I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-01-05 15:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | death of the endless, jesse custer |
i_amjustme Down Time [Jesse]
Ah, finally. Time to relax.
The last several days had been a riot of work and more work. But things were starting to slow down as the gangs became more organized. The rash of voilence had taken time to slow, and had taken further time to finalize the body count, as victims lingered and finally succumbed.
But now, it was a nice day. The sun was shining, and Death had found herself in a park somewhere around what she supposed was the City's center. A stray dog had been following her for a block or two now. It was funny, how animals acted around her. So pleasant, always wanting to play. Except cats. Cats always stood nearby, and wanted to be petted, but never let her touch them. She just assumed cats were funny about being touched, until one finally confessed that if she touched them, she, Death, would own them, and no cat could ever stand being owned like that. Dream, however, had once made a pact with cats, and they adored him for it. Cats were clever creatures, after all.
Humans were the strange ones. Always afraid, once they knew who she was. Animals always knew, and always loved her.
She finally stopped walking, and sat in the grass. The dog approached, hesitantly at first, but then she smiled warmly at it and nodded. "It's okay. I'm going to stay here a bit."
The dog sprang forward and immediately rolled onto his back, begging to had his belly rubbed. She laughed and obliged, happily.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 12:52:45
Jesse'd found the same park on the same day, but hadn't been expecting to see that girl. Not that he didn't think Death would enjoy a park, but it seemed an odd place for her right now.
Don't. Don't do it, I'm begging you.
"Shut up. She's a lovely girl." Jesse spoke the words low and to himself.
She's not a nice girl, Jesse. She's Death.
"As you made me aware previously. Now I'll ask you kindly to shut the fuck up." He lit a cigarette and made his way over to her.
He didn't make himself known verbally. Just sat down right beside her and watched her with the dog. The dog seemed quite at ease with her. And why shouldn't it? She was kind. Caring. Anybody could see that. It didn't take assistance from her after you'd fallen from a plane in order for you to know how she was.
He smiled, and waited.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 14:08:22
She knew he was there, of course. But there was a very demanding puppy rolling into her lap. She petted him and rubbed him until he was out of breath and panting.
Then she turned her head and smiled up at Jesse. "Looks like you're feeling better," she said. "Glad to see it."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 17:39:43
"Feeling much better, thanks to a wonderful girl who happened by." He smiled at her. "I see you've got yourself a furry little friend. Is he a new friend, or a friend you've had for a while?"
After all. She'd probably been here longer than him, considering how well she'd known the place.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 17:57:32
"Who, him?" She rubbed behind the dog's ears. "He's a new friend. We've only just met."
The dog barked once and jumped into her lap, licking her face happily. She caught him and kissed his jaw. "Thank you, Kojak," she said chuckling. "I like you too."
She turned a bit, so she could see Jesse more easily. "I only did what anyone could have done," she said with a shrug.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 18:00:51
"Not just anyone would have done that, darlin. There are a lot of horrible people out there who would have done nothing, or worse." Jesse smiled, watching the two of them.
He didn't know if he should let on that he knew who she was. Was that a secret? Was he not supposed to know? Maybe. Maybe not. He wouldn't lie to her, but maybe he shouldn't tell her outright. Or maybe, being who she was, she already knew that he knew.
Jesse leaned back in the grass, smoking.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 18:21:01
"Well, yes. But anyone could have helped. I just got lucky enough to be there first."
Kojak had curled up into her lap and was already starting to fall asleep. She kept rubbing his ears, almost absently.
"I'm glad you decided to keep talking to me. Not many people want to do that, once they know who I am."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 18:25:07
He couldn't stop the smirk that crossed his face. Of course she knew. Why wouldn't she?
"It's not a really big deal to me, you being who you are. Doesn't make you not a good person. Besides. I've met some serious characters in my life. Some things that maybe not even you would believe. Now, I don't get on with most of them, but there are the few I do."
Jesse let his cigarette find the corner of his mouth. "Take Cassidy, for example. That Irish bastard's a vampire. Hell, take me. Sure, I'm plain to look at, but I've got this little friend. And my little friend makes life just a little strange sometimes."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 19:02:17
She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I would think so. I don't think he appreciates me very much, though. But, really." Didi fixed her eyes on his and for a moment seemed to be looking through Jesse. "I'm just doing my job. Nothing more, nothing less."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 19:07:25
He laughed then. "HE seems to think it's not right, cavorting around with you. It's not so much that he's against what you do, just that I shouldn't be having a nice chat with you. He knows it's who you are, what you are. I don't know. He's a strange one, he is."
Jesse smirked a bit. "And he knows the thoughts I've had on the subject. I think he's none too happy about those." He winked.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 19:32:11
Death raised an eyebrow. "Thoughts? What thoughts are those?"
It wasn't hard to know who people were. She'd met everyone, of course. And it wasn't hard for her to know about Genesis. Their fates were intertwined, after all. And as far as knowing who she was? Well, everyone knew that. They just didn't always let themselves remember it.
But Death couldn't read thoughts. Or if she could, she didn't. She liked people, and liked them enough to let them have their own thoughts and actions. At least from appointment to appointment. Birth to death.
Occasionally with a visit or two in between.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 19:39:47
Jesse's smile twisted to the side, and he rolled his head to look at her. "Now I'm sure a fine young lady like yourself wouldn't like to hear the thoughts of a dirty minded man like me."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 19:50:03
She laughed. "I think I'm flattered," she said. "And you know I'm not young. Not compared to you. No offense."
Kojak opened his eyes and looked up at her, and barked once. She rubbed his ears. "And especially not compared to you." The dog licked her hand, and whimpered lightly.
She chuckled. "Oh, no. I'm going to keep petting you." He put his head back down on her knee, and she did as she said she would. Then she glanced at Jesse. "Hey, I don't suppose you have a place he can stay? He's been living on the streets, and doesn't really know how he's going to manage." Her voice quieted, and she leaned closer to Jesse. "He's a little worried, because he can't find his Master anywhere."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 19:52:28
Jesse nodded. "He can stay with me. I've got a little hotel room with a spare bed he can have. I'll help him look for his Master, if he wants. Or he can just stay. Whatever he wants." He eyed the little guy. "But I don't speak dog, so he's going to have to be a little more blunt with his needs when it comes to me."
He looked back at Didi. "As for you, it's not flattery I'm trying for. Just the truth. Dirty, devious thoughts, darlin. That's all my head's filled with."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:21:51
Her first look went to the dog. "See? He'll watch you for a bit. Just make sure you let him know what you need, okay?"
The dog looked up at Jesse and wagged his tail. After one more lick to Death, Kojak got up and sat down directly in front of Jesse, barked once, and held up a paw.
"I'm not much use for those kinds of thoughts," she said with another chuckle. "I'm really just a... well, an anthropomorphic personification. I don't even show up on video, apparently."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:25:07
"No sins of the flesh for you then?" Jesse shook the dog's paw, then patted him on the head gently.
He'd meant the line as a joke mostly, referring to his nifty collar and former occupation.
But now he seriously wanted to know.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:27:48
She shook her head. "Nope. You'd need flesh. And the capacity to sin. I have neither. Not really."
She looked away, leaning back in the grass and looking up at the sky.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:31:57
"Isn't that a mighty shame." Jesse watched her from the corner of his eye.
There was a silence in his head that he wasn't familiar with anymore. Hadn't been familiar with since Genesis had joined with him.
But there was something about this silence. Like. Something was needing to be said, but somebody wasn't saying it because somebody didn't want somebody else to know.
So what was it?
Genesis wasn't talking, clearly.
"Didi?" There was a heaviness to her name.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:34:57
She glanced at him. "Yes?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:37:15
He studied her a long time. Quiet. Jesse looked at the dog, maybe as if the dog could tell him something. Of course, he couldn't.
"Is there something that you're not telling me?" Jesse took this moment to completely lay down in the grass. "Because there's something going on, and my little friend doesn't want me to know what that is. There's this overly nonchalant silence going on inside."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:40:50
"He wha..? Oh." She shook her head and settled back down, folding her hands under her head. "He's probably thinking about the once-a-century thing. But I did it thirty-three years ago. So it'll be a while for the next one, and you won't survive that long. Sorry."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:45:33
Jesse frowned.
"I'm sorry, darlin. I don't really understand a lick of what you just said. Once a centuary what?"
He tried to encourage Genesis to talk.
Leave it alone, Jesse. Just, please, leave it alone. It's not a good idea to do what you're thinking of doing. Not for either of you. Just let it go.
"I asked you so kindly once, and I ask you again, shut the fuck up." But it wasn't really a question and he said it before thinking.
He smiled an awkward smile at Didi. "Sorry. He seems to only want to talk when I don't need him to."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:50:34
Death shrugged. There wouldn't be any hard in telling him. After all, he'd missed the last one, and would miss the next. "Listen: One day in every century Death takes on mortal flesh, better to comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality: And this is the price she must pay for being the divider of the living from all that has gone before, all that must come after."
That said, she glanced back at him. "Haven't you ever heard that before?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:52:56
He listened carefully. "No, Didi, I can't say that I have. Once a century, huh? And I missed it. Shame. Gonna miss it again? More of a shame. I just have really bad timing, don't I?"
Jesse sighed and watched the sky.
"No chance then, huh?" Another sigh. "Shame."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 20:55:31
She rolled onto her side and patted his hand. "Sorry. But, you know. There are other people. Living people. Ones that you'd have more than a day to spend with."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 20:58:08
He looked at her seriously. "I'm not the type of guy to just roam anywhere, Didi. I'm a very choosy fellow. Only the special ones have the ability to grasp my attention."
Jesse moved his head so he could see her fully. "It's not like all I want is a little poke."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 21:03:07
She furrowed her brow. "Are you saying that you'd rather have one day with me, than a lifetime with anyone else? Because..." She shook a finger at him. "Not only is that incredibly unfair, it's also terribly cliche."
A look crossed her face that might have been just a little bit pouty. "My kind aren't allowed to have affairs with mortals. It causes too many problems." She could remember the trists and affairs of her siblings. Dream in particular. His name had come up many times in that particular counsel.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 21:06:22
"Then I'm an unfair cliche bastard." Jesse said simply. "But I'm not going to push the issue, Didi. It can't happen on a lot of levels, apparently, and I don't want to make you feel badly about it."
He looked back up at the sky.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 21:10:04
"Okay," she said, and let it go. Mostly.
"I'm still flattered, though."
She was quiet for a few minutes, then sighed. "I need to get back to work soon."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 21:13:22
"Yeah." Jesse nodded. "I should be too. Not that my work trumps yours. I've just got to find a man. And avoid another like the plague."
He smiled a little.
"It's alright, Didi. I'll be around if you want to talk. I promise to not moon over you or anything. I'm a big boy, and I can be friends without trying to get into your anthropomorphic pants."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 21:28:49
She gave him a real smile and sat up. "Thanks. I appreciate that." She kneeled, and gave Kojak another rub on the ears before getting to her feet. "I'll see you around then, Jesse. Not work related. It'd be nice."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 21:35:32
"I'm going to hold you to that." Jesse sat up and watched her and the dog. "You take care. And don't worry about Kojak, here. We'll get along fine."
He held his arms open for the dog.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/05/2006 21:38:51
Kojak's tag wagged and he ran the few steps back to Jesse, jumping into the man's arms and licked his chin.
Didi grinned. "Thanks. I'm glad someone'll take care of him." She tucked one hand into the pocket of her jeans and waved the other one. "Take care of yourself, Jesse."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/05/2006 21:40:53
"Don't have too much fun working, now." He called after her, and then was promptly bowled over by a dog who had gotten his second wind.
Jesse couldn't do anything but comply.