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 Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:56 am
Between work, school, taking care of the house, and the Dark Mirror Court, Jett had found far too little time in his schedule for the things he loved. The amount of time he’d spent boxing had been cut down, he’d been sleeping less, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d just taken a day off to go do something fun. His plate had been full even before the Surrounding, but now he found himself in dire need to adjust his schedule to make everything fit.
Which was just ******** insane.
He’d been working hard, trying to keep his life together without screwing anything up. Jett had always been the sort to aspire for too much at once, but he had never been the type to crumble under pressure.
He just needed a day off.
The concept to skip school had appealed to him—he could have slept in, caught up on chores around the house, gone shopping. He’d avoided the temptation and had crawled out of bed, dragged himself to school, and spent countless hours wasting away for his education. He’d been fortunate to get called out of work, so was quite pleased that his reluctance to skip school hadn’t meant he’d lost all chance of a day of downtime.
School had gotten out and he’d done what needed to be done—got enough groceries to get through the week, straightened up the house before his mother came back from her business trip, and then decided that there was no way in Hell that he was going to cook for himself.
For as good as Chinese takeout sounded, the appeal of heavily salted fries had Jett putting on his coat and heading back out once again. By the time he’d gotten his usual meal, he was too hungry to wait to eat, and decided that he’d take advantage of the setting sun and go eat in the park.
Settling down on an empty bench, he leaned back and pulled out his fries. Though it was slightly chilly, he was comfortable, and just taking a moment of silence and watching the colors of the setting sun blend together. It was relaxing—and peaceful. People were still out; he could see them walking along the pathways through the park, albeit it seemed to be to the point where people were trying to head home before the streetlights flickered on. He didn’t blame them, but he wasn’t in any rush; he had his fries, and he wasn’t going anywhere until he finished eating them.
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:47 pm
Candice was starting to feel she lived a sad life. So she died and came back to life. People would think that after an experience like that they'd be more fun. That was definitely not the case for Candice. Although she was still actively pursuing her hobbies from before, they only seemed like a temporary distraction. It felt like she needed something stressful to keep her relaxed and not wanting to suspect every damn person of being one of those... 'senshi'. "What in the world were they anyways?! They just seemed like funny people dressed up for Halloween to me!"
She had spent yet another day studying, purposely overloading herself so she'd have to study. On her way home, she stopped by to get some curry in the curry joint that seemed oh-so-popular amongst college student. Candice knew that she didn't want to eat anything at home, so it was definitely worth the trip.
As she held the box of food with one one hand, chopsticks and her book bag was in the other. Candice opened up the box and the smells of the curry seemed to swirl around her. "This smells so delicious! No wonder people like going there..." She took a bite and it seemed like her eyes rolled back in her head. "I think I found my favorite restaurant in the area!"
Once she reached the block that was sorta close to home, Candice felt like she didn't really feel like going home straight away, so she decided to tahte the 'scenic' route through the park. Sure, it wasn't the safest place to go, but Candice didn't care; she felt like the curry just had to be eaten outside.
Candice kept munching as she walked through the park. The taste and the smell of curry was just so... delicious she wasn't really looking around much. It wasn't until she walked by someone sitting on the bench that she noticed the face looked familiar and walked back a few steps. "Hey... I think I know you! You're the one that went all kissy-face with Raven!"
With her mind still thinking about eating, she definitely didn't realize that it wasn't the best way to greet someone...
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:20 pm
The peaceful viewing of the sunset was abruptly interrupted by some girl standing right in his view. Jett had a fry lifted, already halfway to his mouth when she spoke, though all movement halted for a split second as he tried to identify her. The light from the setting sun behind her made it a little more difficult, though not impossible.
He shrugged, eyes on her face, and put the French Fry in his mouth. “Yeah. And you’re that girl that was tearing off her shirt and making out with Raven, too, aren’t you?” he prompted, though there was little doubt in his voice. His time with Candice had been short, and he found that though he recognized her face, he did not recall her name. The instance in which they’d met had been a rather tumultuous time and he’d had far more important things to do.
The thing he remembered moreso than her face, was the form of her barely clothed body—which was a sight he, unfortunately, didn’t get to see right now. He reached for another fry, not quite unfriendly, but also not making too much of an effort to accommodate her after her greeting.
He didn’t like to be referred to as the one who ‘went all kissy face with Raven’—especially considering that the girl had locked lips with everyone and their mother already. Practically anyone could be referred to as “the one that went all kissy-face with Raven”.
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:47 pm
Candice laughed out loud. It kind of seemed like she was on a happy-high on finding food she liked. "Yeah! I'm Candice," she said as she put her chopsticks into her food, tucked her book bag under her other arm and held out a hand. "Sorry for never really introducing myself. I'm pretty sure even before we never had the time or capability to do so." She kind of half-wished people didn't remember what had happened up there, mostly because she didn't want things to be remembered as well as her not wanting to remember dying.
She smiled at him, a little bit flushed from remembering about kissing Raven. "Just saying, but in no way was I actually attracted to Raven in that way... It was all the colors' doing." Candice some how felt like she had to say it out loud to make it true. She never really did talk to Raven about that again. The feelings around it made her curious still, but Candice never really wanted to follow it.
"I'm glad to see you're okay though. I would guess you and Raven managed to find each other again...?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:04 pm
Chewing the fry he had in his mouth, Jett brushed his fingers across his pants to wipe away any salt and grease. “Sure,” he said in a tone that denoted a lack of belief. “Raven’s got everyone hanging over her. Boys, girls.” He shrugged. “I guess she’s got a sort of charm.”
Or just a really great rack.
He held out his hand for her. “Nice to meet you, Candice. Officially, of course.”
Jett didn’t like to count their first meeting; he still hadn’t forgiven himself for the petrifying fear that had consumed him. Fear was not an emotion Jett appreciated, and felt he had very much disgraced himself in the Surrounding upon the first arrival by allowing such a useless emotion to rule him. Pretending like the incident hadn’t occurred was harder than he’d have liked, though instead of dwelling he continued with conversation. “I’m Jett. What brings you to this neck of the woods, dinner call?” he prompted.
He hadn’t missed the food she held—or the smell—and was once again pining for Chinese food despite the fact that the sharp, stabbing pains of hunger were since eluding him now that he’d started munching on his fries.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:12 am
Candice smiled at his remark, but felt like he was kind of upset at the same time. "It seems like Raven's always been getting a lot of attention. I'd think she should be used to it now, though." But Candice just wanted to say something... reassuring. "Remember when we were at Virgo getting attacked by that spider-thing? Raven pretty much freaked out when you disappeared. I'm pretty sure you're important to her!"
After shaking Jett's hand, she sat next to him, hoping that it was okay. "After everything that happened, I spend a lot of time just studying. It kind of keeps my mind busy and... Keeps me from thinking about the fact that everyone died."
She put her book bag down and stared into her food, playing with the curry still warm and aromatic. "I stopped by the curry place around here because I heard people raving about it so much. I only got one box, but you want some?" Candice held out the box to Jett, wondering if he'd take some.
"We've both kissed Raven so I'm pretty sure we've shared germs before!" She smiled and winked at him. "I'm not scared of germs anymore, if you want some, anyways!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:23 am
While Candice was speaking, Jett was doing his best to listen and not be distracted by his own internal thoughts. Not everyone had died in the Surrounding, though he was content to let her believe such. He had to force himself to remember the spider incident; honestly, it was rather fleeting. He distinctly remembered what happened afterwards, when he’d awoken at the Mirror Pools, though he’d almost all but forgotten about the spider.
He dully remembered the spike it had shot him with and went to rub at his hand, considering her offer.
Jett certainly did like curry, and had been spending a lot of time thinking about getting something other than his typical French fry and burger fast food run—and Candice had a point. Yes, they had both kissed Raven and inadvertently shared germs (and, oh, disgusting, Raven keep your mouth to yourself; with Candice’s logic he’d second hand kissed Darwin, and that was not something he wanted to be thinking about).
“I’ll take you up on that,” he said, carefully sampling a bite. The moment the curry hit his tongue, he was in heaven and sighed, just closing his eyes and savoring it.
Yeah, that definitely hit the spot.
Handing the box back to her, he gave her another nod of approval, not entirely sure if he wanted to try eating his fries again so soon after the curry; they definitely weren’t going to stack up.
Instead, he chose to wait a moment and glanced at Candice. “How are you doing, anyway? –I mean, being back and all. From the Surrounding. You settling back into everything all right, or…?”
Things were different. For him, at least—though he hadn’t come back as just Jett, he’d come back as Remarque, too. Candice was friendly enough that he didn’t mind chatting her up—especially when she was offering him such delicious food—and he’d felt a connection with her, if only because he knew that she wasn’t going to think him crazy if he suddenly started bitching about giant salamanders or space whales.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:34 am
She saw Jett take a bite and smiled. When she had first come, he was eating fries, but they were definitely not as tasty. The bite he took was small, but Candice knew that she wouldn't be able to finish it herself anyways. She took another bite of curry. Even for herself, she chewed it slowly and for a long time, savoring the flavor. Candice then passed it back to Jett. "Don't worry about eating more. I wouldn't have been able to finish it in the first place and it wouldn't be as tasty tomorrow."
Candice sighed as Jett asked how she was doing. She didn't really want to think about it, but it was hard. "I don't know how a lot of other people have been doing, but I've been... Trying to fall back into life, but it's just... HARD. I mean, I've been study of all things to get distracted. I feel so boring!"
Her head then rested on the back of the park bench and she looked up at the sky. She had been out there, somewhere. She wished she couldn't remember anything, but that wasn't possible. At least, it wasn't easy to forget.
She looked back up again and tried to smile again. "I guess I can look up like... hypnotherapy or something to try and forget." Candice let out a laugh, trying to relax again. Looking at Jett with a semi-bright smile. "How have you been? I'm kinda surprised you're here alone."
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:54 pm
Well. If Candice was just going to keep offering him food, Jett wasn’t going to be so rude as to deny it. Besides—she was right. There was no way a tiny little thing like her could finish all this tonight, and absolutely, it wouldn’t taste as good in the morning. He helped himself to another bite, no longer feeling guilty since she seemed inclined to have him eat his fill.
He shrugged upon her questions and waited until he swallowed that mouthful to answer. “I’ve been all right. Things seem to be falling back into place, so I really can’t complain too much. I’m not here with company since this was just a food run, so don’t be so surprised that I’m here alone.”
He flashed Candice a playful smile. “I’m a big boy, I don’t need someone holding my hand at all times. I actually came out here for some fresh air and just to clear my head. Guess I’ve got something on my mind. Still trying to figure out what it is.”
It was probably related to the Surrounding and the time he’d spent in space—nearly everything was, these days. Everything still seemed so surreal—so odd. He understood that some people might be upset about certain happenings in the Surrounding—dying, for example, might be quite moving—though he couldn’t imagine wanting to forget any of it. “…Would you really want to forget everything that happened?” he prompted. “…Kind of seems like the sort of thing someone would want to remember. At the very least,” he shrugged, “It’s life changing. And had such a great view. I miss the stars. They were so clear up there. Can’t see that here,” he mused, leaning back against the bench and looking up at the sky. There were only a very few stars visible given that the sun was still setting, but once the nightlights of Destiny City turned on, they’d be almost as hard to see, anyway.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:29 pm
"Where did you come from," Candice asked with curiosity filled eyes. She knew that he was close to Raven, but why did he seem so lonely still? She couldn't help but smile to see himself enjoying the food she was sharing. Jett seemed rather... Sad besides that. "If you're such a big boy, why couldn't you find yummier food than fries?"
Candice nudged him on the shoulder playfully with one of her hands. She hadn't seen too many people after the Surrounding, but it was clear that she wasn't the only one that needed cheering up.
She moved in closer to him, looking at him eye to eye. Candice smiled and poked his head. "Yah know, if you spend too much time wrinkling your eyebrows and frowning, you're gunna look a lot older a lot quicker!" She giggled and put her back against the bench again as she thought about his questions.
"I'm not sure where you were, but I did see myself and Raven die. I guess it's more so the fact that well, we died and came back to life. Not many people can say they managed that, but... The experience and living it was kind of horrible."
She let out a sigh again, but this time, smiled. Candice knew that the experience wasn't all bad. Jett was right... It was a lot more beautiful up there then back at home. She was alive, and was happy about it. Well, she should be anyways. "I guess it's been kind of bad of me. I did enjoy the safe times up there. It was pretty and there were so many people there as well. Kind wish we knew why or how we ended up there still..."
"The mystery that no one can solve..."
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:55 pm
Though Jett had half a mind to correct Candice and inform her that there was no ‘yummier’ food than fries, he instead chose to allow her to have her own opinion about them. Even if she was wrong.
He didn’t speak for a short while since helping himself to another mouthful of food was top on his priorities. He chewed his food, savoring the taste and listening to her while she spoke. Jett had been lucky in the Surrounding—many people he had come to know over the weeks they were there had died during that final battle. The worst he could say happened was the coma, but even then it hardly seemed to compare to the sensation of dying.
Because Candice had fed him, he didn’t swat at her hand or chastise her for being annoying when she poked him. It was a little harder to ignore her pestering him for how he looked but, hell. This food was good, he wasn’t going to chase her away by being a d**k.
He swallowed, reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth—even if there wasn’t any food there—and returned his gaze to the girl next to him. “Safe time? You and I must have been in different places,” he teased. “I distinctly remember expecting some hideous creature”—or Raven—“to be waiting to jump me around every corner. It was pretty, sure, but…I don’t exactly miss it. Besides, there are a lot of things here in DC that weren’t up there. Like a private bedroom.”
He nodded appreciatively, considering what else there was to be grateful. “Family, friends. Them too. Oh, and, ” he lifted the curry just slightly and nodded towards it. “Good food. Better company,” he added, winking at her before he helped himself to another bite.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:20 pm
Candice looked up into the sky smiling. Sure, some of the times she didn't want to be in danger, but she had to admit that things just got kind of boring up there and she wanted some excitement. She remembered that the day Jett disappeared, her and Raven had been with that... Spider thing. She laughed, remembering what had happened. "For myself, I wasn't really in any random attacks. Of course, it was very easy to hear that people were attacked once one happened, but I was very much lucky to not be in those. The worse one I was in... I think I was so bored I kind of volunteered to go."
"Oh! You're free to have the rest of the food, by the way." She patted her tummy and smiled. "It seems like, although I love the taste, my stomach is telling me no more!"
It had been quite common since the Surrounding that Candice would have mood swings. For the most part, she would try and keep herself happy and moving forward in life, but the trauma of that day came back when it felt like it. She felt like she start over. A lot. Most of the time, her brain was telling her to 'keep smiling'.
When Jett spoke, she smiled at him, not really understanding why he winked. Candice attempted to return the wink, but it seemed to look more awkward than a hint towards something. "I agree though. Life here is still much better than up there. It would of been horrible if we were stuck up there. I'm not sure if I'd ever want to be back in space again, as an astronaut or otherwise..."
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:45 pm
Free food was just super. Jett was more than willing to accept Candice’s food; dinner tonight couldn’t have gone better. He got the fast food he wanted and this curry was just to die for.
He took a larger, heartier bite now that Candice had offered him the rest of the meal. “I don’t know,” he answered, mouth half full of food. He chewed and swallowed before continuing, “I think being an astronaut would be fun. Get to go explore new places, do things no one else has. You go down in history, you know?”
Sure, space was a big, huge, empty plane potentially filled with giant space creatures of death lasers and coma serum—but as long as Remarque had a mirror, he could go hide out in mirror space if something went wrong. Maybe. He was still working on figuring all that out and decided that he wouldn’t be doing any deep space travel until he had a better grasp on the whole mirror traveling thing.
“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with staying on Earth. Lot you can do here, too. I’m going to school for business,” he explained to Candice without any necessary prompting; he was just sort of eager to chat about normal things. “HITS isn’t exactly my ideal school but, you know, ******** it. At least I’m somewhere. I want to get back to DCU,” he confessed, perhaps rambling a bit—but these were things he couldn’t just switch back and forth to with just anyone. He had friends, sure, but none of them had gotten drafted up into space. None of them had been transferred to HITS.
“…But maybe that’s just me. Raven and I are both at HITS, I heard they took in a lot of the people who just went missing. Do you go to HITS, or…? Just hang out in the park near dusk to give away food to semi-strangers?” he asked. It was getting late and he knew he should probably start heading home soon; weird things only seemed to happen after nightfall, and he definitely wasn’t in the mood to power up to defend himself. No, thank you. He trusted Candice was in the same boat as he was—they’d both had enough weird trouble, so he wasn’t going to keep her for much longer despite what great company she was; he’d have hated to have heard something bad happened to her because she’d stayed out long enough to attract the wrong sort of attention.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:19 pm
"Ugh. After the Surrounding, I don't know how you'd still be okay with that." Candice laughed. "I'd rather be exploring new places on this planet than wander off to other ones. I mean, there's already so many things here that seem to need exploring."
Candice couldn't help but smile. It didn't seem that Jett was very adventurous, at least, when it came to food. Fast food, especially french fries, was something that she didn't mind once in a while, but she'd very much prefer to have real food. "It's like the curry you're eating... That's very much a form of exploration, right? I'd very much prefer the exploration of tastes! I don't have money to do more of the traveling part of exploration..."
The mention of HITS made her remember her book bag. Instead of just putting it on the bench, she moved it to her lap, just to make sure that it was safe, as the night was growing darker. "Yeah... I think nearly everyone that went to the Surrounding goes to HITS... I mean, I think the school opened specifically for us... Which seems kind of odd."
"I've been spending most of my days and night studying. I've been trying to get into my previous hobbies again, but sometimes the distraction didn't seem to be enough. So... I've been studying a lot... To be come a doctor. After the Surrounding, I've been wanting to do something more meaningful. Can't say I'm very far into that though."
She noticed that Jett seemed kind of sad when he mentioned going back to DCU, but Candice tried to reassure him. "At least we all got a brand new start, right? That has been what's been keeping me motivated. Not much, but something!"
When the street lights turned on around them, she shivered a little bit. It was getting a little chilly out, but Candice didn't really mind. She was enjoying the company of another which was something she seemed to be lacking nowadays.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:40 pm
Candice’s enthusiasm almost made Jett forget that he was bitter about going to HITS and being taken out of DCU; he was missing a lot by being at the freshly constructed school, but—hell, she was right. It was a fresh start, even if he didn’t need one.
He’d met a lot of people in the Surrounding, and it was reassuring to still have some aspect of his life where he still ran into the people he’d spent so much time in with space. Even just seeing their faces was reassuring, even if he’d never spoken to them. “A doctor?” he asked; he’d almost finished off the curry and was trying to pace the last few bites. “…That’s pretty impressive. I’ve got a much more selfish goal. I just want to make it big. I’m going to buy my mother a new house,” he said, seeming determined. “Gonna buy her anything she wants. Some land out in the country. Some horses, probably. I’ll pay some hot young guy to go woo her and keep her company. Get her away from that job of hers. Oh—and I’ll buy myself whatever I want, that too. I’ll settle my reputation that way. Leave some legacy.”
He nodded to himself and tried to ignore the cold as he tracked out in his head how dark it would be before he made it back to his place. “Doctors, though. There needs to be more of those. You’ll do fine, you seem to have a good enough head on your shoulders—and definitely a good enough heart.”
He nodded approvingly; anyone willing to part with curry this good definitely had a heart of gold.
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