I will sail a friendly course, file a friendly chart... [open]

[apricitous]

Who: Clark Kent (apricitous) & Jessica Jones(assholic), Clark Kent & you, etc.
What: settling into Wyver, hosting a dinner party, roommate THINGS
When: early to mid December
Where: House 9, and around Wyvern
Warning(s): nightmare involving talk of rape, attempted rape, death, coercion in the second section of thread with assholic
Notes: Feel free to tag into the open



[ around Wyver | open ]
[ It felt like a lifetime, but it was really just a year and a half that he'd spent in Metropolis, lived and loved and helped rebuild. He tries to remind himself of that as he gets to know this new place, as he learns the ways of Wyver. There are parts of it that remind him of the city, but so many new things, new and fantastical, and he finds himself spending time out in the city just walking to get a feel for the place. It nets him a job, eventually: simple work, farm work really, down at the Dragon pens. He's not sure if he'll stick with it, since he's been considering what some of the others have been talking about in regards to the press, but for now, it's enough. Combining that with the money they'd made off of the dragon heads, and he was at least satisfied that he wouldn't have to worry about his finances for the foreseeable future.

It allows him to have a little fun at all the interesting shops and businesses that he happens to find; he'd had to replace his wardrobe and it'd been a bit of a task, finding something comparable after his clothing had been ripped to shreds. Thankfully, at least one shop had had something similar to the flannel he preferred. But that had just been the necessities. The fun had been in the new fruits and vegetables and foods and seasonings, all of which he was still experimenting with. It was a common thing for Clark to make his way back to his little house with a full bag of groceries. Thankfully, his roommate seemed amenable to trying most anything he came up with that he deemed edible. And some he didn't.

Regardless, he's doing his best to adopt the city as his own, to adopt this world as his own. Some of the awfulness in the streets is frustrating, but he reminds himself not to be too unkind, points out to himself how similar it was to the talk hosts and pundits from his own world. Which is frustrating in and of itself, but given the way the cheer starts returning to the city after a bit, he does his best to focus on the celebrations instead of the grumblings and that helps more than it doesn't. ]


[ middle of a brawl | week two | open ]
[ It's while he's enjoying a drink after work that it happens; it's been happening the last few days, and he'd considered going straight home. But he'd come to really enjoy the particular home made brew that this pub provided and he'd wanted a treat. And yet, somehow, invariably, he'd ended up shoved off of his barstool (mostly to keep someone from breaking their hand) and the crowd was egging him on to join in.

He had absolutely no intention of doing anything of the like, but it seemed like the others involved were taking that as an insult, and now he's... well, he's doing his best to back away slooooowly. ]

Comments

[apricitous]

[ Clark starts reading through, but he closes his phone after a few moments; yes, he's sure other people have the same problem. He has the same problem. But the fact of the matter is, if Lex Luthor or Zod or any other Kryptonian problem decides to rear their head, they'll be easy to spot. A problem like Jessica's has the potential to cause much more subtle, harder-to-spot trouble. For all they knew, Kilgrave could be alive and influencing the current Olympian/Wyver political climate. ]

[assholic]

[She was about to take a sip, but when the pad was turned towards her, she saw that face that haunted her nightmares and her grip was a little too tight, mug shattering in her hand to send hot coffee and warm whiskey down her front and all over the floor.]

Shit.

[She scowled, crouching down to start picking up the shards, tossing them up into the sink before looking around for a towel or something to mop the floor with, ignoring the small splinter digging into the meat of her palm. Pain was good. Pain helped her focus.]

Yeah, that's the fuck-face.

[Jessica did not need coddling or a cape or a gauntlet near her. She needed that face so she could punch it repeatedly until there were teeth embedded in her fist and blood smeared over it to make it unrecognizable.

And she also needed a fucking towel.]

[beknight]

[ It's only a subtle variance in grip, betrays something kept in, something held there. He's familiar. Bruce — out of his chair, picks up a towel, bends to help her. Between them, ]

I have three solutions. [ The fourth is asleep. But there's one more missing component to this, said more quietly, ] Do you need to do it yourself?

[ Need, not want. He can take a very educated guess at the answer. But he has to know, plainly, clearly. ]

[apricitous]

[ Clark actually hands her the towel. And there's a glance at Bruce that says, quite plainly, that if he'd done that that way to test and see what Jessica's response was, he's going to be rather cross with him.

He refocuses on Jessica before ducking back to make sure he gets the first aid kid he'd grabbed for the house. He puts that on the table as well.

Then he goes to clean up the bit that ended up on the floor. ]

[assholic]

[Well, there she went and did it, made a mess out of everything, as usual. She sighs, sopping up the rest of what's on her, then looking down at the two men trying to help her fix what she'd fucked up. In more than one way.]

No. I already did. He was supposed to stay dead. I would have been happy to have handed it off to someone else, but no one believes what he can do until it's already too late. No one else could get close. He... always had contingencies. Play nice, or if he doesn't check in, a family of four is going to kill each other. Or a ten year old will carve his own face off. Or... god, I don't know. Pick a scenario and he'll pick one worse.

[She was so tired of Kilgrave. Tired of thinking of him. Of dealing with him. Even after he was dead, she was still doing it, and now she was dragging new people into it and she hated herself for it a little.]

If he's up there, if he's still in a pod, he either needs to be killed before he comes out, or that thing needs to stay sealed. Or blown up. As soon as he opens his mouth, we're all fucked.

[beknight]

[ He hadn't known. The page is face down now, the face is his to study. Bruce has a bottle in his pocket, a herbal salve. He puts that on the table next to Clark's first aid kit. He'd offer to look at the wound himself, quickly and efficiently, but she's also comfortable around Clark, Bruce is fine handing that role to him. ]

I believe you.

[ Simply, nothing else to it. Monsters come in all forms. ]

Under normal circumstances, he would have stayed that way.

[ So this is nobody's fault, and not hers to handle by herself anyway. This from the guy who keeps a record of every single member of his rogues gallery, where they are. Jason might not be here. But his murderers are. Life's not fair. ]

[ He has more to say, but he's going to wait until they're both seated back at the table to do it. ]

[apricitous]

Jessica was infected with his virus but has become immune to it, which should mean that she has a either a version of it in her blood or antibodies that you could study or possibly both.

[ There is practical work to be done. He hadn't just called Bruce to worry him, after all. ]

I figured it was worth looking into, in case he wakes up.

[ He pauses, and he hates having to say this, really truly does. But as much as he wishes the thought hadn't come into his head, he has to voice it. He knows it might make Jessica even more unsettled about the concept than she was, but ignorance of a threat had done too much damage to him in recent memory for him to stay silent. ]

Or is already up.

[assholic]

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have woken up on a spaceship with the few nearest and dearest I have shoved in pods and told that they might wake up eventually after finding out my world's been obliterated. But hey, who the hell needs normal, right?

[She tossed the towel in the sink with the rest of the bits of broken mug, then pulled out the sliver still in her palm. Blood welled up, beading dark red before it started to trickle as it rolled down. She went over and opened the kit Clark had brought out and held a piece of gauze to it. Her eyes went to Clark when he added that, but he was right, and it wasn't like it wasn't something she hadn't thought of already.]

Well, if a bounty of any kind goes out for my head, we'll know why. You can take what you need for the medical shit.

[She looked down at the bloody gauze, putting it on the table and leaving it there as an offering.]

There's always more where that came from. Just... get it right. His dad's attempt just made him have a larger range with a longer lasting effect. Last thing we need is fucking super Kilgrave.

[beknight]

[ To Clark, agreeably, ]

It's option one.

[ Studying it was always the plan: he's not new to strains of viruses, it honestly is easier than dealing with the concept of someone just having mind control. Charles, he liked you really, but your powers were fucking ridiculous. There's two others, but he needs the Orbiters for the third, and that's not going to fly with Jessica, newly woken. Bruce knows how to appeal to them anyway. ]

[ There's an evidence bag in his pocket as well, Bruce collects the bloodied gauze and it disappears back where it came from. He tips his chin to the bottle of salve. ]

It stops the bleeding. Keep it if you like, I have more.

[ A beat. ]

I need your phone, I'm going to install a coded alert in it.

[apricitous]

Do you want me to head up to the station with you some afternoon this week and take a look?

There's a lot of tubes. And four eyes are better than two.

[assholic]

[She wasn't going to use it, but not out of pride. It would just be a waste, since it was barely a nick and she healed fast. She'd save it for when she really needed it, or if someone else happened to start bleeding around her. The request for her phone had her narrowing her eyes a little. Maybe she was just too skeptical and jaded, but he seemed a little too prepared for everything she'd said. A little too okay with it and ready to run with it.

But then, Clark wouldn't have called him over if he wasn't going to be any use. She really needed to either trust him or back away, because this flip flopping of her thoughts was driving her up the wall.

Without sharing any of that, she turned and went into her room, getting her phone out of her bag and bringing it back. She held it up in front of him, giving into that cynicism that she lived and breathed.]

Some Kilgrave alarm is all you better be putting on here. If I find some kind of snoop bot or bug or something, I'll happily smash this over your head.

[To Clark:]

I don't know if I should go up or not. If he's out, he might have set up shit and seeing me might trigger someone into doing something. I just... this is more complicated than it needs to be. Those damn Orbiters should figure out who to leave dead.

[beknight]

I might install Tinder, now that you mention it.

[ It's a little acerbic, what do you people take him for — he only puts trackers on his friends and enemies. The screen is tilted towards her the whole time — like his sketch had been — so she does know what he's doing and it's all a line of code. ]

[ It'll take a bit, he falls quiet to work. ]

[apricitous]

It's probably best if you try and stay out of it as much as possible. He's prepared for you.

[ He looks over at 'Alan' before continuing. ]

He's not prepared for us. Can't be, given the difference in worlds. So he won't have anything set up to handle what we can do.

[assholic]

[Her response to Alan was a flat look. Ha ha, Mr. Funny man.

Clark, however, had her looking over at him, then back at Alan.]

You might be able to handle him if he really can't affect you. This one... unless he's not human either, he's not immune. I'm not going to be responsible for someone else getting in the shit.

[beknight]

[ Ordinarily, he wouldn't be. But Diana can handle a lot, and they already have something planned to test out just how much of her power he possesses. Quicker healing and slightly enhanced perception, his body feels younger, stronger. But the rest — it's not clear. ]

That's my problem.

[ Firm. Her insight is necessary, but Gotham made him, and Gotham's shit runs parallel to this. He's already in it, not planning to leave, more doesn't affect him much. Bruce hands her phone back when he's finished, open on a cheerful red phone in a white background. ]

Voice-activated with a keyword or a phrase of under five words. It'll remain active in the background no matter what you do.

[apricitous]

[ Clark gives Bruce a flat look before 'translating'. ]

He has a few tricks up his sleeve and both myself and our other friend will be helping. They're... probably okay as well, come to think of it.

He knows what he's doing. He's... dealt with similar things before.

[ Look, he's a reporter, he looked up the Batman a bit. That's how he'd known Bruce was going off the rails, after all. ]

[assholic]

And he can't tell me that himself because... what? He's allergic to explaining things? Does he have a vocal word limit? Is he a literal version of Twitter?

[Jessica Jones; Master of Mockery. And yes, the keyword being inputted into her phone under that program was "Anal".]

I'm going to pretend to believe you on that for now, but I'm expecting a mass fuck up of epic proportions if he's actually awake. Don't underestimate him just because he's a petulant sick prick.

[beknight]

[ Bruce ignores the snark — only Dick or Jason could have wielded any to strike home. He gives Clark a Look — one of the things he's never had much interest in is being made palatable. He sets his phone on the table. Briskly, ]

Test run of the alert?

[apricitous]

[ Clark Looks right back at him, with more vehemence than Bruce might have thought he'd have. Because Bruce isn't stupid enough to have missed that Jessica had been terrorized by this bastard. And it has nothing to do with palatable and everything to do with protecting people. If Jessica doesn't feel any more safe than she was before he came, that's a loss for them. That's them not protecting her. And if they're not protecting people, than what, exactly is the point of any of this?

But he nods to Jessica. Yes, please. ]

[assholic]

Someone sure is super anal retentive. Might want to have someone look into that. I hear they make creams for it.

[Who her? Bitter? Nah.]

[beknight]

[ Bruce's expression is calm and unreadable. His phone buzzes instantly, vibrating angrily on the table. Bruce picks it up, keys in a few things — it stops. ]

Without the subject to test the antibody on, its effectiveness is questionable at best, but I'll keep you appraised.

[ He closes his notebook, puts away his phone, and looks at Clark, measured. The only thing that can guarantee safety for this young lady is if this problem was never a thing in the first place, and now at least they have some handle on it. Good enough for the moment. ]

Anything else?

[apricitous]

[ Clark lets out a short huff, directed at Bruce, before his expression evens out and he lets his shoulders drop a little. He rubs at his temple for a moment before- ]

I'll see you on Tuesday for dinner?

[beknight]

I'll be available. Anything happens, you know how to reach me.

[ He nods briskly at Jessica. ]

Miss.

[assholic]

Dick.

[She saluted at him with the twist of her wrist that ended with a middle finger, then she grabbed her bottle out of the cupboard, not bothering to pretend to mix it with coffee as she turned on her heel and headed into her bedroom.]

[apricitous]

[ Clark just sighs, not at her so much as... letting go of some of the tension in him, before gesturing to the door. But as he heads towards it, he puts his shoes on. ]

I'll walk you back.