Now it's really feeling like home

[assholic]

Who: Jessica Jones (assholic) & OPEN
What: Catch-all log for January
When: All of January
Where: Around Wyver, possibly in the outer reaches if she has cause/job related reasons to go out there.
Warning(s): Likely for language, as always with her. If anything else is needed, I'll edit.

Jessica's been taking note of the rising tensions, something that seems to have come to a head since the supposed 'let's get along' gala. That had, predictably, failed spectacularly, and now she was hearing rumblings all around Wyver about disgruntled natives and how Olympia sucks. The one time she'd had to go to Olympia to pick something up, there'd been some dirty looks cast her way and it was a bit like wearing a Yankees cap in a Boston Red Sox bar, only with more mob mentality, if that was even possible. She supposed she should just be happy no one was banding together drunken mobs.

Yet.

For anyone that wants to run into her, she's more likely to be found in a few favorite pubs in Wyver, or possibly the arenas when she's feeling particularly annoyed. It's a good place to make a few bucks, and she had a healthy drinking habit to maintain.


(Feel free to PM me or snag me on plurk (when it's working) @ junglewere if there's anything in particular you'd like me to put up a starter for. Otherwise, please feel free to set one up yourself.)

Comments

For Bucky

[assholic]

[Clark might be awesome at making moonshine and she enjoyed it a lot, but she felt bad nudging him to make her more when it had been a gift in the first place. She might be feeling a little better about being where she was, or maybe about living where she was and with who she was living with, but everything else was still... off. The fact that there were actual dragons was something she was still shaking her head over, but considering all the other 'mythical' creatures here that she was just casually bumping into like it was no big deal. Maybe it was that fact that had her occasionally feeling like she was in a dream state still.

Though, that feeling was lessening each day. This was going on too long, it felt too real, and it was just too... too.

So Jessica made it a little less, like she always did, by numbing that harshness, that reality with alcohol. She was currently in the marketplace, looking at the options even while she debated on just slogging over to one of the taverns she was becoming a frequent customer of.

Reaching out to grab for a bottle made of green glass that seemed to have something smoky swirling inside it, something Jessica had figured out meant it had a kick of some kind, she knocked hands with someone reaching for the same bottle. Jessica continued to reach for it, because fuck you, buddy.]

Nuh uh. This is mine, pal.

[rzhavyy]

[Bucky's been getting back into his old pattern he'd had in Bucharest of stopping by the market, looking at things, talking to people. It's never easy for him, but it's something, forces him to acclimate a little, makes him feel a little more human sometimes, when it doesn't make him feel unerringly claustrophobic. He looks for things that catch his eyes, usually trinkets or some fresh fruit that he ends up leaving on Steve's counter.

Today it's a green bottle that has strange smoke swirling inside of it, like some sort of magic potion out of some old comic. He'd just wanted to look at it, but she's adamant, and so he lets it go. It's not like he's going to fight her over it. But he does look her over, and almost immediately recognizes her. Good in a fight. Jessica. Pretty, though she tries to pretend that she's not. Bucky's hair is still cut short from the gala, though he hasn't shaved in a few days now.]

You know what it is?

[Look at him, forcing himself to try and make something that passes for friendly conversation. He's trying.]

[assholic]

[Clearly he didn't pick up enough on their first meeting for him to think that 'friendly conversation' was ever something that she could or would participate in. But he wasn't grabbing for the bottle, and when she actually looked at him, she recognized him, which was a feat in itself considering how few people she actually knew here. She'd made very little effort to 'reach out', and that wasn't far off from how she'd always been. Seemed she hadn't changed much.]

If it's anything like the blue bottle I had last time, it's damn good hooch with a kick. Some weird 'extra' that takes the hangover off.

[She handed over coins to the vendor, looking Bucky over again.]

You cut your hair.

[rzhavyy]

[Well, mistake or not, she's civil enough about it, and he nods at her explanation, a slight twitch to his mouth. Someone else might have commented on the fact of how intense she seemed to be about her alcohol in the middle of the day, but Bucky'd seen enough to know not to push at those particular places. And he had his own issues.

She hadn't reached out, but neither had he. He'd seen her at the gala, but in the end the Gala had been just a little bit too many people for him to really get comfortable. He'd tried to play at the man he'd been before, but it hadn't lasted too long.]

It was for the Gala, so I tried to clean up. Not quite sure it worked.

[There's a shrug of his shoulders, a brush of his fingers through the still-short strands in acknowledgement.]

[assholic]

Now you just look closer to your mini-me.

[Yes, that was a comment about the other Bucky. She slid the bottle into her satchel, looking over the rest of the wares to see if there was something else she might want to grab.]

You're still alive. We'll call that a win. Hair's not so bad, but you're letting the scruff build up. Might as well let the hair go if that's your thing. Get a man bun. Wear hipster glasses.

[triplerose]

Loras isn't any stranger to the arenas and fighting rings. He likes it because it reminds him of his own life, and when he's not taking part himself, he enjoys watching. A good fighter is always watching others. People like Jessica make it particularly interesting.

Women aren't often fighters in Westeros - at least, not in the traditional sense. Having been bested by a woman (who had deserved the win, regardless of gender, though admitting that had taken some time), he's not as quick to scoff at her as some of the men around.

"That was incredible -" He says once he catches her on her own. It's not terrible polite, he knows, but he felt he had to say it.

[assholic]

He caught her as she was finishing cleaning herself up; unwrapping her hands, a trick she'd been taught to keep from scraping her knuckles up so badly. It was helping, and certain nosy, observant people weren't complaining so much. Bonus.

She looked up at the guy talking to her, preferring his comment as opposed to the one she'd had when she'd gotten out of the ring. The giver of that one was currently lying unconscious outside the ring, but hey, that was his own fault. "You haven't been around long if you think that was anything worth talking about." Hey, she hadn't even used her new ability.

[triplerose]

Her response, dismissive enough in nature, just makes Loras laugh a little. Of course, the laugh is stemmed from a vague embarrassment, and he ducks his head to try and hide that. It's not really his sort of thing, to be so forward, and now he fears he's overstepped.

"I've done plenty of fighting in my time, though admittedly most of it with a sword or a lance in hand. Hand to hand fighting has never been a strength of mine." And mostly because it wasn't exactly a proper way to fight in Westeros. Throwing punches was for the lowest of lows when it came to people. "I've seen a few fights since I've been here, but nothing at all like what you've just done."

[assholic]

He's being polite, enthusiastic, and congratulatory. He reminds her a bit of someone, and it's taking her a minute to put her finger on it. That's hardly overstepping, Loras. "Sword stuff, huh? Well, if it's any consolation, I'm playing with brute strength. There's no form to it at all. Frankly, I think it'd be an unfair advantage if I picked up Krav Maga or some other flippy ninja shit."

She tossed the wraps in the bag, looking over at him and trying to picture where she'd seen that-- Goddammit. Danny. Not exactly, but there was a similarity in face shape, and that unruly mop of hair. Even the enthusiasm at what she could do was pure Danny, and she found herself smirking. "You don't watch the matches with abilities much, do you. They're the fun ones. You should have seen the match I had last week with some jerk who could make spikes come out of his body like some freaky porcupine. That was fun."

[triplerose]

Loras has no idea what a ninja is. He just decides not to focus too much on that, instead he listens, and he laughs a bit.

"No, I don't," he admits with a shake of his head. "I suppose I'm too traditional. The sword's treated me well. Have you been here long?" Woken up, he means. He's never seen her, but that means nothing. There are plenty of refugees that have been here longer than him yet he's never met nor heard of.

[kaleorbekaled]

Kale is in the arenas today and she's scheduled for one of the matches after Jessica's. So at the moment, she's sitting on the sidelines and smiles when she sees a familiar face enter the ring. If Jessica's listening, she might hear a "Go Jessica!" call out from where the fighters waiting to get into the ring are.

Ardyn was right. Refugees should support one another. She wonders if the two combatants are going to engage in a round of trash talk before the fight begins, or if they'll get right to the punching. She has no idea what Jessica can do combatively, but she has faith that she'll do excellently in a verbal match.

[assholic]

When it comes to this type of fighting, she isn't big on trash-talking. Well, not unless the other party crosses a line. The usual 'bitch' or other female oriented nasty thrown her way doesn't phase her. Comments about what so and so's going to do with her broken body after he's done beating her... well. That always brings out a special kind of vengeance in her, and she always seems to have more fun beating the shit out of those ones. Often to the point she has to get dragged off.

This particular combatant was quiet, eyeing her warily. Apparently he wasn't of the 'little girl fall down easily and go boom' variety. Maybe he'd seen her fight before. Either way, she was dressed in torn leggings and a t-shirt, hands wrapped to prevent bruising, and she returned the other party's quiet consideration with a shrug of her own. She heard her name from out in the crowd, but it was called by a female voice, so she could at least rest easy that a certain someone wasn't trying to convince her to stop doing this.

Then the bell rang and the man in front of her came at her with a flurry of blows directed at her head. She got an arm up to sweep his hands aside, but his fist made contact with her shoulder and apparently, he could hit. She went spinning to the side, banging into the fence that caged the fighters in, and she could see him following to continue his onslaught. Apparently he'd figured out that once she got her hands on someone, or a solid hit in, the tables turned quickly. Well, maybe that would make this fight a bit of a show. That was always good for earning a few more silvers.

Not that she was just going to stand there and let him hit her. That had hurt, after all. So when he came in with his arm drawing back, she balanced herself against the fence with her hands and shot her leg out to try to kick at him. There was no style to her movements, no flowing form or grace. She'd never learned how to fight beyond knowing that she was stronger and using that to her advantage. Besides, it was hard to train when you might accidentally knock your trainer out. Or break their gym.

[kaleorbekaled]

Kale's a bit surprised when she watches Jessica in action and realizes she's an amateur. There's no technique here at all. At most, there's a brawler's reflexes. It seems like Jessica has gotten into fights before, but not necessarily with anyone who was skilled.

"Get your hands up!" she shouts, calling out a basic tip. "You need to protect your face!"

After all, Jessica either can't take hits as well as she can dish them out, or this guy's strong enough to hurt her. Either way, it's not a good idea for her to get hit.

[assholic]

The people that organized the fights had clued in quickly to what Jessica was capable of, and they'd learned that putting her in with someone who was either well-trained or who had a strength advantage prompted better fights. They had also quickly learned to limit how many of the more crass and crude types she got stuck with, otherwise she was prone to go and give the organizers a piece of her mind. And a foot up their ass.

So the hit was harder than if a well-trained fighter had given her one, but she also liked to play up a little. The first few fights she'd had here had been one and done quickly, and while she'd gotten paid for it, she'd found out she got more when she dragged them out. When she put on a show. Some days she wasn't in the mood for showmanship and she just walked in, knocked someone out, and collected her fee. Other times, she was okay with playing the little game that went on behind the scenes. Today was one of those days.

Not that the hit to her shoulder didn't still hurt, but hey, at least it wasn't her face-- who the hell was out there yelling instructions to her? Most times, it was just wordless cheers or orders to her opponent of how to take her down. This was the first time she found herself with a cheering squad. She didn't have the time to look up to see who was calling out to her, because her foot got grabbed and she was thrown up and into the air.

Fortunately for her, she'd been working on that whole flying thing, and instead of hitting the roof of the cage, she stopped just shy of it and turned around to face the guy, still floating. "Now what, dickless?"

[kaleorbekaled]

Kale was concerned at first when the guy threw Jessica, but then she saw her fly. She knew from talking to Clark that Jessica had been working on it. Hearing about it and seeing the results were a different thing, and she was relieved to see that Jessica's control had improved enough that she could make use of it. She wondered if Jessica was still randomly floating by accident, or if that was entirely under control now. It was something she could ask about when the fight was over. There was probably time to talk in between this match and the one Kale was scheduled for, unless the next couple of fights had very quick knockouts.

She kept an eye on the man Jessica was fighting. He had good reflexes and had some skill, although he wasn't a master fighter. odds were that he had some sense of strategy as well.

The man feigned at being dumbfounded before leaping upward, aiming to grab both of Jessica's legs to tackle her to the ground.

"Jessica! Watch out!" Kale called from the sidelines.

For Clark & Matt

[assholic]

[A month had passed since she'd called Matt to ask him for that favor for her, that request to come talk to Clark about honing his abilities, his senses, but it wasn't like any of them were going anywhere. Between the gala, her adjusting to here, and just the general tone of the planet they were on, it just hadn't been the time.

Until it was. She'd gotten a text from Matt saying he'd had free time in the next few days, and after clearing it up with Clark, she'd invited him over to their humble little abode, feeling an odd sort of anxiousness that he was going to judge her for something. For what, having a roommate? For sometimes humming to herself because of... stuff. Stuff that was none of his business? Stuff that-

Oh, shit. He'd know. Somehow, with those stupid senses of his, he'd know and she stood there in the kitchen, slapping her hand over her face while she groaned and realized that Matt Murdock was an ass enough to be an ass about it. All in 'good humor' of course, but still. He was the only person here she knew from back home, the only one who'd known her, and it was just going to have her feeling a little prickly to have him judging her 'then and now' changes.]

Maybe I shouldn't be here for this.

[apricitous]

[ Clark was pulling out a tray of cookies as he heard her and her cold feet, and he can't help a quirk of his eyebrow as he looks up.]

Why?

[assholic]

Because he's going to just smell how... just... shut up.

[Yes, Clark. Keep making cookies. Cookies would cover her shame. She was tempted to steal one, but Clark was faster than her and he could smack her hand away and probably would. Rude.]

[apricitous]

What, that we're sleeping together?

[ Yeah, he doesn't really have any particular issue with people knowing that. Especially people who are close. But he knows that there's two people here. ]

I'm pretty sure he'll smell that regardless if his senses are anything like what I'm used to.

[assholic]

I'm more worried he's going to figure out just how much and where.

[Or that certain marks around the house were from moments of getting carried away.]

Last thing I need is him refusing to sit anywhere because of it and then giving me that look. Or... attempting to. How the hell does a blind man give such good shady looks? It's unfair.

For Ned (backdated)

[assholic]

She'd agreed to meet up with Ned for a drink in Olympia. They'd met before when she'd first come to Wyver, but during her package delivery route, she'd opted to give him a head's up to meet and have a drink in person -- if only to save her from more screaming capslock rage that was really more amusing than annoying at this point.

So there was Jess, sitting in a booth, already nursing something amber and half-empty.

[learned_to_die]

Ned isn't quite sure how or when, but it seems he's acquired himself something of a friend - and an unlikely one, at that. Robert had been his closest throughout his life (excluding the short time he had with his siblings, before their individual demises), and certainly he'd had allies and those of whom he was fond, but Robert had been it, in terms of friendships. Now, despite himself and what custom would normally dictate, he finds himself considering Jessica a friend. A new friend, of course, but with room for growth.

It's odd, but not unwelcomed. Not in the least.

He makes his way over to the booth, brow perked as he looks from her to the mug in front of her.

"I believe I was supposed to buy your first round here in Olympia."

[assholic]

"You can buy the next one. What, you expected me to sit here and just enjoy the view?" She grinned, leaning back against her seat and watching him. He looked well enough, not missing any body parts or looking any worse for wear than when she'd least seen him. She supposed that was all anyone could really hope for in this crazy shit storm of a planet. "So, Dadslock. Do you want to be educated in how to stop text-screaming, or is that going to be your cool new Ned thing?"

[learned_to_die]

"No, I suppose that would be too large a request," Ned replies, returning the same sarcastic snark. He isn't know for a quick or witty tongue - that was often left to his younger sister, Lyanna - but he is able to sharpen it against a whetstone when needed. He finds that Jessica brings that side out of him, much the way his sister used to when they were young. It's a strange familiarity. She even has the coloring of a Stark. "The next one, then."

He considers her before glancing towards the barkeep over his shoulder.

"Perhaps I ought to get a drink for myself first, before we delve into the possibilities. I'll get your second for you now; do you want more of the same?"

[assholic]

"You'd better. I drink alone enough as it is. I'd like the company for once." She tipped her glass up to empty it, putting it back on the table and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Ned was... hard to put her finger on. But she liked him. He didn't come off like someone who was hiding anything, and he wasn't trying to get in her pants. He also didn't treat her like she was an idiot. It was weird, but then, so was everything about this place. "Another one's fine."