Detective Angelica Jensen (angelic_det) wrote in thefield, @ 2009-02-23 16:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | alex, angelica, z - 1st tribe - day 08 |
Smack in the Face--It was Needed
Who: Angelica and Alex
What: Alex gets through to Angelica about her behavior.
Where: Leaning on a tree.
When: After monsoon, late morning/afternoon
Rating: PG-13
Water. Angelica had dealt with water before. That didn't mean that she'd been in water that had flooded and area so bad before. She would never admit she was worried, but she wanted to know that everyone was okay, not that she was going to say it out loud. Angelica had her own ways of caring. She wasn't obvious with how she checked on people. Angelica wasn't the touchy feely type, and she didn't even bother to attempt it. Generally when she attempted to be nice it didn't turn out too well. It might be that generally Angelica wasn't very nice, so people stuck with that first impression. Either way, she got screwed in the end. She had been checking up on people in her own way, though, trying to make sure that nobody had lost anything and that they were okay with all the standing water, especially Rowan and Meredith.
The redhead had her jacket on as she moved through the standing water, able to feel that her feet were pretty damn soggy, but she was checking around to make sure the area was still generally in tact. It seemed like it was all okay still, but that didn't mean that she hadn't missed something. She couldn't worry too much. Angelica didn't worry, she wasn't generally a worrier. She hadn't been much help at all so far, and she didn't feel like she was contributing. She was trying to help now, though it wasn't in an obvious way. She didn't know what to do, honestly.
After some time she ended up leaning against a tree, the gun tucked into the back of her pants and looking at the newly formed swampland, shaking her head slightly.
"Be careful," Alex cautioned, his pajama pants rolled up over his knees revealing muscular, hairy legs that had obviously not seen much sun recently and his new found shoes dangling by their laces over his shoulder. He was standing gingerly on some roots at the base of the tree they were living in. "Those blue fish things...they have teeth," so far though, they had avoided the people in the water. Teeth meant meat eaters though, they might change their little fishie minds. Carefully he made his way towards her. He'd initially come down to take care of personal needs, but now that he was down checking things out at least a little right here seemed like a good idea.
Angelica had never been fishing, and she had never played in a lake as a kid, but she had friends that had, so she understood that in water there was generally going to be fish of some sort, that didn't mean she wanted to think about it right now. Alex had to be that reminder. She had her pants pulled up just enough so that they weren't getting incredibly wet, but then again she was tall, being 5'10" had it's advantages. Her own legs were pale and for the moment they weren't incredibly hairy, that wouldn't last for long, though, especially with no razor. His words weren't very comforting. The fact that fish would have teeth was not a very nice thought. Angelica rolled her eyes," Great, that helps...fish with teeth. Along with a messed up face next thing you know I'm going to have fish using my legs as chew toys." Angelica muttered.
She remained where she was for a moment before moving slightly, mostly from the sunburn that was still twinging uncomfortably. She looked over Alex, lifting a brow curiously, "Nice legs, almost as pale as mine, if it weren't for the hair I'd say you'd give me a good run for my money." Angelica smirked and studied the water, contemplating why exactly she was still on the ground and not climbing into the tree to get back to some semblance of dry.
Despite the strangeness of the situation, Alex raised a leg as if he were a lady in an old 40's movie and posed. "What can I say? It's winter. No need to shave or tan in the winter," he was only half joking. He ran marathons from time to time and would shave them for the races, it really did make a difference. However, he never kept it up, just would do it once the night before each race and then let it grow until the next one. He didn't shave his beard though, he looked 16 when he did that.
Making his way cautiously to where Angelica was, he leaned against the tree trunk next to her, "You alright? Other than it being rainy, wet and nasty out?" none of them were doing very well with that one. Some of the others had taken their clothes off, at least somewhat, to help them to dry, but Alex hadn't. If he could be somewhere private he would, but not in front of everyone if he could avoid it.
That pose was priceless! Angelica stared a moment before the laughter came out. She found herself with her hands on her stomach, laughing for a few long moments before she stopped herself and sucked in a large breath, shaking her head a little bit. "I don't think I've ever met a man that admitted to shaving, or tanning." Angelica teased, toying with the sleeve of her leather jacket and moving her leg a bit to get a bit more comfortable where she stood. Angelica was a woman, she was expected to shave, though as of late she'd been too busy to even bother. Generally she shaved if she knew she was going to go out with the intent of hooking up with someone.
Angelica lifted a brow at his question, curious about exactly why he always felt the need to ask her if she was okay. She definitely wasn't the worst off of the people stuck in the hellhole. "I'm sunburned to beat all hell, and made a few more enemies. That's about normal for me, though. Can't really complain." Angelica said with a shrug. She didn't like wading around in the water all that much, it definitely wasn't her favorite pastime. "You?" She asked, tilting her head slightly toward him for the answer.
"I run marathons sometimes," he explained, "And being outside means I get tan and I shave them for races. I don't go to a tanning booth or such nonsense!" he didn't get tanning booths. Or people who used them. And the fake tan made even less sense to him than the tanning booths. People were weird. Though, priests who ran marathons and shaved their legs the night before were probably thought weird too. Then again, a lot of people thought priests were weird in general.
He always asked her if she was okay, because someone needed to. He could see the others didn't quite like her, but there was a person underneath her hardened exterior and he liked the person he saw. He wanted to see more of her and hoped the others would one day be able to see it too. So until then, he made it a point to check on her specifically. "I'm thinking that reality is here for this wilderness excursion. And that I would like to go home now," everyone would love to go back to their homes. "So I suppose I'm fine. I worry about you though. Making so many enemies. In a group this small, that's not a good thing, even if it might be something you're used to."
"Marathons?" Angelica asked, beating back her curiosity, though some of it came out anyway. She didn't run marathons, but running was part of what she did for training. She did it as part of her working out. It was much different from running a marathon, but she wasn't bad with speed, she did chase down criminals. She was pretty good at running down morons that had committed crimes, though. "Can't say shaving my legs ever really helped me run any, but I'm not much for racing." She shrugged. The redhead wasn't all that sure about why she was interested, but she was. Maybe it was because Alex was the first person here that wasn't an enemy, and he seemed to genuinely care and wasn't all that intimidated by her. He really did try, and that helped. "I can't see you stripping down and hopping in a tanning bed." She commented with a smirk, she knew girls that tanned. She definitely wasn't one of them. Her complexion was the obvious sign of that.
Angelica didn't think about why he checked on her, it could have been because he was afraid for all she cared. Either way, it was nice having one person that wasn't an enemy. "You and everybody else here, dude." Angelica stated, rolling her eyes. She sure as hell would rather be at home. She blinked when his next bit came out. "Worry about me?" She asked in an almost confused manner, and it was almost a smack to the face, but she didn't completely react. She knew he was right. "Touching that your care, but do yourself a favor, don't worry about me." She stated, looking over at him and studying him with blue eyes. She knew she wasn't making friends, and in this setting it might be dangerous for her. "I'll be fine, just have to figure out how to be more people friendly, I guess. Gotten too used to dealing with scum." Angelica muttered, looking away from him and unsure about whether or not she really trusted anyone here yet...
"I always care," he replied, his own blue eyes matching hers. "And worry about you. Can't stop me from doing that," he grinned at her crookedly, "Cause I know you're not made of stone and ice. And you're not unfriendly either. But maybe, you need someone to remind you of that sometimes. Can't force you to change and I'm not going to. But I'm not going to stop caring either."
Angelica wasn't sure that she liked the idea of the priest caring. For as long as she could remember she' been fine with her dad being the only one that really cared and it'd been hard to let in people that she had to work with. She didn't even like working with partners, but she'd acclimated herself to it. She worked with people, but generally she was able to still keep herself at a distance. "Do you care because you feel like you have to or are you genuine?" Her mouth shot off before she got a chance to cap it. "Because I gotta tell you, not even the men I have sex with care, and I sure as hell don't expect anyone here to. If we can all work together and not kill each other it's probably enough." She stated evenly. "I'm not made of stone and ice, it's pretty damn obvious, but you might be wrong about the other, I'm pretty unfriendly, makes things easier. When we all get to go back to where we came from it'll be easy." She might have been in denial slightly. There was that and the fact that she really didn't want to get close to anyone, good things didn't come along with it, really. She was done with serious. Her eyes were still meeting his and she smirked.
"You run, must have a tight ass too, huh?" She asked, changing tactics. She crossed her arms. Angelica was pretty sure the priest would back down before she would. That would help because honestly, she wasn't good at caring about people. She wasn't good at helping. She wasn't good at a lot of things. She was better at protecting from afar. She was better with dealing with criminals. Angelica was better with a lot of different things. Being here with people she didn't know wasn't one of them. She didn't want to be stupid. Honestly, she'd rather be the one everyone hated than have everyone expect her to be the hero. That's what cops were, right? Well, Angelica was flawed, moreso than a lot of people. This was a good way of making sure they didn't expect a hell of a lot because, to be honest, she was pretty sure she couldn't do a whole hell of a lot here. She felt useless...
Ignoring Angelica's comment regarding his ass, he replied, "If I told you I cared because it's genuine, would you believe me?" he asked her levelly. "Everyone needs someone Angelica. And like it or not, you've got me caring. You'll need to try harder, Detective," he used her title to give a little distance between them. Care, yes. But caring didn't extend to anything more than friendship. Not with him anyways. He also pointedly ignored her comments regarding her sex life. He knew any remark made on that wouldn't go over well either, she was baiting him. If he said something about how sad it was that they didn't care then he was condoning and acknowledging that she had premarital sex. If he made a comment about not having it, she would hand him his head on a platter.
"Hell no." She stated automatically and honestly. She didn't believe him. Most people cared at certain times. He might care for the moment, but that didn't mean that he always cared. Love tended to be conditional. Love was conditional when it came to people, and when you considered love coming from god, or whoever the person believed in, it was still conditional. Angelica didn't believe in a whole hell of a lot anymore, but she did believe that she knew people. Caring didn't come that easily. Angelica hadn't been around Alex long enough for him to really care. He didn't want to see anyone die, probably, but it didn't mean that he cared. "I've got you, huh? Don't think you really care to be honest, Father. I mean, how much do you actually know about me, other than the small things I've told you? We're strangers. You don't care about strangers, you wonder and you don't want bad shit to happen, but it doesn't mean that you care." She stated evenly, pushing away from the tree and standing on her own two feet. "Hell, for all you could know, everything I've said is a lie." She stated. It could have been, even if it wasn't.
"So you run, what else do you do? Lift weights? Do other exercises to keep your body all fit to be a priest? I'm curious!" She was hoping to push him enough. Eventually she'd get him to back off and get out of her hair.
"I rather doubt that," he commented mildly. "Everybody needs somebody. And sometimes, you just know. It's a matter of trust," he shrugged and met her eyes. They were the same height, "You're not perfect. And it's not like I expect you to tell me your lifes story, Angelica. It's unconditional. That's just it."
He paused when she mentioned the weights and things, "I like to run. As for my ass, that is not for you to think about. I am a priest, Detective. Remember that, please," he took his vows seriously and they weren't negated in this place. His tone was crisp, but not sharp.
"I don't tend to trust many people, father, it's a matter of preservation. You shouldn't trust so much." She stated, not moving her gaze in the least. Being the same height as him didn't effect her in the least. She didn't care, he was a priest. "It's conditional, you woudln't give a damn if we'd met in some other way. You think you care because we're here. And you don't want a lifes story or need it because it doesn't matter here. We don't know where the hell we are. Hell, if we're here, doesn't it make you question what you believe in a little, father?" She asked, and it was mostly just to get a rise, then maybe he'd take off.
"Priest, hell, you can be whatever you want, if I want to think about your ass that won't stop me, Father Alex. I don't really care, remember that." She told him, her tone different from his, it wasn't sharp or crisp, and it wasn't all together all that mean, it ws neutral. And she meant it.
"That's where you're wrong, Detective. I would care regardless. However, you wouldn't give me the opportunity to get to know you this well if we were in New York and Boston," Alex stated, his face hard. "As for my faith....no. I do not question it. It is reinforced by this experience. No where does the bible say that Earth was the only world created by God. Nor that man the only creature, merely the only one created in His image. And so far, that is what I see to be true still."
Alex paused and fixed one of his pant legs that was trying to come undone, "Fair enough. But do not mention my ass again in my presence unless a creature is about to bite it," he instructed. "It is not up for grabs or commentary. I take my vows seriously, no matter where I am. Understand me?"
"You're right, I wouldn't." She didn't dispute that. It was true. Hell, if she'd had to she would have arrested him back home. She'd have joked about it with her partners too. It didn't matter. She didn't have faith. She didn't believe and she didn't really give a damn that he was a priest, that didn't make him anything special in her book. Angelica didn't like the church, and Alex was okay, but damned if she didn't need to push him away. She had to get him to pull back. "So either way your God doesn't care if he ruins people's lives or kills them." Angelica stated, gesturing around them, but not backing down any. She didn't believe, yeah she'd gone to the mass, mainly because she felt she had to, and she had a lapse in judgement.
Alex fixed his pant leg and Angelica didn't look away. She watched steadily. "What if someone is about to kick it?" Angelica pipped up to be a smart ass. She knew that he wouldn't appreciate it and his next bit made her snort. She took a few steps closer to him so that there was less space. "I understand, but that doesn't mean shit. I'm going to say what I want to say either way, Father Alex." Angelica crossed her arms, a closed posture. "Do you understand me, Father Tight Ass?"
A range of emotions crossed Alex's face, but he did not back down nor move away from Angelica. "Are you threatening me?" he asked quietly, his voice level. Angelica might be a police detective, she might have years of self defense training and who knew what else, and she could most likely take him. Easily even. Alex had never been much of a fighter, even in school. That had been Tony's thing. But Alessandro Callahan grew up in South Boston. Irish gangs ruled that area. He was a priest in South Boston. Irish gangs ruled that area. He was not afraid. "Because I want you to think about that for a minute. What that would mean, Angelica. Can you survive out here, alone?" Very deliberately, Alex stepped back and turned, wading through the water carefully back to the tree everyone else was still in. He was done. He wouldn't argue with her.
Angelica scoffed, shaking her head. "Trust me, if I were threatening you you wouldn't need to ask." She told him calmly, meeting his eyes. That was the truth. If she were threatening him he'd have been able to tell. Her bad cop persona was easy to see. There was a definite change when it happened. She wasn't going to hit him, she had a little more control than that. She didn't even know why she was doing this. There were parts of her brain battling with one another over what she was doing. Sure, she was normally a violent person, but she knew when to act and when not to. The redhead was quiet for his words and breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
"No, I can't survive out here alone."
It was more to herself than to him. She couldn't do this alone. She couldn't even be a police detective alone, honestly. She needed a partner, but that was regulations. How many partners had she gone through? Deep in thought, Angelica ended up leaning against the tree again pensively, unsure of herself and eyes down on the standing water. How was she going to do this? How would she get through this? She'd made an enemy out of every person that might have been good for her...