Morning After [Closed]

[heysoulsister]

Jodie wakes with a jolt, shuddering with adrenaline. What the hell was that?

The memories of her dream are fractured variations on a theme, like a weirdass choose-your-own-adventure book that someone else was reading - several someone elses. And she's pretty sure one of them was Johnny. Christ. They really need a new living arrangement; now he's invading her dreams.

She pushes herself up and rubs her face as Aiden hovers nearby and mutters to himself. Casting a glance toward the other bed, she sees that Johnny's awake. Great. Now she has to pretend she didn't just have a really bizarre dream about him right out of the gate.

"Morning," she mutters.

Comments

[johnny_truant]

Johnny stares over at her with a droll, sleepy-eyed expression. Is she really going to pretend that didn't just happen? Or maybe she doesn't remember. Or maybe it was HIS dream all along. Unlikely. Much too ordered for a mind like his.

He clears his throat. "Hey."

For a moment he considers just leaving it at that, but no, that's stupid.

"Was it really like that?" he asks, sitting up. "Your childhood?"

[heysoulsister]

At that, Jodie and Aiden both turn their full attention to Johnny. Oh, fuck. He was actually there, in her head? He saw all that?

She turns to the window, staring at the faint, diffused light coming in from around the curtains. She could try to pass it off as just some random dream, but who the hell dreams about living in a lab as a goddamn kindergartener? He'd never buy it.

Aiden's anxiety makes the back of her neck prickle. "Not all of it," she hedges. Just the overwhelming majority of it.

[johnny_truant]

"I mean, I'm assuming I wasn't there," he says wryly. "Especially not dressed like that." His instinct is to make light of it, but he knows that's not fair -- especially not now. He sighs heavily and swings his legs over the side of the bed.

"But... the monsters? The lab?" he says, softer and more gently.

[heysoulsister]

Aiden glowers at Johnny. Just because he got sucked into one of their nightmares doesn't make any of this his business. Nor does he like being reminded of that time in the lab, before he knew how to protect Jodie from other entities. His Jodie.

She pulls her knees up and loops her arms around them. She doesn't really want to talk about this, but it's already been pretty well established between the two of them that she can't lie for shit. "Yeah," she says flatly.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny can feel Aiden staring, but avoids looking at him. As far as he's concerned, this is Jodie's business.

"Sorry," he says, wishing he had more to offer. If it's any consolation, my mom spent most of my life in a nuthouse and then died there? Ugh. "And sorry I showed up in your dream. Believe me, I didn't do it on purpose."

He hesitates, wanting to know more without wanting to be pushy. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asks tentatively.

[heysoulsister]

Jodie heaves her shoulders in a shrug. She believes that he didn't intend to crash her nightmare on purpose; he has nothing to apologize for. But that doesn't mean she owes him more information.

"What's to talk about?" she asks, going for 'careless' and only achieving 'bitter.' "I was a fucking lab rat for twelve years." Guilt twists her gut; that's not a fair way of putting it. Shit, Nathan and Cole had been her family after her parents were transferred and never looked back.

[johnny_truant]

"All right, all right." Johnny raises his hands placatingly. Stupid to ask. She's been nothing but obvious about her unwillingness to talk about any of her shit thusfar -- why should one weird shared dream-memory change that?

"I get it, okay? You don't have to tell me fuck all. I'm just saying." He sighs, scratching absently at his neck. "If you want -- if you need to talk about any of it, ever..."

He doesn't finish. It doesn't seem worth it.

"At least I got to be cool for a change, right?" he says, hoping he can get away with just breezing back into comparative lightheartedness. "I mean, maybe not the helmet, but the sword was kinda cool." He smirks slightly. "Even if I did cuss a lot."

[heysoulsister]

And now she feels like shit - both for how she referred to life in the lab, and for snapping at Johnny when he's just trying to be… what, sensitive? She doesn't have to take him up on his offer, but she doesn't have to throw it back in his face, either.

Sighing, she scrubs a hand through her hair. Maybe she should thank him, but then he shifts back to the most ludicrous part of the dream. It's a relief, and she cracks a faint smile. "It was a kukri - the weapon," she clarifies. "But it was pretty cool."

[johnny_truant]

"Now you're a sword expert?" says Johnny, though he returns the smile.

It fades a moment later. "So, uh," he says, feeling awkward. "I've been thinking about moving. Getting an actual place. Just... I think we may be stuck here for a while."

[heysoulsister]

Well, kind of. But she can't explain how without either lying about being in the army or telling the truth about being in the CIA, and neither option is all that enticing, so she just shrugs instead.

And then the conversation takes a turn for the surprising. She's aware that stealing money from ATMs to pay for a shitty motel room isn't a great long-term plan (hell, it's not even a great short-term plan), but she wasn't expecting Johnny to take the initiative to get out. For a moment, she wonders if he's just ditching her… but last she checked, he's not getting rent money from anywhere but the machines she and Aiden hit up. "You've found a place?" she asks, brow furrowed.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny hasn't mentioned Gabriel to Jodie before - in fact he's been trying to put the guy from his mind for some reason, but it hasn't worked. He has a pretty good idea how Jodie will react to him, which has been the major hesitation. That and Gabe's weird offer didn't really extend to her. But he can't just abandon her, not after all they've been through.

"Yyyyyeah, kind of," he says. "I sorta met this guy who sorta offered me a place to stay. In his building. He made it sound like there might be a few open apartments." He shrugs. "I haven't actually called him up yet, but I was thinking I might today. You, uh... want me to mention you?"

[heysoulsister]

Well, doesn't that just sound sketchy as hell. Some guy is offering random people he just met places to stay? Who does that?

… Okay, Jodie sort of did that. But that's different. She owed him. And it's not like she offered him an apartment (what, rent-free?). She's just letting him stay in the same motel room.

What is she going to do, though - stop him from checking it out? He's an adult. All she can do is make sure she's there to bail him out when this turns out to be a big mistake. "Yeah," she says. "I want to check it out, too."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny can sense her suspicion, and he doesn't blame her, nor does he really have a defense for it. Gabriel was weird - appearing randomly but serendipitously, hitting on him... making things from thin air... should he try to explain all this? Probably not.

"I know it sounds weird," he says, "but right now it's kind of our only option. And he's not just some guy. He's like us. Came through the Rift. Been here a lot longer."

He stands up and stretches, anxious for something to do. "So, he knows things, at least."

[heysoulsister]

That's better than having him be some random guy from the city, she supposes. God only knows how many people have come through the rift, but she can understand why Johnny would find another rifty to be a bit more trustworthy than a native.

"What about rent?" she asks, allowing some of her dubiousness to shine through.

[johnny_truant]

Good question. Gabe had said he didn't need to worry about money, but how likely was that to remain true? Or would he require something else, and if so, what? (Johnny is mildly concerned that it might end up being sexual favors. He supposes he could survive something like that, if it really cane down to it, but no way would Jodie tolerate it.)

"I really don't know," he lies, because it's simpler. "But I'm gonna call him, because it's something, at least. If you want we could just... arrange to meet him? And you can decide for yourself."

This would sure make HIM feel better, having Jodie with him. He wonders if he should feel pathetic that she's becoming his bodyguard of sorts, but hey, at least he stood up for her in her dream.

"I'll need quarters," he adds, patting his pockets.

[heysoulsister]

"Yeah, okay. Somewhere public," she adds. He probably doesn't need to be told that, but she doesn't want him coming back and announcing that they're meeting the guy in his apartment building.

And of course he needs quarters. She huffs out a quiet sigh as she reaches for her own jeans, folded on a nearby chair, and rummages through the pockets. There's not much stopping her from continuing to obtain money the same way they have so far, and getting a legitimate job isn't going to be easy without I.D. - or proof of any kind that she's even a U.S. citizen (or a citizen of anywhere in this universe). Maybe she should get a guitar and start busking for some comparatively honest cash.

"Here," she says, fishing out a dollar's worth of quarters and passing them over.

[johnny_truant]

"Thanks. I'll pay you back when I can," he adds hastily, "for everything."

He pulls on his shirt and hoodie, which are disgusting - god, he has to get some new clothes - and looks at her.

"Coulda been worse, right?" he says. "As dreams go."

[heysoulsister]

Jodie shrugs - it's not like it's her money they're really spending, here - but she appreciates the sentiment. "Yeah, I'm keeping a tally," she deadpans as he pulls on his shirt.

Then he brings up the dream again, and she frowns. It's still all fragmented and weird in her head, but she remembers a hell of a lot more bad than good. The apartment, the condenser, the entities, and a man in a surgical mask… she shivers.

"Could've been better."