days dawn and skin's crawling

[quiettotheend]

[Backdated to last Tuesday]

At exactly 7:10 PM, a black Jaguar pulls up to the Gauche. Tabitha helps herself out, and stands on the curb for a few moments, waiting for her father. The stress of the last couple of days has been building up on her, and it's not helping her health. She seems fine enough, though, if not a little tired and wobbly. Mild

Comments

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe's at the Conrad.

Phoebe recognizes the skittish angel, and winces when she sees the girl is biting down on her thumb hard enough to cause bleeding.

She approaches her tentatively, so as not to frighten her.

"Jo...right?"

[lastchancefor]

That's her name. Jo turns to see the blonde angel, and her hand drops out of her mouth. She remembers Phoebe, which is a little embarrassing in itself. She can't remember her name; had she even told her it? She nods slowly, watching Phoebe warily.

"Yes," she says after a moment, taking one step back but no more. Logically, she knows Phoebe isn't going to hurt her. Especially after last time, no matter how hazy it is. But. One can never be too careful.

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe doesn't follow her. She remembers the last time they met and she doesn't want to scare her again.

"It's Phoebe. Um." She scratches the back of her head, at a loss. Peter would totally know how to deal with this.

Asking are you all right? seems like a dumb idea, because it's obvious Jo is not. Still. "Did something happen?"

[lastchancefor]

"No, nothing," Jo says, shaking her head slowly. She doesn't like the face Phoebe has. It's the same face she had last time. That she remembers. She remembers that clear as day. Not most things on the drugs. But she wonders what she does to make Phoebe look like that. It can't be good. "Just... too many walls and you know."

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe nods, even though she isn't certain she does know. She doesn't know how long Jo's been cooped up in the Conrad.

"Yeah. You wanna take a walk or something?"

Oh, Phoebe. Her intentions are good, Jo.

[lastchancefor]

She shouldn't. Jo knows she shouldn't. It's not safe for her to go outside. She might bolt. She might hurt someone. But she also knows it would be safer to go with someone. If she's with Phoebe, maybe she won't bolt. Maybe she'll be able to control herself.

"Yes," she says after a pregnant pause. "Yes."

She runs her fingers through her tangled hair, not caring if the motion gets blood in it. But she doesn't move, even if she's verbally committed to the walk. Phoebe moves first. And then they'll go. Outside.

She shouldn't go outside.

[thehighestwing]

"Okay," Phoebe says quietly. "We'll go buy pretzels or something. On me!"

She knows instinctively it's not a good idea to touch Jo, so she only tilts her head to the side as if motioning for her to follow.

She starts to walk and doesn't know why dread sinks into her stomach.

[lastchancefor]

That brings out a small smile. Pretzels, after surviving on pretty much just sandwiches sound good. Perhaps Robin is right, and she just needs more people in her life.

So Jo follows Phoebe, only about a half a step behind. The smile fades a little, but it doesn't go away. "You are. A good person you know," she says softly, as if she's a bit baffled by this. But she can't question it. And sometimes it helps to tell people the truth like that. She knows she feels better when people tell her good things. So she should do the same for Phoebe.

[thehighestwing]

"You're pretty awesome yourself, you know. I don't just share my chocolate bars with anyone."

Phoebe slows down her bouncy steps just a bit so they can walk side by side.

"There's this vendor nearby and sweartogod, Jo, he sells the best pretzels. Gnn. You'll be forever changed. Truth!"

[lastchancefor]

That draws out a small laugh. It's hard for Jo to believe, so it must be a joke, right? If anything, she's just been awkward and wrong with Phoebe, which makes her question why she even bothers. She catches up to Phoebe, scooting to walk next to her, although making sure they're not too close together.

"And mustard?" Jo asks, working hard to try and say the right words. She wants to fix their last meeting. She wants to tell herself she can have a friend and not just break everything. Something real, for once. Robin's all but disappeared from her life, but his words still stay strong with her. "I like them with mustard."

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe giggles when Jo laughs. She's done something right, for once, and it feels good. Phoebe tries because she's Phoebe. Because no one should be alone and as sad as Jo was the other day. As she was now.

Phoebe would want someone to make her feel better if she was that upset.

"Dude, they've got mustard and everything. Really big pretzel. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish mine because I get full really fast but I did. That is how good it is."

[lastchancefor]

"Like this big?" Jo asks, holding her hands apart. She's not worrying about those words. It's been a long time since such a clean natural sentence with no fear of ramification has come out. She gives Phoebe another small smile before shoving her hands back in her jacket. She's barely even noticed she's outside yet. She's too focused on Phoebe and the prospects of pretzels. "Next time, I'll buy, okay?"

[thehighestwing]

"Hee. Even bigger!" Phoebe exclaims, and then she stops with a nose wrinkle. "Okay, not really. But if we are still hungry we can buy more."

Jo should smile more often, Phoebe has decided. She's very pretty when she smiles.

Phoebe looks at her and understands this is important to her, so she nods. "Next time you're totes buying. We can try something else, though! There's an awesome pizza place nearby. I think you can even try making your own pizza. That could be fun, amirite?"

[lastchancefor]

At first, Phoebe's comment confuses Jo, but then it makes sense. So she laughs a little bit late, but she still laughs. And it's a lot less nervous this time. The lack of walls is helping. She doesn't feel trapped. And Phoebe helps her feel comfortable.

"I haven't had pizza-- in years," Jo admits. She does love pizza. Grease. Cheese. Crust. Salt. Her stomach growls, just thinking about it. When was the last time she pulled herself out of her room to eat?

She doesn't entirely remember. But it doesn't matter right now. Things are going smoothly. She can do this.

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe's mouth drops a little at Jo's announcement. "Well that is just wrong. We can even go tonight, if you're hungry after this."

She orders two pretzels, making sure Jo's has a lot of mustard, before sitting on the sidewalk beside the vendor who has made small-talk with her.

It is obvious Phoebe buys him pretzels with frequency.

"Even if we don't go and you want to stay in, we could make pizzas of our own at the Conrad, yeah? I sometimes sneak into the kitchen to bake cookies and suches. They're not the best but they're pretty good if I do say so myself! And made from scratch."

[lastchancefor]

One of the nice things about having holed herself up in the Conrad was that Jo hasn't spent any of the little money she scrounged up. Most of this money has come from corpses. They didn't need the money anymore. The plague took so much away. No, she can't think about the plagues right now