Making Amends

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Macallan listened to Jasper as he explained his story of getting arrested. Jay had to admit that part of him hoped it wasn't going to bring forth painful memories of the guy, but it seemed to be quite the opposite . . . for Jasper was smiling and even laughing while telling the story. It was contagious, causing a smile on Macallan's lips and a chuckle to escape him as well. It sounded pretty funny with the way he described it. "Oh my god," he said, just shaking his head a little though thoroughly entertained by the mental image it posed. He knew Monty. Well, not personally but he had seen him around. Arkadia wasn't that big after all.

Macallan thought it was neat, with them knowing each other on the Ark and at least having each other when coming down here. But . . . he didn't know much else about their history. "Not gonna lie, that sounds pretty hilarious," he said. What a way to get caught. "Did you at least have a good pick up line for the guard?" He asked him teasingly, almost knowing that it couldn't have been too great if he was so high. At the same time, maybe it gave him more confidence or at least that point of don't give a damn. Which, had to have been the case if he had enough audacity to flirt with the arresting officer.

Tag;; @jasper420

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Jasper lifted his head again, still smiling faintly. Was this the most he'd smiled since Mount Weather? Probably, he thought. Macallan was just so easy to talk to. "I can't remember exactly. Pretty sure as he was handcuffing me I said something about moving on pretty fast to the kinky stuff." He snorted, scrubbing a hand over his hair.

"It's funny now," he added. "We sobered up real fast once they started to process us and it started to feel real. But now it feels like another life, and they can't float us for it now."

Tag: @macallan

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Macallan laughed once again when Jasper talked about the gist of what he said to the guard. Something suggesting kink with handcuffs. "You're a regular Casanova," he said teasingly. Yeah! He knew who that was! Macallan read . . . some. Jasper continued on, speaking of how they sobered up and were processed. The smile slowly faded, though a hint of it remained. Macallan couldn't even imagine that sort of fear of being locked up in the skybox. It was what his father had warned him off when he started getting into trouble. And hell, that threat had worked. It was bad enough walking on eggshells to make sure you didn't get floated. But, to be imprisoned and actually waiting for that day . . . sounded like pure torture.

Not wanting to bring down the mood, especially after seeing Jasper smile and laugh so much, Macallan tried to keep things less . . . serious. "Yeah they can't float you down here for sure." Though it was still an expression. The bartender had threatened -- or suggested -- to do that to him when Raven caught him stealing. "The most they can do is, ground you." Macallan let out a short chuckle at his own joke before stopping and giving a sheepish smile. "Sorry, bad joke." Maybe it was still too early to be making ground, and grounder jokes. Maybe in his attempt to keep the mood light, he had just killed it. Besides, he didn't know what else may trigger Jasper and he didn't want to be the reason anything did. Not again.

Tag;; @jasper420

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Jasper arched an eyebrow at the Casanova comment, but he didn't deny it. He'd been accused of that before, usually by girls he was trying to flirt with. No one had made that particular tease in months, though, for obvious reasons. Then Macallan went on to tell the dumbest joke Jasper might've ever heard (aside from the jokes Jasper and Monty used to come up with high and then realize they weren't funny later when they were sober). For some reason, it just made Jasper laugh, though. "No, I walked into it," Jasper said.

He smiled at Macallan for another moment, then realized he didn't know what to say now. But he wanted to keep hanging out with Macallan. He propped his arm on the piano again, this time resting his chin there. "So... can you play something now? Or... you wanna show me your guitar?"

Tag: @macallan

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Macallan smiled with relief when Jasper laughed at his corny joke. That was something that Macallan noticed people didn't do a whole lot of: smile, laugh. But it was slowly getting better. The vibe was slowly improving. He supposed that some like Jasper had been through more than others. Which was why he felt such a sense of pride for making him laugh and smile. His suggestion of playing a song or showing him his guitar brought a bright smile to his face.

"Oh! I can show you my guitar," he said with a hint of eagerness . . . ok so maybe more than a hint. But he was excited! He was damn proud of it! "Its in my room," he explained, pushing to a stand from his seated position. "I can show you there. Unless you were waiting for anyone else in here?" He asked, unsure what Jaspers plans currently were but hoped they involved him.

Tag;; @jasper420

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How did Macallan do that? How did he smile like that so exuberantly? Deep down, Jasper knew he used to smile like that too. That it had been easy once, like second nature. Maybe if Macallan would tolerate him being around a lot, Jasper could relearn how to make that expression from Macallan. So far, this was going well, though. Better than Jasper had expected.

He was grateful that Macallam seemed so eager to show Jasper his guitar. he'd tinkered at a piano, but he didn't recall having ever seen a guitar in person. He stood when Macallan did, shaking his head. "I don't have plans. I just... sort of wandered in here when I heard the music," he said, gesturing for Macallan to lead the way to his room. Jasper followed behind him as they walked. "What did you make it out of?"

Tag: @macallan

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Macallan continued to grin as Jasper confirmed that he didn't have any other plans for the time being. This could certainly be a good way to spend it! Besides, Macallan was all too excited to share his creations with someone . . . whether it was music or his instruments. "I used wood," he began to explain, leading them out of the room to his own. "And some wires I found. A few scrap metals for the ends. It's not perfect, but a decent first attempt if I do say so myself," he said, unable to suppress a proud grin.

He wasn't exactly a craftsman or an engineer. Maybe with their help, he could make a better one. But he didn't know any of them well enough to ask for such a favor. And he didn't have anything worth bartering -- hence the reason he had been trying to steal something before getting busted. When arriving at his room, he opened it and politely let Jasper go in first, if he wanted to that is. He was unsure whether the former delinquent would have changed his mind or not.

Tag;; @jasper420

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Jasper listened as Macallan explained how he'd made the guitar, following him down the hallways to his place. "It's probably better than anything I could do," he commented. He wasn't great at building things. Well, things that were meant to be beautiful, or create something beautiful, like art. If you thought explosions were pretty, Jasper could blow something up, but it wasn't quite the same.

Macallan reached the door to his place and let him in, and Jasper was a little charmed that Macallan let him in first. He wasn't really sure why, it's just that it seemed so polite, and this world was anything but. And well, they'd met because Jasper attacked him, so it was well within Macallan's right not to be nice to him at all. But he was, and Jasper didn't want to do anything to change that.

Jasper felt a little awkward just walking into someone's place, but he did want to see the guitar. The room was simple, nothing fancy, but there were a few papers with what looked like handwritten sheet music on them. Jasper smiled faintly and turned to look at Macallan. "This pretty much what you do all the time?" he asked, gesturing at one of the papers. There wasn't any judgment in his voice, though. It was probably nice to be able to spend your time doing something artistic.

Tag: @macallan

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As they walked to his aparmtent, Jasper commented on how it was better than anything Jasper could do. "We all have our own skills," Macallan said positively. "I mean, you got skills that I definitely don't have. And am already thinking of using," he said teasingly, but not without truth. Jasper had told him how he was good at sneaking into places. And well, that could be quite fun! Make for a good adventure -- hopefully one that wouldn't end in them getting caught. Once they arrived to his place and were inside, Jasper questioned as to whether this was what Macallan did all the time. He gave a bit of a shy smile, glancing at the papers and quickly stacking them up and setting them to the side.

"Pretty much," he admitted. He would have been embarrassed had he not loved writing, playing, and singing so much. He was more excited about it than anything else. "When I'm not hanging out with people, this is where I usually am." His little escape where he could create songs, and then share them with the others. "I'm not a very productive member of Arkadia's society," he said, laughing at himself a little . . . hardly considering that to be a bad thing with the way he said it.

Maybe he should feel more responsibility as a citizen here, but, his productivity came in a different form. "I like to share my music with other people," he revealed. "That day we . . . first met." Which was the best way he could put it. "I was playing that song in exchange for not being reported for attempted theft." He had gotten caught quickly, but he wasn't arrested for it because instead he was asked to play a song.

Tag;; @jasper420

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Jasper smiled faintly when Macallan spoke about not being a productive member of society, laughing as though that didn't bother him in the least. He wondered how it was so easy for Macallan, as it was something Jasper struggled with quite a bit. He hadn't been productive on the Ark, but on the ground he'd learned to fight, been in Bellamy's militia, made gunpowder, wired explosions, and been a leader within Mount Weather. And he'd been so thoroughly broken by it, by failing, failing Maya. He didn't know where he fit anymore, just that he didn't think he could be on the front lines of the fight anymore, and he felt aimless. And it bothered him, when he wasn't able to keep himself occupied with one thing or another. He sort of envied that Macallan could be so comfortable with not being "productive".

Jasper huffed a little when Macallan finished talking. "You really are bad at being sneaky," he said, sounding a little amused. "Lucky you had a skill to get you out of it, and that you have someone to lead you on your criminal journey for any future crimes you plan to commit," he teased. "What were you trying to steal?"

Tag: @macallan