Workhorse (part 1)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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Workhorse
20th September 2012
17:11 GMT
Jade's eyes open very narrowly as I enter our bedroom.
"You missed your own birthday."
"Yes, yes I did." I take off my ring and lay it on the dressing table, followed by Larfleeze's ring and there's the consequence of three days without sleep. "Probably worth it."
Jade sits up slightly, her eyes opening fully. "What was it?"
"Ah… Parallel Earth corrupted by demon magic. They were attacking Nazi Earth and our Light were attacking them." I take off my jacket and put it on a force field hanger. "Their civilisation was wrecked. I spent most of my time making sure that they could get food into the cities."
"I thought you were taking a holiday."
"No, I'm just not-." I unbuckle my trousers and lower them enough to step out with my right leg. "Not working for the Corps at the moment. The work never ends." Left leg out, and-. Force field hangers are really great, actually.
"So it's not just the Reach."
"Hm?"
"It's not just the Reach." She actually sits up in bed, duvet held loosely against her chest. "If we waited until after the Reach were defeated, would you still disappear for days without warning?"
"Yes, but not very often."
Undershirt… How does this need cleaning already? My environmental shield should-. Ugh, laundry pile for tomorrow.
"If I'm trouble shooting the whole war I can be called away at any moment. There's literally no fight going on that wouldn't be going better if I was there. Dox doesn't call me in like that because we need to get L.E.G.I.O.N. blooded."
"And because he hates depending on you."
"Or looking like he's depending on me. But that's going to change. And Earth has the Justice League."
"So why did they send you?"
"They didn't. I was just there." I pull down my pants, right leg out then left leg out, and toss it into the laundry pile before sitting down on the edge of the bed to remove my socks. "And it was a Truggs thing."
"So is he officially your nemesis?"
"I would rather avoid calling him that."
She moves through the bed so that she can lean against my back, arms wrapping around my sides. I lean my head to the left, resting the side of my head against her forehead.
"That didn't sound like a 'no'."
"Come on, Jade. What did you use to think of people who fixated on relationships with people they hate?"
"I thought they were stupid. But I thought the same thing about people who did the things you do without getting paid, and my nemesis was probably my father."
"Okay, but how much of what you did day to day was about him?"
"I joined the Shadows to get away from him."
"Yes, but once you did that. Were you..? Picturing him every time you-?"
"No. But I always assumed that I'd kill him eventually."
"Do you want to?"
"No. He doesn't matter anymore."
"Have you got a new nemesis I should know about?"
"Why? Worried they're going to kidnap you and tie you to a railway track?"
"It's a classic." I twist around so that I can face her. "Truggs and I sometimes end up in the same place because we want to do the same things. Someone like… Jack Napier's just crazy, a Smilex overdose making him experience everything as the best joke he's ever heard. The only way to fix him would involve rewiring his brain. Truggs is just-. So close to doing something useful with his life. You know?"
She looks at me askance. "Should I be jealous?"
"Are you jealous of Leonard Snart? Or-."
"The others are all in prison."
"Alright, I'll admit to a greater degree of personal frustration with Truggs than the others, even at their most stubborn." I lean my head closer, so that our noses are almost touching. "But you have absolutely no need to be jealous. Though… There was something Kara said…"
"Was this when she was exposed to black kryptonite and trying to rape you?"
"Yes. So I'm not-. She wasn't in her right mind, but she did make-. She did say something…"
"Are you going to get broken up about what a crazy person said?"
"If they make sense, I.. do need to follow it up."
She pulls back slightly. "Fine. What did she say?"
"So… You… Joined the Darkstars because we were looking for ways for you to productively use your abilities. I didn't-. It didn't occur to me to… Ask if you want to do something else completely."
"No."
"Okay, but, so you think it… Might have been advantageous if you did? I mean… Was there any point in your life when you wanted to be something else?"
She looks thoughtful, and I avoid looking deeper. I don't want to 'cheat' on whether she's working out how to handle my question or whether she's genuinely trying to answer me.
"I wanted to just… Disappear."
"Disappear?"
"Just… Fade away. Why did you think I called myself 'Cheshire'?"
"I didn't really think about it." I shrug. "People in our profession pick all sorts of names for themselves."
"I just wanted to be able to appear, and… Say something confusing or pretentious, then disappear again. To just… Do my own thing without being tied down."
"Huh. I… Hope you don't mind being tied down a little bit?"
She raises her eyebrows. "Is that what you wanted for your birthday?"
Heh.
"Jade, you're never not appealing, but I'm knackered right now." She chuckles, pressing her forehead against mine. "I meant… With me."
"That's… Fine, but-"
"'Fine'?"
"-we-." She smiles, kissing me lightly on the lips. "Fine. But I am owed leave. If you think you could go that long without working."
"How long do you have?"
"A month."
"A month?"
"You wanted to spend more time together."
"A month without working?"
She tilts her head to the left.
"Do you think you can?"
…
Do I?
"I honestly don't know, but for you, I'm happy to try."
20th September 2012
17:11 GMT
Jade's eyes open very narrowly as I enter our bedroom.
"You missed your own birthday."
"Yes, yes I did." I take off my ring and lay it on the dressing table, followed by Larfleeze's ring and there's the consequence of three days without sleep. "Probably worth it."
Jade sits up slightly, her eyes opening fully. "What was it?"
"Ah… Parallel Earth corrupted by demon magic. They were attacking Nazi Earth and our Light were attacking them." I take off my jacket and put it on a force field hanger. "Their civilisation was wrecked. I spent most of my time making sure that they could get food into the cities."
"I thought you were taking a holiday."
"No, I'm just not-." I unbuckle my trousers and lower them enough to step out with my right leg. "Not working for the Corps at the moment. The work never ends." Left leg out, and-. Force field hangers are really great, actually.
"So it's not just the Reach."
"Hm?"
"It's not just the Reach." She actually sits up in bed, duvet held loosely against her chest. "If we waited until after the Reach were defeated, would you still disappear for days without warning?"
"Yes, but not very often."
Undershirt… How does this need cleaning already? My environmental shield should-. Ugh, laundry pile for tomorrow.
"If I'm trouble shooting the whole war I can be called away at any moment. There's literally no fight going on that wouldn't be going better if I was there. Dox doesn't call me in like that because we need to get L.E.G.I.O.N. blooded."
"And because he hates depending on you."
"Or looking like he's depending on me. But that's going to change. And Earth has the Justice League."
"So why did they send you?"
"They didn't. I was just there." I pull down my pants, right leg out then left leg out, and toss it into the laundry pile before sitting down on the edge of the bed to remove my socks. "And it was a Truggs thing."
"So is he officially your nemesis?"
"I would rather avoid calling him that."
She moves through the bed so that she can lean against my back, arms wrapping around my sides. I lean my head to the left, resting the side of my head against her forehead.
"That didn't sound like a 'no'."
"Come on, Jade. What did you use to think of people who fixated on relationships with people they hate?"
"I thought they were stupid. But I thought the same thing about people who did the things you do without getting paid, and my nemesis was probably my father."
"Okay, but how much of what you did day to day was about him?"
"I joined the Shadows to get away from him."
"Yes, but once you did that. Were you..? Picturing him every time you-?"
"No. But I always assumed that I'd kill him eventually."
"Do you want to?"
"No. He doesn't matter anymore."
"Have you got a new nemesis I should know about?"
"Why? Worried they're going to kidnap you and tie you to a railway track?"
"It's a classic." I twist around so that I can face her. "Truggs and I sometimes end up in the same place because we want to do the same things. Someone like… Jack Napier's just crazy, a Smilex overdose making him experience everything as the best joke he's ever heard. The only way to fix him would involve rewiring his brain. Truggs is just-. So close to doing something useful with his life. You know?"
She looks at me askance. "Should I be jealous?"
"Are you jealous of Leonard Snart? Or-."
"The others are all in prison."
"Alright, I'll admit to a greater degree of personal frustration with Truggs than the others, even at their most stubborn." I lean my head closer, so that our noses are almost touching. "But you have absolutely no need to be jealous. Though… There was something Kara said…"
"Was this when she was exposed to black kryptonite and trying to rape you?"
"Yes. So I'm not-. She wasn't in her right mind, but she did make-. She did say something…"
"Are you going to get broken up about what a crazy person said?"
"If they make sense, I.. do need to follow it up."
She pulls back slightly. "Fine. What did she say?"
"So… You… Joined the Darkstars because we were looking for ways for you to productively use your abilities. I didn't-. It didn't occur to me to… Ask if you want to do something else completely."
"No."
"Okay, but, so you think it… Might have been advantageous if you did? I mean… Was there any point in your life when you wanted to be something else?"
She looks thoughtful, and I avoid looking deeper. I don't want to 'cheat' on whether she's working out how to handle my question or whether she's genuinely trying to answer me.
"I wanted to just… Disappear."
"Disappear?"
"Just… Fade away. Why did you think I called myself 'Cheshire'?"
"I didn't really think about it." I shrug. "People in our profession pick all sorts of names for themselves."
"I just wanted to be able to appear, and… Say something confusing or pretentious, then disappear again. To just… Do my own thing without being tied down."
"Huh. I… Hope you don't mind being tied down a little bit?"
She raises her eyebrows. "Is that what you wanted for your birthday?"
Heh.
"Jade, you're never not appealing, but I'm knackered right now." She chuckles, pressing her forehead against mine. "I meant… With me."
"That's… Fine, but-"
"'Fine'?"
"-we-." She smiles, kissing me lightly on the lips. "Fine. But I am owed leave. If you think you could go that long without working."
"How long do you have?"
"A month."
"A month?"
"You wanted to spend more time together."
"A month without working?"
She tilts her head to the left.
"Do you think you can?"
…
Do I?
"I honestly don't know, but for you, I'm happy to try."
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