sirenspull_logs | i wish to remain nameless

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i wish to remain nameless

Who: Lisbeth and Jane
When: Friday, October 5th
Where: Jesse's house in Sector 4
Summary: Lisbeth finally comes home and has to adjust to a change in her environment.
Warnings: ...Catfights maybe? Alot of tension though.

Lisbeth didn't get home until noon the following day. She'd spent the night at Nill's going over some plans for their next attack and had fallen asleep there instead of journeying through the Darkness to get back to her bed. But even when she got home, she spent a half hour pacing outside. She knew who was inside. There was a new person inside, from Jesse's home. Lisbeth felt anxious, like an animal that was taken out of its comfort zone. Pacing and smoking three cigarettes. Their butts would have littered one of the plants outside, but she threw them in the street instead. Lisbeth exhaled the last puff of smoke she'd been holding as she turned her key and unlocked the door.

Quietly, she closed the door behind her and looked around. There was no one in the living room, but there were signs of someone around: a cup on the table as well as a book picked from the bookshelves that Lisbeth had filled over the past two weeks. She made her way through the living room slowly, trying not to make any noise. Why? She wasn't afraid of this woman. Maybe Lisbeth wanted to get the first glance, to be the one to see her and not the other way around.

Lisbeth couldn't explain why she thought the way she did, but it was there. She quietly approached the kitchen.

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Jane, conveniently enough, was in the kitchen. She had attempted coffee (the cup left on the table) and browsed through a few books to keep her mind busy. The coffee hadn't agreed with her stomach, though, so after a few sips she had wandered into the kitchen for some water instead, finding a pitcher in the fridge to pour from. Since Jesse transferred Pain Suppression, she wasn't nearly as miserable as she should have been considering the severity of heroin withdrawals, but pure physical pain, she was beginning to realize, was a sliver of the experience. There was a cold, damp feeling in all of her bones and it chilled her to the core. She was wrapped up in a hooded sweatshirt and long pants--both too large for her small frame, shivering every so often regardless.

The sudden noise behind Jane startled her and she dropped the glass, shattering it. "Oh, shit." She hissed, moving to clean it up and then pausing once she got it most of the way finished, tossing the broken glass and soaked paper towels. "I didn't hear you come in..." She said idly, wiping her hands on her sweatshirt. "You're Jesse's roommate, I take it?" She asked, something about the way Lisbeth was carrying herself telling her not to approach just yet.

Lisbeth had been watching her from the hallway for a minute or so, evaluating her in silence. She had half the mind to leave to go to her room without an introduction, but she bumped into the little table they often placed their keys and mail on. She'd dropped a glass on the floor and there was water on the floor. Lisbeth made no move to help her clean it up. Nor did she apologize for startling her.

Her eyes wide and curious, she looked at her. "Yes," she replied. "I am."

Edited 2012-10-06 05:11 (UTC)

Jane arched a brow inwardly at the cold reply. Jane wasn't exactly bubbly towards most people, so the fact that she'd made an effort this time and of course this time got shut out...well, it was irritating. Jane cleaned up the floor regardless. She couldn't be mad about that--her dumb ass had dropped the glass to begin with. Well, let's try this one again, shall we? Nothing had been outwardly hostile...yet. And at least Lisbeth acknowledged she was spoken to.

"I'm Jane." There was no handshake offered because, what the hell. She wasn't going to bend over backwards to be nice. Instead, her arms crossed over her chest. Bitch-mode activated.

Lisbeth inwardly sighed. She had to be civil - she promised Jesse she would do this and she needed Jane to trust her and unfortunately letting Jane like her was impertinent to the cause. She went over the list of things the other woman didn't know before speaking. Lisbeth constantly did this to avoid anything slipping up in conversation.

"I'm Lisbeth," she said. A beat. "Nice to meet you."

It was like two animals closing in on each others' territory, sizing each other up, and Jane stood there, leaning back against the counter slightly.

Jane's posture relaxed a little bit when Lisbeth spoke again. Jane was on edge mentally and physically, so she was quick to catch an attitude (not that that was particularly unlike her to begin with).

"Yeah...same." Jane replied, pausing in the awkward silence to fill a new glass with water. "Have you been here long? This city, I mean." Jane asked, but stayed put where she was, leaning against the counter again as she sipped on her water.

It wasn't easy to come up with conversational topics amongst the shock of finding herself here. There were more taxing questions than the mundane ones she was asking, but honestly Jane was still half-expecting to wake up from a dream. She was still coming to terms with the reality of it all, so asking questions about the situation she found herself in seemed a little ridiculous at the moment.

Lisbeth stood where she was as well, her bag still slung around her shoulder. She eventually dropped it at her feet before kicking it underneath the hallway table. She'd get it later. However, she didn't take a step into the kitchen. It wouldn't last long, though, because she knew she wanted a soda and the fridge was in the kitchen. But she stayed in her place for now.

"I've been here since March," she said. "When did you get here? To Siren's Port, I mean."

Every time Jane asked someone that question, she became disheartened and each time it was answered, the reality that she was stuck here long-term set in deeper. "A couple of days ago." With that, Jane realized she didn't even know what day of the week it was anymore. "I think. It's all kind of a blur..." Jane trailed off and sipped her water again. She wasn't thirsty anymore, but felt like she needed to be doing something. The awkwardness and tension was tangible in the air. There were a few moments pause and Jane tapped her fingers against the side of her water glass, trying to think of something to say.

"I'm planning on getting a tattoo shop up and running around here when I'm feeling better. What about you? What do you do?" Jane offered up a tidbit of information about herself. They had to live together, at least for now. Might as well keep things civil.

"The baseball field isn't the most comfortable place," she said in response about Jane's arrival. Damnit, personal information. Lisbeth didn't like talking about herself and she certainly didn't like giving any information to a person she didn't know, whether or not they would be co-habitating.

"I work at a law office some days. Other days I do computer work." She tugged at her shirt.

"Go to the Newcomer Community Center. They probably have information about Newcomer businesses and a directory of lenders." Great, now she was giving out advice.

Jane was more trying to make small talk than anything else. She didn't really like talking about herself in detail, either, so she was trying to stick to simple questions.

"Not exactly. At least I don't remember landing?" Jane shrugged, raising her water glass in a bitter sort of 'cheers' gesture. The little things in life, huh?

Okay, so Lisbeth was being a little bit vague. Jane didn't probe any further. "I guess Jesse mentioned investing in it, but I'll check it out anyway. At least for how to go about it. Thanks." Jane shrugged and went to lift her glass for another sip when she realized in the awkward silences she'd already finished it. Jane rinsed the glass and left it upside down on a papertowel to dry on the countertop and found herself standing in the middle of the kitchen feeling awkward. This was beyond fucking weird but she wasn't letting her guard down enough to let that show. Jane didn't want to feel like she was unable to walk around the house without feeling intrusive, either. Stubborn, she stayed.

"Oh," Lisbeth said. She completely forgot about the money Jesse had. "It would probably be easier through Jesse. Not as much red tape." Okay, she really needed a drink. Lisbeth finally stepped into the kitchen, not taking her eyes off Jane until she reached the fridge. She then kept her head down as she got a soda from the fridge and pulled the tab to open it.

So...

"You're a tattoo artist?"

"I figured. Not really a fan of red tape." She shook her head, feeling like she didn't have to be frozen in place anymore once Lisbeth finally made her way into the kitchen. Jane took a step to the side, keeping their personal space separate, though she made no movements to leave and actually seemed to loosen up a bit in her body language.

"Yeah. An artist in general, actually. Sketching and painting, mostly, but tattooing is what paid the bills." She nodded her head. It probably sounded odd coming from her, what with her porcelain skin that didn't have a single drop of ink on it anywhere. Not that Lisbeth could see all of her, but most seasoned tattoo artists had little room to spare on their skin.

Lisbeth took a seat on the kitchen table and continued to sip on her soda can. Being so short, her feet dangled above the floor. While Jane talked about art and tattoos, she chewed on her lower lip. "You can probably try the Underground Mall," she said. "It's open all the time, even during Darkness. That way you can stay open for longer instead of closing when sirens go off." She took another long sip of her soda, still watching Jane.

She needed to make her as comfortable as she could. Lisbeth had done her research after she told Jesse she would take on this project and while most people didn't recommend detoxing at home, she found something about sponsors. Sponsors had to be people that the recovering addict had to trust.

But Jane shouldn't expect Lisbeth to be soft with her either.

Jane didn't expect much from anyone, to be honest. She didn't like being coddled mainly because it felt so foreign to her. She didn't have a long sob story about how hard her life had been. Jane made it that way on her own. Even if her parents' divorce had caused some issues, the choice to self-medicate was her own decision. As anyone could imagine, there was little glamour in the life of a full-blown heroin addict. Despite Jane's delicate appearance, she was anything but. Right now, she was a little vulnerable because this all still felt like a dream and the withdrawals were still building. They would likely reach a high point in the next day or two, the worst of the detox stage.

"Underground Mall.." Jane repeated, her tone saying she was interested. She wasn't exactly one to scream and shout about anything exciting, especially feeling as crappy as she did, but it did intrigue her. And then that word again. Darkness. "People keep saying Darkness around here but don't explain what they're talking about. What's the deal?" Clearly, she needs a little break-down of the whole situation. People have been giving her tips or tidbits here and there, but not nearly enough to paint a comprehensive picture.

Lisbeth reached into her motorcycle jacket and pulled out her cigarettes. She lit one and puffed away. She turned her head to look at her directly, as if shocked that no one described the Darkness to her. "Darkness is what we get for having the Core," she began. "It's made monsters that only come out at night. Just think of nighttime except there's a marked blackness about it and there is some scary shit out there."

She took another puff. "Things disintegrate. If you don't have a special, Darkness-proof water tank, you can't drink or take a shower at night. Buildings chip away. With winter coming, sirens are earlier. You can take a look outside if you want to see for yourself."

Jane had been craving a cigarette that whole time. She knew Jesse let her smoke in his bedroom, but she wasn't sure about the household dynamics yet, so she held off until she saw Lisbeth lighting one up. She followed suit with a pack of Parliaments. She was more a Marlboro girl, but she got used to Parliaments because of Jesse. Jane jogged the pack against her palm to make one of her cigarettes stand above the others, lifting the pack to her mouth and withdrawing the odd one out with her lips, lighting it. Good, at least smoking wouldn't be an issue of tension between them.

"Probably stupid to ask knowing Jesse, but this place has a darkness-proof water tank...right?" She would be shocked if it didn't. Jane always had a curiosity for the morbid, so Lisbeth's offer to look outside didn't do much except give her a reason to push off the counter and cross to the window. She squinted to try and see outside, but it was so black out that the kitchen lights reflected off of the glass, turning them into more effective mirrors than windows. Jane held her cigarette between her lips so she could cup her hands to the glass.

She felt a bit like a kid checking how much it snowed outside, but the sight she was greeted with was far more serious. The amused look was wiped right off her face as she looked back over at Lisbeth. "And nothing can be done about it?"

"The top of the line, from what I remember when he bought the house," she said, taking another puff. When Jane then turned to take a look outside at the Darkness, Lisbeth took this time to look her over. She looked from her raven black hair - she wondered if she dyed it like Lisbeth did - down her back and down to her feet. Anyone from the outside looking in would think that Lisbeth was lustfully looking her over, but that was far from the truth. She wanted to size up what she would be dealing with here.

Her concentration was torn when Jane looked away from the window. Lisbeth shrugged. "You can kill whatever monsters are in your way, if you can. Or at least disable them. If not, stay inside. Or hire a Darkness-proof cab. Cars that aren't proofed also rust."

Jane might have been out of it, but after a few moments, she could feel Lisbeth's eyes on her and caught her gaze when she turned back around, a brow slightly raised. It caught her a little bit off guard but she paid little mind to it. And no Jane didn't dye her hair, though everyone expected as much with how completely jet-black it was. She made sure to correct anyone who asked.

"Kill monsters? With what?" Jane comically picked up a wooden spoon out of a container by the stove. "This?" She laughed and spun the spoon in her fingers before putting it back. Jane clearly wasn't taking the whole 'fighting monsters' thing seriously, but honestly? Who would when they came from a world where 'monsters' only came in the forms of people and were far more figurative than literal.

"I think I'll just take my chances inside, for now. I'm not really in any shape to be fighting the common cold, let alone monsters. So...what kind of monsters are we talking here, exactly?" Her voice held a slight mocking tone to it--not necessarily aimed at Lisbeth, just in general disbelief of this situation she found herself in. Because really? Monsters? Come on... She couldn't believe she was actually having this conversation.

Edited 2012-10-09 10:22 (UTC)

Lisbeth's eyes immediately cast down at the linoleum floor as she raised her cigarette to her mouth - caught. She brought her gaze back up to Jane when she talked about the monsters. "We kill them with guns, our powers, anything we can get our hands on," she said. "Before I started taking the cabs, I carried a bat around with me if I wanted to get anything done after sirens." It now sat in the hallway closet, reserved for people who shouldn't be looking around here.

"No one knows how they've been created. Some people think they're mutated individuals from when the Core melted eons ago. Others think it might be the souls of the damned. I've also heard that SERO manufactures monsters and unleashes them."

Lisbeth shrugged. "So who knows. All we know is that we have to deal with them."

Jane's smile, her joking demeanor all started to fade out the more Lisbeth explained to her, turning into a nervous energy that made her light up another cigarette even though she'd just smoked one practically down to the filter. "I don't...I mean, if it's really that dangerous, why don't people just get shit done while it's light out. Right? Adapt to the environment? I don't know." Jane wasn't trying to be a smart-ass anymore. It just escaped her logic as to why people would put themselves in such danger if it wasn't absolutely necessary...which didn't really make sense for a heroin addict who put her life on the line every time she plunged a needle into her veins, all for little more than a brief rush.

"SERO..." She started, thinking. Jesse had just been talking about SERO and AGI the other night, when she'd first arrived and they stayed up 'till all hours talking through her insomnia. "Jesse seemed to think AGI was the more messed up of the two. All he really mentioned about SERO were rumors AGI started about it and something about pharmaceuticals and..." She sighed. This was a lot to decipher in not so much time.

"Anyway...I can't say I know my way around a gun or anything, but I'm sure if I got some training I could handle it. I'm not exactly a delicate flower." Jane scoffed a laugh. She knew her stature was dainty, but Jane had been through the wringer. She survived through a lot more than she ever told people she did, because who wanted to listen to the horror stories of an addict clawing their way through addiction? It was anything but glamorous and it made most people uncomfortable. Still, as a brand-new citizen of Siren's Port, Jane had no idea what she was really up against here. Not yet, at least.

"People do," she said. "But what if you want to go out to dinner? The club? Or the movies? The Darkness is a thing, but people don't let it dictate their lives. Places, like the Underground Mall, are open during Darkness hours. Why not go?" Because who gave a fuck? Lisbeth certainly didn't. Yeah going to the movies or grabbing a bite to eat could very well cost you your life, but it sure as hell beat sitting in the house all night.

"Especially with the nights getting longer. People will have to travel home from work in Darkness. We just get used to it."

Okay, as much as Jane might not like to admit it, Lisbeth had a point. It was likely her withdrawals that made her not care. It was an effort walking across the house right now, let alone even thinking of going outside, especially with the prospect of fighting...whatever it was that lurked out there.

"Yeah. I know I'll get sick of being stuck in the house. I guess right now I just feel pretty crappy anyway, so I'd probably be inside darkness or not." Jane shrugged, but wasn't about to have a pity party. She'd gotten herself right where she was, and she knew that.

"I guess when the time comes I'll just have to borrow that bat of yours." She managed a smile, trying to make light of an increasingly dark situation. She was half-serious. Jane would rather die than be bound to the house every night, all night. But she'd likely need something better than a bat if she was really going to make it out here.

"Or, like you said. Hire a car." She added, letting Lisbeth know she was listening despite how skeptical she still was about some things.

And despite herself, Jane's comment about her bat made the corner of her mouth twitch in a half smile before it was gone in an instant. "The bat doesn't get used too much. Jesse will probably take you around in a car or whatever."

Jane felt slight relief at the hint of a smile, as short-lived as it was. She was still wary of the other, though, and being cautious of their interactions.

"Yeah, I figured as much. I don't really need to be carted around everywhere though. I happen to enjoy my independence." Jane wasn't the type to like being waited on hand and foot. She wasn't prissy. She was down to earth, real. Jane wasn't some fragile flower that felt she needed protecting. When it came down to it, she knew she was the only one she could ever fully rely on.

"Try explaining that to him," she said, jumping off the table once she's done her soda. "It sounds like he cares about you alot and this can be a really shitty place sometimes." Lisbeth walked over to the recycling bin and tossed her can into it. A steady collection was already building and they'd picked up the recycling only two days ago.

"No, I know--it won't matter. I know he cares." Jane didn't take Jesse's nature for granted--she appreciated the way he treated her. It was just something she wasn't used to. Jane didn't exactly have many positive experiences with past relationships to draw on. She was always preparing herself for shit to go south, and sometimes it came out how she didn't intend it to.

"I just know he's been here for a while. I don't know how long, but I don't intend on putting whatever he has happening on hold. I just don't want him worrying too much. I don't know." Jane shrugged and watched Lisbeth toss her can into the mostly full recycling bin.

"On a soda kick?" She asked, raising a brow and nodding towards the bin.

Lisbeth was tempted to answer all her curiosities. But answering them meant that Lisbeth had taken the time to get to know Jesse, that she was close to him. She stays quiet as she takes another drag from her cigarette. There was one question she was going to answer, however.

"Yeah," she said about the soda before she puckered her lips and exhaled smoke into the air. "And now I nap." Lisbeth put the cigarette back in her mouth before walking out of the kitchen and grabbing her rucksack.

She bounded up the stairs and to her room.

Jane was none-the-wiser to Lisbeth avoiding her curiosities. She still assumed Jesse would have no reason to lie to her about Lisbeth simply being a roommate. Upon finding out the truth, she'd likely be more annoyed at the fact that she was lied to than the actual divulged information. Jane isn't big on commitment. It terrifies her.

Jane watched as Lisbeth concluded their interaction and announced her plans for bed, watching as she left the kitchen, her gaze following Lisbeth out of the room. "Good night!" Jane called out after her, then leaned against the counter to finish her cigarette and class of water. She wouldn't sleep that night. Insomnia was going to run rampant over the next several days.

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