The dark tunnels of the DC metros were suffocating, but probably more so for someone who could actually see. Despite the handicap, the blind guy lead the group through the musky underground, through horde after horde of...dead ghouls. It was mostly trudging through the dead bodies of someone who beat them to the kills. Jake could practically hear the disappointment in Jane’s voice, and he couldn’t agree. He had been itching for a fight, and corpses just wouldn’t do.
Ah well, at least this was a better situation for escorting the two lovebirds...
God, this was boring. Might as well make small talk...Christ.
Hey max.
Do they have many prominent subway systems up in keene? Or are yall lucky because ye dont have mandatory prisons left an right because some prewar fucks decided its smart to build these death traps?
i suppose the inevvitable is wwhat i get for finally slippin up after swweeps a lyin about THAT particularly accursed, wwretched day on the fuckin calendar. a course it had to not only be the same on the swweepal one, but also the fuckin YEARLY one. god fuckin damn it i hate this shit.
rox isnt goin to let me livve this dowwn, god damn it.
wwell if i die in the next ten minutes or so, my moirails to blame an thats all i havve to say on the matter.
{End to a Search} - [Closed RP with technoGunblade]
If you had asked Jade last year if she’d ever consider working with Dirk on anything, she would’ve just rolled her eyes and lectured you on why he was a bad person, and then tell you that her little rant was an abridged version, and you should see Dave if you want the unabridged one. She wasn’t his biggest fan, and that was mostly from having to deal with Dave, and watching her siblings leave her for that douchebag. He hurt her, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive him.
While Jade would sill never forgive Dirk, she could at least put it aside for a common goal of finding her siblings, and maybe ending this petty squabbling once and for all.
New Years was hectic; it ended up leading to a lot of drama, and shit she wasn’t prepared for, one of them being being on speaking terms with Dirk again. A heated discussion lead to a revelation that her siblings were alive, but in an unknown world far from their own homeworlds. As hesitant as she was about seeing the two again, as she never truly knew them, Jade had quickly offered up a solution once the problem of “Dirk doesn’t know where they are” was presented. The Prince could manipulate strings of fate, and they became more solid the closer they were to their owner...so why not combine that, with her many shops? She had so many shops scattered across the multiverse, Jake and Jane had to be somewhere.
It’s been just over a month since they began searching.
In that time, Jade had successfully offered to make Dirk a new pair of eyes during one of his breaks to rest his powers. Naturally, he did look disturbed by the thought of it, like she couldn’t do a good job (excuse the hell outta him), but once Jade reminded him of Vriska’s arm and eye, and her own eye, he seemed to calm down the slightest. He argued his eyes were just fine, but a reminder of more dangerous worlds and situations was brought to light (what if his eyes powered down during a fight, and he and Roxy were separated? What if something artificial tried to kill him, and he couldn’t see it?), he eventually agreed to it. So while he searched for her elusive siblings, she spent days and nights building him some new eyes to match her own single one.
Sure, they got caught on the eye part (Roxy was worried, and nearly hit Jade for scooping out Dirk’s eyes), but for the most part? Their search was uneventful. Results were inconclusive, god damn it.
“How many worlds have you checked today?” Jade inquired, breaking a thirty-minute long silence that had the accompanying track of magical energies, and tinkering sounds. “We’ve gone through so many, we have to be running out.” The list next to her had more scratches on it than clean entries, signifying the sheer amount of worlds they’d scoured. Twilight Town was one of the first ones they’d tried, and got a...strange result there, but she had to get Dirk to focus on the task at hand instead of seizing up. Pandora was a no go (surprisingly), Gielinor was empty (he got sized up by some wayward adventurer that was looking for a fight), Hyrule was a bust (like Jade was going back there, when Midna was hanging around!), and the Lucid Plains were a majorly bad idea (they popped in at night, and nearly got clobbered by an Iron Giant...Dirk decided that was a good enough time to go to bed). Suffice to say, no luck.
It’d been a month. She was thoroughly convinced that maybe there was no use in trying anymore. Roxy was gonna catch on at some point, Dave could come back home at any moment from his job over in Pandora (that was a change, he usually got jobs in Nirn), and Dirk was just drying his mana reserves for nothing. Yeah, he was getting better at it with each attempt, but it changed nothing. There was nothing. They had nothing to show for their work, other than the fact that Dirk had new eyes (that were fucking awesome, if she did so say herself), and she made good on her promise to Roxy to get her a new arm (or ten).
But other than progress on promises, they didn’t have Jake and Jane to show for their work, and it fucking sucked.
--Honestly, he didn’t like this. Still traveling with Max and Marie when this day rolls around? Bullshit. Utter bullshit. Jake was tense the whole time, as Jane kept up her cheery attitude. Of course she would, of fucking course she would this was her favorite holiday. She’d yet to do anything, but he just knew she would.
--But as the day went on, no wayward shenanigans gave Jake hope that she had forgotten what day it was (a common occurrence for the both of them, and most of the wastes). So as the sun set, bathing the ruins in warm light that made them appear as if they were a lit from the inside, Jake made a dreadful mistake.
--”Oh, blast it all! Aahhh...that’s just my luck,” came Jane’s voice as they were finishing up their preparations around the camp. She stood over their collected gear, with her hands obviously on her hips, but as far as whatever expression of frustration may be painted on her face, he could only guess - best one was her pursing her lips with a pout.
--”Somethin’ the matter?” Jake asked from where he crouched, glancing up in his usual act of “Hey, I can totally see!”
--”I forgot to grab one of our bags!” Her hand went to her face, but it just melded with the rest of the beige blur that was her head. “That was most of our food, and a good amount of our water!”
--Worry caused his brow to furrow as he stood up straight, rolling his shoulders back as he did so. He took a moment to analyze her tone, to see if she was yanking his chain, but found no evidence that would suggest otherwise. And she and Max were in charge of their bags today, since he and Marie were yesterday...Damn it, she was probably telling the truth.
--”Hey, it’s alright. I’ll just go back an’ grab it. I remember where that was.” He lowered his voice before he continued. “Just keep an eye peeled on those two, alright? Still think there’s somethin’ off ‘bout Max. I’ll be back in a jiff.”
--Jane continued the hushed tone of their conversation, walking over to him and making sure she wasn’t facing the northern lovebirds. “Jake, you’d have to go through the metros again...That’s a day’s walk, at best. It’s not safe.”
--A smug smirk played at Jake’s lips as he laughed, mussing up Jane’s hair to try and dash away any concern. “A day’s walk down your path. You seem to forget that I won’t be hindered by you and the tourists. Should be...an hour, at best? You needn’t fret over me!”
--Oh, how he hated the fact he was currently monitoring Max. He couldn’t get a read off of Jane’s emotions, so when she crossed her arms over her chest (made apparent by the beige folding over red), he couldn’t tell if she was being smug, or huffy. Her continued soft tone suggested the latter. “Well, excuse me for being concerned over my bat-like brother! Normally, I would dub you with the moniker of bat, but you’ve no way of navigating the same way they do! You’re just a bat, without any of the fancy abilities.”
--”Memory. I’ve got that. Just trust me, I’ll be back in no time.”
--A sigh from Jane.
--“Fine. But know that if you do die, I’ll follow those be damned culstist’s example and look into ways of bringing you back via eldritch means just so I can kick your ass for leaving me here.”
--That earned a snort from Jake as he felt to made sure his guns were still in their appropriate holsters. With a non-committal good-bye, he left the camp and headed in the direction of their old campsite.
--Instead of taking the normal route of an underground trek through zombie-like victims of nuclear fallout, Jake went above ground - figuratively, and literally. He not only trudged through the derelict streets of once-D.C., but also took to the buildings, darting through rubble as he scaled those decrepit skyscrapers and leaping from window to window through sheer memory alone. Having explored the ruins top to bottom while he could still mostly see, and being able to sense the world’s mangled heart helped a lot in this expedition of his.
--It took him about forty-five minutes to reach their old campground, just as darkness blanketed the wastes. If he didn’t have a hard time seeing anyways...Christ.
--With a slight huff, Jake rested his hands on the grips of his pistols, trudging towards the broken down theater they once called shelter. Such a large building would normally be cause for caution, and not be the best place to stay...but with a group of four, they decided to forgo the smalls places they normally went with. Still cautious, as anything could’ve moved into the space in their absence, Jake carefully pushed the large door open and moved inside.
--A small snap was the only indicator it was too late.
--That sound meant only one thing: a tripwire. That spelled trouble in ways that rushed through Jake’s mind rapidly as he made to run. Grenade bouquet, activating some kind of turret, something! He had to get out of there and to cover as quickly as possible.
--Jake broke into a run, trying to cover as much ground as possible in case it was a bundle of grenades ready to ruin his day. Everything was too loud around him - his footsteps, his breathing, his pulse - god this was shit! He was going to get ambushed, he was going to get killed, and he’d leave Jane alone in the wastes! Fuck! He hadn’t even covered much ground yet! He’d barely even crossed the threshold!
--Before something came flying down and smacking him in the face.
--Jake screamed. His gun was in his hands in a matter of seconds as he was face to face with some mass of fleshy discoloration, the stench of it all overwhelming him. He could easily see the blurred image of a disfigured face, twisted in a deathly grimace. The ghoul that swung into him had him stumbling backwards as he pulled his firearm up and fired a few rounds into its disgusting head.
--But no screams came from the twisted fallout victim.
--Jake paused and lowered his gun, tilting his head to the side as he waited for a reaction. When none came, he carefully ran his hand over the disgusting ridges that were the ghoul’s taut skin. There was the gunshot, smack dab between its eyes...but it wasn’t bleeding. It seeped a little, but it wasn’t bleeding. Further examination lead to the discovery of a large gash across its chest, sticky with old blood and other bodily fluids...definitely not a wound he’d inflict. Probably Max, or-
--Jane.
--Jake ripped the body from the tether it was clearly on, a small thump accompanying it crumpling at his feet. Of course. Of course Jane killed this ghoul, of course it was strung up, of course she sent him there. It was the beginning of that goddamned month, and he should’ve known better!
--”I swear to fucking god, I’m losing a sister when I get back,” he growled under his breath. He was pissed. He was legitimately scared, he was legitimately concerned about his sister, and she had to pull that shit.
--Well, he was going to get back at her.
--Ignoring the fact he heard the theater door move, and the fact he felt a sudden spike in panic over that estranged connection of his, Jake placed his hands on the ghoul’s head and dug his fingers into the monstrosity’s skin, placing a foot on its shoulders. He could definitely hear someone talking behind him, but he was too mad to focus on that. Fingernails digging into soft flesh, he pulled up on the head with all of his strength as he stepped down on the shoulder. He met resistance (naturally), but continued at his demented task until finally-
--RIIIP.
--”O-oh, god. What the fuck, Tony?!”
--Jake paused, the ghoul’s head clasped in his hands. He turned to face the voice, and paled slightly when he registered the fact that was Max’s.
--”Did you seriously just--oh, god.” Max stood behind him, the black that was his gloved hand on the beige that was his face. ...Oh yeah, he did have a weak stomach.
--When’d he get there?!
--”...I was pissed off.”
--”Didn’t have to require you ripping that guy’s head off!”
--Jake just looked down at the head in his hands, furrowing his brow. “Would you take ‘it’s proof’ as an excuse?”
--”Yeah, that’s going to have to be a hell no.”
--The young English rolled his eyes and kicked the body away, walking towards the entrance of the theater. “Look, sorry. Wasn’t expecting you to be here - were you following me?”
--A different kind of panic was transmitted through the anchor that Jake had planted in Max’s emotions, probably one of being...caught, probably. He got that a lot from raiders trying to pretend to be innocent. “I. Uh.” He paused. “It was getting dark. I got worried.”
--Jake just lightly shoved Max and walked past him. “You needn’t, my god. I can clearly handle myself. Christ...y’all won’t let me do my own thing.”
--Maybe it was best they didn’t, because him doing his own thing soon lead to a dark camp, with poor Jane just about to doze off, when a decrepit head being thrown at her interrupted her sleep.
--Serves her right.
--
--Offscreen shenanigans!
“Max” and “Marie” wouldn’t stop staring at Jake’s ass when he was crouched down and arranging stuff
They were also staring at his various assets when he stretched
Jane trying to play up the act of being worried!
“Max” rushing off to help Jake the moment he heard him scream like the panicky, anxiety-ridden mess he is!
Jane dying from laughter and accidentally told “Marie” about Jake’s blindness, but swearing her to secrecy
