(no subject)

[loose_cannon]

"Hey, uh . . . anyone here ever had to, you know . . . reconnect with anyone before?"

The question comes from a man seated at the edge of the forum. A heavy, fringed overcoat is draped over the back of the speaker's chair, and he's kicked his pair of dusty boots up on a nearby tabletop. Overall, it looks like the man would be more at home in the American west: he wears a bolo tie and bandana around his neck, embroidered denim shirt, heavy belt buckle holding up crossed gun holsters and reinforced jeans. The tanned, scarred skin of his face contrasts starkly with his shaggy white hair. At a glance, he appears to be (at least) in his late 40's, but his eyes have a youthful, fiery spark to them.

The gunslinger swings his boots down off the table so he can sit forward and pour himself another shot from a brown-bagged bottle.

"Family in particular?" He adds before taking a swig.

Comments

[bestdadinamestris]

Hughes happily takes the distraction of Elysia's photo and runs with the enthusiasm about it from Jesse. "She's always asking if she can help her mother out around the house. I swear, if Elysia could fit into them, she'd be wearing her mother's clothes, too." He laughs heartily as he thinks about it. There had been a morning where Elysia had tried just that not too long before he ended up in the Nexus. It was a fond memory.

"Uh, well..." You'd think a man who'd been in the military as long as Hughes or who constantly teased his best friend about getting a wife as much as Hughes did would be above embarrassment. "Things have been a little... dicey in my world. My wife's all for starting on the next one, but I want to wait a little longer. I do want another, though."

[loose_cannon]

Jesse avoids making eye contact as Hughes describes his daughter's antics with her mother. A hand rasps over his stubble and he looks pointedly at the bagged bottle at the table, but he knows it's long since empty.

"Fair enough. But!" He points a finger for emphasis. "Mind your age gap! I've got nine years between mine and that's just fine if you want the elder to help look after the younger. Otherwise ... better get to work!"

[bestdadinamestris]

It's quickly obvious that Hughes took his nonstop babble about his family went too far. Back home, he didn't care. Hell, he loved teasing his best friend about it all the time. It was his distraction technique when people annoyed him or when he wanted them to calm the hell down. Now, it just made him an ass. Oops.

"I... hadn't really thought about it like that." His cheeks take on a light, rosy shade of pink as he slips the picture of Elysia back into his pocket. "Guess there's a lot more to think about than I'd imagined. Now some of those conversations with my wife are beginning to make sense. I thought she was just being impatient until now."