hadriel_logs | [CLOSED]

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Who: Jet Star & Party Poison
What: Killjoys discover the joys of a grocery run
Where: Killjoy house, stores
When: March 17th
Warnings: None yet

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Hey, Party!

[Jet, in the way that Jet would, has quickly discovered that food and water is far, far easier to come by here than it ever was in the Zones. What he's also discovered is that this seems to be something that Party hasn't made use of yet, which is... peculiar, but he supposes not entirely unexpected.

It doesn't take a shrink to see that Party Poison's head isn't all in one piece in this place.

He walks in calling the other man's name and moves through the house until he finds him, almost predictably, eyeing up the food stores with the kind of feverish intensity that Jet usually saw on his face when they were down to the last eight cans of Pup and Tommy's had been closed for a week. He plants a hand gently down on Party's shoulder.]

Hey.

[Not many people would risk putting a hand on Party Poison when he might not have been ready for it, but Jet Star isn't like most people.]

Had a look around. Got some different food here, things we could make a go of trying out. Even fruit and shit like that. What do you think?

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[ It's been the first thing Party gradually got back into doing: checking their supplies, making sure everyone's taken care of. While it was so much easier to do it around here, with people weirdly willing to part with things like food and clothes over almost nothing, or leaving their stores entirely unguarded, he still began dedicating what focus he can to it.

It's hard not to feel a little pointless, though, when it's just so...easy.

The redhead blinks up at Jet, silent for a confused moment as he thinks.

...shit, wait. They-- they didn't even tell Jet. What the hell? ]

Huh--yea'. There's--shit, man.

[ He closes the pantry. ]

There's, like [ He gestures, talking with his hands. ] a buncha stores an' shit. Always covered, no one there.

[ He hasn't even thought about the fruit. ]

'Least what I seen.

You- you wanna check it out?

[He made a point of checking the place out when he arrived. Party isn't the only one who finds a certain level of discomfort in how easy things to be and Jet was definitely looking for hidden ways that it might have been more difficult that it seemed.

And yet, it isn't, and though he still finds it unsettling he isn't about to turn down the opportunity for a far better standard of living than they're used to.]

Yeah. Didn't get a close look. In and out.

[There's likely more than what he's seen thus far.]

You in?

Yeah, yeah, hang on.

[ Huuuh what do they need? He seems about as airy and vague-sounding as he's been lately, but at least he's talking, at least he's willing to do stuff.

He fusses about in the drawers and pantries, taking out a bundle from under the sink, soon revealed to be an empty backpack. Dude's pretty dang prepared.

Scratching at his head, he heads to the front door with him, quiet for a long moment while he's thinking, making lists in his head. ]

S' a lotta places around. Where'd you wanna hit?

[For all his poking around, Jet hasn't been everywhere, but he's seen enough to have a few good and personally exciting ideas about what he'd like to get hold of.]

Somewhere for something fresh. Could actually cook here, yeah? [He's heard things about the meat, maybe he'll be avoiding that.]

Something different.

You can cook? [ He twists his noise, not in a derisive manner, but surely in doubt. Since when can he cook? Trying to hold food over a fire to make it warm in hopes of making it any less gross and/or to keep the crew from freezing out there in the sands doesn't really count.

Still, he hums, thinking, closing the door behind them.]

Lotsa stuff in the stores. Cans and no.

[ He squints in the light, heading nowhere in particular just yet.]

Got a place where stuff grows. People make stuff too.

[ So much stuff. Too much stuff. It's weird and unnatural.]

Can try. Something to learn. [No, he can't cook, but he can sure imagine a few things he'd like to take a shot at. Much like Party, he finds the variety to be overwhelming at times. Unlike Party, however, he isn't finding it to be particularly discomforting.

They can have real food and plenty of it for the first time that he can remember, without having to fight over the last can of this or that, or deal with that scumbag Tommy to get what they need.

He gives Party a light nudge in the base of his spine.]

C'mon, let's go.

[ He grunts but starts on his way, flinging the empty backpack over his shoulder. He's quiet for a few seconds, thinking about where they could start.

The access to food without worry is comforting, all in all. He's happy to know they can keep their little family fed without much to worry for a while, and with stuff that tastes a lot better than dog food. But it's still overwhelming, and old habits die hard. It's hard not to think some of it might've been messed with - or, with the add of magic and gods and whatever other magical bullshit that can come their way, the paranoia is twofold.

But, still. As far as he can tell, the food hasn't done damage by itself.]

Wanna hit the trees first? [ It's fresh, whatever's there. As far as he can tell, anyway, and he's sure no expert. But it sounds like something Jet would like, for some reason. ]

Mm. [Trees is a novelty, too. Trees that actually have food on them, even more so. It's like something out of a book, something that their girl would draw on a piece of faded newspaper with half-used crayons. Party's right enough in thinking it would be something Jet would like. The orchard seems like it used to be much bigger, but what's there is still good.]

Yeah, good call.

[A little more confirmation, but he still falls into step just that half-step behind Party. The redhead might be going through leadership issues, but as far as Jet is concerned, he's still the boss.]

[ They understand each other, in their own way. There might be a bit of an imbalance there, born just out of their different personalities. Jet's a lot more prone to be able to know what Party's thinking, while Party has a hard time reading Jet's mind.

But there's a reason their relationship is the way it is. That they're as close as they are.

Party pauses a lot of times, thinking, watching their surroundings. He's not particularly bound in paranoia today, so it's all just force of habit.]

Whaddya thinkin' a' makin'?

[ Making any kind of food out of raw ingredients hasn't been something in his mind for years. He has no intention in trying - he wouldn't know where to start and he has no patience for it - but hey, they have time to chat.]

Couple of things in mind.

[Maybe it's because Jet spent longer in Battery City than any of them that he has the additional patience, and the knowledge to attempt that kind of thing. He's never cooked anything from scratch in his life, but it's one of those things that's always been in the back of his mind.

In the Zones they took what they could get, no matter how bad it tasted and how ill it made them feel as long as it kept them alive. Here, there's such a massive luxury in being able to choose what they want to eat. Jet doesn't see how they can pass it up.]

What do you think you'd like?

Me?

[ He hums, thinking. He hasn't thought much about anything beyond Power Pup, candy, old canned food, bland-as-hell things that some brave and/or greedy souls could smuggle out of Bat...it takes him a beat.]

Dunno. Haven't really thought about it.

Haven't? Surprised at you.

[But it gives Jet the prompt - as if he needed one - to think of more things that he's going to have to do. His mother used to make cake. Perhaps he should try that.]

Gotta be better things than what we're used to. Hot food that isn't out of a can. Can't promise it'll always taste good, but it's worth the trying.

Can't promise it won't get us double-X'd.

[ Not Jet's food, but what would be used to make it.

Hey, it's still Party Poison. Untrusting of open container food and not trusting this place one bit. They need to survive, and apparently need to eat even after death, but, you know.

There's always space for a little paranoia and exaggeration.]

Can't promise nothing will.

[Could be the food, could be the creatures, could be these robots that Jet keeps hearing about. Anything could get them ghosted here, so Jet's not going to deny himself the small pleasures of meals that don't come out of a tin.]

But I'll try everything first.

[ Could also be the gods. Or the other people stuck in there. Or the gods messing with their fam's heads. If he asked Party, he could write down a list of possibilities well into the double digits.

But that's beside the point. ]

That's stupid. [ Lack of filter. Nothing new here either.

As they cross the bridge over the river, Party instinctively looks off in the direction of the lake - the largest amount of clear water he's seen in person. He's seen this one a few times, but it always fascinates him, in a way. He seems to just stare off towards it as he walks...]

You're stupid. [Jet retorts lightly, nudging his elbow against Party's arm while they walk. He catches his line of sight when his attention drifts and looks off the bridge towards the lake as well, thinking similar thoughts to the young man beside him.

Something like that would have never lasted in the Zones. Any body of water would have been exploited and dried up by the city.]

Hey, where's your head?

[ Jet often had the smart retorts to throw back at Party whenever he was being dumb and playful. It amused Party. But there were also moments when Jet stooped down to his level, and that amused Party even more.

He keeps his eyes on the water, but seems to come into focus enough to respond to his friend.]

Right here. [ A vague-toned response.] S' just weird ta look at.

[When you live with someone like Party (and to a slightly lesser extent, Ghoul and Kobra too) for so long it becomes necessary to occasionally stoop down to their level. Jet has never minded doing it, when the situation calls for it... and it makes Party smile.

Jet stops on the bridge, moving to the railing and leaning on it.]

If I hadn't seen it up close, I'd think it was a mirage.

[ Party stops for a moment, then shifting his feet to take a spot next to Jet. ]

Yea'.

[ Another pause, longer, just looking out at the water, at the river, and the buildings on the dirt.]

Ghoul's been learnin' t' swim in this shit.

Not a bad idea.

[Though, admittedly, one he is a little surprised to hear. Out of all of them, he would have pinned Kobra as the one most willing to jump into the water.]

He fall in or something?

[ Either way, definitely not Party, right?]

He likes it, I guess. [ He's tried to convince Party to go along, a few times. He usually refuses, but has gone to just dip his feet in the water a couple of times... nobody needs to know that part.]

Guess he been learnin' new shit around here. [ He rests his crossed arms on the railing, looking off into what they can see of the city.]

[It could be worth doing. Jet's given it some thought, but it hasn't really come up as an urgent requirement just yet.]

Guess he has. [Jet hums thoughtfully, closing his eyes and taking a breath of air that doesn't tingle with radioactive sunlight or the distant smell of blaster-fire. It's still a desert here, but different. There's something fresh in the air that he's never come across before.

He's not sure how he feels about it.]

It bothering you?

Why would it? [ He fidgets with one of his hands, keeping his eyes in the distance.

Not really. Maybe? He isn't sure. There's something about it that feels weird, in a way Party is not coherent enough to explain. A feeling of incompetency? Of maybe being stuck as he is while other people grow, specially someone as close to him as Ghoul?

Maybe.]

Just doin' what he wants.

[Jet knows Party. Jet knows that there is a lot that Party doesn't say, and that under the crashing storm of his surface there's a deeper turmoil disguised as an eerie calm. The kind that will grab you and tear you away, breathless, before you even have a moment to realise what's happening.

There's always a lot more going on with Party than meets the eye, and Jet knows.]

Yeah. [The word comes gentle and he doesn't push further, only gives a soft clap to the back of the younger man's shoulder.] Let's go.

[ Party doesn't like feeling like someone knows more about him than what's on the surface, most times. It makes him feel exposed, vulnerable. Most times, he doesn't believe it's possible for someone to know him in that way - then there are times where Jet just looks at him in a specific manner that scares him to his core, but, truth be told, Jet's also the last person Party would think would use that against him.

Aimless paranoia aside, anyway.

He blinks away from these thoughts and pushes himself away from the railing, back onto the road and on their way.

For a short while, he's silent again, thinking.]

Think they're magic? The trees.

[ He's entirely serious, but he does take a moment and pulls a face, hearing his own words.]

Maybe.

[Jet doesn't sound like he thinks it's a particularly stupid thing to say. A lot is happening here that can't be explained, so why the hell should it not be magic?

But he spots the look Party directs at himself out of the corner of his eye, and chuckles.]

What else could it be?

[ He doesn't notice anything about Jet's look, just moving along.]

Dunno. Normal-ass trees, I guess.

[ He glances off to their side, just surveying the terrain.

Don't nothin' like that grow on dead dirt. [ He, huh, guesses.] Plus the place used t' be underground...don't trees take long t' grow?

Mm, they do. Not much here what's normal, though.

[Wouldn't be surprised if they shot up out of the ground within a week, or a day, or if they even just appeared as they were and stayed that way.]

Think they'd need good sun, too, but there's no sun in a cave. [Fake sun? Would the trees know the difference?]

No sun. They told me. [ It's a real good thing Party didn't pop in here while the city was underground. That would have gone even worse.]

What if they're poison? [ Or magic? What if they hurt them, or--who knows. ] Some water does stuff.

[ Jet's just going to have to deal with some slightly paranoid train of mind.]

If they were poison, we'd know it. Not the kind of secret you can keep when everyone's eating off them.

[People would be dying, wouldn't they? Unless said poison is catered to only certain people, which... well, Jet's willing to take the risk, because some of the fruit on those trees looks delicious.

At least he's used to dealing with the paranoia. No point telling Party not to be worried, but he can inject some common sense into it all.]

Be fine.

[He figures the 'gods' here want them alive, anyway.]

[ Another proof that Jet knows how to deal with him a lot better than most people. No point in telling him something isn't true or doesn't make sense; he knows that, just help him dismiss it.]

Guess so...

[ He still doesn't trust it, really, but the point is to show Jet stuff anyway.

He spots the trees down a few ways away. They stand out against the rock and sand and dry brush, so it's really hard to miss it.]

[The orchard will very quickly become a place that Jet enjoys returning to, time and time again. Trees were so rare in the Zones, and living ones even more so, and so much time can be passed just sitting under the green branches and listening to the wind rustling through the leaves.

There's a subtle increase in the speed of his steps when the trees come into view, if only for the shade they offer.]

Hah... look at this fruit. [Just... growing there, like the heat doesn't matter.]

[ Party watches him move ahead, keeping his own pace, watching Jet be fascinated at the sight of living fruit trees.

It doesn't strike him as weird, obviously. It's entirely comprehensible, and if Party hadn't seen them before today, he would have looked just as interested. This is not something they would have seen at home, where all there were was dead trees or synthetic ones. No, this is a new sight, previously only on the edge of familiar - pictures, ideas, real a long time ago but long before they were born.

He walks over, hands in his pockets.]

Kinda weird lookin'. [ Not fruits he recognizes, for the most part. But he could smell the sweetness coming off some of them.]

Mm, s'pose so.

[Weird-looking, but edible right? He pulls one down and roll it from one hand to the other. It looks like a pear, but it's orange, and when he presses his thumb against it, it depresses like a peach.]

Think fast. [He says, tossing it over to Party.]

What do you make of it?

[He catches it, bouncing the fruit on one of his hands. He brings it up to sniff at it, twisting his lip to the side, out of curiosity instead of any disgust.]

Too sweet. [ Which is a blasphemous set of words, considering that Party's sweet tooth cannot be sated.] Looks like candy.

[Too sweet for Party Poison? He's half a mind to check for flying pigs, but the chances of actually seeing one are far too high to take the risk.]

Try it. [Jet offers it over, a half-smile on his face.] Unless you need me to test it for poison.

[ He frowns a little, akin to a pout, in that way he does when things aren't that serious. He turns the fruit around a couple of times, clearly hesitant.]

Dunno the taste. [ Which is, well, the point.]

[Oh, he knows that face.]

Won't know it unless you try it, sunshine. [You never know, Party, you might actually like it.]

Go on.

[ He keeps pulling that face, and takes his sweet time before he actually goes ahead and gives that fruit a bite. He isn't entirely sure how to expect it to taste, making it hard to process right away. But then, it's...now that bad, really.

...he grunts, looking down at it.]

Huh...weird.

[Jet waits, patient and slightly amused, while Party persuades himself into biting into the fruit. He expected it to take longer, if he's being entirely honest, and he observes the younger man for a few moments after.]

Well. Not poison, then.

[ It's like feeding a small child. Sometimes they're less open to eating whatever you put in front of them, other times there's less of a fuss. Different tactics for different folks, and Jet has a way of gently convincing Party to try things he usually wouldn't.]

Unless I ghost in like an hour. [ He turns the fruit around a couple of times, before holding it toward to the other killjoy.]

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[CLOSED]

whoop whoop only 4 days late

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