video | 004 | day 54

[retrograding]

[Because the broadcast is a video, Jet Star comes on the screen with his hair somewhat tamed and his eyepatch in place. His expression is as calm as ever, and the video is steady. The only evidence that there might be something wrong is the sound of clattering and a somewhat distressed voice in the background - but Jet ignores that for the most part to address his audience.]

I have one very simple question for the people of this town today, and I like to think it isn’t an unreasonable request. Two friends of mine, Party Poison and Kobra Kid, have not been home for a while. Has anybody seen either of them? They’re rather hard to miss. Party Poison has red hair, and Kobra Kid is blonde, the former is short and the latter is tall --

[Fun Ghoul suddenly appears over Jet's shoulder, scowling at the communicator.]

One's fuckin' stupid, and the other one's twice as fuckin' stupid. Give 'em the real facts, Jet. Two days! [He holds up two fingers in front of Jet's face just in case you assholes forgot how to count.] Never gone this long without sayin' shit, ask that raccoon-eyed piece of work what she did with our boys--

[And he cuts himself off to disappear into the background again, sending something else crashing to the floor. Jet watches Ghoul stomp off with a sort of sad expression, and when he looks back at the communicator, the look sticks.]

We aren't accusing anyone of anything. But if you are out there, either of you - or if anybody knows where they might be, please let us know.

Please. Thank you. [And the feed cuts off. Jet has some calming to do, excuse him.]

Comments

[retrograding]

[ He's so amused that these two are so obviously sweet on each other. Jet hums a little. ]

I thought you might enjoy it. [ He glances at the door. ] He will try to tell you he isn't worthy. That he shouldn't, that he is dangerous or a million other excuses to deny himself. It isn't that he isn't enamored with you, Anna. He just lacks - ah, confidence, I suppose, though that isn't exactly the right word.

[afallenstar]

Dangerous.

[ She lets out a soft huff of a laugh under her breath, and drops her gaze down to her feet. Now isn't that ironic. She's here sitting on this secret with siblings that could easily wipe him out as soon as look at him, she who could break him without so much as raising a sweat, and he thinks he's dangerous.

She raises a hand to rest on the back of her neck, and when her gaze raises back up to Jet it's a little more concerned. KK was one thing. A few neat tricks and he was pretty impressed, but Jet isn't so easily dazzled. There's a serious calm about him (that honestly strikes her as a little angelic) and it's reassuring if nothing else. He'll give her an honest answer, one way or another. ]

If you were, involved with someone, maybe even on the way to being - [ what, exactly? ] ...something, but there was a potential risk. Is it worth it to go for it anyway? If you honestly can't say for sure that you can do any more than die trying to protect them if the time ever comes, it's selfish to take that risk. Right?

[ Because she's tried explaining this to him, and it just seems to make Ghoul more determined to stick around, and Anna honestly doesn't have the resolve to push him away. Maybe Jet does. ]

[retrograding]

[ Jet raises his eyebrows. ]

... Anna, isn't that all that you can ask of a person? [ A beat. ] Has Ghoul explained our life to you, in any way?

[afallenstar]

You can ask them not to put you there in the first place.

[ So maybe she's been weighing on this for a while, and it hasn't occurred to her just now. She raises her eyes to look at him, and it's clear that she's not exactly convinced about his response. ]

He hasn't really gone into much detail. [ Pause. ] But...I haven't with mine, either.

[retrograding]

[ Sorry, Anna - the first response has him laughing, just a snort. ]

Our lives back home - there isn't a moment where we aren't in danger. Where we wouldn't put our lives on the line for those we love. Every day, we are hunted. And we can do nothing but die trying to protect each other, if the time comes. It is not an unusual situation.

I suppose there's a lot of talking you both need to do. [ He gives her a Look. It's not mean, or angry - just serene and maybe a little exasperated. ] Use your words.

[afallenstar]

[ Okay, the snort earns some seriously unimpressed looks. This isn't funny Jet, this is serious business!

...He continues though, and maybe it makes a little sense. It's hardly the right time at all, but maybe she lets out a dry, quiet chuckle of her own and shakes her head. ]

That's...well. Pretty familiar, actually.

[ And yeah, that's a pretty stellar point that he makes there, and she's more than aware of that fact, it's just... ] Something...always gets in the way. Almost seems like any time we start to move in that direction, something happens.

[retrograding]

[ Jet hums. ] That is a problem. [ As much as he'd like to give advice, well... ] Set aside a time to talk about it, I guess.

I wouldn't know, I'm - ah, woefully under-experienced in this regard. [ But he smiles. ] Anna, I know that you make him happy. If he does the same for you, the least you owe yourselves is to try.

[afallenstar]

Setting aside time here is kind of hard, in case you haven't noticed.

[ It's said with a smile and a shake of her head though, not at all snapping just lightly joking. It's pretty much the main issue though. It's hard enough to work up to confessions, let alone when it seems like any time they come close something always comes up. ]

I do too. But... [ God, it sounds weaker every time she says it, it really does. Still, she drags it out one last time, the age old excuse. ] If he got hurt because of me, because of what I am-

[ And there it is, she's said too much. A slightly forced, bright smile crosses her face, and she shrugs. ] The point is, if something happened because of me. How can you encourage that?

[retrograding]

[ It gets his attention, but he doesn't say much in regard to it. It isn't his business - it's Ghoul's. ]

Ghoul will find his way into trouble and mayhem without your help. And he will most likely pull you into equal amounts of trouble. [ He says gently. ] The little monster is wonderful at that. And most importantly, it isn't up to me. You don't need my blessing. The both of you will do what you feel like you have to do.

I just hope that you can give each other some happiness. You both need it.

[afallenstar]

[ It shouldn't be a comfort when Jet says he'll likely pull her into trouble too. That shouldn't be comforting, but it really is. Her life will never not be complicated, there's no changing that. Maybe it's only fitting to fall in with someone with a messy life, too. ]

I might not need it, but that doesn't mean I don't want it. [ It's not exactly hard to see how important they all are to one another, and she respects that. This isn't exactly ancient times, she isn't asking for permission. That doesn't mean she doesn't value his opinion. ]

I...would hope so. It's all kind of pointless otherwise, right? Bothering with [ cough ] friendships when none of us know how long we're stuck here for.