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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 2:10:11 GMT -8
"Ditto." She managed easily enough in response to his apology. Her eyes seemed fixed on the back of his head as he spoke. The infomercials which were playing through the previous heated exchange still blared, and Ace found the remote and hit the red button as quickly as she had before.
"Look, that's cool. No worries..." She waved it all off, "If I die, and you wake up as me, Iunno, maybe you'll get it all. It's --" She shook her head, and there was a moment of thought, "No big huge deal. Hell, honestly? I think it'd be a kind of awesome way to die, at least I won't rot in the ground before I get wrinkles. Well, maybe." She shrugged, "Besides, I never thought of anything after anyway. I figure black, maybe a few thoughts randomly. I might get entangled in a tree, that would be interesting... but that's all. It's not a huge thing to lose."
She rarely spoke about what she felt about the afterlife, but thought there wasn't any particular reason not to talk about it. Nothing about it hit her particularly hard. She just felt detached from the idea. It is your life at risk, he had said. Well, her life had been in risk plenty of times, and she hadn't ever felt concerned before.
"Besides," She continued, "I've survived many situations in which I should have been wiped from the record books, but I'm still here." She mentally counted her near death experiences, including the 2 since she had arrived on the island. She easily came to roughly 6. And there were many more opportunities for death besides. She let out a light laugh, "But maybe I'm too cocky, eh?"
"So how's this body serving you anyway? Blood pressure okay? You don't have an illness? Not catching a cold? Cholesterol?" She teased.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 2:35:36 GMT -8
Jacob hesitated, then glanced at Ace. "It looks like glass." he said, with some difficulty. "I do not know if my experience is universal, but . . . everything turns to glass, and holds you. And there is a moment that goes on, forever."
His hands flexed, and then he swiftly moved onto the next plate. "As you may have noted, I am something of a health freak, so I do not have any conditions creeping up on me to cause an early mortality." Jacob said, briskly. "Rest assured, I have no intentions of perishing soon. Besides, this body is nostalgic. It almost looks like . . . well. Me."
The last dish was finished, and Jacob snagged a pair of ice pops out of the fridge and brought them back to the couch, handing one over to Ace. "And besides." he mused. "As unique as it was, one lifetime as a woman was enough."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 2:41:42 GMT -8
Ace listened to him describe what his afterlife was like. Her face turned a little downcast. She had hoped he wouldn't actually tell her, she didn't want to know, even if it was how he saw it, it still meant that there was a possibility... and she didn't want to be able to imagine that.
She listened to him tell her that the body she saw was similar to his original. Then, he went on to say that he had been a woman already. He had said it previously but in heated conversation it didn't quite register.
"Huh..." She mused, "I can imagine it. You being a woman I mean." She shrugged with a half-grin playing on her lips, "Actually, maybe that's where some of your mannerisms came from. Oh, I know, that's how you learned to cook!"
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 3:12:25 GMT -8
"Being a housewife in the twenties made a certain impression on me, yes." Jacob conceded. "A lot of cultural trade during that time. I traveled to a few foreign companies with Pierson - my husband at the time - and learned how to make the local cuisine. Though visiting Saudi Arabia was not what I would term pleasant. Whatever their customs are these days, they were much more - unrestrained - at that time." He closed his eyes and smiled. "I do not think it would have suited you."
He peeled open an ice pop and stuck it in his mouth, interrupting the flow of words momentarily. With a loud slurp, his lips came away cherry red. He glanced at himself in the mirror and smirked.
" . . . I do not miss makeup. At all."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 3:23:42 GMT -8
To Ace, the 1920s was just a number, a time frame that happened before in the muggy illusion of time. She wasn't entirely sure how much different it would have been. She wasn't sure if they had invented mcdonald's yet or the aeroplane.
"Huh, travelling. Cool." She didn't pretend either to know what he meant by that it wouldnt suit her. She took the cherry pop offered to her and tasted it. She snickered whenever he had red lips. "I don't wear that shit either. Waste of time." She said.
Ace thought for a moment what was considered 'feminine' and remembered why she hated it. She thought of Rag's mom, the trophy wife, and her own, the whore. The female influences in her life hadn't exactly proven much to aspire to.
"So you were married to a dude? Did ya do it?" She asked bluntly.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 3:38:56 GMT -8
"I would have preferred to not do it, but it was the thing at the time, and the price of not conforming was not having anyone to borrow flour or salt or other essentials from when times ran hard." Jacob said, the crimson corner of his mouth crooked. "It was, quite literally, a matter of survival."
He licked the ice pop, winked at Ace, and then did - something - with his tongue that spirals it up and around the red bar, coiling around the tip. There's a certain satisfied, reptilian glimmer to his gaze.
Jacob pulled back and licked his lips clean. "I had five children." he said, with a sly smile. "I assure you I was not shy."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 3:50:44 GMT -8
Ace looked away as he did whatever the hell that was, towards the distant wall. "That's... Disgusting." She said, a little bit horrified by what she had just witnessed, if even for a second. She looked down at her own ice pop now, suddenly incredibly self-conscious about it. She wouldn't be eating any of it for a little while, for fear of getting 'pointers'.
She figured when he was talking he wouldn't be doing... that, so turned back to face him, her red face fading to a more normal color. "Shit... 5 children... Ow." She said, eyebrows raised.
She glanced again to her icepop. She nearly wanted to go to the other room to eat it, because it was starting to melt, and it was such a waste. She ended up just staring at it.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 4:00:10 GMT -8
Jacob chuckled, a rumbling sound in his chest, and ate the rest of his ice pop in one bite. It cracked under his teeth, and he stood up, poking Ace in the side of the head lightly. "You asked." he said, cheerful. "I'll stop harassing you so that you can enjoy dessert. It's late anyways."
He wandered off towards his bed and cleaned it off, setting the brand-new textbooks aside and the things he'd laid out earlier in the day. "I'll be up early in the morning again, I am afraid." he noted, as he pitched his shirt and parted the covers. "But if you have anything you would like to have for breakfast, now is the time to ask."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 4:14:37 GMT -8
She rolled her eyes, obviously not caring about being poked in the head. "It could have been a yes or no response though." She defended. She waited until he had turned away from her to quickly suck at the drops near the bottom of the ice pop to keep it from dripping on her hand.
He mentioned breakfast, and she thought for a moment, before calling over her shoulder, "Waffles?" In a curious tone. She figured there were worse set ups for dorm mates than having someone that cooks and cleans.
She laughed, "you were up early? I was so fast asleep I didn't even know." She shook her head. "Hey, kick the shit out of any bedbugs that get near ya, a'ight?" That was how she learned it from a young age. She was tempted to add 'rest in peace' but realized it might be a bit cruel.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 4:22:56 GMT -8
"I can make waffles." Jacob agreed. "I will have some ready tomorrow morning. And I always get up early, Jane. It is a very, very long-running habit." He yawned and wiggled beneath his sheets, then turned the lamp over his bed out. "Goodnight, Ace. I will pepper spray the bedbugs should they choose to revolt this night."
The sheets shifted for a moment, and then Jacob stilled, his breathing gone steady and even.
He dropped off fast, it seemed.
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 4:33:56 GMT -8
Once Ace was sure he was asleep, she finally got to eat the rest of the ice pop. Sneakily, she even tried to imitate whatever he had done, but ended up just getting brain-freeze and making a mess. Giving up, she ate the rest normally and went to throw away the stick, throwing some water on her face to rinse off at the sink, drying her face on her sleeves, and made her way over to the futon.
She turned on the infomercials at their lowest volume and watched, contented, how with this new watch, you will always know both the time and date, and the digits glow in the dark! For 13.95, Right now is the TIME to buy. She shed her jacket and jeans to crawl into her shorts, and drew the blanket around her.
Eventually she fell asleep, mumbling in her dreams as usual about '6 years', 'apologize', and occasionally 'strong'.
She woke up to the smell of breakfast.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 4:41:25 GMT -8
Jacob had donned an apron from . . . somewhere. In the kitchen bacon sizzled on a skillet, alongside a quartet of fresh waffles. Jacob hummed as he proceeded around the kitchen, barefoot and serene, and mixed up his own lemonade (apparently not having forgotten what the mass-produced kind in the auto-kitchens tasted like).
There was something playing on the radio, an old, vocal song that had no accompaniment, that soared and dipped in operatic manner. One of Jacob's hands waved to the tune, tracing out the notes as they flew from the radio, static crackling faintly with age on each one.
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 4:47:50 GMT -8
Ace blinked and rubbed her eyes, groaning a bit at having woken up. She reached limply from the covers to grab her jacket off the floor first thing, and pulled it around her shoulders while still laying down. She threw her feet over to the cold floor and put the jacket on properly.
"Do I smell bacon?" She said in a groggy voice, staggering towards the kitchen. "I need coffee, you got coffee?" She coughed then, "Oh shit I need cigarettes... Uugh why am I out of cigarettes!!" She scratched at her scalp, about ready to beat her head off the wall.
Instead, she just leaned against it. Ace wasn't a morning person. She closed her eyes and whimpered a little at the fact that it was bright.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 4:54:07 GMT -8
"In order of requisition: yes, you do smell bacon, yes, I do have coffee, and you do not have cigarettes because you dropped the carton on the floor last night and stepped on them this morning while staggering around in the living room." Jacob chirped, with the sort of malicious cheerfulness only a true morning person can muster. "Caffeine up!"
A hot cuppa tappe against the minibar, steam still visibly rising from its rich mocha depths. Jacob added a single sugar and stirred, then left two more on a saucer nearby in case his flatmate needed them. "How do you like your eggs?" he questioned, flitting back to the stove. "Over easy? Scrambled? You must have a preference."
Two waffles and four strips of bacon went on a plate and then back out besides the coffee, their maker beaming in satisfaction.
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 5:12:16 GMT -8
"No idiot, I finished my carton like a few days ago, and the order is on the way... wait, did I finish doing that?" She groaned again remembering that she hadn't finished making the order because of their little spat the evening before.
She grabbed the coffee and took a gulp of it with a sigh of relief afterwards, and proceeded to dump in the rest of the sugars provided. "Eggs too? Damn I just said waffles but you go all out!" She said, gathering herself. "Just crack it open, spin it around a bit, push at it with a fork until it becomes solid. It comes out how it comes out, egg is egg." She said simply. That was how she cooked them, so it was how she liked them- half-scrambled.
Ace's eyes widened with the plate of breakfast food. She looked at Jack with an expression of thanks that words didn't need to be said. She then dug her fork into a whole waffle and brought it up to her face, tearing off a corner with her teeth. Her other hand had already grabbed a bacon strip and had it at the ready for whenever there was an opening.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 5:23:26 GMT -8
"Would have been a funny expression on your face if you had believed me." Jacob replied, totally unrepentant. "And unless you finished it after I went to sleep, I doubt you did. I remember no such thing, at least."
He grinned at Ace's enthusiasm in devouring her breakfast, and cracked the eggs into another skillet, although he went for a regular scramble rather than . . . whatever she had just described, which sounded distressingly like the hunting method of a dingo.
When it was finished, he brought the eggs back to the table, along with his own share of waffles and bacon, and dug in without hesitation. "You are lucky I do not insist on saying grace." he clucked primly, as he bit off a piece of waffle and closed his eyes in delight at the taste.
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 5:47:58 GMT -8
Ace gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, well, I'm not an idiot" She said with a roll of her eyes. She took another sip of coffee, obviously enjoying it, and then bit into the bacon strip.
She laughed aloud then, "Saying grace? Isn't that that thing in movies?" She said inbetween bites. "You might have guessed, but I'm not the religious type." She added. Her waffle was nearly gone and she hadn't put butter or syrup on it. She left those things for the second waffle, which she layered in the stuff.
She then brought her syrup ridden fork into the eggs and shuffled them onto her plate, not really caring that they were made any particular way. "You should have gotten a job at the Waffle House, it tastes better than that shit! And that's saying something." She said pointing her fork at him.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 5:56:06 GMT -8
"It was a tradition." Jacob said, mild, although his tiny smile ruined the effect."If you did not say it at my table, I was most displeased with you. That said, I have lost the habit since. It is very hard to be grateful when one wears a diaper. And I have not worked as a cook in years - I imagine not being able to pick what others eat to be the most inane torture ever. I like being dictator of the mornings."
He finished in a remarkably short time, bulldozing through his food with an odd combination of perfect manners and voracious pace. When he was finished, he covered a small burp with a napkin. "I judge myself worthy." Jacob declared, pious, and took a sip of his milk. "I'm guessing you have a late morning, or else you would already be scrambling."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 6:06:29 GMT -8
Ace did find it a little difficult to follow what he was talking about when he jumped between his different lives in conversation, but managed to keep up. "I can see that." She said finally, looking at the feast in front of them.
"Huh, late morning? Oh yeah, that thing." She referenced school. "I have a relatively free schedule actually. I..." She paused for a long moment, trying to decide whether or not to divulge her private lessons that she took twice a week. ".. have a specialized schedule." She said instead.
Mrs. Zede had said that the lessons were to be confidential. After all, she wouldn't be able to keep up with any of the rest of the classes if she did not first get her grounding in a basic education, which the teacher provided in some of her free time. As such, the rest of her classes were optional, until she had completed the crash course. "Yourself?"
Ace did have to study some herself, have a few simple books read, do some simple mathematics homework... Funny how she had manipulation of probability as a power, but couldn't manipulate it on paper.
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Post by Gleam on Jun 30, 2012 8:47:05 GMT -8
Jacob nodded in response. "Likewise, although mine is more because I am going through rather a lot of lab testing." he said. "I applied for a practical internship as soon as I arrived. It is much easier to prove competency when one actually has something to do, rather than sitting around in a room being lectured."
He gathered his dishes and left them in the sink for later. "I should be on my way, then, I want to arrive early." he said, and plopped himself down on his bed, working on a pair of fine shoes, detaching the apron and slinging it on the coat rack nearby. Against the dark blues and blacks of the coats, the cheery yellow apron stood out horrendously. "Check the fridge should you get hungry while I am gone. I always make too much."
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Post by 'Ace' Julia Dale on Jun 30, 2012 9:53:14 GMT -8
Ace shrugged, "Okay, whatever." She said without much thought. "Still don't understand how you can enjoy work, but to each their own, I suppose." She took her half-finished coffee with her as she took a seat on the futon. She grabbed the remote.
"You're arriving early?" Ace didn't fully seem to grasp this concept, giving up in the end and just shaking her head. She flicked all the way through the channels on TV until she came right back around to the Infomercials. Just checking.
"Later then." She said, starting to bite her nails to suck out whatever grease was left from the bacon strips, picking at her teeth like a true lady. She thought she might start studying while he was gone. She couldn't exactly do so with him around anyway. She also considered getting a nice few beers for the afternoon from the fridge to have while she pulled out 'Sam goes to the zoo' and did her addition, subtraction and multiplications.
The perfect afternoon for Ace on her own.
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