ic contact (mask or menace)

[hackitude]

"Hey! You've reached Skye. Leave a message. I mean, if you want to. Or uh, don't. Whatever."

Comments

[5055034455]

Totally. You have any brand preferences? For either.

[hackitude]

At this point I am toooootally not picky.

[She's lived out of a hobo van. Picky is for chumps.]

[5055034455]

K. Gimme like half an hour.

[If she thought he was joking, he totally wasn't. He's going to show up with aspirin and a six pack. Just give him that half-hour.]

[hackitude]

Done. I'll be waiting.

[YOU'RE THE BEST LAWYER FRIEND A GIRL COULD ASK FOR.]

→ action

[5055034455]

[Yes he is.

About half an hour later, after she's texted him her address — which is luckily close enough that he can stick to his promised time frame — he shows up with a bottle of aspirin and a pack of Budweiser, and knocks a little tune against her door.]

Special delivery!

[hackitude]

[Skye could place his voice anywhere, it's that distinct, but she cheeks the peephole first just to make sure that there's nobody else with him. Then she opens the door with a wide smile.]

So you're officially my new favourite person right now. Want to come in?

[5055034455]

[Atta girl; Saul encourages such carefulness. He matches her smile and peeks inside, then shrugs almost sheepishly.]

Sure, if you don't mind.

[hackitude]

[She liberates the six pack from him as he comes in.]

Make yourself comfy. [She waves at the room vaguely as she walks to the small bench and sets down the beers, taking one for herself and then turning around to toss a second one to Saul. The room itself is a fairly standard one double bed hotel room.]

I gotta say, of all the weird turns my life has taken, drinking beer with a middle aged lawyer dude is not one I anticipated. But I'll take it.

[5055034455]

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that...

[He's only half-kidding. He catches the beer, almost drops it, then decides he should just let it sit for a minute lest it spray everywhere. Whoops.]

You doin' okay?

[hackitude]

[Skye opens her can and takes a long drink.]

I'm holed up in a hotel room, drinking beer with a guy I barely know in between firing off texts to my temperamental boyfriend trying to convince him not to take on my even more temperamental ex-boyfriend-that-wasn't, who is incidentally literally twice Jesse's size with biceps the size of Jesse's head, special forces training and now, super strength.

How do you think I'm doing?

[5055034455]

...yeah. Stupid question.

[Of course the guy has super strength. That just figures. Saul wrinkles his nose in distaste at the thought — Jesse's probably in way over his head already.]

Aside from Jesse, is there anyone else you've got who can look out for you? Someone maybe — y'know, bigger? Or! Better yet — what about you, huh? Miss secret government agent. You must know how to handle a firearm, yeah?

[hackitude]

[Skye nudges under the double bed with her foot, hooks it in something and draws it out. It's an open gym bag with a handgun and a shotgun inside. Both legit, no filed-off serial numbers, reasonable quality guns.]

He's the one who taught me how to shoot, so odds that I'll actually be able to get a bullet in him are low. But it's the thought that counts, right?

[She shrugs and gives an almost cynical smile.]

Don't you worry about me. Worry about Jesse. I've practically got my own tag-team of bodyguards here. Who knew all it took to be popular was moving to another universe?

[5055034455]

[That's what Saul figured — he saw the public responses on Ward's post. Still, her reassurance combined with the presence of weaponry isn't really enough to put him at ease. Mostly because of Jesse.

Since he doesn't trust himself to say anything Jesse would get pissed at him for, Saul remains silent for the moment, finally opening his beer and taking a thoughtful swig.]

[hackitude]

[Skye isn't sure what else to say on that topic either, so she sits down on the end of the bed with a sigh, elbows resting on her knees, drink in one hand.]

... Thanks, though. For worrying.

[She tries to study him for a moment. Trying to work out what sort of adult he is. She's known all sorts in her short life. And despite being 25, she still doesn't count herself as one of them.]

So ... how long have you and Jesse known each other, anyway? [Since he asked her. Turn about is fair play, isn't it?]

[5055034455]

[Saul's pretty convinced "worrying" is part of his job description, at this point. He should really charge more.

When he sees her watching him, he figures there's a question coming, and he figures it's going to be personal. He hopes it's nothing about Jesse's personality; he doesn't even know where to begin with excuses for that one.

Luckily, what she asks is something he can answer honestly.]

About a year.

[hackitude]

[That makes Skye pause and blink for a moment.]

... Huh. For some reason I thought it would be longer.

[5055034455]

Yeah? [He takes a sip from his beer, looking thoughtful.] Why's that?

[hackitude]

I don't know. Just an impression, I guess. You guys seem closer than the typical lawyer-client relationship. Or... guy who holds money and acts as a sober companion-client relationship.

[5055034455]

[That's funny. Saul's laughing.]

Heh, don't let him hear you say that.

[hackitude]

What, really? ... How come? He seemed to have a lot of respect for you when he mentioned you to me a couple of months ago.

[5055034455]

What, Jesse?

[At first, he looks both bemused and skeptical, but that quickly gives way to something —

Softer.]

Really?

[Shit, that sounded vulnerable, didn't it?]

[hackitude]

Well we were also kind of being held captive at the time by unknown forces; I'm pretty sure he was imagining imminent torture and death. People say weird things under pressure, I wouldn't take it too personally.

[5055034455]

[That sounds more like Jesse.





Wait, what?]

When did that happen?

[hackitude]

Like I said, a couple of months ago. An unknown third party arranged for the kidnap of several imPorts so they could run Hunger Games-style tests on them. Chuck 'em into an arena, make them battle deadly obstacle courses or each other. We didn't know that at the time, though-- we just woke up in what looked like a motel room from the 70s, only with no way out. Jesse was freaking out. ... Okay, we were both freaking out.

[5055034455]

[Saul is silent as those details work their way through his mind. He can't really picture any of what Skye just told him, except by imagining her and Jesse —

Nope.

He'd rather not.]

Jesus.