The park- Thursday afternoon

[solo_sword]

Why couldn't it be truth day? Truth day for Jaina wasn't any different from a normal day. Baggage day however meant that she was stuck looking at all the issues she repressed way deep inside in lieu of therapy.

She'd escaped the house because didn't need the kids seeing all of that, and if she was feeling really bitter she wasn't sure all the bags would fit. She was sure the "JACEN" bags were multiplying and following her around. She'd do lightsaber drills in the park for a while. She much preferred fighting against someone, but that felt like a bad idea, so this was fine.

Considering starting a bonfire here was also a bad idea, probably.


[Open!]

Comments

[stykera]

Stark had gone to two classes with his baggage (which had only increased as the day went on) and he really had no desire to go home and stare at those bags alone in an otherwise empty apartment.

So, for now, he headed into the park with a coffee and sat on a bench. He wasn't overly close to Jaina, that would be especially rude on one of these days, but he was close enough to offer a nod and a quiet hello.

[solo_sword]

Jaina gave a little nod back, but she wasn't sure if he wanted more than that or if he was dealing with his own stuff today and she just happened to be there. It was also possible he wanted a show, because she was obscenely good at this.

[stykera]

Stark was always dealing with his own stuff. There was so much stuff. So much.

"Do you mind if I sit here? I can move. If you'd rather."

That lack of confidence bag thumped next to him on the bench and he sighed.

[solo_sword]

"You're perfectly fine there as long as you're not planning on getting in the way of my lightsaber," she told him.

It would end badly, see.

[stykera]

"I like my limbs where they are," Stark told her. "And none of these bags said death wish when I last looked. I just didn't want to go home yet."

[solo_sword]

...Jaina probably had a death wish bag somewhere.

"Would you be staring out at nothing if I wasn't here?"

Note that she had not even slowed down in her drills.

[stykera]

Stark had a survivor's guilt bag but that wasn't really the same.

"I might have looked for ducks," he said with a shrug. "But maybe, yes. Or I would have kept walking."

[solo_sword]

"But the glowy sword's more interesting," she guessed.

[stykera]

"Very much so," Stark said, nodding. "We don't have them where I'm from but I've seen so many since I've been here. Always interesting to watch. From a safe distance."

He frowned a little at himself. "Maybe I ought to have gone to the gym. Kept busy that way. But I might have tripped over...all this."

[solo_sword]

"In fairness, anywhere you can go today you can trip over yours or someone else's baggage," she said. "Though someone else's would be awkward."

Somewhere to the side, the "NEPO BABY" change purse dropped. She didn't actually care about that issue much, turns out.

[stykera]

"Out here, at least, I've more room to move."

Imagine the carnage of baggage suddenly appearing on treadmills or on various gym machines! Or on top of a bar on a weight machine! Someone could be literally crushed moreso than usual on these days!

"And I...try to avoid the ones belonging to others. When I can."

There was a avoids conflict bag in there too.

[solo_sword]

"Good luck. I'm accumulating a pile," she said.

What, was she gonna hide it? There was a big crate with "ALL THE KILLING" on it.

[stykera]

"I'll keep my distance," Stark promised. "I have plenty of my own."

The brightly colored rolling suitcases rolled a little closer and he pushed them away. The slave bag was never far from him and the trunk with the number on it had reappeared at his feet. Again.

"There was...a lot of it, for classes today."

[solo_sword]

"A lot of tripping?" Jaina guessed.

[stykera]

"That, not as much as I would have thought. A lot of the bags. A lot of luggage. There always seems to be so much of it when this happens."

Almost like Fandom attracted a lot of people with a lot of issues. Weird.

[solo_sword]

Jaina frowned. "Well, yeah," she said, for the reason in his narrative.

[stykera]

"I wonder if there's anyone here who doesn't have a lot of...all this."

Sure, Stark.
Noctra and Lexi! They were innocent little lambs. SO FAR.

[solo_sword]

"Not unless Fandom skipped over them," she said. "You don't get through life without this stuff."

Lexi was a mutant, she might have some by now, actually.

[stykera]

But Lexi was so small still. Hopefully she at least got cute child-size luggage.

"True," Stark said with a sigh. "It's just usually not quite so obvious."

He preferred when all his issues weren't directly staring him in the face. There was a bag about bottling things up in the pile somewhere.

[solo_sword]

"At least it adds character?"

She had, at least, accepted that her baggage existed even if she much preferred to pretend otherwise until she was faced with it in a similar situation.

[stykera]

"We do all have plenty of character," Stark said. "Sometimes too much, I think. I...I'm not distracting you, am I?"

[solo_sword]

"A little," she admitted. "But it doesn't affect the work."

The fact that she considered drills work was probably its own- ohh there's the "WORKAHOLIC" bag dropping behind her.

[stykera]

The worries too much bag thumped next to Stark on the bench and he jumped, looked at it, and sighed softly.

"Good. Not...not your bag. That I'm not being a bother."