(Untitled)

[action_antihero]

[OOM: The Price of Success.]

The door opens and a man walks in, fiddling with his cellphone until he realizes that he's not quite where he thought he was.  At first glance he'll look famliar, but on second glance, people who know him may notice something...different.  It's not just the longer hair, neatly combed down; not just the slightly rounder

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[_chappy_]

Ryan enters the bar from the flat, intending on having a smoke and a nightcap. He notices Jack, just a quick glance to where he was near the bar.

Coming to stand next to him, Ryan gives him a nod before pausing to light his cigarette. "Jack."

[action_antihero]

Oh this is just fucking great. He just got away from Chappelle; the last face he wants to see in an unfamiliar place is that of his asshole boss.

"Ryan," he says, coolly, trying to regain his composure. He might not have a clue where he is or how he got here, but he's sure not going to show that in front of Chappelle.

[_chappy_]

He notices the annoyance coming off of Jack... and that he seems different in a way Ryan can't discern. With a quirk of his eyebrow he takes a drag of his cigarette and asks, "Something wrong?"

[action_antihero]

"Not with me," Jack replies. Chappelle had been the one to demand the meeting, the one who'd spent the last half-hour criticizing what had been a successful neutralization of a threat. As far as Jack's concerned, Chappelle's the one with the problem.

Besides, Chappelle is acting weird. Five minutes before he was chewing Jack out and now his attitude is so...casual. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or something.

[_chappy_]

"All right," Ryan drawls, almost amused. It was obvious Jack was annoyed about something but wasn't going to say and Ryan won't press. Instead, he orders a drink from the bar, not having to wait a minute for a slim glass of vodka to appear on the bar's surface.

"So, what have you been up to? Haven't seen you around in a while."

[action_antihero]

Jack tries not to, but he can't help but look surprised and confused as a glass just...appears on top of the bar. He tries to turn it into a sardonic expression as Ryan continues, but he's not sure he quite makes it.

"Sure you're feeling all right? I just saw you about ten minutes ago."

[_chappy_]

"You just saw me?" Ryan looks at him, that nagging feeling of something being very off here growing louder. He seems different, he looks different...

It had to be Jack though because he recognized me and he doesn't seem that different and... he can't be new here? Can he? He looked younger maybe but he didn't seem that confused by the bar...

"I don't understand."

[action_antihero]

Jack just looks at him in incredulity for a moment. Okay, maybe Chappelle had snapped.

"Ryan. I was just in a meeting with you in your office. Hell, you're the one who asked for the meeting."

Maybe Ryan had snapped, and would be forced to take a vacation. Not that he really wished any harm on his boss (usually) but a couple Ryan-less months would be great.

[_chappy_]

"My office," he says flatly.

He did look different, he was different - younger. Ryan takes a drink of his vodka, grateful for it, and wonders what he should do. There were so many problems with this scenario and he wasn't sure to begin.

But getting some information first wouldn't hurt. "What was the date of this meeting?"

[action_antihero]

"February second," he says, looking at Ryan warily. Like Ryan would forget today's date.

[_chappy_]

Ryan sighs, ready to ask what year but stops himself. The year doesn't matter that much right now because he knows it's at least four years ago - probably longer now that he really looks at the other man.

"Right. Uh," Ryan rubs his forehead, wondering where to start. "Can you see the door you came in from?"

He knows how Jack feels about changing things, they've had that discussion more than enough to times and Ryan's not entirely sure what he's going to do here. The easiest thing would be to have him go back home.

[action_antihero]

Jack nearly asks Ryan what the hell kind of question is that, of course he can, until he actually looks at where he came in.

No door.

He looks harder, wondering if maybe it was hidden in the panelling, but... Still, no door.

"Where the hell did the door go?" Jack says, sliding off his seat. Okay, now this place isn't just weird, it's also setting off alarm bells when it comes to his personal safety.

[_chappy_]

"Of course," Ryan scoffs to himself. He had expected that, no matter how much he had hoped for another answer.

"Jack, relax," he says, touching his shoulder to get his attention. "You're in Milliways Bar. It's... it's," and he gives a small laugh at this because he knows what he's going to say next will go over like a lead balloon, "it's a bar at the end of the universe."

[action_antihero]

Jack looks at where Ryan's touching his shoulder, confused by the gesture. Chappelle didn't touch people; it's almost creeping him out.

"Yeah, nice try, Ryan. What, are you doing impromptu psych evaluations now?"

[_chappy_]

The look doesn't go unnoticed and he removes his hand, gesturing towards the Observation Window. "Look at that, then."

[action_antihero]

Jack looks over where Chappelle is pointing and--

Holy shit. For a moment, he just stands there and gapes. Finally, he finds his voice. "What is that?"