[Jeff likes to think that there's no chance he would have fallen in with that crowd if he'd stuck around Ormond, but part of him is unsure. Sure, he'd never really bothered trying to seek external validation, but - maybe he's giving himself too much credit. Maybe he's not giving his teenage misery enough.
No point in dwelling now.]
Been a lot of other places, too. On the road for a while. Back to school. And now we're both trapped here, so I guess the point's moot.
[ The more Jeff talks about how much of the world he got to see, the more Susie really wants to slit his throat. She’s just getting angrier and angrier. Bitterness is a strong influence around here. ]
How did you end up here anyway, Mr. Big City? Tripped and fell down a hole somewhere?
[Annoying her is the point, even if part of him has to acknowledge that he'll eventually have to pay for it. It's frustrating, knowing the trajectory of their lives had so aggressively split. That she had chosen this, when she hadn't had to.]
Yeah, Susie. That's exactly what happened. Fell into the Grand Canyon, wound up right here.
[ She’d think it rich of him to say she “hadn’t had to”. As far as she’s concerned, she never had a chance at anything. It was either this or be a victim forever. Yeah, she gets it— in a way she’s still a victim forever, but at least she gets to take her aggression out every now and then. ]
Not surprised. You always were kinda dense.
Can’t wait to see you again, Jeff. I think I’ll use your blood to paint my next art piece.
Considering how you’ve talked to me now with varying degrees of smugness, contempt and conceit? Fuck no. We’re not friends. We never were. You’re too good to be associating with us. You’ve made that clear.
[Not that he'd say it aloud, but the message shakes him up slightly. Contempt, sure, but he doesn't blame himself for that - one can only be stabbed so many times before thoughts turn sour. But conceit, smugness?
He hadn't been making a jab when he said it was sad to see her talent go to waste.
He almost doesn't answer. It's not worth it. People can think what they want, and it's no business of his. But even then-]
I've never been 'too good' to associate with anybody. Too weird. Too awkward. Too anxious. We weren't friends, Susie. Back then I wished we were.
[ It sure felt like it to Susie, considering there’s nothing she can do about it now. Salt to a wound that’s much too deep for her to ever heal from now. ]
And yet you never said a word. That’s how you were dense.
So, yeah, it’s between you and the Legion now. I’m gonna pick them every time. If I have to murder you a thousand times to protect them from the Entity’s torture, then I’m gonna kill you a hundred thousand times just to make sure it works. They’re all I got now. Nothing else matters. They’re all I’ve ever had.
[ Susie kind of hates that Jeff isn’t being more disagreeable with her. It’s hard to keep genuinely hating someone who admits that they messed up without also garnering a modicum of guilt for oneself and Susie doesn’t have any problems unfortunately with feeling guilty every other day of her cursed existence in the Fog.
It doesn’t mean she’s letting go of her grudge, but it does take a lot of wind out of her sails. Makes it more difficult to be mean when she knows she’s being unfair and irrational.
[Jeff isn't a hateful guy, but the kindest, most understanding man on the planet would still struggle to show nothing but pure sweetness when faced with folks who regularly hang him and his friends up on meathooks just to watch them squirm.
He's not vicious. He's not personally violent. He's just exhausted.]
I don't know many details, actually. We don't get a lot communicated to us, turns out.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@rulerstake
[Jeff likes to think that there's no chance he would have fallen in with that crowd if he'd stuck around Ormond, but part of him is unsure. Sure, he'd never really bothered trying to seek external validation, but - maybe he's giving himself too much credit. Maybe he's not giving his teenage misery enough.
No point in dwelling now.]
Been a lot of other places, too. On the road for a while. Back to school. And now we're both trapped here, so I guess the point's moot.
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How did you end up here anyway, Mr. Big City? Tripped and fell down a hole somewhere?
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Yeah, Susie. That's exactly what happened. Fell into the Grand Canyon, wound up right here.
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Not surprised. You always were kinda dense.
Can’t wait to see you again, Jeff. I think I’ll use your blood to paint my next art piece.
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I wasn't dense. I was young.
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”Young” is just a nice way of saying stupid, you know.
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Yeah. And I was probably stupid, too.
Why do you think I was dense?
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He hadn't been making a jab when he said it was sad to see her talent go to waste.
He almost doesn't answer. It's not worth it. People can think what they want, and it's no business of his. But even then-]
I've never been 'too good' to associate with anybody. Too weird. Too awkward. Too anxious. We weren't friends, Susie. Back then I wished we were.
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And yet you never said a word. That’s how you were dense.
So, yeah, it’s between you and the Legion now. I’m gonna pick them every time. If I have to murder you a thousand times to protect them from the Entity’s torture, then I’m gonna kill you a hundred thousand times just to make sure it works. They’re all I got now. Nothing else matters. They’re all I’ve ever had.
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Wouldn't ask you to choose between us. Who the hell am I? Just some old guy you used to know.
But I appreciate the conversation. You get why it's extra weird being stabbed over and over by a bunch of ghosts from the past, yeah?
forgot I wanted to cont this thread but I KNOW IT’S OLD so nws if you consider it dropped!
It doesn’t mean she’s letting go of her grudge, but it does take a lot of wind out of her sails. Makes it more difficult to be mean when she knows she’s being unfair and irrational.
And she really hates that. ]
Do you get that we don’t have a choice?
<3
He's not vicious. He's not personally violent. He's just exhausted.]
I don't know many details, actually. We don't get a lot communicated to us, turns out.
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