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It was a door, like any other door. Which is perhaps sometimes the problem. Sometimes it meant that you thought you were going into one place and then end up at the Inn.

The Inn has been quiet. It's early Tuesday morning and Laruna is in the restaurant sorting through the latest batch of wine she's made. Alec is upstairs, somewhere, so she's the only one around. Humming to herself she is completely oblivious to anyone or anything.

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This is... not exactly where Jimmy expected to find himself, but sometimes, when you're chasing after your kid, you end up the damnedest of places. Which is how he ends up stumbling through that door, hot on Tommy's heels, and ending up...

He's not sure where.

"Hello?"

((Ooc: Here I am, tag me! Tag me! and then I get completely wrapped up in my book and forget about this. Pfft.))

"Hello!" Laruna calls back, stepping out into the main lobby. "The proprietor's upstairs, I can go..." she trails off as she sees Jimmy.

He takes a moment to just stare at her. Forget being in a place he didn't expect, now he's looking at someone he didn't expect to see. What do you say in a situation like that, except...

"Hi."

Pretty weak, admittedly.

"Um... well... hello... again... Ah." This is horribly awkward and unexpected.

"I didn't mean to, um... I just kinda..."

He gestures towards the door, as though that'll explain everything. Truth be told, in a place like this, it probably will, but he's still pretty sure he should be able to come up with a better explanation than that.

"Oh. Yes. The door kind of does that. I can blame Alec if you'd like?"

No. No. The door works.

"I mean, sure, you can blame whoever you want, it just... uh... unexpected, y'know? I was lookin' for Tommy -- he just took off 'n I couldn't catch up with him."

He's looking around like Tommy might be hiding behind something, because it's slightly less awkward than looking directly at her.

The leg. Yes.

"He should be around here.. I think... I wasn't exactly paying attention." Yeah. this is just weird.

She was certain that Alec was supposed to keep these things from happening.

"Well, I'll go look for him in a second, I just... um..."

He shoves his hands in his pockets, because what else is there to do except stand around and look stupid, and he does quite enough of that as it is. "How've you been?"

And it's not like there's anywhere for Tommy to go. (Well, considering the nature of the Inn that's probably a lie but... but he'll be safe, at least.)

"I've been all right. Um. Boring life really back home... except when I come here." she says, also feeling exceptionally awkward. "You?"

"Well, I ain't been home for that long, but things ain't great. Bein' here is probably the best thing that's happened to me all week."

Because from his perspective, he'd only been at home for about a day. And that day hadn't been great. To say the least.

She frowns. "I'm... not sure how long I've been home..." Which is frustrating.

"But it sounds like you need a drink? I'm sure Tommy will show up when he wants to."

"Sure, I could go for a drink. I mean, I'm in a bar, right? Might as well drink."

He still doesn't know how he got in here, but he's not going to turn down the offer of a drink. Seeing her is strange, especially since he's pretty sure that when he'd returned home, he hadn't remembered anything at all, yet stepping through that door and seeing her meant he remembered everything. Weird. And unsettling.

"Inn... but there is a bar, yes. And we've got good stuff." She waves for him to follow.

"Very good stuff."

Laruna knows how he got here, but she's still unsettled by the sudden return of the memories. That's not supposed to happen. Alec would have told her if something like that had happened to her, right? And would she remember when Jimmy left?

"Inn, bar, it all has alcohol."

He brushes off the difference with a wave of his hand, but really, he's still feeling strange about this whole thing, even as he follows her.

"But of course you've got the good stuff, 'cause alcohol's perfectly legal here."

That makes her laugh as she goes back into the restaurant part of the Inn. She missed that.

"That's right. I remember you saying that it wasn't legal where you're from."

"I'm sure it'll be legal at some point. In the meantime, people'll keep drinkin' illegally."

At least they can fall back into their banter easily enough, it seems. There're a lot of unanswered questions, but they're better addressed once they both have a drink in their hands.

"I find it hard to believe that it'll stay illegal. It's been too much apart of people's lives to make it stick."

She scoots around the bar filled with all sorts of interesting bottles.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I dunno. Surprise me?"

Maybe a bad thing to ask for in a place that's a big damn surprise anyway, but hey, he's always been adventurous. No harm in trying something new.

She takes pity on him because she likes him and so doesn't give him something strange and ridiculous but instead a nice green gin. She pours herself the same thing and then finds a basket of pretzels and peanuts to munch on. They don't have either where she's from but according to Alec they're a staple in many bars.

"Try this. It tastes like apples."

He takes a sip of it, and shrugs, smiling a little. "Yeah, that's pretty good. Ain't like anythin' I've had before, so I can't complain."

Another sip, and then... "So. What've you been up to?"

"School, really. I've a few more years to finish up. Going to parties... listening to my brother and boyfriend be annoying... wishing I could go elsewhere..." she sighs.

Because she had been elsewhere....

"Well, why can't you go elsewhere? You got this place, right, seems like you can go anywhere. I mean, if I ended up here..."

"Alec won't let me."

The words are flat but full of anger.

"So who died 'n made him king of the world?"

"Gods only know," she grumbles and tosses back her drink.

"So why can't you just..."

He takes a sip of his drink, still getting used to the flavor.

"I mean, he can't force you to stay here, right? You could just leave."

"I can leave and I can go back home but I can't go anywhere else."

"Do you wanna go anywhere else? You wouldn't wanna go back to the City, would you?"

"No. Not particularly. Just... somewhere that isn't home." She enjoyed the City for the fact that it wasn't home but there were still somethings that... had issues.

He nods. "I know what you mean. I dunno if I'd wanna go back to the City, but..."

A shrug.

"It'd be better than home, I think."

"It seems like everywhere is better than home," she agrees.

"That's true. I wonder if it's true for everyone, or just us people who get real lucky, comin' from shitty places?"

"Some people would say that I don't come from a shitty place and that I've got a very privileged up bringing and I should't complain."

"Yeah, well, some people haven't lived your life, so..." He drums his fingers on the top of the bar thoughtfully. "They really don't have anythin' worthwhile to say about it."

"Would you like to?"

And hello Marvelous Laruna Bad Idea.

It's part of the Troven legendary bad ideas.

"Would I like to what?"

Yeah, he can tell she has a bad idea. But of course he's intrigued.

"Come home with me? You and Tommy?"

Of course he is.

"I... dunno if that's such a great idea."

But then, why not? It's not like there's anything for him back home, either. "I've gotta... think about that."

"Of course."

And she pours him another drink of the apple stuff.

"Would I be able to get back home, if I wanted to?"

"Yes. Alec would probably kick you out as soon as he found out you and Tommy were there."

"So it'd really just be a visit."

Another sip of his drink. He's getting used to this stuff. It doesn't taste half bad.

"Unless we could convince him otherwise, yes."

It's good stuff! She hasn't figured out how to replicate it yet either.

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