[ Jess barges to the front of the line and doesn't have to say shit to the bouncer, who must have her description under the VIP list. gross. she regrets not busting the lock on the back door, that regret compounding into grief-life remorse as she enters the club and takes it all in. wow, she could not hate this place more. is that window up there his office? christ alive. was basement ever the right call.
wherever he is, someone will give him the heads up that his guest's here, or at least a chick in jeans who doesn't seem down to party and is kind of killing the vibe in here do we escort her out or...? Jess stalks the perimeter and ducks into the first restricted door. someone else on the payroll steps aside, her glare stopping him short of opening the door for her.
ah, sweet concrete. thank god. she heads down the stairs to scan the stock for a liquor strong enough to get the taste of Paradise out of her mouth. ]
[ not exactly a vip list, but the effect is the same, he supposes. she's a defender now, people know who she is. if only because she'd publicly snapped a psycho's neck. she's a hero, whether she likes it or not — actually, no, he knows she hates it. luke hadn't meant to spy on her, but he kept getting called to put out one fire or another and she's hard to miss on the security monitors. she doesn't fit in here, or anywhere, but that's why he had to see if she'd come. he's surprised she had, though perhaps it's only because she's out of booze. it's a long way to travel for a drink though, even for her.
he steps out of the dark as she scans the shelves, handing her a mid-range bourbon and avoiding his gaze so that for just a moment she might think it's another one of his employees. but it isn't, despite the well-tailored suit and he lets their fingers brush briefly as his hand drops back down at his side. ]
What do you think?
[ he asks, the barest hint of a smile clinging to his lips. he knows she'll hate it even more than misty had. but maybe he just called her all the way here to hear her say it. that he's making a huge mistake. ]
I think you know what I think. [ Jess takes the bottle with tented eyebrows, as into the suit as she is everything else. the theatricality of coming out of the shadows certainly complements the place, but not him. she's done her best to give him the berth he deserves, wider than when they first parted ways. funny, since with the profile he's rocking now, it'd be twice as easy to keep tabs on him.
you don't go from a blown up bar under a fake name to openly owning a swanky joint like this without making some dirty deals. that's fine. if she didn't accept that as a part of him she never would've hooked up with him. probably. Jess just didn't see him leaning into it this hard. she thought that the less she was around, the more likely he was to go in the other direction.
jess uncaps the bottle and hops onto the nearest stack of boxes that look like they'll support her. ]
But what do I care, gift horse. [ at worst, they're equally shitty people. realistically, he's probably still a bit better than her. if he wants her to judge him, he'll give her the details. she cants the bottle towards him in a mock cheers before taking a few gulps. it was a long trip. ]
[ he crosses his arms over his broad chest, clearly stretching his jacket to the limit with the move.luke watches her throw herself on the boxes and knows they'd never hold his weight. it's true, he already knew what she thought before he invited her here. so why he thought it would change anything, he truly can't say. ]
I have a couch, you know.
[ or he'd brought one down, actually. because he wants to see her, talk to her, know that she's okay... but he also knows they're both lonely. maybe even desperately so. that and they've never been great at talking, have they? ]
[ She winces slightly, teetering to one side to lift her bony ass off the wooden seam bordering the box she's on. ]
Yeah, couch. Let's do couch. [ As much as she blatantly admires the favors that bespoke jacket is doing his arms, Jess encourages him to take it off by divesting herself of her own. she tosses it onto the spot she had previously occupied and drifts over to the couch. she gives the frame a testing kick, 25% power, and it holds up. not bad. Jess spins on her heel and collapses into it, offering the bottle to Luke when he joins her. ]
[ he nods, agreeing to her terms even if they were his own. it's always better to let jess make things her idea in the end. once she's sat down, he follows after, stripping off his jacket and leaving it on the arm of the couch. he loosens his shirt and tie too before denting the cushion next to her and reaching his hand out to take the bottle. ]
You're sharing my own booze with me now? To what do I owe the honor?
[ luke lifts an eyebrow and takes a neat sip, just deeper than shallow, before handing it right back. ]
[ the tie is the worst part of the ensemble but Jess keeps her opinion to herself, except for a brief glare. whatever he doesn't have the foresight to remove, she's going to rip off, and she wouldn't mind tearing the neck garbage to shreds. ]
Who knows what you taste like these days. [ Jess teases, smirking slyly and grabbing back the bottle. almost like old times, but those are for old friends, and they barely knew each other when they were exchanging benefits. somehow, she still feels like she's known him longer than she has, and this time she can't attribute it to having a folder of his flings on her computer. it's comfortable to be around him, even in the heart of a sleazy borderline-jazz club. thankfully if there was a band, they beat it while she was making her way uptown, and what's making it through the floor is heady bass beats and nothing gentler.
she caps her drinking off with one more mouthful and sets the bottle aside... and a little further aside, leaning across the arm of the sofa to nudge it another few inches from the danger zone. pushing her hair behind her ear as she sits back, she's biting down on a grin, remembering how good they used to be at this. ]
[ he holds in the eye-roll, just barely, while he watches her. ]
I really did invite you here to talk.
[ he just maybe wouldn't mind if they did more than talk, either, but he thinks she knows that too. that smile she's trying to tamp down on makes it hard for him to hold in one of his own, his leg shifting until it rests against her knee. ]
[ then she's gonna roll her eyes, roll 'em all over the place. since when are they talking friends? Jess has always been withholding from him. sex is the only exception. other than that, their common ground covers dead friends and superpowers they didn't ask for. ]
Yeah, well, I figured it was a bottoming out kinda thing. [ in sex form, which is all she'll claim to be reliable for. maybe she can manage talking, if it's along those lines. about to find out. ]
[ he gives into the smile then, though he isn't sure how to begin. there didn't used to be any pretenses between them, but now... well, maybe they're still aren't. that's kind of what he wanted to talk about. he thinks. he didn't have a super clear plan. ]
I guess I just wanted you to... see this place. Maybe tell me I'm a piece of shit.
[ luke glances up at the swear, as if he could apologize to pops in the moment, but it's just a second and then he's back. ]
[ as far as she knows, he swears, just hasn't around her. Jess chuckles hollowly, hanging her head. so he does want to use her but as emotional blunt force trauma. her other, less fun avenue of acknowledged expertise. what right does she have to expect him to want anything else? he owes her nothing, she owes him everything. time apart hasn't changed that. she swings her head upright, amusement clinging to her face. ]
Sure. Takes one to know one. [ it's what he wants to hear, though Jess can't confidently mean it without knowing more about how he came to be where he is. everyone who left him, people who want him to make other choices or be a better man, and she's not equipped to listen to that. but he's probably going to load it on her anyway and she'll sit and listen out of guilt and leave with her head full of nightmares that she came here to clear out. the best part is that Matt would doubtlessly have laid into him with aplomb but the only one of them with a shard of decency in them is buried beneath the city they can't leave. Jess leans over the couch arm a second time to grab the bourbon back. ]
[ that gets a soft snort, and somehow it does help. he knows neither of them can truly sit in judgment of the other's life and that's for the best, too. he's definitely past feeling like she owes him anything. more like they've finally broken even, something like that. he finds himself distracted briefly by her obscenely pink lips, staring as she pulls the bottle back down and swallows, feeling his throat dry up. ]
You're not wrong.
[ he'd eaten a lot of humble pie in the last year, his girlfriend left the country presumably because of him. no, he doesn't think he's better than her. not anymore. make no mistake, he used to, before danny rand had knocked him down a peg. but that was something he'd sorely needed, he came to realize. ]
Mariah. Um, Councilwoman Dillard. She left this place to me. I still don't really get why.
[ he scratches at his eyebrow briefly then starts to undo his cuffs, suddenly feeling suffocated by the oxford, slacks, and too shiny shoes he's still wearing. and that stupid tie, of course. he's not really any more a fan than she is. mariah had died and that was confusing enough, but putting luke in her will? leaving him the only thing that meant a damn to her in the end? yeah, the whole thing's fucked up. what part of his life isn't? ]
Guess I don't have to, right? Just trying to make the best of it.
[ Dillard rings a distant bell, one of the details Jess didn't ask for when Trish was covering his hooded hero stint in Harlem. Jess made a point not to investigate the shit he was digging himself deeper into; the vigilante "friends" she's made know that they can call on her if they want her help. they know that she'll say no and do it anyway but they haven't made her fight herself like that. Jess assumes that's what friends actually do: Stay out of each other's lives. it's always been her play and it's made her realize there's no good side of it to be on. but it is the best one people like them can make. ]
Why? [ he can lie, if he wants. if it has to do with Reva, she'd prefer it. but otherwise, Jess doesn't get why he's hanging around here when he could just as easily pass the buck to any of the staff and keep his name on the lease. it's a simple question to which she anticipates a loaded answer, so she rests the whiskey on the no man's land of her knee touching his. ]
[why? misty had asked him the same, and while most of the answer carries over... jess is still a special case. no matter what's happened, he'd still prefer she didn't think he was a total piece of shit, despite his earlier words. there's a tiny electric spark as the bottle touches down on her leg and presses hers more solidly into his. it's a fight not to reach out, not to touch a heavy hand down on her thigh and start up something he knows has already started. something he probably can't stop even now if he wanted to. ]
Short answer: I don't know. Long answer?
[ he chews his lip and does it anyway, the whole of his hand can wrap around one of her spindly legs but knowing the strength behind them makes it better somehow and his eyes flash as they climb up to meet hers. ]
This place is as close to the pulse of this town as it gets. It's the front lines.
[ and he wants to be there when shit goes off. before shit goes off, whenever possible. maybe that's naive, he's still not really sure. ]
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even if i did want to punch you i wouldn't
i don't want to break a hand
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Taking care of yourself, Jones?
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We don't have to be strangers.
i have no icons it is the worst
you got a good thing going in harlem
same tho lmao
Though I am in a position to offer ladies' night rates again.
[ otherwise known as a drink on him, at his club... yeah. that couldn't been smoother. ]
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[ Jess barges to the front of the line and doesn't have to say shit to the bouncer, who must have her description under the VIP list. gross. she regrets not busting the lock on the back door, that regret compounding into grief-life remorse as she enters the club and takes it all in. wow, she could not hate this place more. is that window up there his office? christ alive. was basement ever the right call.
wherever he is, someone will give him the heads up that his guest's here, or at least a chick in jeans who doesn't seem down to party and is kind of killing the vibe in here do we escort her out or...? Jess stalks the perimeter and ducks into the first restricted door. someone else on the payroll steps aside, her glare stopping him short of opening the door for her.
ah, sweet concrete. thank god. she heads down the stairs to scan the stock for a liquor strong enough to get the taste of Paradise out of her mouth. ]
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he steps out of the dark as she scans the shelves, handing her a mid-range bourbon and avoiding his gaze so that for just a moment she might think it's another one of his employees. but it isn't, despite the well-tailored suit and he lets their fingers brush briefly as his hand drops back down at his side. ]
What do you think?
[ he asks, the barest hint of a smile clinging to his lips. he knows she'll hate it even more than misty had. but maybe he just called her all the way here to hear her say it. that he's making a huge mistake. ]
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you don't go from a blown up bar under a fake name to openly owning a swanky joint like this without making some dirty deals. that's fine. if she didn't accept that as a part of him she never would've hooked up with him. probably. Jess just didn't see him leaning into it this hard. she thought that the less she was around, the more likely he was to go in the other direction.
jess uncaps the bottle and hops onto the nearest stack of boxes that look like they'll support her. ]
But what do I care, gift horse. [ at worst, they're equally shitty people. realistically, he's probably still a bit better than her. if he wants her to judge him, he'll give her the details. she cants the bottle towards him in a mock cheers before taking a few gulps. it was a long trip. ]
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I have a couch, you know.
[ or he'd brought one down, actually. because he wants to see her, talk to her, know that she's okay... but he also knows they're both lonely. maybe even desperately so. that and they've never been great at talking, have they? ]
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Yeah, couch. Let's do couch. [ As much as she blatantly admires the favors that bespoke jacket is doing his arms, Jess encourages him to take it off by divesting herself of her own. she tosses it onto the spot she had previously occupied and drifts over to the couch. she gives the frame a testing kick, 25% power, and it holds up. not bad. Jess spins on her heel and collapses into it, offering the bottle to Luke when he joins her. ]
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You're sharing my own booze with me now? To what do I owe the honor?
[ luke lifts an eyebrow and takes a neat sip, just deeper than shallow, before handing it right back. ]
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Who knows what you taste like these days. [ Jess teases, smirking slyly and grabbing back the bottle. almost like old times, but those are for old friends, and they barely knew each other when they were exchanging benefits. somehow, she still feels like she's known him longer than she has, and this time she can't attribute it to having a folder of his flings on her computer. it's comfortable to be around him, even in the heart of a sleazy borderline-jazz club. thankfully if there was a band, they beat it while she was making her way uptown, and what's making it through the floor is heady bass beats and nothing gentler.
she caps her drinking off with one more mouthful and sets the bottle aside... and a little further aside, leaning across the arm of the sofa to nudge it another few inches from the danger zone. pushing her hair behind her ear as she sits back, she's biting down on a grin, remembering how good they used to be at this. ]
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I really did invite you here to talk.
[ he just maybe wouldn't mind if they did more than talk, either, but he thinks she knows that too. that smile she's trying to tamp down on makes it hard for him to hold in one of his own, his leg shifting until it rests against her knee. ]
You know, I didn't think you'd come.
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Yeah, well, I figured it was a bottoming out kinda thing. [ in sex form, which is all she'll claim to be reliable for. maybe she can manage talking, if it's along those lines. about to find out. ]
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I guess I just wanted you to... see this place. Maybe tell me I'm a piece of shit.
[ luke glances up at the swear, as if he could apologize to pops in the moment, but it's just a second and then he's back. ]
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Sure. Takes one to know one. [ it's what he wants to hear, though Jess can't confidently mean it without knowing more about how he came to be where he is. everyone who left him, people who want him to make other choices or be a better man, and she's not equipped to listen to that. but he's probably going to load it on her anyway and she'll sit and listen out of guilt and leave with her head full of nightmares that she came here to clear out. the best part is that Matt would doubtlessly have laid into him with aplomb but the only one of them with a shard of decency in them is buried beneath the city they can't leave. Jess leans over the couch arm a second time to grab the bourbon back. ]
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You're not wrong.
[ he'd eaten a lot of humble pie in the last year, his girlfriend left the country presumably because of him. no, he doesn't think he's better than her. not anymore. make no mistake, he used to, before danny rand had knocked him down a peg. but that was something he'd sorely needed, he came to realize. ]
Mariah. Um, Councilwoman Dillard. She left this place to me. I still don't really get why.
[ he scratches at his eyebrow briefly then starts to undo his cuffs, suddenly feeling suffocated by the oxford, slacks, and too shiny shoes he's still wearing. and that stupid tie, of course. he's not really any more a fan than she is. mariah had died and that was confusing enough, but putting luke in her will? leaving him the only thing that meant a damn to her in the end? yeah, the whole thing's fucked up. what part of his life isn't? ]
Guess I don't have to, right? Just trying to make the best of it.
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Why? [ he can lie, if he wants. if it has to do with Reva, she'd prefer it. but otherwise, Jess doesn't get why he's hanging around here when he could just as easily pass the buck to any of the staff and keep his name on the lease. it's a simple question to which she anticipates a loaded answer, so she rests the whiskey on the no man's land of her knee touching his. ]
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Short answer: I don't know. Long answer?
[ he chews his lip and does it anyway, the whole of his hand can wrap around one of her spindly legs but knowing the strength behind them makes it better somehow and his eyes flash as they climb up to meet hers. ]
This place is as close to the pulse of this town as it gets. It's the front lines.
[ and he wants to be there when shit goes off. before shit goes off, whenever possible. maybe that's naive, he's still not really sure. ]