Things to Come | Jack + Melvin | Station Car

Roadie 🪶Jack

Though the awnings at least weren’t of the cloth variety, they still seemed a little thin for people to go romping around on. But at least Jack was stepping lightly instead of making a whole stomping ruckus. Whether or not it would stay that way was anyone’s guess.

At the question, he swooped around to hang upside-down off the edge. Quite possibly this was the best way for him to almost look Melvin in the eye.

“Was hoping for some buried treasure, but now thatcha mention it I think I may’a gone in the wrong direction for that.”

Melvin Greene

Oh, wonderful, Jack was both a showoff acrobat and a real wisecracker. Maybe he should have expected that from the same guy who hopped onto the safety railings of a giant magic train on a drop that could easily kill you. It began to dawn on Melvin that he was probably not going to enjoy the conversation he’d just roped himself into very much.

“Yeah, you think?”

Oh, god, hopefully ‘low’ didn’t mean the Stationmaster was hiding underground somewhere. What an absolute pain that would be. Worse, it might mean that this guy was right.

“Guessing that means you don’t see anything useful up there.”

Maybe the sign was misdirection and the train was actually a small way off in the distance that you could only see from the rooftop. It’d make about as much sense as the ice door had.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Melvin Greene

Melvin Greene “Yeah, you think?”

“Only if I’m reaaaally bored.”

Jack paused a moment to keep the bottom of his hoodie from slipping, but he managed a few glances of eye contact as Melvin spoke again.

“Oh, definitely nothin’ useful up here.” He snorted before shaking some hair off his face. “Hadn’t really looked yet. Wanna gimme a hand?”

He offered a hand, as if he could actually help Melvin up here. Not the way Jack was currently set up, he couldn’t.

Melvin Greene

Jack earns a blank stare in return for his joke. Melvin… doesn’t get what he’s saying. The joke has gone right over his head - not too surprising, all considered.

“… Okay then."

He almost reaches for Jack’s hand instinctively before realizing 1) he doesn’t want to go up there 2) there was definitely no way the other guy was gonna be able to pull him up. Not just from that position, he’s just assuming as much from the general height difference.

“You’re outta your mind if you think I’m coming up there.” Actually, scratch that - Jack seemed like he was out of his mind whether he thought that or not. “Besides, you seem like you got it handled.” Did he though?

The railing incident continues to return to mind. Wasn’t exactly a sign that he could trust this guy… though he might not end up having a choice if the door was any indication.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Melvin Greene

It wasn’t entirely clear if the fact that the joke went over Melvin’s head went over Jack’s head in turn, or if Jack just decided to drop it.

He very slightly raised his eyebrows at Melvin starting to go for it, but the guy didn’t make it far. Oh, well. A moment’s faint amusement was better than nothing. Or at least that was sure how Jack lived his life.

Melvin Greene “You’re outta your mind if you think I’m coming up there.”

“Yes, and?” Welcome To His Twisted Mind.

Melvin Greene “Besides, you seem like you got it handled.”

His immediate expression was some weird combination of preening and sulking. Being upside-down probably didn’t make it any easier to decipher.

“But having it covered and having fun with it are two different things.”

“C’moooon, join me up here. Promise I won’t push ya off to your death or anything.”

He was very slowly starting to slide off the edge at this point. He really hadn’t strategized well for a whole conversation here.

Melvin Greene

Roadie 🪶Jack “Yes, and?” Welcome To His Twisted Mind.

Should have seen that coming, really. Instead of arguing about it, Melvin just sighed. Yeah, alright.

“… fair enough.”

At least he was aware of it. Which didn’t have a great deal of impact on how insufferable it was surely going to become over time. He couldn’t actually fault Jack for not wanting to do something tedious and boring - he was sure dragging his heels for similar reasons. Hold that thought again, remember ‘becoming insufferable over time?’

Roadie 🪶Jack Promise I won’t push ya off to your death or anything.

‘Over time,’ in this instance, must have meant ‘very quickly.’

Seriously, who SAYS that? Not that he took it as a serious threat or anything - he probably wouldn’t have even if he had somehow wound up on the roof(?) - but come on, man. The day was already going bad enough. The murder jokes could wait until everything had had a little more time to settle down. Sure, they were stuck for the foreseeable future, but How Much Worse Could It Get? It wasn’t worth picking a fight over.

“Well, if you promise then I guess there’s nothing to worry about. Can’t be too bad of a fall.”

Speaking of… he’s just gonna take a quick step back. No sense being in the impact zone if Jack fully slipped off. He was half expecting him to pull some more wacky acrobatics and save himself anyways. Maybe he’d have fun handling that, at least.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jack cackled, in his oddly quiet way. Just two dudes agreeing that one of them isn’t sane. Normal pro-social activity.

Melvin Greene Can’t be too bad of a fall.”

“Depends more on you than on the roof, doesn’t it? Guessing you don’t practice a whole lot if you’re a hat-wearin’ kinda guy.”

But for Jack, this was clearly the time to show off, even if slowly sliding off the edge of an awning wasn’t the ideal setup. He shuffled a bit, sliding further, then pushed off with his hands, easily flipping into a soundless landing that he somehow swung back around to launch himself a step up the wall again. Not enough air from there to do anything else particularly impressive, but enough to catch the awning again and flip himself back on top of it.

He rolled more languidly to look at Melvin face-up this time, Jack’s hands propped under his own chin.

“Do mucha that?”

Melvin Greene

Despite how obnoxious this guy was, killing some time talking to him still wasn’t the worst thing Melvin imagined he could be doing with his time here. Which really said more about his thoughts on the current situation than it did about Jack himself. The guy who totally wouldn’t push someone off a roof was still probably better company than half these jokers. Go figure.

Roadie 🪶Jack Guessing you don’t practice a whole lot if you’re a hat-wearin’ kinda guy.

What did his stupid hat have to do with anything?

… Ah, right, gravity. Which Jack was giving an admittedly pretty impressive demonstration of his ability to defy. He wasn’t going to say he thought it was cool, but the fact that his expression changed to something a little less grumpy was kind of a dead giveaway.

“Not really. Doesn’t pay well.”

He does not Spiderman 2 the pizzas. he just drives them around normally. Mostly. Probably. One would hope. And sure, he already wasn’t planning on going up there, but after that display? It’d probably look even more pathetic if he tried to.

“So you having fun with it yet?” he says, fully expecting some flavour of ‘no.’

Roadie 🪶Jack

Melvin Greene

It’s unclear if Jack successfully identified the mild shift in expression, or if he was just proud enough of himself to assume. Either way, he was satisfied with the response.

Melvin Greene “Not really. Doesn’t pay well.”

“See, that’s why you gotta grab your tip before the dramatic escape.” Not that he did that this time. Right? Unless he somehow managed to pickpocket Melvin during the split second they were on the same ground level, which would have been absolutely ridiculous. Right?

Melvin Greene “So you having fun with it yet?”

“For the moment. Can only bask in my own glory so long, though.” He looked over his shoulder, though he wasn’t really at a good angle to view the roof from here. “Mm. Rooftops’re usually pretty borin’ if nobody’s chasing you across ’em.”

Melvin Greene

Roadie 🪶Jack See, that’s why you gotta grab your tip before the dramatic escape.

“I’ll make sure to do that next time.”

It was obvious Melvin was not in fact going to do that next time. That one was a little too subtle - any implication that his wallet might be gone were lost on him. Not like there was anything worthwhile in there. If Jack had managed to pull that off, it would have been a waste of his skill. Enjoy the two brown coins and one grey coin like some kinda broke cartoon character while basking in your own glory, pal.

Roadie 🪶Jack Rooftops’re usually pretty borin’ if nobody’s chasing you across ’em.

“Seems like they wouldn’t be that exciting either way.” The roof itself probably didn’t get any more fun with the addition of running around, but Jack was the expert there. Apparently.

“You have a lotta close scrapes then, huh.”

If he was a thief by trade, he couldn’t have been that good of one if he got chased that often. Unless his mind really was twisted enough to just be in it for the thrill. Then again, anyone running after Jack clearly hadn’t caught him in a way that lasted, so maybe he was in fact That Good and did it on purpose.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Melvin Greene

Melvin Greene “I’ll make sure to do that next time.”

Jack got to his feet just to do a little bow.

“Oughta start charging ya at some point, huh?”

He took a few steps back to hop onto the roof proper, but he sure didn’t raise his voice any to compensate. At least he was still facing Melvin for the most part.

Melvin Greene “Seems like they wouldn’t be that exciting either way.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong! Same roof, sure, but now every little defect’s an active enemy looking to flank you.” He sure wanted to sound like an expert, at the very least. “Some guy waitin’ to trip you is one thing, but some guy waitin’ to trip you where another guy can follow up?” He shook his head. Apparently the conclusion spoke for itself.

Melvin Greene “You have a lotta close scrapes then, huh.”

“Of course! Where d’you think I got this?” He gestured to his face. “No, really. Guess, that’s always fun.”

He wandered the corners of the rooftop before pausing and nudging something with his foot.

“…Oh. Hope that wasn’t important.”

Moving on.

Melvin Greene

Roadie 🪶Jack Oughta start charging ya at some point, huh?

Melvin just sighs at that. Yeah, he’ll pass. Don’t do it. Does he really look like he can afford it? Please, Jack, have mercy on the little pizza boy.

Sure sounded like this guy knew what he was talking about when it came to roofs. A topic that had never really crossed Melvin’s mind, and probably never would again. At least if he was standing here talking to Roof Man, he was less likely to be bothered by someone more annoying. (I, for one, am delighted by his Expertise and Antics personally!)

Roadie 🪶Jack No, really. Guess, that’s always fun.

“… Don’t tell me, you tripped on a roof? Seems like that’s your thing.”

Wow. What an inspired and creative answer. Really used all his brain cells to come up with that one. Are You Having Fun, Jack. He spares a glance to whatever just got nudged for all of a moment.

“Eh. Wouldn’t worry about it. Can’t be too important.”

It’s just something from a magic train that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Which is already really frickin’ big. Couldn’t be too important at all.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Melvin Greene

“Oh, like I would trip!” Jack shook his head forlornly. “You’re close, though!”

Forgoing the thought of whatever he’d kicked down to the front of the building, he stepped back just enough to look Melvin in the eye one more time.

“Scimitar duel with a Mongolian warlord.”

He promptly turned and hopped to the awning on the other side, out of sight, and who knew where from there. Just gonna leave Melvin with that, huh.