Not the only story

Name's Jac, but you should know that if you're here, you probaly also need some info but look at this rad coin trick I just learned first I promise it's worth it.

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

Ruby’s milky eyes studied Jac closely and not for the first time she wished she was good at reading people. Some people could watch a person and smell a lie in the way they fidgeted with their hair or the cadence of their voice. She, on the other hand, was happy when she got into a conversation that lasted longer than ten minutes. If Jac was lying, they were excellent at it and the joker’s prickly wariness faded away once more. 

She couldn’t hold Jac’s trade against them. Everyone did what they were good at, Ruby would just have to be careful not to divulge anything she wouldn’t want too many people knowing. Like it or not, the joker might very well get her wish to live more openly. She couldn’t imagine who might want to track her down though. Licking her lips, Ruby tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Okay…just let me know if I gotta preface something with a "just between us" or something…” 

“Cold deck fights? That’s a real thing, huh?” As far as she had heard, pitting jokers against jokers was rumor; the kind of barbaric stuff reserved for the ugly underbelly of big cities and the jokers either too desperate for the money or too uncivilized to have any higher aspirations. To be honest, Ruby wasn’t entirely certain she wouldn’t want to give it a try. Odds were pretty good that few jokers would be able to compete with the kind of power she wielded and heaven knows she could use the money.

The joker snorted. Guess that put her in the first category.

"What wildcard friendly places do you recommend? I might try and check a few out sometime." She chewed on her bottom lip as she rolled her thoughts over in her mind and wondered if she’d have to go as her actual self. Assumedly if a joint was joker-exclusive, they’d want some proof that she belonged. Or she could could lie and pass her self off as an ace. Ruby wrinkled her nose at the thought. Lying to the people who were like her wasn’t exactly how she wanted her introduction to the community to go. 

[recklessintel]

"I think ya should know yourself where to put a 'jus' between us.' I take what I can get. Free market'n all that." They shrugged and kept quiet for a moment. With the way people gossiped, Jac sometimes had the feeling that random info was safer with them then others. They spent a lot of time thinking about how much the things they knew was worth and who they could and couldn't tell specific things to while others found their hair dresser to be just the right person to tell entire life stories to.

“Cold deck fights? That’s a real thing, huh?”

They looked over to Ruby, she hadn't answered their question directly. Not just not directly but not at all actually, just this nonchalant question back. Jac grinned. " 'course it is. So it's more then jus' defense? Ya interested? 'Cause I think you'd stand a pretty good chance with that power. If ya can fight without it too of course, might always meet someone with rubber bones. Who knows." Cold Deck fights were ruthless. Jac didn't enjoy watching them, there just wasn't anything enjoyable to them about watching people beating each other senseless. Still they kept up with the fights anyway for the same reason they did everything else. Information. Not just on the jokers fighting, no, more importantly on everyone else around. Many people at once, talking and drinking, taking bets, watching fights, you couldn't wish for a better atmosphere to go snooping around and talk someone out of interesting facts.

"I can tell ya where it's at this week, but that's the kinda info I want pay for." It wasn't actually hard to get this particular info if you knew where to ask, but Ruby didn't seem like she even remotely knew the right people to go to and there was only so much Jac told people for free.

"What wildcard friendly places do you recommend? I might try and check a few out sometime."

"Well there's this bar run by a joker called John, it's pretty nice, two blocks from here and also..." they went on for several more places and their street names, all with names of the owners, often their powers, what kind of people went there and what they said about the respective place. It was like turning on a radio when you had no reception, only instead of static you heard words. Jac would have gone on for a while too, if normal human functions didn't involve breathing. When they finally stopped to get some air they furrowed their brows, realizing that the downpour of locations might have been a little much."Wait. Shit, sorry, I always forget. Can ya even remember all that? I uhm, I can write it down?"

[dailygleeson]

[recklessintel]

dailygleeson:

"As soon as they go, "Action!" he goes from lovely Jack to the most sadistic, horrible creep on television." (Sophie Turner on Jack Gleeson)

[recklessintel]

Writing Promt 1

Backpack

The only thing Jac owns that they acquired with money and one of the few they've had for several years; most other things they owned they either lost or had to replace because they were to broken, but the backpack is a thing to keep. No matter what. They managed to make it somewhat waterproof on the inside with plastic bags, safety pins and duct tape. It's not ideal but it works. 

They could easily steal a new one somewhere but having it for such a long time Jac actually feels attached to it. It's the only thing which they'd lable as 'belonging to them' and they'd be upset should it be gone for whatever reason. 

Inside is nothing spectacular but it's still vital to them. It's all stuff for every day life that you'd usually keep in your house. If you have one; a few pieces of spare clothing, a toothbrush, soap, tissues, pens and paper, money if they have any at the moment and of course whatever they've stolen recently.

Lighter & Cigarettes

Jac tries to use smoking only as a tool for getting into conversations. Whatever social gathering there's usually at least one person who smokes and offering them a light or a cigarette they usually already like you a little bit more. And once you're standing together somewhere smoking you have a free run on whatever else you want to talk about. 

The lighter often changes, since Jac has a tendency of losing them. They never go through the trouble of buying one and just steal new ones instead.

Knife

One of the other few things that has been in their possession for a while, Jac stole this knife a few years back from some older kid who'd pissed them off. They're not very attached to it and should they lose it they'd steal a new one without thinking about it to much.

They technically know how to use it in a fight but it's unlikely they'll ever pull it; considering that their preferred way of fighting is not at all Jac either tries to talk their way out of bad situations or runs away. Pulling a knife would make both of these things a lot harder. 

It's still usefully for mundane things though: opening resistant plastic wrappings or cans, cutting nails or opening bottles. Jac uses it enough for random things to remember to always take it with them and replace it in the case they do lose it.

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

A flicker of curiosity lit the joker’s eyes and she looked back at Jac. Her jaw shifted beneath her skin as she bit down on the questions she wanted to ask. Gross treatment and weird tests were exactly why Ruby’s parents hadn’t let the doctors run tests on her but she had assumed that was exaggeration on her parent’s side. What was the worst the doctors could do, anyways? Scenes from Saw II flitted through her mind and she wondered if the sort of torture porn that excited the masses held any truth to what some of these “doctors” inflicted on wildcards.

But that would be illegal, wouldn’t it? And Jac was a nat, so whatever they might know was second hand information at best. 

"Could ya have actually broken my leg? Or is it jus’ like holdin’ down and movin’? Though I guess movin’ would involve breakin’ too."

"Uh, yeah. If I focus hard enough, I could actually crush it," Ruby licked her lips, finding herself nervously glancing over at Jac a little more now that it was open season for questions on her power. By it’s nature, the subject was going to be grim and macabre and the worry that this was a little graphic nagged at the back of her mind. It seemed irrational to be afraid of scaring off someone she had been almost a little scared of herself, but the feeling was there anyway. 

"Well, theoretically at least. I’ve practiced on animal bones and those were all unattached to anything living." She cleared her throat and frowned down at the pavement. The subject couldn’t not bring up memories of what had happened the first time she’d used her powers on the unwilling and her hands balled into fists in her shorts pockets. "Things get complicated when the bones are alive and attached to living flesh. If I grab onto a leg bone and pull one way but the leg muscles fight me and pull another way, well…something’s gotta, uh….give.”

The joker cringed internally at the awkward ending she gave that sentence and was only too happy when Jac went on to answer her own questions. 

“No, I’m not looking for anyone, but…” It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t pretty interested in being around other jokers. Even just to confirm that there really were others out there that looked somewhat less than standard-grade human. The question was if she was ready for it… 

“What sort of places? How do you know a place is wildcard friendly?” 

Jac’s little reveal about what they did for a job confirmed the suspicion Ruby had been feeling all through their conversation and it made something cold and heavy pool in her stomach. The joker hesitated a step, then continued walking at Jac’s side. The thin smile on her lips barely reached the corners of her mouth, let alone her eyes.

“You gather information. On people? Is that how you knew where I lived?” Her voice was forcibly light but her posture was rigid and ready. If this was all some game… Ruby’s jaw tightened. She didn’t like being played with. 

[recklessintel]

Ruby's power certainly seemed usefully in cases you had to deal with unwanted others. Especially since from what Jac understood, unless you knew what she could do, there was no way of tracing it back to her. Obviously, since no touch was necessary. She didn't seem all to happy about the using it on others part though, maybe for her it was just self defense? So far Jac wouldn't put her under aggressive, at least not the type to start fights just for shit and giggles.

"Remind me not to make ya mad", they said finally, despite the darker nature of the topic they managed to sound somewhat amused. "Breakin' bones is bad enough, like honestly I'd put that right under being stabbed, but then imaginin' havin' them crushed.. ow", not to mention that it would take a ridiclious long time to heal. "So are ya interested in Cold Deck stuff or is the bone crushing jus' for self defense?"

They took a moment before they answered Ruby's question. "Uhm. Well I can't say for hundred percent how friendly anything is 'cause I'm a) not a wild card and b) used to different shit then you. Buuut.. well, I know a lot? There's restaurants and bars and clubs and all that shit. Usually if a wildcard owns a place they make sure that their place stays good for other wildcards too. An' there's a few places that are like.. exclusive? So they just let in jokers or aces or both just as a safe space? Uhm can't tell you exactly how good any of those are first hand since I can't get in ya know, but I do know what people say about what place plus if it ain't super fancy, which honest most things ain't, at least not in jokertown, I know the owners too and I can tell ya if they're nice. I mean in the end it's always how ya see it yourself but if most people say it's a good place it usually is. Or well if it ain't there's a reason why people say it's good so you're gonna at least think ya had a nice time, or pretend to so..."

There was a change in how Ruby held herself, which stood out mostly because Jac had seen it before. Not a lot of people took being informed that the person they'd talked to was just out to get info from them particularly well. A reason why Jac usually tried to get it out as soon as the conversation let them, if you waited to long people for some reason always felt betrayed and whatever trust they had build up was pretty much back to zero. "Not jus' people, everythin' I-..."

They stopped, telling Ruby the amount of things they knew didn't seem to helpfull. "Look. I didn't stalk ya or anythin' if that's whatcha thinkin', honestly if I did I wouldn't have to ask ya a thing. It's really how I already told you ok, I knew someone moved in that apartment a month ago and I knew it was a joker. Then I saw ya walk in there. Non of the current people there got a new girlfriend and you had a key, so I figured the new mystery person was you, and when I saw ya again I jus' wanted to be sure. An' that's it. I just saw ya, then did that again and well I got a good memory. An' it's not like I'm actively gonna do anything with knownin' that. No one asked about ya an' I don't jus' give all info to anyone. I just like knowin' things, I'd be doin' this even if I never got any money for it, I mean I used to, but gotta live of something, right?"

[keeper-ryan-blog]

Sunny Days and Good Books || Milo & Jac

[keeper-ryan-blog]

The other’s explanation of why they wanted to know if they’d been correct in thinking they’d seen Milo around a lot made sense, and didn’t ring any alarm bells, so he relaxed, grinning at the other person.  ”I don’t mind at all,” he said, sipping at his own coffee drink distractedly.  After he let go of the handshake, Milo settled back in his chair, moving his book from the side table back to his lap, fiddling with the edges of the pages as he made himself comfortable again.  Instead of opening the book again, however, Milo focused on Jac, shrugging.  ”It’s not all I do ever, but it’s mostly what I do when I’m here.  Unless I’m doing homework, but it’s more likely that I’m reading something for fun, to be honest,” he answered.  ”What about you - what do you do here?  Other than drinking coffee, you know.”

[recklessintel]

"That's still a lotta' books, I'd ask what's your favorite but honesty, I ain't really the best for talkin' 'bout books." Homework and books, so a student, something that was admitedly not very hard to guess since Milo did seem to be around Jac's age, which was a good one to be still taking care of your academics. "So you're in college? Or still school?"

 "Me? Not getting punched by the barista is like on my top list to do." Not that that had happened before, at least not yet, or here. "An' well other than that... finding someone to talk to, not to much of a sitting alone fan."

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

Ruby dropped her gaze, her lips twisting in a thin smile that she hoped was apologetic. When it came to defending herself, she always targeted the leg joints first because of how crippling a blow there could be.

“Uh…I can control bones.” The joker admitted. As far as she knew there wasn’t a registry for wildcards and explaining what her power was, wasn’t giving away what the extent and limitations of it. Lifting her hands out of her pockets, Ruby wiggled her fingers in accent of her statement. The powers that sometimes came along with being infected with the virus seemed to defy the laws of physics and cross into the world of magic. Maybe if she actually became a doctor, she would be able to make better sense of it all but until then, the mechanics of her ability would remain a mystery.

“I can’t really explain it and my parents didn’t let the doctors run any experiments on me so it’s a little bit of a mystery to me too, but, uh…think Magneto from the X-Men but with bones instead of metal.”

Jac’s attempt to explain their understanding of Ruby’s words was a little convoluted but it was on and she chuckled a little.

“Exactly,” The suggestion to keep walking was met with a nod. She could use some warming up and she did want to keep moving. If Jac wanted to start trouble, then Ruby would handle it but until then… Turning away from the direction of her own apartment, Ruby started to walk along the path Jac had just come down. Once they were out of the park, then the joker would make an excuse and slip away. With the sun coming up, people would undoubtably be coming out and while a few people looking at her was manageable, Ruby didn’t like the idea of dealing with a lot of those looks. The encounter with Jac was affirming and positive but there was no illusion that it wasn’t indicitive of others.

“I’m loving it here. It’s head and shoulders above anywhere else I’ve been.” Ruby’s voice was warm with affection for New York. She held no illusions about the steep uphill climb she had set herself on but the city was so vivid and alive. A thought occurred to her and she gave Jac a contemplative look. 

"Do…you know a lot of other jokers?"

A bark of a laugh left the joker when Jac mentioned lack of funds and she rolled her eyes. Fucking. Money. 

“Good point. Unfortunate thing about the capitalist system…you need capital to build capital…” Was she a little bitter? Definitely. Whether it was the economic system that devoured money, the kids that had attacked her or the society that rejected her, the joker carried more than a little resentment despite her efforts to let it go. Breathing a soft sigh, Ruby shook her head and looked out at the park around them.

“What is it you do for work, anyways, Jac?”

[recklessintel]

Jac made a face when Ruby mentioned doctors. "You're probably lucky your parents decided that. Like some of the docs are nice I guess but most of 'em ain't jokers, like really almost non of 'em are, so they're really not.. uhm, like not the people that should do that kinda thing; and I've heard some pretty bad shit. Not even about weird tests jus' the general treatment is gross as fuck, but ya probably know about that..." Jac knew less about it then they could, but finding out more would mean that they'd eventually have to get close to hospitals and if there was one thing they really hated it was those things.

"It's mad cool though, your power I mean", not to mention useful. Depending on how good Ruby was and how much she could control she certainly sounded like a good asset to have on hand if you were planning something big. Or small, generally something that involved the possibility of other humans crossing your plans. "Could ya have actually broken my leg? Or is it jus' like holdin' down and movin'? Though I guess movin' would involve breakin' too."

Walking again felt good. They didn't even mind that it was the direction they had originally come from. It wasn't like they actually had to be somewhere, the only plan they'd had before they ran into Ruby was to go back to their current couch and sleep, and they could do that pretty much whenever they liked. When Ruby said she loved the city Jac couldn't help but grin. Obviously they knew already that New York was the best city to be, but whenever someone said it again it felt like being handed a present. Especially if it was a person that hadn't lived here all their life, since it meant that they didn't think this for no reason.

"Do…you know a lot of other jokers?"

"Sure, I know everyone", they answered, their voice sounding more factual then anything else. It had always just been a thing for them, something that was cool of course but nothing to be particularly proud of. The part to be proud of wasn't just knowing everyone, but knowing a big deal more then just their faces and names. "Why, ya lookin' for someone?" From what Ruby had said so far it sounded like she hadn't come in contact with a lot of other jokers, especially since she only just moved here. They looked over to her for a moment, thinking, despite being out alone at four she didn't strike Jac as the kind of person that enjoyed hanging out alone all times.. "I know a few bars and restaurants an' that kinda stuff that's run by jokers, if that's what ya want."

“What is it you do for work, anyways, Jac?”

"Well uhm, if ya think of work as in official employed person thingy then... nothing." They paused for a moment, it was always strange saying that. Unemployed, someone who did nothing, despite trying not to care about it saying this out loud had a bitter taste to it. And this even though it didn't mean anything, or shouldn't at least, they easily earned money their own way. "People pay me if they wanna know things, 'cause I know what's goin' on everywhere. Like doesn't matter what it is, people, events, organizations... if it's somethin' recent that's goin' on 'round here ask me, pay and I'll tell ya."

[recklessintel]

007 Theme playing in the distance [Max & Jac]

[geniustechnopath]

[TEXT] 07:06 — I don’t know how it’s supposed to go.

[TEXT] 07:06 — That’s your job isn’t it?

[TEXT] 07:07 — I’m the brains of the operation. 

[TEXT] 07:07 — Obviously. 

Max would have been lying to herself if she said she wasn’t enjoying this a whole lot more than she should. The last couple of leads Max got and worked with Jac on turned out to be duds. A mixture of false eye-witnesses and dreadfully ordinary. Even if Max wasn’t all too keen on this Alan guy, he certainly did have some interesting past times. She was just relieved she wasn’t the one who had to talk to him, otherwise this mission would’ve ended before it even started. 

Doing a quick google search, she pulled up auctions for antique handcuffs, forum fanatics, other ebay users and no short amount of historical websites. A plethora of information that might’ve been overwhelming for some, but this was just the tip of the iceberg as far as Max was concerned. Pulling up a website specifically devoted to medieval collectibles, she began to respond to Jac. 

[TEXT] 07:15 — To tell the cuffs a part from a fake, the real ones will have a special engraving on it depending on the prison or dungeon they came from. 

[TEXT] 07:17 — Replicas are made of steel typically. Real ones are made of iron and each cuff will be welded to the links. 

[TEXT] 07:18 — Sword Master makes fakes.

[TEXT] 07:19 — Al has been trying to bid on a pair of 1950’s “Darby” double lock cuffs. 

[TEXT] 07:20 — Also for the record, I’m not greasy. 

[TEXT] 07:20 — And you’re welcome. 

[TEXT] 07:21 — C’mon Dark Knight.  

[TEXT] 07:21 — Go make your move. 

[recklessintel]

[TEXT] 07:22 ok got it, on my way

[TEXT] 07:22 1 thing tho did u make me bid on any cuffs? or do i have any

[TEXT] 07:22 that feels like a vital thing 2 kno as collector

[TEXT] 07:25 also uh just 4 the record what kind of dungeons are we talkin bout here

Behind Jac the conversation had changed from office things to the people who worked there, the usually stuff; who did what with whom and so on. No matter where you lived or worked at least the topics of gossip never changed. While busting in a conversation worked sometimes it was usually best to actually know exactly what was going on, otherwise all it did was make situations incredibly awkward, which really wasn't what Jac was going for. So something else had to work. They leaned back in their chair, considering their options.

But before they could come up with much Alan stood up, apparently leaving for the bathroom. No more time for considerations, Jac stood up themself, but instead of following Alan they went to the counter and ordered a drink. The barkeeper gave them a suspicious look but seemed to have enough trust in the bouncer to not ask for an ID again. They got the drink right as Alan returned. He was walking back towards his table, Jac picked up their glass but waited for a few more moments, seemingly in thought. It was all about timing now something that was very easy to mess up, but luck was on their side when they finally turned around and took a step forward. Alan, who had paid no attention to his surroundings whatsoever, walked straight into Jac causing them to 'accidentally' let go of their glass, but not before they spilled most of the drink everywhere. It was movie worthy honestly, like one of these scenes that took a lot of takes and spilled liquor. The whole thing was only made better by Alan who had now started apologizing over and over and was already picking up the remains of the glass. Jac gladly joined in on the saying sorry but added several 'it really wasn't your fault's just for good measure.

After cleaning up the apologizing stopped and turned into awkward small talk. Alan offered to replace the drink but Jac declined saying that they weren't planning on staying here much longer anyway, they had wanted to meet up with a friend but she hadn't been able to make it. They made an offhand comment about unreliable people, mimicking the tone of voice and humor Alan had used himself during the gossip exchange before. It worked, luckily - otherwise Jac would have just looked like an ass, and Alan laughed a bit. He also seemed to relax Jac noted, which was definitely good.

It was easy enough to meet Alan's humor even further and after a few more jokes about unreliableness he finally got to the point Jac had wanted him to get and asked if they wanted to join him back on his table. They pretended to consider the offer but then finally agreed with a 'I don't see why not' and a smile.

[TEXT] 07:58 i jus wasted good alcohol 4 this

[TEXT] 07:58 also my shirt is ruined

[TEXT] 07:59 but im talkin to him so basicly its goin gr8

[suzannah-dockery-blog]

Street Walker // 30 June // [Suzannah & Jac]

[suzannah-dockery-blog]

[ It was pushing eight o’clock. Suzannah usually got off around seven, and it took about fifteen minutes to walk to the restaurant. She didn’t worry about it getting dark today — at 6’3 and covered in spines and ridges, she was one of the scariest things out there. People left her alone, and she them. It was unusual to have company, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t unwanted. Jac, she hoped, wouldn’t come to hate her by the time the night was up. ]

      “Um. Sure, I guess so, um. If you like, yeah. I-I mean, um. Sure, yeah, if you like.”

[ Eloquent.]

[recklessintel]

I'd like to, yeah.

[They answered, laughing a bit at the repeated phrase. Suzannah seemed not just a little insecure but agreeing two times was still two times more then other people Jac bothered often did.

It's that direction right?

[Nodded towards where they thought the place was Jac started walking without actually waiting for a reply, They assumed Suzannah would just follow suit.]

So you often help strangers on their criminal adventures or was that like a first time experience?

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

The joker quirked a brow. Even if it wasn’t the age of internet technology, giving away your full name to a stranger seemed more than a little foolish. She was also getting the distinct feeling that Jac was fishing for information. The question about where she lived, then asking about her last name?

“Sorry…It’s always hard to gauge what sort of reaction I’m going to receive so I take precautions.” If Jac wanted to connect that to her not answering the question about her last name, or for removing her hold on the nat, Ruby was going to let them. Bending her left knee made the shadow of her kneecap shift beneath her translucent skin and she tapped the toe of her boot against the cement thoughtfully. 

“Everything has it’s drawbacks. Only the ignorant think that having a power means that life gets easier.” She looked up suddenly, realizing how that could sound. “I don’t mean that I think you’re ignorant! Just… we’ve all got privilege that we don’t think about. It’s easy to see the privilege of others and compare it with what we ourselves can’t take for granted.”

Not her words, but words she reminded herself daily. Her parents had never let her feel sorry for herself (not out loud anyways). Every frustration met with a gentle counter to get her to pull herself up by her bootstraps. At least she had makeup, at least she could protect herself, at least she had her brains, at least she had the love of her family. It was all true, but it didn’t help the bitter edge that sometimes sharpened her tongue anyways. 

Smiling ruefully, the joker listened to Jac rattle on. She was growing a good deal more certain that they were fishing for information with how they tossed out bait for her to confirm or deny and it made her uneasy. If Jac was the Jokertown gossip then Ruby was going to be very careful about what she shared. 

“Washington State. Little town a few hours away from Seattle.” Ruby supplied when Jac finally wound down. “And you’re right. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I’ve never seen so many wildcards in one place in my life.”

Yeah, Jokertown was the crap end of the city but it was in a major city and it was alive and colorful and loud. Now that she wasn’t walking, the air was feeling a little cool. Glancing towards the sky, Ruby gauged how far sunrise was. She’d only intended to take a short walk before showering and going back to bed. Since it was her day off, maybe she’d even go without putting her makeup on at all. No promises of whether she’d make it out the door, though.

“When you said this is where you grew up, did you mean Jokertown or just New York in general? You said Jokertown’s not really first choice for nats…why do you live here, then?” 

[recklessintel]

No last name, not that Jac minded much. They were admittedly pushing it a little, especially if you took a look at the hour this conversation was taking place. Considering that names were the easiest thing to find out, provided the person hadn't hidden or changed them in the past, it wasn't much of a loss. With Ruby's living place known it would probably be a matter of ten minutes, if at all.

“Sorry…It’s always hard to gauge what sort of reaction I’m going to receive so I take precautions.”

"Yeah no I get that, though I mean honestly even if I wanted to start shit I probably couldn't, like at least not right now I'm kinda.." they made a vague gesture to their head. "Everything's spinning a little." Not to mention that it came close to suicide to attack a joker with unknown powers. There was a chance they could pulverize you with whatever power they had, one thought and all that was left of you was a smudge on the ground. Jac could definitely think of better ways to spent their future. "I mean I could still run but that's like my default state, which is also why I really wouldn't have appreciated you doin' somethin' to my legs, ya know. What was that anyway? Like from your looks I'd say it has to do with flesh or bones, maybe blood but I think that'd feel different. Not so concentrated on one spot."

Talking about privilege and then worrying how it sounded to Jac, aka she didn't just put her opinion out but wanted them to understand. Definitely interesting. Jac had to send her info to Max and see what she got, whatever outcome this would bring Ruby was already being more promising then any of the other leads the two of them had followed lately.

"I guess yeah, I get that. Not the powers thing of course, I don't have any, I think we got that far, but I mean if ya get punched in the face for bein' a joker or, uhm, bein' not the right amount of normal for some asshole you're still bleeding, right? It's probably not the same in your fancy words but there's blood dripping out of your nose and well in some cases it's broken and in others it ain't, but it still hurts as fuck." It was hard not to notice how much more difficult their life would be as a joker, especially since they had build up pretty much everything they had on people telling them things because they were 'not dangerous' and 'just a nat' someone like that wouldn't cause harm. Still it wasn't easy to find reasons as to how being an ace would be a downside. Probably one of the never know until you are cases.

If it was cold then Jac didn't notice despite not wearing a jacket. They shifted their weight, standing to long and especially that standing without moving at all at first slowly made them feel restless. "Uhm, would ya mind walking a bit? I don't care what direction or where, you can decide, as I said I don't wanna start shit I jus' really need to move."

Jac nodded at the answer to the where Ruby was from question, appearing as if they tried to place the names and locations together. Technically they knew a) the name of all states b) the location of most important cities but since had they never moved a foot out of New York info like this was about as useful as telling them someone lived on the moon. "Taking that that you're liking it here then." They grinned with the pride anyone living in a city long enough started having about said place. "It's a great city honestly, it actually got even more to offer then ya might think right now. There's like people getting together for anything, real cool if ya wanna share stuff and all that."

"Grew up in New York in general, but jokertown's my favorite", their aunt and uncle's house hadn't been in jokertown exactly but it was close enough for Jac to reach quite easily and they started feeling drawn to it. "There's the best people here, like all the interesting shit worth mentioning goes down in jokertown, perfect place to be." They stopped but then added, sounding a bit less enthusiastic. "And honestly, it ain't jus' wild cards who got jack shit for money."

[ithelpstodream]

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

Bobbing her head, the joker confirmed that she was new. Her eyes lifted to the darkened park grounds and the buildings that hemmed the block. Even in daylight she had to follow the street signs and it took a good look to recognize the faces of her neighbors. She certainly couldn’t recognize people like how Jac could. Their words were only words but Ruby was not going to spend her life questioning every person that crossed her path and glancing over her shoulder. This would be her home. The hold around the nat’s bones slipped away to nothing, freeing Jac to move as they wanted. Reaching her hand out, Ruby shook Jac’s in a firm grip.

No more hiding.

"My name is Ruby. It’s good to meet you, Jac-without-the-‘k’." The cool wariness melted from the joker’s voice and her posture relaxed into something less guarded. 

"There’s nothing disappointing in being a nat. We are what we are, after all." Lacing her fingers together, Ruby cracked her knuckles before tucking her hands into her pockets. A nat in Jokertown, huh? Her eyes flicked over Jac a little more carefully. Before, she had only really been paying attention to any sign that they were looking to get the jump on her or start some trouble. 

"For some reason I thought nats wouldn’t really want to live in this part of town. Too many…oddities." She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. The expression looked all the more eerie with the shadow of her bones leering out through her skin but if Jac hadn’t run yet, they probably wouldn’t now.

"Did you grow up here? In Jokertown, I mean?"

[recklessintel]

The feeling around Jac's ankles vanished and while they tried not to, they couldn't help but feel relieved by this. There were a lot of things that could go wrong in Jac's life on a daily basis but injuring their legs in any way was always one of the worst possibilities. "Thanks for not doin' that anymore" they said, grinning sheepishly. "Also good to meet you too. Ruby.. any last name to go with that?"

"We are what we are, after all"

They liked the 'just a nat' phrase because it made it so easy to tell what people thought. Surprisingly few people knew how to properly hide their emotions and even if they did some kind of emotion still ended up on their faces usually. Even if it was just for a moment, by now Jac had gotten pretty good at guessing what it meant. Not that they had to here, the phrase was enough to bump Ruby up on the interesting list. "Well dunno, i've met some people with pretty useful powers."

"For some reason I thought nats wouldn’t really want to live in this part of town. Too many…oddities."

Well that was a careful way to phrase it, they looked at her, obvious amusement showing. "It's really easy to tell you're not from here, you know? Where'd ya move from anyway?" Or maybe Jac was just to used to used to being blunt, they never really got the hang of trying to make things sound nicer, in the end it meant the same anyway. "But you're right. Most of 'em- us I guess, don't wanna live here, I mean if ya got a good job you'd want a good neighborhood to live in too, right? An' most jokers just don't get good jobs 'cause people are assholes. Sorry 'bout that I guess, though you probably still have a better job then me. I'm just gonna assume you have one. You look like person with a job. But then again you're taking walks at like 4 am through an empty park, like some people have weird hobbies and need like no sleep and all but parks are really not the thing to go to.. though I guess I'm here now too, which actually would jus' prove my point.. uhm." They stopped talking because for one thing they needed air and also realized that this wasn't their original topic. They looked at Ruby a bit confused before they managed to trace their thoughts back to where they wanted to go.

"Right. Lost my track for a moment, but yeah I grew up here. And I well, home is home right? Wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."

[suzannah-dockery-blog]

Street Walker // 30 June // [Suzannah & Jac]

[suzannah-dockery-blog]

[ A blush crawled over her features at Jac’s enthusiasm, turning her bone-colored cheeks a light pink. She was already over-analyzing the situation, and this just made it worse. Why were they so excited about this? What was going on?]

      “Y-yeah, yeah. Same here. Nice to, um—”

[ Jac didn’t seem interested in her as much as they could be, and Nanna couldn’t find the words to voice her confusion or questions. Rather than splutter about, she simply responded when spoken to — answering their question and not adding more information than necessary, lest she look like a bigger idiot than she already seemed.. ]

      “Dinner? Um — I was heading to get some pizza down the street.”

[recklessintel]

Dinner...

[What time was it even? Jac blinked, only now realizing that during the chase they lost track of where exactly they were. Trying to orientate themself again they had to take a quick look around; the street was familiar, of course, and after a moment they recognized a house where they'd lived for a while and with that also came the memory of that pizza place Suzannah had mentioned.]

Mind if I invite myself in? 'Cause I'm kinda finished bein' chased around by people right now and don't really have a lot to do. Don't worry, I got my own money, so not gonna ask you for anything.

[For once. But after you ran someone over you probably shouldn't push your luck even more by trying to get them to buy you things. Jac was hungry though, the reason why they'd been trying to steal money in the first place, and well, company was always good too. In case the other accepted of course.]

[keeper-ryan-blog]

Sunny Days and Good Books || Milo & Jac

[keeper-ryan-blog]

“You’re here a lot aren’t you?”

Milo startled at the sound of someone speaking to him, glancing up from his book at the other person with a cut off noise.  He’d been too engrossed in his book to really register the movement of a person sitting down across from him, something that always happened whenever he started reading in a comfortable spot - it usually took someone calling his name or even poking him to get him to pull his nose out of a good book.  ”I, yeah,” he said, still trying to readjust to reality.  ”Every weekend, why?”  He bookmarked his spot in the book and placed it on the table next to his chair, shifting to face the other person square on.  ”I’m, uhm, I’m Milo, by the way,” he said a little belatedly, sticking a hand out for the other person to shake.

[recklessintel]

Jac watched the other's process as he slowly came back to reality, incredible how far away people could go simply by doing something that fascinated them.

”Every weekend, why?”

"'Cause I've seen you every time I was in here on a weekend, always readin' too. So I figured I'd say hi, if ya don't mind."

They took a sip from their coffee, not even pulling a face when they realized that this was definitely not what they had wanted. No use in complaining though, this was just one of the things you had to get used to if you never brought your own money. They just told themself it's like ordering a surprise coffee, something new and exciting every time.

"Jac", they said accepting the handshake. "And that's written without the 'k'. So is reading like all you ever do orrr..."

[geniustechnopath]

THEY'RE A M O N G U S. 

A playlist for the aces, jokers, deuces and suicide kings runnin’ and survivin’ through the mean streets of New York City. 

[tracklisting] [01] david dallas — runnin’ [02] the bravery — believe [03] cage the elephant — ain’t no rest for the wicked [04] imagine dragons — demons [05] matchbook romance — monsters [06] jay-z — run this town (ft. rihanna) [07] ed sheeran — the city [08] m83 — midnight city [09] wolfmother — joker & the thief

We are not alone any longer; listen to the sounds here. 

[rubymanabe]

The Ghost in the Park || Jac & Ruby

[rubymanabe]

"Yeah no, we definitely haven’t talked yet but uhm.." 

Ruby tilted her head, really looking at the young person before her. The warm summer breeze sighed over them both and she thought she caught the sour bite of alcohol from them. Oh good. They really were another drunk. For a second, the joker expected them to make some lame, rude comment, also related to halloween, but then they pulled out real information. Real knowledge of where she really lived and Ruby’s eyebrows raised a little.

"Uh… I do live near here. Probably not the apartment you’re thinking of, though." Something about admitting that she did live in the apartment four blocks away felt a bit too personal to just admit. She still didn’t know what this person wanted. Chill out, this was what you wanted. Ruby closed her eyes for a moment and really forced herself to relax. Without releasing her hold on Jac’s ankle bones or loosening it, she reached up to pull her blonde-dyed hair over one shoulder.

"I take it this is your neighborhood, huh? You seem to know it and the people who live here well." Even if Jac was drunk, they were handling her appearance better than anyone else she’d met. Which could be because she had only started venturing out as herself a handful of times, or perhaps because they were used to the deformed. Just how many jokers were in Jokertown anyways. 

Jac didn’t look like a Joker, but then neither did Ruby after she got ready to go out in broad daylight. 

"Are you a wildcard?" Not so long ago someone had asked her that question and she’d reacted, well, less than friendly towards them. Granted, that person had also tried to play games with her and sparked her rather short temper. Here though, Ruby’s own cards, so to speak, were all on the table and her own status as a wildcard was rather obvious.

[recklessintel]

"Uh… I do live near here. Probably not the apartment you’re thinking of, though."

"Oh ok.." She didn't correct them with anything concrete, nor did she outright deny living close, but even in their slight alcohol induced daze Jac managed to catch the momentary surprise on the others face. Which was about as much of an yes as they could get in this situation, and that's what they would take too. "Well dunno 'bout the apartment exactly but I'm like two houses next to that one", at least right now they were, though they didn't assume they'd live at that place for much longer then another week. "But I was right, yeah? Maybe not the apartment, but you're new."

"I take it this is your neighborhood, huh? You seem to know it and the people who live here well."

"Jus' kinda. It's my neighborhood 'cause most of Jokertown is." Now was a time, should this have been any other kind of situation, they would have taken a step forwards or made some other kind of open gesture, but the strange feeling around their ankles was still very much present and they didn't want to risk anything by moving. "Actually no. No, scratch that. All of Jokertown is. Other places too of course, but this is where I'm most."

The next question didn't come as a surprise, it was one of the first few things to ask if you lived here, and while Jac certainly didn't look like a joker literally everyone could be an ace or a deuce. That together with how people just tended to assume what you were without any hand on facts made the people looking down on wildcards even more bizarre in Jac's eyes. "Nah", they shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint but 'm just a nat." For a moment they were quiet, considering if it was alright to offer their hand, but the joker looked calm enough so they went for it. "I'm Jac by the way, that's without the 'k'."

[jackgleeson-our-king]

[recklessintel]

007 Theme playing in the distance [Max & Jac]

[geniustechnopath]

[TEXT] 06:26 — You give yourself too much credit Jac. 

[TEXT] 06:26 — I meant more like a pet. 

[TEXT] 06:27 — A very annoying, yappy little poodle. 

Max watched the little red dot as it remained in place momentarily before moving into the digitized three dimensional map of the bar. It was nothing more than a small cube structure, but the fact that the red dot hadn’t gone sprinting down the street, Max concluded that the ID was successful. Not that she had any doubt that it wouldn’t work, after all, she had crafted it herself. Max awaited on confirmation from Jac nonetheless on the off chance they managed to muck it up and the bouncer’s caught on to the fact that a kid was trying to infiltrate their midst. 

[TEXT] 06:52 — If he doesn’t bring up where he was a couple of nights ago,

[TEXT] 06:52 — you’re going to have to engage him and get Al talking.

[TEXT] 06:53 — Let’s see. He’s a fan of American football. 

"Shocking." Max sighed dramatically, finding this Alan character increasingly uninteresting each passing moment. Scrolling further and delving deeper into this man’s most personal history, she hoped that at the very least his cool power could make up for his banal personality. If he truly was an ace, then Max couldn’t deny that having him in the Wolves would be beneficial to their ranks. 

[TEXT] 06:55 — He also collects….

[TEXT] 06:55 — Wow.

[TEXT] 06:56 — Antique handcuffs. 

[TEXT] 06:57 — I almost feel bad for you right now. 

[TEXT] 06:58 — Almost. 

In the matter of ten seconds, Max constructed a fake e-bay profile titled florentineoftheroundtable37 and bid a relatively high amount on a pair of Antique Bean Cobb Handcuffs Patent May 1899. She reasoned if they both had a similar, albeit intimate hobby, it might get him to relax around Jac so that they could do what they do best and gather intel. 

[TEXT] 07:00 — Guess who’s also a collector of handcuffs of the historical variety?

[TEXT] 07:01 — Honestly, Goosedown I had no idea you were into that. 

[TEXT] 07:01 — Have fun. <3

[recklessintel]

[TEXT] 06:50 also y am i a little poodle

[TEXT] 06:50 i wanna b a tall 1

[TEXT] 06:50 )-:

They finished the dog complaint texts, barely listening to the conversation behind them. Incredible how people who sat inside offices all day had the durableness to go on about this after work too. The more they said the more Jac realized that the question of what people DO in offices was one that they'd actually rather not know about.

A few minutes later their phone buzzed again. Football. Well that was something at least. They weren't really interested in it but it was hard not to catch up on what was going on when you talked to a lot of people. It was a popular topic, especially when there was a big game in foreseeable future. Jac frowned at the next few texts, they didn't have they easiest time picking up emotions from text alone but god damn it they could almost feel the schadenfreude radiating of these

[TEXT] 07:02 oh my god

[TEXT] 07:02 wtf max i hate u

[TEXT] 07:03 how do u even beliv convos go like im gonna burst in like hey buddy wanna talk handcuffs

[TEXT] 07:04 </3

God. Antique handcuffs, why anyone would want to touch handcuffs out of their own free will was beyond Jac. Though apparently now they were part of those people so they should get some kind of idea. The only memorable experience they had with handcuffs was a rather unfortunate situation involving two friends, about a dozen stolen hats, a cop and the surprising strength you can have under the influence of panic, adrenalin and alcohol.

It had left them with a broken wrist as well as a scar and the desire to never do that again. At least it was an interesting story to tell and with a scar to show it was ten times better. A scar, huh.. maybe getting in this topic would be easier then they thought.

[TEXT] 07:09 wait nvmnd

[TEXT] 07:10 i have an idea

[TEXT] 07:11 need some info on handcuffs tho

[TEXT] 07:11 sm good ones i should kno, which material is good what is shit how 2 tell fake ones

[TEXT] 07:11 not like fake in they dont close but like fake brands

[TEXT] 07:12 imagin ur that kinda weird greasy guy bhind a counter givin me all the good info on hadncuffs

[TEXT] 07:12 buddy lets talk handcuffs

[TEXT] 07:13 (ur still at </3 tho)