Suspicions
Characters: Jae and Edan Setting: Edan's room, morning
Edan carried her trash can back with her when she went back to her room in the morning. Sleeping at Mojo’s hadn’t really been sleep. She’d just laid still and listened to her breathing until she realized it was morning. There was some time in there, some unaccounted for, that she supposed she slept. The rest of the night was a swirl of thoughts, trying to figure out what she thought about Matt, about Evan, about herself.
When she let herself back into her room, surprised to find most of it put back together again, she let out a sigh. She couldn’t stay here. That had been on her mind throughout the night. She liked where she was, but she needed to move. Not when Pippa knew where she lived and how to get in. It was just stupid to say. Good girl. The voice in her head could have been either Evan, but she let herself think of it as her brother.
After submitting her request to move, she took a shower. Then it was finding the basket leftover from her failed attempt at laundry when she first ran into Pippa and she busied herself with filling that up with her things. She still had the box the candles had originally come in and she filled that too, though the candles were more space so she could carry it. Close to when she was expecting Jae she slowed the moving process, submitting her votes for jobs and strongly considering posting about the fire pit when she spotted Cal’s post.
That sent a chill up her spine and she bit at her lip as she read it twice more, just to be sure she had it right. Moving was definitely a good choice if only that maybe no one would notice that she wasn’t where she’d been before.
Jae headed to Edan's room again, wondering if she'd even get this job that she was already doing. He hoped so, or she hoped whoever did get it accepted her help with stuff she'd already investigated. Or was in the process of. After all, she wasn't finished yet. Knocking, she stepped back, taking a brief assessment of her life and wondering how the hell she managed to get where she was now.
Edan read the post she’d submitted for a new room again as Jae knocked, squaring her shoulders and getting up to answer. “Jae?” she asked at the sight of the other woman there, opening the door more to her inside.
"That's me." Jae greeted. "Edan, I presume." she continued. Glancing behind her, she internally sighed. "I see the place has been cleaned up."
“Mmhmm,” Edan agreed moving to let Jae inside. “That’s mostly Matt, though I started packing once I got back this morning.” Which she still wasn’t sure was preemptive, but she was packing anyway. She wanted out of this room where Pippa could find her.
At least there were the pictures. Though really, she kind of doubted that she'd find much else in the room even if it hadn't been tampered with. "Probably a good idea." she commented about the room change. "So, how about you take me through things?" she invited.
Edan closed the door then took a deep breath. Yesterday she’d been an emotional mess, but she was feeling better today. The fire must have helped. “I got stuck in B Block. Then got back here in the morning and my room was fine. I changed and went for a swim, early still, maybe ten or so at the latest and then when I got back, it was destroyed.” She looked around the room which was mostly back together and let out a sigh.
"And you have a suspect." Jae said, knowing she did, but wanting to give Edan room to talk about it now, in person. It would work better that way.
"Pippa," Edan confirmed with a nod. "She's the only person I've upset since I got here and this...felt like her." The books, the note, the destruction. "I could be wrong, but I haven't gotten on anyone else's bad side." Except maybe Evan, but she didn't think he was this kind of petty. Or that angry at her.
Jae nodded, jotting a few things down. "I'll ask the standard--you notice anything missing? Has there been anything else since the incident? You mentioned a confrontation with her before, what happened there exactly?"
Edan looked around the room. “Minus the books that were ripped up and the lipstick that was used to make the note, but they were both still here. I’ve packed up a lot of my things at this point and everything appears to be here.” She bit at her lip while she thought. “Nothing...nothing to do with this. And as for the last time, I ran into her when she flooded the laundry room. She started turning on all the washers and I tried to turn them off and she hit me. And pushed me. To keep her from coming at me again I kicked her legs out from under her and got the hell out of there.”
Jae made a few more notations, though it was the same story she'd been told already. So far, no one was mixing up details. That was probably a good thing. Less complicated, anyhow. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" she asked.
There was moment where Edan was quiet, moving to sit on the edge of her desk. “Did Matt tell you what he did to Pippa?” she ventured first. Mojo probably had a good point, she probably should tell someone, but she didn’t want to paint a target on Matt’s back.
"He mentioned there was a confrontation." Jae said, watching Edan. "So, go ahead. What've you got to say about it?" she asked, voice light. Encouraging. She even gave her a light smile.
“A confrontation? He knocked her out.” Edan looked up at Jae, voice calm. This girl wasn’t the same one from the day before. This version of Edan was far more put together. “I don’t think he’d hurt anyone else, but I didn’t think he’d hurt someone and he hurt Pippa, who is crazy but...well I’m not sure a blow to the head was the right way to do things.”
She looked at her feet, not wanting to go on, but knowing she had to. “I’m worried. What it means. I don’t think he’d...he was protecting me. But sometimes...yesterday...he scared even me.”
Jae leaned lightly against a wall, eyes on Edan as she spoke. “Go ahead,” she encouraged more. “Go on. Tell me everything. Even if it seems silly or insignificant, okay?”
Edan made a face, looking up at Jae. “I don’t want to get him in trouble. I don’t want a target painted on his back. He’s taken good care of me, he’s usually so timid...I don’t think...I want him to do well here.” And singling him out might not help that. Matt meant something to her, even if it occasionally made her anxious that he did.
“Well, right now, you’re just talking. So, there’s no trouble to be had, correct? He hasn’t done anything that would cause there to be a ‘target’ on his back. I understand being protective, but you started this conversation for a reason. Why don’t you back the paranoia on my motivations off a little bit, and just tell me what it is you want me to know, okay?” Jae said gently.
Edan made a face. “I’m not being paranoid, I’m being cautious. He’s my friend. Maybe more.” Maybe not. Saying this might ruin that. “Yesterday, when he was talking about what he did to Pippa, he was so sure he was right. He didn’t regret it, he didn’t feel bad. And he got...mad at me. No more like angry at me. Because I didn’t understand; because I thought he was wrong.” She took a deep breath. “He can barely touch me, barely get close, and the next thing I know he’s in my space.”
And you have no call for suspecting anything bad from me. But you're throwing it out there anyways, which is, by the way, fucking insulting. And yes, paranoid. So, whatever, chick. Jae thought but kept to herself entirely. She didn't show any of it in her body language or her features, merely listening to Edan as she spoke. "What happened when he was in your space?" she asked lightly.
“He snapped at me. Then...then he was over being afraid to touch me for a while.” She tapped her toes gently, glancing up at Jae, trying to figure the woman out. “Which I was nice, in the more than friends way, but I couldn’t help but be afraid. He didn’t hurt me, but for the first time, I realized he could.” Without a forethought to it, her hand went to the ice pick on the desk, just resting over it, so it was under her hand.
Jae was thinking Edan needed to be less vague. "'Over being afraid to touch you' how?" she asked. "And 'more than friends' as in you two are an item?" Which was good to know. Possibly irrelevant to the room trashing, but good to know in general. It would play in to how she kept an eye on things in the future. Jae's eyes rested on the ice pick, though she said nothing about it. "Is it a general anxiety? Like, if anyone were in that position, you would have felt that way or was it specific to him?"
Edan bit her lip for a moment. “We’re close to involved. He’s kissed me a few times. And yesterday, he’d been so angry, that took over the fear. And he kissed me more than before.” She rolled her fingers over the pick as she considered the question. “Just him. His hand...was on my neck, just to touch me, but for a moment I realized just what he could do to me.” She thought of Evan with the ice pick touched to her neck and that wasn’t as terrifying as Matt had been in that moment. “Just him.”
Okay so there's lot of making out going on. Understood. Jae thought, but again kept it to herself. She also couldn't help but wonder what this chick was smoking. She wasn't going to ignore what she said about fearing the dude--Jae knew that instincts were sometimes the best thing in the entire fucking world when it came to keeping oneself out of trouble. But she also wasn't about to start involving herself or the 'law enforcement' team on people's love lives, especially if they did shit like made out with people who made them nervous. She didn't know if Edan was paranoid or not. She'd already proven that she was on some level. So, maybe she was being overly paranoid about a simple touch to the neck. But at the end of the day, she did what she was supposed to. "I'll keep it in mind, and if anything happens that makes you more nervous, or anything of the kind, let me know right away, alright?" she said.
“Of course,” Edan said standing up more, picking up the pick for a moment then leaving it behind. “Can you let me know if...something else would point to him?” Because the last thing she wanted was Matt getting into more trouble, but she didn’t put it past him. She couldn’t. There was a pause as she watched the other woman. “You think you’ll get the job?”
Jae arched a brow. "...let you know if something else would point to him how?" she asked, not quite understanding the question. She felt like she missed a beat there. "And I don't know. I hope so." She quirked a half smile that didn't hold a whole lot of humor. "I've already got two cases."
“If it looks like he might have done something else. Beyond hitting Pippa. I didn’t react well to what he did. He won’t react well to me leaving and not telling him I wasn’t staying with him last night.” Edan hated it, but she didn’t know how he’d be, not now, not knowing what she did. “Maybe I can help dealing with him.” She nodded. “Two cases...Hope you get it, since you’ve already started.”
This was getting more complicated by the second. "Okay, Edan." Jae said calmly. "You seem to be putting in details now that I didn't have before. Can you tell me the whole story? I can't just piece things together from little bits and pieces you drop in. Seems pretty important. I'd like to get a good picture of what I'm dealing with, so, help me out?" she suggested.
“I did tell you the whole story. He got angry when I told him he was wrong about Pippa and last night, because I figured it was best not to sleep in the same room as someone who scares me, even if it’s more complicated than that, I left, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I didn’t tell him I wasn’t staying there. I’m guessing it didn’t go over well.” Edan sounded sure in her words, even if she was starting to doubt it. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Maybe Jae was right and she wasn’t just paranoid about something happening to Matt, she was paranoid about Matt in the first place.
This girl was frustrating. How she claimed to have told the whole story while she had very much left out, oh, a whole fucking shitload was behind Jae. But she kept her cool, listening while she ignored Edan's insistence again that she wasn't doing exactly what she was doing. Hell, she'd added in even more in the last statement. "Are you afraid for your safety?"
“My room was trashed because Matt hit Pippa over the head. So maybe yeah. I locked the door when I left. Which means...the lock means little. I asked to move though, so I’m sure it’ll be better once I get out of here.” If they let her leave. Edan was fully aware of the possibility that they might not grant her request.
She also apparently couldn't follow her own logic or fears, or whatever the hell was going on. "I meant from Matt." she said lightly. "You've just been talking about skipping out on him, it not going over well, how he frightens you...are you afraid for your safety in regards to him?"
Edan considered it for a moment before answering. “Yes and no. For a moment, I was and...someone convinced me that was enough. And I know that they’re right, that it is enough, but at the same time...One moment out of many.” She shrugged. “Of course, I haven’t seen him since I left. It could be far more obvious now.”
"Ignore what whoever else said. Think about it for a moment. Are you worried he's going to hurt you? Just go with your gut. What do you think?" Jae asked, not wanting someone else's opinion, she wanted Edan's. That was going to be what mattered.
That was a fine way of thinking, but Edan’s gut was twisted in confusion. She was quiet again, chewing at the inside of her cheek for a long moment before she answered. “No. But he could. He can even though he doesn’t look the part. And I think he’d hurt someone for me.”
"Everyone's capable of hurting others, Edan." Jae said lightly. "And we are in a place full of criminals. A lot of them are violent offenders. So, saying Matt could hurt you--I get that. I even get not looking the part. A lot of people don't look like much but turn out to be something else entirely. It happens. You don't have to impress that on me. I just want to know if you feel safe or not. Because if you don't, then we'll take steps to help you feel safer. Not quite sure what those would be yet, but I'd work on them." she assured her, meaning every word. "Now. Here's the tougher question. You seem more concerned about Matt than Pippa--is that correct?"
Edan didn’t feel like she was trying to impress as much as properly explain it, but she kept her mouth shut on that matter. Instead she just shook her head. “Not exactly. I think Pippa’s more likely to do something. And I think she’s unpredictable, but she’s also avoidable. I wasn’t here in my room when she ransacked it, I haven’t seen her since the laundry room incident. But Matt’s closer to me. I’d be in worse trouble if he turned on me.”
"For the time being, if you get to move, I'd keep a low profile." Jae said. "Maybe keep your new room number to yourself for now, don't go anywhere alone, and keep to public places with other people if you're able. If you need anything, I'm in room twenty-nine. Don't hesitate to contact me, or just come to my room, okay?"
“That was my plan,” Edan agreed with a nod about the low profile. Not going anywhere alone was going to be harder, but she got the idea. “Room twenty-nine. Got it. Thanks.”
"Do you want me to escort you anywhere now?" Jae asked.
Edan shook her head. “No I’m going to finish packing. Though I’m not even sure I’ll get to move, but I’d like to be ready if I do.” She looked back at the room for a moment before looking at Jae again. “Thanks though.”
"You're welcome. Call if you can think of anything else, or if anything else happens. Talk to you soon." Jae said, heading out. She now had a bunch of notes to take, and she hoped she actually got the damn job. It was already hitting her upside the head.