capeandcowllogs | (OPEN LOG) you may one day be queen

WHO: jennifer quantum & YOU.
WHERE: nooks and crannies of the city.
WHEN: your choice of early evening or late night.
WARNINGS: jenny's vocabulary, etc.
SUMMARY: the depowered teenage terrorist is laying low. sort of.
FORMAT: quick to start, but i'll match you!

( early evening )

[ she isn't sure if it's the fact that she's basically human now or the state of the world or something else entirely-- maybe it's the restlessness, that's been bad-- but she's been smoking herself aggressively back into the grave with a cigarette at her mouth every hour she isn't sleeping. it's always been a bad habit, but it's an annoying one now. you never realize how often you use the spark of your quantum powers to light your smokes until you can't do it anymore.

that's how you end up outside a shabby, hole-in-the-wall convenience store when you should be hiding from the authorities. it's an excuse to see how the city's doing anyway, and her cigarettes won't light themselves. though it's starting to seem unlikely that her new cheap plastic lighter will either. she sits down on the curb with a fresh cigarette hanging from her mouth, clicking that lighter over and over without producing more than a teasing spark. ]

Fuck.

--

( late night )

[ she sticks around a little longer than she should. but things seem quieter now, like maybe the events in a small country across the ocean is starting to fade from people's minds. it's worth the risk, maybe, to walk around the city a little and ease back the building agitation she's harbored after weeks of laying low, powerless and fucking bored. the bustling crowds that flood the sidewalks during the day are more or less thinned to a few stragglers by now anyway.

she's got a half-smoked cigarette hanging from her fingers as she pauses to watch a random couple argue across the street. her cigarette dwindles without her really paying attention to it. she's not even sure what it is exactly about those strangers that catches her attention so much (except maybe in a weird way, it makes her think of her parents), but it's too late by the time she notices someone looming over her and something sharp pressed up against her back through her jacket.

she thinks he says, in a rushed voice, something cliche like: hand over your money. now.

she thinks about his atoms. about their little tiny bonds breaking apart. she thinks about the molecules that make him up just disappearing, defying the laws of physics. but nothing happens. because jenny quantum is a lesser being right now, so instead of handing anything over, she just huffs out a amused breath at the irony. all she can think of as the mugger makes his demand louder is that her dad would have ripped his throat out by now. ]

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[ she makes a little bit of a face at him when he hands over his stuff to her, but she doesn't complain out loud, carrying the load in her arms and letting her cigarette hang from her mouth as she talks: ]

Maybe people don't even fucking care anymore.

Shit like that happens all the time here, right?

(he stretches his arms, tired from carrying the stuff for maybe a few blocks. scrap metal and all that is heavy, you know.)

Couldn't tell you, this place keeps surprising me.

[ she makes an acknowledging noise, exhaling smoke. she lets them walk in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she speaks up again: ]

You taking care of my Carrier?

I'm up there every once and a while.

(to be fair, she chose the wrong person to be responsible over something as big as the carrier. the rebellion was one thing, but Jenny Q was another thing entirely also not tell Jenny that he stole parts from it.)

[ she elbows him lightly in the ribs as they walk. ]

Fuck, come on, Han. She's huge and she's gorgeous. You seriously need more motivation than that to take care of my ship for me?

[ her tone is mild though. it's just easier to talk about that stuff, to give him a hard time about something mundane, instead of talking about what happened in africa. ]

(It's a little hard for him to say, because everyone knows how good Han is with emotions.)

Yeah, but you're not up there anymore. It gets lonely, kiddo. I stop by, do a check up and come back down here.

[ she pauses, like she doesn't get it at first. then, after a second or two, maybe a bit wryly: ]

What, you really miss me that much, old man?

(he was going to tell her "yes", but that old man statement got a small sight from him.)

Sure, whatever you say Jay Q.

Ffff. Okay. I see how it is.

[ she doesn't take it personally though. she's no good at the mushy-mushy feelings thing anyway. ]

We don't have to fucking talk about it then.

You think you're too infamous for a piece of pie?

(that's. a way to talk about stuff, right? he could stop by the pie hole- wait, that's closed. there's the one that he got a few days ago on the falcon.)

I dunno, I suppose I'm expected to do something.

Nobody's ever too fucking infamous for pie.

[ at his next comment, she just shrugs. ]

Like what?

I dunno, like tell you how disappointed I am in you.

(he rubs the back of his neck; not that he's any better though.)

That was pretty stupid, though.

[ she pauses, eying him for a second. she isn't sure really why that makes her stop, but after a moment or two, she asks plainly: ]

Are you seriously fucking disappointed?

I'm pretty mad, yeah. (but for purely selfish reasons.)

All you had to do was hold on until I got there, shot some of them and taken you back home.

(Instead she went off and got herself killed, like it's her fault.

But, it's really his.)

It wasn't that easy.

[ her eyebrows draw together. ]

It wasn't like I fucking laid down and let myself get fucking killed.

It doesn't matter, kiddo. I was-

(worried, scared, upset, and - )

I'm sorry, I didn't get there in time.

[ that makes her stop and really look at him. her face is a little severe, with the way she frowns and her eyebrows pull together. ]

What the fuck are you talking about, Han? That wasn't your fault. You don't get to apologize because you didn't do anything wrong.

Nah, I was supposed to take care of you. (He grabs the stuff from her hands, trying to hide how worried he actually was.)

[ she lets him, but then she's quick to grab a handful of his coat-- tugging at it like a kid. ironically, the words that come out of her mouth are: ]

I'm a big girl, Han.

(but he does wrap his arm around her.)

Yeah, but you're my big girl, you know?

[ and she lets him do that too, without really knowing why. ]

Yeah. Well. Big girls got their big girl shit to do. Alright?

Yeah, but I told you, I couldn't handle seeing you - you know - (dead again)

Next time, I won't trust assholes I shouldn't trust.

[ time for another cigarette. she's not over that one just yet. maybe she won't ever be. it's hard to say. ]

Next time, I won't be fucking sentimental. And then I won't get fucking shot.

(he grabs the cigarette, throwing it on the grown with some irate expression on his face.)

Don't be dumb, Jay Q.

[ now she looks a little annoyed. making a face, she responds: ]

What the hell, Han?

(no subject)

carbonite - 2013-05-11 08:51 (UTC) - Expand