Thread: Broken Things Date: January 15, Backdated Characters: Jadyn and Pollux Location: Pollux's house Summary: Jadyn and Pollux talk about caring and feelings
Jadyn looked up at Pollux’s grandparent’s house, a slight depression weighing her shoulders down. She’d been avoiding going to see him all week after he was released from the hospital. She didn’t think he’d want her to see him when he was so vulnerable. Or maybe it was that she didn’t want him to see her when she was vulnerable. When she was weak, like she’d been that day. So she’d stayed away, keeping tabs on him from afar to make sure he was okay.
Now, nearly a whole week later, she thought it was time to talk to him. See how he was doing, and most importantly, try to figure out what he’d been thinking by letting himself become no more than a human punching bag. Sighing heavily, she walked across the lawn, only to sit on the porch at the last moment. She could tell that his grandparents weren’t home so she wasn’t worried about them. She just needed a second to prepare herself to see his bruises. And besides, if he was resting, she didn’t want to disturb him anyway. So instead of getting up to knock on the door, she stayed seated, staring out at the street.
Pol came on out, he’d been in the living room, doing the homework. Well pretending to do homework. His mind had been running a mile a minute. The fire at the other school and all of the terror of the town if they found out tormenting him. He moved, answering the knock. He said nothing, simply shut the door behind him and sat beside Jadyn silently.
Jadyn sat quietly for another few minutes, just enjoying the quiet with him. They simply watched time float on by in the comfortable silence. Finally, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.
“Hey.” Rolling her eyes at just how inadequate her greeting was, she tried again. “How are you doing?”
“Better then I was.” It was the truth as well as an extremely minimalistic answer. “How are you doing?”
“A little sore.” She shrugged. “Can’t complain.” She neglected to tell him that she was more than a little sore after her solo training mission that morning. After her talk with Puck, it had just reaffirmed her desire to gain complete control of her powers and had doubled her efforts in private. She knew it was starting to put a strain on her body but she didn’t think it was something she needed to bother Pollux with, so she kept it to herself. What she couldn’t keep to herself was her next question.
“Why’d you do it?”
Pollux could say it wasn’t his choice the ‘roid-rage jock attacked him. And it would work, on anyone else. Jadyn fell into the special category of people in his life that she didn’t ever wish to lie to. “It wouldn’t have helped to run away. It would have only made him keep searching.”
She thought she would be mad. When she imagined finally hearing his answer, she pictured herself yelling at him for being so foolish and reckless. But now, as she looked over his healing bruises, all she wanted to do was hug him and make him promise that he would never do something like that again. Instead she looked away with a small huff.
“You could have come to me. I could have fixed things.”
“You can’t fix homophobia by killing the phobic. They will learn through experience. Plus this was my fight. I was the only one who could protect Case from that specific form of pain.”
“And whose going to protect you?” She responded, turning pained, concerned eyes on him.
Pol took a breath, considering the options. “I never considered it. Don’t usualy think of myself as someone who needs protection.” He was always so concerned with Cas and finding a way to protect him that his own mortality or pain never factored in. “I didn’t mean to hurt you Jadyn.”
Jadyn scoffed. She didn’t like her vulnerability seen, much less talked about.
“I’m not the one sitting here with the bruises, am I?” Injured pride satisfied for now, her eyes dropped to the cement walkway.
“With that guy gunning for you since he obviously thinks you’re an easy target now, you’ll need protection. Or at least learn how to defend yourself. You can’t protect Cas if you’re paralyzed, or worse. And besides, you promised me a new world for us. I will not be impressed if you fail before you’ve even begun.” She teased, leaning her body into his for a gentle nudge.
“I’ve realized this now.” He looked forward, hearing her concern for him and their future. She was right, he was not a disposable copy of his brother. “He will think I and Cas are weak now. It will be his downfall. But I am learning to fight. Violence goes against everything we were ever taught everything we ever valued and now I am learning it.”
Jadyn frowned.
“What about basic self-defense? Were you guys never taught that it was okay to protect yourself and those you care about?”
“Violence begets violence. Plus being taught self defense would imply that we lived in a world where violence was an inevitability. Our parents were incredible naive I’m learning.” He sighed. “Cas and I are so ill equipped for this place. But Don’t worry too much. I’ve contacted someone to help me learn.”
“You contacted someone to teach you how to fight?” Jadyn’s eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. The words didn’t sit too well with her even though it was a good thing that Pollux hadn’t just dragged his feet about the matter.
“Eoin, the giant redhead.”
Eoin. Where had she heard that name before. Someone Jaime told her about once? Jadyn shook her head. That wasn’t really important, so much as knowing that Pollux was being taught well.
“Why him?”
“Man-mountain trusts him and he seems to be experiences.” And he had a very sexy set of arms.
Without her even realizing it, Jadyn’f frown deepened. Her head ducked until she was looking at her lap and her fists clenched uncontrollably tight. Then she relaxed, as if her body just released a sigh, her hands in her lap. With her body still slumped, her hair was keeping her face hidden, but the tears were evident in her voice.
“I have experience. Don’t you trust me?”
“Jadyn...” He sighed, trying to wrap his head around the emotions coming from her. Their relationship had been one of mutual understanding and experience.. not this. They had been two twin lost from their halves seeking alliance. He was supposed to be guiding the way. “I trust you. I need you to help me too. We are gathering allies now. ”
“If you need me to help you, why don’t you ever ask? “ It was as simple as that to her. Why did everyone assume that she could read their minds? That was Gracie, not her. If they needed her, why didn’t they tell her? She brought her fist up to rub her eyes as she sniffed.
He moved over so an arm could come around her shoulders. “Because I try to take care of you. Even if that’s not too clear. I don’t ask people I take car of for help.”
“But that’s not how it works. If people care about you the way you care about them, they’ll want to help you, like I do. And you should let them.” She pouted, leaning her head against his shoulder. She didn’t understand his reasoning. Wasn’t taking care of each other how you showed someone you cared? Isn’t that what it meant to ‘watch out for each other’?
“I guess I’m still new to this.” He leaned his head on top of hers. “Help me Jadyn?”
Jadyn grinned widely, nodding slightly, not wanting to move around too much. She wrapped her arm around his waist, being mindful of his ribs.
“I’ll help with whatever you need me to do.” She promised.