underachievement | IC INBOX / the quiet place.

Rifles don't backfire. [ wait this isn't nra class, frank, but he leaves it there. he knows what she meant, obviously. without thinking about it, he hands her the whiskey bottle she's reaching for and leans on the back of another chair. he's too wired to sit, and after a moment, max gives a little doggy-groan and flops over on his side. mom and dad are fighting again. ]

You know, I'm not a soldier anymore either. [ but old habits clearly are not dying any time soon. after shifting from foot to foot a few times, he pulls out the chair and sits adjacent to her. ] It's a good idea. Micro, Trish, Dorothy. When?

[ Well there you go. Pudding proof she ain't cut out for jackboots, as at home as she'd look in them. Pouring, Jess rolls her eyes at his weak renouncement of a military life. The addiction to risk is still flowing strong or else he would drop his obsession with "being there" for her. ]

As soon as possible. And I want you to test it again when his arrest is up. [ rather than chuck any of the others in the line of fire. Plus they don't know how long the inoculation will last. ]

[ he nods, he had been planning to test it again the next opportunity he got anyway. but as ever he'd almost prefer to hear it from jess. ] I will.

[ frank hesitates over the next part - the part where he leaves is always the part he gets hung up on. ]

Jess... [ he trails off, knowing he should just quit while he's not even close to ahead. ] Are you okay? [ yep. even lamer than it had sounded in his head. he just barely holds back the grimace. ]

[ Jess stares into the ceramic basin of the cup, trying to hear herself answering that question. She's never okay but he's right to notice this is different. Kilgrave's actions against her, shunted off on unsuspecting strangers, have all been approximate jabs. Assumptions on how to disturb her and she could passively rebel against them by refusing to be caught giving a fuck. With Trish out in the open, her deepest weakness is exposed; he hasn't done anything but threaten her and Jess feels fucking vivisected.

To think, a couple days ago she was concerned about caring too much about a building. ]

She's the only one I can ever save. [ Her voice sounds as dry as if she'd been swishing sand around in her mouth. Murmuring bitterly as she raises her glass to drink, ] She shouldn't be here. [ Three guesses who feels irrationally responsible for even a portion of that. Use a lifeline if you need to. ]

[ he clasps his hands on the table top, his knee bouncing restlessly though he's hanging on her every word and cataloguing every change in her expression. he gets this. first with micro and now with matt. he nods like there's gravel in his head, slow and deliberate with understanding. ]

I know. [ people like himself and jessica -- they had nothing to lose. or they didn't until the one possible thing they did was dragged in with them. frank used to think there was a pattern to the bullshitness of it all, but random's somehow worse. ] I get it, but we will. We'll save them. My brother, your sister. [ there's a weird poetry to it, really. ]

[ She reflexively resists the "we", intends to chug through his audacity, like always, but stops halfway and lowers the cup. It's not the same "chin up, soldier" bullshit she's rebuffed until now. If he really is immune, then Jess isn't alone anymore. The full scope of that relief is daunting as hell, and that's if she'd had half a night's sleep. As she is now, it challenges comprehension. No wonder it won't sink in. ]

And then we'll all grab some fries and people watch in Washington Square. [ She scoffs listlessly then upends the second half of the whiskey into her mouth, getting it down in two huge gulps. The base thuds loudly on the table's surface, summarily abandoned now that its highest purpose has been served. ]

Yeah. [ he looks down at his hands as his lips turn up into a shallow, mirthless smile. ] It's a date.

[ frank watches her down her drink as he rises to his feet suddenly with a scrape of his chair. the sound startles max and gets up too, transitioning into a big yawn and stretch. ]

We're going back out to the Tower to see them. [ he doesn't think the 'them' really needs to be specified. besides, he knows she read his post even if she didn't comment. ] When we all come back I'll send Dorothy and Micro your way.

[ Might as well be. As far as intimacy goes, it'd be a step backwards from having her blood inside him. Jess watches him get up, sinking further into her slouch. ]

Bring me back a snowglobe. [ Sarcasm! Although, knowing him, there's a 60/40 shot he'll do it. Jess thought about going, for all of a minute. If she had another month before Kevin's release, she could summon the time and patience for a camping trip in the interest of gathering data, taking photos. That's not the case and she still doesn't have the luxury of making the Sound Eaters her first priority. Maybe next time. ]

[ he never expected her to go, though in that moment he considers asking her. deciding he's not up for the rejection, he nods haplessly along to her suggestion. ] Settle for a postcard? [ it's as close to an 'I'll miss you' as anyone's likely to get from him, so of course the woman who's always trying to drive him away would get something like it first. ]

Edited 2018-03-21 04:48 (UTC)

Nope. [ They're almost equally useless but a snowglobe she can shake around or toss at him when he oversteps his bounds. A postcard would just flitter around like an idiot. The subtle cadence of his sentimentality is lost on her as she pours her mug full again, passively resolved to passing out at the table instead of making the trek to her bed. ]

[ frank nods, more or less expecting that answer. joke's on her because he's going to find her that snowglobe if it's the last thing he does. and the way things are going around here, it just might be. ] I'll see what I can do. [ he matches her resolve with his own to let her get blackout drunk in peace. he motions to the dog to get up and get on his way, then throws a tired smile over his shoulder at her. see you on the flipside, jones. ]

IC INBOX / the quiet place.

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