@janeives asked: what do you know about fairness?
the two are a sight as they lounge against the worn - in couch with nothing before them but emptied takeout containers and the low buzzing hum of the television set, playing labyrinth in the background. typically the movie would’ve grabbed their attention, but this is their second rewatch while nancy’s been visiting, as they’ve been running out of options and jonathan’s expressed, in his oh - so - delicate manner, that he’d probably prefer nancy, who’s been hanging out with jane while he and joyce are both at work, and will at school, not take too many chances when it comes to driving. she’s pretty shit at it, so it’s not like she can blame him. and he knows it all too well, because she’d helped drive them up for a brief leg of the trip from new york to maine. she couldn’t even argue. so blockbuster’s a no, and the byers’ vhs library is a little lackluster, and therefore, therefore . . .
❝ huh? ❞ the question takes her off guard, though the tone is hardly accusatory. it only takes a moment for her to understand it in its less volatile state; that is, genuinely, nancy, what do you know about fairness? she takes it at its surface level, furrowing her brows in thought as she stalls by taking a generous sip of coke.
what she knows of fairness is cynical, and should she try to explain it, kindly, she worried she’d risk a bitter sounding tirade and an uncomfortable shift in the otherwise nice day the two had been having. it would be winded and cruel and jaded and mean: because fair is a silly thing, no one cares if things are fair when it’s not in relation to themselves. the world sucks and so does everyone in it, “fair” is bullshit. jane’s own experience with fair and good . . . this was something nancy didn’t have to presume too much on. she was sure that fair had been, between the two of them, but to jane in particular, inconsequential. BUT ANYWAY : CAN’T SAY THAT.
❝ um . . . like, in general? it’s, just, it’s when –– i mean, you know what fairness is, it’s, sort of, like . . . people get what they deserve. mostly. ❞ she considers her own answer for a second, peering over towards jane to see if she might glean her reaction. determine whether she was satisfying the answer jane was actually seeking.
❝ i don’t know. it’s sort of, hard to explain, i guess. ❞ she didn’t think it would be. ❝ it depends. ❞