By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity

[the_death_card]

While Jack knows it's good for him, doing a lot to stretch how far his magic will go before he's exhausted, playing with the door trick is also fun. He's been picking locks for so long now that it's almost boring, especially when his actual magic has progressed to the point that, increasingly frequently, doors will unlock themselves before he even knows they were locked to begin with.

Using the Eye's network is something different. It's a constantly moving lock that, if he hits a slightly different pin in a slightly different way, will open a door to somewhere completely different. He's already found a dozen different places across the United States and a half-dozen more outside of it that have all led to some fascinating afternoons. Every time he finds somewhere new, he thinks to ask Jacob or Max or Andrew for a list of connected places, but so far, he's forgotten to actually do it. Finding them randomly is more fun anyway.

Things have mostly calmed down around the suite, now. He knows most of them have returned to their normal sleeping habits, helped along by their brand new connection. That's still new and something he's getting used to, but like someone said, it feels like a natural next step after the year they spent living on top of each other and how close they've all become since then. It is still something they're all figuring out, though, which means that they're still taking it easy on rehearsals. Normally, that's not something he would mind, but today, it's lead to some restlessness that he knows no jog or trip downstairs to the gym will do anything to help.

When he catches himself rereading the same paragraph in his book for the third time in a row, he groans and levers himself into a sit, setting his book to the side and leaning down to grab his boots where he kicked them off earlier. There's an inquisitive ping at the back of his mind that he brushes off as he stands and grabs his jacket, heading out of his room and toward the stairs.

"I'm going out for a while," he calls to the suite at large on his way downstairs. "I've got my phone."

Merritt doesn't look up from behind his book but he does wave a hand at Jack in acknowledgement, and there's an accepting nudge from someone through the connection. Jack flips a wave back at Merritt as he slips out of the suite, closing the door behind him and heading for the elevator. He pauses once he gets there to run his thumb over his middle and index fingers, calling up a spark and touching it to the keyhole set between the standard call buttons. He can immediately feel the pins that make up the Eye's network, and he drifts over a few of them before settling on one. He nudges it into place with his magic and then pulls his hand away and hits the down button to call the elevator. It comes almost immediately, and Jack steps inside, hitting a button at random and leaning back against the wall to watch the numbers drop - and then stands straight again when it slows to a stop with the usual quiet ding.

For everywhere he's been so far, what he finds is entirely unexpected. If he didn't know better, if he hadn't already seen the Peninsula's lobby dozens of times, he would think something had gone wrong with the magic and he had just been taken downstairs. Ahead of him is another hotel lobby, and he stops just outside the elevator, trying to figure out where he is. Just ahead of him is a small desk bearing a stylized sun - and when he looks at it for more than a moment, the paint seems to shimmer, revealing an equally stylized eye set into the paint. The desk is attended by a dark-haired woman in a blue shirt with a name badge pinned to it, and she looks up at him after a moment, smiling immediately. "Good afternoon, Mister Wilder. Checking in?"

"Uh..." Jack begins intelligently, and her smile turns a little less polished and a little more truly amused as she stands up, smoothing her shirt out automatically.

"Or did you just happen by?"

"That one," Jack returns, a little relieved, and she laughs.

"You aren't the first," she assures him, "but welcome to the Sun Veil Resort. We're located on the Yucatan Peninsula with access to the amenities of Cancun with our own specific brand of privacy for our members and their guests." It's clearly a standard speech, but Jack gets well enough what she's saying - or, rather, very carefully not saying.

"You mean this is for the Eye."

"Of course," she returns before her smile fades into something more solicitous. "Would you like a tour? We do have open rooms at the moment, and I'm sure you and the other Horsemen would enjoy a visit."

Even if this isn't where Jack intended to end up, Jack doesn't even need to think about it before he nods. "Yeah, that'd be great." Saying they would all use a vacation and change of scenery after everything that's been going on is puttting it really mildly.

"Give me just a moment, then," she returns with another smile. She turns her attention back to her desk, hits a few keys on her ocmputer, sets a small bell on the desk, and then rounds it, gesturing for him to accompany her. "Right this way."

Comments

[the_star]

Alma does, in fact, swat him on the arm, laughing again. She could easily keep this "argument" going, but it's just for the fun of it at this point, and they're coming up on a building, now. "Well, your tolerance seems to be improving," she teases, one last shot before they reach what is labeled Carte.

"And we just found a gift shop."

[onebehind]

"Guess exposure therapy really does work," Dylan finishes, letting the argument go there.

He glances between her and the building, then, something in his expression taking a turn towards more serious albeit still in a relaxed sort of way. He tilts his head in that direction. "Wanna go in and poke around, or keep walking?"

[the_star]

"Let's go look around," Alma answers almost immediately. "I'm going to need some souvenirs from this anyway. We might as well see what they have."

She starts forward, heading for the doors to the shop.

[onebehind]

Dylan follows, pulling the door open for her as they reach it. He steps in after her and into waiting racks of t-shirts in varying styles, and immediately, he can't help but exhale a breath of a laugh. "I feel like I should get Cowan a shirt."

In a sort of and all I got is this crappy t-shirt sort of way. It'd be a nice, dickish gift.

[the_star]

Alma laughs, too. "Maybe a size or two small?" she proposes before she turns her attention to the racks, to actually see what they have.

[onebehind]

"Medium, maybe?"

If he had to guess, he'd say that Cowan actually wore a large. He's not Henley, though, so he could be wrong. Maybe later, he'll bring her through here to help him find the perfect-not-perfect size, but right now he still beelines for the t-shirts along with Alma. He can still at least look.

[the_star]

"Or you could get him a kid's shirt," she offers as he joins her. "I feel like he would appreciate something with glitter on it."

By which she means he would hate it, which is, after all, the goal here.

[onebehind]

Dylan takes a moment to judge a nearby shirt that is, in fact, heavy on the glitter. When he seems to reach some sort of decision, he nods once, approvingly. "Yeah, I definitely think that'd be right up his alley."

And then he's reaching for the shirt that caught his attention in the first place to hold it up for Alma's inspection. "This one, maybe?"

[the_star]

Alma laughs as Dylan picks up the shirt. "Oh, absolutely."

She turns to look toward the front of the store where there are racks of accessories, and then heads for some bright pink sunglasses. "And these to go with it."

[onebehind]

Dylan follows, still looking around as they go. He takes a moment to inspect the sunglasses as Alma points them out, then gestures to a rack of flip-flops nearby. "Can't go wrong with some shitty sandals, either."

Cowan is going to be so thrilled with him.

[the_star]

He deserves it, honestly. She didn't even talk to him that much, but it was still enough to know that he's a dick.

"Absolutely not."

They should probably stop there, though, before they buy more as a joke than they actually do for real souvenirs.

[onebehind]

Snatching a pair that may or may not actually be in Cowan's size, he adds them to their growing pile. And a little more seriously, clearly having the same thought, he asks, "You see anything you want for you?"

It's not like they can't come back later, but if something has already caught her eye, he's no opposed to grabbing it now.

[the_star]

"I'll get something," she returns, taking an actual glance around them instead of just looking for the more ridiculous things. "Maybe later, though?"

They have a few days, at least, and she figures the rest of the Horsemen will want to come pick up their own souvenirs at some point or another.

"You?"

[onebehind]

Dylan takes a quick look around, almost panicked, as if this might be the only opportunity to pick something out and that he'd better do it fast. Whether that's an honest fear or just him being factitious is up for debate, but either way, he relaxes after a beat, shaking his head.

"I'll grab something later."

He'll make a dedicated trip back here just to shop, so he's not holding things up. What they have so far is good, he thinks, and so he nods towards the register, pausing there long enough to ask the cashier to charge it to their room and bag everything up, then he moves back over to her.

"Alright, m'good."

[the_star]

Alma can't help but laugh again as Dylan actually goes through with buying everything, and she's smiling broadly when he comes back to her side. She reaches for his hand as they turn back to the shop's doors. "So now where?"

Do they want to keep looking around or should they go back to the room?

[onebehind]

"I'm just following you," he admits, lacing their fingers together. There's a lot, still, they could look at, or they can go back to the room. He's not picky, either way. He's sure there will be time for both exploration and relaxation.

[the_star]

Alma hums, thinking, and then nods on down the path they had come from. "Let's see what else there is."

She knows they have several days ahead to get to know the resort and all, but she'd like an overview so she does know what's here.

"Let's find the spa."

[onebehind]

"They might do those couples massage things," Dylan points out as he turns to head in the direction he thinks the spa might be. Whether or not they'll actually end up there is debatable, but it's not like they're in any hurry anyway.

[the_star]

"Ooooh," Alma says, falling into step beside him with a smile. "We absolutely need that. You absolutely need that, Mister Detective Man," she teases, nudging his arm with hers.

She is teasing - but she also knows how much relaxing he doesn't do, normally, and considering everything that's happened lately, she can guess how much he needs it.

[onebehind]

"Why would I need a massage?" he teases back, a little embarrassed in spite of himself. It really hasn't been a good time for anyone, lately. He could absolutely use the pampering. "Seriously, though. I draw the line at cucumbers."

He's not being serious at all.

[the_star]

Alma just laughs at his "denial". Just like she's pretty sure he had never taken a vacation before, she's pretty sure he doesn't actually know the meaning of relaxation.

She just nods like she's doing him a favor by agreeing. "I will respect that line," she teases back.

[onebehind]

"There is a God," Dylan decides, grinning now. A beat, then a little more genuinely, he asks, "Does that shit actually work, though?"

He's not opposed to cucumbers, per se, he's just not sure he actually believes in the 'science' behind it. Do they really reduce dark circles under the eyes? How does that even work?

[the_star]

"Allegedly?" Alma returns. "I've never done it. I did read something that said it should, though? The cucumbers are cold and something about them reduces puffiness."

At least laying quietly and putting something cold on your face would get you some rest and reduce the swelling, so they can't hurt.

"And then you have a snack," she adds a moment later, cheekily.

[onebehind]

All amusement dissolving into an expression of disgust, Dylan shakes his head. "I don't wanna eat something that's been on my face. Especially not like that."

It's a little too close to being told he has to eat the sleep that gathers in the corners of his eyes for his tastes.

"Aren't they supposed to serve little sandwiches or something, anyway?"

Preferably without face cucumbers.

[the_star]

Alma can't help but giggle at the way he says that, and she adds, "That's what she said," because she has to.

"I don't know, actually. I've never really been to a spa. At home they just serve cheese and bread with everything." Not that she's against either of those things.