we can take the world back from a heart attack.

[centurybaby]

WHO: jenny quantum & YOU.
WHERE: superjail.
WHEN: any time at least a week or so after her capture by the minutemen and friends, because jail sentences sure are long.
WARNINGS: jenny's french.
SUMMARY: because this is what happens when you try to take over the world. twice.
FORMAT: quicklog. specify a date/time in the comment subject if you want!


[ underneath the apathetic adolescent exterior, jenny quantum feels a poignant loathing. and it isn't even that she's never been imprisoned before-- she has, and under arguably worse circumstances. but there's a frustration that's been building steadily under her skin ever since that day that rick bradbury killed her all those months ago, and being contained-- powers stifled-- it agitates her. makes her ten different kinds of restless.

it's like being grounded.

it's a stupid, anticlimactic punishment ill-suited to the spirit of the century.

she wants to smother her own feeling of powerlessness. she hates that feeling. she hates that if midnighter were here, he would have never let this happen. she hates not having any cigarettes and staring at the same four walls every day. ]

Fuck.

Comments

06/01 - afternoon

[demonspawn]

[ it's good, really, that he brings billy with him. at first, it might seem like an unusual choice -- video games or not, they don't know each other all that well still, and billy barely knows jenny. but he can't take julian or kanaya or anyone else because they all have baggage with jenny quantum that stretches around the globe twice. and he has things he wants to talk to her about -- selfishly, maybe, without sharing the spotlight with someone else who probably has issues with her too. billy will be the balancing force, the mediator, maybe, if she and terry get out of hand.

but he's right to be annoyed, isn't he? she didn't even come to see him this time. he isn't sure what that means, her going off on her mission again without saying anything to him.

he's sullen and quiet the entire walk to her cell. he doesn't know what he expects exactly, but at length, out loud to billy as they approach: ]

This is probably gonna suck.

[tesselate]

[ Terry explained to Billy about going to see Jenny, but the truth was the details weren't that important. After their conversation - despite how...blunt she had been with him - he had really wanted to meet her. He'd shared personal things, sure, but it was more than that - part of it was the idea that maybe she understood what it was like to have powers like this. Anyway, he didn't have much room to judge when it came to superjail, they had sprung Tommy out without really ever looking back. Sometimes things were as black and white as the world liked to pretend.

Plus there was the whole being-a-supportive-friend-thing. The video game thing was great, and while they may not have known each other very well, it was really good to have someone else his age that he was kind of sort of friends with. There was Kate, but he and Kate had always kind of existed as best friends that orbited each other, sending texts and keeping up to date plans, but also otherwise leading really different lives.

So there were a lot of reasons for being here, basically. He really didn't mind at all.]

At least we can be supportive, right? From there it's kind of details. If I can do anything, though, to make it easier? Just let me know. That's what I'm here for.

[centurybaby]

[ she hears their voices drifting down the hall. the place echoes a lot, and she's become pretty used to the flat syllables of terry's speech. the other voice is less familiar, but still recognizable after a pause.

when they come into view, she glances up from where she's seated on the floor at the far end of the cell, leaning against the wall. the prisoner's uniform is a stark difference from her leather jacket, her tough girl clothes. ]

Magic Lad and Demon Boy. What a fucking surprise.

[demonspawn]

[ he keeps a little distance from the bars. he hates seeing her like this. as dramatic as it sounds, jenny quantum is like some sort of metaphysical, cosmic time queen, and it's strange and not right to see her so ordinary, without her powers, trapped. she's his friend. seeing her like this, it twists something in his gut.

but it's better than her dying. he remembers that too.

sarcasm is his defense, so it comes out dry and a little distant when he answers her: ]

Magic Lad thinks we'll be supportive.

4 Juneish?

[hellionated]

[ At first when he hears she's caught, Julian doesn't try to contact her. There isn't a sense of panic this time, no feeling that he's somehow let her down. He'd tried to talk her out of it, and even though she's listened, she'd gone through with what she was planning anyway. At least this time she hadn't died in the process. She's in jail. Powerless, thanks to the dampeners there, and unable to do anything more.

His own mind is treacherous right now. He pushes the thought away every time he thinks it, but still, there's a big part of Julian that thinks Jenny's in the best place she could be right now. Because at least here, she can't go out and do something stupid, she can't start a war or get someone's knife in her back.

But after a few days, he decides the whole sordid affair has played on his mind enough, and he decides to suck it up and just go see her. He sits and waits for her, pretending at patience while not being patient at all. When she's finally there, he looks up, his face mostly impassive, and he folds his arms over his chest. ]

So. You want me to say I told you so now, or later?

[centurybaby]

[ she sits, taking her time with it, always casual as you please. but despite how unphased she seems out the outside, there's that thing again-- that thing where she looks a little different somehow, like there's something missing from her posture or her eyes or something. it's that normality that settles into her when she's powerless like this.

at length, once she's comfortable, jenny responds a bit flatly: ]

Like it makes a fucking difference. Say it, if it makes you feel better. I'll take a "Hi, Jenny" though.

[hellionated]

[ It doesn't make him feel better. Seeing her safe does, though. ]

Hey. I gotta admit, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so quickly. So much for goodbyes.

You want to tell me what happened, or do I need to find out from the news?

[centurybaby]

[ she shrugs. her ego is probably sore, she's probably a little angry about it still, but it doesn't show plainly on her face. at least it wasn't her being shot down by someone she actually gave any iota of a fuck about. but that doesn't make it much better. ]

Superheroes did their stupid superhero thing. Four of five of them. What the fuck does it matter anyway?

[ in her casual, apathetic voice-- the one she uses to mask her real feelings: ]

They should've just killed me.

(june 6ish)

[solidorkable]

(He had avoided coming down to see her for as much as he could. Part of him was glad that she was caught, that she would have to serve out a jail sentence for what she did. Another part of him felt a small twinge, that he wouldn't see her unexpectedly popping up in City Hall.

Larsa brings her flowers, small white ones that are more like her than any big bouquet - but really, what do you get the Spirit of the 21st Century when she's in jail? For now, he waits patiently for her, trying to figure out what he's going to say.)

[centurybaby]

[ it's a few minutes before she appears, and when she does, she almost doesn't quite look like herself. there's something about her that looks ordinary, something that's lacking when she's depowered-- or maybe its just the way the prison uniform looks on her.

she comes and takes a seat across from larsa, her expression unreadable. her tone is mild when she says a bit dryly: ]

What're the flowers for, my fucking funeral?

[solidorkable]

(he doesn't know why, but to him she'd never be ordinary. he's glad that she doesn't smoke now, at least. he shoves the flowers closer to her, almost in earnest that she accept them.)

As I read, those are carnations and these are peonies and jasmine. They were blooming in the garden, I thought you would appreciate something somewhat fresh.

(oh and.) Some fruits.

[centurybaby]

[ she eyes the flowers a second-- then she eyes him a second. if she were in a better mood, she might find it a little entertaining, because she's fairly sure nobody's ever brought her flowers before, especially not in such an earnest gesture. but the past several days of being cooped up have her moody and restless.

still, jenny reaches out to accept the bouquet, scooping it into her arms. they smell nice. maybe it's been too long since she actually appreciated anything like the way flowers smell or the taste of fresh fruit. everything in this place feels gray and dull and processed.

at length: ]

You didn't have to.

let's say the fifth

[waiting]

[ he isn't sure this is the best idea, but that's never stopped bradbury from making stupid decisions before. he doesn't even really know what to say to her -- by the way, one of the guys that took you down works with me -- but eventually he has to satisfy himself that jenny quantum really is in custody.

he isn't sure what she has to say to him, but he comes in just after lunch break. at least he has the excuse of work to keep him from staying too long.

when she's brought out, he doesn't rise to meet her, just looks up, waiting a beat before raising a hand in a quiet wave. without her powers, jenny quantum just looks like a vulnerable little girl -- one that doesn't belong here. ]

Hey.

[centurybaby]

[ she doesn't wave back. all she does is narrow her eyes a little, like she isn't sure she wants to see him, but she's starting to lean towards not wanting to. she must seem so small and thin without her leather jacket, without her powers, and her cigarettes, and everything that ever made up the image of her as this powerful, rebellious being.

right now, she's just an angry little girl.

she doesn't want him to see her this way. ]

What the fuck are you doing here, Bradbury.

[waiting]

[ the hostility was more or less what he expected, and his expression becomes just a little bit wryer. he's not here to pick a fight, but knowing jenny, that might be exactly what it turns out to be. ]

To drop off a present. I figured you might be getting bored.

[ he says it lightly enough. he doesn't appear to actually be carrying anything physical, though. ]

[centurybaby]

Who the fuck do you think you are, fucking Santa Claus? I don't need your charity, Bradbury.

[ as abrasive as her words are, she doesn't raise her voice. if anything, her tone is dismissive, like she isn't fully willing to deal with him right now, so soon after telling him to fuck off. she hasn't fully come to terms with the things she told him before, and it's uncomfortable now-- especially without her powers. ]

6/1, evening

[glowsferatu]

[ when kanaya shows up at the prison, it takes her a while to pass through the check, considering her haul. she brought a box, you see, and stuffed it full of as many books as she could bear to part with. not any of her favorites, but ones she knows are good, and a decent enough start. to these, she added new copies of arrested restraint and loose ends. new because she didn't expect to get them back, and rose had her own copies anyway. and to top it off, well.

eventually, security's picked through the entire thing and she's finally cleared to enter the visiting room. she takes a seat at the table and immediately rests her chin in her hand. the bags under her eyes are more pronounced in person than they may have seemed over the network. ]

After all that, I highly doubt sneaking any kind of tobacco in would have been viable.

[centurybaby]

[ the girl that's waiting there is none other than jenny quantum, of course, though there's always something a little lacking about her that betrays her when she's powerless like this-- something ordinary, or tired. it's hard to say.

her eyes trail from kanaya's face, to the box, to the little stuffed dog, and back to kanaya's face. ]

Please tell me you're fucking joking. Do you even fucking know how long it's been since I've had a smoke?

[glowsferatu]

I'd get enough trouble just trying to buy them, do you really think they'd let me bring them in for the express purpose of enabling a minor?

[ she pushes the box toward jenny. most of the books involve either vampires, lesbians, or tragedy. none of them involve all three at the same time. she kept those ones. ] Once you're done reading, you can always use these as bartering material, assuming your personality doesn't alienate the other inmates.

I've read things, I know how prison works. [ no she fucking doesn't. ]

june 15.

[crab]

[ he slides the candy cigarettes and ginger ale across the table towards her with the air of some type of emperor bestowing some great, undeserved boon upon a lowly peasant. ]

You're welcome.

omg yes karkaaaat

[centurybaby]

[ she arches one of her eyebrows a little, glancing down at the gifts on the table then back up at karkat before she finally responds, reaching for the candy cigarettes. peeling off the plastic wrap, she opens the box, pulling out of the sweets and pointedly flicking it at karkat's face. ]

Are you torturing me on fucking purpose right now?

it's happening

[crab]

Wow, talk about ungrateful.

[ he doesn't sound genuinely offended; his tone and posture are casual. friendly, even. it is pretty clear he is, indeed, deliberately messing with her. ]

I go out of my way to bring you these out of the boundless kindness of my vascular pump, and this is what I get. You throwing it back in my face, literally.

[ he flicks the sweet back at her, petulantly. ]

You can have the real thing when you learn how to not fuck up and get yourself killed. Also, when there aren't a bunch of human law officials breathing down my neck about bringing you this much.

June 17th; afternoon

[futureleader]

[ it's taken him a while to work up his courage to go see Jenny. understandable, since Striker left the city and Jenny took over that country, Quentin had been feeling at a loss. quite frankly, he isn't sure how to react to the whole situation of their former team. it's splintered, everyone knows it but no one will openly admit it. none of them will say "hey guys our team failed we should get back to our miserable teenage lives and forget the whole thing ever happened." for Quentin, the team meant a lot in terms of friendships and if there's one thing he hopes to take out of this visit its to repair this mess and amend their broken friendship.

it's the good memories and the good feelings, that make him want to set things right and so he greets her gently. he's not here to scold or tantalize her, he's pretty sure others have already done that.]

Hey, Jenny.

[ he waits, before taking out a box, small enough to fit his hands.] I brought you something, I hope you're not mad at me.

[centurybaby]

[ it's not who she's expecting really. but if she's surprised, it doesn't show on her face when she comes to sit down at the table. instead, she just eyes him a long moment before sliding into the seat, her attention shifting between his face and the little box then back again.

finally, when she speaks, it comes out a bit mockingly and doesn't betray at all what she thinks about him now. ]

I was starting to think you didn't like me anymore.

[ a beat, as she points at his offering. ]

What's that?

[futureleader]

Something I know you want that others refused to get.

[ he smiles, and carefully slides it over to her. the box is square like a cigarette case except instead of cigarette logos, the labeling is carefully covered up with candy wrapping to make it look fake. believable but fake. however, upon opening, the cigarettes inside are real and there are enough matches for every stick inside, tucked between the lining.]

I'm sorry for not coming sooner, I though you were mad at me.