strangetrip | Yo-Yos

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Yo-Yos - OTA

Jack had been here for a few days now and had gone exploring. He did the usually 'there has to be a way out' though he believed people that there wasn't one that anyone knew about. Walking around in the forest and the desert was nice and familiar, too, so he did it enough to make it feel like he was simply Off-world. Which he was, technically. By the third day, Jack abandoned his gun and combat gear in his room unless he was going on a hike - he didn't need the weapons in the inn, he observed, though he was still in his basic military clothes because he refused to accept the pink at the boutique - no thank you.

Currently, however, he sitting in the cafe. On the table in front of him was a half eaten pumpkin pie slice, a half of a deli sub, and two untouched chocolate chip cookies and a coffee. He had a yo-yo and was currently trying to master the "around the world" trick while sitting and leaning back in the chair. It wasn't going terrible, but it wasn't going well either.

At least he was going to get really good at his yo-yo, right?

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Jane had picked up her order to go, she was on the way outside to eat it by the pool, since the weather wasn't as hot as it had been. However, movement out of the corner of her eye stopped her. He was new, but that wasn't what caught her attention, it was the round object with a string. She'd never seen one before - at least that she knew of.

"What's that?" The question popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Jack looked up as he was in mid pull of the yo-yo, trying to wind it back up for another go-around. "This?" He held up the blue plastic part. "Never seen a yo-yo, huh?" No judgement, but rather observation. "It's a toy. Kids were really into it when I was a kid." And now Jack was old.

He sat up a little and demonstrated a basic up/down motion with the yo-yo.

Jane watched it go up and down on the string, fascinated. In her dreams or memories that Molly pulled out, she'd not seen anything like it. She'd have to ask Thor if they had a yo yo in Asgard.

"I don't remember playing with anything as a child." Or an adult for that matter. "It looks like good hand/eye coordination."

He quirked a bit of an eyebrow at the phrase 'I don't remember playing with anything as a child,' but he thought about Merrin and her people before they met SG-1.

Jack sat up even more and then leaned forward, offering the toy to the woman. "What to have a go? It takes a minute to get used to it, but it's all in the wrist."

Jane took the toy and put her finger through the small loop of string that she had seen him take his finger out of. She looked at it for a minute and then turned her palm over facing downward and released it. Then, Jane snapped her hand up but the yo-yo stayed stubbornly at the end of the string rather than rolling up it as it had for Jack. It landed in her palm but the string was still long.

"I think I broke it."

"The nice thing about a yo-yo is they're basically impossible to break." He smiled as he stood up. He didn't remove the yo-yo from her finger, but he rewound the string for her. "The key is to flick your wrist when it's just about to hit the end of the string."

He stood back a little. "Go on, try again."

Jane tried it again, this time she flicked her wrist just before it got to the end of the string. Like predicted it came back up to her palm and this time the string wrapped around the yo-you. She smiled at Jack like she had accomplished some great feat, which in a way she had.

"It worked!"

"See? A natural." His smile was back. "Now you'll win the hearts of all the yo-yo people of the world... or, something." He made a vague hand gesture.

"You'd like I'd have learned this on my spare time, but I ended up learning how to make stuff from clay and juggle." And other things - when you looked for over three months, you had time to learn things.

Jane handed the yo-yo back to Jack. "Juggling, too? You're really good in keeping yourself busy with your free time. I'm not quite that creative though I have started playing bocce ball."

It was something that she liked to do since going to Europe.

"I had a lot of time on my hand recently." Too much, even. "But bocce ball you say? Tell me more. Are we any good?"

"We are." Jane admitted, then conceded, "but that's only compared to the people at the inn. In Italy, where I got the set, not so much. Do you play?"

"I've dabbled in the passed." He thought about his time in a few of the planets they had visited. "Learned from some Greek ancestors, actually. Practically from the source."

"Oh so you're saying you'd have an unfair advantage over me in the game?" She smirked, "I think I'd take that as a challenge."

"Challenge accepted." He lifted his chin a little as if to playfully appear more serious than he actually was.

"Just promise you won't go easy on me."

"You got a deal." Jane nodded solemnly but there was amusement clear in her body language. "I hate to lose." She had lost more than once, but she was competitive enough to keep getting better until winning happened more frequently..

"Excellent! Should we pick a time and place? I hear 'high noon' is a popular choice for a throw down." The smile on his lips was subtle.

"I'd say in the middle of the street outside the saloon or by the stables." Jane's lips twitched. Dean loved westerns, she knew high noon.

"Deal" he winked. "And if the weather's bad, how about the garden mid day?" Honestly it would just be nice to have company, really.

He'd have to look into the golf situation here.

"Deal." Jane agreed easily. "And I'll be generous and even pitch in paying for lunch when we're done." She was teasing of course, since everything was free.

"Great." He smiled. It would be nice to have something to keep him busy, really. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go get some practice in." He stood, eyes playful.

"Sounds like a plan." Jane paused a beat "I'm looking forward to the game and winning." She winked as she teased him.

"A positive attitude. I like it." He grinned, then nodded in a 'see you around' fashion. "Until then." Then Jack started to walk away.

On the side of the table that Jack is not sitting at, there is a black nose that is sniffing the air. It can barely be seen above the edge of the table, but it's there. As soon as he smells the half eaten pumpkin pie, the deli sub and untouched cookies, Dante pops his head up with his tongue hanging out, just about to swipe at a cookie.

"Dante! No!" Miguel yelled as he ran quickly to intercept his friend before he could steal a cookie.

Jack liked dogs. Jack liked kids. A dog and a kid? Basically, this was the best thing ever.

"He's right, Dante." He gave a serious-looking nod to the dog. "The cookie's not the smart play here." A pause, and then Jack held up a piece of salami. "The salami is."

He tossed the piece of deli meat towards the dog. Hopefully the boy wouldn't be too mad at him.

Dante gave a happy bark and ate the piece of salami in one bite. He barely swallowed before he gave Jack 'sad puppy face' so that he could have another slice.

Miguel stopped short with a look of surprise. Usually adults didn't feed Dante, it was other kids. He smiled wide enough to reveal his dimple and little bit of his chipped front tooth. "Dante says thanks."

"Ah, it's no big deal, Dante. You're saving me heart burn later." He tossed another slice of deli meat toward the dog. Then Jack help up one of the cookies and waggled it in Miguel's direction. "Care to help me finish my dessert?"

Miguel didn't even hesitate, he liked chocolate cookies. He reached out and took the cookie. "Thanks." He moved to stand closer. "I'm Miguel." Since Jack already knew Dante he didn't introduce him.

He looked at the yo-yo. something else he hadn't seen an adult do except when his papa taught him how to use one. Miguel motioned toward the toy, "can you do lots of tricks with it?"

"Jack." He picked up the second one and lifted it up like he was saying 'cheers' before taking a bite. Probably somewhere Janet was groaning at his food choices. He was technically off-duty, right?

"I can do exactly one and a half tricks."

"Half? How do you know a half a trick?" Miguel was asking because he was curious how that worked.

With a grin, Jack attempted the 'around the world' trick again and it made it about halfway around the world before he had to flick it back up again otherwise it would have failed completely.

"Oh, that's how you have a half. I can't do that one either." But he could do the Cat's Cradle trick. Though it had taken him a very long time and some frustration before he could get it.

He slid the yo-yo off his finger and held out the plastic toy to Miguel. "Care to show me your moves, Miguel?"

"Sure!" Miguel said eagerly and Dante gave a sharp bark of encouragement. It had been a while since he'd done the trick but he had to think of his baby sister. He'd have to teach her one day.

"Um the only trick I know is Cat's in the Cradle." Though he didn't know why it was called that instead of baby but that was the name his papa told him.

Miguel put his finger through the loop in the string and let the yo-yo drop enough that he could grab down the length and bring it up to form a triangle. The yo-yo paused in the middle of the triangle and 'rocked' back and forth a couple of times. Just when he was feeling good about it, Miguel tried to bring the yo-yo back to the palm of his hand with a snap of his wrist but the toy didn't cooperate. Instead it smacked him in the chin and then dropped into his hand. He laughed. "At least I didn't chip my tooth this time."

That might have been how he'd got the chipped tooth that he did have.

He winced a little when it hit the kid in the face. "You took it like a champ. Seasoned professional, even." And he actually was pretty impressed by that. "I know at least three marines who would have sworn and one who would have cried if that happened to them." Maybe not the crying, but the swearing for sure.

Miguel chuckled at that, "My abuelita would have washed my mouth out with soap if she'd caught me swearing." He was as scared of his grandmother as much as he loved her .... which was a lot. Even though she wasn't there, he KNEW that she'd find out if he ever swore.

Jack nodded solemnly. "A wise choice. Soap can be a terrible enemy." He had, at least once when growing up, tasted soap, if he remembered correctly. "I'll try not to get you into trouble with your abuelita. They know things that happen, even in alternate realities."

Miguel laughed. He liked him, he was funny and nice. "Gracias. I write her letters sometimes, so she'll know what I've been doing, but I think she might already know. At least the important stuff like my music."

"You play music?" This was something Jack was not skilled in. The last time he sang, for example, was when he had an alien computer program stuck in his head.

"I bet you're pretty good too, huh?"

Miguel puffed up a little with pride at the compliment. "I'm not as good as I want to be." He admitted but it wasn't false pride. He was still learning. "I taught myself to play on a guitar I made."

"Teaching yourself something is something to be proud of." Which was true. "I know an entire race of people who didn't even understand the concept of old fashion learning." Until Jack sort of 'ruined' it by teaching Merrin how to be a kid. "One day you'll have to let me here you play - I bet it's great."

Miguel perked up as he always did when someone wanted to hear him play. It was still new and exciting to be able to play when and where he wanted.

"I can play for you anytime you want." Then he added, "I'm usually playing a guitar in the lobby most mornings. That's when I practice." He practiced with Scanlon's instruments in the evening in his room. Miguel still wasn't ready to share his special time with anyone other than Curnen or Vax. The two people that knew Miguel the best and Scanlan the best.

"Be sure to have a hat out and I'll tip well" Jack was aware that money meant nothing here, but he felt it was the thought that counted.

"What sort of songs do you play?"

"Really? You'd pay to hear me play?" That was amazing. "Not that you have to but it's cool that you would!" Miguel flushed a little with pride. "And I play mostly Mariachi type of music but with guitar only, not the trumpet or violin."

"Of course I would!" He meant it, too. "I look forward to it, Miguel." His eyes moved to Dante. "And I'll be sure to bring you some food too, don't worry."

Dante gave a bark of appreciation. He would have licked Jack for good measure, but his attention was still on the uneaten food on the table. Priorities.

Miguel slipped his fingers over Dante's head to steer his attention away from the food and onto Jack. "That's enough, Dante." He shook his head with a smile. "I even just fed him before we came down here. Thanks, for sharing your food with us... and your yo-yo." His smile grew wider when he added, "and I'll play a special song for you next time I play!"

"I look forward to it." Jack smiled and he meant it. He'd love to hear what the kid could do.

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Yo-Yos - OTA

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