I'll tap into your strength and drain it dry...
[OOC: this is my post that will be open and slow timed for forever as I don't know how around I will be for awhile. I wanted a post open for anyone to tag cause I'll for sure get back to this, but will feel bad about tagging into anything new since I'm not sure how actively I can tag back in the coming week. So spam away! I can handle it.]
Jane ( Read more... )
Jane ( Read more... )
If it weren't for the ten-feet tall monster she's currently chasing after with surefire determination, she'd have paid more attention to the fact Jane's coming out of the alleyway Jo's running past. The thing's fast and it's big. Must be a left over furry from the damn monster parade a week ago.
Jo does not pay much attention to the apology.
She also hasn't noticed who the woman in question is yet.
She orders a quick, "Duck," and then she's firing her shotgun again.
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Somehow it isn't surprising that it's Jo standing in front of her with a shotgun in her hand. She's more attractive with it in her hands. If there were more time, she'd wonder if this were somehow related to a penis metaphor and then hope that it wasn't.
After the gun has been fired, Jane stands again. There's a revolver inside, which she takes out. It's not as good as a shotgun, but it's easier to hide. There's a small sword in the purse as well, but she only likes working up close on something that's more human.
"Hello again," Jane says with a small smile, but that's about the whole of what she's going to say. From drinks to monsters, only in this universe.
There is a monster to deal with.
She starts after it, moving with the increased speed of a demon, but somehow managing to look poised and controlled while she does
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The one person in the past few years she's wanted to be viewed attractive by hadn't really given her the time of day. Jo's kind of reconciled with that fact.
Not to mention, something about this woman--demon-comes with a flare sign ( ... )
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She slips the revolver back into her purse and turns to look at Jo. One eyebrow raises, and an easy smile pulls across her face. Once again, it's sincere in its friendliness.
"Thank you for being aware enough to tell me to duck," Jane counters, walking over to the monster to have a closer look at the corpse. "Believe it or not, this is the first monster I've run into in Chicago. Do they all look so ugly?"
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She walks over to where Jane stands, moving to stand beside her, looking down at the monster. "Believe it or not, that's one of the better-lookin' ones. Apparently the rift's activity has been on overdrive since last week. Monsters everywhere you looked."
She did fight Marshmallow Man.
There's... really not a whole lot that will surpass that day.
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When running into monsters and people from the Rift, there are more than three types, of course. They're merely less common.
She kneels down, looking critically at the beast. There is a biologist within her. There's enough of a scientific way of looking at this monster than any other.
"It looks amphibian. It's not exactly the same, but there are similarities. If this is better looking, I'd be curious to see its counterpart." It doesn't matter, because it's dead.
Jane stands again and turns to face her. "I've heard about the disappearances, followed by the Conrad's destruction. Yes, overdrive is almost putting it lightly. It's surprising that this is my first encounter. It's enough to make you wonder if anything set the Rift off this time."
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Jo admittedly doesn't study afterward what she hunts. It's always before and even then, the research is geared towards identifying it not so much studying its remains.
Jo steps back, grip still firm on the shotgun. She doesn't trust the quiet as much as she can throw it and knowing this place, another monster could surge before they blink.
"From what I've heard about the Rift it doesn't need to be set off to start makin' trouble. Just does whatever the hell it wants."
Which makes Jo hate it so very, very much, considering it turned her into a dog.
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"It is true. A reason is never necessary for the Rift, which is why scientists have yet to find a way to control it or to create a pathway back to home universes. It's unpredictable in every sense of the word," she says. "However, there have been a few isolated cases in the past where a specific event set it off. It's often led to cases of extreme Rift activity.
She reaches into her handbag and pulls out a travel first aid kit. This is the bag that has an apparently endless bottom and hundreds of possibilities.
"If you want to patch up without heading back..."
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That's why she hunts. So no one--no one--on her watch loses their family. So no little girl ever has to get home to find their father is never coming back to them because something big and something bad got to them first.
That matters more than whatever the fuck this rift is and how it works. Jo doesn't care about scientists. She cares about sheer will and getting things done.
"I've got it covered," Jo says, looking down at her arm. Jo doesn't like owing anybody anything, least of all a demon. "You all right?"
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"But there are some you will miss," Jane says, and it's not accusatory at all. It's a simple, quiet fact stated next to the corpse of a monster that she didn't miss. "Even if you hunted every hour of every day. I'm certain you know that already."
Some people don't like to focus on the losses, on the inevitability of their failings. Even the best fighters will lose, will not be fast enough, will watch someone die because they weren't there in time. The important thing is to remember that no matter what, sometimes you will lose ( ... )
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Jo's jaw clenches surreptitiously, well aware that she can't save everybody. She wishes she could, but she can't. If everybody could be saved, her father would have come back to them.
He didn't, and she is what she is mostly because of that loss.
She started hunting to chase after Bill Harvelle's ghost.
She remained a hunter for herself. She is never as sure as she is with a gun in her hand. She's tiny, harmless to the unsuspecting eye. With the cool metal in her hand, she's powerful.
She's powerful and she knows it, and when she looks upon her target, they know it too. The surge of adrenaline that comes with that knowing--it's unlike anything she's ever felt before.
"No one keeps me from anything," Jo answers, and there's even a grin when she says it. Slinging the shotgun over her shoulder, she tosses a look back to the mysterious woman. "Catch ya on the flip side, Jane-with-no-last-name."
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When she's faced with that kind of power in a man, she wants to knock it out of them.
When she sees that power in a woman, she's attracted to it. She wants to bolster it, solidify it, and watch it grow into something even more beautiful than it already is.
"I should have known," she says with a grin in return.
Jane doesn't say goodbye or make a comment about her lack of last name.
As much as she'd like to, she doesn't watch Jo leave either.
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