(no subject)

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Who: J and various
When: Backdated to end of shadow plot to 8/8
Where: Around!
What: J got the rough deal during the shadow plot and once again she's licking her wounds
Warnings: Nooone so far.


HOSPITAL

It's been surprisingly long time since the last time J had been in a hospital. At least when considering the violent nature of this dimension. If she remembers correctly the last time had been after the party at the mantis' planet and when she was recovering from drug withdrawal. Well, even though the situation is completely different one thing remains the same: J's usually so perfectly crafted appearance has taken damage. A thick and soft head rest is wrapped around her injured neck and there's a small support cast on her wrist. But the most notable one is a big white band-aid that covers almost completely half of her face. It reaches from down her jawline right up to her eye, blinding her vision a bit. And just like before there's not a drop of makeup on her face, making her look much paler and well.. grumpier than before.

To say she's feeling moody is an understatement. While her stay in the hospital hasn't been longer than couple of days she couldn't look more displeased, in fact, she hadn't smiled nor said a word to the staff who'd come to check in her. The food they brought was barely touched and the only things that disappears from the table near her are the painkillers.

Whenever someone passes her bed they'll see her lying on the bed face pressed against the pillow and blanket pulled all over her body, leaving only few curly blond hairs visible. Sometimes she cries silently and other times she stares into nothingness while fighting against the sleep. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of the blanket one could easily think that there's nothing but the pile of pillows in the bed.

But later, when the lights have been shut in the bed area and majority of the patients are either asleep or waiting for Sandman to pay his visit, J's moved out of the bed and sitting on the windowsill. There's a silent "click" sound and quick flash of small flame as she lights a cigarette despite the very strict no-smoking rule in hospital ward, or the possible harm the smoke could cause to her throat.

AROUND

One could say that there was a luck in accident as she had been in hospital when the fire inside her and Shepard's apartment that had apparently burned down everything -- save for the hamster. But then again, J has pretty hard to see anything positive in the situation as the little possessions she had left after moving out of Xavier Mansion were destroyed. Including her clothes.

So being left without money or place to sleep meant she had to get creative, which in the end lead her to take over the 11th house on Region 1 as she knew that the previous owner wasn't around anymore. It's big and luxurious place just for one and it was easy to lose sense of time and J wounded up withdrawing herself inside for the first two days. But eventually big became cramped and suffocating, which drove her out. And again, luckily for her the previous owner hadn't been too much bigger than her in size and she was capable of wearing his clothing.

J saw very little point in painting her face or decorating her hair. While she didn't exactly feel all too uncomfortable with wearing men's clothing or appearing as one now and then it has been quite some time. Plus there still is a band-aid, even if smaller than back in the hospital, over half of her face and covering up an ugly scar. Without it even J would admit that she'd make rather charming looking young man.

When going out J mostly wandered around her surroundings idly. The recent events had left her unable to do neither of her jobs: she couldn't sing with her voice damaged, the hostile tension between them and Savrii along with her ruined face made it nearly impossible to get any company -- less the one who'd pay. So there wasn't much for her to do than just loiter around, visit the cheaper bars and walk the streets with a cigarette between her lips. At the times she could also be seen around the shopping district, despite her not having any money on her, looking at the newest dresses and such on the display window. Following the fashion from the side left a rather bittersweet taste to her mouth. Some days she visited different shops just because she could and during the late nights she visited the river near her new residence, often throwing random things into it to bother the small creatures living there.

It's pretty quiet life.. way too quiet for her usual liking.

Comments

hospital | night

[shiro2hero]

He's ambulatory by now. Even if he isn't supposed to be. He's pushing it and he knows it. But he's got to get up and move or go crazy lying in that bed. Worrying about the others. About whether or not the shadows are gone for good. Or letting the memories get the better of him.

So... hobbling around the hospital it is. In the dark, when everyone's asleep or the staff is minimal. Easier to avoid questions that way, right?

But he pulls up short when the flicker of firelight catches his eye, even around the pad covering a healing broken nose. Leaning a little more heavily on the assigned pair of crutches to peer into the darkness. Apparently even otherworldly hospitals haven't advanced beyond "big padded sticks" in terms of helping leg injuries.

"That's probably not a great idea."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

J can hear the slow drag of crutches and the clatter way before Shiro swims into her vision. The sound is enough to tell her that the person moving in the hall is a patient rather than staff, not that it mattered that much to her.

She inhales and takes the first drag out of cigarette and oh, does it burn, like tiny needles pressed against the tender flesh inside. Tears gather to the corners of her eyes as she coughs out a faint cloud of smoke. How annoying, like she was some kind of starter.

Her expression doesn't change when Shiro finally hobbles to her sight, she only looks at him up and down. Seems like someone else got into trouble with the copies. "Could be." She answers, her voice wheezing out a sound from her throat. She takes another drag before turning the cigarette around and offering it to his direction.

[shiro2hero]

He shakes his head, shifting a bit to hold up a hand -- no thanks. Even if part of him wants to reach out and take it from her, to flick it away. It really, really can't be healthy. Especially not if she sounds like that.

"You okay?"

Clearly, she's hurt. That's a given. But, there might be something else here, and since he's awake, it doesn't hurt anything to ask.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

When her offer is turned down J lightly rolls her shoulders into a shrug and brings the cigarette back to own lips. It doesn't really concern her a bit but she had thought he could use a smoke. The second time she sucks the cigarette it the burn isn't as bad as the first.

"Of course. That's why I'm here," with a small and subtle wave of her hand she gestures around the room. Guess not even her miserable state is enough to pluck out the snark from her completely.

She takes a quick break, letting her voice rest before continuing.

"You look like shit, though."

[shiro2hero]

"I meant..." Deep breath. Maybe this wasn't a great idea. He should mind his own business sometimes, honestly. "Never mind."

He's supposed to be a leader, so why does this feel difficult? Why is it easier to talk to aliens and teenagers than other human beings?

His expression flattens.

"Thanks. Hadn't noticed."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Heh. Eye for an eye, she thinks after receiving his dry response.

J pushes the window behind a jar with her elbow so that a weak breeze can enter the room. Then she pats the empty space on windowsill next to her.

"You can hear birds from here."

Around: River

[toservelife]

Aloy has her own quarters - for now. They're in the Ingress complex, but exploring Kauto, going back to the complex at night and back to Kauto the next day is far less trouble than just sleeping outdoors. It's warm anyway, warmer than a lot of places back in the Nora Sacred Lands.

She chooses a place by the river, within sight and earshot of the bustling city, but just out of the way. There she can strip her armour off down to the jersey and pants underneath and rinse the dirt off them - even wet and hanging over tree branches, the technological patches woven into the leather give the whole garment an electronic shield, brightening up the darkness around it.

Aloy is crouched by the river filling up her leather canteen when she hears vegetation rustling a little bit away - by something big enough that she moves instinctively. Grabbing the bow beside her and an arrow, she drops the canteen and whips around, arrow nocked in under a second...

...It's a person.

She lets out the breath she was holding and relaxes the bowstring. "Sorry, I didn't-- ugh-"

The canteen is floating away in the river. In she wades.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

The items that J had been throwing into the river had luckily been a bunch of colorful shiny marbles. They had somewhat an impulse purchase on J's part. She had seen them on shop's display window and thought they had looked pretty but after an hour or so she had started to regret getting them, even if the price had been only couple of sencs.

So, lost in her thoughts, she had returned back to the river and began to toss the marbles in the water. She had noticed another person crouched over the river but not paid much attention to it... Or at least before the person all of the sudden turns around hastily like a win and points a weapon at her. Well, that if something is enough to bring her attention fully back to the present.

Her eyes widens and she freezes, dropping few of the glass marbles from her hand. As uneasy the thought is but the feeling of fear that wipes over her is more than just little familiar to J. However, what's different from the other time is how fast the moment of panic passes and irritation hurries to take its place. The shock fades away from her face just as fast as it had arrived.

But before she gets to do anything the other person starts lowering their weapon. Guess it was false alarm on their part as well. J opens her mouth to say something to them but at the same time the person turns away again and.... jumps into river?

What even.

"H-hey. Wait!" She shouts or at least tries to. The hoarse sound that she makes is just barely above a whisper.

[toservelife]

"Just a minute!" she calls back...just before the water gets too deep to wade in and she has to dive. It takes her a minute to grab the canteen...and as she submerges, she notices a colourful glint at the bottom, and reaches down to swipe that as she's at it.

Then, hair plastered to her face and clothes weighing what feel like a ton, she clambers her way back out of the water.

"Sorry," she says as she approaches the...she assumes man...at the edge, wiping excess water and sodden hair from her face with her free hand. "I didn't see you, I... I guess you gave me a fright."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Oh. Somehow J had missed the canteen that they had dropped into the river. That sure explains why the stranger had waded into dirty and cold water. She takes a step backwards when they turn back and step up from the river soaking wet.

Now that the person is standing in front of her J can tell that 'they' is actually a woman, another rather curious looking one.

"How didn't.." She starts but her injured voice gives up before she gets to the end of the sentence. Feeling frustrated she coughs silently few times and forces her voice through. "Why the hell are you carrying weapons like that around anyway?"

[toservelife]

At least the weather is fairly warm. She's walked out of rivers into snow and ice and felt the fabric freeze to her body; this will prove much easier. She starts to wring her hair out regardless - it hangs heavy from her head otherwise.

The sound of that somehow pained voice momentarily makes Aloy momentarily wince, but then--

"I..." She didn't expect that question, and it shows. "You're not? Nothing at all?"

The fact that weapons are a lot more discreet in places like this - where they fit in a pocket and aren't crafted of wood and wire - hasn't quite caught up to her yet, so as she eyes this person up and down, she's looking for more obvious signs of being armed: knives. A spear. Even a slingshot like she has hanging from her belt, and they're all lacking.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Well, to the woman's credit: people carrying weapons around isn't completely unheard of. A good amount of people actually have something like that on their person almost all the time, guns, knives and such.

Bows and arrows, though? Maybe little more unusual but if she hadn't manage to scare J just now.

"I, W-what? Of course not!" She continues to scream at her, voice crackling and breaking down towards the end. "You're going to kill someone by pointing that thing around."

closed for logan

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

[It's been a while since the last time she had stepped to ground of region five. Not ever since she stormed out the mansion to be more exact. But after having her belongings turning into ash during a fire not too long time ago so she really didn't have much chance than pay a trip to one of the bars where she had sang earlier. Beggars can't be choosers after all.

J exits the backroom, wearing a golden glittery dress that she's normally uses while performing. The swell on her cheek has gone down and she's switched the white band-aid into more transparent and smaller one. It's still covering good chunk of her cheek but at least it's not glaringly obvious. She thinks about grabbing a drink or two before heading out but then her eyes land on oddly familiar figure sulking at the counter.

Oh. Oh.

It's one of the people from mansion. Except much older for some reason but there was no mistaking. All of the sudden her stomach drops and turns. A memory of something hurtful and anger visits her mind, making her tighten her hold on the bag and purse the painted lips together sternly.

She stares. Maybe little bit too long to be actually discreet about it.]

[prorenataa]

The graveyard shift was his natural habitat and as such Adrien was used to moving about as quietly as possible in order to keep from disturbing any of the patients who had actually managed to get to sleep.

This also meant he was capable of coming up behind someone on silent cat feet.

He would be reaching for that cigarette, intent to grab it and snuff it.

"Never mind if you set off the smoke detectors and cause the evacuation of this entire wing, I'd rather you not blow us all up by having an open flame in and around active oxygen fields."

His voice was pitched low, in deference to the hour of the night but otherwise it's habitual flat, unamused cadence.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"Ha," J breathes out silently in surprise when the cigarette is snagged away from her fingers. She'd definitely jump or at least flinch from being sneaked up on like that if it weren't for the hazy state of drowsiness after spending whole day in bed. Slowly, she takes a half-step to the side to turn around and meet Adrien's unimpressed eyes.

Of course she had been aware of his presence inside of the hospital. There was a groggy, yet real, memory of seeing him taking him in as she was brought in. She hadn't thought too much of that. After all, this was his job and despite the coldness dominating their relationship she didn't believe him to to be picky about his patients. However, in a way, she finds it a bit surprised that he decided to approach her out of the operation room.

But, then again, he came her to scold her.

Her own expression matching his, she looks down at the cigarette for a second before taking out the half-empty package from her robe's pocket. "Aren't you being over dramatic?" She asks, voice weak and silent.

[prorenataa]

Truthfully he'd come to check on her progress; the scolding was secondary.

Walking over to the small sink in the room, he neatly field stripped the cherry off the tip and washed the ash down the drain. The remainder of the cigarette went into his pocket.

"Ever seen a spark set off an oxygen chamber? It's not pretty." Okay, now he may be being dramatic.

Cigarette disposed of he turned back towards her giving her a quick once over, head to toe.

"Honestly, I'm surprised to see you out of bed. How much of this is nicotine withdrawal and how much of it is you saying 'fuck you' to the universe right now?"

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Without moving from her spot she watches him to take apart her cigarette, feeling only mildly annoyed to see it go waste like that but can't summon enough energy to care much. Her expression stays neutral if not little tired.

When he gets back she's already taken another cigarette out of the package, waving it little in the air. She can do this whole night if she has to.

"I'd say about fifty-fifty," she coughs, looking him up and down. "What are you doing here?"

[prorenataa]

He simply held his hand out.

"Lighter," he said. He could do this all night as well. He was willing to leave her the oral comfort of the cigarette but just say no to open flames around open oxygen lines.

"I work here," was the cheap and easy answer, so after a moment he expanded his remark. "I like to work the graveyard shift. Less people and more interesting trauma cases."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

She doesn't put up a fight or try to protest. Instead she pats the pockets of the hospital robe and gown to locate the lighter. "Useless," she coughs a weak and dry scoff as she throws the lighter at his way. "I have other ways. And I'm not talking about matches." It's something that no one can take away from her.

Now that she's handed over the lighter she plucks out the cigarette from her lips, willing to let it be. For now at least.

"More interesting trauma cases? Does that mean you like watch people as they toss and turn in discomfort while sleeping? Well, sorry to disappoint you in that case."

Hospital

[beautifulspaceraptor]

J doesn't get much of a warning as familiar mechanical claws slide in from the side of the window and soundly flick the cigarette from her fingers. Before she can protest, the hand does a neat little roll with and gracefully summons a slim, metal stick from thin air.

It's silver with a white silicon-like mouth piece, pretty much the same shape and size as her regular cigs. There's a button on the side that Nihlus clicks down on and it lights up, a tiny, blue holographic screen flickering into the air above it with the temperature, wattage and battery life on display.

"Here," he says, elbowing J to move so that he could lean against the windowsill next to her. "It's preloaded with nicotine and mint chocolate flavoring. Have a try."

Preferably before she sets the whole damn hospital on fire.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

The small fire from her lighter doesn't even get to meet the long end of the cigarette before it's all of the sudden flicked away from her. J watches as it flies through the air right on the floor not too far from her. She only pays attention to Nihlus when the metal stick is brought to her sight. She gives the object a mildly curious look before raising her gaze to meet his.

Ah. It's him.

Lazily, she scoots to the side to give him some room to sit on.

"How much cocaine does this have?" She ask, weak voice dying nearing the end of her words.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"Nicotine," Nihlus reiterates. "And mint chocolate flavoring. You're not trying any new drugs on top of what they're already giving you."

Finding out you get a bad high from a new stimulant is the least fun way to spend your druggy hospital stay in his experience.

"Here." Clicking the little tube in half, he exposes a slot with a little cartridge in it. "It's the same amount of nicotine as what you're getting from the cig. They come in these," he holds up a box with five more cartridges. "And you can pretty much customize the flavor and composition however you want at the vendor. There's a literal database to pick from. They come about a quarter chit per box and one cartridge lasts about two weeks, but that's variable depending on usage."

Closing the tube, he runs his finger over the side of it, calling up the holo screen again.

"You can also adjust temperature here." A brief second where he shows her the temperature slider. "I've set it as close to a cigarette experience as I can."

That done with, Nihlus holds it out for her, silicone mouthpiece-first.

"You'll want to inhale deeply and hold it a bit for a more immediate effect, but otherwise, just use it as you would a normal stick."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"Funny." She sighs out as she follows his explanation and introductions, not bothering to hide the disinterest in her voice even to mask it into sleepiness. Yet she, watches him in silence and patiently waits for him to be ready with it.

When the stick is offered to her she pushes herself to move and walks over her previous cigarette, leans down to pick it up. "Here I thought you preferred cocaine over this shit?" She lifts the smoke up so that he can see it properly. "But I'm just a junkie, right? So what does it matter what I'm pumping up into my system."

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"The current scenario," Nihlus sighs. "Is that you set the whole damn hospital on fire because you ignored the no smoking warnings and ignited an O2 tank. Not to mention endangering other people with respiratory illnesses or injuries who might use this room after you."

Shifting, he leans back and watches her for a moment before continuing.

"I'm here to help, but not everything is about your misery alone, J. If you set fire to yourself, you can also burn the people around you. Literally."

He holds up the vaporizer.

"So, these are your choices, here and now. The alternative. Or nothing."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

That actually makes her pause for a bit. Her eyes quickly move around, looking for signs like that. Of course she had been aware of the no-smoking rule that one is pretty obvious, freaking cancer-theorists, but she had not noticed any tanks or any leakage that could cause any harm and she doesn't see it now.

They sure don't build hospitals like they used to.


"So we're caring about that now? Hurting others?" She places the unlit cigarette between her lips. "Open the window. There's plenty room for everyone in cryo."