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 Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:37 am
Candace couldn't tell if it was the experimental equipment, the stress she was putting on herself or any other number of mysterious factors that were making her so tired. She hoped she just needed fresh air, sighing quietly and closing her eyes as she stood in the warm, quiet night air. It was late, most other hunters had long since stopped working on rebuilding their home to get some sleep. But not Candace, nope. She was out for a walk to clear her head.
Everything was silent until she heard the faint twang of a guitar in the distance. She blinked, looking toward where the sounds were coming from. Music...at the..
...Oh.
The graveyard. Music at the graveyard.
Frowning, Candace slipped her hands into her pockets and turned on her heel to head to the graveyard. She hadn't been there in a long time. Candace didn't exactly want to go there, not out of disrespect but the fear of being reminded of their limited lifespans...it wasn't fair.
She found him easily, simply following the sound of the music and walking along the lines of headstones until she found the man sitting sadly in front of one, strumming at the guitar with the telltale blue cracks. Candace rubbed her lips together, unsure of what to say or why she was even there.
First Killzone, then Sasha. Candace couldn't even imagine how much pain the man was in right now.
"Jerry..."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:00 am
It was getting late. He hadn't even noticed how dark it had gotten. He paused his playing as he heard his name, just for a moment, his voice soft, "The stars are pretty when the fog lets them through." And he resumed once again.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:09 am
Stars? Candace looked up to see what he was talking about, spotting a few glittering specks in the sky past the fog. Her frown remained.
She turned her attention back down to the man sitting on the ground, debating for a moment what to do before just deciding to sit down beside him. "They are, but you shouldn't be out here so late...you should be sleeping."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:39 am
"They were prettier in the desert, though." He murmured distantly, reaching up to down-tune the strings a bit. Whether or not he heard her comment remained to be seen.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:44 am
"Were they? I don't really remember.." Candace watched Jerry with clear concern. She'd seen him like this before; it was never a good sign. Hesitantly she reached out but stopped, thinking better of it and bringing her hand back to let it drop on her lap. "But we're not in the desert, Jerry. Hopefully we'll never need to be ever again.."
There was a pause from her as she tried desperately to think of what to say next. Her mind was tired, her body felt fine but...she just wanted to rest her head somewhere and sleep forever. "...I'm sorry, Jerry." She finally blurted out, unable to stop herself. "I know he meant a lot to you."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:48 am
He glanced up at her momentarily, brows knit a moment as though debating not sure what she meant. Then he remembered where he was again and his eyes dipped down, "He saved my life." He didn't mean during the battle.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:55 am
A tired pang of anger hit her then. Killzone saved Jerry's life. Jerry didn't start seeing Killzone regularly until after he had caught her cheating though, right? Killzone moved in with him after she broke his heart. She broke him. It was all her fault. She did this. This was her fault. If she hadn't cheated then Jerry wouldn't be so broken up about--
No...no, this wasn't her fault. She shouldn't do that to herself. That wasn't fair to her, Jerry or Killzone.
"I know, honey. I know." Candace leaned to one side and rest her head on Jerry's shoulder, reaching for one of his hands to thread her fingers through his and squeeze his hand. "I'm sure Sasha is doing okay wherever she is, too. She's a strong girl..." Right?
And everyone else who had been taken...they were all strong. If they weren't? They needed to be.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:58 am
"I need to find my Jerry Place," He mumbled, only the edge of his glasses visible in the dim glow of his runically-patched guitar from behind the oily curtain of his hair.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 2:01 am
His..what? Candace gave him a confused look. "What's your Jerry Place?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 2:02 am
"I d-don't know, that's why I need to find it," His voice was hoarse and quiet.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 2:10 am
"...Jerry? Are you okay?" That was a stupid question. He wasn't okay. It was obvious he wasn't okay. "I'm sure you'll find it." Candace sounded tired though not because of Jerry. She had already been tired, just having a warm body in the dark and quiet beside her wasn't helping at all. "You've made such progress these past months. I know you can do it~."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 11:53 am
"I'm alright," He lied, badly, concentrating on his fingering, "I'll be f-fine. I j-just... I just..." Again, another sharp breath, "My Moon is gone. And Jordan never came back from a mission. Allan won't tell us what happened."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:18 pm
Liar. Candace gave Jerry's arm a gentle squeeze and turned her gaze down to the guitar, her head still on his shoulder. He wasn't okay at all. People who were okay didn't sit in graveyards next to the markers of people they had cared dearly for in the middle of the night. She felt awful. She should've done something. She should've abandoned what she was doing to defend their home instead of...doing..as she had been told to do...
Damnit. Her hand squeezed his arm again, unconsciously this time.
"My moon is gone." His Moon? Oh, Wash? Ugh, another tally to Jerry's list. ********. Candace opened her mouth to offer some words of comfort when Jerry added Jordan to the list. Her heart felt like it stopped, her eyes widened, her jaw dropped.
"J-Jordan?" She managed to squeak out. Jordan? Jordan?! What mission?! He'd been on a mission?! But...but what was he not back from? Where did he go? Allan wouldn't say? Maybe Allan couldn't say? It didn't seem like Allan, he hardly appeared to be the type to withhold information to be an a*****e like a certain other leader they all knew. But Jordan. "O-oh, Jerry. I'm so sorry." She finally let go of his arm to pull Jerry into a tight hug.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:28 pm
"I'm g-going to need to tell them. To tell the Pheonixes. I... I don't think Robert knows. What if... what if he... but what if it's nothing? What if he just... comes back? Maybe he just lost his phone and is... but if he... and..." The hug didn't seem to help, the man's posture stiffening in her arms.
He drew in another deep breath.
Find his Jerry Place.
He was a full Hunter now, no longer a trainee. he didn't feel like a full Hunter, though. He probably didn't act like it. He had seen Marcus marching about barking orders at various trainees. And Candace had been busy on some special Mission. But Jerry? What had he done?
Gotten over his phobia of the dark and blew up a foggy dragon in the midst of yet another nervous breakdown.
He didn't deserve this coat. He quieted, body relaxing once again as his mind swam.
He'd have to tell them. At least what little he knew. It was important they knew. Maybe... maybe not all at once. He'd... he'd tell Robert and... and maybe Robert could help back him up. Rep and Harrison weren't the only ones to care about Jordan. He... was important to a lot of people.
His gaze slid back to the dim headstone in the darkness, his eyes glassy in his guitar glow.
"I need to tell them." Someone had to step up. Someone had to be that guy. He wished it wasn't him.
He wished Sasha was there. He wished he knew why she had been so distant. Maybe she had been thinking about... about breaking up before all of this went down. Maybe his mess of an emotional state had finally driven her away. All his bad decisions. He didn't even have Wash to quietly go talk to... talking to Wash had always made him feel better, even if it was usually in the midst of battle with a sing-along.
His stomach twisted.
He felt like he was going to be sick.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:19 pm
Oh god...they didn't know either? She hugged him tighter, hiding her face against the man's shoulder. "Jordan..he's strong, and he has Ferros. I...I'm sure he's okay. Phones die. Charge runs out. And it's..really easy to get wrapped up in what you're doing. I..I'm sure he's fine. It happened all the time, right? Hunters disappearing from missions and returning safe and sound later? She'd seen it!
I hardly think Caelius, Aria or the doctor can be compared alongside Jordan... Candace frowned again.
Don't say that.
But it's true, my dear.
Stop it. Atropos fell quiet then.
"How are you going to tell them?" Candace mumbled, eyelids heavy. No. Stop that. You're not tired. Stop that. She gave her own hand a harsh pinch to startle herself awake, sitting up again and releasing Jerry to fidget with her fingers. "I'm sure they're all okay. Sasha, Wash, Otto, Rin...and everyone else that's with them. I'm sure they're all fine. We're a tough bunch. We've been through so much already. A couple ********' angry horses isn't what's going to do us in, I'm sure of it." She rubbed her lips together, fighting the urge to ruffle her hair. "And Jordan's smart. He wouldn't...he just..he wouldn't..."
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