all in all that i know there's nothing here to run from

[dugdowndeep]

Jack has been in the agora for some time, a recently roughed-up but currently well groomed young man sitting still and unobtrusive. If there have been questions asked around him, it would be difficult to say he heard them; he certainly hasn't been answering. Just sitting

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[ouroborosdance]

There is something familiar about Jack, alcohol, and the pair of them trying to recuperate after a very long week, month, or...you know, year or more. Hasibe stays in a nearby doorway for a second, watching him ask his question, and then crosses the Agora, the click of her heels echoing. She sits on the broad, flat arm of the bench Jack has claimed for his own, legs crossed neatly (because she's in some tiny cocktail dress, as per usual, with a coat tossed over her shoulders, but her arms aren't in the sleeves).

"My mother went and got herself murdered," she says, in a tone of voice to match his smile, "took me a while to forgive her that one."

[dugdowndeep]

Jack imagines Hasi knows him well enough to guess whether he actually feels sympathy at that response, so what he shows of it in his eyes is brief but genuine, unlike the cynicism he returns to just after. It's not a mask with any particular purpose, for once, just a face to wear until he figures out what he's feeling.

"But you found it in your heart eventually, hm?"

[ouroborosdance]

"I don't hold grudges well," she admits, which is probably more the root of it than anything else- she can try to hold onto things, but most of the time, her anger will eventually dissolve and turn into something else instead. There are, of course, exceptions, none of which have much bearing on this conversation.

"And I suppose over the years...other things built up. We don't take well to being parented, my sort, those relationships are tentative and fade away even if we don't want them to." Hasi rests her hands on her knees, watching Jack. "Are you celebrating something?"

She punctuates that with a nod toward the champagne.

[dugdowndeep]

"I am," he answers simply and unhelpfully. But his expression softens minutely at the question, a shine catching his eye. He's too exposed, here in the agora, to show or say much more than that - but there are other ways.

"My sort tend to need a great deal of parenting," he continues after a beat as if she hadn't asked anything at all, offering the slip of paper to her wordlessly, "Which is unfortunate because we're spectacularly bad at it. But then I suppose that's why we marry far, far away from the bloodline."

The stationary bears a butterfly crest and a brief message: Joel Ishmerai 8/21.

[ouroborosdance]

She takes the slip of paper, and takes into account his expression and what it says and what he says, and furthermore: what he's so studiously not saying. She realizes what this must mean after a few seconds, intuitive enough to guess that this is something that he has reason to keep secret.

"Difference breeds balance," she says, but the quiet, sympathetic note in her smile has more to do with what that slip of paper has printed on it. Hasi hands it back, and while she measures her affection carefully with most people, she doesn't hesitate when she leans down to wrap an arm over his shoulders in a brief sort of half-hug.

[dugdowndeep]

Jack is grateful for the hug, if only so he has somewhere to hide a more genuine smile there against her shoulder. It's brief, and he looks either puzzled or relieved for half a second after, like it's good to know for sure he's happy about this, among the myriad other emotions that are still sinking in.

"And distance, peace, I hear. Let's hope so." For all that it's driving him crazy to be separated from the baby right now, he's glad they're both safely out of reach - his own as much as his father's. "Someday when things have settled, you should come to Gilboa. I promise it's lovely when no one's shooting at you."

[ouroborosdance]

"I'd really love to see it--I'm filming right now back in London, but once we've got that wrapped, I'm planning a vacation to the country. Not quite comparable, but suitable to quench some wanderlust." She'd like to ask, to see if he wants to talk about it, but she knows the Nexus isn't all that secure. So she lets it go while straightening up in her seat, figuring they're both clever enough to talk in code, if it comes to that.