![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
day 0 | jack
[ okay, there's only so much sulking around, covered in blood and dirt and your own tears you can do before maaaybe, probably, going to go take a shower. it's late by the time rhys arrives to the bathrooms -- the place being pretty much empty at first glance. he's glad because he's pushing the curfew boundaries here and he really just wants to take a moment to think.
there's a thought that's been tugging at the back of his head since he first arrived. an agreement he might have made that he can't seem to remember the particulars of and he's been too freaked out to really sit and think about it, try and figure out what's bugging him so much about this. he kind of wants to ask judy about it but he's still a little frosty on her and isn't quite so keen on the idea of engaging again just yet -- plus, what if someone happens to read his conversation? he can't risk that.
so, he needs some peace and quiet to really think -- clear his thoughts and figure out what's bugging him so badly. it can't be the jack thing, he thinks, he's been over it for long enough and he told the jack here to leave him alone so... so, he should be fine, right? right.
when rhys gets to the bathroom, he's holding a towel and a bar of soap in one hand and a pair of asymmetrical pajama bottoms and an old hyperion sweater of his in the other. he's pretty relieved to have his normal pajamas here, at least. it's a small comfort for the strange circumstances. he's frowning to himself, thoughts swirling when he hears a noise, looks up, and --
oh, it's jack. ]
Aren't you supposed to be in your room? It's almost curfew.
there's a thought that's been tugging at the back of his head since he first arrived. an agreement he might have made that he can't seem to remember the particulars of and he's been too freaked out to really sit and think about it, try and figure out what's bugging him so much about this. he kind of wants to ask judy about it but he's still a little frosty on her and isn't quite so keen on the idea of engaging again just yet -- plus, what if someone happens to read his conversation? he can't risk that.
so, he needs some peace and quiet to really think -- clear his thoughts and figure out what's bugging him so badly. it can't be the jack thing, he thinks, he's been over it for long enough and he told the jack here to leave him alone so... so, he should be fine, right? right.
when rhys gets to the bathroom, he's holding a towel and a bar of soap in one hand and a pair of asymmetrical pajama bottoms and an old hyperion sweater of his in the other. he's pretty relieved to have his normal pajamas here, at least. it's a small comfort for the strange circumstances. he's frowning to himself, thoughts swirling when he hears a noise, looks up, and --
oh, it's jack. ]
Aren't you supposed to be in your room? It's almost curfew.
no subject
shit, rhys still doesn't know how to fight.
he's going to take that punch because he doesn't really know how to dodge it and they're still standing in the middle of the shower stalls, half naked and now covered in a bit of blood. it's not... ideal, but it's where he's at and rhys has to take a moment to think. unfortunately, he doesn't really have a moment to think so all he's going to do is work on instinct, even while his eyes fill up with tears. of course he's going to cry, what the fuck did you expect. ]
I am not insane! I did what I had to do so I could -- so I could get away from you. You were trying to kill me. Jack! Why don't you remember?!
[ and it hurts to talk actually because jack's fist caught him on his mouth and his lip is cut and his mouth is filling up with blood so he has to spit it out, teeth staining red. fuck, this got out of hand so quickly. he just wanted to take a shower! he's trying to get jack off his case now and he pulls back with his robot hand to bring it down hard across jack's face in a, uh, slap. look, he really doesn't know how to fight.
he hopes the metal meeting skin thing works to stun jack enough so he can lunge at him, hands going for his throat. there's an odd sort of symmetry in attempting to strangle jack, he thinks. payback for all the times jack's tried to strangle him. he's glad his robot hand is working with him for a moment here because damn, it'd be embarrassing if it just gave out on him again now. he's still not sure what's causing it to malfunction so much, honestly.
he spits again, wad of blood hitting the floor and hisses at jack through bloody teeth. as he talks, his eyes spill over with tears. ]
You have to remember. I don't know what happened to you but you have to remember otherwise this just -- this just makes me crazy. And I'm not crazy, okay? I know what happened. I saw it with my own eyes and we were -- we were partners and you betrayed me and then I had to kill everyone because you were going to kill me! I don't want to die, Jack. Why would you try to kill me? What did I do wrong? We were supposed to be together and you betrayed me.
[ well, when you put it like that, the strangling/crying combination might actually make a bit of sense, rhys. ]
no subject
[ Jack starts to interrupt to yell back at Rhys, but the slap does catch him on the face, though Jack does try to jerk back to avoid it. He's just unfortunately not very successful in doing so, since he's still very new to this whole fight for your life thing. Jack is just about ready to throw another punch, since the more this guy talks, the more Jack just wants to kick his ass. However, that slap is just enough to give Rhys the slight beat he needs for his hands to wrap around Jack's throat instead. His own hands are quick to grab Rhys's wrists to try and pry them off.
He recognizes this feeling, and there's something troubling about that. It's a brief stab of fear, but the way it's so quickly replaced by excitement is alarming. He'd felt the same way when that stupid asshole Huxter had shot at his back. Hell, if this had come first? Maybe he'd just admit he has a Thing for getting strangled. But thankfully it's not exactly that kind of thrill. Rhys's hands, especially the mechanical one, are tight on his throat, but Jack still laughs as he wheezes out: ]
A- A slap, really? That's--
[ Even when getting strangled, he's still running his mouth, but it's cut off quickly. One, it's really friggin' hard to talk, but two, this is too much. He was right that this guy knows him, but the way he's describing this doesn't make any sense. Partners? Or-- Wait, what kind of partners did he mean here? Like, granted, he might swing towards dick sometimes, but not in a long time, one, and two, he's pretty damn sure he'd remember it. His grip on Rhys's wrists tighten as Rhys's eyes spill over, and Jack's expression gets more uncomfortable and alarmed. God, is this some kind of Nakayaka situation? ]
I have- Listen, level with me here, Christ!
[ Okay, prying at his arms is not working, so Jack instead tries to kick at Rhys's knees to get him to stumble and falter. Granted, talking to crazy people is usually a super bad idea, but... He can handle the Nakayata guy. He's learned to deal with that. So he just has to deal with... Whatever the hell this is, because it's not going to go away if Rhys is crying about it. ]
no subject
okay, no. wait. he can't kill jack. fuck. he can't kill him, not like this, not when he knows what's going on and knows how jack -- how jack feels about him.
with a frustrated noise, he lets go of his throat and shoves jack away, walking off a little just to put some space between them. one hand goes to his waist while the other runs through his hair as he shakes himself off, tense and sticky with blood, and feeling sick to his stomach. he realizes then that he still hasn't eaten anything since he got here and with everything that happened tonight, that's going to catch up to him soon. fuck, fuck, fuck. ]
What do you want? I gotta, I gotta get you out of my head. I thought this was over but it's never over with you, is it? Fuck.
[ he rubs at his eyes with the heel of both hands, flinging himself to the wall and sliding down to the ground in one full swoop. he knows now that he definitely seems unhinged and maybe -- maybe he is but he's going to take a moment to press his forehead to his knees and shiver. he doesn't even know where to go from here, his mind is mush and jack wants to talk which is so... so dissonant from what rhys knows of jack that it just makes him more upset. he feels his breath hitch and he lets out a quiet little sob against his pants, hugging his knees closer to his chest.
he does say one last thing too, muffled against his clothes and tears and probably just even more weird on top of everything else. ]
... I missed you so much, Jack.
no subject
Jack shakes his head to dismiss that thought, though he reaches up to drag his wrist under his nose to try and mop up some of that blood. He sniffs, though it comes with a murmured fuck because it does hurt more than a little. He wanders over to grab his towel as Rhys starts to... Either gather himself or break down. It's kind of both, so far as Jack can tell. He balls his towel up and sticks it under his nose to catch the blood, though it does make his voice muffled as he speaks. ]
Ohhhhh my god.
[ First thing's first, since he can't help expressing his disbelief here. That disbelief is almost grounding in a way, because the more incredulous he is at this guy's reaction, the more that fire that had started pushing him towards violence calms, which he's glad for. He spits on the shower floor too, a heavy splat of blood hitting the pristine white tile, but after that he just... Starts talking. In truth, he'd rather just leave, but he's also afraid if he does that, this (whatever "this" is) will just get worse. So. Confronting it is what he has to do. Unfortunately. ]
Look, Rhys, sir— [ The sir is added reluctantly, but Jack knows how these upper management types are. Give them some respect and they'll usually stop throwing a stupid tantrum. Now, granted, he's used to this more in the managing a project and budget sense, but this probably isn't that different. He hopes. ]
I have no idea what you're talking about. Seriously. I— Look, I don't know if it's just me or what, but-- But there are some memory issues going on here. Admittedly. But I'm pretty sure I'd remember, uh. You. [ This level of obsession or whatever was... a lot. ] So far as I know? I just met you this morning, dude. And you were also a dick. For the record.
no subject
he's tired now and he wants that shower even more than before, wants to wash off the dirt and blood, get into his nice clean pajamas and go the fuck to sleep. he remembers, briefly, the fact that there might not actually be a soft place for him to sleep when he gets back to his room and that... uh, that sucks. that makes the whole of tonight's events even worse and he feels a fresh wave of misery crash over him. he hates this.
when he responds, it's unenthused and flat, all the fire gone again. ]
I'm always a dick. That's like, my thing or whatever.
[ that probably isn't the first thing he should clarify, but it's what he does. after, he runs a hand through his hair again in that nervous gesture of his, frowning off to the wall in front of him. ]
Though, I guess I'm having a bad day? Uhm. [ YOU TOLD HIM TO FUCK OFF AND JUST STRANGLED HIM, RHYS. ] Sorry. I'm not usually so... whatever this is. [ another frown and he presses a hand to his face. ] Aaaand I wouldn't be explaining that to you, usually. You would just know.
[ he takes a moment to get his thoughts together because despite how much this conversation just exploded, now that the adrenaline is gone and the secrets aren't pushing at the back of his teeth to get out, he can think a bit more clearly. of course, as always, his thoughts circle on jack and jack related things and he won't be able to clear the fog until this is over and he can be alone. fuuuuck.
his head drops back on the wall and he looks up at jack, eyebrows furrowed and expression curious, but wary. ]
You're not a AI, are you? You wouldn't be bleeding if that was the case. You look... younger then when I knew you though and you don't have your mask so, I don't know. Are you another body double?
no subject
Wait, mask? You—
[ Jack starts to interrupt as Rhys explains, because when he mentions a mask, that definitely catches Jack's attention. There had been a really strange one waiting in his room when he got there. It had been disconcerting to say the very least, but Jack had also kept that discovery to himself. It gave him lots of questions, sure, but he couldn't think of a subtle way to ask about a creepy flesh mask of his own face. Because that was the weirdest thing about it, honestly. It was definitely his face. It'd been tempting to put it on, but doing so also felt like it would prompt something out of a weird horror movie, so he'd decided against it.
He's still very curious about the mask, since Rhys mentioning it might be a hint to where it came from, and so he'll return to that. But mentioning the body double program throws him more off guard, since that was still a new thing, for one, and two, noooot many people actually knew about "Jack." Part of him wants to deny it completely, since what's the point of having a body double if people know about him? Especially, you know. Crazyass dudes like this. But the way Rhys phrases it catches his attention a bit more. ]
Another? You, what, you think I have more than one? I mean. If I did. Theoretically. Goddammit.
[ Smooth, Jack. He curses into his towel again as he mulls it over in a brief silence, but... There's one possibility that comes to mind that's more born from that "weird horror movie" tangent he'd mentally gone on. His brow knits together, because even thinking of considering this, he feels like an idiot. It's stupid to consider it, but at the same time, there are things Rhys has mentioned offhandedly like they're fact that don't make sense. Athena getting married, Hyperion being no more, even talk of a mask and body doubles. ]
I- Hey, weird question, but. What year is it? Before, uh. You came here. Were brought here? Whatever.
no subject
Okay, first of all. Let me see your nose, I can probably reset it. I'm so, so sorry, bro. Please don't kill me.
[ the plea kind of stumbles off naturally, without thinking because well -- that's just what he'd be saying to jack right now. offering his apologies and begging for his forgiveness. even if the jack he knew was an AI, the fact that this jack is physically here is enough to warrant any kind of humility he should probably have. at least, that's what rhys is thinking, even if he's not consciously aware of it.
he'll answer jack's questions too, feeling his own confusion in response to jack's. nothing he's said is out of the ordinary, personally, but now this conversation is taking a turn for the weird again and his eyebrows furrow, eyes narrowing slightly at jack. ]
Uh, yeah? You scattered them around for like, moral support or whatever. I think mmmmost of them are dead now? I don't know, it's been a while since I've spotted one in the wild.
[ he says it so casually like it's just part of daily life for him which, granted, it is. body doubles pop up around helios and other hyperion owned places a lot. most of them disappeared after jack's death but they were definitely a feature beforehand. sometimes it made it so you could never tell if the real jack was around either. kind of clever, rhys thought. ]
... The year? 2870, dude. How do you not know this?
[ seriously, weird question to ask unless -- did this jack think rhys was from the future? no, that's not possible. this has to just be some other planet, off of the borderworlds. something like that, right? ]
no subject
Uh. Probably. You just said probably reset it. Also, what the hell, you're the one that broke it?
[ It's not a "no," since Jack doesn't know how to do it himself, that's for sure. But he's also not super keen on letting the guy that just broke it come put it back in place. There are a lot of problems with that idea, chief amongst them being that this guy is clearly crazy. It's at least becoming a more manageable crazy, though Jack's expression continues to just show open confusion as Rhys talks about body doubles how he does. There's a flicker again of that slight anger, since, yeah. They probably are all dead if you sent them into the planet, Rhys. But the fact that they exist at all apparently is at least enough to prevent Jack from getting angry again, since that's far more confusing than anything else.
Though of course, far more perplexing than that is the date that Rhys gives.
IS IT FIVE YEARS is it ten years like makes more sense??? it's a mystery and I'm not deciding, since either way, Jack's expression turns to surprise as he pulls the towel away from his nose. It's still bleeding, of course, but he's so surprised to hear the year that he's dropping the towel more to make sure his words aren't muffled. ]
Well. Because that's not what year it is? That's... [ He trails off, because even in his head, this sounds stupid. Even so, he says it, though it's reluctantly. ] That's kinda a few years ahead of me?
no subject
then jack is questioning him about being able to reset his nose and that just throws him off completely and he lets out a strangled noise of... offense? and when he talks, it's clipped and harried and probably the completely opposite of what jack expects. ]
That's -- that's because I'm not a very secure person, Jack! And maybe I'm just offering because I feel bad about breaking your nose, huh? So, so -- so fuck you, if you're going to turn down my attempt to make this better because I just wanted to fix it because you have a really nice face and I don't want to be the one that fucked it up!
[ and he's so flustered by this little explosion of his that he turns a beet red and scrubs both of his hands through his hair while he fidgets in place for a bit. if jack's not going to let him fix his nose then, okay. fine. whatever!! he didn't even do anything wrong!
(he did so many things wrong today.)
then there's the confirmation that jack is... from the past? probably? oh god, oh man oh god oh man. that just messes rhys up a bit more and he flaps his hands a bit before speaking in a louder than necessary voice -- ]
Okay, fine! You're from the past then! You're -- you're Jack from before he went crazy and that. I don't know what that means. I don't know! It's a little overwhelming. So, I guess you wouldn't stab me in the back then, huh? You -- you're all. Nice and stuff now. A real hero. And you probably would strangle me less. And maybe we could be friends and not... whatever it was that we were because that went SO well the last time and I'm going to take a freggin' shower now, holy crap. This is too much to deal with.
[ halfway through that second rant there, rhys starts unbuckling his pants which means by the time he's finished, he's got them down his legs and is hopping up and down on one foot to tug off his sock. he's not looking at jack because he's still pretty damn flustered and on the very precipice of running away to not deal with this problem because rhys is a mature adult who handles his problems well. he's able to get off one of the socks at least and he'll just stand there for a moment in front of jack, clad in his underwear and one sock, hand holding the other and --
ah, yes. he's tearing up again. ]
no subject
Okay, you're not wrong there. You did mess up my gorgeous face, which, rude, but. More was saying you broke it, so, y'know, letting you break it more to unbreak it is a trust exercise to the extreme that I'm not really feelin' right now. Nnnno offense?
[ Though even so, Jack is halfway considering accepting. It's probably good that he doesn't get the chance, because Rhys starts rambling again and also stripping. This was already weird, but it's just getting weirder. Jack holds up a hand and closes his eyes as he looks away, though it's not really out of modesty so much as incredulous that this is happening in the first place. ]
What- What is up with today? Cripes!
[ Though after just kind of speaking over Rhys for a moment there, Jack ends up making a more frustrated, pained noise right after, because, yeah, thanks for the confirmation, self. Still broken, still hurts. He opens his eyes again after cursing a few things under his breath, but he ends up just looking exasperated when he opens his eyes to see Rhys crying. Again. ]
Agh-- Seriously? Again? You. What. Just, seriously, what the hell. [ He really can't get a read on Rhys at all with how quickly his moods keep changing. That's really frustrating, honestly, because Jack has more or less made a living off of doing just that. It would be the same for Rhys, since that was the way of Hyperion, but these shifting, extreme emotions when combined with all of this information is overwhelming, even for a quick thinker like Jack. ]
Stop... crying? Please? I don't know why I'm the one saying this, considering you're the one starting shit, but. Y'know. Okay. Okay, so... There is kinda a lot to talk about here, uh, that's pretty obvious. But you're taking off your clothes now and making an already weird thing weirder, so, suggestion. Can we talk about this, I dunno, tomorrow? Or something?
[ He's half trying to escape this conversation and half genuinely just trying to deal with it. He knows that neither of them would be having a productive conversation right now, albeit for very different reasons. Rhys is naked and afraid, and Jack's nose needs to be tended to by someone, even if it's not Rhys. ]
no subject
Fuck. Fuck! Sorry, I can't turn it off once it starts but that -- that's a good idea. Tomorrow, we can talk and I'll answer your questions or whatever and it'll give me time to, uh. Get it together.
[ he takes a shaky breath in, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks down to the tile. this really is too much for him to deal with and his heart hurts and he just feels like if he could explain to jack, maybe he'd understand? rhys can't be sure and now really isn't the time to explain but in a last ditch effort, he does say one thing. ]
... Just, it's been a while since I last saw you and I. Uh. I never really got to talk about it with anyone so, you gotta understand, it's a bit overwhelming! Ah... hahaha...
[ he laughs and it's weak and sad and he looks at jack for a long moment before shaking his head and moving to head into the stall. his shoulders are slumped and he's just so damn tired, tonight's been a wreck. from the stall, rhys'll call out rather weakly to jack -- ]
... Uhm. Please get your nose checked out when you can. If not me, anyone who you, uh, could trust or something. I still feel pretty bad about that.
no subject
Y'think? Overwhelming is kinda...
[ Jack waves his hand vaguely, but he doesn't actually want to get into this right now. He heads to his shower stall to grab the clothes off of it, since there's really no point in showering now. He's probably just about to bleed more if he'll get this taken care of, so he just tugs his clothes into one arm, and the towel comes back up to his face to catch whatever blood may still be dripping out. He winces at the contact, but starts to walk away to leave, since he's essentially planning to leave it at just that.
Though when Rhys calls out to him, Jack glances back with a raised eyebrow before he scoffs. ]
That's the plan, ki— [ Jack catches himself, then sighs ] ...Sir. So, y'know, later.
[ He shakes his head, since he's truly not sure how to take that weak, guilty sort of concern. So he's fairly dismissive of it. If he had a hand free, he might raise it as a goodbye, but as is, his hands are full and he's not really feeling like giving Rhys that courtesy anyways. So without saying anything else, Jack leaves to go track someone down to help him out. ]