considering EV

[pathogenetic]

Hey, you won't catch me complaining. Anything's better than wasting away in Lanshiang.

[... there's a slight pause, and then,]

Yeah. You heard me. Even crazy-ass horror ships in the middle of nowhere. Sounds peachy. Make sure you sign that cheque out to 'J A K E M U L L E R'. Dot the i's, cross the t's, you know the drill.

Comments

[here_take_this]

You mean you're getting paid? [looks at her mun] Hey! I want an allowance for the stuff you put me through on the boat!

[Mun is giggling though YES! Jake needs to come to the boat and meet BB!supergirl]

[pathogenetic]

[... Okay, he's having a serious sense of deja vu looking at this kid. He shifts, folds his arms. Looks at her, and then away after a moment.

It's probably just, you know. Whatever. Right?]

'Course I'm getting paid.

[... because he can't just be a dick to a kid for no good reason (unless someone's paying him and even then it'd have to be a lot)]

... What sorta 'stuff' we talking about, here?

[here_take_this]

Lucky.

[She watches him a moment to determine how to answer. Facts only would probably be best.]

Well if you don't mind the cockroaches and rats that look like they're deseased, the quarters are starting to get really cramped. Then there's the ... [She debates cursing a moment well... Daddy's not around, nor Leon so should be okay] Bitch that is in charge, she's scary, has screws for eyes and can turn into this tar like substance.

And our leave off the boat can go a month... So hope you don't get sea sick. We barely have medical supplies, or food most of the time.

[pathogenetic]

[He looks faintly surprised.]

You kiss your mother with that mouth, kid?

[Time to lean against a wall, fold his arms and give her an appraising look.]

I've seen worse. Ever been in a gulag? Not a pretty picture.

[here_take_this]

She was hardly around before I was taken from Raccoon and put on the boat. Daddy was there for a bit but he disappeared. Claire's there, and her brother. Not to mention Un... I mean Wesker, but Chris told me to stay away from him.

I spent three days before getting dragged to the boat listening to sick people eat each other... And this place still scares me. [only because she can't hide on a boat.]

[pathogenetic]

Rac--

[UM. He lifts a hand and-- points it at her. And then drops it again as everything falls into place. Claire? That's that jarhead's sister, isn't it? The one that Sherry--

Sherry.

Welp, that inspires a coughing fit. And she's there with... with Wesker?]

You wanna-- [he coughs a final time.] run that by me again? You were in Raccoon City?

*Ded* sorry

[here_take_this]

[She watches him a moment...]

Yes, just a few weeks... well almost two months ago. Claire found me in the police station. We ran into Leon and we were trying to get out of the city.

You okay Mister? [True concern because really, to her sick people usually mean they got the bug that killed everyone.]

[pathogenetic]

[Oh Christ this isn't happening. He actually pushes himself away from the wall, does a round of pacing, and then drags a hand across his scalp.

Seriously? Seriously. God hates him. More than usual, right now.

He glances back at her, scowls. Every instinct he has says he should probably be punching a wall right about now but he-- doesn't.]

No kidding.

[He fidgets. That scowl deepens, and then eases off.]

I'm fine. I've got a-- thing. It's nothing.

[here_take_this]

[She keeps watching him.]

You're another one from my future aren't you? I mean doesn't surprise me anymore, Claire is, Leon was before he disappeared. Chris knew me, and we never met before the boat.

I think I might freak them out a little too.

[pathogenetic]

[He probably wouldn't look too much more startled if she'd just straight-up smacked him. Guess she's always been perceptive.

That's.

A weird thought.]

I'm not gonna... destroy the future or anything if I tell you yes or no, right?

[... did he seriously just ask that outloud. Did he. Jesus. He hopes that whatever happens, she doesn't remember this. He's acting like an idiot.]

[here_take_this]

I don't think so. [She did giggle at the question though.] Though probably shouldn't tell me about the older version of me. Just in case.

[pathogenetic]

... Then yeah. I'm from the... 'future'. I guess. Look, don't take this the wrong way but how old are you exactly?

[He'd never asked. He'd just... assumed she was about his age, but to have been... what, thirteen? In Raccoon City she'd have to be at least 25 now. 26? But she doesn't look a day over--

Oh. That whole virus thing, huh?]

[here_take_this]

Just turned thirteen.

[Yeah that virus thing that still has yet to be cured for her. oops]

[pathogenetic]

[Welp.]

Thirteen.

Jesus Christ.

[HIS LIFE IS PAIN.]

[here_take_this]

[Poor Jake. Mun gives him hugs since her AU Sherry likes older guys]

That wasn't a reaction I was expecting...

[pathogenetic]

Wh-- no, it's.

[He gives her a look that's only a little 'oh god why me'.]

I... meet you. When you're a lot older.

[Thirteen years is a lot, okay.]

[here_take_this]

Right, and I asked not to know.

Hope I didn't embarrass you too much.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

I figured you'd want a vacation after everything, Jake.

[pathogenetic]

[You know, normally Jake's pretty good at the whole tough guy act. But damned if it hasn't been falling to pieces lately around her. Hell, he almost smiles, and then thinks better of it and folds his arms instead.]

Never had one. All that down-time? I'd probably go crazy.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

[She does smile, she's still sort of running on a 'hey, we didn't die!' high of late.]

I don't know, you'd be surprised how easy it is to nap on a beach.

[pathogenetic]

Beaches, huh?

[He gives her a speculative look.]

I think I'd probably be too paranoid. You know. Trust issues and all that.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

For a big empty beach?

[Actually...she probably would too. She's done it exactly once, and only napped for like an hour...but it was a nice hour!]

...So when do you relax?

[pathogenetic]

Loaded question.

[He tips his head to one side, the gesture one of slight frustration, and then he turns to walk a few paces away from her.]

I dunno. Guess it was never a priority.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

Well you deserve something after saving the world. Besides fifty dollars. [A little grin.]

A 'horror ship' doesn't really seem fair.

[pathogenetic]

[He's quiet for a moment. What he 'deserves'? She really is an optimist. He's still getting used to this 'knowing a genuinely decent person' business. Slow going.

Still, he wouldn't want her to be any other way. That's... what makes her her.]

Depends on who's writing the checks, I guess.

[But really, he'd settle for a nice dinner, so long as he liked the company.]

I don't remember the fine print ever saying life's supposed to be fair, SG. You take it as it comes, that's all. I'll be fine.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

[She shrugs.]

Life isn't fair at all. But that doesn't mean it's always unfair either.

[If anyone knew about that, it was her. Life had been throwing her horror for the last thirteen years.]

And sometimes you just have to make it be fair.

[pathogenetic]

Any bright ideas? I'm fresh out.

[Helpless shrug.]

[thelegacyofmadmen]

Well, you could try to resist getting sent to some kind of horror ship, for one.

I mean, that's what I'd do.

[pathogenetic]

Look at it this way. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before, I'd be able to make myself useful. It's better than most people get, I guess.

[thelegacyofmadmen]

I suppose.

Mine is trying to find somewhere to send me and even...even if I can help, it isn't as though I really..

[How to put this, how to put this...]

I'd rather be helping back home.

[pathogenetic]

[He folds his arms.]

Any luck so far?

[... not that he likes the idea of her being in a 'game'. If she'd rather be helping back home, then that's where she should be. No one can convince him that Sherry shouldn't be able to have what she wants, okay.]

[thelegacyofmadmen]

Not so far. There were a few places they were looking but I'm not happy with...uh...any of them. Some are terrible.

Did you know there is an island where they force people to have sex or die?

[tobeagod]

You had best be quite good if you're expecting to be paid.

[pathogenetic]

[For all the time that Jake's spent dwelling on the father issue, here's a funny story: he has no idea what Wesker even looks like. So his stance shifts because hey that sounds like a challenge and he's never turned one of those down in his life.]

Wouldn't get paid if I wasn't.

[Implication being: of course he's got this monetary reimbursement thing in the bag, who do you think you're talking to.]

[tobeagod]

[That makes them about even. Son? What son? At the change in the other's body language, that thin blade of a smile comes.]

Then had best be even better than that if you expect to survive here. A person will only do so well when it's simply money at stake. Your life is something else.