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]

"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.

[suitably_heroic]

"It's a toll," Jack said. "Can't enter this part of Manhattan during the busy hours without paying it."

And on to the path along the East River.

[unusual_sith]

"So it reduces the traffic and raises money for the city," Lana noted. "Sounds smart, but I imagine there are strenuous objections."

[suitably_heroic]

"Some people are definitely upset," Jack agreed, and he leaned against the railing. "The rest of us think they need to shut the fuck up and enjoy the clean air."

Someone had definitely been living here for too long.

[unusual_sith]

Lana laughed. "Do you tell them that to their faces?"

She would love to see that.

[suitably_heroic]

"Obviously," Jack said, looking out over the East River. "They're wrong, and they deserve to be told so. Often."

[unusual_sith]

"So many people are," Lana said. "It's good to see you doing your part to better the world."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeaah, you know me," Jack said, "Always ready to spread love and joy to the world in my own special way."

He looked over at her. "So what's been going on with you?" he said. "Besides how you've been voluntarily going to the worst places on Earth."

[unusual_sith]

"Oh, but they're fun! Or at least amusing," Lana protested. "Also a lot of them have very good food. And the tourist traps are only half of it; we're also going to museums. Some of Earth's artwork is truly remarkable."

[suitably_heroic]

"I don't know how any being, let alone a Sith, could be born with the delusional levels of optimism you have about everything," Jack told her. "We should study you in a lab."

[unusual_sith]

"How is any of that delusional? Or optimistic, for that matter?" Lana asked. "It's just descriptive. If it helps, yes, I'm really not sure about the fried bologna, and Seattle had far too many coffee shops even for me. But the Vatican museums are something that really bears another visit or three, and while that one with all the beads wasn't exactly my taste, it was still creative."

[suitably_heroic]

"It's delusional because you think tourist traps are fun," Jack said, looking at her, amused. "That's not descriptive, that's your opinion."

[unusual_sith]

"If they weren't fun to plenty of people, they wouldn't be effective traps," Lana pointed out. "Tell me you'd pass up a castle full of meat and cheese. Didn't you have any fun stops on your tour?"

[suitably_heroic]

"No, because we're not insane people who go to tourist traps," Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Space. Every time you're here, I'm afraid you're going to drag me to Times Square. Or worse - make me see the Mets."

He'd always been very good at keeping a straight sarcastic face, except that habit had been failing him every now and again lately. Like right now, when he was clearly trying to swallow back a grin.

[unusual_sith]

Lana wasn't bothering to hide hers. "You know, I don't think I've been to Times Square before. That is a thing I should see, isn't it?"

[suitably_heroic]

"If you want to be Force-blind for the rest of your life, sure."

[unusual_sith]

"Because of the place itself, or is that a threat?" Lana asked, confused.

[suitably_heroic]

"Because of the place itself," Jack clarified. "It is the worst, loudest, most visually assaulting place I have ever been to in my life, and I lived on karking Nar Shaddaa."

[unusual_sith]

"It doesn't look that bad in pictures," Lana protested. "Seriously?" Not that she really doubted him, but it couldn't possibly be worse than Nar Shaddaa, could it?

[suitably_heroic]

"It is bad," Jack said, gesturing wordlessly towards their left, as he turned away from the railing and started walking along the water. "You have my word as a transplant New Yorker, I'm not lying."

[unusual_sith]

"Well, I can't possibly doubt you, then," Lana said gravely. "I'll do my best to avoid it."

[suitably_heroic]

"Thank you," Jack said. "I appreciate the confidence. Now we're gonna walk uptown for the next fifteen minutes until one of us decides what kind of food we want."

[unusual_sith]

"What are our options?" Lana asked. "Apart from pizza and Chinese."