[OTA] You don't want to watch

[heartsthespades]

There was no visible reaction to the letter a Two of Spades had delivered to him late last night. A brief flash of surprise, a tightening of his lips, but nothing to indicate what the letter contained. And it was hard to tell, all morning, that anything was wrong. Grouchy moods weren't exactly unknown when it came to him, after all - he and several

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[maskofhearts]

Hadyn lived in town these days, and town was not large. He'd heard, mostly through the grapevine, about the Mustang being brought in looking trashed. The repeated telling of it made the story wilder and more insane, too, by the time it reached Hadyn's ears...

And at that point he'd almost run to the shop to find out for himself what was going on.

And while it wasn't as bad as he'd started to believe it was, it still wasn't great as Hadyn worried at his bottom lip and paced in front of the shop for a while, trying to think of what to do. To go see Jordan? He hadn't really heard from his brother in a few days, and the news about Meghana's leaving was delayed to his ears as well- and most trumped by Nico's sudden disappearance the that day. They'd had an appointment after all.

For a while he just stared at his phone, considering just calling before sighing and turning toward Heart Castle.

Fucking life.

It was going to be an unhappy conversation, he was sure.

[heartsthespades]

By the time Hadyn got to Heart Castle, Jordan had been subjected to Abby, who both iced and wrapped his knee, and cleaned and bandaged the scrape on his arm - and the story was getting ridiculous. By this time, Jeannie had reported that apparently he'd barely escaped from a burning fireball straight out of an action movie.

Which was a little far from the truth.

Still, getting work done wasn't happening, so Hadyn found Jordan in his apartment, tossing darts at a dartboard while he had his leg propped up on a coffee table.

"Hey."

[maskofhearts]

"Well, glad to know you aren't actually dead." That had been one of the stories. Though the shop had cleared that one up just by having the car in to fix. Still, Hadyn frowned a little more for it all.

"Not that I can't sympathize with just needing to get away- but what the living fuck?" Jordan, at least, was the supposedly stable one of the two.

[heartsthespades]

Jordan rolled his eyes as he let another dart fly. "Seriously," he muttered. "You'd think no one had ever run off the fucking road."

But it was true that Jordan hadn't done much wild for most of a decade. He shrugged, though. "It was an accident."

[maskofhearts]

That was it? 'It was an accident'? Nothing else was going to follow that? Hadyn scrubbed a hand through his hair, huffing a little. A part of him was ready just to stalk out of the door again, and say 'fuck it' to the greater population.

"You probably could have said something," he said finally after a moment, moving to stand in front of Jordan with a sour look on his face.

[heartsthespades]

It was an accident involving an icy road and an oak tree? But no. Jordan wasn't getting into that if he didn't have to. Admittedly, he thought with a sigh, he was probably going to have to.

"About what?" He said, his lips twisting discontentedly. "About the fact that I fishtailed off the road? Or about the fact that Meghana dumped me with a Dear Jordan that assured me that she almost loved me?"

It seemed like a good time to throw another dart.

[maskofhearts]

"How about- 'I'm okay, but I wrecked my car'? That would have been a good start." They only had each other in this fucked up family, after all. And this was turning into utter bullshit, all the awkward space shared.

Though the 'almost loved' part was enough to make him hesitate for a moment. "I...." He started, before sighing and slumping down onto the coffee table.

"Sorry," he said, not sure what else to say.

[heartsthespades]

Jordan sighed at that, shifting to move his crutches. "I didn't think of it at the time," he admitted with a shrug. "And then there was the parade of dropped jaws, plus Uncle Davin."

He huffed out a breath and leaned back against the couch. "It was a doozy of a letter," he said with a dry, humorless laugh. "I had to get out for a while."

[maskofhearts]

"Yeah, well...." Maybe he should have been more careful. But Hadyn doesn't say that. He just picked at a nail and chewed his lip a little.

"Still...rumors would have me believe you were in traction or dead. So, forgive me if I'm a little...upset."

[heartsthespades]

"I tore a ligament in my right knee, apparently." Which would, according to Abby, possibly require surgery, but he was hoping not. Still another reason to throw things, even if they were only darts.

"Sorry."

[maskofhearts]

"We need to....make a deal. On the whole 'lets try to act like a family front'." Hadyn decided with a vague nod. "I mean, lets just, agree to....try to talk about the important things?"

Well, things like 'hi I nearly died'. Or something.

"Maybe agree to having dinner or lunch once a week too."

[heartsthespades]

Jordan was silent for a moment, but then he nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I know. I'll try." And so would Hadyn, he thought, looking over at his brother. Neither one of them really...talk.

It's sort of a family thing.

It's sort of a family thing that has him just looking at Hadyn when he suggests this lunch, dinner thing. But it's a good idea, he supposed, and he nodded. "The first few weeks should probably be here or in the Heart district, while I'm on these."

[maskofhearts]

"Yeah." He said with a shrug. "That's fine, really. I can pick something up on the way over from the theatre." And something along the lines of running errands in a brotherly fashion.

"Look on the bright side- you can milk everyone else for a little bit of sympathy if you stop biting their heads off."

[heartsthespades]

Jordan nodded, and then raised his brows, tipping his head at Hadyn.

"But hitting people on the head with a crutch is the only fun part."

[maskofhearts]

"You know, I know you have a certain admiration for Victor Fox...but really, that's a terrible way to go about things. Especially around here."

Hearts were, and always would be, little mice in some respects.

[heartsthespades]

The most frustrating part of the place, really. Jordan sighed as he slumped back on the couch. "I know, I know. Make nice, try for sympathy with the fucking puppy eyes."

He was tired of pretending, especially today. "Do you ever wish we could just go home?"