milliways_bar | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Jack's down in the bar, sitting at a booth with a cup of coffee to hand. He doesn't seem to be drinking it much, though; instead he's staring at the Observation window, his face blank. Nor does he seem to notice much of what else is going on in the bar.

Try not to startle him too badly.

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"Yeah, it was also the one cursing people for the past week or so."

Her focus sharpens abruptly.

"I see."

"So yeah, rough night," he says, flatly.

"Sounds like it." She leans against the booth. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Not really. Not now. What have you been up to?" he asks, trying to move the conversation to something else.

"Taking care of one of the people who got cursed. I assume it's the same set of curses, anyway."

Her eyes darken a little. "So if you helped stop that, thank you."

"Probably. I don't want to think that there might be more than one person cursing people in the bar," he says, though he can't feel anything near the same dread he usually would have at the thought.

"And you're welcome," he adds, after a moment. He forces a smile, hoping it passes muster.

"Me either."

She looks at him for a long moment, and says softly, "Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want me to just leave you alone for a while?"

"I..." Part of him wants to be alone, part of him doesn't, as long as people don't talk about that, don't ask him questions.

"I just can't talk about it right now, Nita," he says in an even, expressionless tone, pushing back the memories and the hurt at the same time.

"Okay."

She thinks she understands, at least a little. But she's still going to worry.

"So any plans for Thanksgiving? That's coming up in here, right?"

"Yeah, not that far away, actually. I don't think anyone's mentioned doing anything special, other than dinner. You're invited of course, if you're here."

She smiles slightly. "I'll try and be here. I would hate to miss it."

"Yeah. It'll probably be the biggest Thanksgiving dinner I've ever been to."

"It'll be interesting to see what kind of feast Bar provides."

"Yeah, especially considering all the different worlds people come from. They might not celebrate Thanksgiving exactly, but then thre are probably a number of similar celebrations."

She nods. "It's amazing how much is the same, all over the Universe."

He nods. "Human nature I guess."

She smiles. "Or Rirhait, or feline, or Alaalid. . ."

"Those would be some of your friends, then?" He is interested, though it may not sound much like it from his tone.

She nods. "Most of them actually spend more time than the average human giving thanks."

"Well that's why we make such a big deal about that one day. Have to get it out of our system somehow."

"Yeah.

"Or maybe sometimes it's just an excuse to stuff ourselves silly."

"Yeah. Or to remind us why we don't see certain family members except at holidays."

She winces, theatrically.

"Yeah."

"But then at least everyone has some crazy relatives. The holiday would be boring if everyone got along."

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