IC inbox!

[fourthsaken]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, JADED. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 005.04.008.13 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 005.04.008.13 <JADED> hey, you've reached Jade. <JADED> leave a message or whatever and i'll get back to you. <JADED> God, I hope this shitty thing actually works.

Comments

[allucinator]

Right? It's the knowin' what to stitch together that's the hard part, I think.

[Admittedly, it takes him a few goes-- but soon he has the machine threaded. An experimental pump of his foot, and he grins, stupidly proud of himself.]

Pretty good for ten years not doin' it!

[fourthsaken]

[Jade lets out a small excited gasp, meeting his grin. She'd half thought she'd never get the machine working.]

Oh my God, it's working! You did it!

I have plenty ideas for what to stitch together. The clothes here are so... Old fashioned.

[And she looks pointedly at his clothes. She's already thinking of modern clothes she can make to add to his wardrobe.]

[allucinator]

[He wrinkles his nose-- not truly offended, but still!]

Just cuz they ain't tight jeans don't mean they're bad, all right. Why, what you got in mind?

[fourthsaken]

They're okay, but there's nothing wrong with tight jeans either.

[Jade doesn't want to say his entire wardrobe. She'll start with something small.]

What about a hoodie or something?

[allucinator]

[He keeps his nose wrinkled, looking more a petulant child than anything. Bu-ut Jade was clever in her choice-- a hoodie sounds kind of nice, actually. He likes the look of them, and it is getting chillier . . .]

Yeah, all right. You can make one?

[fourthsaken]

[Jade smiles, counting his interest as her first victory in winning Jack over to modern fashion.]

Dude, of course I can make you one. What color?

[allucinator]

Uh-- red?

[He looks a little uncertain, like maybe that might not be an option. But if she's not objecting . . .]

You oughta show me how. Just-- you know-- a little. If you want company when you sew it.

[fourthsaken]

Red, it is.

[Jade's a little surprised in his interest in sewing. It's not like any of her friends before had cared. But if it's a connection to his mom and his life before, Jade can understand. And she won't admit it, but company would be nice.]

Yeah, of course. It'll be fun. You like it enough and you'll be asking the horse jerk for your own sewing machine.

[allucinator]

[He snorts and finally gets up, heading to the couch instead, freeing up her machine.]

Dunno if I'd go that far. Between you an' Beatrice, I got two people who'll do a better job for me.

[fourthsaken]

Oh, I see how it is. Gonna let us do all the work, huh?

[allucinator]

Yeah, that's kinda the idea.

[GRIN.]

Course, you could leave it to me, but, uh, you know, old fashioned.

[fourthsaken]

[She laughs, turning back to fiddle with the machine, still figuring it out.]

Oh God, you should've seen the first dress Enjolras wanted to make me wear for a uniform. Talk abut old fashioned. He wanted me in like, a full length skirt too.

[allucinator]

Course he did, he's from my parents time. Christ forbid a good girl show her ankles.

[He rolls onto his stomach, sprawling on the couch. It's for convenience, obviously, and not so he can get a better look at what she's doing.]

There's a modern fashion we oughta embrace. I like all the short skirts girls wear nowadays, 's real nice.

[fourthsaken]

[She's testing things out on a few scraps of fabric, making sure she has the hang of it before starting to sew anything real.]

Yeah, yeah. All guys say that.

He'd have a heart attack if he went to my school. Our uniform skirts are all like, really short. And the gym uniforms are even worse.

[allucinator]

Short enough you don't like it, or--?

[Truth be told, he's a little curious. He likes the short skirts, of course, the thin clingy shirts girls wear, but he'd kind of assumed they liked it.]

[fourthsaken]

I like the skirts. The gym shorts are the fucking worst. I'm not like Casey and Zoe, I can't pull that shit off. I just look stupid.

[Jade's not sure Jack will get it. Jade's always felt like she wasn't pretty, was definitely not the type of girl who guys found pretty. And that was before her changes.]

[allucinator]

[He definitely doesn't, but he's trying. Jack shrugs noncommittally.]

Yeah, well. You look good in the skirts, so.

[Does that help? Maybe. Anyway:]

's that normal, workin' in a gym durin' school?

[fourthsaken]

Uh, thanks.

[She'd be blushing if she was still capable of it. Jade doesn't think she'll ever get used to the way people here randomly compliment her. It's nice, but it'll take some getting used to.]

It's part of P.E. Do your schools have that? At like, a normal school they'd make you run the mile or play dodgeball or some shit. At our school it was a really fucked up version of capture the flag where nearly all the students like, disappeared. Just Ike and I were left.

[allucinator]

Jesus Christ. Did-- I mean-- were they-- you know-- offed?

[He wonders if that's bad to ask.]

I don't think Davey ever said nothin' about exercise or shit. Just math an' English an' history.

[fourthsaken]

Uh, I know some students died. Zoe did. Another friend of Hunter's too. The rest came back later. Ike and I stayed because of the thing we did to help Casey. It's... kinda a long story.

[Jade doesn't mind telling it exactly, but she wants to give Jack an easy out. Maybe he doesn't want to hear about every detail of her messed up life back home.]

[allucinator]

You wanna talk about it?

[He sits up, staring at the posture of her body, trying to read her. He'll drop it if she doesn't want to talk about it, but he's ready to listen.]

[fourthsaken]

... Okay.

[She really does want to talk about it, so much so that she abandons the sewing machine and joins Jack on the couch.]

It all started because Hodge, she's like, our guidance counselor, she told Casey that she could get us out of there. Casey thought we were gonna escape. Uh, me and her and Hunter.

[allucinator]

Was it a trap?

[He settles in, leans forward and pays her proper attention.]

Cuz-- I thought all the teachers were against you.

[fourthsaken]

Hodge might not be. She at least acts like she cares about us. Sort of. She gave me pills to stop me from throwing up all the time.

[Jade waves a hand. She's getting seriously off topic here and the story's long enough already.]

It was sorta a trap. Hunter and I weren't there to escape with Casey. We were there to help Casey escape. But, uh, Hunter wasn't with us. He was all pissed because he and Casey and just broken up so he was like, avoiding us. He ended up on a different team and Casey and I were stuck with Ike.

[She somehow manages to convey so much disgust in the way she says his name.]

[allucinator]

Jesus Christ.

[Every time she talks about her school, Jack is struck by how strange it is. There's a level of terror there, of escape from a hellish location-- but then there's the ridiculousness of teenagers, of this one not doing something because he's fussy. He wrinkles his nose, silently agreeing with her assessment of Ike, and nods.]