None of them are holding tickets to that thing you love...

[leosarecynical]

Look at this post.

Now look at your characters.

Now back to this post.

Sadly, this post does not have your characters in it, BUT IT COULD.

Gray Raines is currently on a streetcorner, snogging a random woman he doesn't know. IT COULD BE YOUR CHARACTER. The reason for this snogging is because he may or may not have gotten into some trouble at a pool

Comments

[hey_capn_jack]

What's in J's hand? It's two bottles of that booze Mac loves! Look again. One bottle is now being proffered.

"...hi," J says.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WHEN J HAS HAD A SHIT COUPLA DAYS. Such as: he's not even asking about that horse.

[ornobodywill]

Mac stares at J for a moment and then rolls her eyes and climbs off the horse before taking the bottle. "Don't ask. It's a long story," she says, nodding at the horse.

And much like the story of Bristow and Narnia, it will never be told. The horse takes this moment to trot away into a secluded corner of the park and Mac waits for it to go before breaking into the booze. Drinking in pubic? Who cares? She was on a horse. Plus, at the rate Chicago's going, drinking in public ought to be required just to live in the area.

[hey_capn_jack]

J pops the top of his alcohol off, and takes a long drink, watching the horse saunter off. He doesn't really form any opinions on the horse as it goes; it's just somewhere to put his gaze for a bit.

"I once walked into my office and found a flamingo there," he offers. After a moment, he appends "...a real one." Not one of the plastic monstrosities taking over lawns across this godforsaken land.

...and that is apparently what he has to offer the conversation at the moment, and then it's back to alcohol.

[ornobodywill]

Mac chugs her alcohol indelicately, exhaling happily when she pulls the bottle from her lips before eying J warily. "Did... Someone put it there or do flamingos wander into offices all the time where you're from?"

[hey_capn_jack]

"I used to work on a patch of Rift," J says. This... actually does pretty much explain everything, except for the part where Torchwood still managed to be implicated in most of it. "Wasn't as active as this one, but it had its quirks."

He's quiet for a moment.

"...would you happen to know why there's a tank full of squid in the basement?"

Okay. He knows why the tank is there.

[ornobodywill]

Mac chokes on her next swig and then stares up at J with a long-suffering look. "....No. Do you know why my life is so weird that someone tellin' me there's a tank full of squid in the basement doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it should?"

[hey_capn_jack]

"Because you live in Chicago," J says without hesitation, but even in his voice the jibe is somewhat flat. "Days where nothing blows up are surprising. A tank full of squid is just quirky."

The corner of his mouth tilts up, but not really into a smile.

[ornobodywill]

"We should petition the city to put that on a t-shirt or something," she says, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, frowning at the not-quite-a-smile. "You haven't gone Chernobyl in awhile." Or maybe he has and she's just SO USED TO IT that she doesn't notice anymore.

[hey_capn_jack]

J gives her A Look at that, like he's trying to decide how to respond. He is. For some reason, he doesn't think I was trying not to draw attention to myself to buy time to end my own immortality will go over well, and he's not sure he wants to go into the whole Oh, yeah, and an old superior showed up for the first time in two centuries and paradigm-shifted me harder than I've been since basic training song and dance.

J isn't sure she's run into the Doctor yet. J is not sure how he feels about the prospect that she will.

Maybe he's just not going to respond to that.

He takes another drink.

"...that shapeshifter kid," he says. "Luke? Died a bit ago."

Look veeeery closely, Mac, and you may see an explanation for why he's ambushing you with alcohol.

[ornobodywill]

Mac's mouth drops and she quickly downs the last swig of her alcohol. "Fuck. I didn't know... I mean, I only met the kid that once."

That poor little slip of a thing. He looked like he was gonna fall apart in J's arms. She should've known this was bound to happen.

"You okay?" She asks, even though she technically knows the answer to that. It's a kneejerk question.

[hey_capn_jack]

J gives her that look again.

"I'm used to it," he says. It's less of a lie than he'd like it to be. He is, though. This was the norm way before Chicago.

He's not entirely sure why he brought it up at all.

He thinks about deflecting, asking about how her life's been or saying he wouldn't mind hearing the long story the horse implied, but nothing really comes. After a moment spent watching thealcohol swish in his bottle, he appends "Babel seems to be taking it pretty hard."

[ornobodywill]

Mac takes another swig of her alcohol, rolling her eyes back into her head. Yeah. Welcome to Chicago, motherfucker. If you're not used to unhappiness and death and pain yet, then we've got a bridge to sell you. Makes a girl long for the trenches.

"Which one's Babel?" She asks, because fuck if she can keep track of J's little menagerie of acquaintances. The guy collects strange people like they're Pokemon.

[hey_capn_jack]

"The clock. The catalogue," J says vaguely. "Ticking on toward eternity."

Being cryptic is certainly the way to go. Who knows; it might be more descriptive than an actual description.

Just in case it's not, though, he levels his hand about one Babel-height from the ground. "About this tall, dark hair, fine-boned. Looks a lot younger than she is. Occasionally says things that make no sense."

Like he's one to talk.