khajidont | MoM IC Contact

Well, you are too, now. That means that you don't get to complain the next time you go into work and your entire work station's been, like, set up in reverse or something.

[A talented prankster, Jaime ain't. He frowns.]

No, that's a terrible prank.

[Oh. Oh no hold on, he's got something for this. He gets his phone out and scrolls through his pictures. He snapped one quick shot before he started cleaning it up; he passe the phone over to Jaime to show off the beautiful scene he found his lab station in.]

I think he's accepted me, I dunno.

Oh my god. Oh my god, he actually bought a... [Jaime covers his hand with his mouth, eyes wide, torn between amusement and alarm with what Wally sees fit to do with his spare time. Did he order it online? Did he wander into a sex store? Does Jaime really want to know?]

He spent serious cash on you, dude! You've been accepted into the West Circle of Torment! Send me a copy, I wanna keep that forever.

[No one truly wants to know the answer to that question. But! Tadashi takes the phone back, shaking his head.]

No way. I'm keeping this as evidence when he complains about whatever I do. Besides, I told him he's not getting his souvenirs until he cleans it all up.

[Plus he has a serious idea to do to Jaime in a few months and he's not giving him physical ammunition.]

Edited 2015-06-30 07:42 (UTC)

With one exception, I guess.

[Jaime nods over at Wally's brand new copy of Katamari. He's lucky his friends are so forgiving.

Jaime's already given Wally his souvenirs anyway... and now that he thinks about it, he's getting souvenirs from three of them. Go figure.]

That -- [He thinks it's safe to pick up his coffee again and sip at it] -- is so he can give you back your copy, which is actually Shinjiro's copy, so I can play it at our place.

[....Okay so sometimes his kindness secondary motives.]

Sooooo why don't you just keep this one for yourself while Shinji's copy keeps getting passed around?

[Poor Shinji. Nobody thinks about his feelings!] It's like you're rewarding him for not giving things back.

[Okay, so Jaime steals Shinji's copy too, but he always gives it back! He's innocent in this!]

Because somehow I can already foresee this one getting passed around too if I do that.

Maybe I'm just bribing him to leave my lab tools alone.

Ahhh, and the truth comes out.

[Will bribery ever work against Wally wreaking havoc over other people's stuff? Never.

But whatever, Jaime will just steal Wally's copy now.]

I've gotta have something on him in the future, right?

[It may not, but he's going to try anyway. Besides, once that game is in Wally's hands, he doesn't much care what happens to it.

...So he'll probably care a little. But it'll be Wally's copy so.

It's nice not talking about heavy stuff for once, he notes with another sip.]

If he went through all that for your birthday, I'd hate to see the effort he takes for holidays.

Oh, I'm sure you'll find out.

[He's happy to lapse into a companionable silence, just for a little while longer, looking back at the TV as the documentary starts to talk about its inevitable conclusion, going over everything they'd been talking about the whole time.

It's almost finished.]

[He hums to himself listening to the closing discussion of the show, the beginning of the credits. The coffee's only gotten lukewarm now and he still intends to sip at it, take his time.

This is nice. This is why he asked to come over to Jaime's. He's fine with quiet between them, which is what he needed.]

[It's too bad that he has to break this, this quiet, but he needs to say something. He's worried. of course he is.]

Look, Tadashi... I can tell something's happened. [He holds one hand up.] You don't hafta tell me about it if you don't want to, but is everyone okay?

[Maybe they just had a spat. Maybe Hiro threw some of their research out. As long as it's something salvageable, Jaime doesn't have to know, not really. But he has to check.]

[Because naturally Jaime feels the need to ask. He's too nice a guy to not. Tadashi draws in a slow inhale and keeps his eyes forward, on the rolling credits on the tv.]

...No one died.

[It's a start. And probably the best thing about the whole situation.]

[Well that's ominous as hell. Jaime looks almost taken aback by how poor that answer was. Yes, nobody dying - yet - is a good thing, all things considered, but that means something really bad went down.]

Someone was hurt?

Yeah.

[He rubs at his cheek, trying to decide how much he should say.

Jaime's his friend. Hiro's friend too and knows about what they're working on. So only fair he gets the full story before he hears it from anyone else.]

Few nights ago. Hiro tricked Callaghan out to where we keep our extra 'work'. He-- [He hasn't simply said it out loud yet, the words.] He tried to kill Callaghan. Set the whole place on fire. While they were both still inside.

[He holds his breath, not wanting to have to explain the implication further, what Hiro actually almost succeeded in doing.]

[What had Jaime been expecting, exactly? Hiro had exploded over the network, confided in Jaime that he didn't think the Porter was going to work, so Jaime... well, he figured that Hiro would eventually tell Tadashi he was giving up, get talked out of his funk, and get back to work. Hiro's a resilient kid. Jaime trusted that surrounded with friends from home as he was, he'd bounce back.

He's starting to expect himself to be wrong, albeit not so wrong as to hear that Hiro essentially attempted to commit a murder-suicide in the same way that Tadashi died, and --

Jesus. His intake of breath is a sharp one, and his laced fingers tighten. Why does this seem so familiar...?]

How hurt are they? [He pauses, focusing on the technicalities, for now.] He won't press charges, will he?

[There's no jail time for imPorts anymore, but Hiro's confirmed that his brain's his superpower. Putting that nullifier on him would be like stripping him of his voice.]

I-i don't know. I was asleep [And won't sleep ever again likely], heard about it all when I woke up.

I haven't talked to Callaghan yet, so I'm not sure how he is. Magicman told me him and Aunt Cass and Mr. Krei got Hiro to the hospital until they said he was safe to discharge.

[He's not sure he even wants to explain how Magicman can pull people into a comm with him and that's where they're keeping Hiro until they get this mess all sorted out. But Tadashi himself looks so worn.]

We're still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

Are you o--

[He stops himself with a shake of his head, closes his eyes for a second, and tries again.]

Stupid question. No way you're okay after that, it's just -- I'm glad that everyone made it out to see a doctor afterwards.

[He has a lot of questions, and there's a lot on his mind. Is someone making sure Hiro won't do it again? Will Callaghan press charges? What happens now? Where does this leave their Porter project?

Who else knows? He doesn't ask any of those questions, though, not when Tadashi's sitting beside him, looking like someone took the wind out of his sails. He toys with a bit of lint on the couch for a second, and chooses to ask something blessedly simple instead.]

Are you guys staying at your aunt's until all this blows over?

[If Tadashi were a religious guy, he'd say bless you, patron saint Jaime Reyes, for such a simple question.

But he isn't, so he mentally says a thank you and sits back into the couch. A large part of him is still trying to process and accept what Hiro was trying to do as reality and not some ongoing nightmare that he's still having.]

Yeah. It's the easiest place for everyone to get together.

...It's been a long few days.

No kidding.

[He gnaws a little on the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what's best for Tadashi to hear. Maybe he should talk to Hiro soon too - though maybe that's a bad idea; Jaime's not sure about his track record - but he knows at least half the weight that's on Tadashi's shoulders right now, and it's a painful, painful thing. He's never been happier that they have their Aunt Cass here. They need her.

So instead, he says,] Look... I know things suck right now. I mean, more than suck, but -- it'll get better. It will. He can come back from this. [It doesn't sound like a platitude the way he's saying it, and that's because it isn't. Ken's been making a comeback. Jaime has to believe that this time, it's for real.] And so can you. And, you know, if you need anything, you can just say so, right?

[He blinks hard for a second, still trying to take this bombshell in before he adds on, a little sheepishly,] Even if what you need is for me to shut up and turn the TV back on.

[That's Jaime's way of dealing with bad news, anyway.]

[Tadashi listens quietly, pinches at the bridge of his nose about halfway through. He's grateful that he and Hiro have found such great people to surround themselves with.

But if he needs anything...]

Actually.

[He only has some suspicions. Unfounded beyond just some feelings and he doesn't want to jump to any conclusions. So maybe he won't ask this just yet. Wait until he and Magicman can confirm his suspicions. He sinks back into the couch, his tone softening.]

Actually... Thanks for listening. It helps.

...yeah.

[Jaime doesn't say anything else this time, doesn't pry anymore, tries not to get too lost in his own thoughts. His life and the lives of all of Tadashi's people have become so thoroughly entrenched all of a sudden, from dreams, to the house one of his best friends lives at, to his neighbour. He'll hear anything he needs to hear eventually, won't he...?

So instead, he just offers Tadashi a smile, and though it's thin and a little bit strained from the crease in his brow, it's genuine -- it certainly wouldn't look genuine if he wasn't open with at least some of his worry, anyway.]

Anytime, man.

Sorry you keep getting roped into the sounding board for all our messes.

[Jaime just happens to be a very good listener and provider of some good insight when they need an outside perspective.

Ah. That's selfish though, isn't it?]

Looks like you've been doing all right since we got back. No problems or anything?

[Have there been problems?

Oh, yeah. But he's not so selfish as to tell Tadashi about them now, not when he's got the world on his shoulders. He hasn't told anyone about it, honestly, and almost selfishly? He doesn't want to. He just wants to nurse these hurts on his own for a while, just him and Khaji, because he has the luxury of denial. It's not blowing up in his face immediately, so he gets to ignore it.]

Just catching up with a couple people after the whole Devil thing, you know the drill. Buddy of mine kissed me, and we hadda hash that out, [he says with a casual shrug and an air that suggests that it's all been taken care of -- which that particular incident has. It feels better than telling Tadashi an outright lie.]

Besides, [he adds on, flapping one hand in Tadashi's direction,] you don't get to apologize for talking to me about this stuff. I'd be a pretty crappy friend if I didn't listen, and... well, that's what I can do, right now.

[It's all he can do. Let him help, Tadashi! He feeds on feeling useful.]

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