poly_chromatic | || eight ☯ accidental video / action

Entry tags:

torchwood - jack harkness

|| eight ☯ accidental video / action

[The feed opens to show Jack, obviously in a bar setting. But instead of his usual attempts to liven up the place, he's sitting in the farthest corner of the bar, the music blaring around him and both an empty glass of beer and a freshly filled one in front of him. He's very subdued for those who actually know how he is on most days. It's dimly lit so it's difficult to see, but his eyes are a little bit swollen, his cheeks a little damp. It's obvious he's not having a good day. And despite his attempts to hide away and wait it out, the City has a different plan as he doesn't know the video came on for all to see him in his melancholy.]

ooc: Jack's first curse in the City and I'm so cruel to him! Daddy Dearest curse, of course.

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[She'd hesitated before saying anything, but her Jack or not, she knew the signs well enough to know how much he was hurting.]

Jack?

You okay?

[Jack stirs at the sound of his voice, drawing a deep breath like he's suddenly resurfaced from an ocean of thoughts. First he looks around the bar where he's seated, then down to his device, where yep, there's Mercy.

He forces a small smile.] Mercy Thompson. I'm just... fine, you know? Enjoying some alone time. [Alone time with the family, you know. The family who's been dead for thousands of years according to Jack.] How are you?

[Gwen can see it on his face, but she's almost at a loss. Does she go to him, or let him have his space?]

... you're too pretty a person to look so glum, Jack.

[He's caught on to the fact that the City decided his uncharacteristically down mood was good fodder for a spectator sport. And he isn't happy about it, which just piles more bad on top of the bad. But when he hears Gwen's voice and sees her in the video, he tries to smile anyway. It doesn't work all that well, a sad attempt at a smile.]

It's in the genes. I was really lucky my parents were so good looking.

[For a moment, she reaches up with what looks like a slightly shaky finger to trace along the false smile, but it drops away as quickly as it appears.]

They must've been stunning.

[ooc: She's seeing her own dad as well, and since she's still pretty fresh from 'killing' him, she's a bit off herself.]

They were.

[Jack looks beside him at nothing that anyone else can see and then back to the video. He grows quiet for a moment, draws in a deep breath and shakes his head, as if trying to get something out or get past something.] I think I'm cursed. How do we stop it?

[Mercy shrugged, but there was concern and empathy in her face and voice.]

Hanging in. Just saw...

You looked a little...

[How to say what she wanted, but both spare his feelings and prevent him from shutting her down with some glib answer?]

...Cursed, I guess.

They can be rough.

There's not much we can do. Wait until midnight. Distract each other. Might work.

... Jack?

[His name gets his attention away from the invisible trial and jury sitting next to him at the table. He picks up the video, a corner of his lips twitching just barely into a smile that disappears too quickly when he sees Ivan.]

Ivan Raikov, as I live and breathe. Don't you look nice. [Jack's normal flirtation, minus the spark it usually has. Just words. Words that he might genuinely mean but has no energy to put behind them to back them up.]

You too? [Of course, now that he realizes that she's cursed as well, he's more concerned about her than the image of his father sitting next to him asking him where Gray is, asking him why he's done the things he's done. That little angel on his shoulder that seems to be very disappointed in him. It's really not fair, Jack's life choices out of context.]

Care to join me in a drink, Gwen? I'm at that dive bar close to the Underground.

[He's very much relieved for the concern and empathy right now. Conversations with Mercy have always been hit or miss as far as her mood. He understands why now, of course. But at the moment, he wouldn't have known how to deal with her upset, however justified it may be. Of course, he isn't much better at dealing with people worrying about him, but it is easier in some ways... especially today. He offers her a grateful look, a thankful nod and he purses his lips and takes in a deep breath. Maybe if she's having a good day he can let his guard down just a tiny smidgen.]

Yeah, I'm guessing that's what this is... seeing people long gone. Rough is an excellent way to describe it. You're not seeing dead people too, are you?

[Oh, that look just kills him. Poor, poor Jack.]

You look like you could use some company, perhaps? I've been rather lonely since Yevgeny left myself...

[He starts to decline, loathe for anyone he doesn't know all that intimately to see him like this. But then, maybe Ivan seeing him not at his best isn't so bad. There's no standard to live up to that way. And maybe the distraction of a handsome man would be nice. Good, even.]

I would love your company. This little bar is... packed enough to get lost in. It's a dive by the entrance to the Underground. Do you know it?

[Everyone needs Raikov. He's just that kind of guy!]

I'm afraid I don't but I'm sure I can find it.

When you come in, I'm in the far right corner. It's darkest over here.

[Jack definitely needs a Raikov right now. They can flatter and flirt each other into things being semi okay.]

I'll be there soon.

[Shall we action?]

[Yes! When Raikov gets there, he'll have to walk through the throngs of people dancing and milling about. But Jack is where he said he was, in the far corner of the bar waiting on him. He has another new drink in front of him that he's just taken a sip of.

When Jack sees him, he doesn't smile as he normally would, but he does stand up to greet him until he's seated.] The in person is always better than a video. What'll you have?

Edited 2012-06-17 21:39 (UTC)

[There's the ghost of a smile on her lips, but it's a wry, humorless one. It doesn't suit her at all.]

If I start, I might not stop until you have to carry me back to the TARDIS.

I could bring a bottle or two of something to us in the TARDIS. And then we could... distract each other.

[He wouldn't normally be so forward with Gwen, given her marital status, but he's having a very bad day. Crossing those lines he usually tries so very hard not to cross seems like the best life decision.]

You're already distracting enough.

[As much as she's trying to divert him, there's no real challenge or heat in her comment. Right then, more than anything, she wants what he's offering. It could be solace, or company in dark times, but there's no way she can deny that such a distraction is something she's always wanted.]

Here or there, Jack?

[He's thought about it far too often too. And with how vivid his imagination can be, it's as well as already been done in Jack's mind. But to distract himself with the real Gwen, well...]

It depends on how distracted you want to get. Do you want to be completely distracted or only semi distracted?

I could ask you the same question.

[The real Gwen is always better. Always.]

[Rose sees the video and immediately starts looking for him. Rose has been here long enough, she recognizes the bar. It's not long before she slides onto the stool next to Jack.]

Livin' in the TARDIS with the lot of us gettin' to you?

[She knows that's not it and it's said in a teasing sort of voice.]

[She nodded.]

I'm sorry.

]She knew a little about his past, enough to understand how hard this must be. Not that she was going to tell him she knew anything about it.]

No dead people for me, though I can see ghosts ordinarily anyway. But in this case, from what I can tell, it seems to mostly be fathers and I never knew mine.

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|| eight ☯ accidental video / action

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