelegance through the air again. 

“I’m sorry.” The words were woefully inadequate, but they were all Jamie could manage in the moment. “I’m so sorry.” They deserved whatever anger Jasper would throw at them. They needed his anger. They needed to understand why he kept looking so broken instead of screaming.

But there was a voice in his mind that sounded a little like Luka, a lot like Yuki and Nina, telling him that his hurt mattered too. Jamie had apologized. Maybe that was all he’d waited for since the Incident, maybe he’d yearned to hear those words for months now, but maybe it wasn’t enough.

Jasper watched the clumsy mechanical bee falter through the air and wondered if Jamie knew Jas had started keeping bees. Had it been on purpose? How would they know?

Henry curbed the impulse to simply drape himself over the hospital bed, unsure precisely what condition Jasper was in physically. So he simply leaned over the side of the mattress and carded a hand through Jasper’s dark hair, pressing a kiss to each of the man’s cheeks before pulling back slightly. 

“Who do I have to beat up?” he asked seriously, looking at Jasper’s drawn features. The sight of the normally bubbly personality in the stark white of St. Mungo’s- as a patient, that was- made him a little sick to his stomach. After finally being released after several weeks in quarantine after the bad potion, he’d hoped not to return to St. Mungo’s for a long, long time, but he couldn’t just stay away when he heard that Jasper had been admitted. 

@jasperthetenderhearted

At the sight of Henry, Jasper brightened up. Having visitors was the only positive part of being on the other side of the hospital beds. He scooted over on the bed to give his friend more room to join him. Henry was excellent at cuddling and kissing and sorts of things, he made awesome hospital company.

“I dunno, art thieves? It’s okay though Henry. Please don’t get in to fights just because of little ole me.” Jasper said, tugging on his friend’s hand to convince him to lie down. Having Henry run off and land himself here too certainly wouldn’t help anything. They could hardly cuddle if they were both in hospital beds.

Jamie had attained a meditative sort of focus after a childhood of working intentionally towards equilibrium and inner peace. However, they were only human, and even their thoughts were prone to scattering. It was why they usually had more than one project at a time, and since working on the dove had been giving them so much grief, they put it aside to pick up one of their smaller projects. 

They also did it because they couldn’t stop thinking of Jasper, of the mechanical butterfly they’d given him what felt like a lifetime ago, of wondering whether or not he’d kept it. 

So they were in a park today- escaping the gloom of the shop, of their apartment, of their thoughts- standing just a few feet away from an active beehive and watching the slightly over-sized automata bee they’d constructed jerk around in the air next to its natural counterparts. Watching the insects in action was the only way to make the charms on their creation more lifelike, after all. 

And then- as if from nowhere, as if brought up from Jamie’s thoughts alone, there was Jasper. For the third time since Jamie broke his heart, and Jamie couldn’t move. The bee drifted back into their open palm as they stared. 

“Don’t go.”

@jasperthetenderhearted

Jasper froze. Of course, of course Jamie had found their way here, too.  Nothing was sacred any more. Much less one of the parks Jas had gotten his bees to form a colony in. The hive in his and Luka’s place had grown large enough that he needed to relocate most of it. It wasn’t hard, but it did get kind of testy afterwards. His bees were very particular.

At the sight of Jamie though, he wished he could just run away. He wasn’t a Gryffindor like Juni. He could run without feeling bad about it but... Jamie’s voice. It had been so long since he’d heard it, months now. Jas had missed the sound.

Jasper let out a shaky breath and didn’t move. If Jamie kept the distance between then he could manage this interaction. Any closer and things might start to get painful, memory-wise at least. From here he couldn’t smell Jaime or see all of their mirco-expressions and the tilt to their mouth.

“I can’t really leave right now.” He said, bees bumbling around his head.