surejess

[surejess]

Jess had never truly understood why Theo was always considered to be the least powerful of the three. Sure, everything he did had to be very exaggerated and very obvious, but he could still make things out of nothing! Sure, he was locked up time and time again for his obvious escapes... but they were escapes! Sure, he could be stopped if someone just put his hands to his sides, but so could some of those elemental fellas! In Jess's eyes, he was just as.

She clapped as the bouquet took shape. Maybe she had seen it many times before, but she knew better than anyone that any good circus performer Turner uh... whatever they were thrived off of applause!

"Bravo! Look -- ya even got my favorite color in there!" She took one of the pink flowers from the bouquet and tucked it behind her ear -- new accessory! It matched her hair and eyes so well! "Ooh, ya know, I actually know this horsey kinda fella! We used t' play cards together all the time." And she, as a card master who could easily cheat because of that, almost always won! "If I see him around again, I'll send him your way!" A joke... because, unfortunately, he thought he had feelings. "I've been waitin' too long for a horse's head, I'm starting t' feel like Don Corleone!" Had she ever seen The Godfather? No. Had May ever seen The Godfather? Also no. But there was a horse head... and there was Don Corleone... and that was enough!

Theo shakes their head in slow, large sweeps from side to side – they’d say NO! In total horror at her suggestion, but the silence is needed for him to mime her present into life. Prancing in a circle around her, sniffing at the air and ‘pulling’ at ‘branches and buds’, Theo searches for the most perfect one. Satisfied with his selection, he brings one arm sweeping up, gloved fingers wiggling, and plucks a ‘flower’. Theo gives it a hearty sniff to be sure, his free hand wafting the air towards his blissful face. With a flourish, he then gives it a good shake, and – wouldn’t you know it! 

Opening his mouth a couple of times before he can bring words forth again, Theo announces: “A beautiful bouquet of flowers for my beautiful sister!” And they are beautiful! Bright pinks and blues, the vibrant petals bringing out the colours of Jess’ mutation. “I’m not sure I could do a horse’s head. That’d be a little…” one finger on their chin, Theo tilts their head in thought. “Abstract. Although if you want a horses head real bad, I bet I could find a horsey looking mutant and get their head off for ya! Chainsaws are always easy.”

[surejess]

Jess was ready to talk to him, ready to say something Very Normal about how she hoped his meetings would go well and also... well, she hadn't decided whether or not she would bring up the whole 'do this another time' -- how would they do it another time? If nothing else, she knew better than to storm into the Council building. She had jeopardized Kiran's position by virtue of simply having the same last name, his constituents and fellow Councillors didn't exactly need to see his murderous sister barging into his office! Talking to him in public? Well... that was one thing -- done out of impulse and desperation, so still not great, but better than breaking into the Council building! But breaking into his office? That would probably cross more than a few lines. But she didn't have to say a thing! He gave her a card with his information. It was more than she thought she'd get. Really, it was more than she probably deserved. That card that Kiran passed her, it almost felt like he... well, was open to establishing a relationship again. Maybe it would be surprising and only take a few days, maybe it would take weeks, maybe it would take months, maybe it would take decades -- but what could she ask of him other than to consider it? And she knew that even that was a lot to ask! He had every right to never want to talk to her again! "Okay." For once, it was all she could think to say! She was desperately willing herself to hold back from latching onto him in the biggest bear hug she could manage (which wouldn't be that big, but she'd try!), he probably wasn't ready for one of those and she didn't need to test it! But... there was a possibility he was gonna talk to her again... and what more could she ask for? "I hope your meetings go well." See? She could be Very Normal.

There's a long moment of silence as Kiran tries desperately to process through all the things running through his mind. Jess is not in the wrong to want to see him, and he knows that. Despite his feelings, she's not connected to reality. He knows what's real, and she doesn't. There's a part of him, the part that had been forced into this line of thinking long ago, that wants him to just forgive everything Jess said and did, because she didn't know better. That's what it always was, right? 'Kiran, Jess doesn't know any better.' It never stopped the strife she inflicted though. It didn't change the frustration and anger in his heart of hearts. But, it was the way he was trained to think, even now. With his little Sister standing in front of him, just desperate for some understanding, he's stuck back in his younger years of wanting to just give her what she needs because it's the right thing to do. Well the right thing to do wasn't right for him. He couldn't just give up all the boundaries he had built because Jess was... sad? If that's what he could call it. Could she feel remorse? He had debated that for years after the murder. "That's all well and good, Jessica, but I have meetings today. I have business to attend to. I would rather us do this another time." The olive branch he would grant would be a way to contact him. Mainly so they could hash out everything more privately. Because, he wasn't going to do it standing in the middle of the street. He passes over a card with a way to contact him. "If you want to continue this, please reach out to me in advance. And, we can talk about... whatever it is you want. Dolly, Mom and Dad, whatever. I just cannot do this right now."

[surejess]

Oh look! May decided to give her another sibling! Information downloading... background adapting... memories entering... registering it as close to real... registering it as what had happened all along... Ah yes, her triplet who had listened to her about the Creator and had agreed that she should kill their parents! Okay! "Ya know, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed if it's a horse head! Ya gotta at least put those on a pillow, ya know?"

"Jessicaaaaaaaa," with sing-song voice, Theo swings himself into a nice comfy seat next to her. "I got a present for ya! Guess what it is." @surejess

[surejess]

FIN !

"Ya know, truth be told, I have no clue what happens when I do it! Just had t' make sure you're down!" She understood it when she had some specifics to work off of -- like if he'd said he likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain -- but when there was nothing? Her assumption was that it felt like some kinda high to most people ( she hadn't met anyone it hadn't worked on yet, but there would always be the outliers! ), but... she supposed she'd let him be the judge of that. With his permission, she did something... very unceremonious. A shame, what considering half of the things she did otherwise required something really over the top, but this one... all she had to do was touch him -- transmit the spirit of fun through touch! "How ya feelin' now?"

[surejess]

Jess had no good concept, no good frame of reference, as to when Kiran would ever be ready -- could ever be ready -- to have any sort of relationship with her again. She knew there was a good chance he would never be able to have one again, she knew there was a good chance she had burned that bridge. And she knew that that was completely fair. Even if his feelings weren't technically real, he still had them. She still murdered the people he loved, the people he thought loved her -- so on and so forth. She was still part of his long line of grief. Nonetheless, she would have been remiss if she didn't try. She knew that her feelings also weren't real, but, like Kiran, she did believe in them. And she loved Kiran -- she loved him so much and regretted all of the pain she had caused him ( not for their parents' sake, but for his ). If he were able to be in her life again, if he could ever stand it, her gratitude towards Casey him -- totally him -- would never go unnoticed. But her timing was never right. She had realized approaching him -- especially in public -- with no forewarning wasn't great just a little too late. She had dared to approach him, in general, just a little too early. She and timing didn't get along... But when would the timing be right? That was the one problem -- she had no way of. knowing, only he did. And what if there came a day that the timing was right, but he just didn't know it? He just didn't know that he'd had enough time to accept her again? What was too soon, what was too late? "I -- well..." -- not like this, was what she wanted to say, mainly because she didn't know what she expected it to go like. Safe to assume that he knew better than anyone that she didn't exactly plan things like this ahead? She thought there would be yelling, heaps of anger, and she was prepared for it... but maybe not in public... She didn't expect a heartfelt reunion or anything ( even if it would've been nice ), but... whatever this was... she didn't really know. "I don't know. I don't know how I thought it was gonna go, but I just wanted t', ya know... hear you again." She wanted to ask where she could send a letter, or how she could otherwise reach out to him... she wanted to know how she could test the waters every now and again, how she could figure out when it was too soon or too late, without him having to see her... but it didn't seem the time to ask... But when would be the time to ask?

Just a little too late. That seemed to be the theme with her. Everything was just a smidge to late. Now Kiran had to contend with thinking about whether or not he was able to process being around his Sister ever again. But at least he was thinking it through. Something he wished he could impart on Jess. Though wasn't that the herculean task their parents had taken on for years? And look where it had gotten them. "Yeah, well... I think you might need to work on that skill, Jess. Because it's been a long time, but it doesn't feel long enough." Would it ever, though? Kiran would have the grief weigh on his heart for the rest of his life. How does anyone measure the time it takes for that to become manageable? Did Jess even have any remorse? He had never asked. Maybe because he feared the answer. Though some of his brashness deflates. She's right, after all, it wasn't like he had given her an easy line of communication. He didn't want to. He didn't need to as far as he was concerned. But, this was inevitable. Jess wasn't locked up for life, and while a small part of him hoped she would have just wandered off after her freedom was achieved, it made much more sense to come looking for family. It just happened that Kiran was not available for the giddy reunion after everything they had been though. "Fine, yes that's— that's a good enough point. But, Jess, what is it you want out of this? This interaction, right here. How did you think it was going to go?" Cornering him and reintroducing herself had not landed well. She couldn't possible be surprised by that fact, Kiran refused to believe it.

[surejess]

Ya know, Jess had learned to always expect the unexpected -- that was par for the course when it came to being a work of fiction! But, while she could certainly say she was not ever expecting Dolly to forgive her... she could not say she was expecting to be body slammed, especially when she hadn't even noticed she was there! A crater forming, and the symbols '!*%?' appearing over her head, it looked like her physics had kicked in! -- good, because if this was gonna go from a single body slam with some doll arm whacking to any kind of actual fight, Jess was gonna need to get creative with defense! Violence was fine -- fun sometimes! But she wasn't planning on getting violent towards Dolly -- she'd learned her lesson! And in what world would that do any good!? Anyway, what was she supposed to say? She wasn't gonna defend what she did! -- but she also wasn't a fan of getting attacked, even if it was objectively hilarious... So, instead of saying anything, she started twirling her wrist around until it was fast enough to propel her upwards like a helicopter. Thanks, physics! "I'm not gonna try t' defend myself, Dolly -- I told ya everything I can!" Blah blah blah, murder in the name of free-will isn't defensible, blah blah blah, they felt it and we feel it (the former was a lie!), blah blah blah, that is absolutely insane, blah blah blah. What was there to rehash at this point? And, though the clown comment stung (she didn't mean it, she's just upset!), Jess had to ignore it in the name of, like... prioritization? "Whaddya want me t' say? That I am happy I killed 'em? Or that I can bring 'em back t' life? 'Cause neither's true!"

closed starter // @surejess

"This is for killing mom and dad!" Dolly yells, running full speed at Jess. KACHOW! The only thing on her mind is their parents' murder as she rugby-tackles Jess to the ground. "I can't believe you did that! You are so selfish, Jessica!" she huffs, pulling her arm out of its socket. She lifts it up over her head with her free hand, then smacks her twin right on the noggin' with it. "I never liked clowns. I just told you I did to make you feel better." What a lie! Dolly loves clowns. She thinks they're hilarious, even if their makeup is terrible.

[surejess]

"Ya know, truth be told, I have no clue what happens when I do it! Just had t' make sure you're down!" She understood it when she had some specifics to work off of -- like if he'd said he likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain -- but when there was nothing? Her assumption was that it felt like some kinda high to most people ( she hadn't met anyone it hadn't worked on yet, but there would always be the outliers! ), but... she supposed she'd let him be the judge of that. With his permission, she did something... very unceremonious. A shame, what considering half of the things she did otherwise required something really over the top, but this one... all she had to do was touch him -- transmit the spirit of fun through touch! "How ya feelin' now?"

"uh—" that's the exact kind of question that catches him off guard. fun? him? there's a reason he keeps his free time to a minimum. "i mean, i just like hanging out and shit. and partying. and drinking. i don't know, what else is there to do around here?" more importantly, without being too strenuous. everything he likes, as it is, is too much for him to take. it's hard being the life of the party when you're not, technically speaking, supposed to be partying! "...i mean, the fact that you asked makes me feel a little weird. but fuck it, do it. make me have fun." if he regrets it later, he regrets it later!

[surejess]

"Ya know, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd be rich!" She'd have more than two nickels, and it was not weird that it had happened more than once. Usually it wasn't said in such a neutral tone... nor was it usually said just like that, completely verbatim, but the gist was there! It also wasn't usually said in the context of... whatever this was... however Jess not quite aligning with normal human-beings (or mutant-beings, for that matter!) was affecting someone looking akin to ground beef...

Jess had no clue what this slab of meat could be referring to in reference to... reacting to it, but whatever it was, she could take a healthy guess that her version of it sure was abnormal! Not surprising. "Well, I can't say I've ever really considered my feelings on sentient meat... I think I'd be confused if a steak started talking t' me, but I don't think I'd be scared..." First thing that confused her: this chunk in front of her. Second thing that confused her: talking steak. Third thing? Remained to be seen!

Her flesh warps into itself, bones cracking and remolding continuously as they both stood comically still. Something vaguely head-shaped shakes in response to the question. Frankly. Kei’s not entirely sure if she could even help in the first place. “You’re not the same as everybody else, are you?” The voice cracks and warps all the same. Their voice box is in there somewhere as well, molding into something more familiar momentarily before losing itself in the viscous mess all over again.

“Hey, this is all on you. I’m just reacting to it!” Two hand-like appendages rise defensively, followed by an awkward shrug. “Sure you’re not afraid of sentient meat or somethin?” Kei half-joked. Despite being the embodiment of horror, she doesn’t actually get to know what a person’s greatest fear is, at least not until she turns into it herself. This whole situation was a different thing entirely, however.

[surejess]

"No, no -- I mean whaddya do for fun just in general? Ya know, what you'd be doin' right now if you weren't here!" Max had a great point! The 'party' wasn't really a party! Ya know, she supposed it was kinda fair -- it had been advertised as a faire, after all -- but where there was a crowd of people with an abundance of booze, you'd expect a party! "If ya wanna skip over that, though, then if I got your permission - " - she may have indirectly gotten Gray's, but... they were all very tricky! - " - I can just make you have fun." It would probably be better if she could just create a scenario tailor towards what he found fun in everyday life -- ya know, made it so his fun wasn't entirely manufactured -- but whatever he chose...

"ignoring the party? that's the whole problem—there is no party. anyone can get some booze together." max is just one of those people that finds no appreciation in the human spirit—boo hoo, no moon. that happened once a month anyway! and as entertaining as some of the fighting had been, that's not something sol city is in short supply of, either. it's all just more of the same old thing. tail swishing, he huffs, "i mean, what do you think a party is? a lot of people standing around looking at the sky? not really my idea of a good time."

[surejess]

As much as Jess would love to assume they had plot armor to protect them, there were a lot of times she'd assumed that and had been proven terribly wrong! Ya gotta learn the hard way that the creators really don't care, don't ya? That they'd rather you get screwed over? Sure, sure, she knew she was still being controlled into setting up some precautions for Ezra and herself, but... hey, it was still a good idea! "I got an idea." Now, who would Jess be if she did not put her Bag of Fun to good use at any given moment? She withdrew it ( or... allowed it to manifest from thin air? ) and pulled out a comically large pencil, about half the size of Ezra. Lugging the thing to the first door and, man, just really wondering why she hadn't waited until she was actually at the door to take it out, she lifted it like a damn weight ( she could bench 220! ) and, as best as she could, drew chains and a padlock on it. For as sloppy as the drawing was ( sue her, it was hard to draw well with a 3.5ft pencil! ), the world just knew what she wanted it to be, actual chains with a padlock manifesting into existence (thanks, Megan Fox!). Phew. Oh, but she wasn't done yet! No, no -- maybe she should've stopped by Ezra, seen if he could do anything himself, but she was inexplicably determined! It was gonna be the first time she killed anyone in 10+ years -- and, at that, the first time she killed anyone who no one else cared about ! yippee ! -- so she really had to put the effort in! To just fast forward through essentially writing the exact same thing -- lugging the pencil, drawing sloppy precautions, said sloppy precautions turning into the real thing, all that jazz -- the precautions were in place! Finally dropping the pencil ( and the pencil proceeding to disappear from existence ), she returned to Ezra and clapped her hands together. In between breaths, she nodded, "Ya think we got enough precautions now?"

no feelings, no problem. whatever issues ezra found with the rest of her doctrine-philosophy-reality, he would readily admit that the slogan was a catchy one. he often thought similar things, himself! it was just instead of saying that other people's feelings didn't exist, it was more like... not his feelings, not his problem. maybe it's just meant to be—he would be happy to bastardize all the good parts into his own world view, no problems indeed! "we can start with anyone you like. i'll even let you go first, since you've been out of practice so long. 'course... before we start... i don't suppose you've got something you can use to keep the roaches from scattering, so to speak?" yeah, yeah, yeah... none of it matters, or whatever... but maybe it's also a good idea to be a little bit smart about it? but for all he knows, she could be some ultra-powerful goddess-like figure that caused the mere idea of consequences to vanish on the spot. still, just to be safe...

[surejess]

As a Fun Lord™, Jess could certainly help the fella out -- he'd definitely come to the right person! The only problem, you see, was that she did not know what he found fun. Sure, she could just literally force him to, but, in the reality he and most others saw, that would probably be considered going against his consent -- ya know, just... literally forcing him to, and all. "Well, whaddya find fun? Ya know, just ignoring the party entirely, what are some fun things t' ya?"

"uh... alright, so what if i had to stop drinking?" turns out he's been laying it on a little thick. the two he's had tonight are enough to tip him over—any more and he'll be sick. which unfortunately means it's been really, really hard to have a good time! "and... you know, aren't into that woo-woo kumbaya shit? like what else? for the record i'm trying to have a good time, not just look it."

[surejess]

What had been a very cool viewing was now becoming a very confusing one -- and, coming from Jess, that was saying something! Something about it was a bit funny, but more than anything... indeed, it was just confusing. This had seemed so put together before she got whoever was turning into sentient ground beef's (TM gabe) attention. It was so confusing, in fact, that Jess barely registered the minor inconveniences that this stranger flashed into for a second or two. "Ya need some help there?" Not that Jess knew how to help with... whatever was happening right now, but it was the polite thing to ask! And, for the first time in her entire life, she couldn't really think of anything else to say. "I gotta say, this isn't the dinner and a show I thought it was gonna be..." -- more to herself than... whoever was mushing around, for lack of a better word!

To say she was surprised was an understatement. The fear was definitely there, clearly stated by the magnetic pull towards the latter and the way vibrant pigmentation had now decorated her face. The transformation had stuttered a bit – which meant that the stranger was scared of something either really specific or really abstract that she couldn’t turn into. Right now, the mangled flesh and gore cracked and bent into itself continuously, as if trying to figure it out. This hadn’t happened before.

Even more puzzling was the stranger’s reaction to it. “Huh,” was all she could say in response to it all. “Hang on, this isn’t it…” Kei held a… well, some sort of fleshy appendage that used to be her hand, up in the air. “Sorry, it usually doesn’t take this long. I’m actually not sure what’s happening.”

[surejess]

Did Jess actually care about that strawberry milkshake enough to get the fella to buy her a new one? Not at all! She hadn't even remembered it was there until he brought it up! But would she let the fella buy her a new one? He seemed the type who'd be upset with himself if he didn't, so who would she be to deny him that opportunity! "Strawberry milkshake, but I'm not attached t' that." ( aka, she just liked the color ! ) "Ya think?" Well, that was some good news! "There tends t' be two real different opinions on them. Ya got the 'real cool' crowd -- " -- such as this kind stranger! -- " -- and ya got the 'balloons should not be sentient, that is an abomination, kill it now' crowd. Direct quote!" Oh, to think -- if it weren't for that crowd, she could possibly bring back the pigeon population all by herself (granted, in balloon form)! "Ya don't need t' give me anything else -- the trouble is minimal!" (The trouble was already non-existent, but this guy really wanted to atone for the sin of dropping a coin into her milkshake.)

She has the good grace to be kind about his mistake. The joke—with no clear strain of hidden of anger!—is such a shock that Morrigan nearly wants to question her more. The impulse to ask her to be angry at him is a short lived one. He simply finds more coins in his pocket and nods, relieved. "What did you get there?" Morrigan asks, even though he thinks it's a now spoiled strawberry milkshake. She could ask for something else! He'll offer more once they get to the stall. Morrigan wants to move on fairly quickly but the ballons is cool and he's always felt safer around women, particularly ones who are a little... kooky? It feels a tad mean to even think, but there's no other way to describe her. "That's real cool, by the way, your balloons. I'm so sorry for that—" he begins but trails off, fully aware he's likely to get annoying. The last thing he wants to is to test anyone's patience after that fuck up. "You want anything else? For the trouble."

[surejess]

"Ya know, I'm not real surprised t' hear that. Most of them like their creations thinking they're real." Jess was pretty sure she was the only person in Sol City who had ever kind of met her creator -- you know, not in the sense that they'd been able to shake hands, but in the sense that they were aware of each other's existence and could have some titillating conversations... in Jess's mind, but still conversations! "Happy t' hear ya still believe that!" He was not, in fact, doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He was doing whatever Gray wanted whenever Gray wanted it, but Jess didn't need to be a broken record! It had taken Jess long enough to accept the absurdity of their reality. In the grand scheme of things, nothing mattered! It was very depressing... until it wasn't. What she found meaning and happiness in was not something she could control, but she had been allowed to find it in their absurd reality. There was a certain peace to knowing there was nothing you could do and that, in the end, nothing you or your second cousin or Dick Van Dyke did mattered. Thus, who was she to not execute the oldest form of creativity? "No feelings, no problems!" Yippee! Gesturing to the man that she had been constantly referring to, she asked, "Whaddya say we start with that little guy?"

"i wouldn't know. never met the guy personally." probably won't anytime soon, either! ezra has never been the worshipper sort, and while carelessness might as well be his middle name... he's not too keen on kicking the bucket anytime soon, either. he eroticizes dying, not being dead. those are two completely different things. "can't say i've really thought about it like that. i just do what i want whenever i want." more or less. now that he's nearing forty, every once in a while common sense rears its head. certainly not often enough to keep him out of trouble, though. truthfully, whatever strings do or don't exist don't bother him much. they really like torture. wow, imagine that! so does he! and so does god, as far as he's ever been able to tell. the similarities are there, but not exact that ezra feels inclined to do much more than observe the idea. she's a funny one, she is. "how about it, then?" he asks, baring his sharp teeth in a grin. "if it's like you said, and we can kill anyone in here.... consequences free... how about it? no feelings, no problems, right?"

[surejess]

"T' look like I'm havin' a good time, or t' having a good time?" There were secrets to both! She was quite talented at both! She could teach a class on both! But, tonight? Ya know what, she was having a good time! "Ya ask anyone else, they're probably gonna say boozin' it up helps!" But did booze work on Jess? No, no it did not. "Ya ask me, you just look around! Ya got everyone putting their wishes in those little lanterns that are gonna be real pretty when they fly - " - granted, the wishes meant nothing - " - and ya got the nice music playin' and ya got all that kinda food that you really only get at fairs -- and we don't really have fairs!" As hopeless as their hope was, what wasn't there to appreciate? "The secret's in seeing everyone's hope!"

starter for @surejess !!

"you look like you're having a good time. what's your secret?"

[surejess]

Jess had never been very good at leaving 'well enough' alone. Things could always be better! Things could always be more fun! And if you dared leave 'well enough' alone, it was a slippery slope to everything just becoming 10x worse. Stagnation wasn't the route she was fond of taking, even if it would be for the best. After all, how many of her mistakes all harkened back to trying to improve something that was, by all means, well enough? So she didn't exactly have anything to say on that point, whether he was looking for her to give some kind of reason or not. Of course, whatever the reason was, it wouldn't exactly be a completely valid one. Then again, neither she nor Dolly could help the fact that... well, Dolly was alive! I mean, sure, Dolly could kill herself or Jess could kill Dolly, but she wasn't really fond of that idea and she had to assume that, even if it was more than an inconvenience to Kiran, he wouldn't want Dolly killed. Anyway. Missing him? Wanting to bring the family back together ( even if it meant excluding herself )? See, it may have seemed like the perfect reason to reconnect in Jess's mind, but if he were truly content with how things were? If he had truly felt better off not knowing about Dolly and the like? She'd made 'well enough' worse! Invalid, see? "I -- yeah, yeah. Just... a little too late." Yeah, it had occurred to her that he may not have been ready to see her again -- the problem was that it hadn't occurred to her until after she had already initiated contact. If she'd taken just a second's pause after seeing him, maybe she would've thought better of it. Or maybe she wouldn't have. It was selfish and greedy and impulsive and she missed him. And she didn't blame him for not missing her, she'd be surprised if he did, but... wow, it'd be nice if she felt the same! Nice for the both of them! "I mean... I wouldn't have known where t' send one. Like... the Council building?" Jess didn't know much about the inner workings of the Council, but she figured it was healthy to assume that, even if she could send him a letter there, receiving a letter from your convict sister may not reflect kindly. "You said it yourself, ya know? Ya got an image ya gotta maintain." See, she had some common sense! However, it had been over a decade since they'd last spoken. He didn't visit ( not that she could blame him ), she wasn't a P.I. -- sending a letter would have been a fine idea if she had just known where to send it! Hell, she would've sent a letter long before! Dashed hopes and good intentions, right? Good, better, best, bested? Man, did she understand that now!

Possible or not, Kiran would give anything up for all of this to just go away. He doesn't want Dolly to be alive, he doesn't want their parents to be zombified, and he doesn't want Jess to be standing in front of him, trying to pretend like they can all still be a family. The word feels like poison on the tongue these days after everything that he had lost. Sorry does not make up for the years of loss he had suffered through nor does it make the anger that burns in his heart cool. If there was a universe in which Kiran could banish Jess from Sol City, he would have done it already. "I don't know why everyone can't leave well enough alone." Kiran, for all intents and purposes, was moderately happy with the life he had created for himself within Sol City now. A Councillor, an architect, and a well adjusted man checked all the boxes. He did not need his Sisters' coming in to change all of that. There is something that pulls at his chest, though, with Jess. In recent years, it had all been guilt and shame that surrounded her name. But, seeing her again, it's hard to ignore that so much of his hurt comes from the fact that he does love his Sister. Despite it all, it all hurts so bad because he thought he could love and trust her, and she had broken that. Had he truly not cared about her, it would have been so much easier to write everything off as her crazed and emboldened way of existing, and never given her another thought. "Did it occur to you that maybe I wasn't ready to see you?" Did anything ever occur to Jess outside of her own head? Kiran's not convinced she's ever taken anyone else's feelings into account when she acts. "Couldn't you have at least written a letter first or something instead of just coming up to me on the street? I have a life— an image —that I need to maintain, and you're not helping. Not that it's your strong suit to actually help anyone."

[surejess]

It became increasingly difficult to figure out whether people didn't understand some of her references because they had been forgotten about in the centuries since they had been created or if they didn't understand because of some kinda... life deal! Had The Addams Family been largely forgotten, or was yassified Cousin Itt's prettier twin just sheltered? Thing Jess would probably never know the answer to! "Ya know, I wouldn't be surprised -- we got some wild stuff in my family - " - a living doll, a yassified clown version of Bugs Bunny - " - but I'm talkin' about this character in this little comic strip slash TV series slash movie. It's about this family that's creepy and kooky, kinda mysterious and spooky, really just altogether ooky: The Addams Family!" And damn her if she could say that without following it with the necessary two snaps! It had been difficult enough to get through the description without snapping the entire time! "There's this one fella with some just magnificent hair! It's, like, all the way down past his feet, but it looks real luscious! And your hair looks real luscious!"

Bina is fairly used to comments on her hair, although she's never been told someone has a family member with the same mutation! That's what she assumes: that this woman has a cousin called Itz. "...You have a cousin with hair like mine?" Wide eyed, hopeful. It would be fun to meet someone else with prehensile hair! And it would make sense if this woman had a family with unusual hair, too, since her own is unusually coloured. It's really pretty, actually, with the pink and blue. Bina's pretty sure she could never dye her hair, for several reasons, but she likes the idea of it.