Caitlin Snow (doomed_love) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-05-04 18:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | harley quinn, violet harmon |
WHO Bailey & Jules
WHAT Meeting & some advice
WHEN Recently
WHERE A kitchen at Caesar's
WARNINGS None
Bailey had been working the casino floor for long enough now that she could get away with only half paying attention, something she’d only started to do recently. She could hide the worry for the most part and she’d gotten better at drinking less while she was working too. Ever since the fire - well, since Nikolai really - things were just complicated in a way she wasn’t entirely sure she knew how to handle. The damn person in her head was taking her out for a spin at night, leaving her exhausted the next morning with no recollection of ever leaving. Whoever she was, she was good at being sneaky. Nothing they tried seem to work, though Bailey was fairly close to suggesting that they simply tie her to the bed. She trusted Nikolai to do it too which was surprising in and of itself. The men she landed in bed with weren’t, generally speaking, the most trustworthy bunch. She could hardly ignore the feelings she was starting to have as well and that was just too much. She had to ramble to someone and Jules had promised her gumbo. That had been like, a week ago, but Bailey didn’t really care. She didn’t need food, just an ear and he was closest. Once her shift was over and her things stowed in her locker, Bailey made her way over to the kitchen he was supposed to be working in. Dressed in a very mini black denim skirt, four inch black stilettos, and a black, one-sleeved top that clung to her curves, she certainly didn’t belong in a kitchen, but she didn’t care all that much about that either. “Jules?” she called above the hum of the line, seeking out the white blonde hair she knew he had. Jules was just finishing up for the night and, truth be told, he was dithering, slow as molasses and not real inclined to rush anywhere at all. That thing was on the journals again, the thing that had done Hannah in, and he still had no clue who it was. It made Violet real ornery, his insistence that she try to remember what the man had looked like or sounded like, but Jules knew that man wouldn’t believe the haint didn’t know him. It was all a bad thing, and Jules wasn’t real fond of bad things. He was dressed in his kitchen whites, but he’d thrown his hair net somewhere at the end of his shift, and his hair was in messy cornrows. He was lost in thought, worry about Loren when the kitchen door swung open. He glanced over, hands on the counter and head bowed until he noticed her, and he whistled with appreciation. Now, Jules didn’t have a lick of interest in the female sex, but he sure could tell a pretty one when he saw one. “Child, you look about as a dangerous as cocaine. You come looking for food?” Jules fed everybody; it was a regular thing at the casino now. But he knew who she was, even without talking to her on the journals, seeing as everyone constantly asked if they were kin. The whistle was ignored in favor of a smile as Bailey approached him. “Cocaine’s not nearly as interesting as I am, danger aside,” she replied easily, not put off at all that he called her ‘child’. Most people accepted at face value that she was at least 21 given where she was working, but if she was caught without makeup or she was scared? She was glad only Nikolai saw her in the mornings and after their first conversation on the phone, she tried to keep her fear in check. “What’ve you got? Something starchy maybe?” After her shift, she was a little buzzed, just enough to give her that fuzzy, warm sort of feeling. Now that she was here, she wasn’t so sure about rambling. Bailey stood next to him, leaning her back against the counter. “I can see why people are always asking me about you. Good thing I know my mom was too drunk to have another kid, or else I’d be curious too.” Not that having a sibling would be a bad thing, but she wouldn’t have wished her life on anyone, even if it did seem to be going well, crazy body-jacking voice notwithstanding. She was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out where to start. Nikolai scared her more, so she went with, “You ever been in love?” She never had, never gave the time to anyone, but the fire had sort of forced her hand and it had just worked. Maybe it was because they were a lot like, or maybe it was because she could be soft and gentle too, but in the end, all that mattered was that she was starting to get attached and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Jules had seen the tail end of 21 not too long back, and he wasn’t looking real close for folks’ ages, even if she did look a little too young to be prancing ‘round in that skirt. But no matter; he’d been stirring his own trouble well before he should have been, and he didn’t think he’d ended up none the worse for it. He just pointed to the table after she leaned against the counter (a round thing tucked back for the kitchen workers), and he nodded his head. “I got just the thing,” he said of finding something to clear her head some, and he set to work without missing a beat. He chuckled at her comment about her momma, and he shook his head. “Seeing as you’re younger than me, I think I woulda noticed if momma was running around with a big belly when I was real small.” He sounded fond, like he liked his momma just fine, which he had. Her question, though, the one about love, that got him lifting his head from the dense cake he was working on for her. “Every day of my life, but I don’t think you’re meaning that question the way I’m taking it,” he said, and he walked over and handed her his surefire cure to drunkenness - a thick piece of bread cake, dense and not sweetened, with sweet espresso soaked through. He pulled out his own chair at the table, and he sat himself on down. “Find yourself someone?” he asked, pulling over a big old glass of water along with him, and setting it at her elbow. She liked him so far, especially the way he talked and how willing he was to feed her. She took a seat where he told her and crossed her legs to hide some of the indecency of her skirt. He wasn’t one of the men out on the floor that appreciated a little flirting and tipped her well for it. A soft laugh escaped her when he talked about his mom. It certainly sounded like he liked her. “Probably. I’d hope so at least. You seem the attentive type.” It wasn’t a bad thing at all and the smile she gave him said as much. Bailey wasn’t the type to dance around something she didn’t want to dance around and it would’ve taken longer to set up the question than she had the patience for, hence the very plain, honest question. “Probably not,” she agreed with a sigh. The cake he brought her looked fantastic and she took a piece with her fingers, popping it into her mouth without any concern for utensils or manners, really. “This is really good,” she complimented, already breaking off another little piece to pop into her mouth. A mouthful of water came next before she figured out how to answer his question. “Sort of. You remember the fires that hit some of the housing complexes? I shacked up with this guy and it’s turned...into a thing. I dunno. I’ve never done anything like this before.” Understatement. He had probably heard about what she got up to. It wasn’t any secret that she picked up quite a few guys - and the occasional woman - from the tables and she wasn’t oblivious to the whispers that occasionally surfaced about what she liked. She wasn’t okay with that part, not by a long shot, but she was good at pretending it didn’t bother her. “Attentive sounds like another word for mother hen,” he said, though it came with a grin that said it didn’t bother him none. She felt real young, despite her clothes and makeup, and he watched her pop the cake into her mouth with another smile, this one plain genuine; he liked folks liking his cooking. The fires. He didn’t remember those himself, but Violet did, and she put some words in his ear, enough for him to nod. “Burnt up those cheap places past Fremont.” Where he lived now, but that wasn’t the important part of this story, leastways he didn’t think it was. Her next words proved that fact, and he didn’t look at all surprised that she’d shacked up with someone. He hadn’t been there long, and he already knew about her reputation and the kind of things they said she was fond of. “A thing, meaning you got feelings for the man. He got feelings back?” Because she was a real pretty little thing, but offering to shack didn’t necessarily mean the loving went both ways now. She grinned right back, feeling oddly comfortable with him. Maybe it was because of the time she’d spent with Nikolai, or maybe it was because she figured the truth couldn’t be any worse than what he’d heard, but the words just tumbled out as she picked at the cake. “Yea. First night was just a mess of limbs and fun and sex, the way they all say I like, but then the morning after was...different.” Bailey couldn’t stop the smile that started to tug at her lips, betraying the warmth she felt just remembering the shower that happened that morning. With a shake of her head, she focused on Jules again. “He’s got this villa at the Wynn. Two extra rooms easy, but I’ve been in his bed more than I’ve been out of it, and we don’t always have sex.” She paused to take another gulp of water and not once did she pause to consider that she was blabbering on about her sex life with someone she’d just met. “Plus there’s the whole body-snatching thing.” She figured he had someone in his head since he was on the journals, but she was at a loss about the whole thing because she didn’t have a fucking clue who it was in her head. Now, Jules fell in love at the drop of a hat, and he knew that smile that tugged up on Bailey’s lips; he’d seen it on himself in the mirror near enough times to have it memorized. “Honey, you got it bad. Don’t go questioning, just enjoy it while it lasts.” Jules didn’t believe in love that lasted real long, but he sure believed in love that burned plenty bright. “He good to you?” he asked, because he had heard about the things she liked, and he figured it was worth asking. He didn’t frown on anything folks liked, not him, but still. “If he’s letting you cuddle without sex, means he sees something he likes there. More than a pretty face and fun romp.” But the body-snatching, that made him frown and sit back in his chair. “You mean that hotel. Why do you call it snatching?” He asked, though he knew right well that Violet had done her fair share of driving with the dead girl, but there ain’t no way he was letting a haint control him. “Yours riding you a round like a cab without your go-ahead?” At least someone else had been the one to label it for her. She didn’t know what love was. She’d never experienced it, not from her parents and certainly not from any of the people she’d slept with before him. Nikolai was different and she’d enjoy it for as long as she could. His question surprised her, if only because she’d never have anyone ask her that, but she nodded. “Better than most,” she added, and it was the truth. Nikolai never did anything to her that she didn’t want or anything that she didn’t trust him to do. “Stopped drinking for a bit. Or, he cut back. We both did.” That led into his other questions just fine so she shrugged. “I lose time and I don’t even realize it. I’ll go to bed and wake up exhausted hours later. Nikolai noticed I’d been sneaking out, but I don’t remember it. If I go to the hotel well, that’s better than what else I could be doing, but still. I don’t even know who’s up there, just that she’s picky about who’s doling out the rough housing and she likes blowing things up.” She took two consecutive bites of the cake, mostly to shut herself up for a moment. It was pretty clear that she was afraid of whatever the person was doing in her body and that fear made her look a little younger than she was, and she looked young to begin with. Jules didn’t bat an eyelash at her comments about her lover, because that sure sounded like love to him, least as far as he knew. Most men didn’t give anything up for anyone, not in his experience, which was just fine. Jules liked his men just as flawed as they came; he wasn’t interested in reforming anyone, and he sure didn’t want for reforming himself. “You scared ‘bout how you’re feeling?” he asked, because that’s what it sounded like from his side of the table, like she wasn’t real sure about it. Losing time made Jules frown, because he knew right well his haint had controlled the girl before him like it was her right, but he wasn’t planning on working it that way. “Do you go through willing? If you do, maybe she won’t keep stealing you,” he suggested, though he didn’t have a whole lot of faith in the recommendation, and it came across clear in his voice. “Some of them, I think they’re just stronger, and they do what they want, no matter what we’re saying about it. Can you make your lover tie you to the bed?” he asked with a grin. “Keep her from going until she talks to you about it, lets you know who she is.” Blowing things up, that made him think of all the things going up in flame in Las Vegas, and he wondered if she had anything to do with it. Well, with the fire that was set right. “Yes,” she answered, not bothering to hesitate or hide it. She was scared because of what would happen once he decided he’d had enough or when the person in her head decided to take an interest in him. She was more afraid of the latter, if only because she didn’t want anything to happen to him. Just thinking about it made Bailey frown and she gave the plate in front of her a small push away from her. Best to just stick with water for the moment. A smile ghosted across her lips when he suggested having Nikolai tie her to the bed. “I was thinking of doing that, actually. The tying thing. Just wasn’t sure how to bring it up.” Going through the door willingly wasn’t really something she wanted to do. She was afraid of what she’d do or what she’d find. “Yours ever take over like that? At least she keeps to when I should be sleeping, but it’s not like I can be tied to the bed twenty-four seven, you know?” It was worth trying though and she was fairly certain Nikolai wouldn’t mind. Well. “You think there’s a way I could figure out if he’s got someone in his head too? He knows I’m losing time and he’s trying to be supportive but...” Bailey trailed off, glancing down at her hands, which were wrapped tightly around the glass. “I think he’s more likely to ship me off to a psych ward if it gets worse.” She sounded less afraid of that than of being in love. “You tell the man you’re sleepwalking and scared, and if he’s worth keeping he’ll listen, and then he’ll find his best ties and truss you up. If he’s really worth keeping, he’ll keep you entertained in the meantime,” Jules said, teasing, though he was about as a serious as a heart attack. If she was having trouble with her person on the other side, then bargaining might be the only way. “‘Course, might mean you end up having to give some in the end, to live in peace.” He knew about that too, about compromising. “No,” he said about Violet taking over, and he didn’t add that she’d take Hannah over left and right, to hear the girl tell it, “but I think it’s different for everyone, honey. Some folks take over, some are content not to, and I think it might have something to do with whoever’s stronger.” Which didn’t bode real well for her, if she was already concerned she had someone dangerous on the other side. Dangerous and strong? That was real bad. The question about finding a way to tell if her beau had someone in his head was a little more difficult. Going around and admitting to having someone living upstairs, that wasn’t exactly something Jules recommended. “Look for his journal. If he’s like us, he’ll have something you can find.” His teasing worked wonders on her nerves and she was glad she’d come to see him. Bailey finished off her water and pushed the glass to the side before crossing her arms on the table. “He is good at entertaining me,” she replied with a broad grin. Maybe she didn’t need to be so scared about all of this. “Giving I can do.” She’d be willing to compromise with the other person, but she was a little worried that it wouldn’t be enough. Something to face once she had some answers. Bailey nodded at his suggestion. She could snoop and sneak and try and find his journal. Hers was hidden in her purse and she didn’t think he’d ever go through her stuff. If that was what it would take to figure out if he had someone in his head too, she’d try. “Thanks, Jules,” she said after a moment, and the ‘thanks’ encompassed more than just the advice. He didn’t have any real reason to listen to her problems considering it was the first time they were sitting down and having a conversation, but he did it anyway and gave her cake on top of it. She’d never wanted a sibling, still didn’t for the most part, but if she did, she wouldn’t have minded Jules. “I should go. You’ve probably a zillion things to do and I’m just raining on your parade.” It was said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she slid off her chair. “You let me know how it goes, honey,” Jules said easily, reaching for her discarded plate and glass before standing. He gave her a long look, a serious one, because she was too young to go facing all these things, but then he didn’t think he was too much older, and yet there they were. “And if your man don’t treat you right, you come find me. I’m tougher than I look.” He gave her a wink, nudged his chair in with his foot, and then he turned to go clean up. Seemed like everyone he encountered these days was plain lost. He figured there was a song in there somewhere, but he’d be damned if he could find the strength to go hunting for it. |