ataraxion | --one [video]

[He has no choice after that argument - or whatever it was - with Loki. Jesse can't just leave Lisbeth alone out there. He leaves Jane's communicator right by her side, all set up to message him if she needs him, then rushes out to the next floor. He runs the whole way to her room, so he's out of breath when he finally comes knocking.]

[She's throws her communicator down onto her bed. Well, that first day went horribly wrong. But she still pauses at her door when she hears the knock. Lisbeth cautiously opened the door just a crack, just enough to see Jesse. She opens her door completely.]

I'm starting to miss the people of Siren's Port.

[Ready or not, he throws his arms around her the second she lets him in.]

Oh my god, you're telling me.

[His exhaustion is in the way he says it, and even his embrace is weaker than it usually is, but he takes this moment just to bask in her presence. It's been one hell of a month without her.]

[Lisbeth takes a step back when he hugs her, more out of surprise than anything. She then hugs him back, uncharacteristically tight. But he's here, he's real. Not just some illusion.

They were lucky enough to meet in another place. She unknowingly lets out a small huff of laughter at the coincidence.]

[He doesn't think it's a coincidence. Just like it wasn't a coincidence there was meth in his locker and heroin in Jane's. He can feel this place fucking with him the way Strela did. Its influence seeps out of the walls and into his brain like a toxin. Like a drug.

But here's Lisbeth. He won't be ungrateful. He wishes she wasn't here, that she could be somewhere safe, but he's selfishly so happy to see her again. He pulls back just enough to kiss her, too fast to even consider that there's another woman in his bed right now.]

[She returns his kiss, the tips of her fingers digging gently into his back. Lisbeth breaks the kiss after a few seconds to close the door behind him. She didn't spook easily; there was hardly anything that scared her. But there was something about this ship, something she didn't like. It made her think that there was something creeping around every corner.

That Siren's Darkness and the Tranquility were linked.]

Who are those people?

Don't worry about 'em. Loki's just some guy I owe for saving my ass a couple weeks ago. I dunno why he's such a bitch all of a sudden, but... You don't gotta take him seriously.

I wasn't about to with that over-dramatic laugh of his.

[A pause.]

But the other person.

What other person?

[- Wait.]

Did Libby say something to you?

She tried to intimidate me by threatening you.

[She also said that Loki was their mutual boss, but she wasn't going to bring that up. Lisbeth was learning when to keep her mouth shut to not ruin some moments.]

Told her she should fucking think twice.

She what?

[That sounds... like not a thing he would have expected to happen. Defensive Libby, sure, he's seen that before. Libby who threatens other people. But not Libby who threatens him. Not at this point, after everything.

...Right?

Or maybe he's got it wrong. Maybe he fucked it up on Strela.]

Show me. Can you show me?

[She pulls away from him to get her communication device and scrolls through her disastrous first post to the network before she found her conversation with this Libby. She plops down on the edge of her bed, looking up at him.]

[It doesn't take him long to read, but when he's finished, he spends a moment thinking it over with his eyes shut and his brow drawn. Great. This is perfect. This is what he needs, a little kid "protecting" him. He let her keep the powers because she was afraid of Loki, and what happened instead? Loki's turned her into his bitch and sent her off on the attack.

Bitten out:]

I don't. I don't work for him.

He helped me. Once. That's it.

[And now Loki's using a child to do his work, and that's unforgivable. The powers Jesse granted her? She won't be keeping those. Loki will have to find someone bigger and badder, leave the kid alone.]

[Lisbeth shrugs.]

I believe you.

[He tosses the communicator down onto the bed beside her, then offers the same hand to her.]

I wanna give you something.

Do you still have your power?

[But without a second thought nor an answer from him, she slips her hand into his.]

Yeah.

[He gives her hand a light squeeze.]

I'm giving you teleportation. It's a weird one. You can only move through shiny things. Mirrors and glass and whatever. But I want you to have it, just in case.

[It takes Lisbeth a bit to eventually pull her hand back from his, but she does.]

So is this another place where we have to fight to survive?

Only if you make mistakes.

[Which, from the sound of his voice and the evidence she's seen, it's pretty obvious that he has.]

[She's quiet for a little longer and then finally speaks.]

You look like you've had a rough day.

[...Yeah. He's wringing his hands the way he does when he's done bad.]

Look, I gotta tell you something. And it's... It's big. It's something I shoulda told you a long time ago, and I'm sorry, and I know you don't need it on top of everything going on. But if I don't tell you now, you're gonna find out in a couple hours. And...

[Her forehead creases slightly with confusion at his words before she relaxes again. Did it have something to do with him? Physically? Was he sick? Lisbeth quieted her mind from jumping to conclusions.]

What's wrong?

There's a girl.

[He shakes his head. That sounds wrong.]

Somebody I knew. Somebody I loved at home a long time ago.

[Not actually that long ago, but it feels that way.]

And she, um...

[He stops there. He doesn't know how to put it. It takes him a moment. He swallows because his throat feels tight.]

She, uh, died.

[No.]

She died because of me.

And she's... here. She's here now.

[She didn't flinch when he said there was another girl. Their relationship was an open one in Siren's. But the more he spoke, the more the feeling pressed down on her chest. All too familiar.

She died because of him? Lisbeth couldn't even begin to imagine what that meant. She would have pressed further, if she didn't pick up on how difficult this was for him.]

Okay.

[She doesn't ask, but now it all comes spilling out of him: a whole flood of words he hasn't said to anyone. Things he tried to talk about in rehab but never quite could. Things Mr. White never wanted to hear. Things Andrea would never have understood. He paces the room and just talks.]

She was in recovery. Eighteen months. I was still using. And she could tell, you know, she could tell I was bad news. She was my landlord, but she let me stay. I guess she trusted me. She liked me. But some bad shit went down, you know, just in my life. I got in it pretty heavy, and one day she just shows up - she shows up with heroin and needles and it's all over. She was trying to make me feel better, you know, but heroin. Everything just kept getting worse. And then one day I woke up and she...

I killed her. It's my fault. She never woulda done it again. It was me.

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