(no subject)

[trigger_man]

[OOM: Lexington, KY; Sept. 2014.  Building up, not tearing down.]

The door opens, and as Jack walks in he stops in his tracks, blinking for a second.

It's been months since he's been in the bar, and in true Milliways fashion, when he'd opened the door to a 7-11, the bar was the last thing he'd expected to see.  Not that it's unwelcome; far from it.  He can feel the weight of his keys in his pocket, the key to his room still on his keychain.  He'd taken to putting his hand in his pocket and running his thumb over its edges, whether to remind him of the realness of the place or to try and make the door appear, he can't be sure.  As weird as the bar can be, it's probably the closest thing he has to a home at the moment, though that's not a thought he'd like to examine very closely at the moment.

Closing the door behind him, he walks over to the bar, pulling his tool belt off and gently placing it on top of Bar as he slides onto a stool.

"Hi, Bar.  Can I get a coffee, please?"

[ooc: Finally, Jack's back in the bar!  Open until his next post.]

Comments

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve, a few stools down the bar, looks up from his own cup with a friendly smile.

"Hello. Straight from work, are you?"

[trigger_man]

Jack gives Steve a slight, wry smile. "What was your first clue?"

He extends his hand. "Jack Bauer."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve shakes his hand. "Steve Rogers.

"Lucky guess. You could be doing home renovation."

[trigger_man]

"More like building one," Jack says, picking up his coffee. "Been coming in here long?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"A little over a year and a half, my time. I understand it's a bit less in bar-time."

[trigger_man]

"Yeah, the bar tends to do that. I've been coming in here for at least a couple years in bar time, about a year and a half back in my world. It gets difficult to figure out when you're in here for a length of time."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Doesn't time stop for you at home, while you're here?"

[one_man_army]

As the saying goes: where there's smoke, there's fire.

In this case, when the door opens, the faint smell of smoke drifts through the dark before a patron who also hasn't been here for months steps across the threshold. Carl blinks to allow his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the unexpected bar - his tent hasn't led him here for almost eight months, his time, and he'd just stepped in to grab a sweatshit to fend off the campfire-side chill in the African air.

Smiling, he heads for the bar instead.

Over Jack's shoulder:

"You better dose it up with at least six sugars, love," he tells bar. "Otherwise this pansy here won't be able t'drink it."

[trigger_man]

Jack smiles slightly at the voice behind him, but doesn't look up. "Bar, a chamomile tea for my friend. I know anything stronger than that and you get jittery."

[one_man_army]

"And don't forget a proper service tray t'go with," he adds. "Can't imagine tea without me bloody crumpets."

If this were years ago, he'd smack Jack on the back of the head, or something similar. But it isn't, and he simply puts a hand on his friend's shoulder and gives a gentle squeeze, before sliding onto the barstool beside him.

"You look tan," Carl says, as if this is something new.

[trigger_man]

"That tends to happen when you're working outside during the summer. You're not exactly your usual pasty self either," Jack says, moving his tool belt to give Carl some space and turning toward him.

[one_man_army]

"Africa has done wonders for my complexion," he mutters cheerfully, accepting the mug of tea (not chamomile, for the record) that bar presents. "We've been working in a new area of the country lately and the facilities aren't as well-developed as the last camp. What've you been up to?"

Construction, by the looks of that belt, but he would rather hear it from Jack himself.

[trigger_man]

"A few different things, depending on where I've been. House construction at the moment."

There's a pause before he adds, "Volunteer work." He sips his coffee, his focus on the mug rather than Carl.

[sky_child]

Coffee, huh? The kid in the floppy green cap who's currently passed out at the bar looks like he could use some--

Wait, what's that in his cup? Is that...is that coffee?

Nevermind this kid is beyond redemption.

[trigger_man]

Jack's eyes keep flicking over to what looks like a kid, slumped against the bar. The bar might not be the best place to sleep, and actually Jack isn't sure just how the kid can sleep down here considering all the noise.

After a couple minutes, the kid still hasn't moved a muscle so Jack reaches out and gently taps him on the shoulder.

[sky_child]

The kid shifts a little, mumbling. Something about pumpkins?

[trigger_man]

Jack gives him another nudge.

"Come on, kid. The bar probably isn't the best place to sleep."

[sky_child]

"Mmmn..."

The kid very slowly pushes himself up, giving the bar a groggy look-over.

And also the man beside him.

"Um. Did I fall asleep?"

[trigger_man]

"Looks like it. I figured you might want a wake-up call before you got too much of a crick in your neck," Jack says. "Do you have a room here?"

[craftylildoodlepumpkin]

Juliet hasn't seen Jack in an age or two. She's had some very good news recently, which has amped up her politeness and deference up to an new, intense level.

She nudges her cup in his direction. "I haven't touched it, and it looks like you need it more than me."

[trigger_man]

It's been an age or two since Jack was in the bar, and while he knows Juliet, there's still a second's hesitation before he accepts the coffee.

"Thanks," he says, taking a slightly tentative sip. "Juliet, right? How have you been?"

[craftylildoodlepumpkin]

Juliet doesn't blame him for hesitating. It's a strange little world they're in.

"I'm all right. Winding down from the last case." She eyes the toolbelt. "And I guess you're in the middle of one?"

[trigger_man]

"A job, yeah. House building, in Kentucky," he says, taking another sip of the coffee. "What was your case?"

[ooc: Huh. I can't find the thread where Jack and Juliet met. Was looking as holy hell do I ever need to make a master post for my reference in just what Jack has told others about himself.]

[craftylildoodlepumpkin]

She raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know you worked with your hands." She leans against her free hand, fixed her hair with the other. "My boyfriend's best friend fell in with a cult and we had to break him out." Juliet manages to smoothly leave out the part where she let Shawn embed himself into the cult.

[OOC: They met at least once! I think they met at the shooting range at one point?]

[trigger_man]

"You could say I've worked with my hands in one way or another for a while now," Jack says with a wry, mirthless smile.

"Sounds like that would be pretty tricky."

[ooc: they did! I found the thread a while ago. Would have helped if I'd tagged it in the first place *facepalm*]