[SE] walk right in the sight of a gun

JACK

"It ain't a joke - let alone a dad joke - if I didn't know I was gonna say it until I started talkin'," Jack objects, sidling onto his bench on the other side of the table. "An' you say that, but he'll be plenty wound up 'fore he even gets to you, once he knows where he's goin'," he says, rolling his eyes behind sunglasses that he absolutely opts to keep on, given the way even the softer light threatens to sear through his skull if he's not careful.

Like the Doubletake, Jack's order is quick, though familiar only for bad days (i.e. days after migraines, hangovers, or on occasions like this) - a pot of black coffee and enough sugar to appease Ludo itself, a plate of bacon so crisp he can snap it between his fingers, and a bowl of diced mango.

"Yeah?" he says of her quest for Safrin. "Congratulations. You christened her yet? And by that I mean the whole smashin' a bottle of champagne against her bow an' whatnot." Not the other way. That's between Flora and whatever wet blanket she comes on to, these days. "You seem real keen to try'n crash into me," he hazards, not bothering to hide his smirk. "One day we ain't gonna see you an' it'll be a bad time for everyone."

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky