[[open] Said the more I sing this song, the more I feel your love is breaking me

[arrowinmyheel]

Sonny is in the alley beside the Crowbar. It's late in the evening. He is wrestling a small, spiky object into a box while simultaneously drinking from a bottle of whiskey. He would do this inside but the thing has a tendency to drop its spikes, and it gets to be a real pain in the ass to sweep. The Crowbar is approaching a certain two year

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[askthemoon]

Remus can't sleep; he's been on edge at night since he arrived, having skipped three-quarters of the moon's cycle. He's trying not to let it get under his skin. There's only three days left, and then he can get back on track.

He expects the cafeteria to be empty, when he enters it -- it had been when he came, not much later than this, last night. He doesn't recognize the woman sitting there, and she looks busy enough with her own thoughts, so he prepares to go about fixing his own tea without bothering her, simply nodding and smiling in her direction if she looks at him.

[smithnjones]

Martha looks up from her drink when someone enters. It isn't as though she recognizes him, of course. Remus is much older in the movies than this fellow after all. She has a slow drink of the Irish coffee and then smiles back at him. It's a point of hers to meet everyone in the Tower at some point as she is in charge.

"Hello there," she says easily, drink in hand still. "Having trouble sleeping too? Insomnia seems to be rather common in Chicago. Can't say that it's surprising in the least."

[askthemoon]

"I haven't been here long, but I must say I'll be surprised if anything is truly uncommon in this place." He shakes his head, still not entirely used to the oddity of having found himself in this place, and realizes he still hasn't answered her question. "Yes, I was."

He glances over before he steps into the kitchen. "Can I get you anything?"

[smithnjones]

"That's a rather accurate way to think about this place," Martha admits with only a slight frown, and she nods at the answer. If he's new to this place, it certainly makes sense that he'd have trouble sleeping. "If it ever gets too bad for you, I've got... things that can help you get sleep. In emergency cases." Addiction possibilities are high.

She shakes her head. "No, thank you for asking. I've got an Irish Coffee. Caffeine's a rubbish thing to have at this time of night, but it's my comfort drink. Always has been. So you're a new wanderer then? Assuming that's what you mean by being new to this place."

He could also be an angel or demon who moved to Chicago, but not many people move to Chicago anymore, well aware of its problems.

ugh :|

[lefttogive]

John wasn't here for the first and last anniversary. He wasn't here and he was in a basement instead, ropes bound at his wrists. He couldn't tell what date it was, had no idea it was the anniversary he'd been dreading. It came and gone without him having any sort of idea.

He leans against the brick wall at the end of the alley, watching Sonny as he struggles with the spiked object.

There isn't much curiosity as to what the object is. He's more interested in Sonny being okay, but hell if he knows how to navigate those waters anymore.

He's been gone too long. "Need some help there?"

egh :|

[arrowinmyheel]

John wasn't here for the last one, which is what made it more difficult. The Crowbar had lost all of those people, and John's fate was up in the air. They didn't know if he was alive or dead, but they were certain as fuck that he wasn't well, that he was going through hell wherever he was.

It makes a difference to have him here now. The difference makes it easier to deal with the impending day.

Sonny is wearing gloves, but he shakes his head at the question, finally managing to slam the damn thing into the box and shutting it behind the lid. "Don't know if it'll hold it or not but..."

He glances at John, with concern of his own. "You want a drink?" Yes, straight from the bottle, John.

lmfao :x

[lefttogive]

John pulls himself from off the wall once the box is shut. His stomach is tied up into knots and he hasn't been able to step foot into the Crowbar all day. He recognizes the feeling of displacement is ridiculous. This is his family. The Crowbar is his home.

He has no reason to feel out of place in it.

Except it's been a year. He wasn't there to help them move past their grief. He wasn't there to deal with his own.

There was a ghost in his stead and he's not sure how to reconcile with that, at the same time he tries not to. It isn't just about him, in the end. His last concern is himself. "I could go for one," he says, taking steps toward him. "Mind if we drink 'em out back? Could use the fresh air."

rjkel;a :x /dies lol we're funny

[arrowinmyheel]

Sonny can almost recognize what his brother is feeling in the way that he stands, in how he hasn't been around all day. He is relieved to see him again. There's always a part of him that will worry when he hasn't seen his brother for a day, for enough hours.

It's ridiculous, irrational, and paranoid, but he can't help it. He gets worried that the last time he saw him will be the last time he ever sees him.

There's so much shit that can go wrong, and John wen through hell. He went through hell.

"Don't mind at all," Sonny says as he lifts up the whiskey bottle beside him and starts toward the back with the thing in the box still under his other arm. "It's cold out but it's not easy being inside these days."

Not for any of them, but it's a comment more on John's absence, an are you okay without actually asking the question in case he doesn't want to answer it.

-_____-

[uponthewires]

Anne finds him a while later, having no idea what has transpired between him and his father. Not needing to because she gets one look at him and knows something isn't just wrong.

Something is really, really wrong.

She sits beside him noiselessly, fingers playing with the charm bracelet he gave her for Christmas. She bites on her lip, the strength of her worry making her sick to her stomach.

"David?" she asks softly. "You--I don't want to state the obvious...right now."

._. <3 :D?

[blazetodefine]

David almost jumps when she's there. He is in one of those places again where he gets so lost in his head, thinking through every worst scenario that he forgets to pay attention to his surrounding.

He looks at her and simultaneously feels relief and sickness in his stomach.

David glances down at what she says about stating the obvious. It almost makes him smile. It would make him smile more if he wasn't... so afraid for her.

"My dad finally... made it," he finally says with a weak smile that's almost bitter, almost apologetic.

xDDD :> <3

[uponthewires]

She sucks in a breath and feels that punch, right in the gut. It feels like so long ago she stood in his living room, failing to understand what was happening when he talked about his father maybe coming.

It was a possibility.

Now it's real. Anne places a hand over her stomach as it sinks in.

And then she's moving closer, placing a hand around his shoulders, keeping him tight.

"What did he say?" she asks, not even thinking of what it means in terms of her. She's only worried about him and what his father did to him.

[blazetodefine]

It was so long ago that David had put it behind him. He had assumed that his father had gotten caught up in some other adventure, some other war as it's never really adventure for his father. It's too militaristic to be thought of as an adventure for his father.

It's fighting, battling because that's what he's 'meant to do'.

David rests his hand over the hand of hers that goes over her stomach, and he slips his fingers into hers, locking their hands together. She may not be worried about what it means for her but he is.

He would never ask her to not spend as much time with him, because their time is so limited as it is, but... but he worries.

"The same thing... he always says. That I need to embrace being an angel. He tried to force me to look at people in the eyes walking on the street, and I... fought him," David says quietly, and his hand tightens its hold on hers. "He won and then I ran."

[silentmovielife]

Nick has been wandering around all day, just... thinking. He'd meant to go to the library, to do something, but he couldn't clear his head staring at books and he'd ended up on his feet. He's ended up back in Grant Park; it's not the first time since he arrived that he's been here, but it's been a couple of weeks now.

He's looking around as he walks, but not down, and he's distracted, and he doesn't notice the girl lying in his path until he trips over her, landing half on her legs.

...Which he will realize and fix in a moment, when he recovers from getting the breath knocked out of him by the fall.

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth makes a sound when he trips over her. She hadn't really been paying attention at all either, which is why she isn't able to warn him before he's tripping over her.

She looks over and blinks at the sight of him.

"Oh! I keep... making you trip. I should stop... wait, you can't hear me unless you're looking at me. That's a dumb move, Elizabeth. You might as well be talking to yourself. Which I kinda...am."

Long pause.

"...man, I'm glad you can't hear me right now. Not that I'm like YAY deafness but-- that came out wrong. This is all just very embarrassing right now."

[silentmovielife]

Nick is trying to get off of her without losing his balance and falling again, and he misses most of her speech. By the time he's sitting properly next to her, he manages to catch is all just very embarrassing right now, and with a silent laugh, he shakes his head. She's got no reason to be embarrassed; if anything, he should, he's the one tripping over her.

He pulls out his notebook and writes quickly, "Elizabeth, right? Hello again."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth is incredibly grateful that he misses most of her speech as it wasn't a very good one. It was... embarrassing as she'd already said, and she laughs too at the sight of him shaking his head.

She glances at the notebook and nods. "Yes, it's Elizabeth." Pause. Wave. "Hiii. I guess every time we run into each other once of us has to trip over the other. How are you? How has... settling into Chicago and stuff been?"

(unsure)

[willnotbemine]

Lena has been out and about all day. Distractions are very welcome around this time of year, and she has the suspicion it's probably best if she stays away from the Crowbar for a little.

In Chicago, one always stumbles on things to divert your attention. Like busking!

She lifts up a brow, not being able to mask her surprise and amusement to find Lucky singing and playing so openly. She sticks her hands into the pockets of her green coat. "Look at you. Are you taking requests?"

(so sure)

[theacheisleft]

Lucky looks up, and he frowns when he sees her. His hand reaches for the pen again as if he's forgotten something else that he has to write right now. It pauses him in the playing of the song, but he's quick to get back into it.

"I'm-- No," he says, and he shakes his head, making a very adorable, confused face. "I don't know why I'm... I just had this sudden... desire to write songs and sing. I can't really ignore it so this is--"

There's another pause.

"Did... you have a request?" Cause maybe he will be taking requests apparently. Ahem.

... (unsure)(unsure)

[willnotbemine]

Lena forces her face into a feigned serious expression at his frown. It turns into genuine confusion when he explains himself. She plops down on the bench beside him, picking up the notepad and skimming the page.

She bites her lip, almost apologetically. That is a very adorable, confused face, but considering what might have happened to him, she feels bad for being amused. Particularly since he's going to be playing for a good while if that's the case.

"You... didn't happen to bump into someone and immediately feel inspired, did you?" she asks gently. It's not the first time something like this has happened and Lucky doing so very publicly is kinda strange.

Grin! "Not really. The first thing that comes to mind for me! And go."

/DIES

[theacheisleft]

Lucky's fingers follow the strings of the guitar, and he doesn't recognize the song that he's singing which must means he's somehow making it up on the spot. It sounds pretty damn good for it being impromptu, but he has never been so inspired where he could do that before.

The question makes him pause, and he tries to think back on it. "...actually, now that I think about it, I did bump into someone and then I apologized and they apologized, and I got... my guitar and went out here." He strums out a melody then looks at her sideways. "...why?"

"For you? Like a song that reminds me of you?" Cause it would have to be a Beatles song, k?

And the song that he thinks of, he thinks most of the fact that he knows they're all going through loss right now. Lou warned him. Even if he hadn't, he can feel it in the air, and it's influences the song that he picks.