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 Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:05 pm
Domestic
Chel's eyes mildly flicked to the tents for a moment. They weren't alone.
"Just the cold," she responded, not wanting the conversation that would follow the truth.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:22 pm
Domestic
He considered her answer for a moment, eyes tracing the tents with her. "Be right back," he said abruptly and turned to head into the trees. A minute later he returned with tinder to add to the fire, the only useful skill about camping he remembered from the days before Deus. Soon enough the embers began to grow into something warmer.
"Much better." It wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough. Jack held his hands close to the fire and was reminded not of cold desert nights but of the one he spent with Leslie in New York, half-frozen in an abandoned building, living from fiery hobo bin to fiery hobo bin. He glanced at Chel. "Do you want to be alone or...?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:34 pm
Domestic
Yes.
"Nah, come sit." Chel gestured to one of the chairs next to her. "Better yet, let me sit on yer lap." She let out a hoarse laugh, grateful for the spark of the fire that added a bit of dimension to the empty sound.
She sunk a little lower in the camping chair because of it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:44 pm
Domestic
Scoffing, he ducked into his tent for a moment and returned with his notepad and pen. The chair next to her was turned in the opposite direction so that they faced different sides of the camp while situated side by side; at least, he figured that was effective for a watch if they were going to share it.
"Almost makes me wish I could bring Barbara," he said after a moment as he slumped into his seat, legs sprawled before him. "S'already a shitty campfire without anything to roast over it."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:03 pm
Domestic
Chel stood up silently when Jack returned, went to her tent and got her headphones, and then moved to sit back in her camping chair. The headphones slipped over her ears and Jack was gone, the fire's gurgling was gone, and every once in a while when she blinked for a moment too long, China was gone too.
It was as close to Merlin's arrangement as she could recreate.
So she continued with silence, hands in her pockets and legs coiled tightly to her body on the chair. Her back slouched until her head touched the back of the chair; Chel somehow managed to fit her entire self in the tiny camp chair.
She let ACDC do the talking.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:27 pm
Domestic
Something sank in him as he watched her settle in again: cramped, curled, and quiet. There was nothing wrong with silence; there was everything wrong when it was like facing a wall.
Unable to tell if this was Chel's way of saying she actually didn't want him there or if this was how she usually spent her watch (which made no sense if she couldn't hear a damn thing beyond her music, though when had she ever made sense), Jack decided to stick it out for a while and see what would happen. It was either that or sit in his tent and stare blankly ahead into the fabric for an immeasurable amount of time, and at least the landscape and sky offered a view. He alternated between gazing out and writing cramped, poorly lit notes to himself on his pad.
Close to an hour after they sat down, he said, "Clap if you're still alive."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:37 pm
Domestic
Left to her own devices, Chel's mind began filling the gaps she'd left in conversation.
Of course I ******** up the shoes.
Why would there be one thing I wouldn't ******** up?
Return them he said. He didn't even want to see them.
Every once in a while she'd push a forced breath out of her nose; the only response that kept her feelings behind her nose.
I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine
If you're into evil you're a friend of mine
See the white light flashing as I split the night
Cause if good's on the left then I'm sticking to the right
"M'alive," she murmured. Jack's disturbance caused her to blink a few times, as though she'd somehow forgotten. "What're you writing about?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:45 pm
Domestic
A slight pause, as if he hadn't actually expected her to answer.
"Words," he replied. "You said I don't have a heart, right? Well if I plan on writing any sort of music, I need to find a replacement for it. Pretty words are a good start." He gestured up with his pen. "I didn't get to see a sky like this before, back home. It's a little inspiring."
All he had written down was stars, night, vastness, space, light, and numbers thus far.
"What're you listening to?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:49 pm
Domestic
"You got a heart ya ********' gasbag," Chel said, sitting up a little bit in her chair. She was still somewhat sleepy (being next to a fire made anyone sleepy, nightmares or not), but at least able to communicate.
And then Chel did something very Chel-like, and she stood up and stopped in front of Jack, nudging at his arms in a move, let me sit kind of motion. A locked stance would tell him that no, she was not going anywhere, and yes, he better damn well let her sit.
"Hells Bells. ACDC."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:02 pm
Domestic
His brows raised slightly, but after a moment he flipped his pad closed, slipped the pen through the metal rings, and dropped it by his chair. "I thought I was a clod," he sassed as he sat up, the motion for her to sit equal in attitude as if it was his idea all along. "'Hell's Bells'? Not bad. Not one of my top twenty, but not bad."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:14 pm
Domestic
She broke into a lazy smile, one that would have been wider had she not been in a state of near comatose. Chel flopped onto his lap relatively sloppily, both from being sleepy and from being a natural ragdoll. A few adjustments later and she had the bridge of her nose sitting in his neck with her legs propped up on the side of the chair. She was reminded how advantageous it was that Jack was a <******** giant.
"Yer a clod too." She had to take the headphones off (lest Jack want a face full of plastic), which left them in her lap. The notes to the next song, Shoot to Thrill, starting playing loudly enough that the noise could be heard even without them on, which really just went to show just how loudly Chel played her music.
Her pink hair splayed across his shoulders and fell down his side. "S'not my top ten neither. Don't think you ever told me your favorites."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:29 pm
Domestic
Grumbling at her less than gentle landing, Jack planted his feet so that their combined weight didn't have him slipping off the chair. "Changes with my mood, but usually it's a toss up between The Black Keys, Fleet Foxes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arctic Monkeys, and Led Zep."
Then, then he saw it, and he stared for a moment just to be sure it wasn't sleepiness settling in.
"When the ******** did you get that pierced?" he asked, actually curious about it. Chel, despite being the kind of person who probably should have been sporting tattoos and piercings out the a**, had been pretty clean up until now.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:33 pm
Domestic
"Led's one of my favorites," she told him in between a yawn that got buried in his jacket hood.
Her eyes were closed, but Chel was very much awake. "Few days ago. Don't remember any of it." It was true, too. "Punched a dude n' bled all over the place 'pparently."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:40 pm
Domestic
He snorted with amusement. "Did you now." One hand dug into his coat pocket, the other had to find refuge from the cold in hers since she was sprawled atop him. He tried not to think about the blood-crusted part. "So someone decided to let you into a place drunk to get it done? Really responsible team you've got here."
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:47 pm
Domestic
Blood wasn't so bad if you'd had it on you for two weeks straight and eventually stopped giving a s**t about your hygiene. But she tried not to think about his hand on her side.
"Two places," Chel murmured into his jacket, almost sounding proud of her place. "Punched the first guy n' walked right to the second one. Jerome's too much of a wuss to stop me I guess. He's a good guy though." And so was Dawson, so was Evan, so was every single person that tried to help her, it seemed.
"I like it," she said absently, pleased with her piercing. "Always wanted piercings n' tattoos n' s**t."
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