Jesse Pinkman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rehabbed) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
logsinthenight2019-08-03 11:16 pm
rehabbed) wrote in logsinthenight2019-08-03 11:16 pm
August catch-all! — Jesse Pinkman and various starters
characters: Jesse & OPEN; with closed starters to Arya, Raylan & Gene
location: Various locations
date/time: During & after rat swarm, but before the flood event
content: Post-graves event processing & Jesse coming to decisions on how to deal with this place
warnings: Will edit if anything of note comes up.
☰ RAT PLAGUE ⇢ CLOSED TO ARYA[ Jesse is shrieking. Rats are all over him. A rat running up his leg, claws biting into the denim of his jeans. A rat is running up inside his jeans, it's squeamishly warm filth tunnelling its way past his knee. Rats clinging to his hoodie, a rat burrowing into the neck of his hoodie, rats clinging off him. The sickly sweet musty stench of rodents floods the dry cold air all around him. He'd been trying to help drag others to safety, but a particularly thick swarm of rats had overcome him in the midst of it all. Staggering around wildly on the spot, Jesse's hands are scrabbling at his hoodie, trying to rip it off, while he's kicking his leg about in a panic to get the rat out of his jeans. His lantern, eerie and blue, has been booted off to the side in his frantic furor. He can't stop shrieking. His shrieks are are as hysterical as they are enraged. He's fucking had it with this place. He's terrified, and bewildered, and he's boiling with rage, and he's had it. ]☰ THE CHURCH, AFTER THE RAT PLAGUE ⇢ OPEN TO ALLC'mon, I gotcha. I gotcha, man, c'mon.
[ Jesse is a scratched up mess from the rat plague that had hit. Having been caught right in the middle of the swarm, Jesse, who is but a mere human with nothing but a small knife on his person, had tripped over while the stampede had flooded past him, and rats had shredded their nasty little claws all over his clothes, his face, had even gotten into his clothes. So, Jesse — shaved head that's starting to show shaggy growth, even shaggier facial hair, skinny little tweaker body, black hoodie and baggy jeans — has scratches everywhere. But he's got your character's arm slung around his scrawny shoulders, taking as much of their injured weight as he can, and he's lugging your character along with him through the darkness with his blue glowing lantern clutched in his other hand. He's breathing quickly, perpetually unnerved by the darkness, even more so in light of those goddamn rats. Any injured people he's run across, he's been helping them to the church where there's a clinic. Not to mention the fact that the church is about the most solid place Jesse knows of in this entire weird world so far to hide in, especially if another plague of rats — or something worse — were to come screeching out the endless formidable dark. ]
Church ain't much further, c'mon, we're almost there. ☰ THE CARGO SHIP, AFTER THE RAT PLAGUE ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[ He stands among the wreckage of destroyed crates and boxes of food and resources, at a dismayed loss of what to do. When he'd heard that a whole shipment of resources had been on the ship, he'd jumped to his feet at his decision to go help out, see what could be salvaged. His hoodie sleeves are shoved up to his elbows; his hoodie in question is in dire need of a wash. He's broken out in a sweat across his brow from all the bending down, digging through wreckage, piling up things that haven't managed to be too damaged. Jesse may seem like a slacker, with the way he slouches around and with the constant hollowness that seems permanently etched into his young face, but when he's got a task in mind, he works hard. But this is dismal. The situation here right now is dismal. The pile of salvageable goods is unnervingly small. And the endless darkness, god, the endless darkness always bearing down on him. It makes him think of stories of hostages held trapped in rooms for days, weeks on end with white noise constantly playing, to slowly drive them mad. That's what the darkness is doing to him: It's slowly driving him mad. ]
Fuck. [ Uttered in frustrated defeat under his breath to himself, as he brings up his forearm to wipe it across his sweaty brow. He turns to the person he's been digging around in the jumbled chaos with. ] Anybody takin' inventory of stuff? [ Both hands emphatically motioning in exasperation at the nightmare on the ship. ] 'Cause this is bullshit, yo.☰ THE NEW VILLAGE ⇢ CLOSED TO RAYLANYo...
[ Jesse, lantern held up to light as much as he can around him, is peering through the doorway of this place he's just stumbled across while he'd been trekking with cautious curiosity through the new village. Like everywhere, the dark is smothering, and the glow of his lantern only fights back the darkness so far, and the eerie blue hue of his flame always bathes everything in distorted shadows. In the aftermath of what happened with the graves, Jesse had retreated deeply into himself. He'd been silently going mad in the endless darkness, his head a constant buzz of white noise that he can't shut out. The chaos of all those deaths had been trapped in his head along with it — a constant sharp barrage of shapeless grief and terror playing on a constant loop. But those rats, the new arrival of people — it's snapped Jesse out of it. Made his priorities suddenly shift into strategising. Survival instincts finally kicking in, perhaps. Or perhaps strategising is all he has left to stop himself from finally losing it completely.
Standing in the doorway, he's listening hard, for any sign of movement, for a response, for any potential threat. He's sure he saw a light moving somewhere inside when he'd been passing. He calls out, cautiously louder: ] ...Yo. Somebody here?☰ BY THE RIVER ⇢ CLOSED TO GENEUh... Hey, man.
[ Stopped near the river's edge, Jesse is holding up his lantern, posture slouched in rueful listnessness. His mouth pulls into a thin greeting half-smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. It isn't that he's displeased to see Gene. The opposite, really. Hard to be happy here, though, isn't it? The perpetually suffocating darkness. The endless unknown. The constant awareness that danger could be lurking in all the unseen corners that their lantern lights can't reach. And the stupefying shock of being dragged through death, over and over — all those most private final moments alive that weren't his to relive, raked raw through his mind. The already darkly dimmed light in Jesse has gone almost completely out. ]
Sorry to interrupt. Just, um... [ Pushing his hand into his pocket, hand slouching there a little sheepishly. ] Was wonderin' if I could ask a favour.☰ BONFIRE ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[ Jesse had been seated for a long while on his own by the bonfire. Knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, lantern beside him on the ground. Lost in numb thought, wanting to be alone but wanting to escape the darkness. This is the only place that chases the darkness away the most, and it's a disaster zone after that swarm of rats had torn through here. His face and hands and clothes are roughed up in reminder of it all, little savage claw marks slashed here and there on him.
Someone offering him a bowl of food, held down in front of him, snaps him out of his fog. He looks up, uncertain, and slowly takes the bowl with cautious thanks. He brings it down to his lap and peers down at it... and decides he can't eat, he's not hungry. Taking hold of it, he struggles up onto his feet, gathers up his lantern, and begins glancing around him, at everyone else around him. Spotting your character over there, seeming to be on their own, Jesse hesitantly begins to approach. ]
Hey, uh. [ Coming to a slow stop in front of the person. He gestures a noncommittal offering of the bowl towards them. ] I don't want it. Want some?☰ WILDCARD ME ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[OOC; Shoot me a PM or hit me up at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
lisaneedsbraces if you have something specific you want to discuss or do with Jesse! I'm open to any kinds of ideas. :D ]ooc links
info ☰
permissions ☰
plurk ☰
location: Various locations
date/time: During & after rat swarm, but before the flood event
content: Post-graves event processing & Jesse coming to decisions on how to deal with this place
warnings: Will edit if anything of note comes up.
☰ RAT PLAGUE ⇢ CLOSED TO ARYA[ Jesse is shrieking. Rats are all over him. A rat running up his leg, claws biting into the denim of his jeans. A rat is running up inside his jeans, it's squeamishly warm filth tunnelling its way past his knee. Rats clinging to his hoodie, a rat burrowing into the neck of his hoodie, rats clinging off him. The sickly sweet musty stench of rodents floods the dry cold air all around him. He'd been trying to help drag others to safety, but a particularly thick swarm of rats had overcome him in the midst of it all. Staggering around wildly on the spot, Jesse's hands are scrabbling at his hoodie, trying to rip it off, while he's kicking his leg about in a panic to get the rat out of his jeans. His lantern, eerie and blue, has been booted off to the side in his frantic furor. He can't stop shrieking. His shrieks are are as hysterical as they are enraged. He's fucking had it with this place. He's terrified, and bewildered, and he's boiling with rage, and he's had it. ]☰ THE CHURCH, AFTER THE RAT PLAGUE ⇢ OPEN TO ALLC'mon, I gotcha. I gotcha, man, c'mon.
[ Jesse is a scratched up mess from the rat plague that had hit. Having been caught right in the middle of the swarm, Jesse, who is but a mere human with nothing but a small knife on his person, had tripped over while the stampede had flooded past him, and rats had shredded their nasty little claws all over his clothes, his face, had even gotten into his clothes. So, Jesse — shaved head that's starting to show shaggy growth, even shaggier facial hair, skinny little tweaker body, black hoodie and baggy jeans — has scratches everywhere. But he's got your character's arm slung around his scrawny shoulders, taking as much of their injured weight as he can, and he's lugging your character along with him through the darkness with his blue glowing lantern clutched in his other hand. He's breathing quickly, perpetually unnerved by the darkness, even more so in light of those goddamn rats. Any injured people he's run across, he's been helping them to the church where there's a clinic. Not to mention the fact that the church is about the most solid place Jesse knows of in this entire weird world so far to hide in, especially if another plague of rats — or something worse — were to come screeching out the endless formidable dark. ]
Church ain't much further, c'mon, we're almost there. ☰ THE CARGO SHIP, AFTER THE RAT PLAGUE ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[ He stands among the wreckage of destroyed crates and boxes of food and resources, at a dismayed loss of what to do. When he'd heard that a whole shipment of resources had been on the ship, he'd jumped to his feet at his decision to go help out, see what could be salvaged. His hoodie sleeves are shoved up to his elbows; his hoodie in question is in dire need of a wash. He's broken out in a sweat across his brow from all the bending down, digging through wreckage, piling up things that haven't managed to be too damaged. Jesse may seem like a slacker, with the way he slouches around and with the constant hollowness that seems permanently etched into his young face, but when he's got a task in mind, he works hard. But this is dismal. The situation here right now is dismal. The pile of salvageable goods is unnervingly small. And the endless darkness, god, the endless darkness always bearing down on him. It makes him think of stories of hostages held trapped in rooms for days, weeks on end with white noise constantly playing, to slowly drive them mad. That's what the darkness is doing to him: It's slowly driving him mad. ]
Fuck. [ Uttered in frustrated defeat under his breath to himself, as he brings up his forearm to wipe it across his sweaty brow. He turns to the person he's been digging around in the jumbled chaos with. ] Anybody takin' inventory of stuff? [ Both hands emphatically motioning in exasperation at the nightmare on the ship. ] 'Cause this is bullshit, yo.☰ THE NEW VILLAGE ⇢ CLOSED TO RAYLANYo...
[ Jesse, lantern held up to light as much as he can around him, is peering through the doorway of this place he's just stumbled across while he'd been trekking with cautious curiosity through the new village. Like everywhere, the dark is smothering, and the glow of his lantern only fights back the darkness so far, and the eerie blue hue of his flame always bathes everything in distorted shadows. In the aftermath of what happened with the graves, Jesse had retreated deeply into himself. He'd been silently going mad in the endless darkness, his head a constant buzz of white noise that he can't shut out. The chaos of all those deaths had been trapped in his head along with it — a constant sharp barrage of shapeless grief and terror playing on a constant loop. But those rats, the new arrival of people — it's snapped Jesse out of it. Made his priorities suddenly shift into strategising. Survival instincts finally kicking in, perhaps. Or perhaps strategising is all he has left to stop himself from finally losing it completely.
Standing in the doorway, he's listening hard, for any sign of movement, for a response, for any potential threat. He's sure he saw a light moving somewhere inside when he'd been passing. He calls out, cautiously louder: ] ...Yo. Somebody here?☰ BY THE RIVER ⇢ CLOSED TO GENEUh... Hey, man.
[ Stopped near the river's edge, Jesse is holding up his lantern, posture slouched in rueful listnessness. His mouth pulls into a thin greeting half-smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. It isn't that he's displeased to see Gene. The opposite, really. Hard to be happy here, though, isn't it? The perpetually suffocating darkness. The endless unknown. The constant awareness that danger could be lurking in all the unseen corners that their lantern lights can't reach. And the stupefying shock of being dragged through death, over and over — all those most private final moments alive that weren't his to relive, raked raw through his mind. The already darkly dimmed light in Jesse has gone almost completely out. ]
Sorry to interrupt. Just, um... [ Pushing his hand into his pocket, hand slouching there a little sheepishly. ] Was wonderin' if I could ask a favour.☰ BONFIRE ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[ Jesse had been seated for a long while on his own by the bonfire. Knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, lantern beside him on the ground. Lost in numb thought, wanting to be alone but wanting to escape the darkness. This is the only place that chases the darkness away the most, and it's a disaster zone after that swarm of rats had torn through here. His face and hands and clothes are roughed up in reminder of it all, little savage claw marks slashed here and there on him.
Someone offering him a bowl of food, held down in front of him, snaps him out of his fog. He looks up, uncertain, and slowly takes the bowl with cautious thanks. He brings it down to his lap and peers down at it... and decides he can't eat, he's not hungry. Taking hold of it, he struggles up onto his feet, gathers up his lantern, and begins glancing around him, at everyone else around him. Spotting your character over there, seeming to be on their own, Jesse hesitantly begins to approach. ]
Hey, uh. [ Coming to a slow stop in front of the person. He gestures a noncommittal offering of the bowl towards them. ] I don't want it. Want some?☰ WILDCARD ME ⇢ OPEN TO ALL[OOC; Shoot me a PM or hit me up at
info ☰
permissions ☰
plurk ☰
no subject
when he hears someone call out, it takes him a second to place the voice, but it's pretty easy for him to filter back to that heightened, ridiculous conversation in the church. it's mostly the yo, which makes him stand out about a mile, but there's a hoarseness that holds familiarity besides. raylan sighs and puts down his lantern. ]
Back here, [ he calls, and as a preemptive measure he takes his gun out of its holster and sets it down beside five others, in a neat little box on the table he found. there are a few other stacks of boxes besides, smaller but far more plentiful. ] In the interest of bein' open and honest, it's Raylan.
no subject
'Sup. [ Casually albeit mistrustfully stated. ]
hard snort (cw: rat killin)
And gods, were they easier to kill than pigeons, at least.
But suddenly Jesse's screeching is reaching her louder than all the squealing little cries, and Arya's head snaps around like a soldier hearing their comrade fall. In the moment it isn't funny - he sounds that distressed. With little thought to doing anything else, Arya vaults from the boulder and lands in a space where the rats are thinner, kicking about until she can see where she's heading, thankful for how tightly her leathers fit her and how thick and protective they are. Jesse's clothes... Well, those strange garments are another matter.
Her long, slender blade is a blur around him when she suddenly reaches his side, cutting off heads left and right with single, deadly accurate swings and a water dancer's grace. It gives Jesse enough time to get to his knees, if not his feet, and hopefully to get the rats out of his pants. ]
I told you those clothes would be no good for being on the road!
[ She has to raise her voice about the filthy din. Quick as a flash, her second blade is in her hand, and she flips the Valyrian steel dagger easily and impressively, offering him the hilt while flipping rats away with Needle. She doesn't even need to look at them to do so, and the gaze that Jesse's meets is as sharp and unbothered as only someone who has faced far worse swarms can look. ]
no subject
Spinning around, he throws a wild look around him, nowhere near as unbothered as Arya. A noise of surprise clips out of him at a big rat skittering from out of the shadows towards him, causing him to almost stagger backwards. He tries not to shriek, but finds himself making a defensive snatch at the rat as it leaps up at him. He clumsily grabs it, flinching at its rabid scrabbling, and the hand clutching the knife takes a frantic stab at it. The knife punctures the rat, and Jesse has to grit his teeth and try not to squeeze his eyes shut as he manically starts stabbing it. He hates it, he fucking— He throws the rat in horror and immediately wipes that shaky, bloodied hand down his jeans, panting with his mouth still bitten into a disgusted grimace. ]
no subject
Don't stab! [ She shakes her head like 'are you kidding me?' and nods her chin at the blade he's holding. How could he possibly know the history of the weapon he's using like a steelsword's extra dagger? ] It's sharp enough to shave with. Slice! [ And as if to show him how, Arya drops to one knee to reach out and slice the head smoothly off the rat running towards him, flipping it clean away from the animal's body and away from Jesse. ]
no subject
He wheels around on the spot to face Arya, and his eyes widen suddenly as his bloodied hand snaps up with a point behind her: Another tangle of rats swarming towards them. ]
Y-Yo! [ Other hand bracing the knife into a tight brandishing grip, shakily readying himself. Jesus, fuck, Jesus, what's happening? Where are they all coming from?! ]
no subject
Seven hells. [ She's not quite out of breath, but she lowers her sword as she looks for a break in the writhing of the ground. ] This way!
[ Some leftover materials from the bridge construction have been left scattered around the side of the river, and when Arya reaches it first she gathers up a length of rope and tosses it to Jesse, pointing for him to get atop the meagre pile of lumber left available if he can. ]
Tie off your ankles! [ One of the first things you learn when you sleep on the streets is that rats will crawl inside your clothes and bite you if they can. You quickly learn ways to keep them out. ] I don't see any across the water. [ And that's exactly where most of the people have been heading. ]
no subject
Need a boat, yo! [ Trying to keep his voice low, yet somehow still shrieking. Hoarsely hissed. Grunting at the shaky struggle it is trying to tie rope around his leg, he wheezes out a frantic noise as he looks down to focus on the task. Fucking hurry up, c'mon, fucking tie into a bow, asshole! ] Unless y-you're suggesting we swim?
no subject
And there's no way that ugly thing can make it up a tree. ]
Come on! This way!
[ Arya doesn't wait for him to answer but bolts in the direction of the (oak? elm? she can't be sure), only glancing back once over her shoulder to make sure that Jesse is following. It seems he's worked out the ties on his pants, which is good, because the rats are thicker underfoot again here. Arya has to stamp on them as she goes, grimacing at the horrid sound they make as they die. She doesn't stop to examine their dead little bodies.
When she reaches the base of the tree she takes a running leap, her gloved fingers catching on the lowest brach just enough for her to get a grip. It will be easier for the rats to climb the tree if they truly have a mind to chase her and Jesse up, but picking them off should be easy enough. And that monster can't climb, she hopes.
Legs wrapped around the branch, Arya swings back upside down to reach her hands down for Jesse's to help him climb up. She sees him hesitate just for a moment. ]
You have another idea?
no subject
His fucking lantern, though — he needs a damn hook on his jeans or something to tie it onto. He struggles his way up the tree, lantern clanking against the tree truck, feet scratching and slipping about, teeth gritted. He manages, by determined heaving effort, to start working that injured ankle up to the branch to try and mount it — he's gasping, grunting breathlessly under the strain because the branch is up way higher than he can comfortably reach. With all the ungainliness of a guy just frantically trying to get to safety, he hooks his leg over it and drags himself up— ] —Shit, fuck, I got it, I got it, I'm, nrgh, I'm o-okay, I'm okay— [ until he's mounted and collapsing in pain on top of it. ] Shit, m-my ankle, yo!
no subject
She watches him catch his breath and does the same herself, although it takes him much longer. ]
Watch it-- [ She draws Needle in a smooth movement and uses the skinny blade to flip the rat off the branch beside Jesse, and once it's sheathed again, she holds a hand out for her dagger. ] Is it bad? Your ankle? Can you move it?
[ He'll be fine for now, but getting out of this tree and landing on the ground once the danger has passed will be difficult. ]
no subject
[ God, the screeching of those rats. It's deafening. High pitched, resonating shrieking that floods the air. And the smell. The smell of the rats, man — that, too, floods the air: A sickly, stale, musty stench of vermin. Jesse throws a look down at the swarm smothering the ground, at how some of them are scuttling and scrabbling up the trunk towards Arya and himself. With an exerted grunt of surprise, he jerks up straight at realising a rat has clambered its way up right near him, and without time to think, despite Arya holding her hand out for her dagger, Jesse swipes the knife at it, a clumsy slicing jab. The rat's shrieks cut off sharp as its head drops off. The body, squirting blood on Jesse, goes down with it. Jesse stares down in grimacing, gaping disgust — at the blood, at the pain in his ankle, or at what he just did, it's hard to tell. ]
Fuck! Fuck, man! This is fucked!
bonfire
Are you certain? ( He doesn't reach for it. He just looks up at the man with a quizzical expression and says, )
You look like you need it more than I do.
no subject
[ Especially with how severely limited resources are now. An insistent little motion of the bowl to the guy. It's yours, man, if you want it. ]
no subject
Very well.
( He's not the type of man to throw away a perfectly good meal. Even if the town wasn't experiencing a food shortage, he still wouldn't feel right turning it down. An inspector's salary isn't much, so he knows what it's like to pinch and save resources. He reaches out and takes the bowl. )
What's your name?
no subject
Where d'you reckon they came from? The rats?
no subject
Hmm. ( He sets the bowl down on his lap, half eaten. ) Perhaps they have come from the same place we have. Or perhaps they snuck in with the food, wherever it is that Rastus gets it. I haven't the slightest notion.
preacher, take me down to the river;
but this place don't lend itself much to that, does it? he ain't forgotten the screamin' none. that awful din kicked up when they floated the offerings into the river, screams for help an' of sufferin'. but he's still here, waitin' to see if maybe somethin' will come to light an' he can do somethin' to help.
so it ain't surprisin' that jesse finds him here. gene's sittin' on the riverbank, though he sure ain't keen on goin' in the water. if he were younger, maybe, or less intimately aware of his own mortality. but as it stands, he's content on the banks. cross-legged, smokin' idly. he glances towards jesse, raises a hand in greetin' as he strolls on up.
the man asks him for a favor, an' gene nods to him. )
'Course. What'd'ya need?
( he's already holdin' out his cigarette for jesse to take, accustomed to the act of sharin'. )