[ It was one thing for Jack to go a day without checking in. That occasionally happened back home, he'd get so caught up in his work or decimating settlements that he would forget to touch base. The moment of peace was always welcome. But 2 days? Especially in this place, with its lack of distraction and Jack's heightened paranoia around her being out and about? That was unheard of.
She leaves checking his cryo-chamber for last, she doesn't want to get her hopes up, but when she finally ports up, retraces familiar steps back to his pod, there he is. Asleep like he never woke up.
There are several people who need to be informed of this good news, but one person who needs to know first. She messages Tim.
The body of the message isn't even words, just a picture of Jack re-popcicled. ]
Unfortunately. As far as I know, those sleeping cannot be harmed, though I did not try bullets, personally.
[ She'd been searching since day one for a way to make sure Jack would never wake up. If it was a possibility, she would have found it a long time ago and avoided all this hassle. ]
[A little bit later, Tim arrives at the pods. He has a gun.]
Oh! Um. Hi. [He's just here to see your dad with a gun, nothing strange here. Absolutely nothing to worry about.] I didn't think you'd still be up here.
[ She didn't either, the truth being that she had kind of zoned out. Caught up in thoughts about how she was both simultaneously relieved Jack was back asleep, and angry that she had missed her chance to take him down, or at least attempt it. But...when she looks down and see's that Tim has brought his gun, she realizes he really does still want to try. ]
I was about to leave.
[ Her brow furrows as she eyes the weapon in his hand. Much as she hates to deny Tim the chance, she knows from observing others speak about it that harming those who are asleep is impossible and at worst could get Tim in some trouble himself. ]
[He doesn't exactly want to shoot Jack, like, while Angel's right there. Aside from the fact that it could be dangerous if the bullet ricochets, it's also... still trying to shoot her dad? Yeah, he's an ass and a terrible person, but it's probably still not fun to watch someone attempt to murder the guy who raised you.]
'Visitor' is probably a strong word?
[Potential murderer? This would probably count as attempted murder. He would be discharging a firearm with the reasonable assumption of bodily harm, yeah, this is attempted murder.]
I don't want to hold you up if you've got things to do. A lot of our time just freed up, right?
[It'd probably be pretty traumatizing but who knows, maybe it'd be cathartic too. One problem]
Tim, do you not think I looked in to killing Jack before he woke the first time? Those asleep are under the Orbiters protection and I have no idea what they may do to you if you try this.
I-
[They were brought together by terrible circumstance, but Angel doesn't want to lose this- to lose him. Something that's been denied to her for so many years, she wants to hold onto it with all her might. But Tim deserves freedom, too.]
Why even bother protecting him? Don't they know what he is?
[If they're really the all-powerful whatevers of this universe, can't they tell what kind of person Jack is just by looking at him? Why would you want a megalomaniac like him running around your universe if you can possibly keep him out?]
[Tim sighs. He's weak against Angel's plaintive looks. Hell, maybe he's just weak in general. Either way, though, he holsters the pistol again.]
I just... wish I could pull the plug or something. Everybody'd be safer that way.
[ Now that the gun has been safely put away she takes a couple steps closer to him, till she can rest a hand on his arm. ]
You wouldn't want to jeopardize this with...whatever it is they do to those who attempt to harm the pods. You're finally a free man, Timothy Lawrence.
[ A sentiment that should be 100% elating but...she can't help the sadness and worry that creeps in from the corner of her mind- that this new life won't have room for her in it, not that Tim has any obligation to let her stay around now that she's no longer his charge. At the end of the day she was still an assignment, and Tim can't be a- a replacement for the things she'll never have.]
[It's an amazing prospect, being a free man. Sure, he still looks like Jack so he'll never really entirely be rid of him, not when he can still look in the mirror and see this face staring back at him, but maybe this is as free as he can ever hope to be.]
[It figures, though, that he only time he'd have the balls to confront Jack is when the other man is literally unconscious. Good job, Tim.]
... [He looks at Jack's pod for a few more seconds, contemplative.] ...Do you have a marker? Like, a big permanent one?
[ She doesn't know how to voice it, years of being under Jack's thumb having rusted all the hinges that would make asking for companionship as straight forward as it should have been. ]
--Yes, I do have something like that.
[ And from the satchel she carries around her shoulder she procures a small brush and bottle of ink. About as close to a marker as you can get down planet side and hands it over. She can make an educated guess as to what Tim is about to do. ]
Um. What do you plan to do, now that you have no obligations?
[Okay, that's close enough. It's certainly good enough to use to write EAT SHIT, JACK in big letters across the pod, in reverse so that it would be legible from the inside. Maybe one day, Jack will wake up again and he'll get to see this message staring him right in his stupid face.]
[Tim also draws a dick, right at mouth level. Because fuck you, Jack, that's why.]
I don't know. [He puts the finishing touches on the phallus. It's veiny.] Live, I guess. Make friends? See if the fine art of killing things and hunting vaults is marketable?
[It's not like he had to write much for Jack, anyway. Jack was sort of more concerned with what he could shoot or find for him.]
[And yeah, Angel, veins. Dicks have veins. And yeah they're also inherently kind of gross, but hey. Tim looks over at her once he's done with his phallic masterpiece.]
Angel blinks for a moment at that second part. It should seem obvious? That they're friends.. But Angel has had so few in her life...that people would want to be friends with her...it's a concept she's still coming to terms with, not something she'd ever assume from anyone. Least of all someone who was assigned to look after her or face who knows what kind of torture.
She smiles bright though. Even if it should have been obvious, hearing it confirmed means a lot to her. ]
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timeasmymeasure
text: SUBJECT: IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT
Date: 2018-02-03 01:50 am (UTC)But 2 days? Especially in this place, with its lack of distraction and Jack's heightened paranoia around her being out and about? That was unheard of.
She leaves checking his cryo-chamber for last, she doesn't want to get her hopes up, but when she finally ports up, retraces familiar steps back to his pod, there he is. Asleep like he never woke up.
There are several people who need to be informed of this good news, but one person who needs to know first. She messages Tim.
The body of the message isn't even words, just a picture of Jack re-popcicled. ]
text
Date: 2018-02-03 08:02 pm (UTC)ding dong the witch is dead
okay so like morbid question here for a second
are the pods bulletproof??
no subject
Date: 2018-02-03 09:58 pm (UTC)[ She'd been searching since day one for a way to make sure Jack would never wake up. If it was a possibility, she would have found it a long time ago and avoided all this hassle. ]
text > action
Date: 2018-02-04 08:53 pm (UTC)[A little bit later, Tim arrives at the pods. He has a gun.]
Oh! Um. Hi. [He's just here to see your dad with a gun, nothing strange here. Absolutely nothing to worry about.] I didn't think you'd still be up here.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 09:33 pm (UTC)I was about to leave.
[ Her brow furrows as she eyes the weapon in his hand. Much as she hates to deny Tim the chance, she knows from observing others speak about it that harming those who are asleep is impossible and at worst could get Tim in some trouble himself. ]
We both should, he doesn't deserve visitors.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-16 05:13 am (UTC)'Visitor' is probably a strong word?
[Potential murderer? This would probably count as attempted murder. He would be discharging a firearm with the reasonable assumption of bodily harm, yeah, this is attempted murder.]
I don't want to hold you up if you've got things to do. A lot of our time just freed up, right?
[No horrible asshole to run interference for!]
no subject
Date: 2018-02-16 06:08 am (UTC)Tim, do you not think I looked in to killing Jack before he woke the first time? Those asleep are under the Orbiters protection and I have no idea what they may do to you if you try this.
I-
[They were brought together by terrible circumstance, but Angel doesn't want to lose this- to lose him. Something that's been denied to her for so many years, she wants to hold onto it with all her might. But Tim deserves freedom, too.]
Please, don't do this.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-16 06:16 am (UTC)[If they're really the all-powerful whatevers of this universe, can't they tell what kind of person Jack is just by looking at him? Why would you want a megalomaniac like him running around your universe if you can possibly keep him out?]
[Tim sighs. He's weak against Angel's plaintive looks. Hell, maybe he's just weak in general. Either way, though, he holsters the pistol again.]
I just... wish I could pull the plug or something. Everybody'd be safer that way.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-21 05:29 am (UTC)[ Now that the gun has been safely put away she takes a couple steps closer to him, till she can rest a hand on his arm. ]
You wouldn't want to jeopardize this with...whatever it is they do to those who attempt to harm the pods. You're finally a free man, Timothy Lawrence.
[ A sentiment that should be 100% elating but...she can't help the sadness and worry that creeps in from the corner of her mind- that this new life won't have room for her in it, not that Tim has any obligation to let her stay around now that she's no longer his charge. At the end of the day she was still an assignment, and Tim can't be a- a replacement for the things she'll never have.]
no subject
Date: 2018-02-22 05:45 am (UTC)[It's an amazing prospect, being a free man. Sure, he still looks like Jack so he'll never really entirely be rid of him, not when he can still look in the mirror and see this face staring back at him, but maybe this is as free as he can ever hope to be.]
[It figures, though, that he only time he'd have the balls to confront Jack is when the other man is literally unconscious. Good job, Tim.]
... [He looks at Jack's pod for a few more seconds, contemplative.] ...Do you have a marker? Like, a big permanent one?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-22 06:24 am (UTC)[ She doesn't know how to voice it, years of being under Jack's thumb having rusted all the hinges that would make asking for companionship as straight forward as it should have been. ]
--Yes, I do have something like that.
[ And from the satchel she carries around her shoulder she procures a small brush and bottle of ink. About as close to a marker as you can get down planet side and hands it over. She can make an educated guess as to what Tim is about to do. ]
Um. What do you plan to do, now that you have no obligations?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-22 07:20 am (UTC)[Tim also draws a dick, right at mouth level. Because fuck you, Jack, that's why.]
I don't know. [He puts the finishing touches on the phallus. It's veiny.] Live, I guess. Make friends? See if the fine art of killing things and hunting vaults is marketable?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-23 01:19 am (UTC)I hope he can't recognize your handwriting.
[ Though she cringes a bit at that sentiment, too. It feels like tempting fate, to imply he might wake up again- ew! Veins? Really gross. ]
You...are under no obligation to keep watch over me, of course, but-
I hope I can remain a part of your new life, despite everything.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-26 08:05 am (UTC)[It's not like he had to write much for Jack, anyway. Jack was sort of more concerned with what he could shoot or find for him.]
[And yeah, Angel, veins. Dicks have veins. And yeah they're also inherently kind of gross, but hey. Tim looks over at her once he's done with his phallic masterpiece.]
Why wouldn't you? We're friends, right?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-26 07:48 pm (UTC)Angel blinks for a moment at that second part. It should seem obvious? That they're friends.. But Angel has had so few in her life...that people would want to be friends with her...it's a concept she's still coming to terms with, not something she'd ever assume from anyone. Least of all someone who was assigned to look after her or face who knows what kind of torture.
She smiles bright though. Even if it should have been obvious, hearing it confirmed means a lot to her. ]
Of course!