New York City, Thursday

[suitably_heroic]

Sometimes mornings were nice. Time spent in the music room, after people had woken up, but before he needed to be anywhere. Jack let his fingers move over the keys, his ear fied on the sound of Dane's chords flowing from the phone recording - Em, G, Cmaj7, D... "Why do we always crave absolution? Why can't we put these ghosts to rest? Why won't we tell the dead to leave us alone? Why let the ghosts follow us home, to let our blood and leave us to roam? The dead should leave us alone--"

"I like the triplets and the duplets," Dane commented quietly from the doorway. "Very cute."

Jack let out a sigh as he looked up and away from the piano. "Well, we aren't all fancy assholes with pretty pieces of paper that say we're qualified to make music good."

"It is a nice thing to have." Dane lifted his cup of coffee with a small smile. "I like it, though. It's getting better."

There was still a quiet exhaustion in his face, and Jack knew it wasn't physical - Dane had slept just fine last night. He put the sheets with the notes down and rose from his seat. "Thanks," he said. "How are you holding up?"

One of Dane's shoulders slid up in a helpless shrug. "I'm okay--" he started. "Okay, no, that's bullshit. I'm sorry. I'm, I don't know. Stuck in some bad memories. I guess. It'll be fine."

Jack took a moment to roll his wrist, fiddling with the straps of his glove. Then he took a few steps, getting in closer, seeing the truth of that reflected in Dane's eyes. "Look, I know you're probably not eager to hear my Jedi zen therapy bullshit," he said. "But try and find a moment to sit with it for a while today, okay? Grab a break or something. Listen to the dulcet tones of cabs racing past, I don't know."

"Aye aye, Zen master," Dane said, a wry smile tugging on his mouth.

"And if you want, I can call the band, cancel our performance at the protest this weekend," Jack added casually. "Give you some time."

"And deprive you of a chance to yell 'fuck the system' in public?" Dane sipped his coffee. "I'm not that much of a monster."

Jack shook his head. He brushed a kiss against Dane's cheek before he passed him by. "Just think about it," he said.

"You tell Lana I said hi," Dane called over his shoulder.

"She agrees with me about the zen shit!" Jack called back.

He grabbed a thermos of coffee on his way out, shoving half a sandwich in his mouth. Lana was probably not going to be outside at 10 AM on the dot, right? He would be that lucky?

[[ for her ]]

Comments

[unusual_sith]

Lana shrugged as she followed him. "It was the most touristy thing I could think of. I don't think I've gotten any of those yet on my class trips."

[suitably_heroic]

"I think your class trips have tourist-poisoned your brain," Jack told her, as he headed back down to the entrance. "My suggestion? Just enjoy where you are."

[unusual_sith]

Lana laughed. "Duly noted, Master Jedi." She shook her head. "I'm perfectly happy to, honestly. You're the one who mentioned being a tourist."

[suitably_heroic]

"I meant like roaming around and looking at things and taking way too many pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge," Jack groaned. "Space, you're impossible."

He'd missed her.

[unusual_sith]

"How many pictures do I need of a bridge?" Lana asked. "Is it that interesting?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Some of the tourists seem to think so," Jack said. "But I live in a place called 'Two Bridges', so my ability to figure out if a bridge is interesting is shot."

[unusual_sith]

"You lived on Coruscant, too," Lana pointed out. "Isn't it all just bridges at this point?"

It was one of the few places she'd never actually been, but as tall as it was, it must have plenty of bridges.

[suitably_heroic]

Jack snorted. He pulled open the door. "Coruscant is a different story," he said. "Coruscant doesn't really do bridges as landmarks. Gotta have space for speeder traffic."

[unusual_sith]

"So, even more of a traffic nightmare than this place?" Lana guessed. She'd never had to deal with New York traffic, but she'd heard stories.

[suitably_heroic]

Jack shrugged. "What is Dromund Kaas traffic like?" he asked.

[unusual_sith]

Lana smiled wryly. "Very well regulated. In and around Kaas City, if it's not official business, it's mostly public transport, which fortunately is very good. Beyond that, there are a limited number of speeders and transports for rent, or you can walk. If you're very rich, you can have your own, but there are strict rules about them."

She shrugged. "Outside the city, it depends a lot on who's in charge of the local region. Some prioritize locals, some military, some don't even bother to maintain the roads."

To be fair, road maintenance involved a little bit of plasteel and an awful lot of gundarks.

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, no, Coruscant is chaos," Jack said. "There were weeks I thought traffic there might actually be more deadly than on Nar Shaddaa. Hutts have nothing on an anxious Besalisk trying to get to level 5,102 during rush hour, or a Senator late to a party halfway across the block you're on."

[unusual_sith]

Lana laughed. "I'm surprised the Senators haven't learned the fine art of avoiding parties by blaming transport. Unless their parties are much more interesting than Sith parties."

Which she somehow didn't see.

[suitably_heroic]

"I don't know. Do I look like the Jedi they sent off to go hobnobbing with Senators all the time?" Jack asked, as they set off towards the East River. "I mean, besides the one or two times Mical needed me to drink one under the table."

[unusual_sith]

"That sounds like a story," Lana observed.

[suitably_heroic]

"Mostly a depressing one," Jack admitted. "The last time, I'd been mostly sober for-- a long while. Worst hangover of my life. Some melodramatic Caritas patrons got so upset about it afterward, they called Sparkle in to pick me up."

[unusual_sith]

Lana made a face. "Damn, I was hoping for some hundreds-years-old gossip. Most of the Senators in my time are either dull or murderous. Thankfully more of the latter since we got rid of the previous Chancellor."

[suitably_heroic]

"Most of ours are just catty and conniving and useless, as far as I've been able to tell. Never fixed anything, but they sure could cash a paycheck," Jack said. They walked along the street, past more apartment buildings, a bridge looming not far away. He could see the river from here. "Most of the time, I got Mical to handle the actual diplomacy."

[unusual_sith]

"I foist it off on the Commander," Lana said cheerfully. "One of the perks of not being in charge. Mind you, he usually needs a lot of coaching, but still. Better than going myself."

[suitably_heroic]

Jack snorted. "Yeah, Mical's just better at it than me," he said. "He actually enjoys it, too, the freak."

[unusual_sith]

Lana made a face. "Well, I suppose someone has to. I think of our leadership, the only one who does is Nox, and I am not inflicting him on the Republic any more than necessary."

Someone might have a heart attack. Spontaneously or induced.

"Is that the very picturesque bridge?" she asked, nodding at the one in the distance.

[suitably_heroic]

"Brooklyn Bridge," Jack confirmed. "Not to be confused with Manhattan Bridge just a couple of blocks in that other direction."

[unusual_sith]

"This is a city that could benefit from antigrav vehicles," Lana observed. "Though given it's Earth, it would probably make the traffic worse."

[suitably_heroic]

Jack snorted. "Adding anti-grav would definitely just cause even more traffic," he said. "Now, congestion pricing, that's a karking miracle."

[unusual_sith]

"Congestion pricing?" Lana only vaguely remembered hearing the term.