[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[st_igmatized]

It was a musical day at the Madonna Inn, both inside and out. Curnen had taken her usual place up on the roof and was singing charms to the sky to keep any wanderers from getting lost (though that part of it was not immediately obvious). Unrelated to that, Sunny was on the dance floor in the bar, summoning songs of her own with her knife to keep her moving before she went to do her shift at the library later. It was one of those days where if she thought about it too hard she’d start thinking about that empty bed in her shitty room and the person she most wanted to be there.

This of course eventually seeped into her magic. She knew better. Maybe she’d even wanted that to happen.

Because just once, between different pop hits and dance beats came a rather unexpected French love song. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but the exasperation didn’t last. Before the lyrics started up she was waltzing. By herself and not caring how it might have looked. And for those three and a half minutes, she dared let herself hope for the slimmest chance that Orlu might come through that door.

She didn’t let herself hope too hard, though. There was admitting to feeling things and there was setting yourself up for certain disappointment. She’d lived too long with disappointment to do that to herself.

Comments

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_ripetail]

"You got no fuckin' clue." Most people didn't, somehow, apparently. Even if they were surprised when he talked, they never thought about how that happened.

Which was fine. Rocket didn't want to think about it either. The cannon was a much better topic, even if it was in a lot of ways just a different kind of bad. (Fortunately, he'd drunk enough that the sharp edges of those memories were blunted enough to be almost pleasant.) "Yeah, it is. It's custom. Low recoil, lots of options. Not a sniper rifle or nothin', but I kinda like to be more personal than that anyway."

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_illfleshandblood]

And Jackson appreciated that. He didn't think he'd give up his Colt for it, and he of course would take a sniper's rifle over that monster any day, but he could still appreciate something of that much obvious power. "Bit hefty to carry around, day in, day out, though," he remarked, but it didn't sound like an actual criticism, more like just a statement.

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_ripetail]

"Nah, I'm used to it." And it didn't hurt that he was stronger than he looked and the cannon was lighter than it looked. He still wasn't completely sure how Lylla had managed that, but he also hadn't really tried to solve that mystery. "Plus, it bein' heft is part'a the reason I carry it. People think they wanna start shit, maybe they think twice and decide they don't need that many new holes."

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Or one last gigantic hole," Jackson completed for him. He wasn't sure what exactly the gun shot; it looked too foreign for him to figure it out without a closer look.

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_ripetail]

"Oh, yeah. One big one is good if you aim for the head an' there's a nice big audience for the object lesson." Sometimes he still fired more than once, but mostly it was that first shot that did the trick.

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_illfleshandblood]

"How about a demonstration some day?" Jackson asked. "Not on people. Trees, maybe?"

Though part of him did wonder if the hotel staff would reset the way the rooms did.

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_ripetail]

"Yeah, sure. I'll need to shoot somethin' sooner or later." To bleed off aggression, if nothing else. Rocket had already decided it'd be best if he didn't kill or permanently maim anyone in the Inn because there wasn't a good escape plan for after. But he wasn't built for being peaceful, so. "Trees an' rocks'll do."

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson nodded with an appreciative smile. "And in the meantime, what do I call you?" Because, apparently, it wasn't 'raccoon'.

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_ripetail]

"The name's Rocket." At its most technical, it was an alias. But it was the name he wanted, so who gave a shit? "You?"

Re: Rocket and Jackson

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Jackson," he replied, not bothering with the rank. It didn't feel like Rocket was the sort of - creature - to give a damn about ranks, and frankly, they meant nothing here. "Nice to meet you, Rocket," Jackson added, toasting him with a raise of his glass before knocking it back.

Rocket. Nice name for him, considering that cannon there.