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 Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:06 pm
Chel nodded along all too familiarly when Jack mentioned a false alarm. She was very, very familiar with those.
"Who's Halmoni?" she asked first.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:11 pm
"Grandmother on my mom's side."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:28 pm
"Mm. Cranky grandma in-law, good to know for the wedding." The more she talked the more she retained herself. That was, until she thought about an actual wedding without Chris present. Such little things.
With Barbara gone she moved Jack's arm around her again. There was always a small breath of air she let out of her system every time she did something like that- worry that she would be met with resistance.
But right now she would take the chance. She needed him whether or not the thought of needing him made her sick.
She let out a heavy sigh and said, "I know it's real dumb but I wanted kids. Never gave a s**t about how I got 'em. Married, adopted, teen mom accident." She had always been terrified of the last one. "I like kids. They know what's up." Chris was always supposed to be the overprotective, weird uncle too. "Even if I'd be a shitty mom." She didn't know why she was telling him this. "I wanted 'em to grow up right next door to Chris' kids. Then they'd have someone good to look up to."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:48 pm
"You won't have to worry about her," he assured Chel, because for once Jack retained enough tact to avoid saying she's dead. No resistance was found; he'd expected it just like he had in the graveyard, and if he could only be useful with little things then so be it. At least it was more steps away from the stiff atmosphere from before and towards the familiar.
He couldn't say he was surprised: Chel was a people person, cared deeply, and frankly was childish herself. It was only natural she'd want a family. "I would've pegged you as a better aunt," he commented, avoiding the Chris parts. "You know, the one that kids threaten to run away to because they have more fun there and you have more sweets or something. All the joy of having children with only a quarter of the responsibility."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:07 pm
"Yeah ... I guess that's what I'm good for." But it didn't nullify her desires. Maybe that made her selfish.
Chel's hands went up to her eyes where she wiped away some stray water that hung on the edge of her eyelids. She let out an empty laugh and said, "Don't mean yer gonna stop usin' condoms. ******** if I want Bella's zombaby."
The mild comment was coupled with her taking one of his hands. I'm still afraid of the committment. "Can you help me get onto the rescue mission?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:21 pm
Jack made a small disgusted noise at the very idea. "I don't need you telling me that, I've already seen some stupid bastards who stopped in the infirmary..." Once, the sight had been nightmare fuel; it still was in some respects, but now it was also one of the few things he could call a macabre highlight of his day.
He turned his head and faced her with a small frown as their fingers laced. "What makes you think I can help with that?" he asked.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:37 pm
"I don't," she snapped. "But yer the only ally I got right now." Certainly she had other friends that would scramble to help her. Off the top of her head she knew Dawson would be scrambling over his heels and Lydia would probably be unsettled rooming with a dead man (he's not dead, denial told her). The problem was that both lacked the conniving scheming that lifers were so well known for.
"It'll take some convincing. Rescue missions are moon's thing." She held up their tethered hands to wave her bracelet. "Impossible problems are your thing I thought."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:54 pm
He hummed a little sigh, a mix of long-suffering and flattered, and withdrew in thought. "Did you really fight tree ents?" Jack spoke his thought process aloud. "I can work the angle of having a sun on board to make sure that's not a problem while the moons do their job. Mentioning prior service if they need more convincing around the bracelet; you've been on good behavior, no Merlin incidents...I might know someone who can help, we'll see. Depends on who assigns the mission really, since mentioning it's your cousin might help or hurt your case. Fallback plan'd be the always reliable schedule bump if I can get names..."
Jack pushed his glasses up with his free hand for dramatic effect more than because he needed to. "This isn't an impossible problem," he concluded with an air of importance that was meant to reassure.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:10 pm
The more Jack talked the more nauseous she felt. It was too many details coming at her at once, too many uncertainties piled on top of Chris' current status. She squeezed his hand once to try to get his attention to stop, but he just kept going. There were both advantageous and disadvantageous things about being in good hands.
"Prince charmin' to the rescue," she said, gently stroking her thumb along his hand. More calmly in reference to his glasses she murmured, "What a nerd."
She leaned into him and hummed something low. "You never did tell me about your life. I could use some tragic backstory right about now."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:28 pm
"Hmm." He lifted his arm and pulled her closer regardless of if that was her intent or not, then let his head knock gently against hers. "I don't think you want to hear about it all right now," Jack said. "Mood-killer and not all that great. But I'll let you have a question or two tonight."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:32 pm
Chel smirked as her nose bumped into his glasses and made the otherwise intimate motion clunky and awkward. She reached up with her free hand to slip the plastic frames off his face to better complete the motion.
"Start with ... Oh-mah?" She definitely wasn't saying that right. "What was she like? And your dad- does he have a word?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:56 pm
"Omma," he corrected her in a grumble because <******** the stupid glasses. After repeating the word in broken syllables for her benefit, Jack went on with a more smart alecky, "And Dad's word was dad, obviously. Both of them had jobs--omma worked for a perfume company's customer service, Dad was a substitute teacher who was really active at his church--and they enjoyed themselves until Dad and my grandmother wore her down enough to conceive a child. So."
His free hand made a jazzy motion.
"Deep dark secret number one: I was literally bargained for. Omma wasn't sure I was worth the extra stress, especially since their system was working just fine without a third wheel, but Dad always wanted to have a kid, and halmoni was getting on her case enough for dating a white guy without getting her any grandkids as compensation for the slight, so she caved."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:04 pm
"What's better, being carefully thought about or being an accident that led to your parents' shotgun wedding?" Something her father had certainly mentioned more than a few times late at night with too many tipped back.
She carefully shook her head and said, "Sorry, comparin' it like that's dickish of me." That was a trait gained from her mother- always comparing things to make everything black and white.
But it did make her antsy. "Spare me the part where they took you to pride rock and showed you off to Africa. Were they good to you?" She recalled Jack's words that just because someone wasn't physically abusive didn't make them good parents.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:19 pm
He blinked in surprise at the new information, then scoffed a laugh under his breath. "Experiment versus accident? What a ******** pair..."
But Chel wasn't the only one getting a little antsy about the subject matter. He didn't have a perfect memory at all, but he had a damn good one when it came to the sore spots in his life. "I wasn't good to them," Jack replied, hiding behind a smirk. "I was a lot worse as a kid. Surprised they lasted as long as they did."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:29 pm
"What a surprise," Chel said, "Even a d**k to your parents." Something more affectionate entered her tone without her meaning to. "Makes me feel real sparkly it does."
For a moment she'd forgotten, but thinking of her father led to thinking of her cousin. A shiver ran down her spine- strange how sadness could travel up and down one's body and seep into every corner so quickly.
"I won't ask nothin' more," she said, both sensing his unease and wanting to avoid family talk herself. "Question two ... You and Stor- Lina. Unless that's too much."
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