Heir

Souji’s eyes follow him around the office warily, not sure what it is that he plans to do here. It’s not like there’s really anything aside from medical supplies, cat food, and a barely in-tact bed pushed up into a nook, surrounded on three sides by crumbling walls. It’s certainly not much at all–which is likely the reason Souji seems so offended when Jack picks up some cat treats and proceeds to eat them.

“Hey…! Those are for the cats!” he protests, a frown on his face as he comes forward. And then he thinks better of it, stopping a few feet short. There’s a cabinet to the right that mostly holds things for emergencies, and he grabs one of his backup candy bars before handing it over. “Here… just don’t eat the stuff for the cats.”

With a mouthful of the strangely fishy tasting treats, Jack looks down at Souji wearing an expression of curiosity. Don’t eat the stuff for cats? And why the hell not? Does he honestly expect to get by sharing his food with animals? That’ll do nothing but get you killed in this place. Same as housing a dying man with a shortage of food. You’re giving it up for nothing.

Nonetheless, he takes what’s offered, and slowly curls his fingers around the worn wrapper. Just how has he managed to survive this long at all in the first place?

“...You’ll die here... If you keep acting like this.”

seelesdog-deactivated20170119

let’s all delete

#ya

That makes his face fall a little, but he guesses it’s too much to hope someone else down here would care for them. It’s why he’d taken the task himself in the first place despite it being, by and large, far more danger than the average person would consider it worth.

He tucks the cat against his chest once more and steps forward, leading the way down the now-empty hallway (and his eyes do glance once toward the twitching smear of a dead splicer, a reminder of how dangerous Jack is and how he should do better about keeping a respectful distance). There’s silence as he points them toward the clinic–a small, out of the way place that few splicers seem to have congregated around.

“Here. You can look around wherever you like,” he says, placing the cat down after letting them inside.

His shoulders are hunched as he steps inside, wary of his new found environment. He’d been ambushed before, naturally- but to little victory from the offending parties. Regenerative abilities were a hell of a show stopper when it came to killing whatever freak blend of splicer and adam slug he’d ended up as.

Souji seems too naive to be aware of any of that though. Too smart to bother trying to take him down too. Whatever the case, he doesn’t dwell on it enough. He’s busy sniffing the area-- skulking around the pungent office in search of something other than cat fur and toys, until he finally finds a few more cat treats that he hastily shoves into his mouth. It’s better than nothing, anyway.

Is he afraid to do so…? The cats are always very nice–under Souji’s care, at least these ones haven’t gotten the chance to go feral. And he always goes out of his way to make sure they eat before he goes searching for his own, probably the reason his own meal for the evening had been so pitiful. All the same, he carefully hefts the cat a little higher in one arm and reaches down, his free hand hovering over Jack’s.

“It’s okay… she won’t hurt you,” he murmurs, deciding upon gently taking Jack’s hand and lifting it up to rest it on the cat’s head. She purrs quietly, nuzzling her head up, and Souji smiles. “See?”

He seems startled when he touches him-- the temptation to pull a plasmid from his palm all too tempting, but he manages to refrain for now. He’s never really touched one of these before- they’ve come to rub their heads against his ankles now and again (at which point Souji would probably be horrified to discover that he kicks them away dismissively).

“I know it won’t hurt me. I ain’t dumb.” If it did, it’d be dead by now after all.

What is this anyway? It’s too... Domestic. He’s getting uncomfortable. A little anxious even, as he feels more in place when Souji is fearful of him.

“.......It’s ugly.”

The breath leaves Souji for a good few seconds when his back hits a wall, but he’s hardly concerned about what happens to himself in a moment like this, as long as the cat ends up okay. Maybe it’s silly… he really should be more careful, but the truth is that the only real reason he bothers to keep on down here is that there’s still animals who don’t deserve to suffer and wither away.

He doesn’t know if he should follow or not. But as he’s catching his breath and trying to make up his mind, Jack wanders back with one of his cats bounding around at his feet, playful and curious despite the carnage around it. Souji’s worried face transforms to happiness all of a sudden, and he bends down to pick it up when it comes close.

“Thank you… I’m so grateful! Would you like to pet her?” he asks, stepping a little nearer to Jack and holding the cat up for him in case he chooses to.

hxcuspocus-deactivated20200724

He’s quiet, contemplative. As that cat goes from crawling around his ankles to leaping into Souji’s arms. He’s seen cats lying around before.. But they don’t pay him much mind, so he returns the favor. They’re just animals, right...? He doesn’t like animals very much... But at least it’s not a dog.

Jack’s expression softens as he’s offered a chance to pet the animal, but it’s almost as if he’s shy- reclusive in wake of extended kindness. He just grows quiet, and stars down at it- then up to Souji, and then away again. He has no idea how to react to this sort of thing, and reverts to an almost childlike indifference towards the situation.

#ic #electricamps

He smiles; its an all-knowing smile that belongs to a ludicrous splicer with ludicrous ideals and an even crazier smile stitched together with the mask that drapes from his chiseled face. Peter hangs off the tail ends of a broken pipe in the vault, staring at Jack— always staring, watching. It’s rather unsettling. “You know what m’talking about. Or ya’ don’t. That’s fine too. I can show ya’, if y’like.” He states plainly, reaching to try and TOUCH the other man’s shoulder.

He’s on the defensive when he sees him reaching for his person- stepping back with an especially vitriol laced glare fixated on him for it. Is he really that worse off than the rest of the splicers? Anyone with half a brain knows better than making sudden movements around Rapture’s born and bred killing machine. Of course, he’s not about to just let himself come off as fearful either in wake of this- no way in hell.

“Y’know... If I wanted... To keep my arms...” He spits, then trails off in a disturbing timbre , lips curled into a snarl. He side steps, then again, half circling around him, inspecting like a predator.

He’ll tear him limb from limb if he has too, but he’s only curious- like any impressionable child would be.

#.ic #hxcuspocus

Miles wasn’t sure if he should feel hurt or nothing- it wasn’t like he expected much out of Jack in the first place. The splicer was always like that, even when Miles actually was with him. Now that he thought of it, Miles never could actually think of something positive about the other, aside from the fact that he was living and had the mentality to talk to Miles like a somewhat normal person.

“I guess I didn’t need to ask that question since I already knew the answer…” he muttered to himself, avoiding eye contact with Jack. Attempting to change the subject, Miles asked, “So what have you been up this whole time?”

Was he really going to try and stir up conversation despite that? How can one person be so... clingy. He can feel bile rising in his throat, threatening to make him gag at the sentiment. He’d prefer skewering himself to this, to be honest. It’s just sad and embarrassing to watch now.

“Is that... Really your business??”

#.ic #spookedjournalist

Souji’s admittedly a little concerned about how heavy Jack’s breathing is, but nervousness makes it hard to voice such worries. Besides, he’s sure it’d be taken as another way he’s avoiding showing him, when the truth is that all he has holed up is something he alone treasures.

Speaking of, there’s something loud echoing down the hallway which immediately sets him on panic mode. Last time this had happened… he can barely think of it for a moment before he’s setting off in a run ahead, eyes low toward the ground.

There’s a splicer, and as he’d feared, a small creature darting around. Usually he might not be able to do anything about it, but right now he has back-up… in a way.

“Can you cover for me?” he asks, turning pleading eyes toward Jack. “I promise you can take anything you want from my office.”

Souji doesn’t get but a few of those words out before he’s grabbed by the neck of his dress- practically thrown backwards as punishment for his sudden and unforewarned movement. He should’ve known better than to do that, and he can deal with the repercussions. Of course, his eyes drift from a venomous glare focused on Souji over to the ruckus in the adjacent room.

Jack paces towards it without another word, disappearing around the corner. There’s the telltale yells of a splicer engaging him, but then not much else but the squelch and splatter of a weapon meeting flesh and blood striking the ground.

A few more seconds pass. Now, it’s his turn to grunt and be indignant-- as he stumbles back into view with a cat frolicking around his feet. It’s pretty clear that he’s not sure whether he should kill it or let it go, but he’s flustered by it’s sudden affection nonetheless.

He supposes that’s one advantage to this, at least. But it’s not nearly enough to make him stop wishing he hadn’t gotten himself into this kind of situation in the first place. Uneasily, he falls into step behind Jack, fingers curled loosely toward his palm in case this isn’t enough.

“There’s nothing interesting back there… you might be wasting your time.”

“Is that... really up to you to decide?” He remarks, labored breathing all the more prominent in such a desolate hallway. Without a doubt, he’s trying ti dissuade him from finding out where it is he’s holed up- and it’s common knowledge that there’s just as easily a gamble that there’s something nice inside.

All the same, his train of thought halts and his shoulders rise as the sound of distant clanging meets his ears. There’s someone up ahead, and Jack’s eyes narrow severely in wake of potential threat.

“Come out.”

Souji’s frown deepens. The thought crosses his mind that he might somehow slip away from him, but he doesn’t count on it–and he’s sure it’ll only make it all the worse for himself if he gets caught. At this point, his only option seems to be to lead him back and hope that the wrecked sight of his little hole in the wall will satisfy him.

“Alright… but we’ll have to go the long way. They get overwhelming otherwise.”

“Take the shortcut. They won’t attack your sorry hide around me. At least, if they want to live.” He seems smug about that-- but it’s short lived. He knows where the Medical Pavilion is, easy, and so he strides ahead,. His posture is poor, burdened, and he himself is relatively quiet after the need to be threatening passes.

Miles stared at Jack for a second before hurrying over to him and crouching next to him. The journalist hesitantly placed a hand on the other’s back, curling his fingers against the dirtied wool fabric. “I’m a journalist, not a detective- besides, I assumed you wanted nothing to do with me after you ran off like that”

He sighed, letting go of the fabric on Jack’s sweater. “I’m assuming you didn’t miss me.”

He shrugs his arm off his shoulder, showing no interested in his formalities. Was he really this hung up on his presence...? He’d like to pretend it’s because he’s not as mad as everyone else in this place, but it’s probably something else. Maybe it’s just that he’s alone, and he can’t bear to survive without clinging to something.

Jack hates people like that. If you can’t survive on your own, why bother burdening anyone else with your dependency?

“Not one bit, topsider.”

#.ic #spookedjournalist

#ksdfasdf smh #so eager #fav

wake him up…. @heirofrapture

His sudden closeness invades Souji’s senses with a rather unpleasant smell, and further, a sense of fear that causes him to step backward another foot or so. The eyes are intimidating and eerie enough–and they cause realization all at once. This isn’t just some half-mad splicer. It’s him. Souji swallows, all the more sure that he has to play his cards carefully.

“… The Medical Pavilion. I worked at a veterinary clinic.”

“The Medical Pavilion.” He repeats, lifting a brow. Heavily populated by splicers, not an easy place to get around at all. Judging by how poorly he’s managed to get along here, it seems kind of suspicious. But maybe it’s just dumb luck that he’s managed to survive this long. He doesn’t plan to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Take me there.”

@heirofrapture | starter

Miles thought he lost all hope in finding Jack ever again. Well, it has been a little over two years since they’ve seen each other in this underwater prison so Miles’ best assumption was Jack is dead. However his assumption was proven wrong as he saw a figure appear in the distance. Miles wasn’t sure how to feel- it wasn’t like their relationship had been healthy to begin with, but there was still that something about Jack that drew Miles towards him.

“It’s about time you showed up…” Miles said coolly.