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

[calloused]

[ Derek is pretty nice. There are a few places he can go from here; lie, maybe, about needing this kid's help with something, just to have a reason to hang around and learn more about him. Honesty is another option - "I kinda killed a dude and I wanna know if Tate told you about it", maybe, or else "I'm a spooky spooky werewolf and I wanna see if you'd wanna get bit and join a cool pack of dog-dudes". That'd go over well.

Instead, Derek just sighs, hitting Jughead with a long beat of silence and carefully raised eyebrows. ]

You're so bad at answering questions. It's like you've never had a pleasant conversation with a creepy stranger in your bedroom before.

[burger_king]

In my experience, that's not really something that happens.

[ Late night conversations with shady guys on his property usually results in joining a gang. It'd be ironic, if he knew Derek was at all interested in just that. ]

You're the one who broke into my room and planted an ambush. If you want to have a conversation, you're going to have give me more than this.

[ Like who the fuck are you and why the hell am I getting dragged into this. ]

[calloused]

I wouldn't say it's an ambush. Just a... surprise. Ambushes usually start with, like - broken noses. Snapped arms. Busted kneecaps? Right?

[ He watches Jughead in silence for a second or two, slowly and weakly pounding his fist into his hand to hammer in his point. Busted kneecaps? Busted kneecaps, man. B... busted... okay, whatever, fuck. He gives, he gives. He'll talk. ]

Start again, then. I'm Derek. This might go easier if you've heard of me, but - if you haven't? Fine. [ He shifts to the end of the bed, sitting a little less comfortably. ]

How much do you know about the hospital Tate works at?

[burger_king]

[ Well. He's not wrong. That's how ambushes start, most of the time, or they end similarly to that. He takes in the information, the emphasis that he chooses to interpret as a threat because hey, good news if it isn't but he's not dumb enough to assume either way. ]

Not much. It hasn't exactly come up. [ Betty sees a therapist there. More information he's not about to give out for free. ]

murdering me for being 40 years late would be justifiable in literally any court of law

[calloused]

I'm sure it's come up a little. Import-run hospital, takes on a kid as security. Seems kind of suspect.

[ Derek watches Jughead for a few more moments before slowly exhaling through his nose, looking away. Might not get much out of this line of questioning, if the kid doesn't want to talk. For the first time tonight, he relents, if only by a fraction. ]

I guess Tate doesn't talk about it to me much, either. [ He watches the wall, sorts through his thoughts in his head, then - goes for this again. ] You sure you don't have any opinion of the place? Or at least - you haven't heard anything that might ring some alarm bells, have you?

<3<3<3<3

[burger_king]

No more suspect than anything else going on here.

[ Everything is a bit of a shit show, Jughead's come to understand. Super-powered minors left without supervision comes to mind. It doesn't see that strange for someone to hire Tate on for security. ]

I really haven't heard anything about it. Why? Is there something I should know?

[calloused]

[ Fair enough. Jughead's kinda funny. Derek smiles, small though it may be. He rubs at his bottom lip and shakes his head, his smile fading into something a little more anxious, a little more vulnerable, which - is kind of a joke, given that this is still the same fucking guy who broke into a kid's bedroom to stare at him from the darkness and ask him unnecessarily invasive questions about his life and his social circle.

Such an awkward dude. He takes a breath. ] I don't know. I don't like not knowing things. That's part of why I'm here.

[ Call it baseless suspicion, call it paranoia, call it growing up being surrounded by old men who wanted to kill him and coming out the other side of it all with a tasty array of trust issues aimed at powerful, professional humans clustering together in a base of operations like a nest of fucking cockroaches. Call it all of those? Call it-- all of. All of that. All of it's right. He doesn't have any real reason to think there's something untoward going on at the hospital, but Derek's a liiittle bit of a stalker, and not being able to track Tate's scent into a cordoned off series of 409-smelling hallways lined with clearance doors he can't charm or break his way through has left him kind of unsettled. Derek folds his arms tight over his chest, flexing his biceps, making himself look big. The go-to stance for a nervous dog. ]

I'm just - clutching at straws. I don't know. This-- it doesn't matter. I just wanted to feel you out? Had to see if you were a cool dude, had to see if you knew anything I should know. [ Derek hesitates, before quietly adding: ] He's - that kid's my friend. So.

[burger_king]

[ As much as he doesn't like his home being broken into, there's something about this guy that feels really familiar. That sort of overprotective, dumb-as-shit behaviour gives him a tingle of Serpents. You do shit to protect the people you care about and the fact that Tate hasn't even mentioned this dude is really the only thing to really ring any alarm bells right now. He doesn't seem too dangerous, even with the way he puffs himself up. Reggie does that too, when he feels threatened. It's nothing new. Typical Bulldog.

Jughead shifts in the doorway, softens a fraction. ]

Tate and I... we share this place because we're both working low pay shit jobs and have no interest in registering or government housing. It worked out. That's all.

[ It's not all, but Jug has a feeling that having a heart to heart about how he clicks with Tate better than he has with possibly anyone in his entire life is not something he wants to do. Not with this guy. Not with anyone, honestly. ]

I'll keep an eye out. Just don't break in again? Give me a call like a normal person.

[calloused]

[ How many times has Derek been at this crossroads in his life? To turn tail and get the fuck out of dodge or else try and connect to someone new in his own shambling, frustrating way. Jughead's telling him to just call next time and it would be easy for him to nod, shrug, take it as a dismissal and treat it as such. Wrap this up, after having made himself known and having asked questions that didn't lead anywhere new. Go home. But - man.

"I'll keep an eye out". Derek might like him.

He looks back towards the window - just a few steps away, if he wants to bail. He doesn't want that, he thinks. He thinks he might like to get to know Jughead on his own merits, rather than just as some random dude wrapped up in Tate's life, so despite the fact that he's still technically trespassing somewhere he isn't welcome, he zeroes in on low pay shit jobs and doesn't really notice the earnest concern in his own voice when he finds it. ]

You're not happy about where you work? Or - registration, for that matter? [ Derek's frowning, something in his posture shifting away from being so guarded. ]

I quit my job. The one they assigned. So - I get that. I can relate. [ There's hesitation again, but: ] I live in the woods. And... underground. Places like that.

[burger_king]

[ It bears to mention that Jughead hasn't actually told him to leave yet. He's questioned why he's there, he's shown that he doesn't appreciate these kinds of surprises, but he hasn't told him to get the fuck out. He'd like to see this through, figure out what the fuck this guy is about so he can talk to Tate about it later.

Wordlessly he tugs up the sleeve of his jacket. The light is bad enough in here that you can just make out the faint glow of unsettled tattooed on his arm. Official and everything. ]

I started working at the library recently. It's- better, but I'm sixteen. Kind of hard to get a job that pays well enough and I'd rather not be homeless again.

[ A Look. There's some sort of understanding here. ]

[calloused]

[ Derek glances at the tattoo on Jughead's wrist, a swell of something close to pride in his chest. Again, he doesn't know shit about this kid, not really, but dart after dart is landing right on target. Kind of funny, holds his ground, rebellious, questions authority, knows what it's like to be out in the cold. Kid's rad. Derek's glad he didn't leave. ]

Mm. [ While recently Derek has found he prefers the safety of abandoned buildings and dusty subway tunnels to the security offered by an apartment that might leave a paper trail, he's also both an adult and a wild dog who essentially grew up in the fucking woods. A kid like Jughead deserves a roof over his head. ]

I've got a couch. [ He's wary as he says it, watching Jughead like a deer unwilling to be handfed. ] So. If you ever lose this place, you don't have to worry about not having a place to sleep. You or Tate.

If that's... yeah. Something that you'd... need. Care about. Whatever. [ Something. Whatever. Derek scratches his neck, huffs air through his teeth. Hoo boy. ]

[burger_king]

[ They do have a lot in common. He's got his own pack back home, something Derek might put together if he ever takes a closer look at the leather jacket Jughead is wearing. The offer makes him smile a bit, despite himself. ]

I got a few places in mind, if this ever comes crashing down. [ More offers of a place to crash than he ever got back home, when he really was homeless. Probably helps that so many here seem to share that experience - chances are it probably didn't even cross Archie or Betty's mind before they found out about what was really going on. ]

And if you get sick of the woods... should probably check with Tate first, but I don't mind if you crash.

[calloused]

Oh, christ. Jesus. I'd rather die.

[ The idea that Jughead's jacket is a telltale sign that the kid knows what it's like to roll with people who really have his motherfucking back might strike Derek later that night, when he's back in bed and trying to fall asleep, mind raking through the shit he did that day - for now, though, he doesn't notice, too busy pulling a disgusted face and looking at Jughead as if he just drank poison. He, uh. He collects himself. ]

Sorry. I don't really, uh - I don't like taking things from people. Offers. Like that. I'd rather just... be relied on, rather than be a burden. [ wait ] Not - that I'm saying you would be a burden if you crashed with me? If either of you crashed with me. Just that I'd... rather... not... be you. [ wait ] In this context. In any context, really, but in this context especially? Well, not even this context, really, seeing as it's a non-offer. Given that you already have other plans. Should this place fall through. Which it won't. So.

[ So. ]

Yeah. Thank you. No. [ Hhhhhoo boy. ] Just - look, just call me if Tate gets in trouble. If you get in trouble, for that matter. You're his friend, so you're my friend. Did I give you my number? I didn't give you my number. Hold on.

[ Derek fishes through his pocket, finds his phone, heads to settings. He brings up his number and carelessly tosses his phone Jughead's way so he can input it into his own, despite the fact that it's dark and he didn't give much of a warning other than a quick "here, heads up". ]

[burger_king]

[ He watches this car crash of a response, brow raised. Wow, okay. That's... that's a lot of words and a lot of feet stepping in it and it's such a goddamn relief to have this much of a disaster of an adult to look at because if this guy is somewhat functional, then Jughead doesn't have a worry in the world. Any apprehension he might've felt at the start of the conversation has all but disappeared - there's nothing to worry about. What a disaster. ]

Suit yourself. [ He catches the phone (just barely) and takes a moment to exchange numbers, putting his own contact down as Jughead. For a moment he thought of putting something else, but if Derek is going to be sniffing around moving forward then what's the point of doing any of that? ]

Can I go to bed now? It's late.

[calloused]

[ Derek Hale is far from somewhat functional. Letting dreams be dreams, however, Derek continues to spread the fucking bullshit lie that he understands how to behave like a normal human normal earth person from earth by picking up Jughead's invitation to leave and actually being polite enough to act on it. After taking back his phone, he rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck, generally gets himself ready for the rooftop parkour he's about to engage in so as to get home without having to take the bus, then strides back to the open window. ]

Pick up your phone if I call you. If you don't, I'm coming back through the window. [ He points one finger at Jughead, eyebrows raised. ] If you change the locks, I'll break the glass. That's gonna be on you.

[ He points at his eyes, putting one leg out the window. Points at Jughead's eyes. ]

I'll be in touch. [ ... ] You can be in touch, too. If you want to be. [ He lowers his arm. Visibly struggles to think of a way to say goodbye, then quite clearly realizes he doesn't give enough of a shit to actually do it. Settles both stoically and majestically on arching his eyebrows one more time before bailing out into the darkness, the sound of boots hitting bricks the only sound of him left as he scales the outside wall like the absolute worst version of Spiderman. Go to sleep, Jughead. ]