Post-Show Lecture

Posted on Fri Jul 6th, 2012 @ 10:34am by Jackson Banning V & Janice Gree

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Janice's Dressing Room - The Nexus Club
Timeline: Following "From Inaction To Action'

“...Thank you! Thank you! You’ve been a wonderful audience!”, Janice Gree, smiling as broadly as she could, waved to the patrons who were clapping and calling their appreciation. Ducking off stage, she accepted a towel and a bottle of water from one of the many bar employees. “Thanks, doll,” she casually handed out thanks and patted her neck dry with the towel, while drinking from the bottle and walking.

Someone else called: “Great show!” and Jan waved a hand just as she opened her dressing room door and disappeared inside. Immediately, she undid the fastener on her dress and let it drop into a glittery, sparkling puddle. Mostly nude now, she strolled farther into the room and nearly screamed on seeing that she wasn’t alone. “You! Get out! What are you.... are you hurt? Jackson?” Anger turned into concern. He looked like he’d taken a trip to hell and back.

“Hi Jan.” He was sitting in the deep, plush armchair beside the rack that held her onstage dresses across from the dressing table. His eyes were still red, a fresh blush after leaving Oz’s quarters. He still wore his tux pants and shirt, the neck open. It was more than obvious that he was scraped raw emotionally. Even his tone was ragged.

“Hey, yourself, Jack,” her tone implied there was an ‘ass’ on the end of that. “How about answering my question? Or, I don’t know, maybe telling me you were going to go run an errand and miss your set?” She knew Oralia had been in earlier and that she’d left in a hurry, with Jackson close behind her. He hadn’t broken up with that troublesome twosome. And that irritated her.

Jackson’s gaze swept over Jan as she stood, unabashed in a white lace bra, garter belt and stockings; the white stood out against her dark skin. “I swear, Jan, you just get better and better. And I’m sorry, it was an unexpected punch to the gut. I had to get out.”

She threw the towel in her hand at him then pulled a satiny, green robe on. Tying it closed, she said, “A sucker punch? Was she that mad that you were the last to see her runaway boyfriend?”

Jackson sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Partly. She started to ask why I didn’t stop him, but then admitted that wasn’t my job.” He paused and took a few beats to get a grip on himself. “She’s pregnant, Jan.”

Jan had just finished the last of the water in the bottle; the water came right back out, all over Jackson. “She’s what!?” She stared at him for a second, slack-jawed, then, with a horrified look, asked, “Are you... a... dad?”

He looked away from her, the pain rising once more as he slowly shook his head. “No. Connor. I never even got to touch her.”

“Oh.” Jan went to her vanity, opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of her favorite: Saurian brandy. Two shot glasses came out of the drawer as well and Jan poured a hefty amount into each. She then handed the bottle to Jackson. “Didn’t think you had, my dear. I wager you’d have been on cloud nine for at least a day. Either that or so wracked with guilt... Anyway. That is a sucker punch.”

She sat on the stool by the vanity and gave Jackson a good visual once-over. Frowning, she sighed, “Especially since you’re in love with her.”

He took the bottle and took a drink straight from it, not bothering to correct her. “And now she doesn’t know where the hell he is. I finally unloaded, Jan. I told her it’s time they wake up and find reality. And that she take charge of her life instead of just reactin’. I just got so fed up. She only showed up when they were fightin’ or he had, again, accused her of seeing me behind his back.”

“That’s why I told you to break up with those two! They’re bad for each other, bad for those around them.” Disgusted, Jan sipped from one of the shot glasses. “And now look at you. You’ve finally found your back bone but you’re even more miserable than before. Did she lean on you, cry on your shoulder and tell you you had to go find her man?” Janice didn’t like seeing Jackson upset. Fortunately, it happened so rarely that she couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen him this disheveled and distraught. “If she did, I hope to hell you tossed her out.”

“I told her I couldn’t be the buffer anymore. Then I went home and trashed my living room, found a little self-respect, and went to see her.” He took another sip, his gaze locked on her face.

She’d been about to congratulate him, but those last few words stunned her into momentary silence. She blinked, bit her bottom lip then shook her head. “Jacky, Jacky. I thought you were smart. I thought you knew better than to head towards a black hole!” Jan sighed. “I take it that going to see her didn’t work out very well for you.”

“I’m calmer, actually. When she left my office, it sounded as though I was turnin’ my back on her an’ I had to make sure she knew I wasn’t. She’s got a lot to deal with and is gonna need a friend. But that’s as far as I can go. This situation, it’s hers and Connor’s to work out, not mine. An’ gettin’ involved is only gonna hurt me more. I can’t go crawlin’ back to her an’ then have her step over me to get to him.”

In her head, Jan tried to follow that logic; one finger ticked from left to right and back as she tried. “So... you told her you would be involved, but you don’t want to be involved ‘cause that’ll only end in you getting hurt. I see. What did she do?”

“As a friend Jan. She’s gonna need her friends, especially if things don’t go as planned with Connor. She’s ready to toss us both aside, and I think that might be wise till she figures out where her head is. She has more important things to think about than us. This all just sucks. A baby....Jan, that should be the most wonderful news ever, something to be thrilled about. An’ she can’t be because the father is missin’ and even if he comes back, things are so....strange.”

She made a noise of disgust and commented, “He’ll be the last to know he’s due to be a father.”

“Why’s that? You think he’ll stay gone that long?”

“Goodness, I hope not. But she already told you. I imagine that spider of hers knows; and you know that what the spider knows, other people know.” Janice was a good listener; she’d heard a Security Officer complain to a companion that he’d learned more than he needed to know about Oz from Iggy. “Word will get around, probably long before that boy surfaces.”

“True.” A soft sigh escaped Jackson. “What do you do Jan, when you finally realize that what you’ve wanted for so long is just not gonna happen? I guess I hoped it might, even so, but now, this pretty well cements her ties to Connor.” He turned his blue eyes on her, his expression utterly lost.

Janice moved to his side, and put a hand on his hair, much like a mother might when comforting her child. “Grieve and move on, Jackson. Those two are lost causes, child.”

“Why would she stay when it was so crazy? I told her...a relationship should be good, not anger, or accusations of cheatin’..you get the idea.” He closed his eyes a moment, leaning into her hand.

“Oh, honey,” Janice shook her head. “I should have told ya this a long time past: I’ve seen Oralia’s type before. She’s so afraid of being alone that she can’t see when something is rotten.” Jan couldn’t know it, but she wasn’t entirely correct about Oralia; she was unaware of the bond between Oralia and Connor that was a result of him saving her life and her seeing into his head with Li Hawke’s help. She didn’t know of the good times Oz and Connor shared.

“And she says she loves him. Never ever said that to me, so there ya go.” He took another drink from the bottle.

“She probably does, and he loves her, just in their own, unique ways.” Jan frowned and went back to her stool. “Jackson, do you think I love you?”

That stopped Jackson completely, and he blinked back at her. “Wow, Jan, I can’t rightly say that I have a clue. We’ve worked together an’ been friends for more years than I can count an’ aside from laughin’ when I say yer the perfect woman for me, I dunno.”

She turned a glare on him. “You know I do, even though I’ve never said it.”

Jackson still looked stunned. “Just what are you gettin’ at Jan?”

“You know I love you because of the things I do. You haven’t needed me to say it.” She shifted and fussed with how the hem of her robe fell, talking as she did so, “Seems to me you know where Oz is on that, too, in the same way.”

“No, I’m not so sure. If she did, we wouldn’t be in the current situation. An’ Jan, about you, exactly how do you mean that?”

For a moment, Jan looked like she might smack Jackson; the moment passed and she chuckled. “You’re a bit young for me, Jackson. I mean it like a mother; besides, mixing business and pleasure? A sure way to make both fail.” She looked him in the eye, “Do you honestly believe she doesn’t love you? Isn’t that why you made Connor so crazy that he smashed up the guitar?”

“Then why didn't she.....” He stopped and shook his head. “We may never know why she didn’t come to me, and now it’s a moot point.”

Frowning, Jan lapsed into silence. Oralia had come to Jackson, multiple times that Jan knew of; at least once, she’d kissed him. But Jackson was right: it was a moot point. The girl had made a choice and was now reaping what she’d sown. “Grieve and move on, Jackson,” she repeated softly and gripped his hand in hers.

“I’ll try. I promise.” He raised her hand to his lips. “What would I do without you?”

“Wallow in misery?” She smiled. “Maybe you should be sleeping somewhere besides your own bed tonight. Come back to my place; you can have the couch.”

“I’ll come over later, I need to go try and put my place back to rights.”

“That can wait. You need some sleep first. Tomorrow, we’ll get Vic and Eli to help you with your place,” she said, while moving around the room to gather and don clothing.

“Okay, ya twisted my arm. I’ll grab another bottle of this to take with us.” He smiled finally, watching her dress to go. “You’re lookin’ better than ever Jan. And for what it’s worth, I love you too.” The words came easy for Jan, the same words that had always been impossible to say to Oz, and now might not ever be said. At least he felt more like his old self again, and Jan was right. As usual.

“I know you do, Jackson,” she smiled at him, “Just warn me the next time you’re hiding in my dressing room. I usually charge for shows like this.”

“But I’m your partner, you mean to tell me my peeks aren’t free?”

“Hmmphf. You, I should charge extra.” She moved to the door and paused. “Are you going to walk through the Club looking like that?”

“Like what? I have clothes on.” Jackson stood, the bottle of brandy in hand.

“And you look like you’ve gone through hell in ‘em. Here,” she moved back to her dressing table, grabbed a wet wipe and came back to him to smooth the wipe over his face. “That’s slightly better.”

Jackson looked into her dressing table mirror and rolled his eyes. “You’re right. We can go out the back way after I run to the storeroom. God, honey, I need a vacation.”

“Risa. I’m telling you, it’d be a good thing. Lots of sex, honeys running around nude if that’s your thing,” she shrugged. “You know that human saying: to get over someone, you get under someone new.”

He stepped to the door and turned out the dressing room light. “Do you think that really works? Risa’s a little far but at least I could go down to Archadia.”

“I don’t know, Jackson. Maybe you could try it, though. Conduct your own experiment.” She made way for him to head to the storeroom.

“I did, last week. Be proud of me, I actually had sex. I don’t think it’s gonna work out but it’s a step.” Jackson unlocked the storeroom door and stepped in to get the brandy.

“Get out!” Janice pushed Jackson into the storeroom. “You... and...,” the wheels were turning in her head, “...ugh, the doctor, right? That’s another tar baby right there.”

“No shit, Jan.” He emerged from the storeroom, bottle in hand. “It’s time I picked someone who comes without all the weirdness.”

“Just go pay for it. No strings, no baggage.”

“Ugh. You know Seyla would be happy to oblige my wallet.” Jackson locked the storeroom, then they entered his office and crossed to the back door. “But I am not goin’ there. I want less weirdness, not more. You ready to run for it?”

“Yeah,” she glanced back, knowing that Vic would know what to do about closing the Club. “Let’s go, handsome.”

“Right behind ya. The view’s better back here anyhow.” He goosed her, then closed the door behind them.

*********
Jackson & Janice
Owners & Best Friends
The Nexus Club