A (Most Likely Not) Normal Night ((Open))

[Aela Ward]

When Jack offered Aela a piece of licorice, she took it with a smile, not wanting to come off as rude despite the fact that Nyght suddenly appearing had, in a sense, postponed her appetite. After Nyght had swallowed the pills she'd given her, Aela took the cup of water and the orange container of medicine and set it aside on the nightstand.

As Nyght told her story of losing her key, Aela couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for leaving without so much of a whim of a warning. She clasped her hands together in her lap, biting her lip as silence fell over the room. The last time the three of them had been together at the same time was in that coffee shop downtown, and it was in much better circumstances than what was at hand. If you considered hunting down a demonic bird better than awkward silence of friends that hadn't seen much of each other in a while.

After a moment, Aela shook her head, her voice guilt-ridden as she spoke. "I'm so sorry for leaving so suddenly. It's just... The line of work I'm in calls you away at the most inconvenient times, you know? If I could have stayed, I would have. But deployment isn't really optional." She looked to Nyght with a small smile. "We'll get you a new key. And a lanyard to keep it on so you don't lose it again." She playfully nudged her friend with her shoulder.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack shifted uncomfortably. The young man was beginning to feel awkward and it occurred to him that maybe he should leave. He kind of wanted to leave, but he also didn't want to be rude. This was another situation where Jack wasn't entirely sure what the appropriate course of action was. Oh well. He'd probably stick around for a bit until dismissed, otherwise the young man would probably slip out later at a later point.

    "Ya know, if you're feeling hungry," The young man began, putting away the twizzlers. "Aela totally ordered a pizza. Should be arriving any minute now." Jeez. If Jack had to go just one more second of simply just standing there awkwardly, he was going to start babbling. About anything, but probably something about twizzlers and pizza, somewhere along the lines of the last time he'd had some, how much he'd had, and how much he was looking forward to having some more.

[Nyghtingale]

Nyght blinked and smiled, nodding at Aela. "It is alright Aela, I understand your job is very important and takes you all over the place. I know that you can not always be here, but I just want you to know that I miss you every second that you are away Aela." She smiled and nodded, then looked at Jack raising her eyebrow. She wondered what his problem was. She could tell he was uncomfortable all the sudden, but she could not tell why. She simply could not even guess why he would be uncomfortable. It was just Jack, Aela, and herself after all and they had hung out together plenty of time now.

"Pizza....sounds great. I have not had pizza in a long time, and I am pretty hungry." She bit off another piece of the Twizzlers in her hand, then slowly stood up. "Let's go see if the pizza has arrived so that we can eat. These drugs might make me nauseous or something afterwards so I hope I can eat and keep it down before that." She moved towards the door, grinning at Aela and Jack. She was just glad to be home finally and with her two friends.

[Aela Ward]

It was obvious Jack wasn't the most comfortable, and in an attempt to relieve some of the awkwardness for him, Aela stood up as well. She cast a momentary, knowing look at him, a small grin on her face, then said to both her friends, "It's good that you're hungry because I ordered three pizzas and a side of cheese bread. Although," She thought aloud, "I can't remember exactly what toppings I asked for..."

Leading Jack and Nyght out to the living room - consisting of a single two cushion couch and glass coffee table - Aela was about to sit down when the doorbell chimed cheerily through the small space. "That'll be the food." She strode to the door, undid the chain and pulled it open. Just as predicted, the familiar uniform worn by the Domino's pizza guy greeted her.

Accepting the three and a half pizza boxes, Aela handed the delivery guy exact change with an added tip of six bucks. Nodding a thank you to him as he left, she used the heel of her bare foot to close the door as she went back to join her friends.

Setting the boxes out on the coffee table, Aela popped each of them open, announcing the toppings as she went. "Pepperoni and olive; sausage, pepperoni, and extra cheese; and finally, green and yellow peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, bacon, sausage, and olives." Holding up a hand, she added, "I'll get the plates before we ruin the couch with grease stains." Retrieving the plates from her kitchen cupboards, Aela also brought over three cans of Mountain Dew and plopped herself down, setting the dishes and drinks on the table.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack pretended not to see Aela's knowing look but the young man feared his slightly flushed face might have given him away. But the mention of the pizza... Three pizzas and breadsticks? That was a lot of pizza. He contemplated how much he might eat. Jack had eaten whole pizzas all by himself before, but that never ended well for him, the details of which were probably best left unmentioned.

    "So long as it has cheese and sauce, I'm cool," Jack said while attempting to ignore his growling stomach, when Aela mentioned not remembering what toppings she'd ordered.

    He followed Aela back into the living room, hopefully not too eagerly. Noticing the couch was a bit small for the three of them, Jack gladly took a seat on the floor. The young man wanted to start digging into the pizza right away, but he managed to hold off until Aela brought over the plates and drinks. Jack took a sip of the Mountain Dew before piling a couple slices onto his plate, beginning with the second largest slice, as was his habit.

    "So, Nyght," He began, lifting a slice of pizza to his face. "What've you been up to lately?" Jack took a bite, eyes glancing between Nyght and his food.

[Nyghtingale]

Nyght did not mind what kind of toppings where on the pizza. Right now she was so hungry she could probably eat pizza topped with Stymphalian bird feathers. She followed the three out of the room, closing the door and grimacing once at the sight of the mess she had made and would need to clean up later as she closed the door. However she happily went to the living room, and sat down lounging back against the couch and sighed. She grabbed a pillow and used it to slightly prop her throbbing arm up as the pain killers would take a little while longer to kick in.

When the bell rang, she watched Aela go to get the pizza, and her mouth broke out in salivation like Pavlov's dog. The smell was entrancing alone, and she struggled to hold back diving right in as Aela went to get plates and also returned with some cans of Mountain Dew. She finally grabbed a plate, and loaded three hot slices of the pizza with peppers and mushrooms and other stuff on it on to her plate. She began to gobble down one piece, hissing breath through her teeth to cool the hot fresh pizza before chewing and swallowing.

"Not much Jack. Just been working my way back home here. Trying to keep my arm from being jostled to much and stuff. I have not had time to get it looked at yet since the Stymphalian bird. Also does not help that....well... I do not have health insurance or the money to get it fixed." She frowned, then took another bite of pizza.

[Aela Ward]

As Jack took a seat on the floor, Aela couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt. Sure, he was being gentlemanly, but she still felt bad for making him sit on the ground to eat. He didn't look like he minded it much, so she tried to ignore her nagging to go grab him a chair.

Taking her plate, she placed one piece of each kind of pizza on it and sat back next to Nyght. Taking a bite, she listened to the exchange between her friends. Swallowing, she interjected, "Well, since you're a resident here, I'm sure we could solve the health insurance problem. I have a household deal through work, so it shouldn't be too hard."

After a few more bites, Aela looked over to Nyght and said, "The pain meds should kick in soon. Don't get too worried if you start feeling dizzy or nauseous. Those are a couple of the side effects that might come on. But the pain'll be gone."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack shrugged, mouth full of hot pizza. "If cash is an issue, I've got some lying around. More than I need to keep me in fresh video games, at least." Money didn't have much meaning to the young man. With his abilities and vague morals, he mostly just took what he needed. Now don't misunderstand, he wasn't exactly just mugging old ladies in the street or anything silly like that. But Jack could tear through bank vaults like tissue paper if he wanted to and when you've just killed a room full of european gangsters, why not lift some of the copious amounts cash left lying on the table? It kept him in video games and junk food, at least.

    "My part time job pays pretty well and sometimes I get a fairly hefty bonus for a job well done. Call me lucky but it happens every so often," Jack said awkwardly, rubbing his neck as he tried to find a way to dance around how he'd come across the cash, remembering how Nyght hadn't been too fond of the idea of even just simply trying to borrow a truck when they were back in Alaska. Theft and murder didn't seem something either would approve of.

    That and he still hadn't told his pals about his, ah, murderous tendancies. People tended to look at him differently once they'd learned that the harmless goof standing --or in this case, sitting-- before them frequently murdered and tortured his way through anyone he felt deserved it. Ok, so that might be putting it a little badly. Jack typically only hurt people who totally deserved it.
    
    "Try not to puke near the food," The young man said through a slice, grinning, when Aela mentioned nausea.

[Nyghtingale]

     Nyght groaned, thinking about how the drugs might make her nauseous. She really did not like that feeling, though she did not mind the dizzy feeling that might come. She however raised a eyebrow at Jack as he attempted to explain away his laying around cash. She knew his proclivity to not caring about where things came from. After all, he had stolen a vehicle, and stolen chains from some store or another to capture an akhult. She rolled her eyes and called it out exactly as she saw it.

     "Bullshit, Jack. I know that you don't have a job, at least not one that you go to regularly and that you get paid to do. You are always out running around and doing stuff, hunting monsters and stuff. Also I know that you have no qualms about pinching stuff from other people. Like that vehicle and the chains you took to fight and catch the akhults." She eyed him, staring hard in to his eyes. "I bet you probably robbed a bank or somebody with lots of money to spare like a CEO to get that money."

     She looked over at Aela and grinned. "Probably better to get health insurance like you said. Next thing I know, using Jack's money, the Feds will be knocking at our door having tracked down those stolen bills and stuff."

[Aela Ward]

Aela raised her brow at Jack's comment on his job; she doubted his "part-time job" that had occasional hefty bonuses for a job well done was anything ethical. She let Nyght finish her accusation before she said anything, though. "I don't know anything about the Feds coming for us, but perhaps the exact opposite." She narrowed her eyes in a mockingly suspicious way, placing her plate of pizza - practically untouched at this point - on the table in front of her. "You probably deal in the works of criminals, perhaps a mercenary for powerful mobsters around the world?"

Aela really had no idea what Jack did for a living. He'd sparked her curiosity when he brought the matter up, and now she wouldn't relent until she found out. She pressed on, "Come on, Jack. It can't be that bad." She leaned forward, grinning slightly as she asked, "So what exactly do you call 'work'?"

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    “Hey! I totally have a job and I’m there every day!” The young man insisted. He thought for a moment before shrugging. “Well, not every day. I get weekends off, usually.” Jack took another bite of pizza and rolled his eyes about the car and chains. Stealing the truck from a military base had been her idea, by the way. “I bought the chains and borrowed that truck. I was totally going to return it, too, but you went and wrecked it with your little explosion so that wasn’t really an option by the end.”

    “Jeez. I’m not a criminal, guys. Such insinuations really hurt my feelings.” Jack leaned back and folded his hands across his chest, a hurt expression on his face. “I’m a mature, responsible adult.” His money was probably clean but paying off your medical tab with small bills would probably draw some suspicion.

    "Well," The young man thought about how he was going to phrase it this time. "It's, like, corporate stuff, you know? Like, profits start to dip in a particular sector so sometimes they'll send me in to figure out what the problem is and come up with a solution. Boring stuff, really. I can't even fire anyone. I can only recommend that they be fired. So, yeah." Jack hadn't technically lied but the full truth might make what he'd said seem misleading, if not outright deceptive. The young man shrugged and took another bite of his pizza while he waited for their reactions.

[Nyghtingale]

Nyght took a bite of her pizza, chew it slowly as Jack spoke. She snorted loudly, then began to hack and cough because of snorting and now choking upon the bite of pizza she had in her mouth. She dropped her piece on the plate, then fumbled and opened her Mountain Dew and took a sip to help herself stop from dying upon her pizza. She finally got herself under control, and after a few more hacking coughs she looked at Jack with slightly teary eyes.

"C...corporate stuff! Bollocks Jack, do not be so silly. We are your friends, and we know that you are totally being a wanker now and feeding us rubbish such as that. We know that you are simply not the kind of person who would be cut out for that sort of work. Now, stop lying to use and tell us the truth. It is not like we are suddenly going to throw you outta the house and never speak to you again based upon what you do for a living."

[Aela Ward]

Before Aela could say anything else about Jack's doubtful occupation, Nyght started coughing violently. She laid a hand on her friends shoulder, not bothering to ask if she was okay yet; coughing that hard, she wouldn't be able to answer anyway. So Aela waited, her worry growing with each vigorous cough. She was about to go against her better judgement and ask the question, but a quick swig from her soda can solved the fit.

Listening to Nyght's retaliation to Jack's statement, Aela nodded along in agreement. There wasn't any reason to hide what he did to scrape together some cash; she certainly wouldn't judge him for anything. He would still be the Jack she'd come to know and care about, even if he had a bizarre job.

"Jack, we aren't going to see you any differently because of what you do every day. Besides..." She shrugged, offering a smile. "It can't be that bad, anyway."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack threw up his hands helplessly, looking mildly offended. This was part of why he never talked to anyone about what he did. No one ever seemed to believe him, like they didn't think he was smart enough or serious enough or maybe mature enough to do the job that he did. That really hurt his feelings. "I've just told you but I can't make you believe me," The young man said through a mouth full of pizza. "You don't think I'm good enough?"

    "I've got no reason to lie," Jack added, shrugging. He drank some mountain dew, sighing as the bubbly taste reminded him of long days spent playing video games with nothing but junk food to keep him going through the sleepless nights. The young man chewed some more pizza and looked at the other two, reevaluating the esteem Jack figured they held him in. Apparently they found it inconceivable that he could have any part of his life figured out like any mature, responsible adult would. The offended him more than Nyght and Aela might have realized.

    "What did you guys think I did? Sit around doing nothing but playing video games and eating junk food? Everyones got to do something."

[Nyghtingale]

Nyght frowned, listening to Jack and her eyebrows furrowing. He was obviously lying, and it was making her slightly mad actually. The fact that he could not trust them with the truth was aggravating. She suddenly dropped it, turning away and not looking at him anymore. She simply sat eating her pizza now quietly, chomping upon the cheesy topped food angrily. How could he not trust them? How could he not trust HER after everything they had been through together! Just the thought of it made her insides boil angrily.

She finished off a slice of pizza, then picked up her soda and took a large swallow. She set it back on the table, probably a little harder then she had meant to because some of it sloshed up and over her hand. She glared at it, then grabbed a napkin and wiped her hand clean. She would need to wash her hand now, cause the syrupy corn syrup would make her hand sticky. Standing up, she grunted.

"Be right back...gotta go to the bathroom to wash my hand."

She moved to the bathroom and turned the hot water on full blast, letting it run a second before putting her hands under it and washing her hands. She pumped some soap on them and began to lather her hands angrily, staring at herself in the mirror and seeing the tears building in her eyes. Why did she care so much for somebody who obviously did not give a bollocks about her? He obviously could not even trust her with his job...how would he trust her with anything else? How could she trust him when he could so easily lie about something so simple?