Yan Sun seems caught off-guard by Jessica's invitation, and for a moment there's a look of hesitation on her face. The fact that their room is tiny, and barely meant for two people, much less four, briefly crosses her mind. As does the fact that it's been more than awkward enough already, but neither thought lasts very long in the face of Jessica's drunken enthusiasm and the sting of guilt and sympathy at the thought that she's
#ClubCobalt – December 18, 2018
leaving behind the only planet and the only people he's ever known. An alcohol-fueled smile crosses her lips as she leans forward to look at Jessica for a moment. "Uh... sure?" she says, glancing over towards the others with a snicker. "It's-Yeah, sure." she concludes with a shrug, looking back to Jessica, smile lingering as she nods a couple of times before turning to try and figure out how to open the sturdy truck door,
Kirill draws in a breath through his nose, turning his focus to the windshield. For a moment he seems torn, not wanting to be a burden. But he's getting that 'I don't want to sleep in this old beat up truck' look from Rafe. As he lets out his breath, he gives a nod. "One more drink." he agrees.
Rafe seems to brighten up at the news. "Well, look at that! The old does does still have a little fight left in him." he teases.
Jessica reaches up, batting her hands rhythmically against the ceiling of the truck's cab in celebration of Kirill's decision. "Let's go, bitches!" she cheers. Clutching her omni-tool loosely in one hand, she leans over Yan Sun to address the truck door impatiently and then gives it a push, causing it to swing open before nudging the woman at her side to get moving.
Kirill opens his door, casting a quick, none-too-serious side-eye Rafe's way before stepping out. "One drink!" he reminds, "We gotta see Mayra tomorrow. I don't need you sleepin' all day."
Yan Sun lets out a mumbled "I'm going!" when Jessica prods her, stepping out of the truck... and immediately slipping on a patch of ice, her head hitting the door with an audible bonk before she manages to catch herself on the doorhandle and scramble back onto her feet before she ends up sitting on the ground. It's a less than elegant move. There's an embarassed flush to her cheeks as she steps away from the truck without
Jessica finds herself partially laying across the seat, propped up only by her omni-tool-clutching hand as she watches Yan Sun step out of the truck. The fall causes her to immediately burst into laughter- so much for it going unnoticed. Which, of course, causes the other two to look her way. "You are suuuuch a fooool!" she snorts as she scurries across the seat to follow, six-pack in her other hand.
Kirill doesn't seem to get quite as much enjoyment from Yan Sun's tumble as Jessica. Eyes wide, he leaves the driver's side door wide open as he hurries around the truck in case she's in need of his assistance. "You alright?" he asks as he rounds the truck.
Rafe winces as he turns around just in time to catch sight of Yan Sun grasping onto the handle of the car door through the truck's cabin. "Careful!" he calls out as he steps to the side, resting his forearms on the truck's covered bed as he peers across to the others.
Yan Sun furrows her eyebrows when Jessica starts to laugh, turning around with a dismayed look. "I'm-... I'm good." she groans quietly in response to Kirill, touching her forehead with a wince. Yep, that's gonna leave a bruise.
Jessica gives Yan Sun a mock pout as tucks her omni-tool into her pocket and watches her rub at her forehead. "Poor kitty cat." she teases, setting the beer carrier down on the covered truckbed before making her way over to Yan Sun and digging her index finger into the waistline of her jeans to pull her closer. She uses her other hand to swat Yan Sun's hand away from her forehead and leans in, pressing a kiss against it with an
exaggerated 'MWAH', her intentions more to poke fun than anything tender. "Is all better, yes?" she snickers.
Yan Sun swats Jessica away with an annoyed, if halfhearted, grumble. "I hate you." she mutters in contradiction to the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Jessica is only more entertained by Yan Sun's reaction, causing another snicker as her hand is swatted away. "Bullshit." she argues, bringing her hand up to give Yan Sun's cheek a few playful swats in that irritating way. "You love it."
Kirill merely gives a shake of his head at the pair, passing by them to grab one of the beers from the holder and hand it off to Rafe. Taking another for himself, he wedges the cap against a seam along the truck bed to pry it off- a tactic that Rafe quickly adopts- and puts his back to the truck.
Rafe uses one hand to steady himself and hops up onto the edge of the truckbed to take a seat, beer in his other hand as he looks out towards the street, unable to suppress a grin at Jessica's seemingly unlimited potential for being annoying.
Yan Sun shoots Jessica a grumpy glare, her expression that of someone that's trying very hard not to smile. "Shut up..." she grumbles, taking a few steps towards the back of the truck and touching her elbow a little through her jacket as she realizes she must have hit that too during her ill-fated exit.
Jessica continues to snicker, in far more pleasant of a mood than she was just hours ago. It's a wonder what enough alcohol can do. She steps over towards the beer, pulls one from the carrier and, after using her previous party trick of using her teeth to tear the cap off, hands it to Yan Sun. She repeats the process again for herself, much to the dismay of both Rafe and Kirill who both wince, giving a pained expression just
Rafe continues to watch as Jessica tears at the cap with her teeth. "...That can't be good for your teeth." he mutters.
Kirill merely shakes his head- seemingly his standard reaction to Jessica's shenanigans- and turns his gaze upwards. On a clear night like tonight, Litae is in full view, bathing everything in a calm blue light. "She is a sight to behold, ain't she?" he asks, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Doesn't matter how long I'm here, lookin' up and seein' that never gets old." he muses aloud before taking a swig of his drink, his words
Yan Sun grimaces as Jessica uses her teeth as a bottle-opener yet again, but nonetheless accepts the beer, taking a small sip before resting the bottle in her hands, looking up at the imposing sight of Litae hanging in the sky above. "It's amazing." she's quick to admit. Aite's sky is a far cry from the murky yellow gloom of the Hong Kong cityscape. The novelty of Aite's beauty certainly hasn't worn off yet. It's a bit of a shame,
isn't it? That she hadn't taken the opportunity to explore more while she was here. That was why she came out here in the first place. Instead she's running back home. But it's just the first stop, right? Who knows what will be next. She seems caught somewhere halfway between a frown and a smile as she studies the impact craters that scar the surface of the massive moon.
Jessica takes a long swig from her drink before leaning against the truck and looking up towards the moon with the others. A moon she has seen nearly every night for almost her entire life. A moon that she will soon leave behind. That much like other things- as she has so tragically realized over the past year- the details of will fade with time. She swallows at the lump in her throat as she looks up to the familiar sight. "Mmm. Is
going to kill everyone one day. Soooo amazing." she says dismissively, reaching up into the sky to flip Litae the bird.
Kirill glances Jessica's way briefly before looking back skyward. "With the way we're knockin' one another off down here, I'm not even sure she'll get the chance..." he sighs.
Rafe gives a somber nod as he studies the orb in the sky, Jessica's words bringing forth a slight frown. "Not gonna miss it at all, then?" he prods. Perhaps hoping to get just a little more insight into how her confusing mind works.
Jessica doesn't allow herself to consider it. Snapping a quick- if dishonest- "Nope." as she lifts one elbow to rest on the edge of the truckbed. She lets out a deep breath to watch it materialize in the cold air before her.
Yan Sun 's somber moment is interrupted by a snort in response to Jessica's comment, but her amusement fades quickly in response to the words from Kirill that follow. Her gaze falls, first to the ground, and then over to Jessica, studying her moonlit face and the mist of her breath for a moment before climbing up into the back of the truck with a quiet sigh, sitting on the edge of the truckbed as she lifts the bottle to her lips
again. She's not really all that keen on any kind of beer but the drinks already in her system makes her mind far less. "Night sky back home kinda sucks." she says, offering unprompted input.
Rafe's frown only deepens at Jessica's reaction. As he looks her over, a question lingers in his mind. "Have you ever left Aite?" he asks her. All that time spent together, and he didn't know the answer to such a simple question. She wasn't exactly forthcoming with information back then. Sure, everyone had pretty much assumed that her Alliance story was bullshit. And they learned a whole lot more when everything transpired that resulted in
Jessica gains that crease in her brow that she sometimes gets when she's growing defensive. Her initial reaction is to lie. Try and downplay just how much bullshit she had fed him during their time together. Or maybe a half-lie will work. She has technically been off of Aite, right? But that's not what he's asking and she knows it. "I-..." she begins but falls short, her beer gently dangling from between her fingers and offering a
soft clank each time it comes in contact with the side of the truck. "...No." she admits softly, her gaze remaining on Litae.
Kirill allows Litae to hold his attention for a moment longer before looking to Yan Sun, deciding to leave Jessica and Rafe to their conversation. He had already assumed as much about Jessica long before she ever confirmed it for him. "I don't know if-..." he begins, trying to search his thoughts to recall if she ever actually told him where she's from. When he comes up empty handed, he pushes forward. "Where is 'home'?" he asks.
Yan Sun looks over to Kirill when she realizes he's talking to her. "Hong Kong." she says with a small smile, before adding: "Uhm... Earth." for clarification, shrugging her shoulders a little. "I mean... it's not really my home anymore, but-... yeah."
Kirill cocks an eyebrow, sensing a story buried somewhere in there. "That so? Any particular reason? Or did it just wear out its welcome?" he asks, adding a smile to his final question to keep things light.
Rafe continues to watch Jessica in silence for a few moments. He doesn't express his appreciation for her honesty. It's not something she'd want to hear. Nor does he bother to broach the topic of just how big of a deal it is that she's leaving. She'd only downplay it anyway. "Sounds like it's gonna be an adventure." he says with a smile, his attention remaining on her for only a moment longer before turning back to the night sky.
Jessica takes another swig of her drink, nodding softly to herself. "Mmm. Anywhere will be better than here." she decides.
Yan Sun shrugs again, a hint of discomfort crossing her face. "I-... yeah, something like that. Needed a change." she says, trying and failing to flash a smirk before taking a sip from her beer.
Kirill gives a couple of nods. "Nothin' wrong with that." he offers with a shrug, raising the bottle to his lips once more. "There's nothin' wrong with acknowledgin' your roots, either." he adds afterwards, his tone gentle. Not too hard to see that the statement is probably meant just as much for Jessica as for Yan Sun. It's most certainly not hard advice. Not something he's hoping to convince anyone of. Just a thought. "In my experience,
it's more about the roots you set down, not so much about where you were born. It's the important things that tie you to a place. Memories. People. Places." he explains before settling back on his previous thought: "Nothin' wrong with acknowledgin' that." with a shake of his head. "But who says you can only have one home, right?"
Jessica shifts against the truck, but otherwise seems as if she'd rather pretend the advice was only meant for Yan Sun. After all, what does she have that ties her to Aite? The people and places- her roots- were all burned down. And her memories may as well have been with them. Right?
Yan Sun gains a small, soft smile at Kirill's words, her attention turning to Jessica after her beer returns to her lap, hoping silently that she might take the words to heart. She reaches down to place a gloved hand on her arm from where she's seated, giving it a squeeze.
Jessica glances up at Yan Sun through a glassy haze, bathed in the soft blue glow of Litae, and forces a small, somber smile. A little bit of the pep seems to have been knocked from her as her thoughts have turned to Aite. "What you are looking at? Mmm?" she asks in a subdued attempt at being playful.
Yan Sun gives a small shrug, her smile widening a little before she takes a swig from her beer in her free hand, the other one remaining on Jessica's arm. Her gaze immediately returns to Jessica after she lowers the bottle, a slight, drunken sway to her as she sits on the edge of the truckbed.
Kirill takes another swig of his beer, watching Yan Sun and Jessica for a moment before pushing away from the truck. "Alright. I gotta throw in the towel. Way past my bedtime. Bein' an old man and all." he says sarcastically in an attempt at beating Rafe and Jessica to the punch, casting a glance in each of their directions. Tipping his bottle, he pours what remains of his drink onto the ground, melting away a small patch of snow where it
Jessica moves her hand to Yan Sun's leg, giving it a quick squeeze as she watches her. Kirill's words cause her to look his way with a frown. "Fine." she sighs, accepting that she has dragged the night out as long as she could, "Here." Removing her hand from Yan Sun's leg, she digs into her pocket for her omni-tool and gives it a quick underhand to Kirill. "Open the door with this. Is just up the stairs." she continues, giving a nod
Kirill gives a couple of nods, looking amongst the trio before resting his gaze on Rafe. "Don't forget. Early day for us tomorrow." he reminds as he begins to back towards the Respite. "And don't stay out here too long, likely to catch a cold." he adds, directing that to all three of them with a glance down the line.
Rafe rests his beer against his knee, nodding away at Kirill's reminder, smirk on his face. "Yes father." he responds sarcastically.
Yan Sun looks Kirill's way when he speaks, offering him a small smile and a slight lift of her bottle as he departs. Rafe's comment elicits a small snicker before she lets her gaze wander across the moonlit street, drawing in a deep breath of cold winter air. The expedition had been her first experience with this kind of weather. It had certainly been a memorable one. She'd be lying if she said she'd miss the cold, but the way the
Jessica watches as Kirill disappears out of sight before her focus returns to Yan Sun in silence. She switches her beer to the hand closest to Yan Sun and rests it against her leg, dragging it back and forth against the material of her jeans in silence. It's not difficult to see that the combination of conversation and booze has her swimming in thought.
Rafe also remains in silence, simply nursing his beer with little regard for Jessica and Yan Sun outside of a few uncomfortable glances. After a couple of minutes, he drains the remainder of his drink with a sigh. "Suppose I should turn in, too." he says, stowing the empty bottle beneath the tarp and hopping off the truckbed. He returns to the driver's side of the truck to close everything and lock it down before returning to Jessica and
Yan Sun. Tucking his hands into his jacket pocket, he looks between the two of them. "I-... uhh. I had a good time tonight." he says softly. He seems to have more on his mind, something he's struggling to get out. Eventually he just settles for: "It was-... nice. So thanks for that."
Yan Sun 's gaze falls a little when Rafe's attention turns their way. For a brief moment she considers whether maybe she should duck to give them a chance to clear the air, but it's a short-lived thought. She offers Rafe a small, slightly awkward smile and a nod to match, glancing down toward Jessica as if wondering whether she's going to say anything. She's ready to give her shoulder a nudge should she fail to speak up.
Jessica gives a small nod as she looks him over. "Mmmm." she hums an affirmative once Yan Sun nudges her, casting a brief scowl her way before refocusing on Rafe. A moment of awkward silence follows. "Don't touch our shit." she warns finally with a nod towards the Respite.
Rafe gives a hollow snicker to Jessica's warning, but it's pretty clear that she doesn't have much more to say. A fact that's only bolstered by Yan Sun having to nudge her to get even that out of her. "...Alright then." he offers, taking a couple steps back before turning on his heels. But he only gets a few steps before coming to a stop. Back to the pair, he bites at his lower lip and brings his hand up to run across the stubble atop
his head. He does another quick turn to face them, an uncomfortable chuckle escaping him. "I'm sorry-..." he begins, gaze darting between Jessica and Yan Sun before settling on the former, swallowing hard. "I-... If I don't bring this up now, I'm not sure I'll have the nerve to tomorrow." he continues, putting up a hand to try and halt Jessica before she can even get a chance to intervene, "You don't wanna talk about it? That's fine.
I'll respect it. I'll turn my ass around. Go inside. And you won't hear another word outta me. But, I just-... I gotta ask. Why?" he asks, his words dripping with sincerity. With confusion. "The others? I get it. Shit went south. You got scared. You bolted. But-... But I thought we were closer than that, Jessie. I thought-..." he trails off. "A call. A message. Didn't I at least deserve that much? Didn't I-..." he trails off once
Jessica watches Rafe as he spills his thoughts. The question he came all this way to ask. The thing that has been eating him up. Her knee-jerk reaction is to take him up on his offer. Tell him to drop it. Go inside and go to sleep. Maybe even add a 'Fuck off' somewhere in there wherever she can fit it. But Kirill's words echo in her mind. 'Deserves a chance to get a little closure.' She's done more than her fair share of trying to
hunt down that elusive dream of closure over the past year. It doesn't seem a whole lot closer tonight than it did a year ago. Is she really going to deny him his? "Because I was seeing how much that you cared." she says simply. "How strong your feelings were getting. And I was knowing that no matter what-... in a hundred years-...a thousands years? I still would not love you. Not then. Not ever." she shrugs. It's ice cold.
Blunt as a baseball bat. But, for once, there's no malice in her tone. No anger. It's just sheer honesty. And sometimes that can be the harshest of weapons. "You are better off." she ends on.
Rafe looks pretty much as one would expect. Her words cut through him like a knife and he blinks against the emotions a few times as she speaks. It takes a few moments for it all to settle in- for him to process it- before he gives a few soft nods. "...Okay." he says, his voice soft. He draws in a breath, allowing the bitter cold to fill his lungs as his eyes scan between Jessica and Yan Sun. Without another word he turns on his heels and
Jessica pointedly avoids looking Yan Sun's way after she's said her piece. Gaze, instead, lowering to her drink as Rafe begins to walk away and then lifting the bottle to her lips to take a long sip.
Yan Sun 's gaze falls from Rafe to her beer as Jessica speaks, shifting her sitting a little uncomfortably. After he walks away her gaze darts over to Jessica for a brief moment before she takes a swig from her beer just to have something to do as she fails to figure out what to say to fill the silence in the wake of that harsh delivery of truth. She ends up feigning interest in the label once the bottle is empty, still searching
Jessica shifts uncomfortably once Rafe is out of sight, refusing to look Yan Sun's way. "Do not look at me like that..." she mutters to Yan Sun, seemingly assuming she's being judged poorly for her honesty.
Yan Sun 's eyebrows furrow slightly, her gaze shifting back to Jessica. She lets out a quiet sigh, putting her empty bottle aside on the truck bed off to her side and, after a moment's hesitation, placing her hand on Jessica's arm again. "Jessica..." she says softly.
Jessica bites down, taking one more swig of her drink before grabbing it by the neck and absently tossing it into the parking lot without much care. The bottle shatters, glass splintering about. "Fuck him." she mutters, but there's not much force behind it. "I did not go looking for him. He came here." she says defensively, clearly assuming Yan Sun is thinking the worst.
Yan Sun flinches a little as Jessica's bottle shatters, shards scattering across the ice of the frozen parking lot. She sucks on her cheek for a little while before letting out a breath. "I would've too." she says with a shrug. Her voice is careful, soft, but the alcohol keeps her from staying quiet.
Jessica finally looks to Yan Sun, frown etched into her features. She doesn't bother to respond at first. She just lets out a deep, frustrated breath, leaving a trail of steam in the air as she turns to face her. She rests a hand on each of Yan Sun's legs and parts them so she can stand between them as she looks up at her. She's usually pretty good at funneling sadness, frustration, and guilt into anger. Misdirecting it at the wrong
people rather than own up to any wrong doing. But it's not hard to see that, even through the alcohol-induced haze, there's a bit of guilt. "I only say to him the truth." she says as she searches Yan Sun's eyes. "I am a piece of shit, kitty cat." she shrugs, a sad snicker following, "I already know this. He deserves to know this, too. Now he can hate me and move on. Is as it should be, mmm?"
Yan Sun frowns slightly as she looks down at Jessica, studying her face. "No, you're not." she says after a moment's silence during which her gaze falls to her lap. "An asshole, maybe." she concedes with a tilt of her head, not exactly clarifying the difference. "And-... and yeah, he did deserve the truth. B-... but you want him to hate you, right? Because-.... because then-... maybe you don't have to feel guilty, or something?
But... I think you do. It's-... right? You do. Just... easier to... pretend. To shrug and say you're a piece of shit and not have to think about it?"
Jessica lowers her drunken gaze as Yan Sun pretty much just sight reads her right there on the spot. She chooses, instead, to look down at Yan Sun's legs as she digs her thumb at the seam of her jeans. "Is better this way." she says, neither confirming nor denying Yan Sun's theory. "For me and for him." Sucking in a breath, she leans forward, her forehead coming to rest against Yan Sun's chest. "...Just-... burn the rest of it down,
too, mmm...?" she mumbles softly into Yan Sun's jacket, a bit of drunken muttering moreso to herself than to Yan Sun.
Yan Sun 's frown deepens, but its a soft, sympathetic one. She plants a hand on Jessica's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, and for a moment she just looks down at her with a hazy gaze, but then her arms wrap around her shoulders, hugging her with a sigh, and resting her cheek against the top of her head. The words Jessica chose are so loaded and fraught that she goes silent. She wants to say more, to question that, but finds herself
Jessica falls still, the night and the emotional toll catching up to her. A cold, harsh wind rolls through, but the alcohol in her blood causes her to barely even register it. Unable to resist being annoying and argumentive even in her current state, she mutters: "I am not an asshole. You are an asshole." without much energy to it, that part of Yan Sun's statement seeming to have only just sank in.
Yan Sun lets out a quiet, fond snicker at the mutter, squeezing Jessica more tightly as the wind blows around them. She lifts her head, turning it to press her blue lips against Jessica's head. "Mmh..." she sighs, her gaze turning to the Respite. "I-..." she falls silent, frowning as she struggles with whether to speak or not. But staying quiet doesn't feel right. "Leaving doesn't-... it doesn't have to mean cutting all ties..."
Jessica frowns against Yan Sun's embrace, letting free a long, drawn out sigh. Thankfully for Yan Sun, her luck holds out tonight. In no small part thanks to sheer exhaustion and blood/alcohol levels. But Jessica's silence is more than enough of a response. It's not something she's willing to debate. Not here. Not now. She shrugs Yan Sun off and grabs ahold of her wrist. "Sleeeeep. Let's go, slut." she groans, dusting Yan Sun's
Yan Sun gains a faint, crooked smile and nods, scooting off the truckbed as Jessica tugs on her arms. She has neither the energy nor the inclination to argue. She stumbles slightly once on her feet, but there are no further accidents. She turns one of her hands to grab Jessica's as they start to head for the Respite.
Jessica allows her hand to be grasped, intertwining her fingers with Yan Sun's. As they reach the Respite doors, she gives a sidelong glance Yan Sun's way, her good eye unfocused and glassy. "They are good jeans for your ass." she decides, her delivery dry and sounding quite serious as her scattered, drunken mind returns to her comment from earlier in the night. She leans back slightly, as if attempting to get a better look before her
gaze searches for Yan Sun's once again and she nods, qualifying her words with a slight raise of her eyebrow. "Verrrrry good." she adds before stepping inside.