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_highpriestess]

"You're gonna regret that," she tells him as they make for the register. Seriously, if Jack wants to get anything else done today, he's going to need to cut her off, at some point. Otherwise, yes, she will use him to carry her bags as she shops until she drops.

[the_death_card]

Jack did pick that up, and he snorts. "Okay, we still have to go to Dad's and actually pack and everything, too, so we probably shouldn't stay over here all day."

He will start hinting about going home if she gets too distracted, though he also doesn't want her to have to rush considering they do technically have plenty of time. He does mean that he'll be glad to carry what she picks up, though.

They check out their purchases and head out of the store, and he gestures for her to lead the way. "Next?" he asks, looking on down the row of shops.

[the_highpriestess]

"Next time," Henley threatens. One of these days, she will drag Jack off on some wild, day-long shopping spree. For now, though, she's willing to try and keep it to the necessities, and as they exit the store, she turns, heading down the street with purpose.

"There's a place down here that does shoes and bags and stuff," she explains, when he falls into step with her. Between that store and a couple of others along the way, it's not long before Henley has everything she needs, including a new pair of sandals of her own, and never mind the fact that, unlike Jack, she owns several already.

[the_death_card]

Jack finds himself a pair of sandals and an only slightly ridiculous luau shirt just to keep going their "argument" about the lack of color in his wardrobe.

He holds the door for her on their way out of their last stop, squinting up at the sky for a moment for a general idea of what time it might be. "So, uh... go drop this stuff off at home and then go to Dad's?"

He doesn't really want to have to juggle a dozen shopping bags and whatever luggage they throw together for Dylan.

[the_highpriestess]

"I thought you were good at juggling," Henley teases. Whether she caught that or had the same thought herself, independently, it's hard to tell, but either way, she can't help but give him hell about it, however briefly. And it is brief, as a moment later and more seriously, she says, "But yeah, that sounds good."

[the_death_card]

He just makes a face at her in lieu of actually responding - and then turns to look over his shoulder. "So we need a door," he says a little needlessly. "Let's just go back that way," he decides after a moment, because the door they came out of is probably also the most inconspicuous place to leave through.

[the_highpriestess]

"Fine by me," Henley answers as they adjust course to head back the way they came. When they're getting close, she slows a little, asks, "You want me to hold one of those?"

She isn't making Jack carry all the bags, but he is probably carrying more than his share, and if he's going to open a door, it might not hurt to relieve him of a few so he actually can. Never mind the fact that she could probably do it herself. She knows Jack likes (or at least doesn't mind) playing Magic Uber.

[the_death_card]

"Oh, yeah," he agrees, passing over some of the bags from one hand so he has that free to call up his magic and open the door back to the suite once they get there. He lets her go through first and closes the door behind them, blinking a little at the change in temperature and lighting.

"So you think Danny or Merritt will whine first that we didn't bring them anything?"

[the_highpriestess]

"My money's on Danny," she says, though there's warmth in her tone. She steps out of the way, so that Jack can pass her, to get to the door. Now that she's got the majority of the bags, he's going to need to get the door. "You?"

[the_death_card]

Jack edges past her, reaching out to turn the handle of the suite's door and push it open (it might have been locked, but he hasn't used a key on it for months now). "I was kinda thinking Merritt," he returns, "but Danny might actually whine about it."

Merritt's more likely to be joking when he asks, Jack means.

[the_lovers]

"What's Danny actually going to whine about?" Daniel asks, sticking his head out of the kitchen as they push into the room.

"Nothing, Danny," Henley answers as she sets one of her bags down in Dylan's chair. She figures he won't mind, what with not being here at the moment, anyway.

"Right," Daniel drawls, looking between the two of the with (mostly) mock suspicion.

[the_death_card]

Jack closes the door behind them, moving to perch on the back of the couch where he can see both of them. "Oh, uh... so I found this awesome place in Cancun that the Eye owns, and we went and checked it out, but we also might kinda have some rooms booked for the next few days. We did a shopping run since I also realized I've never actually owned a swim suit."

[the_lovers]

"Okay, and why would I be jealous?"

Never mind the fact that there's a flicker of jealous there, but it's old, faded, faint. It's more a knee-jerk reaction than any real sentiment, like him occasionally looking in on anyone who might be trying to get cozy with Henley. He can't really help it, but he also doesn't mean it.

"Seriously, though," he continues after a beat, once the feeling ebbs. "Unless I'm, like, suddenly uninvited or whatever ... " Because that would prompt real jealousy.

"You're invited," Henley tells him with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay, then," Daniel finishes with a shrug. "So, when are we actually going?"

[the_death_card]

Jack barely notices the feeling and isn't bothered by it anyway, and he chuckles a little at Daniel's actual response. "I made the reservation for tomorrow so we could pack and everything. We still need to go get some stuff for Dad, and I guess someone's gonna need to talk to Agent Dray to see if she can come."

[the_lovers]

Daniel glances back towards the stairs, thoughts jumping to packing as soon as Jack mentions it. Those thoughts are replaced by something far more important, however, as he returns his attentions to Jack. Namely, "Do any of us actually have a way of getting in touch with her? I mean, like, beyond just going to Paris and hanging out outside the Interpol building?"

Which probably wouldn't end well for anyone.

[the_death_card]

"I think Merritt's talked to her?" Jack returns. "But Dad'll still probably have to go get her since none of us know where she lives."

Hanging around the Interpol building is very definitely not the best of ideas.

[the_lovers]

"Right, yeah, with the ... " With Torre. Daniel makes a vague gesture, disquiet bubbling to the surface at the thought of him and what almost happened there. Dwarfed, now, by what Ben did or not, all that still bothers him. He'll probably never be able to trust another mentalist outside of Merritt ever again.

"But okay, so ... Merritt gets in touch with her, to find out if she's free, and then we go pack."

[the_hermit]

The door onto the balcony opens, Merritt stepping back inside, book in hand. "Merritt's doing what now?" he asks as he closes the door behind him. He's been getting snatches of what's going on through the connection, but it's just now really pulled him out of his reading.

[the_highpriestess]

"Getting in touch with Agent Dray and finding out if she wants to go to Cancun," Henley answers, glancing over at him as he enters. "Because we are. Jack found the most amazing place."

"Wait, hold on, is it too late to uninvite him?" Daniel asks, looking between the two of them. There's something teasing in his tone, in the cadence of his thoughts, however, even if he looks perfectly serious. "I mean, I kinda don't need to see him in a bathing suit."

[the_hermit]

"Ah," Merritt starts to respond - and then stops as Daniel interrupts. He looks just as serious when he answers, though his side of the connection is equally teasing. "We'll need those glasses they make for people to look at the sun during eclipses, all that pale-ness you've got going on."

Jack just snorts and shakes his head, watching the two of them in amusement.

[the_lovers]

"No," Daniel starts, holding up a hand. He gestures to Henley as he continues, "No, those'll be for her"

"Hey," Henley protest, pressing her lips into a thin, angry line. She's no more upset than Merritt or Daniel are serious, but that doesn't stop her from going along with it -- or the mental shove that accompanies the act.

Daniel not-quite-flinches, then pops his eyebrows in a shrug. "I'm not the one who, like, only has to think about the sun and bursts into flames."

[the_hermit]

"But she's from California, where there is actually sun and warmth, unlike in certain midwestern cities," Merritt returns easily, because he's not about to let Daniel redirect when he started it.

[the_lovers]

"Better than being able to drink the air," he shoots back, a jab at New Orleans and its humidity. If Merritt wants to keep their play-fight between the two of them, that's fine. He can absolutely turn this back on him.

[the_hermit]

"It helps the bars keep from running out of booze," Merritt tosses back - and now Jack rolls his eyes.

"Okay, if you two are gonna keep that up, I'm gonna go start packing," Jack puts in, reaching for his bags among the things he and Henley brought back.

[the_lovers]

Again, Daniel glances briefly towards the stairs. When he looks back to Merritt, almost reluctantly, he asks, "To be continued?"

They really should actually start taking care of things, if they're planning on leaving tomorrow.