Open Post

[trenchknives]

It's party time all up in this open post.

Comments

[thenormalsquint]

Don't say that.

[She frowns at that bit of negativity. Maybe he's done some bad things, but as far as Angela knows, Jimmy ain't a fortune teller.]

You don't know that. Just because you died here doesn't mean you'll die there.

[trenchknives]

The man who raised me is gonna kill me. I was on my way to...

[He laughs, because what can you do but laugh, really, in a situation so ridiculous?]

I was on my way to meet with him right before I got pulled back here. He was gonna kill me.

[thenormalsquint]

[She keeps shaking her head as he talks because it's ridiculous. No, it's not ridiculous. It's real and if his gut instinct tells him so, then it just might be true. Still, she can't accept him going back to his death. Justin went back to be dead. She doesn't need another friend going back to nothing at all.]

You don't know that. That's the future and maybe he was just going to yell at you, tell you he was disappointed. I doubt he was going to kill you. A father figure doesn't do that.

[Or so she would like to think, but Angela knows people can be surprisingly evil.]

[trenchknives]

I want to believe that you're right, 'n I wanna believe that I'll be around, but it's hard to, when I've known the guy my whole life, 'n I know what he's capable of. But none of that matters here, y'know? For now, I'm here, 'n I'm alive. Alive again.

[thenormalsquint]

[Nothing at home matters here. After a while, no one remembers what you did there or better yet, there's nobody to know what you did to begin with. For all the City's faults, it is a fresh start for so many people.

Angela reaches out and wraps her fingers around his wrist, holding on firmly, not wanting to let go. Unlike all the other dead people she's ever touched, he still feels full of life, warmth, and potential.]

Yes, still alive. Still warm. Still having a pulse. Still able to show people you're not a fuck up like you think you are.

[trenchknives]

[He nods, liking the physical contact, not wanting her to let go of his wrist.]

Some people don't come back with a heartbeat, I guess. I got lucky. I've still got time to...

[He shrugs.]

Well, I can't right a lotta wrongs. But I can try to do better now.

[thenormalsquint]

[For the moment, he gets his wish.]

You still got time to get over yourself. [She chuckles, thumb idly rubbing at his pulse point.] What's done is done, so you'll do better. I've got faith in you.

[trenchknives]

It's nice that you have faith, y'know? You're one of the few people who does.

[thenormalsquint]

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here, Jimmy. I bet Penny has faith in you.

[trenchknives]

She does. Mr. White does. Doctor Wilson does.

[thenormalsquint]

Four is better than none. Quality over quantity here.

[trenchknives]

Well, 'n you're all quality people. The kinda people I wish I'd been raised around, y'know?

[thenormalsquint]

[Angela laughs at this bit of hilarity because she is the worst person to be a positive influence on a kid.]

No, you don't want to be raised around me. I probably would have gotten you in a lot more trouble than you did yourself.

[trenchknives]

Ange, there's absolutely no way that's true. I was a little terror. A little terror with a real shitty haircut, too.

[thenormalsquint]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was three times worse than that. [Finally, she lets go of him, sitting back so she can slide down halfway in her chair, looking like she doesn't have a care in the world.] Minus the shitty hair, though.

[trenchknives]

Yeah, I can't imagine you with shitty hair. You've probably always been fuckin' gorgeous.

[That's not even said in a flirtatious way, just as a statement of fact. He's sad for her to let go of him, though -- he's always liked human contact.]

[thenormalsquint]

Yeah, I totally have been. It's the burden I bear.

[She nods without a bit of shame in her grin and pours him more whiskey before splashing a bit into her glass.]

[trenchknives]

Hey, I'm not complainin'. Besides, I like to think I look pretty good these days myself.

[He's not ashamed of bragging, either.]

[thenormalsquint]

[She points to him, finger moving up and down, from around her glass.]

In and out of a tux.

[Somebody stop them while they're still relatively sober and ahead.]

[trenchknives]

'n here I was thinkin' you'd be disappointed that I wasn't wearin' a tux today.

[Even without a tux, he's still dressed a lot more formally than many guys in the City do. That's something.]

[thenormalsquint]

No, I'm just disappointed you're wearing anything today.

[That's completely said right into her drink because it's not something she needs to be saying at a time like this or something he needs to hear.]

[trenchknives]

Well, y'know, I don't have to be wearin' anythin' today. It's not like I'm at work. A guy can sit around in his apartment wearin' nothin' at all, right?

[He really has no qualms about taking his clothes off around people, bad scars on his leg aside.]

[thenormalsquint]

[Well, shit. He heard. Oh well. Time to own her words.]

Yeah, no one's stopping him. No law against not wearing pants in his own house or anything.

[This has to be the alcohol talking... or just Angela. No, it's just Angela.]

[trenchknives]

[Oh, don't encourage him, Angela, because he's just boldly unfastening his suspenders and undoing his belt now.]

Y'know, I gotta warn you, the scars ain't too pretty, but you get used to 'em pretty quick.

[And it's not like he's going to take his underwear off. Unless she asks him to. But he definitely is unbuttoning and unzipping his pants, and shamelessly standing up from the table to take another swig of his drink and to tug them off.]

[thenormalsquint]

[Oh, she's encouraging, non-verbally at least, with a raised eyebrow that says she's clearly entertained. Even if this started out as a completely different situation tonight, she's certainly not going to turn down eye candy.]

Scars give character. I have a few of my own.

[She pushes her shirt sleeve up along her right arm, showing a few pink dots in a semicircular pattern on her flesh.]

Zombie sheep.