comfort came against my will

comfort came against my will and every story must grow oldrp acct. sideblog. mature content. not really theo james.

[jack-osborne]

He’d been in Fableton for some time now, and one of the things he’d come to realize about himself was that he breathed a little easier when Halloween was over.  He knew Shock loved the day, and loved the concepts outside of the actual day, but he didn’t.  He liked it when he could trust what he was seeing. 

So, he might’ve actually been whistling to himself.  He might’ve seemed approachable.  He might’ve been relaxed and secure, and definitely not afraid of whatever was coming.  And he might’ve been almost sure that kind of trust wasn’t his mistake.  It even had him inviting the opinions of others, which was probably a first. 

“So... pumpkin spice?  Or salted caramel?” He asked without a glance when he sensed the body next to him in line at the coffee shop. “I can’t decide.” 

[smartass-shock-blog]

It’s not Seattle but we’re still sleepless || Jock-Shack

[jack-osborne]

smartass-shock‌:

There was a benefit to both of them being so awkward and unsure of how to play their relationship. The closest thing to another romance Shock involved some mild flirting and a very interesting google search that would forever scar her browsing history. She still got ads with hot young girls looking for romance, click here to be connected. 

It was interesting to know that apparently they dressed the same for bed. Weirdly, or perhaps not weirdly, she had a craving for Lucky Charms. He wasn’t even wrong with his assumption on her having at least two forms of ID in her purse, technically she had four. One was just her regular ID, the second was her employee badge, the third was her student ID, and the fourth an animal shelter volunteer badge that warned that she was a bitter. 

“Hey… I mean I got a lot of things.” She stammered out, admittedly still a little shaken from her dream. “Umm…” Shock swallowed hard and darted her eyes upward. “I’m good.” Her voice cracked out. “Just um…”

Shock looked over at Jack and tried to force a smile, but instead it probably looked closer to her being constipated. “Do you want to… hang out?”

Jack blinked as she stumbled through what could have been a simple answer for a simpler person.  The more she stuttered, the less okay she looked.  It banished the emotional awkwardness for him, at least a little, and gave way to affection.  He had come to rely on her being okay, because her quirks and her presence made him happy.  He hadn’t ever thought he’d feel that safe with someone who wasn’t his sister, so it was something.  And he wanted, desperately, to return the favor.  He offered a tight-lipped, understanding smile and he swung the door open to let her inside. 

“I definitely want to hang out.  Want an ice cream sandwich?  I was just sitting down with one.”  He sighed a little on his own admission.  So far, she knew some details about him, but not this one.  “I, uh... wasn’t planning on going back to sleep.  Nightmares.  Do you want me to put some clothes on?”

[smartass-shock-blog]

It’s not Seattle but we’re still sleepless || Jock-Shack

It wasn’t often that Shock had nightmares anymore, but on occasion one would creep up and leave her shaking. On those nights she would go and see if Sally was awake or cuddle Luci till he let out a meow of protest. Tonight neither seemed fitting for the panic bouncing around in her chest. This nightmare was just like the others, but with a final blow that left her breathless. Shock would find herself wondering in some old house looking for her brothers only to find them with Oogie. Next thing she would know it was just her and Oogie, him being very upset with some failure of hers or the other. “How about a game?” He’d ask with a devilish grin. Oogie’s games were never the fun kind and they’d usually ended in bruises. Finally, when she’d lose the game Oogie would tell her he killed Barrel to get to Fableton. 

It was the final blow that left Shock in tears and hollow inside. Worse than anything it filled her with doubt about her brother. What if for once Oogie told the truth? Sally was just down the hall she told herself, Luci was awake and already kneading Shock’s side with his paws, but neither made her feel truly safe. Without really thinking she reached for her phone and typed out a text to Jack, Twizz. 

Shock: You up? I’m coming over if that’s cool.

She didn’t wait for a reply, she gave Luci a pat and some treats before putting on some shoes and grabbing her monster of purse. When she made it over to Annie’s she was still in her pajamas which consisted of a black tank top and boxers that had zombies dancing on them. For a second she thought about knocking, but she really didn’t want to wake Annie up as well.

Shock: Here

Shock shoved her phone back in her bag and started to wait for the door to open. She was mid pace when she heard something.

@jack-osborne

[jack-osborne]

Jack was plagued with nightmares on the reg and he honestly didn’t normally remember them anymore.  For a time, he’d been curious what was happening in his brain while he was asleep, but that time had now passed and he assumed he was better off not knowing.  

Better off, probably, but still wide awake without a chance in the world he’d be going back to sleep, thanks.  Really, it was nights like this he was glad Annie wasn’t always around, because he didn’t want her to worry.  

He had just settled in with an ice cream sandwich and the remote to turn on something on Netflix when Shock’s first text came through.  He had less than zero idea how to play that cool, even if they’d been whatever they were for a while.  If he responded too fast, it would be... something.  If he didn’t respond at all, it would be... something else.  The debate raged to the point he’d finished his treat, the television was still off, and Shock was texting him that she’d arrived. 

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world that he hadn’t answered.  Shock was still here.  In the middle of the night.  While he was wearing only Lucky Charms boxers.

Maybe he needed Lucky Charms for his midnight waking snacks.  

He decided to shelve that thought for later and answer the door instead, opening it just a crack so he could stick his head out.  

“Can I see some ID?  I’m sure you’ve got at least two kinds in that gigantic purse.”  Her face didn’t totally open the floor for teasing, and he was still half asleep, though, so he decided to be a better boyfriend with his next sentence.  “You okay?”

[jack-osborne]

@ (Annie)

Send me a text meme

Send “@” for a SCARED text.

J: The nightmares are back.  I don’t know what I did.  What do I do? 

J: Am I ever gonna be normal again?

@afflictedannie

[jack-osborne]

ø for Shock

Send me a text meme

Send “ø” for a LATE NIGHT text.

J: Maybe it’s the nickname, but I can’t sleep and I’m watching a movie, and I feel like Twizzlers would go with it.

J: Do you happen to have some in your neverending supply of sugar, and would you be willing to share? 

@smartass-shock

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

“I am,” he agreed. “And you must be her boyfriend.” It was kind of a juvenile word. He didn’t care for it, but he couldn’t think of another modern equivalent. Beau. Partner. Boy who was a friend.

“Yeah, I guess that’s the word.  We haven’t really used that one before, but it works.”  He eyed the other Jack warily.  “Are you protective over her or do you need to know about my intentions?  I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but I’ve seen it on television.” 

Originally posted by theojamies

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

He watched with mild interest while that information sunk in. If they were being honest, there was no reason he should trust Jack. “No,” he said simply, taking a drink of his beer.

“So you’re Shock’s boss,” Jack said.  It seemed like a round-about way to get there, but they had arrived nonetheless. 

[jack-osborne]

thelittlehutonlegs‌:

“I guess so. I’ve never smoked a cigarette and never smoked crack either so I wouldn’t be able to say for certain until I’ve tried. But you know. Maybe…” She’d never heard that one before but sometimes there things were worth a test, just for the fun of it.

She tilted hr head at the next though and raised a shoulder. “Well, sure. I mean self-control is a good thing. It’s what you’re supposed to have. It’s not self-self-control that really fucks things up.”

“Me either,” he admitted.  

“So helping with self-control is okay as long as it’s part of your own choice?” He asked for the sake of clarification.  “But helping with someone’s self-control when they’re not directing is the problem?” 

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

While Jack could stonewall conversations for several lifetimes, his tolerance for playing coy was minimal. He was already weary of dodging questions. The truth was always much simpler. “I run a funeral home.”

The explanation gave Jack some pause.  Shock worked at a funeral home.  This guy was her boss?  That made him kind of nervous and way less trusting, which was saying something.  Or, maybe if not less trusting, he didn’t take anything about the interaction for granted.  “Are there more than one of those in town?”

   Originally posted by mikkeljensen

[jack-osborne]

thelittlehutonlegs‌:

She twitched he head from side to side as she considered it. Like. That was a strong word. And she wasn’t even sure that was how it worked. She’d never liked anything she did, but it was her purpose. Everything had a purpose and hers was to help… in the most round about of ways. “Nah. It’s just one step across a line that shouldn’t be crossed. I mean, bees first. What next? Fucking around with something’s self-control. Not cool.” I mean, fair enough she’d once given a kid a torch that blew up her horrible family but that was another story entirely. Murder was one thing. Autonomy another.

Jack nodded.  “I mean, I agree with you. I definitely see your point.  It’s like thinking cigarettes are okay one day and then the next thing you know, you’re smoking crack or something.”  At least, that’s what all the ‘Just Say No to Drugs’ information had said when he was a kid.  “So do you think it’s ever okay to help someone have self control?  Like if they’ve asked you to or something?”

Originally posted by benzinedreams

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

In Jack’s case, a lack of trust and paranoia might not have been totally misplaced. “No, I’m not.” He hadn’t offered any more information, so he didn’t either. In any case, Halloweentown was probably a dead giveaway, pun only sort of intended.

Jack nodded, accepting it and not wanting to ask further.  If he asked, there was every chance he might have to explain as well, and he wasn’t so sure he wanted to do that.  It seemed best to just drop it.  

“So what do you do here and now?” He asked, figuring he would be willing to answer that question if he was asked in return.  

Originally posted by theojamies

[jack-osborne]

thelittlehutonlegs‌:

“I don’t do controlling things. They’re a bit… eh. You know? Charms protect people. They’re passive. When you start commanding things, that’s when you gotta start thinking and that’s where things go wrong.” Babette had never trusted that kind of magic. It was the sort of thing that was too easy to get carried away with. “You start controlling things and the next thing you know, you’re the kind of witch that cackles.” So far she was proud of the eternity she’d spent not cackling.

He didn’t entirely follow, but he was sure he at least got the general idea.  He also felt like this conversation had slid from something hypothetical, something that could exist in his concrete world in conversation only, to something uncomfortably realistic.  The way she talked made it sound like an area of experience, and he just wasn’t sure he wanted to believe in that kind of magic.  Or, if he were being open and honest, any kind of magic.  Part of him thought maybe letting her take the lead in the conversation would be wise.  It was definitely a form of relinquishing control, but it was the kind he could live with because he didn’t know how to discuss this kind of stuff rationally.   

“So you’re saying if you control things, you’ll like it, and that will make you cackle?  At least, if you’re a witch?” 

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

“So we do.” Along with half a million other people, but he kept that to himself. Not being hostile was turning out to be more difficult than he’d expected. He had a very selfish wish that Sally would come and save him from this conversation. Apparently, he wasn’t prepared to have a civil chat with Shock’s boyfriend. “Are you from Fableton, Jack?”

Jack was oblivious to the other’s struggle with civility, but mostly because he was so wrapped up in his own struggle not to fully deconstruct the other guy out of a lack of trust and maybe even a touch of paranoia.  “No, I’m not.  Are you?” 

[jack-osborne]

smartass-shock‌:

Shock knew enough about Jack that there was a good reason he was always in the corner, despite what Patrick Swayze said. The fact that he came at all was plenty to make her proud. Besides if anything did go wrong and they needed to make a fast exit, Shock did have supplies like stink bombs and several cans of silly string. “Horns?” Shock took a good look at him as she tried to picture it. “Honestly, it’ll look pretty good on you. It would compliment your bone structure.”

When he took her hand and pulled her closer, she instantly blushed and of course stumbled a little into him because grace was never her forte. Shock cleared her throat as she softly ran her hand up his chest. “I mean… there are good parts. Firm…” She smiled. “Even if people seem more interested in beer than tricks or treating.”

Shock was probably the only person he’d ever met who would  pull back and survey his face to picture him with horns just because he’d asked. It made him smile.  “Well, then do your worst.  I trust you’ve got supplies and could make it happen?”  He asked.  He already knew the answer.  She always had something on her. 

Her hand was on his chest and she was complimenting it and he couldn’t resist joking a little.  (He was going to chalk it up to her influence over him.)  “I work out.”  Which... she knew.  Mostly it was things like push-ups and sit-ups at home, but it still counted.  “Maybe beer is grown-up trick-or-treating.  Only you have to pay for it.” 

[jackbeimpish]

who let the dogs out | annie, jack, & jack

[jack-osborne]

afflictedannie‌:

jackbeimpish‌:

Jack watched as the dogs flooded through the doorway, but as soon as a couple trickled back into the hallway with him, he realized what must have happened. Annie’s frantic voice let him know she’d probably shut the front door, and he huffed a soft sigh. This was one instance where being visible wasn’t working out so well for him. Rather than try to get by her, he wandered the other way toward the back door and cracked it open. A couple dogs pushed eagerly past him, but it only led to a fenced in yard for them to play in. He could have scaled the fence easily, but it wouldn’t help the dogs. He went outside anyway, looking for a gate. “If I were a gate, where would I be…” he hummed.

@afflictedannie​

“You lost track of time, didn’t you?” she teased, smiling on her end of the phone.  She could only imagine how different it was having others depending on him to be prompt, considering he had spent so much of his life alone, but at least he was trying.  She was happy just to have him in her life at all.  What she wasn’t happey about was the current situation, her feet carrying her towards the hallway the dogs had all come from.  “I don’t know!  Jack, I need help.  Please!” she pleaded, gasping when she saw the back door open.  “Oh no…” she muttered, rushing towards it and finding the other Jack standing in the backyard.  “Did you let all of the dogs out?!”

@jack-osborne​

Jack chuckled.  Busted.  “Someday, you won’t see through me so well,” he promised.  It was also a lie, honestly.  He hoped she always did.  And he hoped she always forgave him when failed and then kind of lied to make up for it.  It was a cycle he didn’t see ending anytime soon.  

But then she was asking for help, and she sounded kind of panicked.   He instinctively knew when she wasn’t talking to him anymore, but it all still sounded like chaos.  “I’ll be there as quick as I can, Annie.  I promise,” he said, trying to be loud.  He held the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he skipped the shower and opted for shoes instead.  

@jackbeimpish​

[jack-osborne]

quillantheelder‌:

“Those are good people to have around,” he mused.  He thought about the people in his life that he liked spending time with, and a pang of guilt hit him when he realized it had been a while since he had seen some of those people.  He would have to fix that.  “I feel like this is the kind of event where people eventually make poor choices and blame it on the copious amounts of alcohol currently flowing,” he explained.  “Nice to meet you as well, Jack.”

Jack nodded.  “They’re the only people I really like having around,” he admitted.  “I’m not the most social person.  It’s just not, um, how I was raised.”  He offered a kind of bland smile.  He wasn’t trying to insult the other guy, really.  He was just trying to be open about being guarded, which was a really weird effort.  He nodded knowingly, even though he could only imagine what Rian said to be the case.  “Yes, I think those kinds of events happen a lot.  I wonder if there was ever a time in my life I would’ve enjoyed that.”  He shrugged.  “So what brings you here tonight?” 

[jack-osborne]

nightmaarejack‌:

“I suppose it depends on the person,” he said noncommittally. He didn’t think the two necessarily went hand in hand, but he could see how they would when the person was Shock. “I didn’t.” There was a slightly longer than normal pause while he considered not answering what wasn’t quite a question. He was that intractable, but he didn’t want to alienate Shock’s boyfriend right from the start. There was time for that later. “It’s Jack.”

“That is true of many things,” Jack agreed.  When the other man contrarily answered, Jack’s eyebrows went up impatiently at the potential Dad joke, because he vaguely remembered those.  He almost breathed a sigh of relief when the guy answered.  “Good to meet you, Jack.  I’m thinking we have a pretty common name in common.”