the fourth jack | video

[faultlesscon]

I don't believe this. [The feed shows Alex's back. His hands move about as if he's talking but there seems to be hardly anyone around. He leans back with a sigh, and it seems for a moment that there is a reply despite silence being the only audible thing.No, that's... how is this possible in the first place? You and I saw no one - we've been in the

Comments

[crosscolumbkill]

[Don't mind him. Just gonna be here chillin'. Chillin' and watchin'.

Watchin' closely.

No really though you're cool bro. Anyone who lets Teekl sleep on their lap is pretty cool. So cool, in fact, that after a long enough vigil of body-guarding, Teekl will finally feel so civil he'll break into Klarion's hidden stash of jerky and bring it out for Alex. Watchers gotta eat.]

[crosscolumbkill]

[The cat, as usual, has something of an inscrutable expression---but it's tilted up again, depthless eyes focused on Alex.] You should. That word hardly makes a fond shape in your mouth.

[faultlesscon]

[A nod and his eyes look to the ceiling for a moment.] Back home, I really talked to only a few.

Josh Campbell was the closest friend I had at school - Raj was his friend, the tag-along, if you will. We did things together that friends do. [He pauses and lets out a sigh.] A third one, Nigel Colbie.

He screwed over any balance of normal I had.

[crosscolumbkill]

There's always one for it. [The cat rests his jaw on Alex's chest, looking up with hooded eyes.] Tell me about him.

[faultlesscon]

You know, you may be one of the only beings I've told this truth to so far, and you're a cat. I'm not sure socially competence can be applied anymore. [Looking back down, he quirks a brow but shrugs, continues the petting.]

He was a fucked up individual - had it in his head that he and I were part of this Templar bloodline, that it was our duty to carry it on.

Didn't let anyone get close to me.

[crosscolumbkill]

[Is that a smile? Maybe. It's nigh on impossible to tell, between the fur and the feline anatomy, but maybe Teekl smiles a little at him. Maybe he doesn't.] Cats keep their secrets. We're better for confessions than, say, dogs.

He saw something special in you. Did he demand you live up to the expectations this 'bloodline' entailed?

[faultlesscon]

... Nigel was close with a dog, makes sense. [That gets an even small smile from Alex. Leaning his head back, he keeps his eyes wandering.]

Not demand, but expected it. Everything he did pushed me in the direction he wanted, which were those expectations. He always spout crap about how we would be one, me as the Jack and him as the Spade.

In the process, five people were killed, himself as the last.

[crosscolumbkill]

[The cat makes a small 'hmmm' noise against his chest.] What were you to do, as a Jack?

And what did you do, not being one?

[faultlesscon]

Are you or Klarion familiar with Knights Templar history and legends?

The tale of Maraclea speaks of a knight who fell in love with a noblewoman, she returned his feelings but before they could wed she died. [And it stings to talk of it.] Unable to be apart from her, he made love to her corpse, a sign of an eternal bond. Nine months later, he dug up her body, and it had been preserved with her skull and leg bones arranged.

He took the objects, and prospered, under the belief that they would ensure success. That's an idea of where the crossbones and skull come from. [A sigh.] That's what Nigel wanted, so he killed our classmate, Susan - I fancied her and she thought the same of me.

I refused.

[crosscolumbkill]

[A quiet 'hnn.' Teekl's head rubs up under Alex's hand, a strange sort of half-pet in response. His voice is quiet.] A steady will. That's worth more in this invasive world than most things.

Tell me about Susan.

[faultlesscon]

Means something to me, I'm grateful.

Well, she was great - an open personality, couldn't not like a person from the start. She had a voice that could get your attention, she acted you know; it was hard to think ill of her and yet... [He sighs and lifts his free hand to the back of his head.] He could.

[crosscolumbkill]

He was blinded by neurosis.

What did you do, once he was gone?

[faultlesscon]

He killed himself and framed me for his so-called 'eternity'.

Enforcement asked for my story, I told them. [Though it was through more sarcasm and snark comments.] Then I was here.

[crosscolumbkill]

[The cat exhales heavily, head turning down, ear pressed to Alex's chest; listening to his heartbeat, Teekl stays silent for a moment.

Then he rubs his head against Alex's chest.] You have a steady will. That will lay out raised paths under blue skies.

[Entirely without change in tone:] Thank you for caring for Klarion.

[faultlesscon]

You think so? [A skip in beat to the last part and he lowers his head, can't help but have a smile.]

Thank you both for being here.

[ooc; out of curiousity, are you going to participate in the dream event? Alex had a dream up with his roommate if you want Klarion and Teekl to see I-I don't know sakljdas /SHOT]

[crosscolumbkill]

[I definitely want to! And thank you for telling me, because now I'm running to check it. <3

This seems a sweet place to end, I think!]