(no subject)

[allucinator]

[Jack appears on the network. It looks as if he isn't aware he's being filmed at first; he glances around him nervously, his eyes darting from place to place.]

So-- right. You guys don't got no newsies, yeah? But I'm grown outta that business anyway, so I figure, I'll do somethin' else anyway.

[And now he focuses on the camera. His eyes are a little sunken in; his cheekbones jut out sharply from his face. The entire effect is unpleasant; he looks like he hasn't slept or eaten in quite some time. Carefully, each movement deliberate, he takes a cigarette out of his pocket; his gaze focuses on that as he speaks.]

I draw pictures. Real good, if I do say so myself. Do paints, too. You want your picture done? You want your wall painted? Maybe you're in theater, you want some sets done, or maybe you want somebody to put a, a, a mural on your wall. If it's somethin' to do with art, I can do it. I don't give a damn what it is. I'll paint you and your stupid girlfriend if you want, 's long as you pay me. Name's Jack Kelly.

[He nods sharply, once, and lights up the cigarette.]

An' in personal business, a couple thin's: this gun's good an' all, but I'm in the knives business, meself. Anybody sellin' any good blades? I don't mean no stores, all right, I ain't lookin' for no directions to no weapons shops. I'm talkin' about the good stuff, the stuff you get on the streets. I don't got much money yet, but like I said, I got a few skills I can exchange.

An' speakin' o' them: I hear I got some roommates. Miss, uh, Galadriel and some guy named Guy? Well, I ain't gonna be in at all. Not for sleepin', anyway. So don't trouble yourself with that, when you don't see me come in.

[A deliberate pause. He exhales a lungful of smoke and watches it drift upwards before adding:]

Asano Rin. I got a bone to pick with you, and I think you know why.

Comments

[allucinator]

[He listens to all of that with an unchanging expression-- blank, nearly, and it would look as if he isn't listening, except his dark eyes are quite intent. He's silent for a bit, digesting all that-- and then, quietly, simply:]

All right.

[whatsupcroc]

( She places her hands carefully in her lap. )

What's that mean?

[allucinator]

Means all right. Means it sounds awful, but it's war, so, you know, I weren't exactly expectin' no picnic.

[whatsupcroc]

Good! Then the nice days are going to be good for you. We do have those! More than some people like to say. It's not always terrible. It really isn't! You get to meet so many good people, experience new things, get a chance to live in a way you might not have otherwise... there's good stuff, too.

( A man appears to give them both a glass of ice water, asking if there's anything they'd like to order. )

The Lentil soup, please! In a bowl.

[allucinator]

Oh, a roll, I guess. White bread.

[His stomach growls audibly, but he ignores both it and the amused glance the waiter gives him. Instead:]

So you don't regret gettin' pulled here?

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette manages not to look his way, though her eyebrow quirks up and she bites back the beginnings of laughter. )

No. Not for a moment, even when it really hurts, or gets really scary. There're too many really good things that happen too, and great people I've met, or places I've even seen. It's worth it, and -- well, you know. I said I'd tell you a bit more about what you're asking?

( It's almost a total tangent. )

I've never been to other worlds, but Vanadi met a version of me in the place he was in before. This is my other world. And I don't mind fighting to protect the important people I've met in it, or to keep their worlds from being destroyed from the outside. The ones where people want them saved, at least.

[allucinator]

Jesus.

[He bites at his thumbnail, taking in what she's saying. It's more than a little confusing, truth be told, but fascinating all the same.]

What's he like? Vanadi. I ain't askin' for no dirty details, just-- what's he like? He good?

[whatsupcroc]

Yes. Vanadi's the best! He has trouble being like, monogamous? If you care about that, but he doesn't like to fight, and most the time he's not even a big coward.

( She paints the prettiest pictures of people. )

He's a good person. He's like family to me! He's pretty social, and tends to be late a lot, but he's a good cook and he really cares on a surface level. I don't know if he can deal with caring about someone soul-deep, but hey, that's not for everyone, you know? He still saves your butt, no matter what. When you matter to him, you matter.

[allucinator]

[Jack relaxes, albeit subtly. Good, then. He'll investigate him further, but he sounds all right-- and Rin wouldn't speak of the asylum to someone she didn't trust. Good. He smiles thinly and says, dryly:]

Tell me he an' Rin ain't sleepin' together.

[whatsupcroc]

Um, wow, really?

( She laughs, blushing a bit because that's -- that's -- she does not think that much about other people's sex lives, and especially not Vanadi's! )

I dunno, probably not? Rin seems kind of -- careful about that stuff!

HAHA oh my god I laughed

[allucinator]

Good.

[Emphatically said, and just as the food arrives! Jack takes his bread quite eagerly, but he's careful to bite at it slowly.]

That's settled, then. What about my roommates, you heard o' them at all?

just as planned 8)

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette's all too happy to dip her spoon in the lentil soup to have no immediate response to that. Huh! So Jack feels strongly protective of Rin, she guesses. Family kind? Seems to be. He's not doing the vehement gotta-crush-on-you thing that she can tell.

Admittedly, people do that differently, so she doesn't even know that much for sure! )

Mmm, this is a good batch. Glad I went lentil today!

( Looking back to him, feeling her face is cooling down: )

Who've you got, again? 'Driel and...?

[allucinator]

Uh-- some guy named Guy. Guy . . . Cecil, maybe? I dunno. I like her, though. Seems real nice.

[whatsupcroc]

I haven't met Guy! With a name like that, though, I bet he's decent. 'Driel really is great. Just... hmm. Are you okay with psychics?

( It's an earnestly asked question. Some people are very uncomfortable with the idea of psychics. )

[allucinator]

Depends. What are they?

[whatsupcroc]

A lot of things, but the first one you'll notice is they're people who can talk to you with their own mind, and they have the ability to kind of read yours. Most of them don't! 'Driel's really respectful.

[allucinator]

What do you mean read-- what, like a book? Like, she could flip through me memories if she wanted?

[whatsupcroc]

Yeah, she could, but she wouldn't. There's this big code of ethics thing she has going on, it's very important to her! There's only one person she's gone through the memories of, with two other psychics. He's a guy from the United Earth -- he's still recovering from what the detox was like after leaving the UE. That is -- when they took him off the drugs. The um... when people aren't drugged like the United Earth wants them to be, it gets rough.

[allucinator]

Mm. I bet.

[He stares down at his roll for a few seconds, musing on that.]

Are there many from United Earth here?

[whatsupcroc]

The Exiles -- the natives, that is -- they're all from the United Earth at some point. People are born and raised here and all, but probably outside of the people who founded the Initiative, it's not like anyone's truly native.