(Untitled)

[action_antihero]

[OOM: Same lake, same tree, same man, one year later.]

Jack's sitting out by the lake, enjoying the quiet and the scenery, but not averse to company.

Comments

[silvia_broome]

And soon there is a Silvia walking quietly outside.

[action_antihero]

Jack's drawn away from his thoughts by the peripheral awareness of someone moving around nearby. Looking up, he spots Silvia, giving her a slight smile.

"Hey, Silvia," he says with a nod of greeting.

[silvia_broome]

"Hey." She slows to a stop near him. "You know it's the fourth here."

[action_antihero]

"Yeah, I know. Odd considering it's September for me outside," he says, a little wryly.

[silvia_broome]

"It's December for me." She tilts her head. "Are you all right?"

[action_antihero]

He nods. "Yeah, just...realizing how much changes in a year. Or two."

[silvia_broome]

She sits down next to him. "Like what?"

[action_antihero]

He shrugs, quite for a moment as he judges how much he wants to say. "This time last year--at least by Milliways' calendar--I'd just come in after faking my own death. It wasn't until a couple days after I got back that it hit me, exactly what that meant."

[silvia_broome]

"That you couldn't go home."

[action_antihero]

"That I couldn't go home, would never get to spend time with my friends and family outside of here, wouldn't be able to watch my granddaughter grow up, would have to spend my time watching my back..." ...Would never have the chance to be with the cared about most... Though that regret had come later, when he realized just how deep his love for Chris went.

He looks over at her with a cheerless smile. "Though you probably know how that feels."

[silvia_broome]

"I do." She doesn't look at him.

[action_antihero]

"So yeah, just thinking about...about things that have happened over the last year. Things I miss," he says, before the silence can stretch into awkwardness. He's also trying to draw attention away from some of the things she'd mentioned, as she's obviously not comfortable talking about them.

[silvia_broome]

"But your family is in the bar, aren't they?"

[action_antihero]

"Sometimes. Right now the only actual family I've got in the bar is Angela. Kim left to get Angela's father and she hasn't been back yet, and there are...well a few other people I care about that haven't been in the bar for a while. Plus, I might occasionally get to see them here but I miss seeing them at home, too."

[silvia_broome]

She nods. "And they all know you aren't dead."

[action_antihero]

He shrugs. "Yeah. Though considering the only time I can see them is here, it's really not all that much different than if I was. They have to act like I am, out there."