IC Contact
Jan. 21st, 1990 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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."
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-27 10:48 pm (UTC)Drop it, Vakarian.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-27 10:53 pm (UTC)[HAH. BEAT THAT.]
Now tell me what the hell is going on.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-27 11:14 pm (UTC)[Joker punctuated that sentence by slamming his tumbler down onto the bar top hard enough to make cracks spiderweb across the glass. He may or may not have also broken a finger or two, but he wasn't paying attention.]
[That sure escalated quickly.]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-27 11:30 pm (UTC)[Despite that, however, there was an underlying twinge of concern when he spoke next. Joker, as much of an ass as he could be, never got explosively angry. Not like this.]
Like hell, Joker.
What happened?
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 12:05 am (UTC)[This was a bad idea, the alcohol was a bad idea, he should've locked himself in the helm until he'd gotten his shit together. And he was going to get it together, he would damn well man up and deal with it, because didn't need anyone's help even when his life was turning into a mess. This was his mess; he'd made this bed and he was damn well going to lie in it.]
[Joker forced his voice into something sort of like calmness, but he couldn't make it not sound tense.] I'm fine, Garrus. Nothing happened, it's just been a long couple of days.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 12:25 am (UTC)[Garrus pushes his own drink aside carefully, as if anything but would cause even more damage]
Damn it, let me help you.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 01:41 am (UTC)[Locking himself in the helm was looking like a better and better idea.]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 01:51 am (UTC)So take your pick.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 02:39 am (UTC)[Wow this conversation totally got out of his control at some point.]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 03:00 am (UTC)[But at least they've made progress]
Like what?
Come on. Talk to me.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 03:33 am (UTC)I don't even know where to start.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 03:37 am (UTC)[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 03:59 am (UTC)[Joker is not good at this whole 'sharing is caring' thing. When he has a problem, he keeps it to himself and fixes it, he doesn't start talking about his feelings.]
I need a drink.
[Stalling tactic is go. He's going to get up and get himself another glass of kerosene.]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:01 am (UTC)[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:15 am (UTC)[And he knocked the whole thing back, all at once. It burned all the way down.]
[When he set the glass back down again, his eyes went to the door; not that he could've possibly made it there before Garrus blocked him, but he was tempted to make a break for it anyway.]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:23 am (UTC)[FOCUS]
[ON]
[JOKER]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:35 am (UTC)[Escape was clearly not an option.]
[He poured himself another glass, just about as full as the last one, and took his seat again. He left the bottle out, because he was probably going to need it.]
[Okay.]
[Okay, he could do this. He wasn't going to be able to get out until he said something, so he might as well get it over with. And Garrus was trustworthy, right? He could do this.]
...Do you remember when I said that Gunny blamed me for our dad being dead?
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:41 am (UTC)Yeah?
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:48 am (UTC)[That glass was looking real interesting right about now; in fact, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of it.]
And that she did, too.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 04:53 am (UTC)[THAT SURE IS SOMETHING]
[Garrus couldn't be sure if it was a good or bad thing that the news didn't surprise him]
How?
[He didn't specify what he was asking, exactly: How did it happen? How was it his fault? Both were equally viable, and both questions were at the forefront of his mind]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 05:14 am (UTC)[Who knew what his father was thinking at the time; maybe he thought that Tiptree was too unimportant to ever be invaded, like Joker had. Maybe he thought that the safest place for his daughter was with him.]
When the reapers invaded, she said there were some asari commandos that came by the farm. While they were there, one of them went berserk, she was probably indoctrinated. The other took my sister and ran. Gunny got hurt when they had to double-back for the radio to call for an evac.
[His voice had been steady up until that point, but it was starting to crack. His hands were shaking around the glass, so he had to let go and clench his hands to hide it.]
They hid in the barn, but Gunny said her leg was broke and she couldn't stop crying. The asari tried to keep her quiet, and when she couldn't-- [He had to stop, clear his throat, because his voice had really cracked.] --when she couldn't, that bitch killed her.
[Joker was a vindictive son of a bitch, but he couldn't say that there was a whole lot of people that he actively wanted dead. This Aeian asari? He would have done it himself and not lost a moment of sleep over it.]
None of it would've happened if I'd told Shepard. I know she would've gone down to evac them if I'd've just opened my damn mouth, but I-- [He cleared his throat again.] --I thought it was too much to ask her to go into a hot zone for a colony that wasn't strategically important and didn't have any resources. Hell, I don't even know why the reapers cared to invade it, not when there's Eden Prime and Terra Nova and fucking Sur'Kesh right in the same area. If I hadn't decided that my fucking duty was more important than Gunny, she wouldn't have died.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 05:27 am (UTC)[So Garrus settled for putting an arm around the pilot's shoulders instead, not making a sound and allowing him all the time he needed. If Joker wanted to talk, he'd listen, if he wanted Garrus to speak instead, he'd comply. Until he gave any notion towards a preference, however, he remained silent]
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 05:42 am (UTC)[There was a brittle edge to his voice when he spoke again.]
...did I make the right call?
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 05:49 am (UTC)But as your friend? Seeing you like this now? I can understand the call, but I can't say it was the right one.
[Which sucks, but, them's the facts]
I'm sorry.
[ACTION]
Date: 2013-01-28 05:54 am (UTC)[The wrong call. You make the wrong call, and people die. He should have told Shepard and let her decide.]
Guess it doesn't matter now.
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