Jasper Lucas (sinsoftheson) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-01-18 16:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, jasper, jasper x logan, logan |
Who: Logan and Jasper
When: Evening, Saturday, January 13
Where: 16 Bit Bar and Arcade
Status: complete
It was nice having the night off, and spending it with Jasper. Logan had started work at The Boathouse earlier that week and he had taken to it pretty quickly. All he really had to do was look cute and be competent at the job. Which he was. He had a few customers already who were pretentious and rude and left shitty tips, but Logan had gotten through those experiences without throwing a punch, so he considered that to be personal growth, or whatever. He couldn’t get fired. The money was good and he really wanted to get out of his mom’s house.
He had worked Friday night and then the lunch shift today, so he was able to hang out with Jasper tonight, which was a great way to cap off a pretty normal feeling week. They were hanging out at the 16 Bit Arcade, a new place Logan had never been to, and he found it pretty fun given the lack of shit to do in Point Pleasant. Once he hit 21 and could drink it would be even better.
At a quarter to nine Logan gripped the back of Jasper’s neck and gently steered him away from what he was doing towards the doors. “I need a cigarette,” he said. It was snowing outside, but that was okay. Such was the sacrifice of smokers. “You know if I go by myself I’ll probably go missing and shit.”
Jasper was extremely glad it was the weekend. It had been a long, weird week, full of ups and downs that he’d been staunchly trying to ignore. After the embarrassing thing with Jules, he’d hoped that that particular rollercoaster would be over, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He always felt better at school, weirdly, or when he was hanging out with someone. Like being alone was making him sick or some shit. It didn’t make sense, but that was the pattern Jasper had sussed out so far. He just kept hoping it would go away. And then he’d woken up late the night before, feeling weirdly paranoid and upset, which hadn’t gone away for hours.
After all that, he’d wanted to hang out with his best friend, but school and Logan having a job now made it harder. Jasper had talked to Ruby, who was supposed to talk to her dad about hiring him, but he hadn’t heard anything back yet. He wasn’t eager to give up all his free time, but he did want to make money and move out. Tonight though, he just wanted to enjoy himself. Which they had been doing at the arcade, so mission accomplished.
Jasper chuckled and tried to ignore how nice Logan’s hand felt on the back of his neck as they headed for the door. He’d been doing a lot of that kind of thing lately. “They can’t kidnap both of us, I guess,” he agreed, fishing his own cigarettes out of his pocket.
"Well, they could try, but I'd just push you at them and run for it." Logan grinned and then let go of Jasper's neck so he could push the doors open. It was fucking cold and he zipped up his jacket before finding his cigarettes and lighter. "So what's been going on with you? Feels like we haven't been able to catch up all week." Between Jasper being in school, and Logan working, or sleeping, and then the noise of the arcade. It was hard to have an actual conversation. Logan lit his cigarette and shoved his lighter back into his pocket, wanting to warm his hands as well. "You and Jules doing okay?"
Jasper slipped his arms into his outer coat and zipped it up, then tugged the hood of the hoodie underneath up over his head. It was indeed cold as fuck, and he kind of wished he’d brought some gloves as he pulled a smoke free and tucked it between his lips. He lit it while he considered how to answer Logan’s question. How had things been going with him? Fuck, that wasn’t an easy one, was it? At least he didn’t have to lie and hide anything from Logan, he’d been there when all this bullshit had started. “Me and Jules are fine,” he said first, another one of those weird feelings curling in his stomach. They had reason not to be fine, but he was going to make sure she never knew about that. “But things like ... I dunno man.” Jasper took a drag. “Shit’s been feeling kind of fucked up lately. ‘Shit’ being me, I mean.”
"You were feeling fucked up last time we hung out," Logan pointed out. "It hasn't gotten any better? Or is it something new?" Who could tell with this town? He hadn't had to deal with any bullshit himself, and he was grateful for that. But he still wanted to help Jasper if he could. He wasn't sure how, since he doubted Jasper would be game for frequent hand jobs, but Logan would figure it out. Then again, maybe it was the way Logan cheered him up last time that was the problem. Regret or guilt or something. Two things Logan didn't really know much about, because he was a selfish asshole and proud. But he definitely didn't want his best friend feeling shitty about anything.
Feeling shitty seemed to be unavoidable these days. There was always something shitty going on in his life, in one way or another. In spite of what they’d done together, Logan was one of the least shitty parts of Jasper’s life, and he debated brushing off this conversation for a minute. He sighed. “Yeah, it’s ... related, I guess, but different. I keep having these crazy mood swings? Like I’ll wake up feeling like dogshit, and then I’ll get to school and like an hour later I feel really awesome and happy? Which like, you know that’s not me. And then the other day I went over to Jules’s when I was feeling really good, and just like ... crashed. Like dick out and everything, and suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep. And I woke up last night feeling like, I dunno, really scared for some reason. Like somebody was after me.”
Logan snorted a bit around his cigarette when Jasper described his moods as awesome and happy. Yeah, that didn't sound like his friend at all. Unless they were high on something. Then he cringed a bit at the mental image of Jasper getting ready to nail his girlfriend and... crashing, which was probably a nice way to put it. "Damn." Logan squinted at Jasper as he studied him. "You think you need meds or something?" Crazy mood swings. Wasn't that bipolar depression? He had no idea. Logan had never been diagnosed with anything like that before, but that was probably because his parents had never taken him to a doctor when they should have. "Maybe the whole fog thing is still getting to you. That was a pretty terrifying thing, you know?"
Jasper frowned immediately as Logan hit on something he was genuinely scared of -- that all of this was just in his head. Like he was too weak to deal with what he’d seen and been through, and his brain was broken now because of it. He didn’t want that shit. He was a Lucas, for fuck’s sake, strength was in his blood. ... Insanity was too though, because half of him was still from his mother. Jasper didn’t like to think about that. “Jules thinks it’s something from the scratch,” he said, preferring that explanation, as fucked up as that was. “Like ... an infection or something. It healed so fucking fast, who knows what the fuck kind of bacteria or shit was in it, you know? This stuff’s not natural.” He took another drag from his cigarette, hunching his shoulders a bit.
Logan's eyes drifted to where he knew Jasper's injury had been, despite not being able to see it with all those layers on. "Well, yeah, I mean, that's a possibility. Whatever sliced you up wasn't like... normal, you know? You know when Peter Parker got bit by that radioactive spider and turned into Spider-Man?" Logan smirked around his cigarette. "Maybe that's you. You're gonna get some kick ass powers or something." He didn't really believe that, but he wanted to try and make his friend feel a little better about everything. "Maybe there's a doctor who could look at it for you and find out. Take some blood or something. Have you told your dad?"
Jasper huffed a laugh at the idea of becoming a superhero. Yeah fucking right. “So far I’m just acting like a girl on the rag, so that’s not powers I want, y’know?” he muttered, flicking ash out toward the street. That wind was not kind, and the tips of his fingers were starting to get numb. “But nah, doctors don’t know shit, I bet. A lotta people got hurt, I just want to figure out if the same shit is happening to them? Like, my grandfather was one, but he’s always a sour asshole, and I haven’t been able to ask him yet if he’s ever happy.” Maybe seeking medical help was a legit idea, Jasper just wasn’t sure if there were any doctors out there who would take him seriously. “Me and him talked some, yeah,” he added with another shrug. This one was a bit more uncomfortable.
"Hey, girls on the rag have superpowers," Logan pointed out, amused. "They can turn into she-demons and scare the piss out of you." He took another quick drag from his cigarette, starting to bounce a bit on his heels to get warm. It was definitely time to get back inside. Goddamn Maine winters. "How're you feeling now?" he asked Jasper before dropping his cigarette to the ground to snuff it out. "Shitty? Happy? Horny? Anything unusual?" Logan had no idea if doctors could help or not. But it was possible Jasper's issues were normal and he just needed to talk to a shrink, or get some meds to balance him out. Knowing what he knew about this town, that was probably too easy an answer, but Logan didn't want to dive into the doom and gloom of it all if there was a possibility that it was easily treatable.
Jasper did feel kind of shitty, but it was just his run of the mill normal shitty, and he was about to tell Logan that when a wave of icy cold seemed to roll over him. It was more than the wind and snow, it was worse. Like how being dropped in Antarctica must feel. Some movement in the corner of his vision caught Jasper’s attention and his head jerked to the side. He thought he saw someone duck around the side of the building -- a small someone, like a kid. An extra-freezing chill ran down Jasper’s spine as he was suddenly very sure that ‘kid’ had black eyes. He could feel them all around, hiding and watching. Waiting for him to be alone again. “Did you see that?” he asked in an urgent whisper. That same fear came rushing back as he started to frantically scan the street, his body humming with that same feeling of imminent danger he’d felt in his car on that cold night. He didn’t feel the heat from the burned-down cigarette between his numb fingers until it actually burned him and Jasper cursed and dropped it.
Logan cocked a brow, watching with confusion as Jasper dropped his cigarette. "See what? Where?" As far as he knew, there was no one outside with them, and no cars had driven by since they stepped out of the arcade. But Jasper looked freaked out and Logan craned his neck past his friend, trying to figure out what it might have been that Jasper thought he saw. But there was nothing. No one. His gaze drifted back to his friend, his voice a bit gentler. "You okay, man?"
Jasper wanted to run. It was a powerful feeling, an instinct to get away from the danger he perceived to be all around them now. But he did not want to get into his car, because that was a vulnerable place. The kids could knock knock knock at his windows and tell him they needed a ride and then he would be trapped and if he tried to run from them something huge and ominous would come out of the dark and get its claws in him again and his family would disappear and everything seemed horribly possible at the moment. He felt tiny and vulnerable out on the sidewalk, so Jasper pivoted and grabbed for the front of Logan’s jacket, his eyes showing white all around with panic. “Back inside,” he hissed, pushing his friend in that direction. “Go, now, go go go.”
Logan didn't try to protest, because it was damn cold out and he had wanted to go back inside anyway. But... Jasper's panic was concerning and once they were inside he reached out to grab Jasper's arm, tugging him gently away from the door. The sound of the arcade games and noise from the chatter around them meant he had to speak up a bit, but he didn't want to talk too loudly in case someone could overhear. "Take a breath," Logan told him, worry evident in his eyes now. "What did you see?" The fog had been terrifying, and just recalling it in that moment made Logan shiver, like the outside freeze had followed them in and covered his entire body. Logan had thought about that day a lot, though it hadn't triggered the kind of fear he felt now. Logan chalked that up to whatever was going on with Jasper. Memories were shitty things sometimes and Logan did his best to brush off his own thoughts so he could focus on his friend.
Jasper was shaking, both from the deep-freeze chill that was clinging to him and the adrenaline that was now coursing through his veins. Everything felt too bright, too loud, and he thought maybe inside wasn’t a good place to be either. There was so much noise and so many places to hide. Jasper struggled to focus on Logan, to lock his eyes on that handsome face and understand what he was saying. Asking. “A kid, I saw -- I saw a kid!” he said urgently over the din. Somebody further in the arcade cried out, started yelling, and Jasper’s head jerked in that direction before he focused again on Logan. His hands came up to grip his friend’s forearms tightly. “It was one of the black eyed kids, they’re back. We gotta ...” He trailed off because he didn’t now what to do, only that he didn’t want to go back outside for anything.
There was no kid. At least Logan hadn't seen one. Definitely not one with black eyes. The distressed sounds from some others in the arcade only added to his confusion because what was happening? Maybe those things were only visible to people who had seen them before? He didn't know. And he didn't know what they were supposed to do either. The arcade sounded way too loud and felt far too crowded now, and Jasper looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. "Okay," he said, bringing his hands up to Jasper's shoulders to try and steady him a bit. "My car's outside, right? We'll just go and get out of here. You want to do that?"
Jasper shook his head immediately, desperately -- “No!” That meant going back outside, and he was not on board with that. He gnawed on his bottom lip and gave another quick glance around, then grabbed onto Logan’s wrist and started toward the arcade’s restrooms. There were no windows in there that he’d seen when he’d taken a piss earlier, so it had to be more safe. Jasper hurried around machines and people, trying to block out all of it and just focus on getting somewhere isolated. The restroom had a funky retro feel to it, but it was quieter with the thick door shut. Once they were inside, Jasper put his back to the door and scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to calm his breathing down.
Logan didn't argue, but let Jasper lead him into the bathroom. He felt a bit helpless, not knowing what to do to make Jasper feel better, or at least calmer. So he waited a moment to let Jasper catch his breath. Finally, Logan moved to stand beside his friend, leaning back against part of the door himself. "Are you okay?" he murmured. "You're sure you saw one of those kids out there?" Maybe Jasper just needed a few minutes to calm down. They couldn't spend all night in the arcade bathroom. Well, they could, but that would be pretty unpleasant.
That feeling of urgent danger was starting to fade, much to Jasper’s relief. Was fear going to be part of these fucking mood swings now? Fuck. He genuinely felt like he was going crazy. Maybe Logan was right and he did need some medical help with his brain or something. “I dunno now, I thought I did,” he muttered miserably. “It felt like ... like we were surrounded all of the sudden, by like, everything. The kids, the fog monster, and like, my whole family was going to disappear like Amelia did ... fuck.” Jasper pushed off of the door and went to one of the sinks. He ran some cold water and splashed his face with it, trying to chase the last of the bad feelings away.
Logan had experienced the same feeling, although clearly not as vividly as Jasper. And really, his feelings had centered on the fog, but it had just felt like a really bad memory that surfaced. "Sounds like... PTSD or something like that. You know how guys who come back from war sometimes have those flashbacks? Maybe that's what happened. I'd say try to talk to someone, but who the hell would believe any of it?" That was the frustrating part. Though maybe a shrink in Point Pleasant would believe Jasper, because who could live here and not see all the unnatural shit? "You want me to get you something to drink?"
PTSD? Jasper let out a little bark of a laugh at that part. Was what he’d gone through comparable to going to fucking war? Jesus H. He shook his head and grabbed a handful of paper towels to wipe his hands and face off with. “I just kinda wanna get the fuck out of here,” he told Logan. The idea that they would be swarmed with black eyed kids if they left the safety of the building had faded, and now he thought all the noise and flashy lights outside the bathroom door would just give him a headache. It was yet another time Jasper wished they had their own place. “Wanna ... go somewhere? Bet nobody’s at my house. Or just Amelia. We can smoke a j and play Halo or something.”
Logan wasn't really sure anything was as bad as war, but hell, getting attacked by an otherworldly creature in blinding fog had to be traumatic. And trauma could trigger PTSD, right? He figured Jasper would dismiss it as nothing, but it was something. "We can get out of here," Logan said with a nod. "And we can do whatever you want. Honestly, chilling at your place with some games sounds good to me. And I'll order a pizza or something if we get hungry." Getting high was definitely on the menu, though, and maybe that would help calm Jasper down a bit more. Logan was pretty shitty when it came to comforting people, but he'd be there for Jasper in whatever way he needed.
Jasper definitely wanted some weed, so that would be priority as soon as they got there. It always mellowed him out and made him feel a little disconnected from reality, like everything was wrapped nicely in cotton, and he felt like he needed that. Logan hadn’t shown any real signs of distress, so he was pretty sure that spike of irrational fear was just within himself. Another mood swing. A worse one than the anger or the happiness, even if it had been mercifully short. He didn’t want to start panicking and freaking out randomly in public, for fuck’s sake! This had to end somehow. “Sounds good,” he murmured, crumpling up the paper and tossing it in the trash can. Jasper nodded at the door. “Let’s bounce.”
Logan tugged open the bathroom door and walked with Jasper out into the arcade. A quick look around told Logan they weren't the only ones who had decided to leave. It was a little odd, considering the time and the fact that it was a Saturday night in Point Pleasant. But he wasn't going to put too much thought into it. All he wanted to do was get Jasper home, get him high and get him feeling better, if possible.