kore_logs | Do you know what tuna is...?

Entry tags:

Do you know what tuna is...?

Who: Fun Ghoul and Jet Star
Where: The broken bridge
When: Day 52, morningish
What: Just some dudes. Fishing. Ignore the fact that neither of them know how fishing works.
Warnings: IT'S KILLJOYS, that's warning enough. Will update as needed.

They weren't the sturdiest of instruments, but Ghoul was sure they'd get the job done. Okay, he was about 89% sure considering the fact he made the fishing poles himself and neither of them had any previous fishing experience. If Cass could catch shit in a stream with her bare hands, he and Jet could sure as hell catch something with bait in the ocean!

The ocean still kind of freaked Ghoul out. Jet seemed so damn at peace around it that Ghoul couldn't really help but trust the deep water so long as the other 'joy was nearby. He wouldn't be sitting on the edge of a collapsed bridge with his legs hanging over the side if Jet wasn't right there beside him. It was kinda nice. Just the two of them. Despite all the crazy shit going on with demons and monsters, despite being trapped in this elaborate cage... it was nice.

"Think this shit's still gonna work without the stupid hats?" He's got a vest, that's gotta be close enough. "Can't let that teenage superhero show us up, Spaceman."

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The ocean freaks Ghoul out, maybe, but it calms every bit of Jet in contrast. He's never seen anything like it, and while there isn't any chance in hell that he would actually try to swim in it, it's still a beautiful and serene place to think. And Jet is a creature that needs to think a lot of the time.

This is something Jet is comfortable sharing with his boys. The ocean is obviously not just his - but his mindset and mood is, and he can give that to the other killjoys. He feels like they need it, sometimes. He worries so much about all of them, and feels so distant, lately. So this is good. This is something to catch up on with.

"I think that the hats give a certain boost to fishing, but I'm sure we can handle it," Jet says mildly, looking over his fishing pole. "There are a sad lack of hats in this town to begin with. Do we need bait?"

"I know there is! We had access to more fuckin' hats back home." It's the little things you start to miss when you don't have them anymore. They didn't really have a lot to begin with, so the little things tend to mean a lot. Like spending time with the one person in their crew that doesn't make him want to scream bloody murder and throw a few punches after too long. Yeah, they still live together, the four of them, but there's more space between them now. More places to wander. More people to meet. Used to be rare, seeing anyone else. That car on the road and those same faces were the only constant in their entire universe.

And then the universe expanded. Ghoul still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Uh, yeah. I got-- hang on." He pats his vest until he finds the right pocket and pulls out a little, plastic baggie full of worms he got near the stream Cass had been fishing in. Sure was just carrying that shit around with him all morning. He sets the bag between them, grinning like a ten-year-old that just won the spelling bee. Are you proud, Jet? You gotta be proud. Ghoul thrives on it. "Got you covered."

They all live together, but it's true. There is more space. They're not cramped in a little car, living off of catnaps in the backseat - they've got their own rooms. They've got beds and their own house. It's a novelty none of them are used to, and Jet is thankful for it every day. Not just for the space, or the house, or the new people that he's found he cares for, but for a second chance at life. None of them had been ready to die, Jet thinks.

So this? Just fishing, with Ghoul, who Jet has such great affection for, is nice. Nothing makes him happier than to give Ghoul the satisfaction that yes, Jet is proud of him. He always is.

"Brilliant," Jet hums, resting his hand on Ghoul's shoulder and squeezing it once. "You think of everything, Little Monster."

Now if he can just... figure out how to get the damn thing on the hook. Uh. Wow, this'll go well.

"Have you ever seen the ocean before this?"

Ghoul settles for stabbing the hook through the worm a couple of times, folding it over like an accordion. That's gotta work, right? Maybe he should tack an extra one on the end there to make it a little more enticing. Yeah. Why not. The more worms the better his chances? Logic, motherfucker.

He's still grinning from Jet's praise when he casts the double-worm'd hook out into the water, watching it sail through the air only to hit the dark-blue surface with a plunk. The makeshift piece of crap is still in one piece for now, it's a good sign.

"Yeah. Few times." He sniffs, still looking out at the line. "When I was a kid. Never really saw the appeal. Still not sure how I feel, you know? S'different." He's not used to it. There's enough that's different already, no rush to go accepting it all at once.

Yeah, that'll totally work. Jet watches Ghoul mutilate the worms, amused, and then turns to look down at his own worm and hook. Just one for Jet, and he throws the line into the water - his doesn't fall apart or to pieces, so that's cool.

He glances at Ghoul. "I'd never been. This is the first time I had ever seen it outside of pictures." Not that it matters either way. "I like it well enough. Though you couldn't coax me into the water for any amount of money. Or food."

Jet smiles a little. "It makes me miss the sands."

"Doesn't surprise me." A beat, "That you like it." Ghoul lazily gestures towards the water, watching Jet's face this time. "S'like the sky, but it's closer to us. Deeper. On a clear night you get more of your stars."

He pays attention. He notices details. It really is the little things that mean more than anything. He lets that sink in, dropping his gaze to the dock and then finally looking back out at the water. "Least the sand was dry. Hate gettin' wet. Kobra made me fish his bed back outta waves, felt damp for a week." But it had been worth it, that little shit!

His grin fades again and he's quiet a moment. He starts to say something, stops, and goes quiet again. Finally, he speaks, "... Jet, can I ask you somethin'"

The mention of the stars gets a bigger smile out of Jet, and he looks up at the sky, even though there aren't any there. It's just nice to know that they're always watching - and it's nice to know that Ghoul pay attention. Maybe Ghoul looks down, but Jet turns a warmer, softer sort of look on him. Always affectionate, that's Jet.

He doesn't speak up again until Ghoul does. And it's gentle, the way he answers, because he has a feeling this is important.

"Of course you can, Ghoul." You don't ever have to ask.

Normally he wouldn't ask. Normally, this wouldn't even be an issue! But normally, time isn't a luxury they have and relationships outside the crew aren't something that last more than a few hours if you're lucky and rarely get a repeat performance. But they're stuck here. Anna's stuck here. He's just not sure if--

"You met Anna, yet? Seen her around? Talked to her? She's... she's the one that's been beefin' up our mystical security system." He smiles when he talks about her. Every time he talks about her. He risks a quick glance at Jet, trying to get a read on his expression without giving anything away.

"We've spoken once or twice, yes," Jet answers, watching Ghoul's expression. He's calm and blank as usual, but he sees that smile, and he knows Ghoul and Anna are friends. He snoops, even if he says he doesn't.

"I admit I don't know her very well. But she's posed no threat, and I appreciate the supernatural protection." He glances up at the sky, watching it instead of Ghoul. "Why?"

Why? That's the million dollar question. Why. Every sentence he runs through his head sounds so pathetic, but he doesn't know how to deal with this. He doesn't know how to express it like he should. He didn't ask to be emotionally fucking stunted, but that's the way you survive. Just makes learning this shit all over again that much harder.

"We met at a... Christmas party. She set it up. Thought I'd be smooth as a freshly-waxed hard top and pull a mistletoe move on her, you know? It worked." The smile grows wider for a split second before it vanishes. "Her brother-- Somethin' her brother said. It fucked me up for a while, still does I guess."

Ghoul clears his throat, looking up at the sky instead. "Said I was unworthy of her. I know he's right, I know. Girl like that--" He laughs humorlessly, "Just wanted to know if I ever could be. wanted to know what to do. I figured there was no one better to ask than you."

Edited 2013-03-21 04:22 (UTC)

A girl. It makes Jet smile a little to himself, because he's happy to hear it. It might be concerning back home, back in the Zones - none of them really allowed themselves to get attached to anything, because Zonelife was like the dunes - constantly shifting, unreliable.

A girl, named Anna, with a brother who says Ghoul isn't worthy of her. Jet carefully keeps his face blank at that - that isn't the case at all, and he might have a lecture in store - until Ghoul finishes. And when he does, Jet looks back down at Ghoul, with a deep sort of sigh, the kind from down in his bones.

"He isn't right," Jet corrects. "It isn't this brother's job to decide your worth. That, Little Monster, falls to you." He's quiet for a moment. "I can't make you see how bright you shine, as much as I dearly want to. You know the value I place in you, and the rest of our crew, but you've never quite grasped it."

Pushing his hair back out of his face, Jet hums quietly. "Do you know how she feels about you?" He doesn't even know the extent of this - is it a crush? Mutual crush? Pardon him for being nosy. But not really.

The sigh hits Ghoul like a punch to the gut. He hates that sound because he knows as soon as he hears it, he's being really fucking stupid. Honestly, he was expecting the lecture after that. What Jet said next came completely out of left field.

He absorbs Jet's words, let's them fall heavy in his mind. It's a hard concept to grasp. How can he be worthy of anyone after all the things he's done? He hasn't even begun to make up for any of it. It's a miracle his boys even trust him like they do. Ghoul shifts the pole to his other hand, scooting closer to Jet so he can get his arm around the other 'joy's shoulders. C'mere, Spaceman. He's so glad you're here.

"We don't talk about it much, but she's into me. Just don't wanna feel like I'm takin' advantage? She doesn't-- ... they don't know what it's like for us. None of them know. Maybe we're the good guys back home, even if a lotta people don't see that, but here we're not good guys." They're just a bunch of shady motherfuckers with a shitload of secrets that don't trust anybody but each other. "If she knew, I don't think she would--" And then what happens when they go home? "S'bad. Bad idea. Forget I said anything. P. and the Kid are morons for tryin'."

Nope, you brought it up, Fun Ghoul, which means Jet is going to pick at it until it's all out on the table. He knows it can be hard to let this stuff out, and he just wants Ghoul to know it's okay. He slips his arm around Ghoul and squeezes him close.

"No, I suppose we're not the good guys here," Jet says, giving Ghoul's dismissal a glance down at him and a raised eyebrow. "I don't think they're morons. And I don't think we should live here in fear of what others think. When have we ever?"

He rubs at Ghoul's arm a little. "How will you know what she would do if you don't tell her?" A beat. "Forgive me for being presumptuous and naggy, but I'm going to be so anyway - you so often talk yourself out of good things, Little Monster. You don't always have to do that."

They are morons, and he's not living in fear, he's just being realistic because this shit is never going to work. But he doesn't say as much because he's already said too much and he'd rather just tense up to all hell and impatiently reel the line back in only to whip the hook back out into the ocean.

"So you're saying I should talk to her and potentially fuck up what we've got right now by... just throwin' everythin' out in the open, everythin' we're not supposed to talk about, on the off chance that she'll be cool with it?" He grumbles, sniffs, sighs, eases up a bit and leans against his rock-in-human-form, "We gotta go back, Jet. You know we gotta go back. You-- ... Is it worth it? Getting close like that? Findin' someone then runnin--" Shiiiiiiiiiiit. Of all the people to ask that particular question. FUCK.

"M'sorry." It's quiet, but it's probably the easiest apology he has ever given.

It's okay, he doesn't mind. He smiles down at Ghoul, gentle as always.

"You don't need to apologize to me," Jet says, rubbing Ghoul's back. "It isn't my decision. Whatever you want to do, whatever you feel is right - Ghoul, I trust you'll make the decision that is best for you. And it will work out." And even more softly: "Sometimes the biggest risks are the emotional ones, Scout. It will be okay."

For the record? It was worth it.

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Do you know what tuna is...?

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