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characters: brady and jae setting: the gym
It was a little hard to distract herself once she'd heard from Wu, but Jae did her best. She went, got a little something to eat, then went to the gym again, to work off some nervous energy. She'd knocked one of the punching bags around a little, and was in the process of sitting on the floor in the sun, rebandaging her fingers. It was a somewhat meditative exercise, a concentration thing.
There was a lot on Brady’s mind between the threat he’d warned Autumn about this morning to the threat he’d learned about from Meg, and he’d needed something to distract himself, if only for an hour or two. It would also give him a chance to think through things he’d teach Autumn, wanting to make sure she stood the best chance possible at defending herself. Only when he got into the gym, he was immediately sidetracked by the sight of Jae sitting and bandaging her fingers. “What’s that about?” he asked by way of greeting, crossing to her and dropping to sit a couple feet in front of her.
Jae glanced up. "I needed to distract myself last night. It got a little bloody." she answered, going back to wrapping up the raw ends of her fingers. "Nice to see you too, Brady." she added. "How've you been?"
Brady quirked a brow at that. “Distract yourself from what?” he asked, worried that she’d got herself in a difficult situation or something. Apparently there was a whole lot of weird happening last night. “Oh yeah, that too. Been a bit since we caught up,” he said with a half smirk. “Been better, been worse. This place is getting all kinds of more fucked up by the day. Found a couple nooses in a tree this morning on the other block.” He intended to catch her up on as much as he could without betraying confidences, and it was as good a place as any to start.
She'd been going to tell him what had gone on with her, but her attention was more than distracted by the word 'nooses'. She stopped what she was doing and sat up a little straighter, frowning at him. "Nooses." she repeated. "Okay, how about you back right on up and tell me eeeeverything you can about that shit. Because that's fucked up." she said, thinking clearly there was even more going on than had been hinted at by Wu. “Also, tell me no one’s dead.”
There was no surprise at her insistence that he back up and tell her everything. Brady had expected it, and he gave her a short nod before doing as requested. “First, no, no one’s dead as far as I know. I got stuck over there last night, and ended up staying in the music room all night standing watch while Edan slept.” Had he told her anything about Edan yet? He couldn’t remember. “Power comes back on, and this morning I leave to head back over here, only I spot the nooses. The tree they’re hanging from has a heart carved into it with ‘Mazie + Autumn’ in the middle of it. Then I see this guy, Jeremy, staring at his door, so I go to see what’s up. Someone had painted ‘Tangle with the beast, get destroyed,’ or something like that. So, that was my fucked up morning,” he finished his explanation and leaned back on his hands.
Jae wasn't sure who Edan was, but figured that was incidental to everything else. Normally she would have asked, but the other stuff was taking priority. "Sounds fabulous." she said drily. "Are we thinking this is the same shit that the one girl reported? The anonymous messages that were all cryptic and shit?" The nooses didn't fit that, but the door message did. Or, maybe the nooses did, who knew. Someone was clearly off their nut either way.
“The door message seems to fit the theme, but fuck if I have any clue if the nooses tie into that.” He sighed, shaking his head. It was incredibly frustrating that this anonymous crap was happening at all. He just wished he could find a way to make it stop. “So what did you have to distract yourself from?” he asked since she’d been caught up in the nooses and hadn’t answered before.
"Nothing as important as nooses and other fuckery." Jae said, shaking her head. Then she sighed and started back on bandaging her fingers, wanting to get that finished up as quickly as possible. "I was stuck in one of the elevators when the power died. Let's just say I'm not actually all that great with tight spaces. Too much time in solitary, I suppose. Either way, I was stuck in there, and wound up climbing up the elevator shaft and trying to work at the door. I knew I wouldn't make progress, but it was something to concentrate on."
“Fuck,” was all Brady said to that for a moment, eyes skimming over glass walls. “How the hell did you get in the elevator shaft?” he asked after a minute. Sure, she was athletic enough, but he didn’t think she was capable of getting up through the top of the elevator and into the elevator shaft in utter darkness without some kind of help.
"I was stuck in there with Aaron, who I have hereby dubbed Mr. Fuckoff." she told him, since yes, she kept up with her habit of nicknaming just about everyone. "We both climbed up, tried the door, shit like that. It was a super friendly, happy experience." she said drily, rolling her eyes. "He's not exactly social."
When Brady heard who she’d been stuck with, he snorted in a dry kind of amusement. “Tell me about it. You manage to get anything out of him?” he asked curiously. Jae seemed to be a better interrogator than him, so he was curious if she’d managed to get any details about how he’d got convicted if he was actually innocent. Though he hadn’t planned on telling anyone what he’d found out, after his conversation with Meg he knew he would share with at least Jae.
"Not a lot. It wasn't the best of situations." Jae said. That, and due to the evidence of her shredded fingertips, he would be able to latch on to the idea that possibly she wasn't on top of her game. She'd been trying her best to keep herself in check. "I was slightly busy with not freaking out. About all I did get is he doesn’t play well with others, and doesn’t give a shit about anyone else’s point of view."
Everyone had their things that got to them, and Brady didn’t fault Jae for hers. He did wish that she would have managed to get a little more out of Aaron than he had, but the situation just hadn’t been conducive to it. “Yeah, sounds about right. He’s in for rape, claims he’s innocent though he didn’t feel like giving me any reason at all to believe it,” he told her. He wondered how good of a read she’d got off him with as distracted as she must have been.
Jae blinked at the word 'rape'. Huh. Well, that was interesting. And unexpected. "He's in for rape." she said. "He didn't come off as a rapist. Maybe he is innocent. Who knows. Jury's out, I guess. His not giving out reasons doesn't surprise me at all. That kind of seems like his entire deal. 'Rawr, don't talk to me, I don't like you'."
“Maybe. He got pretty pissy when I pointed out that if he didn’t want people to know he’s in for rape, he shouldn’t have told anyone at all. I don’t trust him, though. Maybe he isn’t a rapist, but he’s pretty fucking shady.” It wasn’t like Brady had thought they’d hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but the fucker had been completely abrasive and closed.
"So why did he tell you?" Jae asked, since that was the obvious question. Aaron had seemed pretty adamant, and even in his job post, he didn't say what he was in for. So, if Brady had found out, she wanted to know why or how. It was important to her own assessment of things.
Brady shifted, bringing a hand up to run through his hair, a slightly sheepish expression on his face. He didn’t feel guilty, but throwing out what he had was a low blow, and even he knew that. “I pointed out that the imagination can be a lot worse than reality. I kept asking, he kept evading, so I asked if he’d fucked a kid or something,” he answered evenly.
Jae blinked at that. Then she made a face. "Brady....jesus. That's...fucked up, you know that, right?" she asked, sounding a little pained. His sheepish look and such suggested he did, but she had to throw it out there.
Shrugging, Brady nodded his head a bit from side to side as if he wasn’t willing to agree completely. “Probably, yeah, but I wouldn’t be the only one wondering just what kind of crap he did to get put away. Still not quite sure what to believe about him, though, and I’m not goin’ around telling anyone what he said.” Even Jae had said he didn’t come off as a rapist, and Aaron had been pretty insistent that he’d got fucked, but Brady was a skeptical pessimist on the best of days. “Did I tell you about my father?” he asked, because he really couldn’t remember. Had he talked to anyone here about it?
"Still, man. Come on. Hell, our first conversation had us both saying if one of those types got in here that it'd go extremely badly for them. You threatened the guy. He wouldn't have had a choice about telling you something, when you put that on the table. Then gloating about it and saying 'well you shouldn't have said anything' when you didn't give him a choice...you're a better man than that." she told him, watching his eyes. "It's like holding a gun to someone's head then giggling when they flinch."
She sighed, and tugged her fingers through her hair. "Please don't do fucked up shit like that. Not only because you're a better person than that, but because you have no idea who that dude is. And throwing something that incendiary at him could put a target on your back, in no time. There's no reason for you to run around poking bears with sticks. Especially not that stick. It could get you killed, and I'm a lot of not okay with that. Plus, if anyone did come at you, I'd have no choice but to try to get in their way, and that puts me at risk too. There's...there's a lot going on here that I'm not sure you considered." She hoped he hadn't, anyhow. She watched him for a long moment. "No, you never told me about your father. What about him?"
Brady hadn’t really seen it as gloating, but he could see where she was coming from with that. He’d just thought if a guy was in for something really fucked up that he’s claiming he’s innocent for and doesn’t want people to know what it was, he’d come up with something else to say he was in for, though that did run the risk of the Admins actually sharing shit with them and the lie coming out. He shrugged again at the gun comment. He just didn’t feel guilty for it and wasn’t going to act like he did.
It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to point out that he’d done shit like this before, done things specifically to put a target on his back. When you really did want to die, you weren’t always careful about those things. “Ah, fuck,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck at those last words. He hadn’t even considered that twisting Aaron’s arm like that might put Jae at any kind of risk, and that more than anything else she’d said lodged a tiny bit of regret in him at it. “Look, I’m not so good seeing the big picture all the time, so yeah, I didn’t consider that shit, and I’ll try to watch it in the future,” he promised her, willing to give that much even if he wasn’t quite willing to say he was sorry for going at Aaron in that way. The guy had just rubbed him so wrong that it had seemed like a good idea at the time, and he was glad that at least they knew what Aaron was in for.
Ahh, he hadn’t thought he’d told anyone about his father yet, so he wasn’t really surprised when she confirmed that and asked. “My father molested my sister when we were kids. I found out about it, stood up to him and landed myself in the hospital for it. And then I held things together for my mom and sister when she took him to trial for it. My father was convicted, went to prison, and was killed there for it six months later. So, yeah, I knew what game I was playing, throwing that possibility out there, but with the way he was so dead set on evading? It rubbed me wrong, and if there was even the slightest chance he might’ve been in for something like that, I wanted to know, so I did what I could think of to get him to spill.” He knew that it hadn’t really been the ‘good’ or ‘right’ thing to do, but he just hadn’t cared, and he hadn’t even considered what kind of backlash there might be for it beyond the guy maybe hating him for it.
At least he seemed to get what she was saying. So she let it drop at that, satisfied he'd think it through more next time. She was fine with that. She said nothing as he continued, listening to him. She sort of understood where he got where he was, though she also clearly saw he wasn't viewing it from the other end. Which was dangerous. "I get what you're saying, but...it's just not your best move." she said. "We're in a small place here. And, frankly, he could have told you anything. Just anything that wasn't 'pedophile'. Getting an answer that way might not even be legit. When you back people into a corner like that...get what I'm saying?" she asked. She'd interrogated enough people. You didn't push people so hard that they'd spew anything just to get you out of their face. The information was sketchy at best. Unreliable.
He’d never claimed to be a master interrogator, he just usually didn’t care enough, but he’d figured he should get a little more proactive here. “Yeah, I get you,” he confirmed with a slight nod. He hadn’t got the impression that Aaron had been lying about being convicted of rape, though; it would be a pretty stupid lie if he was. “So, I’ll leave the interrogating to you in the future,” he joked lightly with a faint smirk. She’d already gotten a reputation as Miss Questions, so he figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea even if he was kind of joking.
She gave him a little light smile in return. "Sounds good, Sergeant." she told him. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking at her fingers again then she finished up taping them. "So you gonna vote for me for police of this fucked up little family?"
Brady glanced down at the taping job she’d done on her fingers, thinking it looked pretty good, which made him wonder just what kind of injuries she’d had in the past. In her line of work, he had to figure there’d been a good variety. “Fuck yeah,” he answered, looking at her as if to say ‘Really? Who else would I vote for?’ “So who do you want on your team for that?” he asked, wanting her take on the others that were suggested for the team. “And can you believe they suggested Ryan for Detention?” It kind of baffled him that they thought anyone would vote Ryan into any kind of position like that.
Jae grinned at him. "Why thank you." she told him. Then she made a face. "Um, yeah, I want Ryan the fuck out of here entirely. At no point is he getting voted for anything but to get the fuck out." she said, shaking her head. "I wouldn't want to know what would happen if he was in a position like that." She shuddered. She still had no real basis for any issue there with him, just her gut, but her gut was really adamant there. "As for who else, well. You'd be good to have on my team. Beyond that, not quite sure."
Although he’d never had a conversation with the guy, and maybe he should rectify that just to get his own firsthand impression of him, he was inclined to be with Jae in the suspicion of Ryan. To get thrown in stocks so soon for as long as he had? There was something fishy going on there, and he didn’t trust the guy for that alone. “Yeah, I do want to be on your team, but there’s no tellin’ who’s actually gonna vote me for it. Haven’t made the best impression on some of the people I’ve met,” he said frankly. He wasn’t too worried about it, though. He’d do whatever job he was voted into the best that he could. “Don’t have any problems with Jason, but I haven’t really talked to him much since we met. Almost think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to vote for Aaron there, too.”
"Jason's good people, but yeah. I don't really see him around much." Jae said. Really she was slightly sad about that, they got along very well. But yeah, he just kind of wasn't out and about much. She paused as she blinked at him. "...what makes you say that? About Aaron. His post?" she asked. She thought so too, but she had her own suspicions.
“I want to know more about him,” Brady answered without preamble. Aaron had struck him as shady, but he was still holding out making a solid judgement on him until he knew more. “Figure if we have to work together, I might get a chance to learn more. I don’t trust the guy, but he didn’t strike me as wanting to cause trouble, so there’s that. His post wasn’t all that encouraging. He doesn’t seem like a team player, so that’s a concern, but yeah. Just a thought,” he finished with a shrug. “What do you think?” he asked, knowing that he valued Jae’s opinion and take on things and people more than anyone else’s here.
"I think he isn't a team player and doesn't want to be. He doesn't want the job. But...I don't know." Jae said. "I have to wonder about him. Just seems strange that you'd want someone in authority that you don't trust that much and don't think would be good to work with either." she added. "In my experience, if you can't trust your team, then you're going to be up shit creek in no time." she said, really wanting to understand Brady's point of view. She wasn't sure she got it, so she hoped he could clear it up for her. Or maybe she was just missing something and that was that.
Brady nodded slowly when she explained her thoughts on it, understanding completely where she was coming from, and really agreeing with her on it. “Yeah, I get that. It’s a huge reason not to, and I’m not sayin’ I’m gonna vote him for it or that I want him in an authority position. It’s just a thought I had. I’d rather Jason,” he explained. It really hadn’t been something he’d dwelled on and had a deep reason for, but he was glad that Jae didn’t seem inclined to want Aaron in the position. “I think if push came to shove, Jason would have my back.”
She nodded. "I think he would. He seems honorable." she said. "So, what about the person in charge? Who you thinking of on that?"
At her question, he went through his mental list of who’d been suggested and the responses to it. “Fuck, I don’t know. I haven’t met Wren or Grace yet, but they both asked not to be considered for the position. Haven’t met Wu, either.” And he couldn’t really say he was completely behind a man with that laundry list of crimes being their Governor, but he wasn’t ruling it out either considering the other two up for the role. “Charlie seems way too anti-establishment for the role.” And he just didn’t care for the guy, but it wasn’t deep-seeded enough to mention. And Evan’s just a snuggly fucking teddy bear, he thought sarcastically, though he didn’t really want to get into another thing about a conversation gone wrong with her.. “Evan hasn’t said anything about wanting it or not, last I checked, but Edan tried making a case for him. Apparently he’d be good for it cause he’s violence prone and ended up in prison for avenging his very best friend in the world,” he said, his tone of voice making it clear that he really didn’t think that was a good reason for voting someone into such an important position. “Leaning most toward Wu by process of elimination,” he finished.
"I think Grace said she wanted to be a shop girl or some shit." Jae said, rolling her eyes. "Wu I just talked to. He's...solid. Observant, as far as I could tell he was straight with me. I think we'd need to be careful with that guy in charge, but he might be able to pull it off. I agree that Charlie guy seemed a little too 'zomg no bad the man!' or whatever. Didn't know about the other guy...how do you know what he's in for?" she asked, quirking a smile at him. "Aren't you just ferreting out information all over?"
Brady nodded to show he was listening, taking in what she was saying about Wu. At her questions, he snorted out a short laugh and said, “Edan put up a post on the journals about it.” Which if Jae had been busy in here and meeting people, he could see how she hadn’t seen it yet. “So it’s not me getting shit out of people. But if you think Wu’s the best choice for it, I can get behind that. I’ve got some reservations considering his post and the laundry list of crimes he admitted to being in for on Dominic’s journal - have you seen that post?” he asked curiously.
"Going to have to read that." she said. "Clearly I'm behind. Silly me, taking time to go punch things." she said with a quirked half smile. "Lucky I've got you to tell me this shit." she added. "I think right now, Wu's probably our best bet." she said. "I think we got on just fine, and so...until I see otherwise, he'll probably have my vote." She shrugged at his last question. "Technically? I'm a fucking terrorist. But you know me. I'm not a terrorist. It's just what my conviction says. Now I'm not saying that Wu ain't what his rap sheet says he is. He probably is. But we're all here for something."
That actually got a brief chuckle out of him. “Wouldn’t’ve minded taking some time to punch things when I came in here, too,” he admitted. Which reminded him just why he’d felt that way, and that he needed to fill Jae in as much as he could. He grew serious again, though, when she started talking about convictions. “Yeah, I get that. It’s not even that he’s in for a bunch of shit. Just not sure where he’ll draw lines, that’s all.” He still thought Wu was probably the best option out of everyone suggested, though, and he did think it would be kind of short-sighted not to have any reservations about any of them having such a role.
"Guess we'll find out." she said with a sigh, seeing the somber tone settle over him. "I'm not sure either, but then I don't know where anyone would. So, we're all winging it. At least we've got each other's backs, right?"
“That’s the truth,” Brady replied, blowing out a breath. Whatever changes came tomorrow, he just really hoped that they’d all be able to work it out to the benefit of the community as a whole. “I’m gonna get in a workout now though, I think,” he said, pushing up to stand even as he completely forgot his intention to fill Jae in on what he’d learned from Meg. His mind was just focused back on the voting and how things would change tomorrow, and he thought a workout would give him a chance to clear his head and hopefully sort through some things.
Jae nodded. "And I've got shit to do." she said, pushing herself to her feet. "Catch you later, Sarge." she told him, quirking a little smile at him with a wink and everything. Then she turned to head for the door.