IC Contact

[pluggedintheoverlord]

 

"Hey, this is Joker.  Leave a message and I might get back to you.  Unless you're trying to sell me something or I really just don't feel like talking to you-- in that case, take a hint and quit calling me."

Comments

[ACTION]

[pluggedintheoverlord]

[He rubbed her back in slow circles until she finished crying, one of those mindless, universal comforting gestures and really the only thing he could think to do. He wasn't good at comfort, and that hadn't changed in the past five minutes.]

[Joker closed his eyes when he heard that lie-- they stung-- and wasn't sure if he hated his father for putting that lie in his mouth or was glad for it. It was an excuse, a way out, and even if it wasn't true, who cared? The truth was shit and she'd been hurt enough already, so didn't she deserve the merciful lie?]

[Could it really do any more harm?]

Yeah. [His voice was tight, and it was hard to get words out still.] I hadn't even heard about it yet. They never told me.

[ACTION]

[withastick]

[Gunny had no reason to disbelieve him, and couldn't help but mistake the guilt in his voice for sorrow, which, in turn, only provoked her own guilt for putting the blame on her brother when, as far as she knew, he didn't deserve it.]

M'Sorry you had to find out like this.

[ACTION]

[pluggedintheoverlord]

Don't be.

[That came out sharper than he'd meant; she shouldn't apologize to him for this. For any of it. Not when it was really all his fault.]

[ACTION]

[withastick]

[The tone made Gunny flinch for a moment, but, just as quickly, she relaxed. She was simply tired of the perpetual tenseness that came with anxiety and living in a constant state of nervousness]

[Outside of the occasional sniffle, she fell silent, counting on her brother's closeness to keep her calm for the time being]

[ACTION]

[pluggedintheoverlord]

[There wasn't anything that he could say that would make this okay, or even just slightly less awful; there weren't any diagrams about how to comfort your dead little sister and not fuck things up. Most people probably assumed that things on that end would've been sorted out already, considering the nature of the problem.]

[Goddamn war.]

[For lack of anything better, he held onto her.]

[ACTION]

[withastick]

[Gunny's shuddering sighs quieted down after a while (minutes, hours, she couldn't tell), but the silence made her uneasy. Her fingers curled into the fabric of Joker's shirt while her tired mind tried to fill the lull with the first thing that came to it]

I'm scared, Jeff.

I don't want to go home.