milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

For the first time in a while there's a Michelle in the bar. She's got her laptop open and is looking for ideas.

Be careful, you might just wind up in her article.

But anyway, she's also got chips and salsa and is willing to share.

"Yeah. I don't know if you know Chris headed home for a while. And Elaine...well she's not handling it well, but that's to be expected."

"No, I didn't hear that but I did see Elaine earlier." She closes her laptop to look at him, "Did Chris say when she'd be back?"

He shrugs. "Kind of hard for her to say, considering it's more the bar's decision than hers. She just said she would be."

"At least things turn out okay for her," she says after a moment. "I know she was worried when she came in."

"Yeah, at least this way she knows that things won't exactly get worse from the time she left. Or at least the threats are taken care of."

"Hopefully the bar allows her back in before too much time passes." She gives him a searching look. "You sure you're alright?"

He glances away from that look. Michelle's lucky; tonight he's too tired to keep the mask firmly in place for too long, and the facade is starting to slip a little.

"I'm just tired. A lot's been going on recently."

"You're still not sleeping?"

He gives her a wry look. "Do I ever?"

"I thought you did sometimes."

"Well I do sleep. It just varies how much and for how long at one stretch."

"And how much and how long have you been sleeping lately?"

He sighs, knowing she's just going to hammer away until he tells her. "About five hours a night. A little less, maybe. And I usually wake up a couple times during the night."

"You're waking up a couple of times? Jack...that's not good."

He sighs. "Michelle, I think the last time I got more than eight hours of unbrokwn sleep was when I got back here after April 25th."

"You were sleeping okay back in DC?"

"Sleeping better. Not sure you'd call it 'okay'."

"Are you still tired when you wake up?"

"Depends." Depends on how I wake up. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no."

"Look, Jack, I'm not an expert but it kind of sounds like you might...need to talk to someone."

She inwardly winces.

He sighs. He'd figured the conversation was leading there. "I have, a bit."

Yeah, well, he asked for this, really.

"You and Tony are both really good at getting a little help."

"Well part of it is out of my hands, Michelle," he snaps, "It's not like this guy is on call just for me. And I'm not just going to tell someone everything right off the bat."

"Of course not, that would mean actually confronting what's bothering you."

Sometimes, she wishes her friends were less guarded.

Jack glaaaaares. "I think I missed the part where you got a degree in psychology."