APRIL CATCH-ALL; Mostly the view is beautiful

[burger_king]

WHO: Jughead Jones and YOU
WHERE: Mostly Maurtia Falls, but also other places
WHEN: Throughout April
WHAT: A lot of stuff, mostly mundane!
WARNINGS: Riverdale nonsense, teens being teens. See individual threads for individual warnings.

Prompts under the cut, hit me up at reveillez if you want me to write up a starter


01 - So in this room separated from the world

[ Annabeth hooking him up with a job at the library probably ranks as the third best thing to happen since he arrived. It's quiet, solitary work and between the shelving and cataloguing he has more time to work on his own projects than he knows what to do with. So what if he has to answer a question every now and then, or dig out some forgotten text book from storage if it means spending hours browsing the psychology section, digging out every book he can find on serial killers and then taking ample notes during whatever downtime he finds himself with. Research for a fun project, sure, but also a way to dull down the homesickness a touch — this is basically what he did back in Riverdale, only he didn't get a paycheck for it.

He can be found among the shelves, or at the check-out desk, engrossed in something gross. ]

02 - I'd sell you my own values for the sake of others

[ The last couple of years, Jughead probably spent more time in Pop's Chocklit Shoppe than anywhere else and although that particular diner is out of reach, everything else stays the same. He'll settle in at a booth after work with a cup of never-cooling coffee and his laptop, typing away until well into the night. This is when he does his best work, when everyone else has gone home to their normal lives with their normal problems. Maybe he doesn't have a school paper to write for or the half-written novel on Jason Blossom's murder, but there are other things. Other novels. Other stories. ]

03 - So hold this glass cos' it keeps cutting me

[ Some things never change but one thing has absolutely changed in the past couple of months - he never had powers back home. Practicing at the Meadows was a good idea in theory but an awkward plan in practice and so he's resorted to mostly empty parking lots around Maurtia Falls. He'll set out whenever he's got some spare time, lining up water bottles and taking notes on how many he can keep a certain color for how long, if he can switch it up, where his limits lie. Eventually he should move on to something bigger, perhaps, but for now bottles are fine. It's not like this power is good for much, anyway. Not saving the world any day soon.

Curious onlookers are welcome to join him or just ask what the heck he's up to out here on his own. ]

Comments

[ripstides]

Exactly. [ vegetarians, vegans, satyrs. more bacon for them? he's already reaching into the bag and pulling out a burger for himself, regardless of whether they end up eating immediately. he doesn't know the rules of this workplace ( rules schmules ) but he's still passing the bag over the counter, fries and all. ] Have at it.

I'm Percy, by the way. I think I skipped that.

[burger_king]

[ Yeah yeah yeah, he doesn't buy that vegans and vegetarians don't like bacon. They just deny themselves the pleasure. 

Jughead casts a quick glance around before accepting the bag with a thanks, sneaking it behind the counter like something much more illegal is happening than greasy food in a library. He doesn't care too much about rules, but he'd also like to keep this job he kind of likes. Compromises must be made. ]

Jughead. How do you know Annabeth?

[ripstides]

[ the masochists. shame on them.

dude's being suuuuuper sketch. percy catches on that he's basically smuggling in contraband here. think of the literature! no greasy fingers allowed apparently. he can do respectful and not tear into his lunch like a ravenous animal. ]

She's my [ everything?? ] girlfriend. We've known each other since we were twelve. [ no big deal. ] How long have you been working here?

[burger_king]

[ It's not as satisfying as just giving in to the seductive sway of deep fried starch but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Jughead picks away at this surprise gift with as much stealth as he can manage. ]

Oh, so you know each other from home. [ Sounds real familiar. He chews, nods. ] Couple of weeks, maybe. Not long. She saved me from a really bad situation involving customer service and lattes.

[ripstides]

[ percy doesn't do stealth. he's all in or not at all. two speeds, the end. must be nice to have a sneak factor. ]

Yep. [ they're lucky to be here together. he hasn't really thought about what he'd do if he was alone. annabeth had been here without him, but she'd had magnus. he's glad for that, and that she's met other people, branched out. ] The worst. I'd probably burn someone if I were slinging hot drinks around. Was that a risk factor? Is that why you got out?

[ he imagines it's the change of scenery, but, you know. conversation, etc. ]

[burger_king]

More personal psychological damage than anything sue-worthy. I'm not really a people person. [ As if that wasn't obvious. ]

What did they saddle you with?

[ripstides]

I get it. People can be jerks. [ being shipped off to boarding schools and growing up in a big city gave him thick skin that only got thicker when the monsters started trying to sink their teeth in. a library's a nice, quiet place to escape crowds and percy finds that the people inside of it aren't usually looking to strike up conversation. it's why annabeth's here, other than an endless amount of research. she doesn't like to be interrupted when she's onto something. it's a good fit. ]

Lifeguard. It's only part-time. I'm trying to survive high school before I take on anything huge. [ he knows he can't transfer the education he gets here to back home, but maybe some part of him just wants to prove he can do it. ]

[burger_king]

[ Not that it was really any question about it since Percy knows Annabeth, but Jughead will never cease to be amazed at how often he meets people that aren't complete jerks here. That's the most dangerous thing about this place – people get him. People rarely get him in Riverdale. Kind of makes him want to never go home. ]

You're doing the school thing? I don't really see the point, myself.

[ripstides]

Yeah. A few years ago, neither did I. I had so much going on, I thought skipping classes were the least of my problems. [ but he's changed. he looks thoughtful and while he isn't a guy that holds anything back, he's not trying to overshare with jughead; annabeth will kill him if he weirds out her coworker. ] I'm thinking of it like a practice round.

I bet that's nice though. All that free time. [ a wistful sigh; then again, percy and free time has usually equaled bad news. ] You could pretty much do whatever you want here.

[burger_king]

Unless you're unsettled, then you mostly work. [ Which is what he's doing. At least he can ease up a little with this new job, but doing minimum wage and not having access to governmental housing or any of the other perks of registration? Yeah, that ate up a lot of time. ]

School was fine back home, but it's not really a priority for me here. College seems like an impossibility when you count in the uncertainty of whether or not I'll even be here next week.

[ripstides]

[ true. there's that. percy tries not to make a face. way to go, walking into that, buddy. he's also unsettled right now, but he's moving closer to the line of registering. as much as he loathes the idea of jumping on board to champion someone else's agenda ( after pretty much doing that his whole life ), he doesn't really see a way out of it. there are more perks than not, and he'll essentially do anything to keep his friends safe. having those perks would help. ] What about roommates? There's got to be a way to get around the system.

[ clearly, he has no idea just who he's talking to. there's something in percy's eyes, something he wants to say. but he doesn't know jughead well enough to impose his thoughts on that. ]

Tell me about it. I'm real familiar with the uncertainty of whether or not you'll still be alive next week. It's not for everyone. Taking a chance on something that might not matter when you leave, that is. Not the probability of dying. Most people don't enjoy that.

[burger_king]

I share a place in Maurtia Falls with a guy. It works, if you find the right roommate but if either of us are ported out, we're back on square one.

[ So uncertainties on top of uncertainties, really. Him and Tate got lucky in meshing as well as they do, Jug isn't too sure he can get that lucky twice. There's something else that catches his attention though. ]

So, if you're from the same world as Annabeth... are you also..? [ A demigod. ]