(Untitled)

[listentomystory]

Jude walked away from Max's hut, slowly at first, as though he had been expecting one of them to stop him, but the further he got, the faster he started walked, and soon, without even noticing it, Jude had almost started to run. He didn't feel like crying, he didn't feel like breaking down, he felt like yelling at the top of his fucking lungs, and

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[a_lowly_player]

Will was just coming out of trying to write in the Times Office when he saw Jude standing there banging his head against the wall. Without thinking twice about it, Will went running over to his friend. "Hey," he said gently when he got there, worry etched all over his face. He didn't feel like he had to ask what happened. That question came next in the logical sequence of things. His hand rested lightly on Jude's bicep though, instinctively trying to be a comfort rather than a burden.

[listentomystory]

Jude felt the familiar hand and recognised it from the last time it landed on his shoulder just a couple of days ago. He sat in silence at first, and then something occurred to him. It made him laugh, his eyes still closed, his head still against the wall, Jude laughed and remarked, "Shit, man, were you always around before and I didn't notice 'til you picked up a fucking sword?"

[a_lowly_player]

Will chuckled dryly and withdrew the hand carefully, reaching up to ruffle Jude's hair as a subtle way of checking to make sure the git hadn't cracked his skull open on the wall. "Two years in September, Commodore Oblivious."

[listentomystory]

Jude opened his eyes and ran his tongue across his lower lip. "Well, I've never claimed to be the most observant chap," he pointed out. He continued to note, "You do have fucking impeccable timing."

[a_lowly_player]

Will rose both brows and hooked his thumbs in the beltloops of his shorts. "I am an actor," he replied. "And you're my friend so, so I don't think that it should particularly be a bad thing that I happen to walk in when you need someone, yeah?"

[listentomystory]

Jude patted the seat next to him, gesturing for Will to take a seat. "Sometimes..." he started, not really sure where he was going at all. He wanted to be happy, but he could feel the anger running through his veins. "Fuck, Will, sometimes people can really let you down."

[a_lowly_player]

And Will did just that, sliding down to sit next to Jude. "That's...well that's a generally agreed upon consensus, yes," he said, leaning forward to rest his forearms against his knees. "What happened?"

[listentomystory]

He didn't know where to start, or even if he was ready to talk about it yet. He ran his hand gently over his bruised jaw and remembered everything that went on.

"The girl from the pictures," he started with a sigh, "her name is Lucy. She... her brother is my best friend. I had to tell him what happened, what I did."

[a_lowly_player]

Will winced and looked sympathetically over at Jude. "Is he the one who gave you the lovely new addition to your facial features?"

[listentomystory]

Jude tilted his head towards Will and gave him a slanted smirk, "Yeah, well I can't say he took it well, exactly. He also said some pretty... painful things."

He took a bit of a pause before continuing with the story. "I went to go apologise and found him lying on his bed... and Lucy crying at his side. He took some sort of drug with a syringe because his fucking draft letter for the war going on back in America showed up at his hut."

[a_lowly_player]

Despite his nearly two year tenure on the island, Will only understood about every other word in the details that Jude gave him. Still, it was enough to get the gist. This kid had been summoned to war in the colonies and plainly didn't want to go.

"Is he alright?" Will asked. "Physically I mean."

[listentomystory]

"I was only there a little while before he passed out. When he came to, he seemed physically fine." Jude jutted out his jaw, breathing strangely. "He was just... desperate. It was pretty clear he didn't need me there. He had Lucy." He looked around wherever he was, and almost smile, "And that's how I ended up here." He let out a laugh, "I don't even fucking know where I am!"

[a_lowly_player]

"You're in the compound basement level...level something, ciphers were never my strong suit. Either way, the Tabula Rasa Times office is just right there and you're sitting to the right of one Master Will Shakespeare," Will pointed out. "Look, just because he had Lucy at the time doesn't mean he doesn't need you. You're best friends, right? That's got to mean something and if he was as without himself as you say he was then perhaps, perhaps there is yet hope."

[listentomystory]

Jude laughed at Will's comment as though he couldn't even believe it had been said. "Nah, man, I don't know. I-- he punched me in the face. Understandably, but... shit, I've never seen him like that. Never so angry, so..." He couldn't even describe the boiling look in Max's eyes, the fierce anger, the abrupt hit. "So hateful."

[a_lowly_player]

"You hurt his sister. Older or younger, a brother's likely to get protective," Will pointed out. "We should get some meat for that bruise, help get the swelling down before it gets to be too much."

[listentomystory]

"And some meat for me stomach," Jude added, remembering that he hadn't eaten anything basically all day. He tried standing slowly, but let himself slide down the wall once before really pushing to be on his feet. He wrapped his arm around Will and let his body drape over him as he began to walk forwards.