There is a light amount of snowfall coming down tonight. With the snow all around and Litae dangerously close, there's a good amount of light available to see. As usual, the service road up to the dam is only mildly tended to, leaving a fair amount of snow on the ground. Jessica is, however, not in the office at the moment. She's visible atop the dam from the service road. She's leaning against the railing of the dam. She's dressed in
#FreedomFallsDam – December 30, 2016
the same way she was when Yan Sun last saw her. Matte grey hardsuit with her beat-up brown cap. She doesn't seem to be paying much attention to anything aside from the water down below.
Yan Sun is trudging through the snow towards the dam gate, having had to walk some of the distance as the taxi driver was unwilling to follow the road to its end for fear of being stuck. She's wearing her usual winter clothes, shivering slightly and her boots sinking into the snow with each step. For once the imposing presence of Litae hanging precariously overhead causes nothing more than a quick glance from her. Her
attention is solely on the building ahead, not the fantastical nightsky or the snow-covered forest. She cradles the warm paper bag in her gloved hand close, listening to the crashing sound of the water as she approaches the gate in the fence, her eyes searching for any sign of Jessica. Her cybernetic eye is lit up, a blue point in the dark.
The security gate is locked. Jessica doesn't appear to even notice Yan Sun's presence. If she was a good security guard, she would be in the office or at least paying some attention to the cameras by way of her omni-tool, but instead she's staring down into the rushing water below. The light from the moon does a good job of giving her position away atop the dam, so Yan Sun would have little trouble spotting her from the security building
if she were to just give a quick glance around. The access road continues past the security post and to the dam. It's unlikely many wheeled vehicles will venture out here, but if need be the dam can serve as a narrow passage across the river.
Yan Sun watches Jessica in silence for a moment when she spots her, but then her eyes start darting around at something unseen as overrides the gate lock. Security out here isn't exactly cutting-edge compared to what she was used to, and the dam was becoming familiar to her. Once unlocked she slides the gate open, stepping inside and closing it behind her before starting to head towards Jessica. She has to hold herself back
from running up to her, approaching the dam with caution instead, eventually threading out of the snow and onto the structure itself, leaning a little to the side as she tries to get a glimpse of Jessica's face while approaching. Her own expression is tired, and her right eye is red from crying, but she has a tentative smile on her face. Her left arm holds the food close to her still, while her right runs along the
Jessica finally glances Yan Sun's way as she hears her stepping out of the snow and onto the dam. A smile briefly manifests before fading away and she quickly turns her attention back to the water. "Took you long enough." she complains. "I am sooooo fucking hungry. I lose track of time and forget to eat before I come here." she explains, not bothering to acknowledge the fact that she never returned to their room at the Respite.
She brings her hand to her belly and frowns. "Glurglurglurg." she interpretes the noises her stomach is making.
Yan Sun is unable to help herself as she lets out a relieved laugh at hearing Jessica's stupid complaining, rushing the last distance up to her and wrapping her in the tightest of hugs whether she wants to or not. The vocalization of her stomach noises belatedly elicits a muffled giggle as she somehow manages to squeeze her even more tightly.
Jessica's immediate reaction is to try and wrench herself free of Yan Sun's grip, a loud groan escaping her as she does. She doesn't try very hard, however, and quickly gives up on that course of action. "Gah. What is wrong with you, kitty cat!?" she scoffs, though after a deep sigh that follows, Yan Sun would find the hug being returned as Jessica's hands wrap around her waist. A few seconds pass before she releases her side of
the hug and tries to shrug away. "Okay, okay. You get your hug. Now stop squeezing me or else I throw you off the dam." she threatens. "And this time I am not jumping in after you!"
Yan Sun withdraws as Jessica shrugs her arms away, a snicker escaping at her last comment. Despite everything she has a big smile on her face as she comes back into view, looking at her. She just studies Jessica in silence for a moment, her smile slowly fading, but the obvious relief in her expression remaining as her gaze wanders across her face. "汝渾蛋..." she mumbles with another quiet snicker and a slight shake of her head,
Yan Sun lifting her hand to wipe away a lone tear that somehow manage to manifest itself - of course, since she's wearing thick winter mittens she mostly ends up prodding herself in the eye, but she plays it off as nothing - or tries to. Her eye blinks a couple of times as she holds up the paper bag. "I... brought the food." she finally says, the first comprehensible words to Jessica since the night before.
Jessica gains an uncomfortable look as Yan Sun stares at her and she puts her back to the dam's railing, resting her lower back against it to keep her propped up. She furrows her brow and a quick spurt of laughter escapes her as Yan Sun somehow manages to mitten herself in the eye. "You poke yourself in the eye." she states the obvious, if nothing more than to call attention to the clumsiness and embarrass Yan Sun. "I see it!"
Jessica she continues, giving a shake of her head as her laughter dies down before swiping the bag away and turning her attention to the food. "What did you bring? And how did you manage to get it here without dropping it all on the floor?" she asks as she tugs the bag open with her gauntlets and begins poking around inside.
Yan Sun looks only mildly miffed at Jessica's mockery, grimacing and blinking both her eyes once more before looking at the bag no longer in her possession and responding. "Just some sandwiches..." she says. The bad does indeed contain two sandwiches wrapped in paper. Each is filled with salad, cheese and pressed meat. She slips her mittens off, exposing fingerless gloves underneath, connected to the mittens that now dangle
Yan Sun from her wrists by thin cords. She turns towards the railing, leaning her elbows against it and looking out at the rapidly flowing waters below. She briefly looks like she's going to say something, but reconsiders, instead raising her gaze to the glow of the town in the distance.
Jessica holds the bag between her chin and chest for a moment as she removes her gauntlets and haphazardly tosses them to the ground with little regard for their well-being. She then removes her sandwich from the bag and turns around, setting the bag down on the railing between them and leaning against the railing in much the same way as Yan Sun, though she hurriedly begins biting into her sandwich. She certainly wasn't lying
Jessica about being hungry. "Is-..." she begins, speaking while she smacks her lips with a mouthful of food, "...Is good enough..." she decides with a nod before swallowing her bite of food. She quickly takes another bite and looks out towards the water once again, the only sound following is her loud, obnoxious eating.
Yan Sun glances at the feasting Jessica with a hint of an amused smirk, reaching into the bag to grab her own sandwich. The expression fades as she turns back out to the horizon, unwrapping her sandwich and taking a small bite before just holding it in her hands. In the town a small ship rises up from the spaceport, just a blob of lights until it reaches enough height to silhouette against Litae. It makes haste away, and a
Yan Sun little while later the distant thunder of its engines reaches them. She tries to follow it with her gaze, but doesn't manage for very long, her attention drawn instead to the brightly glowing surface of the ever-imposing moon, following the innumerable scars on its surface with her eyes. "Still freaked out by that moon..." she says quietly. "...it's beautiful though."
Jessica brings her gaze over to the moon as she swallows another bite of her sandwich. It's a sight she has taken for granted for most of her life. Just an image in the background to her at this point. She gives a short nod. "Is just waiting for its chance to strike." she says, giving a glance in Yan Sun's direction. She makes a fist with one hand and then softly colldes it with her sandwich in the other hand which jostles some
lettuce free that goes careening into the river down below. She puffs out her cheeks and pushes out all the air as she makes the sound of a collision. Or maybe an explosion. Or possibly a fart. "Like I tell you before. Aite won't be here forever." she adds, though unlike the last time she talking about her home's impending doom, she seems much less excited about it. "One day, everyone here will have to go." she continues,
her gaze returning to her sandwich to give it a quick inspection, "And this will alllllll only be memories, mmm?" She gives a shrug of her shoulders, "Maybe is time for me to go, too..." she adds non-chalantly, almost as if an afterthought, before taking another bite of her sandwich.
Yan Sun glances to Jessica, taking another small bite of her sandwich as she turns a little to her side to watch her gesticulations. She goes quiet as she listens, her gaze falling briefly to the railing before she gives a faint nod. "Maybe it is...", going back to looking at Jessica for a moment before turning out to the dark water again. "There's millions of worlds out there... where'd you wanna go?"
Jessica shrugs her shoulders. "You are asking me? Aren't you the one doing all of the super secret sneaky research? Mmm?" she asks, her tone almost accusatory. "With your schedules and all of your sneaking behind my back.... Maybe it would be better if you just-... just go ask someone I know what I think. Yes? " she continues, a frown returning to her face. It's clear that her own words are beginning to frustrate her. She
seems intent on changing directions before she works herself up too much and focuses on picking a piece of lettuce from her sandwich. She begins inspecting it for a moment before grimacing and tossing it off the dam. "I don't know... Somewhere that isn't frozen..." she says softly, recalling the ice planet. "Or too hot!" she adds quickly, Rakhana still fresh in her mind. She licks at her fingers before looking to Yan Sun.
"...I don't know, kitty cat." she finally admits with a defeated sigh, "This is my home. It is shit, but-... but I-..." she trails off, deciding to simply shake her head. "I don't know..." she repeats.
Yan Sun turns her head toward Jessica, listening to her in silence. the sudden addition of 'Or too hot!' causes a brief smirk to cross her lips. By the end she nods slightly, leaning her shoulder lightly against Jessica's. "Yeah... I get it." she says softly as she trails off. She looks out at Freedom Falls again, hundreds of yellow points and silhouetted buildings. "It was hard for me to leave Hong Kong... even though I
wanted to. Earth was all I'd known... still is, mostly. It's... weird to be out here." Her gaze darts back to the woman next to her and she nudges her with her shoulder. "I'm glad I did though." She flashes a small smile, seemingly having forgotten about her sandwich.
Jessica returns to looking out distantly at the water and nods a few times as she listens. "Aite is all I know..." she repeats Yan Sun's words, reusing them for herself as she decides they sound much more fitting. After all, no place feels like 'home' anymore. She sinks her teeth into one last bite of the sandwich, leaving only crust in her hands. She drops it into the drink to join the rest of her trash as she falls silent. Once
she has finished with her bite, she removes the cap from her head and holds it in front of her, inspecting it in silence.
Yan Sun 's fledgling smile fades, her gaze following the cap as Jessica removes it from her head. She remains quiet for a time, both unwilling to disturb her and processing thoughts of her own. Eventually she reaches out and places her left hand over Jessica's right, keeping it there loosely, not interferring with her. She continues to stare at the cap. What Jessica had told her had lingered in her mind all day. She knows it
must be in Jessica's mind every day. She opens her mouth to speak, but closes it again just as quickly. She'd said her piece before. She just keeps staring at the cap, and the hands holding it, her thumb now brushing across her knuckles.
Jessica's gaze moves to Yan Sun's hand as it comes to rest atop her own hand. With her left hand, she gently brushes a bit of snow from the cap. "I think about what you say. From this morning? And..." her gaze moves to Yan Sun's face for a moment before returning to the cap. It takes her a moment before she decides to continue. She sucks a deep, cold breath in, as if it's difficult for the next words to leave her mouth. "And
maybe you are right..." she says with a sigh that implies she isn't particularly pleased to be admitting that. "For once." she adds, unable to just admit such a thing without turning it into a backhanded remark. She tilts the cap over in her hand, continuing her inspection. The slightest hint of sadness shows through her demeanor before she shuts it right back down. "He...?" she lifts the cap slightly higher to
indicate who she may be talking about, "...is dead. Me? Not so much. Not yet at least." With a flick of her wrist, she sends the hat plummeting downward off the side of the dam like it's just another piece of discarded garbage. It's the sort of gesture that may come across as cold, but perhaps it's just the way she copes. Clamping down on her emotions instead of acknowledging them. If the past few weeks were any
indication, then it's pretty obvious that despite her harsh exterior, those emotions still find ways of leaking out despite her attempts at forcing them down.
Yan Sun listens in silence to Jessica. She seems unfazed by the backhanded addition. When the cap tumbles away her hand grasps after it, but she's nowhere near fast enough. Her surprised look slowly fades back into something more solemn, her gaze following the falling hat until it disappears into the churning dark waters below. Her hand returns to Jessica's, enveloping it and squeezing gently. She seems speechless, with no
idea what to say. How was she supposed to have the words for this? Eventually she forces herself to speak regardless. "I-..." and just like that she trails off again, letting out a quiet sigh and turning her head to look at Jessica again. "It doesn't mean you have to forget..." she says finally. "...or forgive. But it's okay to live your life. You-... we can figure it out. If... you still want my company." It was a
Jessica watches the hat in silence until it's pulled beneath the rolling rush of water and disappears out of sight. As Yan Sun begins to speak, she looks her way. A long sigh escapes her after hearing what she has to say. "Just... shut up..." she says. Of course she won't forget. How could she? And there's no forgiveness in her heart. Not for Cross. But maybe- at least for now- she can lie to herself. Tell herself that she can
forget. "I don't think it matters what I want. I think I am stuck with you for now. You are like a parasite." she continues, her usual brand of charm on display as she intertwines her fingers with Yan Sun's and gives her hand a squeeze.
Yan Sun winces uncomfortably at Jessica's first words, quickly regretting her bumbling attempt at sharing her thoughts. "I'm sorry..." she whispers. Her gaze falls to their hands as she listens to the rest of her response. She seems virtually unaffected by the last remark in contrast. She's silent for a while before letting out a sigh of her own. "Yeah... you are." she says, returning the squeeze and attempting a faint smile,
but it never manifests. As she relaxes her left hand she unfortunately also relaxes her right, and in an instant her sandwich slips out of the paper wrap, her eyes wide as she follows its fall into the darkness. She offers no comment as she scrunches up the paper into a ball in her hand.
Jessica raises an eyebrow and simply watches the sandwich as it follows her cap. She gives an unsurprised nod as if to say 'Yep. Saw that coming.' "You lose your food." she says. Once again stating the obvious with little purpose other than pointing out Yan Sun's clumsiness. "It did not want to be stuck with you. Mmmm?" she continues to tease, "Decided to kill itself." She looks over the edge of the dam with a look of mock
sadness. "I envy you, my friend." she says through her frown. It's not long before her grin returns as she looks to Yan Sun and she gives a condescending snicker. "You are such a fool."
Yan Sun frowns as Jessica does the opposite of just letting it go uncommented. An inevitable giggle slips out but she follows it up with an elbow to Jessica's side, fairly hard, and an exaggerated look of annoyance on her face, although it's not hard to tell that part of her is relieved at the unintended respite from the heavy conversation, even if temporary. "You should be nicer to me..." she mutters even as a hint of a grin
crosses her lips. She stuffs the balled up paper in her pocket and adds, with a sigh and a glance over the railing: "Guess I'll eat later."
Jessica winces as Yan Sun's elbow connects. "Gah! You bitch!" she groans, rubbing at her side with her free hand despite her hardsuit taking the brunt of it. "And why should I be nice to you when you are always hitting me!? Mmmm!?" she asks as she begins to encroach on Yan Sun's personal space, placing one hand on her waist to turn her so they face one another and backing Yan Sun up against the dam's railing. Her hand slides down
to the back of Yan Sun's thigh and she grabs ahold of it, lifting her leg slightly as if threatening to toss her over the side. "Maaaaybe you should go after your food, yes?" she asks, her good eye traveling back and forth between Yan Sun's eyes.
Yan Sun snickers briefly at Jessica's reaction, but when she's turned around and lifted ever so slightly she suddenly finds herself gripping the railing very, very tightly. "Hmneh屌閪屌閪屌閪止屌閪止止止止止止止止止! Stopstopstop!" she blurts out, wanting to flail her arms at Jessica but unwilling to let go of her grip on the railing. "No I shouldn't!"
Jessica seems greatly amused by Yan Sun's reaction. "Mmmm? Huh? Does that mean you think is good idea!?" she says over Yan Sun as a string of words go untranslated. Her laughter grows, her shoulders rising and falling as she lifts Yan Sun's leg slightly higher, her other hand moving from Yan Sun's hand to her other thigh. "Stop!? But-... But the sandwich! You lose it!" she insists between bouts of laughter, "We can still get it!"
Finally she relents, seemingly having decided that she has tormented Yan Sun enough. She releases her grip on the woman's thigh and gives her a hard slap on the ass.
Yan Sun starts slipping back into cantonese as Jessica lifts her higher, clearly not a fan of being balanced on a railing. As soon as her feet return to the ground she starts to exhale, only to practically skip past Jessica after the slap, a few hasty steps following before she spins around and point a finger accusingly at her, still catching her breath. "You-... not funny! Not. Funny!" she exclaims loudly. "妖精, 貔貅, 壞蛋..."
Jessica has another laughing fit at Yan Sun's continued reaction. She points back at Yan Sun. "But your face! You should see your face!" she insists, "You are such a pussy!" She follows across the narrow dam, pointedly looking past Yan Sun at the railing opposite of the one she was just nearly toppled over. "Mmm? I don't understand." she responds to the string of Cantonese, "You want to try the other side...?" she threatens,
Yan Sun looks both embarassed and annoyed at the same time, her face flushing as she glares at Jessica. The sudden step forward causes her to bring up her hands, looking somewhere halfway between covering her face and a ridiculous attempt at a fighting pose. "I said, you're an asshole!" she clarifies. Not quite true, but it gets the point across.
Jessica takes another heavy step forward lifts both of her hands in front of her to mock Yan Sun's ridiculous stance. She gives another condescending chuckle. "Ooooooh! I am an asshole, mmm?" she asks, "Are you sure?" She steps forward again and reaches out for Yan Sun's wrists, attempting to pin her hands back against the railing again. She seems to have little worry about how stupidly dangerous it is to be goofing around up
Yan Sun 's wrists are quite easily grabbed, and despite her writhing to free them her hands are pinned against the railing. "Gn-... not funny! Come on-..." Against her better judgement she glances over her shoulder at the water. Not much of a drop on this side, but the dark water looks ice cold, and it's flowing quickly. "This is-... this is not saf-..." She kicks several times at Jessica's leg as she speaks, the armored boots
Jessica continues to get a kick out of Yan Sun's squirming. "I'm what...? Mmm? An asshole, yes? Is what assholes do!" she taunts as she's only slightly annoyed by the kicks hitting her armored plating. As she grows tired of the kicks, though, she steps closer to Yan Sun, sliding her knee between the woman's legs to make it awkward for her to continue her kicking and leaving her nowhere to go but over the railing if she's going to
get free of Jessica's grasp. "Maaaaaybe I can be convinced to not throw you in the river." she continues to tease. She glances past Yan Sun to the water behind her and frowns. "But is sooooo tempting... Is nothing more fun than a wet kitty cat, mmm?" she adds, as if wrestling with the idea of just hurling her over the edge.
Yan Sun stops her writhing when Jessica pins her against the railing, her hands once again finding themselves tightly gripping the railing, albeit the opposite one. "Yes. Yes, there is!" Another glance down, followed my immediate regret as her gaze snaps back to Jessica. "You-... you are the worst person-..." her mumbling drifts off into incoherency, and Cantonese starts to mix in with the English. She lets out a grunt,
squirming again and lashing forward with her head in an attempt to do... something? She mostly ends up getting hair in Jessica's face.
Jessica is hit in the face with a flurry of... hair. Jessica is powerless to defend against such a... powerful defensive manuever...? Another burst of laughter escapes her and she once again releases her grip on Yan Sun and immediately backpedal in case she takes a swing once her hands are free. "You are so scared!" she taunts as she continues to back away until she's back at the opposite railing once again. At the very least,
the weight of their previous conversation seems to have been drowned out of Jessica's mind by Yan Sun's shrieking. "Is your own fault, you know? You are just too much fun to fuck with." she explains through her continued chuckling at Yan Sun's expense. She places her hands on the railing behind her and pulls herself up to sit on it, not so much as a glance behind her in worry of falling backwards. "You make it too easy."
Yan Sun stumbles forward as Jessica lets go. Her precaution proves sound as she flails an arm at the air where her antagonizer was. She brushes her hair aside and scowls at Jessica. "仆街仔!" she exclaims loudly, bringing up her hand before reconsidering because of Jessica's precarious position. The continued laughter causes her to blush, and shoot her another glare. "You are just the-... gnh..." she shakes her head, even as an
embarassed grin starts to show itself. It slowly fades, and a more serious expression takes hold. There's a pause before she speaks, a little while where she seems to think in silence. She lets out a sigh, stepping closer. "You are such a 壞蛋..." are the only words that come when she finally does speak, placing a steadying hand on Jessica's leg as she leans in to plant a soft kiss on her lips.
Jessica brings her left hand up to Yan Sun's cheek as she leans into the kiss, fearlessly balancing atop the railing without bothering to hold on. "Mmmm. Maybe." she agrees as she pulls away, simply assuming that whatever gibberish Yan Sun is spitting probably isn't too flattering. A cocky smile returns to her face as she looks down at Yan Sun, "But you are still here. So I may be a-... a-..." she attempts to pronounce whatever
it is Yan Sun said, though it just ends up coming across as a dismissively offensive attempt, "...or whatever. But you-..." she pokes Yan Sun in the shoulder, "...like..." another sharp poke, "...it." Her hand trails back up to Yan Sun's neck and she pulls her back for another kiss, a short snicker escaping her as it finishes. "....So who is the stupid one? Mmmm?"
Yan Sun flinches from each poke, and her attempt to protest is silenced by the second kiss. She scoffs lightly as it ends, lingering close to Jessica. "I guess I am..." she says with a small smirk. Her right hand is on her armored side now, the left still on her leg. Just because Jessica isn't worried about falling doesn't mean she isn't. "I can live with that..." she muses, leaning in for another kisss and then stepping
back, trying to pull away from the railing. "Come on, I don't want you going on the water either..."
Jessica rolls her eyes at safety inspector Yan Sun as she pulls back from the final kiss. She reaches down, gripping the edge of the railing and crosses her ankles, giving her legs a quick swing back and forth as she leans back further than she probably should be. Mostly just to keep pushing Yan Sun's buttons if the grin on her face is anything to go by. Before gravity does the rest of the job for her, she manages to pull herself
forward and hop down from the railing. "You owe me a new hat." she says plainly as she brings her right hand up to the top of her head, running it across the stubble with a frown. "It was a good hat and now the water has it..." she complains as if Yan Sun made her toss it into the river, her hand sliding down to the side of her head, grazing past small patches of skin where the hair has been burned away. She bends down,
collects her gauntlets from the ground, and clanks them against one another to free the small amount of snow that has began to collect on them.
Yan Sun doesn't respond right away, her thoughts no doubt turning back to the origins of said hat as she glances over towards the edge of the dam again. "Yeah..." she says quietly, a hint of a distant frown lingering before she shakes it off. She looks over at the security building and then raises an eyebrow as a thought occurs to her. "Do you even pretend to work anymore?" she asks as she looks back at Jessica, a small smirk
Jessica gives Yan Sun a sidelong glare as she tugs her gauntlets back on and starts towards the security office. "What are you talking about? I am here to keep people from fucking with the dam." She gives an exaggerated look around, "Do you see anyone fucking with the dam? No, there is nobody fucking with the dam. I do the best job. They are lucky to have a person who is sooo devoted to keeping people from fucking with the
dam that I stand out here just to make sure nobody is fucking with the dam!" she insists. A scowl crosses her face as she looks to Yan Sun. "Fuck you." she decides.
Yan Sun follows alongside Jessica towards the office, snickering as they go. "Yeah, with the dam... not so much when it comes to some other prepositions..." she reminds, not really considering if she's even being understood. She slips her hands back into her mittens, even though the walk is brief.
Jessica shrugs her shoulders as she continues towards the office beside Yan Sun. "I know the rules. They do not say anything about fucking on the dam. Or near the dam." she insists, having less of a problem with being so vulgar about it. "And who are you to judge? Mmmm? I'm pretty sure you had something to do with all of that, kitty cat." She suddenly gains a confused look as she glances over to Yan Sun. "Wait... Was
that you? It was, yes...?" she asks, a slight grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Is hard to keep you all straight in my head. Sometimes I get confused. Maybe was someone else...."
Jessica goes stumbling to her side and, given the amount of snow in their way, has little luck managing her footwork and falls right to the ground. A large gust of snow kicks up as she slams into the kneehigh snow. "Gah! You fucking-.... Gah!" she gives a surprised, frustrated shout and a bit of flailing follows as she rolls onto her back, eyes wide as she looks up at Yan Sun. "I fucking hate you!" she says, slapping a gauntlet
at the snow around her and causing a bit to kick up at Yan Sun. "I am an asshole!? I am an asshole!? You push me in the snow!" she complains through a scowl.