The shotgun sings the song (Ch. 6: Day 3b)

Mie · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:20 am

Jam made herself at home in record time; her posture was already hideous enough to warrant sitting up when Caz so hastily made her departure. The monkey frowned, but didn't try to stop her. In fact, she only spoke once she was reasonably certain Ace's squeeze had shuffled awkwardly out of earshot.

"Caruso?"

psikeout · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:05 pm

Rock leaned his back against a round, metal support, and rested the one of his feet back on its surface. The way he stared into space as Ace spoke rendered him either unaffected or thoughtful, though it was hard to tell which. He left the air silent well after Ace finished speaking. It took at least five seconds or more for him to finally say anything.

"I don't even know how to answer you," he eventually muttered. "You act like you're guilty, like you've got somethin' to prove... Why's it even matter now?" He paused; he looked very squarely at the cat. "Things aren't bad here, Ace. I don't need you to help fix anything anymore. I've got everything I need — everybody I need."

He stepped free of the pillar and stood in the walking path, hands on his sides.

"I don't know what you think signing up for another big war is gonna do for you, or your soul, or whatever." Rock took a couple slow steps toward Ace, and quieted his voice. "Personally? I think you 'n Caz could sort it all out on a nice island somewhere. Get a few thousand miles away from here. Get some new names, a little loft in the city..."

He stopped just a couple feet away.

"We control the banks. If I send you two off, you'll never have to work again if you don't want to."

Greens · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 6:58 pm

It was... an impressively flattering offer, considering the relationship the two of them had. Here he was, being offered a life-long vacation for two without even losing a dollar for the lottery ticket, by the one man he'd butted heads with so many times he couldn't even remember how long it had been since they started. In Ace's mind, it wasn't a question of whether or not he deserved it-- there was no question he didn't. But all self-pity aside, he had to stop and think. Would that be best for him? And if not for him, for Caz? She alone had been through so much already; who was he to speak for her? His guardian angel instinct reared its ugly head once more.

Ace's eyes fell to the floor again, somehow unable to concentrate while connected to Rock's. So many thoughts, ideas and ideals, motives behind them and explanations for their rationale-- it would be almost impossible to sift through them all in ten years, let alone in less than a minute, leaning on the railing of a ship that belonged to another individual that had tried to kill him at least twice.

But, he gave it his best shot.

"That's a damn tempting offer, Rock...," he admitted in a low, almost scratchy mumble. And then came the inevitable 'But'. "But..." (There it was,) "I've tried running from my problems before. An' every time, they find a way to catch up with me more pissed off than before."

A flurry of images flashed through his mind; a very particular jackal he'd encountered among them. The serval shook his head again, and again found the means to look the pale-furred primate in his history-filled eyes.

"No. No, there's no gettin' offa this train we're on. Things aren't bad right now, but they're gonna be. An' if I stand on the sidelines, all I'm doing is lettin' the other guys take a free shot. That ain't about to happen." Strangely, with that grim image in mind, Ace found it in himself to smile-- and not even the insincere, self-defense mechanism kind-- a smile of confidence. Almost like he knew what he was doing.

"You gotta do better than a lifetime in paradise to get rid a' me, bro."

Rusty · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:10 pm

The inspection of the weapon ceased when Caz's footsteps signaled her exit. Green was content to stand in place for a time, attention roving away toward nothing in particular it seemed, though he continued to stare at it. Then he was addressed as a moniker he hadn't heard in a long time, not even since he had come back into the acquaintance of some of the only friends he'd ever had.

He looked over a metal-plated shoulder, his eyes finding hers with an almost withering silence, before turning back to the weapon. He replaced it into its original position along the wall.

"Before you and Rock returned, I was content to venture in relative solitude, paying minimal attention to all the misfortunes of this... demanding planet. I suppose that, during that time, certain emotions decayed--how it felt to have the world on the verge of tumbling from your fingertips, how it felt to be responsible for the well-being of others..." An instant's delay. "How it felt to know people I would have given anything to murder."

He cupped his hands at the small of his back, pausing briefly. With another turn he faced her.

"I beg your pardon. I'm still getting accustomed to having placed myself once again in the midst of a rather... important pursuit. Being suddenly responsible again for the security of an innocent guest or two has a peculiar effect."

psikeout · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:16 pm

Maybe Rock thought that was a test Ace would fail. Maybe he thought that the two-tickets-to-paradise approach was the way to permanently get Ace out of his hair and save Caz any further turmoil. Was Rock glad? Disappointed? When Rock was expressing himself, he could be pretty clear, but when he was reading others, using that piercing, bicolor stare to examine, search, and read, all outward indication of his own thoughts or intents were just off. Gone.

"You really wanna fight for this," he said bluntly, rhetorically. "It sounds nice. Idealistic." He very nearly spat that word. "I'm not sure you know what you're really sayin', though."

When had he moved closer? It was an uncomfortable kind of proximity Rock suddenly stood at, the sort that let a guy like him read every breath, blink, eye twitch, and facial pull. The way he spoke was suddenly almost kind of rapid-fire—controlled, but harsh, and swift.

"You think you're buildin' back some kind of bridge? You tie your name to mine now, and there's no way back."

"You think you've got people after you now? It'll get worse."

"I went this route because I felt like I had to, because nobody else could or would. You couldn't, you didn't. And you can't just show up and decide to now."

That lack of emotion from before had failed. There was irritation, indignation at Ace's suggestion, even. But the primate relented a moment; stepped back; tilted his head back, looked out the bottoms of his eyes, drew a breath. The intensity did not wane, but simply became restrained once more, tucked away behind some mental barricade.

"I'm glad I did this now, though. It gives me a lot of leverage to do things I never could have before. It's a lot of power to have. But don't fool yourself. You won't get to be me, to be like me, if you do this—if I even agree to this in the first place. You won't get some kind of power from this, or some sort of sway over what I do."

His voice rasped quieter yet. In what was probably the gravest, wide-eyed threat Rock had ever made to Ace in a pretty long history of Rock-threatening-Ace, the stark white one said:

"And, god help you, if you cast your lot in with mine now, then decide you're gonna have another... 'change of heart' somewhere down the road, it will be your last."

Mie · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:28 pm

Jam sat in rapt wordlessness, listening. The caped general held her visual, mental, and aural attention for the entirety of his explanation, yet she was quick to fill the silence in the wake of his apology.

"You say that," she said, rising from her seat, and crossing to stand in front of him; her head slowly swiveled back and forth as she fixed him with a searching, discerning stare.

"But I don't see it."

There was a smile, brief, but full of warmth and fondness, and sincerity above all else.

"It was actually kind of comforting how things just... continued where they left off. Reliable, you know? Predictable. It's like, yeah, you left, and... and, I can't even really talk about the nuts and bolts of the interim, but here we are, and you're still you, and we're still us, and... "

She broke off abruptly, shaking her head, and literally shrugging out of her lapse into... whatever it had been with a brusque clearing of her throat.

"Anyway," continued the monkey, much more business-like. "I wouldn't go so far as saying 'innocent.' You know how high up on my s**t list Ace is right now, but some horrible part of me that I'd really like to have surgically removed knew I'd feel bad if anything'd happened to him because I left 'im when I coulda helped."

With a sigh, she digressed.

"And Caz? Hell. Caz hasn't done anything to me in this life yet, and God knows she's had plenty of opportunities. She's been pretty much Rock and I's only breathing supporter that ain't biologically obligated to say everything we do is great. I know it's hard to buy, but spend five minutes with her, and you'll see: She's got no fangs now."

Rusty · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:10 pm

The robot's hands slowly returned to his side as Jam took her place in front of him. He had never been particularly chatty when in such a momentary spot of subtle moodiness as he was at that moment, but when she began speaking, and she flashed the familiar smile of genuine warmth she bestowed only on the chosen ones, his attention seemed to sharpen significantly.

As she continued on how things seemed to be as they'd always been, his focus didn't waver. But then, he began to avert his gaze, and fidgeted once--twice. They were very understated movements and one would probably have to look carefully to notice them, but one who knew him well would be able to ascertain that, as she spoke to him, something was making him vaguely--or perhaps, somewhere deep inside the chasms of General Green, very--uncomfortable.

In any case, that lasted an instant or two as the business tone in her took over and he again placed his hands on his hips, waiting until she was finished. "I'm aware things are... different in many ways. I'm just..."

He turned partially, extending his gaze toward where Caz had exited.

"... I'm not used to her being different," he finished, looking again to his friend. "I lost good men because of her. And I..." His gaze turned down and away, making him almost seem ashamed. "... suppose I never quelled or came to terms with how I felt when it came to how badly I wanted to--"

The anger had been seeping into his tone before he'd stopped himself. "That's all in the past, yes, but now that I'm once again playing a real-life version of Control & Conquer, I'm recalling everything that made the past not entirely fun." He exhibited what sounded like a sigh. "If you say she's good, and Rock doesn't have a problem with her, then she's good. I won't do anything bad, I promise. Not making any promises when it comes to the homeless alley cat guy, though."

Greens · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:41 pm

There was either a long or short period wherein Ace was completely silent-- most of it being spent listening to what Rock had to say, channeling his military origins. But by the end of it, he almost seemed to be stifling back a soft patch of laughter. Was he just that relieved? Was it something in the way Rock said it? Did he have spinach in his teeth?

"It's-- sorry, heh," he apologized, at first bringing a hand up to cover his mouth for politeness' sake, but then apparently to rub his nose in thought. "It's just kinda funny-- I didn't even think of getting any of your Chimera power from this. T'be honest, I don't even think I'd know what to do with it."

"Look, I mean-- I don't like to kid myself. I know who I am, I don't lead any faction. I'm just a guy. Just a force with no direction. A self-righteous pain in the ass. But, I think if I'm just aimed right... I can do some real good."

"...I trust you with me, Rock," he said finally. If it seemed at all possible, he stepped in even closer to the primate, with an open hand primed for the shaking. "Do you?"

Mie · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:00 pm

The punch-hued primate didn't rush to fill the void of sound this time; she stared. Perhaps not as unnervingly as her whiter counterpart, but one could almost see her eyes prying, grasping at something they'd never be able to get at. Her mouth scrunched off to the side, but she read like an open book when she realized that this was not a victory she'd claim. Not today, anyway.

"Wouldn't ask for that," she sniffed, perhaps a little insensitively. "Honestly, no matter how he thinks he can make it up, he doesn' deserve it. I'm not worried about you and Caz, either. I know you won't do anything. I just..."

Hesitating, anxiety crumpled her brows as she continued to watch the general, a pensive frown slowly emerging from her pursed lips.

"I hope you can not feel betrayed. I can't know what she put you through. Sure, I lost a lot on account of her, too, but not like you. There was no sense of duty, or responsibility, or obligation in play..." Jam drew in a heavy breath through her nose, at last breaking eye contact in favor of something that couldn't be disappointed. It was an ottoman.

"I never meant to put this on you, and I'm sorry I did... But, for what it's worth? I doubt she even knows."

psikeout · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:36 pm

Rock withdrew one step and donned tight-lipped, full-face frown at Ace's laughter. He looked ready to swat him one. When it subsided, though, and the explanation was out, and this hand jutting out, offering itself to him, though, he just... deflated.

"I'll think about it," he muttered and looked aside, none too impressed. He left Ace's would-be handshake coldly hanging. "You still gotta get off my boat, though, unless you wanna stay in the general's taxidermy gallery," he added very nearly grimly.

"Forever."

Rusty · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:46 pm

"She hasn't spouted off superficial psycho-rants yet, so that's a good sign. Let's hope it stays that way." Green's head shook slowly. "But I don't feel betrayed. And even if I did, I'd know it to by no means be the intention. I at least carry enough of my senses yet to know that. This might not be entirely simple or easy, especially with... old friends popping in, but you nor Rock put me through nothing I would not readily accept."

The end of that statement culminated in another short silence, until Green, in what seemed to be an exceedingly difficult motion for him to make (such was the fate of one so thoroughly unaccustomed to gestures of amity), placed a hand on Jam's shoulder. For as heavy as he was, he allowed just enough weight for it to rest comfortably.

"I stand here," he said, refined accent taking on a quiet voice, "of my own volition."

As fast as it had arrived, the hand departed, returning to his side. His gaze left her again, finding something else to hold his attention.

"Not that being in command of a big ship that has lots of guns and bombs has anything to do with it, mind you."

Mie · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:09 pm

Despite how easy it could have been to trivialize so small a gesture, Jam didn't -- couldn't take it for granted, knowing how free-flowing Green tended to be with the touchy-feelies both literal and figurative. Her shoulders sank; not from the carefully dispersed weight of weary warrior's hand, but from the ebb of tension his assurance brought her, and though he couldn't literally or physically do it, she returned his smile, looking dangerously close to one of those pesky hugging fits the old war monger tended to evoke from her (surely much to the alarm/amusement of his troops).

She refrained, however, and laughed, shaking her head appreciatively as she set her knuckles against her back, flanking her spine.

"'Course not," she agreed. "We both know you're just here for the food."

Rusty · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:59 pm

"Ugh," Green half-said, half-sighed, slow, almost lazy footsteps carrying him toward nowhere in particular. "Don't even mention food to me right now. This morning I had the strangest draw to tacos. Not that I was hungry, obviously, I just felt like I had to have them. Very frustrating, I assure you. Oh, and whoever put the slushee machine in the rec room on level B is a sniveling cur that I will turn into a large bloodstain someday."

Something seemed to occur to him around then, as he stopped inexplicably and faced her. "Speaking of rec," he continued, "I'd presume you're rather winded from your excursion into rock and roll greatness and the trip back. I apologize for keeping you." He drummed a hand's fingers along his side, considering something. "And for apologizing too much."

Mie · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:54 pm

A very poorly stifled grin that was otherwise so extreme, it was on the verge of frowning, retreated in between Jam's teeth as she gave ear to the General's rant in silence. There was a... definite liveliness to her glittering eyes that few if any had seen there for a long time. She could only hope her entertainment wouldn't come across as disparaging, but before she could venture too far down that mental road, he, himself apologized, and excused her to go and partake of the couches, slushee machines, and other organic amenities the Sky Queen had to offer.

The monkey closed the gap, again vainly scrutinizing the world's most perfect poker face. Her brows flattened severely over leering eyes, and lips that seemed intent on escaping their facial mount by clandestinely scooting off the side. She evaluated him like that in a beat or two of silent consideration before she at last answered;

"Just don' make a habit of it."

She smirked, and slugged the CT once rather solidly in the shoulder; her composure was quite admirable, considering the amazing dearth of thought put into the action. The only indication she gave that she'd possibly just shattered her knuckles was a blip of an expression appropriate for a toilet just before emptying one's stomach into it. She shook it off, though, and soldiered on after a single arid gulp.

"You're seriously one of two people on this planet's not utterly exhausting t'be around. Don't muck it up with unnecessary apologies."

"I'mma... go..." she said stiffly, backing towards the door. "Y'know, find some ice-- I mean, Caz. I should... go find... Caz."

She grinned feebly, waved, and slipped out...

"SON OF A B***H."

Greens · Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:48 pm

There was a brief pause as Ace considered what Rock said.

"... Yo that's kinda gross, if that's an actual thing he's got," he surmised poignantly.

Aaaand Jam wouldn't have to go terribly far to find the furry-footed burrower of the bunch; it turned out she didn't get very far from the bridge after all. A pair of headphones were strapped around her head, flattening her floppy ears to her temple as she sat on a bench looking particularly lost in thought. Thought about what, one couldn't be sure, but when Jam entered the hall, the lightning quick glance to-and-from her Caz gave a strange impression. As if she didn't want Jam to know she saw her.

Once they got within a certain proximity though, it was hard to ignore-- that, and her flagrant swearing. "Oh," she said, more to herself than anyone else. She plucked off one side, and poof went out her ear. "Uh, hey there..."

---

"So, once you dump us off, how are we gonna keep in touch? You gotta cell phone, or a secret pager or something?"

"...Instant messenger...?"

The shotgun sings the song (Ch. 6: Day 3b)

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