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Tweak says, "Eep oop ork ah ah!"

didi! (i_happen) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2011-01-12 20:42:00

Entry tags:

death of the endless, in arkham, jesse custer

The Gift (Jesse)
There were few things to know about Death. She had very few rules. Those she did have she was known to break. For example, everyone dies. Eventually. As a rule, once it was your time Death ushered you gently into the afterlife. But sometimes-- very so often-- Death sometimes bent that rule. She'd bent that rule for an entire race of beings, in fact.

And as another general rule Death did not interfere. Except when she did. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to when Death decided to pop up, only that sometimes she did. Sometimes she even gave gifts. Like Jesse's scarf. The Texan god was easy enough to spot. Even when he was supposed to merely human-- thanks to the scarf Death had knit him-- he still lit up the room, in his way.

Death sat down next to him in a chair, still wearing the black cotton version of all the other patient's clothes. She put her grey, unliving hand over his. Her smile was apologetic. "How're you doing, Jesse?"

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	i_happen 2011-01-18 12:07 am UTC (link)
	"Normal? Don't be ridiculous. No one's normal. I mean, relatively, maybe, but no one's really ever normal. I made it so you could be human." Didi frowned, watching the former preacher searchingly. She propped her bare feet on the seat with her, hugging her knees. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cowboy_god
2011-01-18 01:06 am UTC (link)

It made some sort of sense. That he would be stuck in the scarf because it made him human and only he knew how to make it come off, but he was hopped up on so many medications that he couldn't remember that.

Or figure it out, for that matter.

"So all I gotta do is figure out what I decided would make it come off?"

Jesse sat staring at her for a moment, wondering if it would just come to him out of the blue. When it didn't, he realized he was going to have to skip a lot more doses of medication to be coherant enough for that to happen.

"Shit. That could be anything."

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	i_happen 2011-01-18 06:38 am UTC (link)
	Death rolled her eyes. "Quit being so melodramatic. Not anything, only something. Something that you would think of. Now if you had to guess what someone else had picked, then you might have to worry." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cowboy_god
2011-01-18 10:21 pm UTC (link)

Jesse looked at Didi, a little confused. He didn't think he was being melodramatic. He didn't even think he could be. He was only somewhat sure of what it meant, really, but he didn't think he was the type.

"Well, it can't be lightin up a cigarette, or the thing woulda fallen off by now. Can't be cussin, could be hittin on a pretty gal." Jesse leaned forward, grinning at Didi, but when he tugged on the scarf, it didn't budge. "Or not."

Something he would think of.

His thoughts were so muddled, he wasn't quite sure what he would think of. But she was right, at least he didn't have to try to come up with something somebody else would think of. That would be hell.

Jesse went over the thoughts again. Things he liked to do. Things he'd come up with to get a magic scarf off of himself.

"What if it's somethin I can't do now, cause the folk here took that privilege away?" It wasn't an actual question, just a rather horrifying thought. But he didn't want to believe he'd be so stupid as to make this key something that could be taken from him.

"It must be a word, or somethin. Not an action. And not like a knife or nothin."

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	i_happen 2011-01-18 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	Her eyes lit up at the mention of a word, though if she had an idea she didn't share. Death, as always, was willing to offer a cheerful smile at the very least. "Well that's a start. It could be a phrase. Something you keep close to you? It doesn't have to be secret, exactly. But it would be something you're familiar with. Keep thinking." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

cowboy_god
2011-01-19 02:11 am UTC (link)

Jesse nodded. He was encouraged by the way she seemed to brighten when he mentioned a word, and her verbal pushing as well.

Wasn't a cuss word. He would have been free long before now if it was. Just like if it'd been a cigarette. Wasn't one of those words that females kept trying to make him quit using, either. Like darlin or sweetheart. Those had come out of his mouth too many times for too many nurses.

So probably not a phrase he used commonly, but one he used enough?

He looked at Didi and smiled, remembering something. "I've tried to get you into bed before."

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i_happen
2011-01-19 02:25 am UTC (link)

"Tried being the operative word. Don't push your luck. I'm trying to help you here." She smiled wryly. Death propped her bare feet on the table and wiggled her toes.

"Think about your things, your boots, your cigarettes. You could remove the scarf and leave any time you wanted." Death leaned forward and tapped his forehead gently with an index finger. "Think about it."

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cowboy_god
2011-01-19 03:56 am UTC (link)

Jesse rubbed his eye. He was getting tired, but not as bad as he had before the skipping of the meds.

His boots. His boots which he hadn't seen since he'd been in here. They'd had him in slippers the whole time. His cigarettes. They let him have them only when he was in the courtyard. They didn't even let him light them himself. Which was odd. They could give him a box of matches, or even just a book, and let him light up and hand them back.

But he didn't even usually use matches did he? Matches ran out, matches could get wet and not work. Matches blew out too easily when there was wind.

He used a lighter.

The lighter wasn't one of those plastic pieces of shit that you couldn't refill, either. It was special. Not only was it a Zippo, making it windproof and virtually waterproof - just had to let it dry out some if you fell into a pool - but it had come from his father.

Who had gotten it from The Duke.

Jesse looked at Didi and smiled really big.

"Fuck Communism."

Magic words, they were. The lighter itself fell from the scarf, metal hitting tile. The sound was small, but music to his ears. They hadn't taken it. It wasn't gone. It was just... well. He couldn't remember putting it there, but it didn't matter now did it?

It was as if the scarf relaxed. Jesse yanked once on the end of it, and the knot loosened. The black scarf finally fell from his neck.

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