InsaneJournal

Who: Wichita & Connor Jackson; with a brief cameo of Kenny Palmer and a mention of April Cole
What: A casual conversation that sparks into more
Where: The End Zone
When: Tuesday Night, June 29th
Warnings: this was actually quite tame for one of Rachelle's people

The fact that Connor was even half-smiling right now showed the strength of his character. Before he was taken by the gem, he'd watched as his sister and his best friend were taken, then after being taken at the same time as his fiance and their FutureDaughter, he was sent to another reality by himself, only to find his way back to this one to find that Penny & Max had not.

Still... Connor was nothing if not a survivor. So he got himself a nice place to stay (rooming with someone in a house in Cortez), got himself a job working as a mechanic in Mos Eisley, and now was working on getting himself back out there to at least attempt to have some kind of life here.

Which brought him to The End Zone, which was at least a bit of familiarity to him. The music, the sports, the atmosphere... it made him feel more at home in a world that otherwise suddenly felt very different and alone. Wearing faded jeans and a plain black dress shirt, he sat at the bar slowly drinking a beer as he waited for his wings to be brought out.

Somehow, despite having two people in her life, Wichita was lonely. Ever since Presto had been taken away, she wasn't the same. She never admitted to loving him, nor how much she missed him to even herself, but it was all over her face. Everything with Billy was empty, albeit great physically, and with Carly? Friends who both longed to be with someone who was no longer there. Sure, she still had flirtations and small talk with the patrons, but nothing ever really went anywhere.

As she walked over to where Connor was sitting with his wings, she opened a bottle of beer for herself before setting the basket down in front of him before taking a drink. "You've been here before, right?" She asked before looking up to check the score of the game that was on.

"I have indeed." He replied with a sad smile, before turning to look at her. Wow. While she was a bit younger than him (he suspected), she had a cool confidence to her that was damn near magnetic in nature. "I used to come here all the time back when Rachelle was trying to get the GFL going. I was gonna be the coach for the New London team."

"Yeah," Wichita let out a heavy sigh. "I was really looking forward to that. I really thought that we'd have enough people interested in that. Now she went and took herself to a lab and got knocked up. And I'm just... here," she shrugged, taking another drink. There weren't many customers at the moment, so she'd take advantage of being able to chat up a hot guy on the other side of the bar.

"From what I hear, a lot of the people involved were purged." He sighed, gesturing to himself. "Present company included. But hey... lucky me, I'm back." He looked over toward where a very loud, very angry April was yelling at one of the TVs. "....apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, does it?"

"Nope," she shook her head with a chuckle. "And so long as you're sitting down, they assigned a teenage girl to April after the kid made one of the girls at the Welcome Center cry."

Connor practically choked on his beer when she said that, trying not to laugh. "Oh dear god. That's at once the most hilarious and more terrifying thing I've ever heard."

"I know, right?" Wichita laughed. "I'm not even sure that April knows how to human anymore."

He had to grin when she laughed. He honestly had no idea she had such a pretty smile. "I'm Connor," He said, offering his hand. "And I'm pretty much alone in this world now, so you may have unintentionally just made a very clingy friend."

"That's typically how it works for me," she shrugged as she took Connor's hand, shaking it. "I still tend to go by my city name, rather than my actual name. "I may never get used to there being more people here than there was left back home."

"You know, that explains it." He laughed, shaking his head. "I've heard Rachelle talk about you and always wondered how you got a name like Wichita."

Wichita nodded, "it's where I'm from. I had already been going by that for years before I came here. Very few people know my real name."

"A woman of mystery. I like it." He said with a chuckle. "Thanks for the conversation, by the way. First time I've really felt relaxed since I was brought back here."

Wichita smiled, "I know how that is. There were zombies where I'm from."

"Zombies? Interesting." Connor blinked, finding it fascinating that all these worlds existed. "My original world was... war-torn, to say the least. Humans declared war on mutants, and if you were a mutant but didn't want to fight, you had to be in hiding and on the run. Constantly. And then when the purge happened here, I was sent to what I believe is the same world that all the stuff in Mos Eisley is from."

"So you weren't sent back home?" Wichita raised an eyebrow. "I think that most people are, but you can never be sure."

"I don't know if there are any concrete rules for how any of it happens, to be frank." He told her, taking a long sigh. "I think it's just easier for people to imagine their loved ones were sent home. In my case, I hope my sister was sent somewhere far better than our home."

"I get that," Wichita reached out, placing a hand on top of his. "I was in a constant state of worry until my sister got here."

"It's... very frustrating." He said, feeling oddly comfortable opening up to her. "I felt like being brought here was such a great thing... my sister got married to a great guy that became my best friend and had a kid, I got engaged and had a FutureKid show-up... next thing I knew, each one of them was taken."

"Makes me feel horrible that it was just my boyfriend taken away," she frowned. "And that was nearly a year ago."

"Don't ever trivialize your pain." He told her in a soothing voice. "Everyone has pain, and nobody is more important than anyone else's. I barely know you, but I would take your pain away in a minute if I could. Because I know what it's like to lose people you love. And it doesn't matter if you're related, dating, engaged, married, or whatever else. Love is love, and it still hurts badly to lose."

"Especially when you have trouble admitting to it," she sighed, looking down for a moment.

"In some ways that probably hurts even worse than losing what I had." He pointed out, squeezing her hand lightly. "Because you've gotta have so many 'what if's."

She nodded, "I was getting ready to start talking family with him."

He nodded sadly, smiling lightly. "I never expected to meet anyone. But after Aves was taken away, and I was basically alone, save for her husband Noah... I met Penny. And she was just the goofiest, weirdest woman I've ever met. And she charmed me from the start."

"That kinda sounds like Presto," Wichita sighed softly. "He was a powerful Wizard. He could do just about anything and... did anything I suggested," she added with a smirk.

"I can totally respect that." Connor laughed, shrugging. "If I love a woman, there's nothing I won't do to make her happy."

"I would want nothing more than to find that again," she nodded.

"I mean, that's just part of love." He told her, laughing at the memory he was about to mention. "I can't tell you how many times I sat there and listened to Penny talk about her vision boards and 'Year of Penny' and all this other goofy stuff because it made her happy. And because of that? It made ME happy."

"Oh, I know... but it was great," she mused. "Probably one of my favorite things about being with him."

"You know... I have to admit that pain isn't quite as bad when you have someone to share it with." He chuckled, patting her hand. "Just knowing that you're not alone in feeling like this."

"Yeah, that's what Carly said," she tilted her head, not quite making the connection at all. "But it seems a lot more genuine coming from you."

"I appreciate that. I know we just met, but... if there's anything I can do to help you feel better? Now or in the future? Shoot me a message and I'll be there for you." He really was too sweet to exist, wasn't he? "God knows we all need someone we can lean on."

Wichita nodded, "having people who understand how you feel helps a lot."

"It really does." He agreed, truly enjoying the time he'd spent so far talking to her. "And hey, if I don't mind tooting my own horn a little here, I'm a damn good friend, too. Loyal, supportive, affectionate.... and now I'm making myself sound like the family dog."

"That just means I know what position to proposition you with," she smirked, shrugging.

His eyes went wide there, and he damn near choked on the sip of beer he was taking. "Holy.... jeez, woman, don't tease a man like that. Especially one who's spent the last year alone on a planet of mostly non-humans."

"That had to suck," she pouted. "At least the natives of this planet are compatible with us in that aspect."

"I'm not really the casual sex kinda guy anyway..." He admitted with a laugh. "Still, it did get seriously lonely. "

"As someone who's been doing it ever since he last boyfriend was taken away to try and fill the void..." she frowned, taking a deep breath. "It's not even close to even starting to be filled."

"You deserve better than that anyway." He told her, offering a comforting smile. "You're easy to talk to, you obviously have more love in you than even you realized, and on top of all that you're quite frankly pretty damn easy on the eyes. Altogether? You're a catch."

"I didn't have the best life even before that person ate a tainted cheeseburger back on my world, so it's hard for me to really let people in," she stated in a blunt, even tone.

"Ouch. Yeah... I can see how crap on top of more crap can really give someone trust issues." He said, before being just as blunt with her. "I think the only reason I got through my world without being the exact same way is because of my sister. She had this... eternal optimism, you know? The kind that would be obnoxious in most people, but from her was so damn sincere that you couldn't help but be happy just being around her."

"Not gonna lie, I probably would have hated her in general, but tolerated her as an in-law," she laughed softly.

"No, I get that. I can't stand hyper-happy people typically. It seems so... disingenuous and fake. Aves was just that rare breed that was just a genuine, beautiful soul. She made me want to be a better man." He still lit up when he spoke of his sister, clearly missing her badly. "I think the fact that Noah and I had each other for support when she vanished is all that got both of us through it."

She blinked, tilting her head, feeling that name sounded familiar. "That can never be easy. I've been here three years, watching people come and go."

"Can I ask you something kind of personal?" He said, looking at her as if trying to figure something about her out.

She shrugged, "yeah... it couldn't hurt. Lay it on me, handsome."

Sweetly, he actually blushed when she complimented him. "Are you hoping to find love again? Or are you trying to shut yourself off from it?"

She took a deep breath, "oh, I'm definitely hoping for it. Hell, I was even hoping for an eventual romantic connection with the guy I've been hooking up with."

"Good." He said, smiling. "I hate seeing people just shut down. I mean... I miss Penny so bad it hurts, but I know she'd want me to be happy, and dammit, I know I deserve to be happy. And you do too."

"Yeah... we do," Wichita shrugged before glaring at Kenny at the other side of the bar and throwing a towel at him. "It's just a matter of finding happiness with that certain someone."

"Well... you can't force it. I know that much." He said, hoping that maybe he could give her some advice that would help. "No matter how much you want to have that with someone, you can't force chemistry. Everyone's different, but... me? I feel like there's a part of me that knows whether or not I could have a real future with a woman the first time we talk. Where it goes from there is anyone's guess... but I have to feel that spark."

"Yeah, I get that," Wichita leaned against the bar, forgetting that she was wearing a low-cut tank top. "I felt like the girl I've been recently spending some time with was trying to force a connection because she refused to even look at another man after her boyfriend disappeared."

"That's kinda heartbreaking. For both of you." He said with a light sigh, feeling legitimately bad for the both of them. "Even if the affection was misplaced, at least you were there for each other. It's much better than suffering alone."

"It just never felt right for me," she frowned. "As much as I'm open to the idea of being with a woman, it's never really clicked for me. Like I have to try to be in a relationship with one."

"Well... I mean it 100% when I say I hope you find someone who makes you feel like your boyfriend did." He smiled, always thinking of others before himself. "After everything you've already been through in life... you deserve some real happiness."

"Well, I'm not the type to mope around, but it would be nice to be happy again," she sighed. "I miss having someone in my life that I can get lost in a conversation with and not even realize how much time has gone by."

"God, I miss that." He said, hilariously not even realizing that was happening right now. "I am really, really glad I decided to come here today. I'm really having a great time."

"Like it would be hilarious if I got the keys plopped in front of me and told that we closed an hour ago, but I thought that it was still early in the shift. I just don't see that happening any time soon," she finished her beer and pulled out two more.

"Just promise me something, ok?" He said, graciously accepting the drink. "Don't ever settle. You are an amazing girl, I mean that. Don't settle for anything less than someone who makes you truly happy. Someone who makes you feel safe and loved. Someone who you get butterflies in your tunny just thinking about. Because you deserve that."

"I haven't felt that since Presto was here," she frowned, taking a drink of her new beer. "I don't think I could settle for less than that. He made me not even care that it ends up the guy I'm with back home ended up cheating on me with a bimbo."

Kenny glanced at them from the other end of the bar, giving a grin to Wichita as he playfully raised an eyebrow.

"Any man who would cheat on a girl like you is no man at all. And I mean that 100%." He replied, having just enough alcohol in him to loosen his tongue a bit. "If I had a girl like you, good lord. I'd treat her like a queen."

"Shaddup, Kenny," she gave her co-worker the side-eye before turning to Connor again. "What was worse is that she wanted to be besties after."

"I'm gonna do something right now that I'm hoping doesn't screw up this great new friendship we just discovered..." He began suddenly, chuckling nervously. "But as I said earlier, I can feel certain things from the minute I meet someone. So I'm gonna take a chance here and ask you if you'd want to go out with me some evening. On a date. Because you are charming, you are beautiful, and most importantly, you are one of the most real people I've ever talked to."

"I'd love to," she responded without thinking, her eyes going wide as she realized what just came out of her mouth. After giving herself a moment to think, she nodded. "I mean... Yes, I think that I could go with that."

"It's ok to let yourself be excited, you know." He laughed, catching that as well. "I am too. I felt that spark I talked about the second you spoke to me."

She took a deep breath and smiled. "Yeah... something told me to bring you your wings myself, stealing Skinny's job," she motioned to Kenny. "I was drawn to you, though."

"We both deserve some fun. Some romance. Some happiness. And if I can be the guy who gives you that? It's worth taking the chance." He said, letting himself finally really look into her eyes and take her in.

"I'm willing to admit that this is the best I've felt in a long time," she nodded. "So I guess that's saying something."

"Look. I'm gonna get going, but when I get home? I'm gonna text you." He said, taking her hand. "I'm gonna text you, and we're gonna make plans. And then? I'm gonna go to sleep, happier than I've been in a long damn time because I'll be falling asleep to thoughts of you." He finished, bringing her hand to his lips. Cheesy? A little. But it was so genuine and sincere that somehow it didn't feel that way.

Speechless, Wichita just simply nodded. She was definitely feeling the aforementioned butterflies from earlier. "I'll be waiting," she finally said once she was able to.