It wasn't like magicians came prancing through his little farm town every day of the week. In the city he'd run into them, of course, and in many respects he was jealous of their ability. He wondered what his life would have been life had he been so gifted. But wondering on what ifs and could have beens didn't fill his pocket book or his belly. No, apparently watching this brat was going to do that. Damn it, whenever he could find the time to get Alex alone...

"My name's James Tiberius Kirk," he announced, somehow injecting pride into the names of his grandfathers though he'd always hated his middle name. And he really hadn't done much besides rack up an impressive array of misdemeanors. But in the army you announced things like that, so he bit down and got used to it.

He sighed and laced his fingers behind his head, twisting on the couch to lay down, stretching out across the cushions. "Just call me Jim, though. It's Max, right? Pretty sure Alex said Max..."