[ it ought to feel almost comically mundane, the sight of elsa emerging from her car across the way — and yet, all the same, it steals the breath straight from jack’s lungs. the last rays of the setting sun catch delicately in the red-streaked strands of his hair, her shoulders rise and fall with the steady, gentle rhythm of her breathing and she is so gloriously, impossibly alive.
he’d been told as much and, in his experience, texting a dead woman is an incredibly difficult thing to manage without the help of a medium. even so, jack can’t help but beam as she nears, looking more like a man stepping out into sunlight after weeks spent in darkness than someone greeting an acquaintance, no matter what sort of life-threatening circumstances they’d forged a bond under.
god, but she’s a miracle — the first glimmer of hope he’s been granted in the twenty-odd years since his life had been torn from his grasp and thrown to the jaws of the wolf that maybe, just maybe, things could be different…
… and also probably not at all equipped for such a warm, earnest welcome, judging by the awkward edge of her tone as she greets him. ah.
too late to let it deter him now, though — and, really, jack doesn’t think he could, even if he wanted to. ]
Elsa!
[ he has sense and manners enough, at least, to hold himself back from anything further. there’s a part of him, small and buried so deeply that it might as well not exist, that yearns desperately to reach out, to solidify the reality of her presence with touch. but, he knows better — and, frankly speaking, he’s sure he’d deserve to lose whatever limb elsa deigned to remove, should he have tried.
he’s perfectly content to let her set the pace here. the fact that she still wants anything to do with him at all, that she still offers him a smile and her company after everything that transpired at her father’s funeral, is far more than jack could ever ask for. ]
Not dead and well-rested, as promised. [ he replies with a good-natured chuckle. schooling his expression into something perhaps a little less radiant proves to be a far more difficult challenge than expected, as does refraining from informing her exactly how good it feels to see her again. but, jack does his best. god knows the last thing he wants is to overwhelm her.
at elsa’s suggestion, he nods, stepping aside with a deferential gesture to allow her to take the lead. ] Please -- after you. [ as she passes, he casts a brief, wary glance around the surrounding street — but, if anyone nearby has given the two of them more than a cursory glance, they’re hiding it well.
near-instinctual caution mollified, he matches elsa’s stride as they near the restaurant, hands tucked easily in the pockets of his jacket. ] It's an interesting place, this town. I can see why it caught your attention.
[ given that there’s very little to differentiate this small town from any other, jack hopes this will serve to subtly inform elsa that he’s managed to pick up on something strange in the air already. once they’re inside, the busy restaurant will hopefully take care of any potential eavesdroppers. ]
no subject
he’d been told as much and, in his experience, texting a dead woman is an incredibly difficult thing to manage without the help of a medium. even so, jack can’t help but beam as she nears, looking more like a man stepping out into sunlight after weeks spent in darkness than someone greeting an acquaintance, no matter what sort of life-threatening circumstances they’d forged a bond under.
god, but she’s a miracle — the first glimmer of hope he’s been granted in the twenty-odd years since his life had been torn from his grasp and thrown to the jaws of the wolf that maybe, just maybe, things could be different…
… and also probably not at all equipped for such a warm, earnest welcome, judging by the awkward edge of her tone as she greets him. ah.
too late to let it deter him now, though — and, really, jack doesn’t think he could, even if he wanted to. ]
Elsa!
[ he has sense and manners enough, at least, to hold himself back from anything further. there’s a part of him, small and buried so deeply that it might as well not exist, that yearns desperately to reach out, to solidify the reality of her presence with touch. but, he knows better — and, frankly speaking, he’s sure he’d deserve to lose whatever limb elsa deigned to remove, should he have tried.
he’s perfectly content to let her set the pace here. the fact that she still wants anything to do with him at all, that she still offers him a smile and her company after everything that transpired at her father’s funeral, is far more than jack could ever ask for. ]
Not dead and well-rested, as promised. [ he replies with a good-natured chuckle. schooling his expression into something perhaps a little less radiant proves to be a far more difficult challenge than expected, as does refraining from informing her exactly how good it feels to see her again. but, jack does his best. god knows the last thing he wants is to overwhelm her.
at elsa’s suggestion, he nods, stepping aside with a deferential gesture to allow her to take the lead. ] Please -- after you. [ as she passes, he casts a brief, wary glance around the surrounding street — but, if anyone nearby has given the two of them more than a cursory glance, they’re hiding it well.
near-instinctual caution mollified, he matches elsa’s stride as they near the restaurant, hands tucked easily in the pockets of his jacket. ] It's an interesting place, this town. I can see why it caught your attention.
[ given that there’s very little to differentiate this small town from any other, jack hopes this will serve to subtly inform elsa that he’s managed to pick up on something strange in the air already. once they’re inside, the busy restaurant will hopefully take care of any potential eavesdroppers. ]