The Universe's Mixer

Jesse left the little blond Holy Knight with the understanding that she wouldn't charge into anything, and he would contact her if it was something that she could take care of. He hoped it was. He didn't really want to be in the middle of all this. For now he had to be. He could pinpoint the cause of the storm quicker than anybody, and keep tabs until he caught up with them. But he was praying that he wouldn't have to step in any further than that.

He was sad to discover that the power behind the wreckage was huge and easier to find than he'd though it would be. When he looked, he discovered that it hadn't just been a weather mutant, or some kind of extra special person. The power was something as big as his was. Older, too. Which meant that he probably shouldn't send Karrin after it, should - in fact - warn her to keep clear. Probably tell Harry to keep clear too. The guy had a good deal of power himself, but Jesse didn't feel confident about them enough to think that Harry could take on what was out there.

It wasn't the power alone that was old, either. The being carrying it was ancient. If it had just been a matter of the power itself, he could match that easily. But the fact that whoever was carrying it had been using it for a long time made things a little sketchy for him. It meant that they knew what they were doing with theirs. They weren't running on instinct like he was. There was absolute control there, no risk of accidents (Like having Buffy, Fray and a bunch of pudding show up in a room in the middle of the night).

Jesse kept focused on the power until he managed to appear right next to it. The face he found was not quite what he'd expected it to be. Young and male, when he'd gotten the distinct impression of old and female. And was, in fact, still getting that impression despite what he was looking at.

"You an' me, we gotta have a talk." He said calmly.

Jesse stood in front of a shop and looked out at the devastation the storm had brought to The City. The place had hardly seen such foul weather, and here it spent a good two days with something far worse than the snow had brought upon them.

Funny thing was, he knew it wasn't the City that did it.

What could be out there that would be powerful enough to cause such weather in this place, without this place lashing back at them? Him, he could do it. He wouldn't do it, but he could have. He'd not met any other being capable. It worried him a little, not knowing who or what it was, not being able to put a face to the power behind this. Was it somebody new, or had they been here the whole time? Had he managed to not encounter them? And he'd thought everybody eventually met everybody.

He chewed his lip a little bit, and then put his cigarette back in his mouth. The idea that kept swirling around in his head was that he was going to have to find this being. For good or for bad, he was going to have to seek them out. Not that he knew what he was going to do or say once he'd discovered them. But he couldn't just sit back and let something like this happen.

And what about the City? Why had it allowed this?

Something was amiss. The preacher couldn't figure it out, but he'd find the truth.

"Hell of a thing." He muttered, looking across the street at a building that had all of it's windows broken, and what looked like massive water damage inside. He thought it had been some kind of corner store previously, but all the wares were so severely soaked, he couldn't really make much of it out. Save the shrink wrapped items that he was fairly positive could survive Armageddon without their wrappers. Those he was able to identify.

To say Harry wasn't having a very good time of things was putting it mildly. He'd had worse times, true, but losing a girlfriend was usually pretty hard on him. There had been the inevitable conversation with Murphy, and then Harry had simply avoided answering his phone for a while, staying away from the apartment if he suspected Murphy was there, and throwing himself into work. He kept his training sessions with River out in open areas, away from people.

He wanted someone to talk to. Someone male. Someone to share a drink with, complain to, and then go off any bury the rest of his feelings into work or other aggressive activity.

Luckily, Jesse Custer was in the phone book.

He'd only gotten to leave a message, but he hoped it was clear enough. Harry waited at a table, nursing a beer, while Mouse slumbered underfoot. The bartender had initially been against letting the big dog in, until Mouse had given him a doggy grin, offered his paw, and rolled onto his back for belly rubs. Once again, the Foo dog showed better people skills than Harry.

(After This)

Hank was working in his lab, clothes a bit wrinkled and dirty. He'd been finding some curious little things in the city as a bear, his animal nose surprisingly excellent at locating the hiding spots of creatures and humans alike.

But he was more interested in the blood samples he'd been taking from himself and other so-called weres, trying to understand what was going on in their DNA. He was curious about the properties that allowed a compete shift in form take place, and the brushing off of "it's magic" just didn't work for him. After all, magic was widely theorized to only be technology that isn't widely seen or understood back in his own world, and he felt the same was true here.

He was working heavily on the project, not only to make progress but also to forget the embarrassment about the night before. He was ashamed of biting an innocent man, however understandable the incident was. And he was very, very embarrassed about swimming in the nude with Baba, a feeling that rushed over him as soon as the bear's indifferent instincts were lost to his human form.

Last night had just been.... well. A learning experience, perhaps. At least, that was what Hank was trying to convince himself when he was forced to take a coffee break and his thoughts were finally pried away from his microscopic slides and vials.

He hadn't been entirely too happy with getting kicked out of Zoe's place almost right after they'd woken up, but he made it to a store and picked up a pack of cigarettes and it made him feel a little better. Going for an entire night without a smoke had been a new and unpleasant experience.

Real joy came, however, when he got back to his place and after a bit of messing around, discovered - accidentally - that he could become the dog at any time he wanted to. Of course, returning to human form meant that he was bare ass naked, which probably shouldn't happen in public, just for the sake of law breaking.

But remembering how much fun he'd had at night, and thought that a daytime excursion would be better. Different at the very least. More people. More animals out and about. The sunshine. Oh, sunshine. How would that feel on his fur? Maybe he could find some kids to play with, too. Run around until his doggy legs wouldn't carry him anymore.

Not having put on his clothes again after his return trip to humanland, Jesse reverted to the dog form again. He spent a moment trying to figure out if he could carry the smokes and a lighter with him, and decided he could not. Even if he could, he'd have to find somebody to get one out of the pack and light it for him, and that just didn't seem like it was going to happen. Zoe had been quite adamant about dogs not smoking. He was guessing that other people would be as well.

He took the same route out of the building as he had the first time, and ran straight to the park. Almost straight to the park. He did stop and sniff a couple of things on the way, including sticking his nose up a cute girl's skirt to see if he could get away with it. He could. She laughed.

In the morning sun, the grass smelled delightful. He was sniffing it and then started eating it, not even thinking about what he was doing. Once he'd had a good amount of it, he suddenly felt the need to throw up. The big green mushy ball that came out of him didn't disturb the dog part one bit. His human part, however, decided that if eating grass gave that result, he was going to do his best to stay away from even nibbling it.

Jesse took off at a full sprint through the park, tail wagging happily, smelling the air as it rushed into his nose.

Jesse went home directly after his conversation with Dr Hank the polar bear. He didn't want to be in public when he changed, if it was going to happen. If he became something vicious and didn't have his own mind at first, he didn't want to hurt anybody. Even though Hank had seemed perfectly in control of himself, minus that talking bit, Jesse couldn't be certain that he would react the same way.

Of course, being who and what he was, he could likely stop all of it before it even happened, but he discovered that he sort of wanted to change into something else. He wanted to know what it was like. On top of that, he was curious to see what he was going to change into. Did the City pick the animal? Was it related to who he was as a person? If that was the case, then what did being a polar bear say about the doctor? Or was it all random?

It didn't really take long for him to find out. Jesse changed within the hour. It hurt, as Hank had warned him. But much worse than he'd been expecting. He supposed he'd imagined a slight discomfort, but this was like every inch of him was in extreme pain for a few moments. Moments that felt like hours. Then he was swamped in his own clothing and a good deal closer to the floor. He walked around the apartment a bit, getting used to the new form, realizing that he was a dog, before going into the bathroom and jumping up on the counter to see into the mirror.

He grinned at himself. The mottled black and tan coat. The blue eye and the brown eye gazing back at him. He supposed being a mutt was pretty fitting. He would have had a dog like this growing up, if the ancient hag Marie had allowed such a thing, or if his parents had lived and found a way out of that place. This was the kind of dog every boy dreamed of. A playful, happy looking animal.

There was an urge that he found familiar, and he went to satisfy it, but rememebered moments into the act that he no longer had pockets, or hands, which meant no smokes. No smoking. That was a bit of a downer.

Well, he'd just have to find something to occupy his time with, then.

After wrestling with the knob on the front door for a while, Jesse managed to get out of his condo, down the elevator, and out the front door with a strange look from the front desk girl and the doorman.

Running, tongue lolling out, Jesse ran to find the first person he thought of.

Hank was… getting used to his bear form. Starting to enjoy it, a little. As soon as he'd found he could shift back and forth the whole thing became much more tolerable. Well, that and rumors has spread that he was not the only one, so maybe it was just the City toying with them as Hannibal suggested it sometimes did.

At nights he went out to the park, strolling around in his bear form and exploring. He liked to sniff out things, then take them to a hiding spot and come back to investigate them when he was human. The comparison between the sets of senses were pleasing, if not a bit useless.

Tonight, though, Hank went to the docks in human form, slipping into and ally and changing out of his clothes, shifting quickly. It was getting easier, the more he did it, and soon a polar bear was sneaking guiltily down to the water.

When he got to the edge he blinked, staring at the water and sniffing it. He almost smiled, though he was a bit nervous. The bear wanted to go in, to see if there was food. The human part of him knew polar bears were great swimmers, he'd studied up on them when he'd first returned to human form, but he was still a bit apprehensive even after deciding to come here.

All it really took was a small frog jumping into the water to his side, and Hank's predatory instincts took over. He lurched forward into a semi-graceful dive into the water, plunging in and finding the water perfectly deep enough for a giant mammal to enter for a swim.

Hank human mind felt a flash of terror as he cannonballed and the water enveloped him; he'd never actually swam before and had never been in water deeper than the shallow baths his mother had given him as a child, but the bear kicked in and knew what to do, plunging down and down and looking around. The moonlight didn't allow for much light, but it was still very clear, and as Hank turned joyfully he felt the polar bear's full appreciation for the world under the surface where his weight and bulk didn't mean so much.

Hank surfaced, taking a deep breath of air before spotting his frog on a rope hanging down into the water, looking disinterested. He went still, then lunged for it, far too slow to catch the slimy creature as it hopped into the water and bolted away, but then again he wasn't really interested in catching it anyway. He couldn't imagine frogs tasted that good raw, whatever the French liked to do with them in the kitchen.

Yes, Hank was a happy polar bear, surfacing and diving and testing how long he could go underwater. As long as no boat ran over him he could see spending the night here.

Arkham Asylum loomed into view as Dinah pulled her car to a stop near the entrance to the bridge. The gothic looking manor that housed the asylum awaited them on the island, seemingly quiet from the outside.

Dinah waited for everyone else to catch up, her eyes sweeping the streets for any sign of the Batmobile. She tapped her communicator once to connect with the Clocktower.

"Are we up and running, Fred?"

She still wasn't completely confident in the plan. A part of her worried that she was just sending the people she cared about to their deaths-or worse, knowing the Joker. But she had to try, had to believe that Jake was in there and could be saved.

Fred had had the most peaceful sleep after Eric left. He had kept his word, not pushing any further than she was willing to go, and it took all the courage she could muster to drink blood willingly. It had been different. She barely remembered the times before, but the feeling had been so familiar, as it slid down her throat. Eric let her feed, and she did with some gusto, after that first bit of squeamishness. She drank until he said stop, showing reluctant restraint. Once he was gone, she showered and went to bed, somewhat anxious that she'd have the dreams, but there was nothing more than a wonderful deep dark empty.

When she woke up, she was momentarily afraid she'd turned into a vampire. She was so very hungry. She crawled out of bed and checked herself in the mirror. There was something a little different about the face looking back at her. At least she could see her reflection; she probably should have asked about that - if Eric's world vampires could see their reflections. With a shrug, she got dressed and headed out into the sun, pausing only a moment to see if she'd burst into flames.

"Not a vampire!" The brainy female smiled brightly at the poor fellow who heard her exclamation. It didn't make a lot of sense, but she didn't care. She hadn't slept the sleep of the dead, and she was in the sunshine. She was feeling pretty darn good, too. Fred didn't notice that the poor fellow had watched her as she walked away either; she hadn't seen the look of interest.

"Waffles." Finally her stomach had decided to tell her brain what exactly she was craving, and with the spirit of a determined hunter, she sought the food that would bring about the end of her hunger. Oh, she was definitely feeling good. Her brain was working faster, and she felt as if she was on the verge of a breakthrough, even though she couldn't quite decide what it was she was breaking through to.

It didn't take her long to find her favorite waffle spot. Now for good food. She'd loved to have good company, but good food would do for now. Maybe she'd get lucky.

It was a typical day for Jesse Custer. He moved about The City, watching out for things he could help with. Seeing if there were any new faces about. Occasionally playing with the stupid fucking phone thing that The City had given him. Occasionally even doing the right thing with it. He had breakfast in a diner and lunch in a diner. It didn't compare to Zoe's cooking, of course. Nothing compared to a nice home cooked meal. But Jesse just wasn't the kind of guy who spent a lot of time doing his own work in the kitchen. There were simple things he could do, eggs, bacon, pancakes for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. But sometimes it was just easier to eat someplace else. Besides, it meant that he didn't have to clean, either.

He was currently standing outside said chosen lunch establishment, lighting his post meal cigarette. He looked in the direction of a couple of young guys who were having an argument about god. He shook his head.

"May not be no God here," He said to himself. "But he existed at one time."

Not to mention there was, well, himself. Maybe people didn't pray to him and ask him to bless their dinners and watch over their sick grandmas, but there were people here who knew very well what he could do. People who trusted in his abilities. Maybe one or two who revered him. Just a little.

He turned to walk from diner and continue on his random path through The City and came face to face with a blonde. At least he didn't actually run into her like he had Castiel. Didn't do much good to be God if you couldn't so much as tell when another person was walking toward you.

"Scuse me, darlin" He gave her a smile and waited for her to go around so they didn't end up doing that stupid dance trying to get by one another.

Being in a city again was like a dream. No, not exactly like a dream. It was more like a surreal virtual reality. Gaius almost didn't believe it was real. In fact, the jury was still out on whether or not he had finally snapped and lost his mind completely. Actually, were it not for his blonde companion's presence, he would have deemed himself completely certifiable. Of course, there were some who might find his attachment to an invisible woman a mark of madness in and of itself, but Gaius had come to see her as an entirely real entity. He didn't know who she was or what she was or why it was that she felt the need to show herself to him and only him -- but she was real. And even if she wasn't really real, she was real to him. And, in a strange sort of way that made no sense under the Gods or under God, she kept him grounded. Not that he still wasn't off the deep end, because he was, but he could have been much worse.

But many people would say that it was impossible for Gaius Baltar to be much worse. Within the short period of a year he'd gone from scientific savior to the fleet's most hated politician. And now? Now he was a Cylon lover. Which, to most humans, was even worse than being a crooked politician.

But he was only doing what she told him to. And why? Because she had been right in the past. Because she had saved his life on numerous occasions. Because she said that God had a plan for him, and he believed her.

"I see you've found something to entertain yourself with while I've been gone," Six whispered from behind his ear.

Gaius quickly turned about, staring at her with wide, worried, desperate eyes.

"Where have you been?"
( God doesn't pity the weak, Gaius. )

Zoe was considering. She was considering a great many things, and only one of which was the Batmule - it needed a better name. Alfred had even said as much. "Mule" was much too close to home, but until it got a new one, that's what she would call it. Another was the possibility of seeing Wash again; only, she knew it wouldn't be Wash, but some dream Wash, which while close to the real thing, when she woke up...he'd be gone. This line of thought brought her to something she wasn't sure she really should be considering, something or more someone: Jesse Custer.

He knew the truth, and he'd helped when she needed it. Yet, he was dangerous. Zoe knew his sort, and she really wasn't one to truck in it outside friendliness and that was it. She also had needs that no amount of batteries and dreaming could satisfy, no matter how good those dreams might be, and she'd had some doozies lately. The Amazon was in a bit of a fix.

Zoe had been avoiding Jesse for some time, or so it seemed. She didn't want him to feel as if anything had happened, and she didn't want to give in to that feeling she got when he held her as she slept. He saw a side of her she didn't let many see; at the moment she really hadn't had that much of a choice in the matter. But, not being one to shirk away from danger unless she knew it would really kill or hurt her which was becoming more a possibility with her latest choice in careers, she decided to face this danger head on. Nip whatever it was in the bud, if there was a bud to be nipped.

Jesse didn't answer the phone. Zoe didn't try to think of reasons why not. She just left a message.

"Jesse, it's Zoe. Wondered if you'd like a drink. There's a place on Fifth called 'Paradiso' - it's not bad. I'll be there around 7 pm. If you show, shiny. If not, works." It was noncommittal, and she didn't sound expectant or hopeful. She sounded like a Zoe leaving an invitation for getting a drink.

At 7 pm, she'd be found at the bar, a drink in front of her. She was in her more business like attire; it fitted her nicely and was professional all without taking away from her femininity.

Proginoskes was not a creature naturally prone to panicking, so when he couldn't find Jesse right away, he wasn't overly concerned. He was used to the City's strangeness, and had nearly none of the usual concerns that humanoid residents faced. He didn't need to eat, he didn't need a roof over his head, or to earn (or find) money, so there was no immediate need to search out a familiar face. Besides, he had a feeling Jesse wasn't out looking for him, either - his disappearance may have been a surprise when it happened, but there wasn't much of a point in Jesse waiting around for him to return.

So after his initial search, he'd settled into a rather more sedate routine, methodically exploring a different section of the City each day. He didn't go into any buildings and wasn't even visible most of the time (the City's odd nature he could deal with, but he had no desire to run damage control if his appearance caused a fuss, as it tended to), instead watching people intently and occassionally hovering outside of hotels and apartment buildings, calling Jesse's name a few times before moving on when he got no response.

By now, the time he'd spent floating around the City, observing its newest charges and checking for signs of Jesse's presence, probably seemed like a long time to be searching for a non-essential friend, but it was still nothing compared to the time he'd spent among the stars. And no matter how many days passed, there were always different places to explore, though Proginoskes was starting to suspect some of those places were simply old places rearranged. Still, as he paused in yet another neighborhood of similar-looking buildings, it didn't hurt to try.

He spun gently in the middle of the street, invisible but definitely audible as he kythed, Jesse? Are you here?

It was one of those nights. It had nothing to do with having missed patrol because she was helping out a certain "leprechaun;" no, it had everything to do with some recent modifications to her suit. It felt awkward. Or maybe it was that last hit from that jackass who thought he'd get a good one in before he went down. The Batman took a very hard hit, but the damn "man" didn't stay down. A good knock to the head and shoulder didn't mean the dark knight was out for the count.

With the burglars trussed up for the local PD, the Batman had left the scene to look for more criminals to apprehend. It was strange to fill her nights with this, to live a double life, but she was beginning to wonder who exactly she was living a double life with. Those she knew were either gone or busy, or she met at odd times - Sweeney was becoming a very strange recurring figure in her life story. No one knew her well enough to actually feel like she was hiding anything. Though, there were times she did want to tell someone. To share this news so that it wasn't such a burden, ( even if she wasn't having to actively keep a secret from anyone. )

The recent news cast was on his mind. Murder wasn't a new thing in the City. Strange murders weren't even particularly unusual. But something deep inside of him said that this was only beginning. It could have been because they'd both worked at the asylum. Somebody out there had a grudge. He couldn't exactly fault them for being angry. His time, he knew by instinct, had been long. He didn't have a lot of memories of it, however, for good or for bad. Between the scarf nullifying his powers and the drugs they'd then pumped into him he'd been pretty much guaranteed nothing more than foggy half formed ideas.

On top of that, he was still trying to figure out the fancy new device that had been given to him. He would have opted to stay with the old one, if he could have. It'd taken him forever to get used to it. He knew he didn't use it for everything it was capable of, either. But that had vanished shortly after getting the new one. It had literally just vanished within minutes of opening the box containing the shiny device. Why he'd gotten the new one after the personal ad hilarity was beyond him. Maybe the City had wanted him to see what it had done. Or maybe it had been going alphabetically backwards in it's handing out of the thing. Or maybe it gave the new one to the new residents first and then worked it's way to him. Probably though, it was just that he hadn't checked his mail in a really long time since getting out of Arkham.

The news cast had popped up on it without his bidding, then had gone away again. After that, he'd spent a really long time trying to figure the damned thing out. It was no use. What he really needed was to find somebody who knew about this kind of shit, have them walk him through it or something. It's what he'd had to do the last time, too. Kids and their newfangled crap.

Because of this, he ran into somebody. Actually bumped right into another body. It was enough to jar him out of his thoughts and look up.

"Sorry fella." He offered, automatically putting a hand on the guy's elbow to steady him.

There had been a lot to think about post-asylum. Not the least of which being the angel he'd released from the porno and set loose upon the City. He'd not heard of any terrible acts since that moment, but he still wondered. The angel had seemed to think that Jesse should be using his powers to do whatever the hell he wanted to do. Jesse did not share that sentiment. He really felt that responsibility was the right way to go with it.

Plus the whole idea of being the one who people came to with their problems, being the one they blamed for the situation they were in, just didn't fit into the things he was really gunning for.

He'd come to the park with an idea for peace. But the new gadget he'd been issued kept making noises at him. At first he'd tried to turn it off completely, when that didn't work, he tried to quiet it. Now he was just listening to the messages and grinning at himself.

Sounded like personal ad responses to him. Though he'd not put one in himself. Never quite saw the need to. Jesse could get himself laid pretty much any time he wanted to. But this? This was pretty funny. He had a feeling that the City itself was to blame for this. And that didn't surprise him one bit. The place seemed to try to be 'helpful' once in a while, stirring up massive trouble in the wake of the attempt. Sometimes, just sometimes, it could be downright hilarious. Which was what he thought of the current situation.

It was so fast that Jesse didn't even know what the fuck was happening to him as it happened. It was as if a giant angry wind had come along and whisked him away, though it was decidedly a lot more physical than wind, and quite a bit more painful than just a simple whisking.

He was sitting, talking with Didi, trying to figure out what it was that would make the scarf come off. The scarf that she had made so that he could be human for a while when he felt like it. The scarf he had created some kind of password for that kept it on him until he uttered the words to make it come off. The scarf that had allowed him to be so thoroughly drugged that he would have never figured out there was a password to the scarf by himself.

But Didi had helped him to think of it. The words turned out to be so simple that when he'd finally come up with them, he'd been a little bit ashamed of himself. The words off of his father's lighter, Fuck Communism. It should have really been the first thing he'd thought of. What other words would make sense? What else could there be that he didn't use in daily conversations but was close enough to his heart to be something he'd remember easily?

The lighter had dropped to the ground, and he'd bent to pick it up.

Then, chaos.

Four very large, very intimidating orderlies appeared around him. Jesse might have known how to fight a man like Jody pretty goddamned easily, but there were four of these guys. It didn't help matters that he was fairly sure they were all actually overgrown gorillas wearing white uniforms. The drugs were seeping quickly out of his system, but not quite fast enough for his liking. The thought of fighting back with extra abilities didn't occur to him right away. No, he'd just tried to kick and squirm free, which hadn't really amounted to much of anything at all. In fact, Jesse was pretty sure that with four pairs of hands on him, he hadn't moved an inch.

A pair on each arm, and each leg. They were literally carrying him bodily.

At first he was sure that he was going to be taken back to his room. They were going to try to get the scarf back on him and reissue those medications, only twice as strong. They weren't going to let him go back down to general population anymore, and they were going to find a way to make sure Didi couldn't visit him where they put him. He was able to glance back quickly, only once. She didn't seem very put out by what was happening to him. She sat there.

"Hey, darlin, you might wanna..." but he didn't get to finish his thought. They didn't turn toward the corridor with the elevators, they just kept going straight. Confused, Jesse relaxed in a way, more unsure than ever. His unwillingness to invade the thoughts of those around him proving to be a roadblock in his ability to figure out what was happening.

Past the nurses desk, then first gate into the intake area. Past all the doors where doctors kept their offices and out-patient services were rendered. Past the second gate and the front door guard's area. Right through the entry lobby to the front doors. And they didn't just stop. They burst through those doors and tossed Jesse in one clean motion as far as they could. Which happened to be quite a ways given that they were giants and there were four to do the lifting.

Jesse was reminded of falling from the plane as he sailed through the air, making his way to the only logical conclusion to this folly, the ground. He just barely managed to keep a hold on both scarf and lighter as he made impact and rolled. When he stopped, he was staring at the sky.

"Woulda been nice, had you let me put on real pants. Assholes." Of course, only now was his mind clear enough, his thoughts lucid enough, to realize he could have stopped the entire thing from happening. Deciding to embrace a gross display of power, instead of taking the waiting taxi, Jesse sent himself home. His condo in the Manchester. He also decided to dress himself and arrange for a pack of cigarettes. He figured why not, he didn't do it usually, these sorts of things, and he was really very pissed off.

With the lighter that had simultaneously broken the hold of the scarf and gotten him thrown on his ass, he lit up the first smoke of freedom. He had no idea how long he'd been in Arkham, but looking around his place, it looked just the same as when he'd left it. No changes at all.

Well. Except one.

There was a porn video that he had distinctly not had before sitting on the coffee table. Jesse picked it up and lifted his brows. "Casa Erotica? What the fuckin hell kinda name for a porn is that?" Wasn't something he normally went for, porn. He felt like he could have the real experiences easy enough, he didn't need to rely on watching other people do it. But for the hell of it, Jesse put it in the player and sat on the couch. It was in his place, it might as well get watched. He turned the television using the remote and sat back.

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?"

He was wearing a scarf.

It was a scarf that he'd been wearing the whole time he'd been here. It seemed wrong. He was pretty sure that he wasn't a scarf kind of guy. But he couldn't really recall much. His world was hazy in his memory. There were some really big things that kept popping into his brain, but he wasn't sure about them.

He kept thinking that he was God. But he had no abilities. No powers. But he was so sure that there had been something like that in his life. That he'd been able to do things and help people. He had this very watery memory of some hideously shaped thing, that he was the hideously shaped thing as well as it being an entity in and of itself. When he mumbled these thoughts at the nurses and doctors, they only smiled at him. The kind of smile that made him feel like a child. Like they were humoring him. It made him angry, but he couldn't really get angry enough to do or say anything about it. It was a strange, passing sort of anger.

And the goddamned scarf. Most of the time, he just sort of ignored it. It was plain black. It was soft. It hung around his neck in a single loop, both tails over his chest. It wasn't a particularly significant scarf, he didn't think. But when he tried to take it off, he couldn't. It just wouldn't come off. Sometimes as he was doing it, he forgot what he was doing. Other times, he would tug and tug and tug and nothing would get it to loosen. The only time this was really annoying was when he went to shower. The orderlies never said anything about it, that he seemed to want to never take this scarf off, but he had a feeling it wasn't normal to do that. To shower in a scarf.

He'd heard them once, actually, when they thought he wasn't near, they'd said "The guy thinks he's God and won't take that scarf off even when he showers. Why do you think he's in here?"

Jesse was allowed to wander around with the others now. Before he hadn't been. He couldn't be sure what changed, but he was glad to be out of the room, glad to be out of the restraints. He remembered those. He remembered how aggravating it was and how helpless he'd felt. They were gone now. Nobody put them on him anymore, even when he was in his room.

Right now he was on his way to the commons. They had a television in there. It was more often than not on a channel that played a lot of cartoons. He liked that. He liked when the lady came around with the snack cart, too, and he got to have crackers and juice. Or sometimes, every once in a while, cookies and milk. Those were really good days.

How many days had passed?

Jesse and Elle had ended up back at his apartment, in bed. He'd known that they would. They way that the Cupid thing seemed to infect people led to instant love. Not just lust. Lust was different. Lust, people could control better. Logic could still seep through. But love, you wanted to give yourself over completely.

Mere hours after they'd arrived, spent some time together, the feeling had worn off. There was no longer that love there. But it didn't mean that Jesse had any intention of kicking Elle out. She was pretty, she was sassy. She was a strong woman. And as long as she was into it, it was absolutely no issue for Jesse to continue either.

She was a female, he was a male.

Made all the sense in the world to him.

Of course, he was waiting for her to realize that they weren't in love with each other anymore. He stood in the kitchen, wearing only pants, making coffee. Sooner or later, since she was alone and not being ravaged again and again to keep her mind off of it, her mind was going to get to wandering, and she was going to figure it out.

What would she say then? How would she take it? Blame him? Be embarrassed? Hate herself, hate him, hate them both? Claim she'd wanted no part of it? Of course all the bad things went through his head. He was a preacher. It had been taught into him to think that the world was a dismal place filled with vile things.

Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.