Portalocity Terminal, JFK, Thursday Morning

[life_inshadow]

... okay, so the thing about taking the first cheap portal she could find was that it meant the travel path kind of sucked. Tara had spent most of the previous day on some planet where the native life form and most of the fellow passengers appeared to be a blob of red jelly.

On the bright side, there'd been a Cinnabon outlet.

She'd made it to New York in one piece, though, and was now resting on a bench, waiting for Jono. The crowds were overwhelming after three months at home, but in a way the distraction was a relief -- it meant she wasn't getting trapped in her own head so much.

Furtively, she checked her phone. No calls from home so far. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

[OOC: For the dude on fire. NFB due to distance.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono gave his boot a tap against the floor, contemplating that one.

//Tourist traps,// he decided. //Broadway. Lady Liberty. Central Park and th'zoo there. If we're looking for distractions, we can make a go at th'best of them.//

This is what you got when you gave Jono free reign, Tara.

[life_inshadow]

"I want the zoo," Tara decided after a moment. "It'll be ... a l-little bit more peaceful, right? Except, maybe not for the animals."

She started walking towards the exit. "So ... how are you? I don't think I even asked if this was a good time. S-sorry for being rude."

[furnaceface]

//Don't worry about it,// Jono's shoulders twitched up for a moment as he followed along after her. //I've been busy, but I negotiated for a few days grace before running off on th'next wild adventure. There are far worse places I could be right now than right here, honestly.//

Far, far worse.

//Th'zoo's good. We can find some animal you like. Maybe find out if they'll let us help with a feeding or something if we make big, sad eyes at the keepers.// Jono was rather skilled at the expressive eyes thing. He had faith that he could pull it off. //Or we could just make faces at th'monkeys. I'm not terribly picky either way.//

[life_inshadow]

Tara laughed, a small, wan laugh, but definitely one that was there. "I always liked bears," she said. "You know, they're all ... at one with nature-y, but then if you bug them, bam. They flatten you. But I don't know how they feel about people feeding them."

[furnaceface]

//Bears, hm?// Jono had that look in his eye. The one that suggested that he was actually taking that much into consideration.

It was followed shortly after by that look that suggested that he was rather fond of the limbs that he currently had at his disposal, and wasn't really in any hurry to be rid of any of them.

//I imagine they'll have slightly more friendly ones in th'gift shop.//

[life_inshadow]

"Maybe I should get a teddy bear," Tara mulled. "It's always good to have something else you can hug, right?"

She kicked a bit of litter along the floor as she added, "I don't know if you heard. Kennedy and I split up a couple months ago." Her tone was neutral; she was sad about it, but she had so much else to be sad about.

[furnaceface]

Jono was silent for a few steps at hearing that news. On top of everything else, there was that. And he'd always thought that Tara and Kennedy complimented one another beautifully.

//I hadn't heard,// he admitted. //I've been a little out of th'loop for quite some time, now.//

Well over a year, for him. He wasn't even certain anymore just what year it was back on the island. Or what month.

[life_inshadow]

"... yeah," Tara said softly. "She -- time for her was moving faster, and we couldn't see when we'd be together, and -- there was just all this stuff. " She kicked at the ground again. "Hardly matters now."

[furnaceface]

Ah. Time differences and stuff.

//I suppose... it's a little different, when yer looking at th'difference between long-distance and completely different timelines,// Jono noted, his own tone carefully soft. //I can see how something like that would... complicate matters, some. You parted on good terms, I hope?//

Sometimes, that was enough.

[life_inshadow]

"Good enough," Tara said. "We've emailed and stuff. I've kind of sucked as a correspondent this summer, you know?"

[furnaceface]

//That would make th'both of us, luv,// Jono offered. //I send the occasional text when I remember. But I'm shite at writing letters and the internet and I really don't get along.//

Unless it was for Farmville. But even Jono's fake crops had been sorely neglected lately. Possibly because Facebook didn't exist yet, in his particular corner of the multiverse. Alas.

//Life gets in th'way, sometimes. It'll calm down again, sooner or later.//

[life_inshadow]

"The internet's depressing," Tara declared. "Nobody can spell, and people keep getting into fights about the stupidest stuff."

She gave him a wry look. "And I ran away to go back to Fandom. I would have had a better chance at a calm senior year with my dad."

[furnaceface]

... Okay, she had him there.

//But where's the fun in that?//

Jono logic, Tara. You'd have a couple of days to get used to it, at least.

//At least at Fandom, for all th'hell that breaks loose, they get it.//

For whatever degree of 'it' you happened to want them to 'get.'

[life_inshadow]

"Which is the one thing my dad will never, ever do," Tara had to agree in a long sigh. "I should probably call sometime and tell him where I am..."

[furnaceface]

//When yer ready, luv,// Jono replied, shrugging. //Time here runs fairly swiftly, too. There isn't any rush, if you'd like a few hours to just unwind, first.//

Jono was a pretty terrible enabler of irresponsible behaviours.

[life_inshadow]

"I should do that," Tara said. "The zoo, then maybe a nap, then ... other stuff."

She blinked at him. "So when is it now, here?"

[furnaceface]

//Early autumn, 1999,// Jono replied, shrugging faintly. //We're still a bit behind if we're going by Fandom's standards, but we're working on catching up.//

Bit by bit.

//It's been two years here, since graduation.//

[life_inshadow]

"And things still work with Raven?" It hadn't been nearly as long for Kennedy when they'd decided to stop trying -- but of course, there had been other things going on there.

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded a little, cramming one hand into his pocket and lifting the other, finally, to hail a taxi.

//I go back to the island to see her when I can, even if it does always seem to end with the island changing us into other people and such when I do. She doesn't get as much time to miss me, and where I'm standing, she's well worth th'wait.//

A beat.

//She's really all I've got.//

[life_inshadow]

"I guess some things are just meant to be," Tara said, and craned her neck to spot the cab. "Will this take us all the way to the zoo? Or should we get on the subway?"

Tara was, it should be noted, a tiny bit afraid of the subway.

[furnaceface]

Considering the way she'd been cringing away from the crowds in the airport, Jono kind of figured the subway would be a major no.

Really, he wasn't a huge fan of the subway, himself. Oh, sure, he'd been a pro at navigating the Tube back in London, but that was before he'd gone and blown his face off.

He kind of stood out, when he took the subway.

//Don't worry about it, luv. I'll handle th'cab fare.// A beat. //If you don't mind telling th'driver where we're headed? Telepathy and cabbies don't generally seem to mix.//

[life_inshadow]

Tara could handle crowds! It just went easier if she had a drink or ... five.

Or if her nerves weren't raw from grief.

"I can do that," she promised quietly.

And, when they got into the cab, she leaned forward toward the driver, almost as if she did it every week. "Central Park zoo, please," she said, with juit the slightest glance to Jono to ensure she had it right.

[furnaceface]

And Jono gave her a little nod in reply, and one of those little smiles that sat around the corners of his eyes.

//Perfect,// he offered, just between the two of them as he pulled his door shut and almost immediately cracked the window. No point in giving the cab driver cause to complain about the smell after skirting around the telepathy issue so neatly. //Yer a natural, Sunshine.//

[life_inshadow]

"Maybe I'll move here after I graduate," Tara said, and this smile was closer to her regular one. "So do you actually live in the city? I kind of thought the mansion thing was..."

She waved a hand vaguely. Out there, somewhere.

[OOC: Night!]

[furnaceface]

//Well, th'mansion itself is out in Westchester,// Jono replied, shrugging. //Not smack-dab in th'middle of the city, but getting in and out of town isn't exactly what you'd consider th'long haul, either.//

It was entirely possible that Jono had promised copious amounts of beer to Logan for a lift out here.

It wasn't like he was going to buy the beer for himself, after all.