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 Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 5:49 pm
"She's not what I'd call normal to begin with, but yes." The flaring pain from the blood lettering didn't keep him from leaning back when the alternative was sitting up. The ache he'd gotten used to. Being too exhausted to sit up was worse, and didn't even make sense; he'd slept for hours on end, and just because he couldn't force himself to again didn't mean he felt anymore awake.
"Far as I know, I love her more than the world. --Don't smoke, okay? It's bad for you." Not bad enough to keep him from fetching a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. Unless those Senshi healing powers extended to the lungs (he wasn't sure), his running speed was going to start suffering for this. "I'd explain it better if I could, but I barely know what's going on anymore, if I ever did. Sometimes when we're together, even if it's her talking, it doesn't feel like it is. I know it doesn't make sense."
Three smoke rings rose into the air.
"And sometimes, when I talk back, it takes me a few seconds before I realize it was me who said anything. Sometimes I swear there's two versions of us both, maybe all of the Zodiac, and sometimes I think mine..."
Sometimes, he thought his was trying to kill him.
Jude shook his head. "Nevermind. Anyway... Yeah, I do. But when you're a Zodiac, all you're allowed to care about is Princess Chronos, or at least that's how she thinks." No, it was how he thought she was thinking. There just wasn't a difference to him. "My advice would be don't be a Senshi, don't date, and especially don't date a Senshi."
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 5:59 pm
It was kind of sad, really, to see Jude so hung up on a girl, especially one he hadn't even really met. There was a reason he didn't have a high opinion of most women – his mother excluded – and this was definitely a contributing factor. He'd always thought that Jude was pretty tough. Whether or not he actually dealt with the problems was irrelevant, but he always seemed to just shrug them off. It would figure that a girl would be the one to tear at his seams.
"I'll try and remember that." Barnaby didn't bother to remind Jude that Senshi had secret identities, and thus he could date one without even knowing it.
He let the silence slip between them again, but it was an easy one. Nobody had to talk if they didn't want to. That was the best way to do things, especially when you didn't have any epic advice to offer. Barnaby had only ever had a small number of girlfriends, and of those he was sure only three of them probably counted. They hadn't gotten very far, nor had they lasted very long, and as such he didn't really have to experience to offer Jude any kind of relationship advice. The fact that his friend's girlfriend was bordering on 'crazy b***h' didn't exactly make his life any easier. But if he couldn't offer any advice, the least he could do was put a bandage over the cut, so to speak.
"Come over. I haven't kicked your a** at Smash Brothers for a while, and I'm starting to miss it."
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:10 pm
"Good."
Silence.
Jude had discussed girls with Barnaby enough to know his opinions on them, but part of him had always thought they were just saying those things to hear themselves talk. It was normal for guys to yap about girls, wasn't it? He'd never meant to give him more negative impressions of Hero. She was batshit crazy, but he was, too. He had to be by now.
"Yeah, okay." Just like that, he went along with it. Led around like some lost child. A sad sight indeed. "Why are we even friends, Barnaby?" Jude asked suddenly, but some comfort could be taken in him digging around for a shirt. If nothing else, he was willing to get up and go somewhere.
Kittens were waiting for him.
"I'm not asking for an essay, but I really don't get you. Do you just have some magnet to people who are a complete mess?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:31 pm
Okay? Just like that?
Barnaby blinked, but seemed to recover from the surprise of having his offer so easily accepted. He would have thought Jude would want to mope around in his apartment for a little while longer, but perhaps he'd been doing enough of that already. In any case, he gave his friend his usual crooked grin and got up off the side of the couch. Thank God he brought the car with him.
Jude's question, however, was much harder to recover from. For a moment he just stared at him, and then snorted softly, shaking his head. "There's nothing really to get. It is what it is. We're friends because… we are." He didn't have a reason; at least, not one he could find words for. It was the simple truth that he liked Jude. He was a good guy. They hung out together, they shared hobbies, what more did he need?
"What should I say? I only hang out with you because I'm trying to get closer to your sister?" He teased, as he made his way towards the door.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:39 pm
One of them thought too much, the other not enough. Maybe it was for the sake of balance they'd been thrown together.
"I'll have you know my sister is a beautiful young lady," Jude defended. The banter between them was missing a lot of feeling behind it, but again, he was moving. Doing something. "But we don't really marry our family in Alabama, so don't take that the wrong way."
In the pile of wreckage he managed to find both a shirt and a comb and tame his hair some. Not the picture perfect vision of an upstanding citizen, but good enough. "Alright, let's go."
The car ride there was full of Senshi stories; mostly the latest update involving Leo and Magellan. "--So finally, we tackle the damn thing and stab it in the face until it dies."
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:54 pm
Barnaby would probably resent the not enough comment, had he known it was made. But, then again, it was probably true.
He gave a short, snorting laugh at Jude's comment about his sister. It wasn't much, but it was better than Jude moping about. The redhead was tempted to hold the door open for his friend just to cause trouble, but decided against it at the last minute. Instead, he held the car door open for him, before hopping in the driver's seat and starting the car.
Senshi stories weren't anything new, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in them. He made all the appropriate noises during the telling despite the fact that he was driving. Barnaby, unlike Jude, could drive and talk at the same time.
"Face stab? That's pretty gory, man. You shoulda just gone straight across the throat. Make it quick."
He turned the wheel and reached over to push the garage door opener, pulling the car inside as it opened.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 4:50 pm
Somewhere after the story but before Barnaby's comment on it, Jude had asked his friend if he'd heard anything. His answer was no, so he let it go.
"It was as fast as we were going to get, and--" Now he knew he'd heard something.
Screaming?
"You can't tell me you didn't hear it that time. I'm going to go check this out. You stay here, okay? If I don't get back to you by tonight, I'll call you tomorrow."
Jude--no, Sagittarius--waved hurriedly then rushed toward the sound.
This was going to be one of those days.
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