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]

Henley figured it wouldn't be too hard to figure that out on her own, once she got back with Alma, but -- well, it's not going to hurt anything, to take a few more seconds to know where they're headed when they get back. That in mind, she shrugs easily. "Sounds good to me."

[the_death_card]

He knows she's seen some of the rooms already thanks to their tour before, but he also wants her to be able to see where they're settling for the next few days without the mess of luggage and everything to clutter it up. He wants her to have the same first look as the rest of them.

Still, he doesn't say that - even if some of it probably gets through the connection anyway -, just nodding and starting to walk again, heading for the door out of the lobby. "Cool," he says simply as he leads the way, the map in mind.

Merritt stops as they get outside, whistling through his teeth. "Alright," he says easily. "I get the freaking out."

[the_lovers]

"Okay, yeah, it's ... " Daniel says by way of agreement albeit ineffectually.

He's really not sure what he was expecting, beyond 'the beach,' but he's also pretty sure this wasn't it. Maybe because the only real frame of reference he has there are, at worst, Chicago's beaches on Lake Michigan, or at best California's, overcrowded with tourists. This is different, from the water to the relative silence, ebb and flow of the sea notwithstanding. This is beautiful.

[the_death_card]

"Told you so," Jack tells them both with a grin. This is absolutely why he decided randomly that they were going on vacation. "There's a ton of other stuff you gotta see, too."

Glancing at the map again, he heads down one of the boardwalks toward where their cabanas are. He's not making a beeline or anything, though, since there are things on the way he wants Daniel and Merritt to see.

[the_lovers]

"Beyond, like, the beach and the spa and our rooms or whatever?" He's sure there's more, just as Jack's promising, but well, they do seem to be heading towards their rooms. He supposes those are probably pretty impressive, though -- especially since this place is Eye-owned.

[the_death_card]

"Well, yeah, I mean, that's kinda what I mean, but. The pools and restaurants and everything. This place is crazy."

Honestly, it could be that he's easily impressed considering this is the first real resort he's ever been to. Hell, the first time he had ever stayed in a hotel (legally, at least) had been with the Horsemen. Still, he thinks this place is going to live up to the hype - and even if it doesn't, he's standing by his assertion that they need a vacation.

[the_lovers]

A sense of apology follows, unspoken -- he wasn't trying to step on Jack's glee. It's just that this is the first resort he's been to, himself, so he's not exactly sure what to expect. He can get behind the obvious also being the most impressive parts of all of this.

"We should do a fancy dinner, some night," Henley decides, and speaking of.

[the_death_card]

Jack relaxes again in the wake of Daniel's apology. He would have assumed Daniel had been to more places like this, considering his level of fame, so it's nice to know he wasn't being judged for being excited.

He looks to Henley at her suggestion. "Yeah, definitely. I didn't actually see the menus or whatever."

"They probably have them in the rooms," Merritt offers, trying to get them back on track. He's honestly just as excited about this as the rest of them.

[the_lovers]

Not like this. He absolutely wasn't judging him.

"We'll look when we get settled," Daniel decides. It wouldn't be a bad idea for that dinner to be tonight, he thinks, for all that Alma doesn't really know them all that well -- and vice versa, honestly. It'll be a good ice breaker, so the rest of their vacation comes a little more naturally.

[the_death_card]

It'll do them all some good to just sit and relax, too. Nice dinners are excellent for that kind of thing.

"Totally ordering something ridiculous from room service at least once," Jack adds with a grin.

"Like that time you ordered an 'omelette du fromage' in Paris because it was all the French you knew?" Merritt asks, and Jack shrugs, not even bothering to deny it as he continues to walk forward, resuming his role as tour guide.

[the_lovers]

"Okay, can anyone here -- not you -- honestly say they know any more French than that?" Daniel counters, gesturing to Merritt at the aside, as if it was up for debate. Everyone knows you speak French, Merritt. You're very special.

"Oui," Henley offers, smartly.

"Besides that."

[the_hermit]

"Hey, at least some of us have some class," Merritt returns with a smirk, chuckling a little as they follow Jack.

Jack doesn't quite lead them on a winding route to their cabanas, but he does make sure they have a decent overview of where things are. Finally, they reach the ring of cabanas, and he looks to Henley. "Which one you want, Hen?" he asks. Sorry, Daniel, your girlfriend gets to pick for you.

[the_highpriestess]

Henley hums, looking the cabanas over thoughtfully. Daniel, meanwhile, looks from her to Jack and back again, before, "Don't I get a say?"

Henley doesn't bother to grace him with a response. Instead, finally, she points towards the one she's apparently decided on. And if that isn't clear enough, she declares, "That one."

[the_death_card]

Jack just offers Daniel a facial shrug that says "what do you think" before Henley makes her choice. "Works for me." He turns to look at Merritt. "Merritt?"

Merritt just glances over his shoulder toward the one behind him. "This one works."

"Cool. Guess I'll go for that one." He nods toward one of the two remaining.

"So, uh," Merritt begins. "Break." He claps his hands together, a la a football play, and turns to head for his chosen cabana.

[the_highpriestess]

"I'll be right back," Henley calls. She'll see Daniel into their cabana, then go get Alma, and that in mind -- and made clear through the connection -- she turns and heads in that direction. Daniel, shrugging, follows.