The Perk | Monday Morning

[pursuedthestars]

There was only so much a man could take of acres of farmland and lack of things to do before he bolted. Of course, Jim bolted right back to a smaller place that had almost less to do than Iowa but it was familiar and he felt pretty okay when he was here. It'd be a nice, quick break before he went back and tried to figure out what he was doing with his life.

He was glad to see that nothing had changed in the short time he'd been away (you never knew if that was gonna happen with this place). The Perk looked the same, he recognized some of the people behind the counter and got his order as quickly as he remembered. But that might have been because he flirted a bit. Hey, there weren't very many people to flirt with in Iowa so he had to make sure he was still sharp.

Coffee in hand, Jim flopped down at a table and put his feet up in the chair across from him. This was much better than lying in cornfields and counting the stars. That got old and you tended to lose track after like one million.

[Open, of course]

Comments

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Well, kark me," Cade said, laughing. "You exist still."

[pursuedthestars]

"I haven't been gone that long," Jim said, rolling his eyes. "Did you miss me that much? Should I have been sending you love letters to make you feel better?"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Cade said, "but it's too late now. I've moved on."

[pursuedthestars]

"Have you?" Jim asked, holding his chest. "With who? Who's taken my place in your heart, Cade?"

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade waved his hand vaguely. "Oh, you know. Some hottie."

[pursuedthestars]

"Some hottie?" Jim repeated, shaking his head. "They don't even have a name? Wow, you've gone downhill since I've left. Can't even keep names straight in your head anymore."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Nah, they're all blonde and interchangeable."

Cade, have some shame. Sometime. Please.

[pursuedthestars]

"Wow, I really hope this makes the radio so they can hear it and come and kick you in the balls for that comment," Jim quipped. "Terrible person."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"I'm not!"

You were.

[pursuedthestars]

"You are," Jim told him sagely. "Own it, Cade. You do terrible very well."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade burst out laughing. "I do, don't I?"

[pursuedthestars]

"It's definitely something to be proud of," Jim told him, laughing. "If you've got a talent, why hide it? Even if that talent is being terrible to people. Someone's gotta do it."

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"This is true," Cade said, grinning. He went to order a coffee 'as black as my soul'--mostly to make the barrista giggle--then sat down across from Jim. "So you're back." He put on a serious expression. "Running from the law?"

[wrongkindofsith]

After spending large amounts of yesterday glaring at the rock that'd fallen off her belly, Cara had decided to come down to the Perk to glare at people instead.

"It seems no one's killed you yet."

Hi, Jim, nice to see you.

[pursuedthestars]

"What, no hug?" Jim asked, leaning back and opening his arms. "To celebrate the fact that I'm still alive and hard to kill."

[wrongkindofsith]

"You must have hit your head on something if you actually think that's going to happen," Cara told him. The list of people she'd actually seek out hugs from was even shorter than the one of people she'd accept them from.

[pursuedthestars]

"Oh, come on, you know you want one," Jim told her, smirking. "I give great hugs, Cara!"

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara was grateful he hadn't shown up a couple of days earlier, when she would've been in a good enough mood to go along with him.

"Do you? Or are they just telling you that to spare your feelings."

[pursuedthestars]

"No, I do," Jim said confidently. "I could write you out a list of contacts if you wanna check them out before giving me that hug. My references so to speak."

[wrongkindofsith]

"You're delusional," Cara said, not completely unfondly. "No sane man wants to hug a Mord'Sith."

Of course, they'd already established that Jim was completely insane...

[pursuedthestars]

Yeah, he was giving her a look for that one. "Where did you get the idea that I was sane? Who told you that horrible lie?"

[wrongkindofsith]

"I'd hoped being off this island had cured you." Butter would have melted in Cara's mouth just then. "Clearly I was wrong."

[pursuedthestars]

"The island probably made it worse," Jim pointed out, shrugging. "All the crap that went on here? How anyone comes out sane is a mystery to me."

[wrongkindofsith]

Hey now, some of them were completely messed up before they ever set foot on the island. "And where you are, back again."

Because Miss Constantly-visiting-her-girlfriend-then-getting-a-job-to-facilitate-more-of-same here was one to talk.

[pursuedthestars]

"Didn't want anyone to miss me too much," Jim said, shrugging. "What are you doing here? Visiting too?"