Jay - Sweeping first floor.

[tribal_jay]

Hurrying along despite his hangover, Jay felt pressed for time. It was his day to do the sweeping, and the floor of the foyer was covered with bits of tree and evergreen needles from the decorations that had been hung. Since he had been named Chief of Mall Security he also had a long list of security details to go over before the wedding. He'd

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[tribal_jay]

Perhaps he hadn't done the job as well as usual, but the mall looked fine when he had finished sweeping both floors. Breakfast wasn't sitting too well in his stomach; his head was still pounding a bit. His job finished upstairs, Jay went back down to put the broom away, checking on the prisoner again through the little window. Glancing at his watch, he realized with a groan that he didn't have time to do another thorough sweep of the mall. Even though he knew that his men had already been over the mall once today, it would have eased his mind to do it again himself. Delegating tasks was one thing, but when you want a job done right you do it yourself.

Instead he went to the various checkpoints and made sure that his men were properly stationed and that everything was safe and secure. Even though things were going along smoothly Jay had a really bad feeling that something was going to go wrong. He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. It was just nerves, surely, everything seemed fine. Every tunnel in the sewer had been checked, the office complex, mall, and even the garage had been searched. He had men posted at every possible entrance, twice as many as usual. What more could he do?

As he came back into the foyer Jay paused to admire the decorations, his arms crossed over his chest. The volunteers had done a really great job, it was going to be a beautiful ceremony. Time was ticking though, he realized, and he quickly made his way to his room for his shower supplies as well as the outfit he had picked out for the wedding. Ebony wasn't there and he wondered where she was; shouldn't she be getting ready for the wedding too? Maybe she was already in the shower, he thought, a little mischievous smile curling up the corners of his mouth. What was he thinking? He was already worn out from sweeping and checking all of the militia were at their stations. Besides, he still had a hangover and was a bit nauseated.

Still, he was disappointed to find that Ebony wasn't in the shower, in fact the place was empty except for him. The cool water of the shower felt really good on his overheated body. Usually he would have been annoyed to find that there wasn't any really hot water left, but today the cold water felt good. It reminded him of swimming in the ocean, without all of the sand in places that he didn't want it. It made his head feel a little clearer, and most of the nausea faded away. His thoughts ran to the wedding, and he wondered to himself if he would ever make that commitment. If he did, would it be with Ebony? Would Ebony be able to make that kind of commitment and really mean it? He remembered bitterly the betrayal he had felt when she had married Ram, he knew Ram had manipulated her into it, but it still stung.

[tribal_jay]

After rubbing the soap between his hands to build a good lather, Jay finished soaping himself up. His razor was sharp and a short curse echoed throughout the bathroom when he nicked his chin. After he finished up and wrapped up in a towel, he used his styptic pencil to treat the small injury. It was still obvious that he had a cut on his chin, but at least it stopped bleeding. He let out a small exasperated sigh, then did his teeth and hair before dressing. It had been a great stroke of luck to find his new outfit; he often had trouble finding things to wear because of his height. That was one reason that he'd kept his Techno uniform for so long. The pants were a dark khaki green, the shirt a romantic black poet style which he left un-tucked. He'd also found a greenstone Koru pendant on a black plaited cord which he wore around his neck. He knew that the Maori had used the symbol of the unfolding fern to represent the beginning or genesis of life, and he felt that it was appropriate to wear for the wedding. The new boots that he found added another couple of inches to his already towering height. Finally he buckled his ever-present watch around his wrist. Sometimes he hated that watch, particularly when it went off right in the middle of a passionate moment.

It took a few extra minutes for him to do his markings today since he wanted something slightly different for the wedding. Even now it seemed odd not to have the big Techno marking on his forehead. It felt like a part of him was missing, but at the same time he was ashamed of some of the things he had done as a Techno. He had been young and foolish when he joined them; naive in his belief in Ram and the promises that had been made to him. All that time he'd told himself that what he was doing was a necessary evil, but looking back now he could see that it was just evil, and he had just been a pawn. He met his own eyes in the mirror and felt an inner revulsion. His head dropped, turning gently from side to side, his hands braced on the edge of the cold, white sink, disgusted with himself for having been taken in. He took a long jagged breath, straightened up, and finished with his markings. You cannot change the past, nor know the future, all you can do is try to be the best person that you can be in the present. Every day he tried to be a better person than he had been the day before. He didn't always manage it, but he tried.

After cleaning the small mess he'd made in the bathroom, Jay took his gear back to his room. Ebony was still not in the room, and he was beginning to get worried. He hadn't run into her all day, and he'd been all over the mall and the office complex. It was very odd and disconcerting. If he didn't know that there were multiple guards at every possible entrance to the mall he might be even more concerned. Nevertheless, he quickly checked the public rooms on the upper floor looking for her, asking a few people if they had seen her with no luck. Then he started down the stairs, his view of the lower floor obscured by the wedding decorations. With a twinge he remembered the discussion he'd had with Sal about the decorations earlier, arguing that they were actually a security risk since you couldn't see from one level to the next. Sal won out, but he had increased the number of guards to compensate. A huge wave of relief washed over him as he spotted Ebony on the lower level, but his breath caught in his throat. As he moved down the stairs towards her, he realized even from this distance that he'd made a wise choice in leaving his shirt un-tucked.