closed | this thing we had was not just bad

[hardedged]

WHO: Sarissa Theron and Jessica Jones
WHERE: Sarissa's place
WHEN: After... this... happy conversation.
WHAT: Sarissa confesses the truth, but still keeps one secret carefully guarded in her chest.
WARNINGS: None yet. Will update if necessary.

[ she doesn't know how to feel or what to think. sarissa lied, and while jess can't blame her, she's not pleased with the situation either. more importantly, though, is finding out where her murderer is and tracking that piece of shit down.

this was the problem with letting others in, with lowering her defenses. what starts off as something simple and easy escalates into an emotional disaster. she doesn't want to admit the genuine reason for her frustration — that she cares for the other woman, though it's becoming more difficult to deny the truth with each passing day. goddamn her life.

within the hour, she finds herself outside of sarissa's house. after releasing an exhausted exhale, she knocks on the front door. ]

Comments

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa comes to the door quickly, although there's a hesitation before she answers the door - the sound of voices, hers, and then Sarah's, and then hers again, and steps ascending, and then what sounds like a hop, and steps again. That would be the sound of Sarah stepping over a hole Sarissa's fell through in the stairs. It's a story, maybe for another time.

When the door opens, Sarissa is still looking after her sister, brow furrowed. )

Hey. Come in.

( She looks different than usual. Not the trainwreck edition, and not the bright smiling joking edition. More serious and steady, something severe carved from stone. Stone endures.

Chilton told her not long ago that water could wear down stone, a reminder, but she can remember how to be water again someday beyond right now. ) We got rogan josh? And garlic naan. I mean there's other stuff but—

( She exhales slowly, and steps back from the door, tilting her head for Jess to come in, silencing herself in the process. )

[hardedged]

[ it's a side of sarissa she's never witnessed before, and to say jess feels unnerved would be an understatement. silence pervades the air for a moment, as she enters and closes the door behind her. ]

I want details, Sarissa.

[ not dinner, not small talk. time to cut the crap. ]

Start at the beginning.

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa frowns, just slightly, watching Jessica silently for long moments. )

Not if you're gonna go belting off on some half-cocked vengeance mission. You want me to start with the Big Bang, or just my birthday?

[hardedged]

[ jess scoffs, then walks over to the couch, sitting down and making herself at home. she gestures with a pointed look for sarissa to join her. ]

Start with the asshole's name.

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa shuts the door, locks it, and casts a worried look up the stairs, lest Sarah is listening, before sitting on the couch. For a moment she just sits with her head tilted back against the cushions. )

Gabriel Gray. He prefers "Sylar."

[hardedged]

Of course he does.

[ she nearly rolls her eyes. why do sociopaths always use a crapass name? ]

How'd you meet?

[magnitudes]

He saved me from a bar fight, and I invited him for a drink. I kept inviting him to things, or showing up to hang out. I was the one that pushed the bloody relationship.

( Which is a note of extremely bitter (at herself), frustrated (at herself), every negative emotion (at herself) sentiment. )

I know you want to call me a moron, okay, just— get it out of your system.

[hardedged]

[ dryly and without hesitation: ] You're a moron.

There. Feel better? [ a beat. ] Now stop with the self-loathing bullshit. And tell me everything you know about this prick.

[magnitudes]

The authorities are gonna be working on catching him, Jess. He's— you can't get hurt going after him, okay? I can't deal with that. He nearly killed the others, and—

( She exhales, and looks at Jess. God, feelings suck. ) I don't want you to get hurt. Please, don't do this.

[hardedged]

The police are useless. [ she recalls her anonymous post on the network. nothing she learned about the authorities gave her much hope. ] They'll end up as collateral damage.

[ her brow furrows a bit in response to sarissa's concern, but she holds firm. she has a point. this isn't her battle to fight, and jessica doesn't owe her anything. she can stand up and walk away, right here and right now. she's done it before. ]

I'll be fine. Quit stalling.

[ yeah, right. like she's going to abandon her yet again. fuck that. ]

[magnitudes]

Thanks for the vote of bloody confidence.

( Not that she's a cop right now, but she was, and she's skirting the possibility of becoming one again, even if she's not really discussed that. Her fingers rake through her hair, elbows resting on her knees and fingers laced at the back of her head for a second. )

When I tell you, you'll go off on some hunt, right? The guy's smart, Jess. He's bloody— he can cut into people's heads and take their powers. That's what he did to me, it was why I couldn't tell anyone. If he took my memory power then he could have dug through my memories or anyone else's to find out what I might have said about him. He's invulnerable and he can harvest powers. I want to take him down more than you could possibly want to, but I don't know what to do. And don't— run off, Jesus.

[hardedged]

[ a contemplative pause. she's never heard of an ability like that before. ]

Wait, what — he's some kind of goddamn leech?

[magnitudes]

I don't know what he is. He said he does the same thing in his own world. And he can— ( A complicated twist of her mouth, a strange, disgusted, unhappy expression. ) He said he had this girl he got a power from, back home, just because they had a special connection. No need to brain her.

( Which isn't her being bitter that they didn't have that ~connection~ so much as bitter it got rubbed in her face just before she was murdered. ) He liked to see how things work. I think that's part of it. He had this whole thing about fixing watches, and seeing things and knowing they can be fixed or need to be destroyed.

( Be slow. Be steady. Don't lash out, don't let it get the better of—
oh, wait. She just kicked the coffee table so slammed into the opposite couch. )

[hardedged]

[ her eyes widen from the sudden outburst, though jessica doesn't comment. she merely licks her lips, the corners of her mouth deepening into a frown. ]

Yeah well, time for him to get fixed.

[ as in neutered. in either a figurative or literal way, she's not picky. ]

[magnitudes]

Sorry.

( Spoken very quietly, as she looks at the now slightly lopsided coffee table, sitting back against the sofa cushions. ) I'm trying to do better, this time.

( A sigh, and she shakes her head. ) If he died he'd just come back. He should just get contained, or something. Permanently. Locked up somewhere that can hold someone like that, which I'm guessin' is nowhere.

( She sighs heavily. This is all fucked up. ) He locked Sarah in a freezer. Maybe we should do that to him.

[hardedged]

[ she listens intently, contemplating their options. her posture grows stiff. ]

We'll have to neutralize him first.

[magnitudes]

Oh, great, I'll just go get my alarming super power neutralising kit. Sprinkle some bicarb and vinegar on him neutralise the powers away.

( Sarissa rakes her fingers through her hair before flopping back on the sofa. )

[hardedged]

[ with a low snort, she tilts her head and extends an arm, as if she's stating the obvious. ]

Or just use me.

[magnitudes]

What?

( Her voice hitches up, startled and baffled, though her hand loosely closes around Jessica's wrist. ) What are you talking about? I'm not throwing you to that bloody shark.

[hardedged]

[ her expression softens, as jess briefly glances down at sarissa's hand on her wrist before meeting her eyes again. ]

I can stop him, Sarissa. Like I did with you. At the party, remember?

[magnitudes]

At the party?

( It takes her a second to register, mouth opening and closing in a silent sequence of realisation. ) Oh my God. I totally-- I forgot.

( Sarissa seems almost dazed for a second as she looks at Jessica, and there's some spark back in her, now. Quiet and small, but spark all the same.)

Holy shit.

[hardedged]

[ she nods, visibly relaxing as the realization dawns on her. good, sarissa resembles her normal self again. ]

Yeah. The dickhead won't know what's coming.

[magnitudes]

Nah. ( spoken a little softer, as her hand slips down Jess's wrist, gently catching her hand, Sarissa mapping Jessica's knuckles with her fingertips as she holds her gaze.)

Still gonna risk pissing you off, but-- he's still powerful. You can't go up against him on your own.