We will never leave our lives.

[hostage]

Who: Jesse and Mary
When: 7 pm on Saturday, March 10
Where: Mary's apartment
Summary: Jesse admires some interior decorating.
Warnings: MILFs MILFs MILFs


[It's already past sirens, so Jesse's practically been bouncing off the walls just waiting for time to pass. He actually gets down to the second floor ten minutes early, then spends a little while pacing back and forth before finally knocking at Mary's door.]

Comments

[hostage]

[He looks away for a second. He isn't judging her. It just isn't something he ever considered possible. Like the kind of stuff wacko preachers talk about on TV. So, to make sure he heard right:]

You made a deal... with a demon? Like, the devil?

[momchester]

No- not. It wasn't the devil- you know, Satan. The devil's actually here, in Siren's Port. He's a fallen angel.

[Hi enjoy that bomb she just dropped nbd.]

But apparently the one I made my deal with was the king of Hell at the time. So in a way... I guess he was the devil.

[hostage]

[Now he's really starting to wonder if he survived Mexico, if this isn't just some really weird afterlife.]

The devil's here? And you made a deal with like... like his sidekick?

[momchester]

Yes and no. I guess Lucifer was... trapped. Locked away somewhere, where even the demons couldn't get him, so I don't know if Azazel was his sidekick, but he was the ruler of Hell.

[It's still too big for her. Every time she thinks about it, she feels like shrieking and running away. The king of hell?]

[hostage]

[It isn't fully sinking in. Maybe it won't ever. It was the same with with Death.

He gives a slight shake of his head.]

...Why'd you do it?

[momchester]

He... killed someone I loved, then gave me the chance to bring him back.

Actually it was three people, but I could only get one.

[hostage]

[He won't ask who it was. He's already asking too much, isn't he?]

It's a good thing, right? 'cause you did it to save somebody.

[momchester]

I should have known better, though.

[She sips at her soda uncomfortably, then gives up and goes for the bottle of wine on the coffee table.]

[hostage]

[He watches her go for the wine, then drops his gaze to his own soda.]

We, uh... We don't have to talk about it. You know, if it's...

[momchester]

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. [Shaking her head.] Calling it a "downer" doesn't really cover it.

At least you learned something important about this place, though.

[Satan! Fun.]

[hostage]

Nah, it's okay. I mean, long as you're okay. I mean... I think it's good, talking stuff out like this.

And yeah, I'm learning.

[momchester]

[That... that honestly surprises her. No one from her world talks about jack shit. Through the surprise, though, she manages a small smile and a nod.]

Sorry to blow your mind about the devil thing... you would've found out eventually.

[hostage]

Probably won't be the craziest thing I'll find out about this place, either.

[momchester]

Yeah, not at all. You haven't heard of the Jesus lion, have you?

[Yeah, she still remembers that one. From her first week here.]

[hostage]

Jesus lion?

[momchester]

Yeah. Jesus lion. [Laughing at that because come on, how can you not?] Apparently there's this lion who's somehow Jesus in his world, or Jesus who just... takes the form of a lion. It might be completely fake, but I remember two people from my world talking about it months and months ago.

[hostage]

Yo, for real? I mean, I guess it could happen... Jesus lion, and the devil, and unicorns, and superheroes. Why not?

[momchester]

Exactly. [She sits up a little, laughing. More relaxed. Christ, it's so nice to sit down and talk about something stupid and not have to engage too many brain cells.] It's this big soup of everything you could imagine and have never heard of.

It does a little to balance out the rest of the city.

[hostage]

Yeah. Though I don't think this place is half as bad as everybody says when you get here.

[momchester]

Well... for some people, that's true. [Lip bite.] Some people find a way to be happy and make a life here.

[She isn't one of them, not yet. Not for lack of trying.]

A lot of how you live depends on luck, and that's what scares people. Whether your best friend or roommate disappears tomorrow- you can't control that. If your girlfriend or brother vanishes, they might come back three days later- from years in the future, where they're angry at you for something you haven't done yet.

But then again... there are a lot of incredibly unique chances here. Chances you might never get anywhere else, or ever again. I actually know my sons. [...] One of them was older than me, but... still.

[Weird life, man.]

[hostage]

Yeah... That's a little messed up, but it's more good than bad, right? Better than not getting a chance.

[momchester]

[She turns away a little so she's sitting and looking straight out, one elbow leaning on her knee. It's new- refreshing, really, to hear this kind of sincere optimism from a new arrival. Wasn't it just yesterday that she felt like that?]

Yeah, that's true. The Port has a way of being what you make it.

[More or less a story she tells herself.]

[hostage]

But that ain't just here, right? That's life. It's whatever you make it.

[momchester]

[She smiles vaguely and looks back over at him.]

Very true. Some people say this place was made for second chances.

[hostage]

[The way he smiles at that is rueful.]

They do say that, huh.