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 Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:09 pm
The party had been... nice, if a bit brief for him, but Jerry was happy to have made it at all. His brain still felt as fuzzy as his face did after his time in the labs.
At the very least, the horrible experience had left him with a lot to mentally chew over. He felt tired, exhausted really, but his depression at least had shifted into something he could cope with and push aside which was always an improvement.
He pulled on some clothes, trying to at least look slightly presentable even if he could use a long shower and a proper shave, but what was the point? It was a bit chilly this time of year on the island anyway, so the beard (or half beard, considering the state of the gnarled burn scars on half of his face) remained. Coffee was in order, and he fumbled his way toward the kitchens, ignoring the smell of eggs someone was working on for the others that made him feel a little sick.
Had anyone even noticed he was gone, he wondered? Life seemed to have continued as normal without him. Probably assumed he was on an away mission, he supposed.
With a sigh, he began loading his cup with sugar and cream.
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 12:20 pm
The chair across from Jerry scraped on the floor as it was pulled out from the table. Jordan set his coffee cup and his plate of toast on the table and sat down. "Hey, man. You're looking tired," he said. "Glad to see you back."
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:54 pm
Jerry jumped at the sudden voice- as per usual, but settled down in relief when he saw it was just Jordan. "Uh... G-good to see you too! By the time I got to the party, it had er... got a bit wild and er... fluffy, ahahaha." He cleared his throat, scratching at a hairy cheek, "I'm glad to be back, not that I was that FAR- although I'm not entirely sure if I was even on the Island for some parts- I mean, I THINK I was, but with them you never know-" he babbled nervously.
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 3:53 pm
"Yeah, I saw you, but there was a sea of mildly alarming fuzz on the floor by that time, so I figured I'd just catch you in the morning." Jordan grinned. "I see you're developing some mildly alarming fuzz of your own. It's a good thing they let you out, or your beard might've staged a jailbreak."
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:05 pm
"Um. Beyond the occasional hose-down I don't think cleanliness was a high priority for the labs," He blushed behind the beard and scars. "But um. Yeah I guess... I missed a lot, didn't I? It's been what... two months? I even missed my birthday," He gave a lopsided smile before sipping at his coffee. "I'm just glad the place didn't um. Burn down while I was on lock up. Seriously, watch what you say on twitter-" His expression turned haunted.
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:36 pm
"I thought you were on an extended remote mission," Jordan admitted, a little sheepishly.
We couldn't have done much about it if we'd known, Ferros said.
I know. "I do try to be careful," Jordan agreed. He hesitated a moment. "You okay, man? Did the memory blanks fill back in?" His own lost memories had come back one by one, triggered unexpectedly, flowing back in to fill the spaces they'd left as though they'd never been gone.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:31 am
"Um... s-some of them. I had no idea there were so many but... but they um. Compared some records and what they er... gleaned from me and are pretty sure they've narrowed it down but. Well, they won't let me off island until I do the rest, they said they'd done all they could with hypnotism and... and stuff...but," He slumped over his coffee, his face red, "So... so me and Sasha really.." He shook his head before his expression looked a bit more disbelieving, "They're just teasing me about Candace, right?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 6:33 am
Jordan's eyebrows shot up. "They're not lying to you," he said cautiously. How much had Jerry forgotten? His own time in the Rift remained hazy and dreamlike in his memory, but he thought he remembered being asked to give up memories, feeling parts of him depart -- and then, afterwards, being offered the chance to forget. He hadn't taken that offer. Maybe Jerry had.
"What do you remember?" he asked. "About - uh - the summer before last, and the months before that February." He laced his fingers around his coffee cup. If Jerry genuinely didn't remember what had happened between him and Candace, between him and Sasha, there must be a blank space in many of the motivations behind things he'd done. Jordan found himself wondering, a little guiltily, whether Jerry had also forgotten what hadn't happened between the two of them. If he had, Jordan wasn't about to fill him in. It had been awkward and embarrassing enough the first time.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:01 am
"Summer before last?" Jerry's brows knit in concentration as he tried to recall. "Um. Shoot... it feels like ages and ages ago- was that the Blue Kingdom shenanigans?" He kept thinking, rubbing his temples as he felt like he was back in the labs again, and frustration grew on his face, "I don't see what the big deal is, I mean... so... so I forgot a few little inconsequential things, they kept acting like I had some sort of... brainwashing! Like I'm carrying an alien inside me or something! It's ridiculous! What if I'm happier not knowing?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:47 am
"No, before that." Jordan studied Jerry's face, the corner of his mouth pulling tight with concern. "Your emotional state had a lot to do with the rest of your choices."
He shook his head, smoothing the worry from his face. "Maybe you are happier not knowing," he said quietly. Jerry had erased a lot of hurt from his own mind, perhaps deliberately, perhaps not. Whatever he'd learned from the experience was gone, if he'd learned from it at all. The holes in his memory might be there permanently, blank spaces and mysteries that would never be explained. It wasn't a choice Jordan would have made, but some of the veneer of haunted pain that Jerry had been carrying had sloughed away. It was possible he'd repeat what mistakes he'd made; it was possible that he wouldn't.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:08 pm
"I um." His eyes darted across the table as he raked a hand through his hair, brows furrowed as he tried to think. There was something nagging at the back of his mind... bits and pieces his months in the Life Lab's so called "therapy" had weakened and started to crack through but his own stubbornness clawed to keep them in place.
Summer before last... that's right, he had been pretty depressed for various reasons, drinking a lot... "I um. Need some more coffee do you need some coffee?"
That was when Sasha had... changed. Things had changed. His eyes were weeping.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:12 pm
"Yeah, I need some more coffee. Let me go get that," Jordan said, standing up and taking both mugs before Jerry could. "Right back." He took his time, though, not dawdling but not hurrying either, giving Jerry a moment to regain his dignity.
When he returned, he set the fresh cup of coffee in front of Jerry and dropped a small stack of paper napkins next to it without commenting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:23 pm
Jerry said nothing besides a quiet, "Thanks," As the coffee was put down- Jordan remembered how he liked it, too.
He helped himself to a napkin and cleared his throat, "Well. Well, that's all... in the past now, anyway."
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:59 pm
Jordan nodded. "You're gonna be okay, man," he said, and reached over to pat Jerry's arm.
He sipped his fresh coffee. Then he angled an eyebrow at Jerry. "But you gotta do something about that beard, dude, seriously."
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:07 pm
Jerry cleared his throat again, straightening up as he gave his cheek a fresh scratch, "H-hey, now, I saw Robert had one too! They're in fashion now, aren't they?" At least he was smiling.
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