Jed Bailey (jokerandthief) wrote in the_colony, @ 2009-12-08 21:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 01, alice munroe, jed bailey, | alice and jed |
Week One: Tuesday
Characters: Alice Munroe and Jed Bailey (and Rocky, of course)
Location: Alice's place.
Summary: After Jack and Searle bolt, Jed comes to drown his sorrows on Alice's stoop. Rocky alerts Alice to his presence, and the two talk about the events of the last few days.
Rating: PG for drinking and a little cussin'.
It had been an interesting few days, to say the least. Mason's return had thrown her, leaving her wondering what she was going to do with him. The fact that he had come from so far, by himself, only to have his hopes stolen away from him... she may have seemed harsh to him at first, but seeing the misery written in his face had changed her tune. It didn't take much to set him up in one of the other three townhouses next to hers, just ripping down the boards she'd put up over the doors and windows.
What upset her was that he seemed almost entirely unwilling to continue living. She'd checked in on him the next day, but he'd hardly left the bed he'd made for himself, his face scruffy from a lack of shaving and his eyes bloodshot from crying. Her heart ached for him, but there was nothing that could be done. Even if either of them were capable of flying, getting jet fuel was damn near impossible. Not without the right equipment and training, anyway. Alice considered maybe going to look for literature or books on the subject, but the more she thought about it, the more unrealistic it was. Flying across the ocean? It just wouldn't happen. Hell, flying across the continent would be hard enough. Maybe if they got him a motor boat and enough fuel...
Alice busied herself with making dinner, her iPod quietly playing from the dock on the other side of the breakfast bar. Nothing terribly fancy, considering the lack of fresh ingredients she had to work with. Nearly all of her chest freezer items had dwindled, except for the few things she was saving for special occasions.
"Oughta find a few ducks or chickens or something," she murmured to herself thoughtfully. Fresh dairy was all but out of the question, but a chicken? She could keep a chicken going for a while, in the back yard or something.
Her thoughts were derailed when she heard a scratching at her door. Brows furrowing, Alice reached for the pause button on the iPod dock and listened again. After a moment it came again, followed by a familiar whine, and then a muffled man's voice. Just to be perfectly safe she found her gun in the table she kept by the door and peered out through the peephole. The glow of the streetlight didn't do much to illuminate the figure sitting on her porch, but the silhouette looked familiar enough.
"Dammit, Rocky, I told you stay away from that door!"
And that verified it. Alice put the gun down despite a very strong urge to scare the shit out of him just in spite, unlocked the six locks on the inside of the door, and opened it. Jed didn't seem to notice her until she stepped onto the porch; then he jumped.
"Ah, Jesus, sorry," he said, looking back at her. "Damn dog never sits still."
Speaking of which, Rocky was already at her side, eagerly nuzzling her hand. Jed's hand was already clearly occupied by a bottle of beer. Next to him sat a once-12-now-10-pack. Alice frowned a little, staring down to where Jed was sitting as Rocky gave her hand a long, wet lick.
"You could have knocked," she said, her voice puzzled. "Come inside, it's hot out."
"Didn't wanna bother you," he said with a shrug. "'Sides, ain't too bad with the sun down. I been suckin' down a/c air all day. Need somethin' fresh."
Alice's frown lengthened, but she nodded regardless and - feeling awkward that she was still standing above him - settled next to him on the stoop. The breeze felt nice now that the heat had staved off, flyaways of her hair dancing around her face as it rushed past them.
"Remember that guy I told you about? The one who came through here looking for an active airport?"
Jed's expression had been rather neutral before, but now it turned downright surly. "Yeah? What about him?"
"Surprise surprise, he didn't find one," she said, giving a nod to the townhouse two doors down that no longer had boards across the door. "He said something about wanting to keep looking for something, though. All this 'if I found you, there's gotta be someone who can pilot and a plane somewhere'."
"Prob'ly. Don't meant they're in this country, though. Don't know why he doesn't juss hop in a damn boat," Jed said, punctuating the sentence by finishing off his beer. He tugged at the label before saying, "Jack left."
Alice had been about to make a comment along those lines herself, but the moment he said Jack left she closed her mouth. It explained the beers, and why he hadn't bothered knocking on her door; they'd had a fight. "She'll be back," she reassured him. "She's probably just mad."
"I dunno. She's a stubborn-ass kid," he said, setting the bottle aside. "I found her drunk, with some teenage boy she'd found weeks ago but didn't tell me about. Why the hell'd she not tell me 'bout him? Thought she was trustin' me."
"Sounds like maybe she got herself a boyfriend and didn't think you'd like him," Alice mused. "Or well... maybe she was wanting to be in control of something. Maybe. She should be hitting puberty soon. I was ten when boys stopped being gross."
"Ah Jesus, don't go sayin' somethin' like that," he groaned, pulling out two beers and offering her one. "Maybe she should juss stay gone. I ain't equipped to be a father, an' that's what she needs. I juss wanted... Guess it was juss a stupid idea."
"You sure about that?" Alice countered turning her head sideways into his vision after taking the proffered bottle. "I seen the way you look at her. You wanna take care of her. That sounds very dad-ly to me." She twisted off the cap, taking a sip from it and wincing at its warmth. "What's so wrong about that?"
"I ain't her father, that's what's wrong. Trust me, kids don't like someone actin' like that. Think that's the whole reason she left, though she didn't really explain. Just... yelled at me," he said, taking a deep pull.
Alice nodded slowly in understanding, taking a sip as well and wincing again before giving his shoulder a soft pat. "Doesn't mean she doesn't need it. If all you did was tell her she shouldn't be so reckless? You did right. She couldda got alcohol poisoning, and died. Who's gonna teach her that?"
"I tried, but I ain't got no real authority," he said, gesturing wide enough that a little beer went flying. "That's the point. I thought if I told her I was boss, then that'd set things straight, but juss-- I don't got a right tellin' her anythin' 'cause I ain't connected to her. I'm nobody to her."
"You're-- Hey," Alice began, shaking her head and doing yet another unpredictable thing; She took his chin in her hand and turned his face toward her. "You know that's not true. Girl's all but attached to your hip and even when she's not next to you, she has to be able to see you from wherever she is." Her hand dropped away, her jaw tightening just a little as she looked between his eyes. "You mean the worlds to her. Hell, the only thing I think you could possibly say to her to make her wanna run away and never come back is if you told her you didn't want her 'round anymore."
Even though the touch was brief, it was the most intimate he'd experienced in eight months. To see her like this, her solid determination focused on him, on reassuring him... It felt so good he had to look away.
"I wouldn't say that to her. I didn't," he said, though a little furrow of doubt formed between his eyebrows. Maybe he said something close enough. Maybe Jack took it that way. Sometimes they were so afraid of something happening, they'd see it when it wasn't there. "I told her not to go."
"Then she'll be back," Alice said again, sipping from the bottle and wincing a third time. "Christ, this tastes awful warm. I need a cold glass or something. Back in a sec."
All but finishing off his bottle, Jed soon was up and following her, Rocky close at his heels. He closed his eyes as the cool air enveloped him, a small trail of sweat suddenly stark against his spine. Maybe Alice had been right about coming inside. To the confusion of Rocky, he turned back around, grabbing the now-8-pack before going inside once again and nearly running right into Alice.
"Yer right," he said with a small smile. "It's hot out."
Alice smirked slightly, side-stepping him to lock the door back up, the condensating glass held in her other hand. Once that was done she brought it up to her lips, looking much more satisfied at a lukewarm beer than a hot one.
"You know where the freezer is," she said, taking a step toward the kitchen table before deviating toward the living room instead.
He grabbed a glass and a bottle, settled the rest in the fridge, and then headed after her. Instead of sitting down, though, he went to the window, looking out at the house he knew was no longer unoccupied. "Buildin' up the neighborhood, huh?"
"Where else was I supposed to send him?" she said evenly, one leg going over the armrest of the couch as she reclined against the cushions. "He can't stay with me. No place to put him." She took a sip from her glass again, one hand coming down to rub Rocky's head affectionately when he brushed past her. A smirk twisted her lips again. "'sides, you'd get all mad at me."
He raised his eyebrows, looking over at her with a smile. "Wasn't meanin' that, but that's real considerate of you." He walked around to sit in the armchair across from her, his expression turning a bit serious. "You never been real alone before, have you? I mean, fer a long while."
"Long enough," she said, the smirk gone and the mask coming up again. She could sense it coming, his wanting to know more about her. Every time he prodded a little, and every time she had to pull back. What did it matter, who she was before? She wasn't that same person now, and there was no getting that back. It was better to just keep moving forward. In an effort to keep from having to talk, she slowly started to down her drink, keeping the lip of the glass against her lips instead of chugging it down.
"I mean, y'know, before," he said, realizing even in his tipsy state that she was uncomfortable. "Were you ever real alone before?"
"Yeah," she said when she finally pulled back from the beer. She was hardly anywhere near tipsy yet, but she'd started to feel the warmth of the liquor bringing blood up into her face. She took a slow, steadying breath, eyes on her knees. "My... husband. Was at bootcamp. Then he was stationed in Iraq." She took another gulp, still not looking at him. "But that's all I wanna say. Please don't ask me more'n that."
"I don't-- I wasn't askin'-- I always been that way," he said, frustrated that she didn't get it. He took a drink, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't lose no one 'cause I had no one to lose. An'--an' I thought this time'd be different, but I can't even keep a little girl around. But you, you do it real easy. You got no problem gettin' along with people right away. 'Cept me."
"Wouldn't say that," she said, putting her drink down and taking the leg she'd put over the armrest down in favor of tucking it beneath her. She didn't feel relaxed anymore. If anything, she felt a little more tense, but she knew drinking wouldn't solve that. Not with Jed there. "I'm... good at 'getting' people. What they wanna hear. What they need to hear. It's-- I'm not nice." Her hand came up over her hair and then through it. "I'm kind of a selfish bitch, actually."
"Yeah, an' I'm a selfish bastard, but I'm no good at givin' people what they want to hear," he said, pointing at her. "But I'm tryin'! 'Cause bein'-- It ain't no good, bein' alone. It don't work. And now there's no one, we gotta... I dunno, you got the right idea, bringin' folks together. You juss know how to do it better'n me."
Alice looked at him incredulously, giving a disbelieving laugh and picking up her glass again. "You must have pre-gamed before you got here."
His expression froze for a moment before he settled back into the chair. "Yeah. Yeah, guess it's a stupid idea," he mumbled before taking a deep drink.
"Not that, dummy," Alice said, nudging his foot with hers. "My being better'n you is crazy. I'm not better. Different, maybe."
He gave a snort. "That sounds like yer sayin' what I wanna hear," he pointed out. Alice gave him a wry half-smile, staring down into her beer for a moment as it slowly slid to neutral again before taking a sip and shaking her head.
"Nah," she said. "You're... you're more willing to do stuff for people. Be stuff for people. I'd rather just give 'em what they need and get them out of my way."
"'Cept my way didn't work." He got up, heading for the kitchen. "Wanna beer?"
Alice finished what was left of her glass and stood. "Think I'm ready to move to something a little stronger," she said, brushing past him gently and going for the scotch that Mason had left with her two weeks prior. A small part of her wanted to reserve the bottle and save it for something a little more appropriate, but it felt... right, to drink it now. It was in the cupboard above the refrigerator and she had to lean up to get it. "Knappogue Castle, 1951," she said, catching the handle of the cupboard with her fingers and flipping the door open.
"Could be Wal-mart, 1992 fer all I know," he said with a laugh, watching her appreciatively. It would make sense for him to offer to grab it for her, but the view as her shirt rode up her back was a little too pleasant. "That fer sharin' or's it yer personal bottle?"
"I guess I could share this... once..." she said, her voice straining as she reached for the neck of the bottle, finally grasped it solidly, and pulled it out, rocking back on her heels. "Put it up high so I wouldn't be inclined to drink it quickly. One glass each. Well," she looked at him, head tilting slightly in thought. "Half a glass for you. Unless this is your last drink, then I guess it could be a whole glass."
He tilted his head with hers, giving a genuine smile. "Sure, it can be my last drink. Sounds like it's good enough fer that."
"You ever drank scotch before?" she asked, brows slightly raised as she put the bottle on the counter and went to get a few glasses. "Like, good scotch?"
"Prob'ly not," he said with a shrug. At that she turned to the refrigerator to pour some water from her Brita.
She herself had only drank scotch as many times as she could count on one hand, one of which had been when Mason had left the bottle. She hadn't expected it to be so potent, or smooth, and had regretted adding as much ice and water as she had. For Jed's sake she added a tad bit more water than she did for herself, bringing both glasses to where she'd left the bottle before filling them.
"It's not a gulping drink," she informed him, passing him his glass. "You'll wanna sip it. And make sure your hand has plenty of contact with the glass, so it opens up. You'll see what I mean."
He gave a breath of a laugh. "Been a while since someone told me how to drink," he said, looking into the glass and studying the swirl of the liquor. "Even after what they been through, the kids wanted to drink again. Maybe it made things easier for them, too."
"Maybe," Alice replied, her tone thoughtful as she took up her glass, holding it out to him. "To making things easier."
He smirked, clinking his glass with hers. "That's one thing I do best."
Alice took a sip, letting the amber liquid swirl on her tongue before she finally swallowed it. It was much better this time than the first time, and she hummed appreciatively, moving back to the couch. "Your way does work," she said finally. "Don't let this one thing pull you down. Everybody fights."
The scotch didn't taste any different than others he had, but it had been a while. Still, it had a kick to it, and that was good enough for him. "Y'know," he said, letting out a slight huff as he sat next to her, "I don' think I'll ever be certain now if yer bein' truthful or bein' nice."
"I can't be both?" she retorted, arching a brow at him slightly. Heat radiated off of him and into her from his proximity, but it wasn't altogether unpleasant. She ignored the urge to rest her head against his shoulder. It would be inappropriate. "I'm all mysterious and shit. You like it."
"Might like knowin' you more. I like knowin' people," he said with a lazy grin. She was awfully close. He liked that, too. For a few seconds he just looked at her, studying her face. "You're pretty, y'know? Ain't juss sayin' it 'cause yer the last woman on earth neither."
"Nah, it's just the booze talkin'," she said, punctuating the phrase by taking a long, slow sip from her glass. Despite her words, a faint rush of color rose to her cheeks that wasn't credited to the scotch. It'd been a very long time since anyone had called her pretty.
"Sorta true," he admitted, leaning against her in a conspiratorial whisper. "If I weren't drunk, couldn't say it out loud. 'Cause you'd prob'ly get mad at me."
"Maybe," she mumbled in answer, a little thrown at the physical contact. It was one thing to touch briefly, but what he was doing was almost cuddling. It'd been a long time since she'd had that, too. Her eyes closed as the memories flooded her, bittersweet memories that even another sip of the excellent scotch didn't rinse out of her mouth; she could taste the tang of salt in the back of her throat, heralding tears. Get it together, you, she told herself.
They were so close, and she was warm against him. He could smell the oil of canned food and the sweat of the day, and he just wanted to burrow against her neck and find what else she smelled like. But he was at least sober enough to know you should ask before doing that. And maybe he would. Why not? Why couldn't it be that simple: two people enjoying company? At least he could ask. What did he have to lose?
The one person you got left.
He practically jerked back, moving enough so he wasn't touching her anymore. He half considered apologizing but instead took too big a sip, hoping she didn't notice the whole thing. It didn't work out that smoothly, however; the liquor burned its way down the wrong tube, sending him into a small coughing fit that shook Alice out of her reverie, her eyes snapping open and one hand going to his back to pat the cough out of him.
"You all right?"
"Yeah," he gasped, hacking a few more times before his lungs seemed to forgive him. "Yeah. Tried breathin' and drinkin' at the same time."
"Yeah, you shouldn't do that," Alice responded with a small, watery smile. "I'll go get you some water real quick. Don't go nowhere."
She stood from her spot easily and with minimal sway, moving the short distance required to get a bottle of water from one of the crates she had set aside before returning to him. Jed wiped his nose on his sleeve before she came back, giving a last cough as he took the bottle.
"Thanks," he said after a helpful mouthful. "Prob'ly should be drinkin' some of this anyway by now."
"Switching to water already?" Alice teased, reaching for her glass again and taking a considerably larger sip than previously. His coughing fit had acted as a convenient way to properly lock the memories away, bringing her back to herself and to there here and now. "After three beers? What kind of Texan are you?"
"Not switching," he chided. "Goin' back an' forth. Juss gettin' some water in me is all. I was yellin' at the kids about it, so gotta do it myself, huh? Good example an' shit."
"You're really wrecked about this, aren't you," Alice replied, the teasing gone as she settled back into the cushions again. She could feel the effects of the stronger drink even after just sipping it, a comforting warmth spreading out from the pit of her stomach into her extremities. It felt nice, and reminded her why people took to liking scotch. "Y'know... kids'll be kids. Teenagers are the worst, 'cuz that's when they're tryin' to define themselves and become their own people. That don't mean they don't need structure, but... it's okay for there t'be mistakes on both sides, so long as ya learn from them. Don't keep kickin' yourself."
"I ain't," he whined, pointing down. "My feet're on the floor, see?" He shifted in his seat, taking another healthy sip of scotch. "I'm juss tryin' to figure things out, an' yer juss bein' all mother hen."
Alice opened her mouth to argue, then bit down on her lip instead and scowled a little at him. He'd come to sit on her step for some reason, perhaps the idea that he wasn't the only grown-up in a land of surviving children. But if that was the case, how could he say silly things like that? Was it just the booze talking again, or did he clearly not get the saying? She remained quiet, drinking her scotch at a steady rate, her eyes gravitating to the window.
Jed looked over, not entirely sure if maybe he'd just insulted her. He wasn't sure how to save it either. "You were sayin' stuff an' I stopped you," he said, more thinkin' aloud than anything. "How is Mason doin'?" He tried to say the name with an English accent. It probably wouldn't have even sounded good if he was sober.
Alice snorted at the feigned accent, shaking her head a little and taking a sip again. "Not that good. He hasn't really left the house since I put him in there. Won't say why, either," she said. She gave a small shrug, sighing. "I haven't tried asking him much. He'll tell me when he's ready. If he's ready."
"Yeah. Can't help everyone," Jed said with a shrug. He was pretty curious to meet this guy and size him up, but honestly, if he just went away, Jed didn't think he'd mind. Alice shrugged again, chewing quietly on her lower lip and letting her gaze go out of focus a few feet ahead of her. She remained like that for a good three minutes before she finished off her glass, her face fully flushed at that point as she stood and went to go get one of the beers from the refrigerator.
"Get me one?" Jed called after her.
"Thought that was your last?" Alice called back, twisting off the cap and taking a sip from the bottle. It still wasn't cold enough, but it wasn't warm at least.
"I lied," he said, grinning wide.
"No way, josé," Alice answered, coming back into the living room again. "Someone's gotta be responsible, and you still gotta get home. Don't wanna find you crashed into some stationary car somewhere three days from now."
"Fer chrissakes, I drove drunk plenty when there were folks to hit," he whined, though he was far too comfortable to get up and get it himself.
"Waah, cry more," she mocked in return, sitting back on the couch again and taking a long gulp from the neck of the bottle.
Making do with the scotch, Jed took a sip before looking into the glass, as though trying to gauge the amount left. "'m gonna go look fer her tomorrow," he said with a nod.
"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head at him. "You do that before she wants you to, that might make her more mad." Alice's brows furrowed in thought, trying to find a way around the rule. "Maybe... where did she used to hang out? Before you found her, I mean."
Caught off-guard, Jed frowned thoughtfully, scratching his nose. "I dunno... She don't like you all that much."
"But I'm not on the shitlist right now," Alice replied matter-of-factly. "That might work in my favor."
Jed's frown deepened. "What happened t' she can take care of herself an' in her own time an' all that crap you were tellin' me? Why it don't apply to you?"
"Well I didn't say I was gonna bring her back, did I?" Alice said, brows arching a little as she spoke. "I'll just go and see if she's safe. Hell, ninja style if I have to, if it'll make you feel better to know she's okay. But I don't think you going after her would be a good idea if she's mad at you."
"Oh." He sunk back further in the cushions, feeling a bit foolish. "Alright. I only seen her at the park, and that first store. But she's been at the mall a lot lately. Though that was prob'ly with that kid." He scowled. "Dunno, she left him behind when she stormed out. Maybe she don' wanna see him either."
Alice shrugged a little. "Mall, park, store. Anywhere else?"
"I dunno. You told me to let her do her own thing, so I did."
Alice brought her free hand palms-up, signaling defeat. "If she doesn't show back up in a few days, go lookin' for her. But really, I think she's just blowing off some steam. It'll be fine." She reached out and gave his knee a pat, the bottle finished before she was even completely aware of it. Two beers and a scotch seemed to be getting to her, her skin flushed and a sort-of laziness to her voice, her old accent leaking back into the stresses to her words.
"Well, you could see if she's safe. I mean, if yer in the area..." He gave another shrug, shifting so he was facing her but still lying back against the increasingly-comfortable couch. "I juss don' know all the places she'd go."
Alice hummed noncommittally, turning also so that her neck rested against the armrest. She wanted to pull her legs up onto the couch, but him sharing it made that a problem. Not one that her alcohol-infused brain saw couldn't be solved, however; after a few moments she toed off her shoes and brought her socked feet up beneath the cushions behind his back.
"There's chicken enchilada soup in the crockpot if you're hungry," she mumbled.
"Mm, I'm alright right here," he said, patting her calf right next to him with a lazy, half-lidded smile. "Maybe later." He didn't remove his hand, though it wasn't exactly a plan. The couch was comfortable, the booze had been great, and knowing she was right there made him feel more relaxed than he had in a while. Even as he looked at her, his lids slid closed.
"Don't you go fallin' asleep on my couch," Alice said with a small laugh, toeing him with her foot beneath the cushion. "C'mon. Get up. We'll get you come coffee and some food. Y'know y'can't stay here."
His eyes opened, but only just. "This one time?" he pleaded, holding up a finger to show how many times exactly. "Won't get no ideas. I juss like it here right now. Rocky, too. He ain't made a peep."
"This ain't no slumber party, Sallie Sweetheart," Alice tried, toeing him again though there was no real strength in the words or the action. It was mighty comfortable, him with her on her couch.
"Wasn' wantin' a party, juss wanna sleep. Juss this once?" He gave her his best sleep-induced puppydog face. "Don' make me call Rocky over to ask; you can't say no to him."
"God, you're such a baby, fine," she said at last, pulling herself up reluctantly from her spot to turn the crockpot down to its lowest setting. The doors and windows were all locked and secure, so she didn't bother double-checking them as she made her way back to the couch again.
Jed hadn't moved, except to close his eyes. As she settled back into her spot, though, she felt his hand come to rest right where it had been on her calf. With a contented breath, he settled deep into the cushions, letting the welcome sleep wash over him.
Before it had been an absent touch, something she'd been aware of but not completely. With him asleep and touching her it was different, more intimate, and she found her eyes traveling over him as his chest rose and fell. Content was written all over his features, smoothing the worry lines away. It was... nice. Too nice, really. Alice's brows furrowed slightly at mixed emotions churning through her. Part of her felt she should be concerned by this... whatever it was, that was developing between them. She found herself sighing quietly, one hand reaching for the rings that hung from the chain around her neck.
"Peter..." she murmured, her voice low and quiet. "I miss you. More than you know."
Unable to fight off the grogginess herself anymore she allowed herself to close her eyes and fall asleep in Jed's company, just this once.