InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Fortunately the lad's a genius"

Moon Knight (_not_broken) wrote in dunwichgame,
@ 2023-10-08 10:56:00

Entry tags:

!log/thread/narrative, marvel (tv/film): marc spector, ∙ plot: 009 tick tock goes the clock, ◌ inactive: vi

1997

~~Jake~~ Marc & Vi
TBC • Oct 7th, evening • Pickman School dorms

Jake is going for a smoke.

The body was tired, Jake realised. So, as he walked through the dorm hallways, he quickly ran through all the things he knew had happened ever since the last time he'd been in control, either from reading the messages on their phone or from what he could remember when he was closer to the front than not, to see what might explain the tiredness.

Marc had woken up, gone to classes and then gone to get a cookie and a lollipop with Mary and Eponine. Steven had done most of their homework already, and gone to see a movie? Well done, Mary, for dragging the nerd away from his books. Marc had almost freaked out about the idea of Layla getting into trouble - not that any of the adults here were like Her, but Marc was still convinced that all adults would either beat the shit out of them for, like, breathing too loudly, or ignore that it was happening in the first place - so Jake had taken over and gone to see what a blanket fort was like. Steven showed up after that and did some more reading for English, and then Jake had taken over again when Steven had dozed off at Layla's, and he'd been in control ever since.

So now, as a reward for so much 'having-to-control-the-body'ing, Jake was going for a smoke, despite how tired they felt. He'd checked his little stash when his roommate wasn't paying attention (only two cigarettes left, so he'd need to check in with Bev very soon) and then left the room, muttering some excuse as he did so. He was heading for the roof, and he would have one of his cigarettes up there, and then head back to the room after he'd had some time to himself (hahaha like he was ever alone), and then they could try and sleep.

(Post a new comment)

90's Vi[olet]

imhotblooded
2023-10-12 12:43 am UTC (link)

She hadn't been to school in awhile. After getting suspended for stealing food from the cafeteria and then ending up in juvie for stealing from the supermarket, it had been already half the school year. Not like she cared. It wasn't like she had that many friends here. But she should. Her parents thought she should. Friends would keep her out of trouble. That was their theory, anyhow.

It wasn't a bad one. Friends would be nice. She just didn't know how to get one.

The first week back wasn't too bad. Vi honestly did give her best effort to pay attention in her classes that she was behind in (which was all of them). There was a lot she remembered but also a lot that she didn't. And when it got to be too much, she felt like giving up and just hide away out on the school roof. No one really went up there. The teachers said it wasn't safe. But Vi was pretty much an adult already and ignored them. The door was probably locked but Vi liked going up the fire escape. When she got up top, she was surprised to see she wasn't the only one on the roof.

"Oh. Hi." Vi lifted her hand and shook it in a small wave towards the other kid.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-12 08:09 am UTC (link)

Jake looked up from lighting his cigarette when someone spoke, before letting his cheap crappy disposable lighter go out. He was going to need a new one of those soon as well, since the current one was lighting his smokes with hopes and wishes and maybe a few fumes and not much else. He blew a small cloud of smoke out of his lungs, and then nodded at the older girl. He quickly flicked through any memories of the other kids that Marc or Steven had, and then recognized her. She was the one who'd been sent away. Not quite like they had (entirely different destinations, after all), but still. Nothing any of the three of them would go gossipping about, anyway.

"Hey," he replied, careful to talk like Marc as best he could - no Spanish, no accent, nothing. She wasn't Layla or Mary, after all.

He filled his lungs with smoke again, sat down on the roof and then watched the girl to see where she was going to go.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-12 10:51 pm UTC (link)

Wait, what was that the kid? What was he doing?

"Are you smoking? What are you, like seven?" Vi hopped off the edge of the roof and walked over to him, one eyebrow popped up. The kid obviously had to go here. He didn't look familiar though. Not that Vi knew everyone at school. But he had to go here. Why else would he be up here on the roof? "You know that stuff is bad for you, yeah?" She chastised. There was a grin on her face though and she wasn't trying to take it away from him.

It was obvious that this wasn't the first stick that the kid had ever had. Both of Vi's eyebrows popped up as she watched him take another hit, that grin still wide. "What are you doing up here anyway? The teachers say we're not allowed up here."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-13 08:37 pm UTC (link)

The look Jake sent her would have sent Steven scurrying away to the library or something if he'd seen it. Was he seven? Fuck. He raised an eyebrow at her at the next question. "I'm smoking, I'm fourteen," he replied, "and yeah, obviously. I'm not stupid."

"I'm up here because I'm smoking," he said, and held up the cigarette for her to see - wasn't it obvious? "and the teachers also say we're not allowed to smoke in our rooms. Gotta go somewhere to smoke at this time, and I ain't going out to the bleachers now."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-14 08:07 pm UTC (link)

She chuckled. "Oh. Fourteen. Sorry." The kid looked like he was ready to send her flying off that roof. Tough kid. Good, Vi thought with amusement flashing over her cheeks as she smiled over at him. "It's all good, kid. I didn't say you were stupid, did I? As long as you know what you're getting yourself into." And wasn't it just hilarious for her to then flip her hand out and gesture towards his cigarette. "You got any to share?"

Vi nodded, understanding why he was up there. "So we're both hiding." Sounded about right. She hopped up on the edge and walked it like she was on a tightrope. "So you won't tell anyone I was up here and I won't tell anyone you were up here. Deal?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-14 08:26 pm UTC (link)

Jake glanced at her hand, and then back up to her face, before taking another drag on his cigarette.

"Deal," he agreed, because he never really fronted in class or round the adults unless something was upsetting Marc (and when that happened, being on the roof tended to be the furthest thing from the adults' minds) and the other two weren't going to know a thing about him going up to the roof anyway, so it was easy to say he wasn't going to tell anyone.

Then he exhaled smoke through his nose before reaching into his shirt pocket for the pack of smokes. Well, smoke. He stuck the lighter in the pack, since it had maybe two more uses in it, and then held it out for the older girl to take. "It's the last one," he explained.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-14 10:58 pm UTC (link)

It became very clear that this wasn't this kid's first cigarette. Vi watched, maybe a little impressed, as he took a drag that would have made a cowboy proud. She had only picked up smoking in juvie recently herself. All the kids there did it. Not like Vi was one to follow the crowd. But what was that saying she heard in class recently?

When in Rome.

"Thanks," she said when he relented over his last piece. "I'll owe you a pack then." Because that was a lot for someone to do. A lot for them, anyway. Giving out his last one? Vi would have to make sure to get that pack sooner rather than later. She lit the one he gave her and slipped the lighter back in the empty pack to give back to him. After her first drag, she took a seat on the edge of the roof and let out a relaxed sigh. "I'm Violet, by the way. Vi for short."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-15 07:47 pm UTC (link)

"Get them from Bev," he pointed out as he took the empty things back, and then watched her as she sat down. Vi. He'd remember her name for sure. "Bev's always got good cigarettes."

"I'm Marc," Jake replied, without pause or hesitation or any hint of a lie. Because it wasn't, not really. Not in Jake's mind. He was there to keep the other two safe, and that meant that Jake didn't count in the grand scheme of things. "How long've you been here?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-16 09:29 pm UTC (link)

She recognized the name that the kid gave her. Bev wasn't a friend but Vi knew what circles she hung around in. And she'd never heard anything bad about the girl. She seemed nice. And if she was cool enough to be friends with this kid, her chances were good too. "Bev, huh?" She nodded, cementing that fact to memory. "I know her. She's got real pretty hair." Vi always seemed to notice stuff like that. Her cheeks went pink as her hair before she let herself think too much about it and moved on.

"Been here?" Vi laughed and then shrugged. "Which time? Before or after I got out of juvie?" Most kids probably wouldn't talk about being sent away. For a lot, it was more of an embarrassment than something to be proud of. But Vi didn't really care who knew. The only thing she cared about was not going back. She enjoyed a minute with her cigarette before answering. "I was here last year when school started. But I haven't been around really since then. Did I miss anything fun?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-16 10:16 pm UTC (link)

Jake kept the cigarette clamped between his lips as he put the empty packet and lighter in his pocket - ash would blow away, cigarette butts were small enough to get rid of easily, but actual empty packets or lighters would attract attention and probably cause a crackdown on smoking, and no way did Jake want that kind of thing happening. Or for him or Marc to be identified and blamed for the crackdown.

"Bev's really cool," he said, not looking at Vi as he did so, since he also thought her hair was real pretty. Then he stayed quiet as she talked about juvie and stuff.

"Fun? uh. No. Unless you count schoolwork as fun." Jake obviously did not. Steven did, but that was cool, it meant Jake didn't need to do any of it.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-16 10:22 pm UTC (link)

Since she had no idea when or where she'd see Beverly or when she'd get her next smoke, Vi took her time enjoying the one she had. Seemed like Marc was too. What did he have to stress about? More homework? But maybe there was something going on in his life that she had no idea about. Vi wasn't so self-centered to think that no one else went through shit like she did. A lot of them had their crap in their lives. They all just dealt with it, one way or another.

Kinda sucked but who were they going to complain to?

Vi laughed. "Nothing at school is fun. Maybe lunch time. And gym. I don't mind the running around part. Kinda makes everything go away." Speaking of going away. Vi lifted an eyebrow and glanced curiously over at 'Marc'. "So what are you up here avoiding? For real?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-16 10:36 pm UTC (link)

Jake scrunched up his face at the notion that gym could be fun. But then, he was biased. Gym class was Marc's least favorite, so Jake didn't like it either.

"M'avoiding the teachers that would stop me smoking," he said, which was true. "And I wanted there to be less people." He shrugged after that and took another drag of his cigarette, before looking over at Vi.

"What was it like in juvie?" he asked suddenly. He imagined it was like Putnam, but with less sedatives or... treatments.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

imhotblooded
2023-10-20 05:31 am UTC (link)

Vi chuckled at Marc's face. Yeah, most of the other kids thought she was nuts but gym was her favorite class. Sometimes she just liked the running part. If only she could keep running. Sure, sometimes her legs and lungs would burn and she'd feel like Jell-O for the rest of the day after. But there was something exhilarating about it at the same time. She had thought about joining track. Or even soccer! But she kept screwing up.

The smile on her face faltered a bit at Marc's question. She didn't mind that he asked. Everyone was always curious. Vi knew she couldn't get mad for wondering. "Pretty much like school. Except everyone wears the same thing. And you can't leave." Vi went through half of her cigarette before going on. She didn't like thinking about that place. "It's not somewhere you want to get stuck in. The food is the worst." She hoped that was enough to discourage this kid from doing anything that would maybe land him there. "It's not as cool as it sounds. Most the time you're just bored. Some of the others would watch the clock. Some stay all day in the tv room. I liked counting things. Kinda kept me from going crazy."

She watched him for a bit, wondering how he'd take all of that. "Why do you want there to be less people? Or are you avoiding someone? Is someone picking on you?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_not_broken
2023-10-22 08:17 pm UTC (link)

Sounded like Putnam, yeah. The stupid TV room and being bored and having to do what everyone else did. Jake nodded as Vi explained, letting her talk without butting in. He scowled at the 'going crazy' thing, though, so maybe they did do sedatives and shit in Juvie?

Then she was asking him questions again. It took him a little while to reply, because he had to shove all the memories away, although he laughed a bit when she asked if people were picking on him. "I'm not good at... y'know. People. Sometimes they're just. Too much, too loud, and then everything's too much and too loud. And then people... they, they... They don't like that. But it's their fault, they make everything weird, not me." He finished off his cigarette then, flicking the ash away before making sure the butt wasn't sneakily still burning by grinding it down into the nearest bit of brickwork. "The roof's quiet. It's good."

(Reply to this) (Parent)