milliways_bar | (no subject)

Jack sighs, not sure how the hell they got into this mess, or exactly where in the mess they are. He suspects it was somewhere around where Chris said "If you're going to be angry at anyone, be angry at me," then somehow got to "What the hell are you angry at me for?"

42 years old, married for 16 years, saved the world more than once, and he still doesn't understand the way women's minds work.

He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table and rubbing his forehead. "Can we start over?"

She sighs, "Fine. Where do you want to start?"

"Somewhere just after hello?" he says a little sacrcastically. He pauses a moment before adding, "Ramon's back in the bar."

"You saw him?"

"No, I spoke to Random, the man he's...seeing," he said, unable to find a better way to describe it. He sure as hell wasn't going to call him Ramon's boyfriend. "He confirmed that Ramon is back. I'm going to leave a note for the rest of security so they know he's back and to keep an eye on him."

"I see."

She's relieved that Ramon is no longer seeing the man who looked like Jack. That was just disturbing.

"The rest of security?"

He blinks for a second. "Oh shit, I keep forgetting to tell people. I've been accepted as a member of backup security," he says with a small, slightly sheepish smile.

She reaches out to touch his hand, smiling at him.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. I guess the fact I can't turn anyone into a frog didn't count against me."

She smiles wryly. "I'm sure you'll manage somehow without the magical powers."

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll find a way. Besides I'm only backup so I likely won't have to deal with situations too often. Though it does give me more ability to do something about Ramon." He smile gets a little wider. "I have some authority in here now. There's a scary thought."

"Only scary for those who try to start trouble," she says.

She's quiet for a moment.

"So, why are you so upset with Michelle?"

He rubs his forehead for a moment. "I don't know. Because she's a good friend of mine but she didn't say anything about the conversation you two had until a week later, though she knew I was going to be upset about it. I mean, yeah, I know she wasn't in the bar for part of that, but even after she got back she still didn't come to talk to me for a couple days even though she knew that I knew by then. And though I don't expect her to approve of everything I do, it still kind of hurts when a friend tells the person you're involved with that they should probably leave you."

Chris rests her head in her hand.

"I understand that but I think Michelle was just trying help. Not just me but you too."

"I don't know how she thought it would help. If she thought I'd be happier if we broke up, she's definitely mistaken."

"She didn't say but I got the impression she was worried about you getting hurt."

He sighs. "Because it wouldn't hurt if we broke up, especially as we're both stuck in the bar at the moment."

She's a little exasperated now.

"My point is she wasn't trying to hurt you. That's all."

"I know that," he says a little irritably, "but you don't have to be trying to hurt someone to do so." He takes a deep breath before continuing, his tone wry, "I've done it often enough to know."

"I wasn't sure if you did know."

Speaking of hurting, that comment does, quite a bit. He'd have to have been blind or completely unfeeling to not notice that sometimes his mouth got ahead of him and he said things that hurt the people he knew, when he hadn't meant it to.

"Yeah, I do, because as you once told me, I'm not a psychopath," he snaps.

It takes a few moments for this reply to register because Jack has completely misinterpreted what she said.

"What?!" She stares at him.

"God, Jack, I didn't mean that! I was saying I wasn't sure if you knew Michelle was trying to help!"

Chris sighs. "Are you just looking for hidden insults where there are none?"

He leans forward and puts his head in his hands for a moment, closing his eyes. He's really making a mess of this and part of him would just like to ask if they can talk about this another day because it's obvious that today is just not his day. But then there's no way she'd let him just run away at this point, and it'd only make her more pissed off at him.

"Yeah, I tend to do that when I get in an argument with someone. I'm sorry, I'm being an asshole," he says frankly, looking down at the table top and rubbing his forehead.

[OOC: Hey you should go check out the 24_ways post...Write and I were trying to figure out a date for the switch so we can post in the backroom and get this thing going.]

Her temper cools with his apology. She reaches out to touch his arm.

"It's all right."

[ooc: Looks like someone's else's day is off to as good a start as mine is. :-/ P.S.-*HEADDESK*]

He places his hand on hers, looking up at her. "I know now that she was just trying to help, but...I just don't see how she thought it would."