a good night for bad choices

full speed ahead 'til I'm dead in the fast lane

The trip down from the Cordillera had been a blur of motion and adrenaline, Jack having little time to process his run-in with Flora in order to push The Ark to stay ahead of the swarming dragons. Halo had been the closest region out of necessity rather than desire, and as his ship docks in her Skyport with dusk closing in on her heels, the seeds of something dark and ravenous are already spreading its roots deep at his core.

The rest of the crew disembarks to find warm lodgings for the night, and although a lot of them end up at the same tavern as the Captain, Jack keeps himself purposely separate, purposely apart, purchasing a bottle of strong whiskey and seating himself at a gambling table with around half a dozen assorted hunters, soldiers and alcoholics. It isn't a great tavern, which is exactly why he'd picked it out - sordid, shady and with a history of grudges waiting for retaliation, it's the sort of powder keg he plans to get lost in.

First, though, he plans to lose himself in the cards and the whiskey, drinking every time Flora's face so much as flashes through his mind, which means he's well into his cups even by the second game.