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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 11:37 am
She took great comfort in the hands wrapped around her own, but somehow like Jack she was immensely more comforted that he was bringing up these things at all. Chel disliked arguments and fighting, but in reality she lived off the constant edge of fear that Jack provided to everything. Had he not been there to remind her how consistently she put herself in danger, she might not have left her room at all. Certainly there were probably better ways to make herself feel alive and secure (in fact, Chris had provided quite a few), Jack was her way and her mechanism.
But it didn't mean that in the moment she wasn't completely unsettled. Being contradictory was her nature. Now she was picturing that night in great detail and the squeeze to her hands came as a great surprise.
"Yeah, yeah I know," she told him, smile creeping on her face despite the aforementioned horrors because of the warmth spreading through her hands that interrupted her thoughts. "I'll tell you if somethin' happens. I promise this time, cross my heart."
Having his hands over hers allowed her to see all the bruises going up and down his arm where the cast had been. "How're you feelin'?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:25 pm
"Could be better." It always seemed that way. "Probably at least another few days before I can move without feeling like I need to put in a requisition order for a new body," he added with a sigh. "But...S'much as I complain, it isn't so bad right now." It could be better, yes, but it could be a lot worse too.
"Before I forget—I don't like gray areas, so moving forward I should probably explain something." Solitary thinking and the images of battle from the movie reminded him. "About that episode in the infirmary..." Jack's hands slipped from hers, physically and emotionally pulling back. "s**t, it's layered like an onion so I'll just stick to the basic summary. That Sahara mission? I got left behind at the end." He could say it now with only a twinge of bitterness as opposed to the more heated alternative. "Traded off so other people could live. So when it comes to s**t like abandoning a mission or whatever, m'just a little sensitive if it's my a** on the line." His words came out in more staccato bursts, not out of awkwardness like before but out of restraint. "So. This isn't an apology. I'm not sorry for that outburst. I don't care for her reasons, I still hope Talia ******** burns for it. I still might find her myself if she doesn't. Maybe even if she does. This is me clearing it up for you in case it crops up again in the future."
And a warning too, judging by the look in his eyes.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:44 pm
Chel didn't make a move to bring his hands back or to pull him towards her. If he wanted to recede, she would let him for now. They were opposites and she knew that- Chel needed to be reassured that a connection still existed, Jack needed to be assured that distance still existed.
"Makes sense," was what she concluded. She had a lot of thoughts about how Jack shouldn't seek revenge (it wouldn't make you happier) and how he needed to let it go (they ain't worth it) but she could see in his eyes that no matter what she said it was something he was going to hold himself to. Just the same as how she had promised Shun her loyalty. Stupid things that were going to get them kill anyways.
And a part of her felt guilty because in the past she would have left Jack's a** too. Now she knew she was just a fulfillment of his prophetic China visions. That above all else was what bothered her. How ******** whipped she had become.
Worse yet being that Finn knew it too.
"I can't promise you I'll stay out of your way, 'cause it's my job to get in the way I think." It was said more affectionately than self-deprecatingly, but the idea was still there. "But I'll try and have your back when I can." That was really the best promise any hunter could make. The situations and scenarios they dragged themselves into didn't allow for anything more.
She wiggled herself off of his lap and tugged his hand gently off the couch. "Let's turn on some music and pretend we're listenin' to it." Chel actually wasn't particularly in the mood at the moment (a rare thing, though not necessarily permanent), but the bed was at least more comfortable for such conversations.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 1:05 pm
Jack wondered if she'd stay this accepting if she knew everything. But he shrugged the thought off and pulled himself off the couch at her prompting. "I appreciate it," he said with sincerity as his foot narrowly missed the third beer can. "Both parts."
With a roll and crack of his good shoulder, he let her hand go again to pick up his mess. "What, like a normal couple?" Jack asked with a half-smile, making it sound like a terrible thing. "Fine. S'long as it isn't Christmas s**t."
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 1:13 pm
"Aw c'mon," Chel whined. "Jingle bells just totally gets me off Jack." She pulled up the small speakers she'd bought for herself some time ago and put in her ipod, picking a playlist that was very mellow and pleasant, but still rang with a very distinct Chel sounding energy to it.
She followed his lead afterward, putting all of his presents back into the box they'd come from and shoving it towards the wall so it stayed out of the way. When all was organized and music was softly playing in the background, she found her place on her full sized bed and gestured he do the same. "I wanna use one of my favors." It hadn't been more than 24 hours and she was already wasting them.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 2:58 pm
"I'll keep that in mind when my arm gets better," he replied. After tossing the empty cans away and drinking a little more of what was left, Jack set the can on the kitchenette counter and joined Chel on her bed with a curious tilt of his brows. "Already? Alright, what is it?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:05 pm
Chel was careful to avoid his arms, but didn't hesitate to curl around the non-injured parts very gingerly. She didn't mind that Jack didn't immediately embrace her back; she was very used to it and there was comfort in routine.
"Tell me 'bout your s**t before Deus. Family and everythin'. You never talk about it." She waved a hand between them and added, "I know about yer basketball and popularity, I mean the other stuff."
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 5:10 pm
As expected when anyone made an attempt to pry, there was resistance. "Counter offer," he replied with a slight tug of her shirt. "Make out now, worry about backstory some other time." He was recovering, not helpless. "Like normal," he added with a cheeky look, already leaning in without waiting for her answer. He was sure he didn't need to.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:56 pm
"Counter-counter offer," Chel responded, following his lead and kissing him in between words (Chel was very skilled in the art of talking whilst busy). "You quit avoidin' the question."
A beat as she undid a few of his buttons with one of her hands. "And we makeout."
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:14 pm
Somewhere in there was a scoff in the midst of insistent and stubborn answers that, rather than be verbalized, began to creep to her neck; whether it was an excuse not to talk or his intended path was hard to say. But it was easy to hear in the teasing nips under her jaw and and slide of his hand under her shirt: counter-counter-counter offer.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:35 pm
It was rather unavoidable that Chel recognized there would be no even number of counter's to the offers, and that Jack was done talking.
Somewhere between the last button coming undone (not the one on his shirt) and her hair coming down, Chel further realized that she didn't care if she got his past later or even never, because holy s**t Jack Hawthorn wanted her and that was undoubtedly more important than any shitty family life. She could go to her grave without knowing anything beyond the fact that he played basketball at some point.
Upon her second epiphany she released her lips from his and simply put her head in his shoulder, holding him very close in a straightforward hug. Dumbfounded would have been a good word to describe it- or mabye perplexed. A good feeling, was as far as she could nail it down.
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Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 11:15 pm
Surprisingly, in spite of how much he was indulging himself (as much as one could in his state), the abrupt motion was enough to break him of his little reverie. He felt the little pangs that was his body half-heartedly telling him cut it out, paused, and then let his hand curl into the small of her back. A reminder that he probably could have looked comical with only one good arm; or, on flip side, that this was just a teaser of the real thing.
Not feeling a need to interrupt the silence, Jack gazed mindlessly ahead (they never fully closed anymore except for sleep) and gently pressed several fingers over her spine, while gingerly he raised his other arm to interlock there as well. IOUs and a physical connection; maybe he didn't have to worry about getting her anything this holiday after all, since he apparently was being a lot more generous than he had all year. But it wasn't as though he hadn't missed something like this, something a little more than consenting acts between strangers; he had just forgotten the feeling until it was unearthed again.
And now he sat there, unsure of whether to continue to immerse himself in the feeling, or if he should pull back for the safety of his own mental health. Eventually Jack found a strange middle ground, with the slight pressure around Chel to hold her as an automatic action, the satisfaction of body heat allowed to be acknowledged, and his eyes still elsewhere.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 12:34 am
Chel was as unsure as Jack where their middle ground was, but unlike Jack she didn't get lost in her thoughts and instead focused on every tiny fingerprint on her spine, every bone in his body that cracked as he moved and the smug satisfaction of Jack pulling her back.
But the silence of the music player was killing her and so Chel finally said, "What's omma mean?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:10 am
A pause, then: "Mom. She wasn't ever Mom, though, she was omma." There was a difference.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:14 am
"Mm," Chel said shortly. "Forget I asked then."
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