— 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖮𝖭𝖫𝖸 𝖶𝖠𝖸 𝖮𝖴𝖳 𝖨𝖲 𝖨𝖭.

[musts]

OPEN + OVERFLOW

Comments

@ruskaroma

[musts]

( continued from here. )

sooner or later i will disappoint you and that's not my intention
i don't want to but it's going to happen

( jack sees himself in her. two people never given a choice; two people caught up in something they have no control over; two people trying to make the best of their situation. )

you seem like a nice person
you don't deserve to get hurt especially by a shmuck like me

ty for moving us

[ruskaroma]

[ he’s doing whatever it takes to survive and she is too.

but then he goes and calls her a nice person and that’s probably the most offensive thing he’s done—reducing her to those two innocent words. ]

thanks for the warning, but I’ll decide what I deserve myself.

np!

[musts]

have you decided what you deserve

( revenge? money? power? he's been a soldier for each of those causes, but will it be worth it? )

[ruskaroma]

no.

[ now that she’s satisfied her quest for revenge, what’s next? what does she have besides running? besides the blood on her hands? the bullets in her gun? ]

I don’t know how to.

[ it’s not like she just told him a secret, but she’s certainly never told anyone before.

and she knows she shouldn’t trust him. ]

have you?

[musts]

yupe

( and he doesn't just deserve it — he's earned it. )

you'll figure it out
maybe
who knows

[ruskaroma]

[ thanks for the vote of confidence, Jack. ]

what are you gonna do once you get it?

[musts]

( going out of his way to help her is that vote of confidence. he doesn't trust eve, but he's confident enough in her to hitch his wagon to her. )

chill
relax

( his last memory of his previous life was slipping under the covers and closing his eyes. when he woke up, he was lying on a road outside rome in 628. when he wakes up again, he hopes he's back in his bed in his little apartment in boston. the nightmare is over because he's awake. the sun hasn't risen over the cambridge skyline yet, and he can go back to sleep for another hour or two if he wants. he doesn't need to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible by curling into a ball or remaining still. he can finally relax. )

doing nothing is underrated
you should try it sometime

( well — after his wagon has been unhitched and he's gone. he doesn't trust eve, but he likes her enough to wish that she finds peace. )

[ruskaroma]

[ she can’t imagine what it would feel like to do nothing, to not have to run, to not have to kill.

it’s so far from her usual train of thought that it takes her a while to respond. ]

wait.

if all you want is to do nothing, then why aren’t you doing that?

[musts]

why aren't you

( jack knows why he's fighting and gnashing and running and struggling and trying and dying. why is eve still doing it? )

what if "nothing" is what you deserve

[ruskaroma]

[ he's lucky she's not easily offended, because his wording. ]

it's not.

[ she might not know what she deserves, but it's definitely not to relax, to chill, or anything like that. ]

i killed someone who'll have me running for the rest of my life. however long or short it is.

you don't have to be here for it, you know. you should go do nothing. if that's what you want.

[musts]

( — is flawless. he knows. )

what i want to do isn't what i'm able to do
aside from running have you thought about what else you're going to do

[ruskaroma]

[ his questions are also flawless.

but she doesn't have to answer them. just like how he doesn't answer hers. ]

yes. i've thought about it.
what's stopping you?

[musts]

it's not that time yet
why are you running

[ruskaroma]

how do you know when it'll be time?
because there are people trying to kill me and I don't want to be dead.

[ duh ]

[musts]

how do you know when it'll be time to stop running
when they decide or you

[ruskaroma]

at some point, they'll learn that everyone they send to me is on a suicide mission.

[ she's not sure who's decision that really will be. ]

or maybe ill die first.
like you say. who knows.

[musts]

and you'll be on the run until then huh
you have your next destination in mind

[ruskaroma]

destination? is that your way of asking me to leave?

[musts]

nah if i wanted you to leave you'd know
but if you want to leave that's up to you
just spare me the hassle of having to track you down and let me know where you're heading

[ruskaroma]

i wouldn’t leave without telling you, jack.

[ she’s not heartless. not to mention she doesn’t want to leave. ]

but would you really want to know where? that’s a liability.

[musts]

( after eating his signature dish of strangled eggs and mustard, who would want to leave? )

hey if you're worried i'm going to spill the beans to someone don't
no one can get the truth out of me because even i don't know what it is
i keep myself in a constant state of confusion

[ruskaroma]

it’s not that.

[ she’s certainly experienced that confusion first hand. ]

i know you try to pretend otherwise, but you’re not invincible.

[ not like, in the sense that she thinks someone can torture the truth out of him but rather: ]

if i’m not here, what happens if they hurt you?

[musts]

who'd want to hurt me

( typed both unironically and ironically. so far, jack's been clever enough to stay behind eve, listening and operating in her shadow, but that'll likely change sooner or later. )

your concern is very touching but i'm a big boy
if i get into trouble it's on me not you
alright
i made the decision to be here

[ruskaroma]

did you?

[ make the decision to be here? everything she knows about him points to the contrary, including this conversation. she doesn’t know what the reason is, but it seems more that he has no choice.

but all that matters in the end is this: ]

i’ll stay. you’re right. i can’t keep running forever.

[musts]

( no.

but yes.

he tried running. he ran so hard for so long, but, like being stuck on a treadmill, he never went anywhere. stubbornness is in his blood, but even he knows when it crosses into insanity. he tried running. he tried avoiding. he doesn't have a choice, but he's chosen to accept it. )

shit
i thought it'd take more convincing
some bribery even

( he is genuinely surprised. he's met many people who refuse to do The Thing, and has to almost force them to do it. )

[ruskaroma]

too easy? i could take it back if you want.

[ maybe she didn’t want to run that bad. it’s not like she chose it. she just didn’t know what else there was out there. could it be? that she could really stay? ]

what do you have that you could even bribe me with?

[musts]

a place to lay your head
a stocked pantry

( he went grocery shopping! there are more than zingers and cherries now! )

the egg chair that swivels

[ruskaroma]

oh yeah. the egg chair would do it.

[ come on, Jackie boy, you’re sharper than that. ]

it’s more that it matters to you at all.

[ that she matters. ]

[musts]

( those egg chairs go for thousands of dollars. eve doesn't know what she's getting. )

aw don't get mushy with me so soon eve
you ever think i just like shooting people in the face and i'm using you to increase my shooting people in the face stats

[ruskaroma]

[ come on, Jack. she’s not getting mushy!

though the way her cheeks heat up reading that message says otherwise. ]

okay. let’s go with that. im staying for the chair, and you want me to stay because you like shooting people in the face.

[ what a romantic narrative. ]

if that’s gonna be true, though, you should work on your shooting.

[musts]

you haven't had the privilege of seeing me shoot

( he was there when gunpowder fired the first projectile. do not cite the deep magic to him. )

and if there is any rust on my shooting skills it's because i'm so good at everything else that i don't need them very often

[ruskaroma]

wow, is that so. how good would you say you are?

[musts]

i don't know
i guess i'm the steph curry of shooters??
nvm you probably don't know who that is
i'm the
mikhail baryshnikov of shooters

[ruskaroma]

yeah? so you make shooting guns and killing people a choreographed art piece?

i can see why it’d be such a privilege to see that.

but what’s the point? if it doesn’t get an audience in the first place? why does it deserve to be hidden?

[musts]

i'm gonna keep it a buck with you
i joke about it but i don't like shooting people
it's not a talent i'm proud of
i don't like guns period so if i don't have to use them i won't

[ruskaroma]

why not? what’s worse about it compared to everything else you do?

is it too easy?

[musts]

it is too easy
do you think about that

[ruskaroma]

no one can say for sure what’s right and wrong.
what’s justified, what’s not.
as soon as you stop thinking about that, it doesn’t matter how easy it is.

[musts]

it does matter eve
if it starts being too easy it's hard to stop

regardless
i don't like guns so i avoid them and i'm so good that i've kept to that
who'd want to shoot me anyway?

@farcry

[musts]

( continued from here )

yeah yeah dr jack is on his way
give me an idea of what to expect
bullet wound or knife
or explosion?

[farcry]

Claws. Or, knives. You ever seen Wolverine? Think that, but a budget version.

Fuck, I'm losing street cred with every word I say, aren't I.

[musts]

you telling me you fought his lesser known cousin feral cat???
i'm so jealous
does he still have the sideburns

[farcry]

Feral cat, yeah. I like that.
He did. They were sticking out the bottom of his cowl thing. Kinda weird looking, actually.
Why would you be jealous of that?

[musts]

you got to meet THE feral cat
who wouldn't be jealous?

sarcasm aside i am a little jealous you got someone entertaining
i get pickpockets and white collar

@keeperofkeys

[musts]

( continued from here. )

the bigger the better but whatever size you got
someone dragging a trash can with an axe is liable to catch some attention so nothing too conspicuous

the house across the street from the address i'm sending you

[keeperofkeys]

Oh my this is all very covert. I can at least put the axe in a bag of some sort. I think I have a few oversized totes it could fit in?
Less conspicuous that way

[musts]

now you're cooking with gas
if a trashcan is too much don't bring it
i'll improvise

you do you but maybe put the axe in the oversized tote you dislike the most in case it gets damaged?

[keeperofkeys]

I have some (in theory) reusable grocery bags. They're a very thick plastic, but I'm not terribly attached.
I could double bag it, and then everything could be tossed if need be.