Impermanence in Stone

Duncan doesn't get it -- doesn't understand why Methos listens to things like Queen and Metallica and Eminem instead of opera; why he turns the radio up as high as it will go whenever R.E.M. comes on. He doesn't understand why Methos regularly goes to movies that he knows will be bad, even if he does spend his entire time mocking the plot, the characters, the acting; doesn't understand why Methos prefers obscure breweries and sometimes even Budweiser to vintage wines, to eighteen-year-old scotches.

He's never seen a single classical CD in any of Methos' apartments, save the (possibly - with Methos he could never be sure) gag gift of a CD of bagpipes music that he'd been given one day for an obscure holiday that Duncan had never heard of, and Methos claimed that only he remembered. He'd refused to go into further detail, but Duncan had listened to the bagpipes CD until he fell asleep that night, and had dreamed of ancient celebrations; of Methos laughing and intoxicated and flush with the sort of youth that even Immortals eventually lose. Instead, Methos' musical collection includes the sorts of CD's that come with parental advisory warnings.

The man even eats at McDonald's, at Burger King, at Taco Bell; Duncan has seen him eat fast food with the sort of enjoyment that he himself reserves for the best restaurants he knows. He keeps up with pop culture, Tom Jones not withstanding, and in addition to the various academic publications that Adam Pierson receives, Methos gets Time, People, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone.

Finally it's too much. Watching Methos watching Supertroopers and laughing like a maniac finally gets to him, and Duncan snaps.

"Why?" he demands. Methos looks up from the screen.

"What?" he asks.

"Why this obsession with trivia? It's ridiculous. I mean, there are so many other things you could be studying, things you could learn."

Methos' look is almost pitying.

"Mac," he says, "I am learning. These things," he gestures at the television, "won't last. They never do. But I can remember them, and sometimes that's enough."

When the fat cop dives over the counter at the fast-food clerk, Duncan can't quite repress a chuckle.

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