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Tweak says, "An abomination unto Nuggan!"

Captain Jack Harkness (foreverjack) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2017-02-07 09:59:00

Entry tags:

aidan reilly, ianto jones, jack harkness, kitty pryde (aoa), martha jones

Day 414 / Open action
Jack's out and about today but he's starting to like Mistletoe Days less and less the longer he's here. And especially just now – given the current delicate state of his blue-band relationship, getting caught by a bot today just seems like it'll be asking for trouble!

Nevertheless, he will inevitably get caught. A man can't live without his coffee, and he's determined to make up for his binge drinking over the last couple of days (or twenty years) by getting back into his early morning swim routine.

He's kind of looking for Ianto too. A little too nervous to actually call him and get this talking thing started, more kind of hoping he'll just run into him and – well. Things will just happen.

((OOC: Decided to put this in a separate post for easier navigation on potentially long threads!))

((Note: NSFW happenings in the Ianto thread (surprise surprise!!!) ))

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	foreverjack 2017-02-17 11:13 pm UTC (link)
	"...Right." He takes a step in towards her as the forcefield gives him a nudge, but pays the chanting bot no more attention than that. This is too big. "You think we should go for some kind of council instead, like we had in that future?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kitty_has_claws
2017-02-18 10:39 pm UTC (link)

"Maybe? I'm not even sure if we need that. I'm not sure what the future council even did." Those memories are blurred out too. "I do think teamwork is the best chance we have to get out of here, and that's still important to me, but it's not the same sort of focus as it used to be. I want...to live my life, not just escape it." She looks up at him, wondering if he understands or if it sounds as selfish as she thinks it might.

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foreverjack
2017-02-20 05:07 pm UTC (link)

Jack's selfish enough himself (while also somehow managing to be a selfless hero at the same time) that that all makes pretty good sense to him. He gives her a wry sort of smile.

"Maybe you should just do what I do and forget about the DF half the time when personal things get in the way!" he jokes, and then tilts his head. "Although it's probably a good thing you don't, or that would be two of us not being very reliable!"

He lets out a breath. "Yeah, I don't know what the council did, really, either. It wasn't exactly my focus that day. I... this isn't something I've really though about much, but my feeling is that people need some kind of organisation, some kind of leadership to co-ordinate things like emergency response and trying to get out of here, but I can't say the Force has been particularly good at either so far!"

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kitty_has_claws
2017-02-20 05:25 pm UTC (link)

She feels a little crest fallen hearing even Jack say that they haven't been particularly good at anything. "Being good at getting out is a zero sum game. If they are still here then they'll be bad at it no matter what we do. And as far as emergency response goes, no amount of me asking people to meet at a certain location or stay inside or call when they need help seems to get through to anyone. If they hear there are dinosaurs out they can't get outside fast enough to engage them whether they are equipped for it or not.

I don't know... I kind of get it. There isn't a lot happening here and most of us have more active lives. They probably want the thrill or to be the hero or self punishment or something. I thought we did a good job with the flood. We were so on top of it and then people still..." Died. She knows she can't save everyone. Saving everyone wasn't on even the most distant horizon back home. But here with so few people in such a relatively small space it does feel like failure instead of triumph when they look at how many more lived even under those conditions.

"It's not like I think the answer is to stop trying instead of trying harder, but maybe the person leading the way should be someone with a stake in getting home." That's definitely not her. This right here might be as good as it gets for her. But she's still clearly conflicted. She's not good at giving up or letting go. Just look at things with Reid. But that's part of what's making her think she should even if it doesn't exactly feel right.

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foreverjack
2017-02-22 09:53 pm UTC (link)

"Okay, point taken," he admits because yeah, they're at a serious disadvantage in trying to get out of here. He's more just realising that they don't seem to have even tried lately, perhaps that they've run out of things to try.

"And yeah, okay, we've had successes. You handled the flood well, even if... yeah." He sighs heavily. "But I think you're right. A lot of us are used to danger and to putting ourselves out there at the first sniff of it." He shrugs, grinning faintly. "Hell, it's why I joined the Force in the first place! And yet..." He gives her a slightly shamefaced look. "Even I still tend to turn to my friends first if I need help, rather than my team. I think we're all too used to getting out there and doing our own thing. I've never really felt like the Force works the way it ought to, here."

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kitty_has_claws
2017-02-23 02:13 pm UTC (link)

She shakes her head. "We never really became the tame we should have to make it work. Too many people with their own agendas, looking for different things from it. Not to mention the turn over with the coming and going. We're a long way from being the X-Men." Her X-Men weren't perfect either, but they were family. They were bonded. They had each other's backs and when they'd argue it was heated because they were so close and cared so much. They had a common enemy and they could do tangible damage against his forces even if it never seemed to make a dent. There were still lives to be saved and while they were always feared and hated for the sacrifices they made they weren't among those who feared and hated them. They weren't getting reports full of what they were doing wrong from conversations that apparently went on behind their backs.

"I needed something like that early on or to think there was a possibility for it. And I still turn to people with powers whether they're on the force or not." In a fight at least. That's not a factor when it comes to those she gets close to or seeks advice from anymore.

"It doesn't sound like you're that invested?" She looks up at him, stepping closer due to the forcefield. She's getting the feeling just leaving it in his hands isn't going to work here.

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foreverjack
2017-02-24 02:25 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, exactly," he agrees, nodding along. "Too much change of personnel, too little real, faceable danger... I don't know, but I do kind of feel it's never really got where it should get. I mean, I'm probably not the best judge, because Torchwood never really got there either, but... We were more of a team, you know? Even if we were constantly bickering about each other, we trusted each other to have our backs. Here? There are people in my team that I've hardly spent any time with and while I trust them because we vetted them when we let them into the Force, they're not the people I'd turn to instinctively if I was in trouble. Hell, mad as it seems, nowadays, one of the first people I'd turn to, apart from you, is Spike, and he's just about as anti-Force as you can get!"

He takes a moment to think about her question, particularly because it's not something he's thought about much up to this point. After a moment, he shrugs, giving her a helpless kind of look. "I guess I'm not, really. I joined the Force because it was there and it's the kind of thing I do, and I've worked fairly hard to do my duty by it, but I wouldn't say my heart and soul is in it." He cocks an eyebrow. "Where does that leave us? And the Force?"

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kitty_has_claws
2017-02-24 03:02 pm UTC (link)

She nods along and doesn't seem thrown or even surprised when he gets to Spike. She'd invited him to join. He laughed at her of course, but she'd trust him too.

"That's a good question." She looks up at him, unsure and then leans in to kiss him because that barrier is getting close and maybe she could use a little comfort because the idea of losing the force completely is strangely difficult even if they agree it was never the team they wanted or that it should have been. It was still a starting place for her—a place she felt like she made sense back when nothing else did.

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foreverjack
2017-03-08 10:47 am UTC (link)

He's invited Spike to join probably as many times as she has, and been turned down just as many. And quite possibly having spent so much time around Spike lately has had an effect on how he thinks about the Force. Spike has a habit of questioning things and poking holes in things and, however unintentional, it's had an effect on how Jack thinks about things like the Force.

So it's a thoughtful kind of kiss as he too finally gives in to the urging of the bot, and perhaps a comforting one too. Certainly his arms come around her in a light hug. It's less passionate than a good many they've shared - slightly distracted, even - but for once that seems to be enough for their audience and he pulls gently away as he feels confetti brush his cheek.

"Sorry, where were we?" he grins. "Oh yeah, where does that leave us?" He quirks an eyebrow. "I can't think of anyone else within the Force who might be interested in taking it over, can you? Hell, there's not exactly many of us left anyway! What are we now - twelve, thirteen? Is it even worth having such a formal organisation any more?"

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kitty_has_claws
2017-03-08 08:48 pm UTC (link)

There is something reassuring about the kiss. Momentarily calming before all the questions hit again without sparking too much excitement or longing which may be progress or it could just be the timing and context.

"If I don't lead it and you don't lead it then...either someone else has to or it falls apart. I'm not really comfortable just leaving it to Ianto with the structure it has now. I don't think he'd be into that either." As much as she wanted the focus to become investigation it is the smallest section by virtue of who is there for that.

"I need more time to think about it." To make sure she's really okay with the possibility of no more force at all because he's right. If it's not them, then who? "Fifteen and maybe Suzaku. He led before me." But he doesn't remember that time. He isn't exactly as she remembers him from then either. She'd trust him, but she's not sure he wants that. Maybe. Or maybe someone would surprise them. Lots of maybes.

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foreverjack
2017-03-13 12:50 pm UTC (link)

"Ianto leading it...?" He blinks a bit at that idea because, okay, Ianto's perfectly capable and actually very good at organising a small team (and of bossing him around, however little Ianto himself thinks he can) but he can't imagine him leading the whole Defence Force. He shakes his head. "He's a good organiser - probably better than either of us - but he's not sufficiently combat-experienced to lead that side of things."

He studies her, knowing the indecision in her face is echoed in his own. "I guess we both need to think about it. It's not that I don't want the Force to continue, just that I don't know that I'm invested enough in it to take over the whole thing myself. Perhaps we do actually need some new blood, someone really motivated and inspired to make it into what it really ought to be? Or perhaps something different entirely!"

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	kitty_has_claws 2017-03-14 11:39 pm UTC (link)
	"So, we'll think and in a few days we'll decide where this leaves us. Maybe this whole line of thinking is just me feeling down or distracted or something. This place can get to you after awhile." She saw it get to just about everyone else in their interlude to the future after all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

foreverjack
2017-03-16 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"I guess so," he agrees rather emptily, feeling like this thing has rather snuck up on him and yet, in some way, that perhaps it's always felt inevitable too. Everything falls apart sooner or later. Even Torchwood died eventually - though mostly in a far more literal sense than the Defence Force, as in everyone except him and Gwen actually was dead.

On the plus side, he does actually have something happy they can talk about. He takes a breath and lets out the smile that's been trying to break through while they talked about other things. "Want to hear some good news?"

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	kitty_has_claws 2017-03-16 04:40 pm UTC (link)
	"Yes, please. Is it about Ianto?" She asks hopefully. It would be sad if it's not and she just ruined the mood of whatever the good news is. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2017-03-16 05:38 pm UTC (link)
	She's lucky! It is about Ianto, and the smile spreads into a full-on grin as she says it. "Yep. We've talked, and we've... done some other things--" realising belatedly that Kitty probably doesn't want to hear all the details about kinky spankings and all that "--and we're good. We're really good!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kitty_has_claws 2017-03-19 01:17 am UTC (link)
	She just shakes her head while looking amused. And then she steps forward for a hug. "I"m really glad, Jack" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2017-03-21 05:10 pm UTC (link)
	He gives her the hug gladly. It seems pretty unusual for the two of them to have a good, celebratory reason for a hug, and he's going to make the most of it! "Yeah, me too. I think we've got a long way to go, but considering how scared I was that there was nothing left for us at all..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kitty_has_claws 2017-03-21 10:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Just keep listening and talking. You'll get there." She pulls back with a smile. Really happy for both of them. "And I will kick your asses if you don't." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2017-03-22 04:05 am UTC (link)
	"Yes, ma'am!" he says smartly, with a grin - and, really, it does feel good to be talking to her like this with no angst at all. He lifts an eyebrow. "How are things with Chekov?" He knows their little trip into the future affected them too, even if not quite as much as him and Ianto. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kitty_has_claws
2017-03-23 12:02 am UTC (link)

Who knew angst-free was even a setting anymore? She's edging toward happy some days! She smiles as soon as he asks about Chekov. Such a tell.

"They've been good. I mean, mostly good. He's a little further along in things than I am which is awkward sometimes, but I think I want to be where he is. I'm pretty sure. I think I'm ready to leave the past behind." Meaning, her on again, off again thing with Reid mostly, but if she takes her past as a whole it's a big, heavy, complicated mess and instead of dragging it around it would be nice to walk away with just the important parts. "He told me he loved me. A few times. Before the glitch too."

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foreverjack
2017-03-24 05:38 pm UTC (link)

"That sounds really good," he says sincerely. He always rooted for her and Reid at the time, but in retrospect, she and Chekov seem a much healthier thing to root for.

"Oh yeah, you said about him saying he loved you thing." He might have been self-absorbed that morning after the future glitch, but he still remembers they talked about this. "How's that going? He's still not pressuring you to say it back or anything?"

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	kitty_has_claws 2017-03-25 12:43 am UTC (link)
	It's okay. She was rooting for her and Reid for a long time too. Rooting for something new is still something she's adjusting to. "Right. I guess I did." she smiles and shakes her head. "Can you even picturing Chekov trying to pressure someone?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	foreverjack 2017-03-26 08:38 am UTC (link)
	He thinks about it for a moment and then chuckles. "Actually, no. He could be just about the sweetest person I know. And I think you really deserve that after all you've been through." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kitty_has_claws
2017-03-26 02:09 pm UTC (link)

"I just hope..." She trails off, looking thoughtful as she tries to gather her words. "I don't want to be bad for him. I'm still figuring out how to be okay again. He doesn't deserve to be screwed up by that." Not to mention that part where he is really sweet. She knows his life isn't all sunshine though. He can deal with things. He isn't entirely innocent. But she wants to be someone who can be kind and affectionate and giving and she isn't sure if she's that person yet or if she's still healing and hurting and regretting.

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