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i'm gay and stronger than all of you ([personal profile] hardlydead) wrote2021-11-01 05:44 am
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microbreweries: (🖌️ 024.)

[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-10-29 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ from the second floor, on the catwalk above the bar, jeff leans his hands on the handrail and peers over and down to find david... exactly where he said he'd be: handcuffed to the bar. not that jeff was expecting anything different, but who knows - he wouldn't exactly put it past david to try and rip himself out off the cuffs or off the bar once he'd decided he'd really had enough.

jeff raises his eyebrows, fingers flexing against the handrail. he's not sure if david knows he's here, so he shifts his boot against the splintering wood to make a little bit of noise first so he doesn't startle him. ]


What do they need to learn, exactly?

[ the birds, he means. jeff pushes away from the handrail and moves to start down the steps, his footsteps quick but heavy as he descends. already, one of his hands moves for something red, tucked away in his jacket pocket. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-10-29 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Right.

[ jeff lifts his chin slightly, then his eyebrows, like david's just made a point he hadn't thought of yet even though he very obviously and clearly hasn't. when he reaches the bottom of the stairs and then the car, he casts david's wrists a quick look, mouth twisting subtly at his assessment. he sets what looks to be a red handkerchief on the bar (typically worn wrapped below one of his knees on occasion), then fishes something thin and narrow, metal and no bigger than the length of his palm out of his other jacket pocket.

stepping closer, jeff carefully moves one of david's elbows with rough fingers, shifting his arm slightly out of his way an inch or two. ]


Pertinent information. For the crows.

[ jeff casts a quick look at david's face, noting the blood from his nose, then shifts his attention down to the cuffs clasped around his wrists, the piece of scrap metal scavenged from a toolbox in his own hand. quietly, he starts to try and pick the lock, wedging the metal in and shifting it minutely while he listens for the telltale click. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-10-30 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
They remember faces, you know.

[ he says it quietly, dropping down into a squat after a moment, weight balanced on his haunches as he works on the lock. probably not the most reassuring thing to say in the face of what is very clearly a joke, but he's never been very socially graceful, and it's the first thing that comes to mind.

anyway, it seems to dawn on him belatedly that that's kind of a daunting thing to say in a place like this, even though crows with good memory are hardly their biggest issue. jeff clears his throat, glancing away from his work for a second to look at david before focusing on his hands again. ]


In... the real world. Don't know about here. Probably not.

[ with a shrug and a slow twist of his wrist, he gets one of the cuffs popped open, freeing one of david's wrists, and david from the bar by extension. jeff makes a quiet sound in the back of his throat, a mix of satisfaction and relief, and reaches up blindly for the red bandana he left on the bar top, dragging it down to offer to david.

he'll help him up in a second, but jeff figures he needs a minute to just - decompress. who knows how long david's been confined to a single square foot of space for. ]


... For your nose.

[ blood's probably dry by now, but even jeff knows that dried blood can get really uncomfortable really fast. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-11-01 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ jeff grimaces slightly to himself as david groans. he probably could have guessed that freedom was gonna hurt like a bitch. nothing here is ever really that easy or comfortable, in jeff's experience, so this is no surprise. jeff watches david roll his shoulder for a moment, then takes another few seconds to just kind of look him over to make sure a bloody nose and a bruised ego is really all david's sporting. ]

Easy. Take your time. [ he says, a low and somewhat gravelly murmur. he stands up then, grabbing onto the edge of the bar with one hand to help hoist himself up. he sets thee little piece of scrap metal he used to pick t the cuffs down on the bar top, and then grabs the front of his jacket with both hands and starts to shrug the whole thing off. once he's freed of it, he keeps hold of it in one hand, and offers his other one down to david, eyebrows lifting subtly. ] You think you can stand?

[ jeff doesn't really have too many doubts about david and what he's capable of - he's seen him pull off some seriously insane shit in far more serious circumstances - but he also doesn't really know how david's been here, or what led to this situation in the first place. so. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-11-01 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ jeff only lets go of david's hand once he's sure he's steady on his feet, palm hovering close for a moment or two after just to be sure. he shakes his head slightly at david's 'thanks', like it's no skin off his teeth to have come out here to get him. it's the truth though - he doesn't mind, though a part of him does feel very slightly guilty that he hadn't realized david had been missing. then again, people come and go from camp all the time, between trials and exploring and scavenging for supplies, so it's not uncommon for anyone to be unaccounted for at any given time.

wordlessly, he holds his jacket out for david, giving him that same look - eyebrows slightly raised, questioning. after a beat though, he says ]
... Unless you're adamant about - teaching the crows.

[ the edge of his mouth curls slightly with the hint of a smile. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-11-02 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ while david twists and gets a quick stretch in, jeff takes the handful of empty seconds to give david one more quick look-over, just to be sure he's not bleeding from anywhere else or sporting an open wound he hasn't registered yet (jeff used to think that sort of thing never really happened in real life, that it was a trope mostly for movies to heighten the drama, but he knows better now. he's been stabbed and slashed and hooked so many times by this point that sometimes it's easy to forget that he hasn't bandaged himself up. sometimes it's easy to prioritize other things over a giant, gaping wound somewhere on his body), and if his eyes linger for a second or two longer than necessary around david's collar as he twists, it's... just because david's got a tattoo tucked away on the side of his neck that catches his attention, and not for any other reason. not that he's never seen it before now, but.

shifting his eyes from david, jeff clears his throat and takes a brief look around the saloon while david pulls on his jacket, idly passing a hand over the bottom half of his face. it seems quiet, which is probably a good thing for them, though it's probably best not to linger long enough for that to change. when david cracks a joke, jeff chuckles a little under his breath, just a quick exhale through his nose and a brief flash of his teeth to show for it. ]


Mm. Lucky they didn't find you. [ the saloon is... wide open. jeff shrugs, and makes a motion to put his hands into his jacket pockets, but remembers too late that he's not wearing it anymore. awkward. ] Too good for them, probably.

[ because they're known for eating dead things. roadkill. anyway. he grabs the little bit of scrap metal from the bar top, pockets it so as to leave as little evidence behind as possible (the cuffs are just going to have to stay clipped around the bar for the sake of time - if one of racoon city's finest wants them back, they'll just have to come and reclaim them), and then tilts his head in the direction of the back door, hidden behind the bar's back. ]

Good?
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-11-05 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ small talk's not jeff's thing - at least when he's the one leading it - so he just nods in response to david's tired smile, his own smile making a quick, fleeting appearance at the edges of his mouth. he follows after david, noting the subtle limp but not commenting on it yet. jeff casts one last look over his shoulder, takes a quick glance around the saloon just to make sure they haven't been being watched this entire time, unnoticed, and once he's satisfied that they're in the clear at least for now, he turns his attention back to david.

once they're out of the saloon and wandering through the small ghost town, jeff shifts to walk beside david instead of behind him. after a beat, he glances his way, his expression slightly apologetic. ]


Shoulda brought water or something. [ for david, he means. ] Figured you'd want to get out of here as soon as possible, didn't really - cross my mind until now.

[ jeff scratches at his beard, following the edge of his jaw for a moment before he drops his hand. a crow startles near him, and he murmurs a quiet jesus under his breath before offering an apology. ]

Sorry.

[ how canadian of him. ]
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[personal profile] microbreweries 2022-11-10 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if jeff seems at all paranoid (and maybe he is, but only the slightest bit), it's because there are people like ghost face out there who will just sit and stalk in silence until they get bored enough to come and plunge a knife into your guts, and while that's... nothing new for either of them, the thought is still unpleasant. even more so outside of trials.

but jeff keeps walking, keeping relatively close to david's side, but leaving enough space to not come off as invasive or weird, and only glances over his shoulder once more, his attention pulled back by david's hand patting his shoulder. he offers a brief smile back.

for a minute or two, jeff's content to let the silence sit between them, no uncomfortable desire to fill it with anything small or useless. eventually, though, he asks: ]


So, uh. You remember who you pissed off?

[ his eyebrows lift almost teasingly, the corner of his mouth pulling slightly up and to one side in the faintest of smirks. ]