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Sloane was carrying a lot in her heart, lately. Jack was caught off guard by her sudden outburst, saying he should’ve just left her alone. Was he really being that much of a nuisance by having the nerve to [i]care,[/i] when he could’ve simply left Sloane to wallow in her troubles? Jack liked to think that he had enough of her trust that his intentions were obvious. He just wanted to look after someone that he well and truly considered a friend.

And that was why he was grateful that he never forgot how to put on a cold face.

[quote] [color=silver]“My best friend is dead and I’ll never get to talk to her again, and now her husband hates me and will never talk to me again. My other best friend probably only spends time with me out of pity because she probably realizes what a mess I’d be without her. It’s so unfair to put that on her. I just weigh her down. My dad’s trying to work his way back into my life, which means he’s either working an angle or, worse, he actually just cares about me and I can’t do the same for him. I finally worked up the courage to ask the boy I liked out for a dinner date after ten years and he was murdered before I had the chance to do it. Now I can only think about how much I respected and idolized him growing up, and how much time I wasted fearing rejection, and how he’s now stashed in, in, I don’t know, in some shoebox or something in his sister’s linen closet, and I just can’t even bear to think about th—”[/color]
[/quote]

So, the answer to his question was, “everything.” How did he comfort her through all that? How [i]could[/i] he? Jack wished he could, he wished he could go back to being that kid who everyone found weird, but trusted to mean business where it mattered. But here he was, a stranger among his own people, unable to do anything meaningful to help someone for which the bar was low enough to step over.

It made him feel powerless, but he couldn’t let Sloane notice that.

[quote][color=silver]“While you and Anya kept everyone safe last week, I managed to get myself jerked around by 8th street and accomplished nothing. I’m starting to realize that accomplishing nothing is probably the best for everyone, because I destroy everything I touch. I lost a bunch of artifacts, including a bunch of knockoffs that I made that could absolutely devastate communities if not entire countries, and I can’t even do anything about it because I’m scared. I’m scared. I don’t know why nobody else acts like it, but I’m so [i]fucking[/i] scared that I’m going to die like everybody I ever cared about or continue be a disappointment like everyone else.”[/color][/quote]

[i]You kept this entire city safe for a [b]decade,[/b] Don’t be so cruel to yourself.[/i] It’s just a twist of the knife she stuck in Jack, talking about herself like she was worthless. As if Sloan wasn’t the one who made Jack’s childhood goals into her own and made them happen. His expression was stone, weathering her harsh words like they were but more raindrops from the sky.

[quote]
[color=silver]“It’s not just Jasper. Everybody hates me. I don’t even get it. They just hate me. They found the first excuse they could use and kicked me out as quickly as they could. Seriously, like, how did Britney, who robbed so many people of their future, who used innocents as sacrificial pawns, who, for all intents and purposes, was a war criminal, stay in longer than me? Gets welcomed back and immediately forgiven while I’m still looked at with suspicion and disdain? Is allowed to sneak behind people’s backs and make calls she has no right to make that put people’s lives in danger and not get called out for it? It’s unfair. It’s just so unfair. Not a single thing has changed. It’s all just another popularity contest. Fine. Let them hate me. I hate them all, too.”[/color]
[/quote]

[color=6644ff]”I don’t-“[/color]

[quote]
[color=silver]“And that includes you. Stop pretending like you know me. Stop pretending that you care about me.”[/color]
[/quote]

She hated him. [color=6644ff][i]”Pretending?[/i] Sloane, that is not-“[/color]

[quote]
[color=silver]”I don’t know if you just feel guilty for abandoning us that you have to constantly hovering around like a helicopter parent, or if you’re actually just secretly a good guy, but please just stop. Hate me like everyone else. It’ll be so much easier for you. Don’t do what Anya did to herself. I don’t want to have to carry the weight of being the reason another person is made into a social pariah. I’m a curse given human form. That's just the way it is.”[/color]

[color=silver]“So [i]please,[/i] Fuck off.”[/color]
[/quote]

There was a brief moment where the mask cracked. The corner of Jack’s mouth turned downward for a moment, and a moment of sadness flashed across his eyes. It was blinked away as quickly as it could have been spotted. Sloane didn’t want him here, she didn’t want him [i]anywhere.[/i]

Why did he come home, if [i]this[/i] was waiting for him?

Jack stood and there the hood of his costume over his head. [color=6644ff]”The Sycamore Tree Coven was family to me, once. The only family I’ve ever known,”[/color] he admitted. [color=6644ff]”Brothers and sisters all, for which I would lay down my life without a second’s hesitation. I never turned down an opportunity to aid anyone, or be there in their time of need.”[/color] Even when it rewarded him with life-changing injuries.

He turned to leave. [color=6644ff]”And you are part of that. You always have been, Sloane. And you always will be. Remember that.”[/color]

Jack did not teleport away. Rather, he simply walked off, until he was gone from sight.

If he had left tonight, gone back to the Void to explore its deeper regions, would he be missed? If he finally got around to exploring some of those distant places he had been studying outside of Shimmmer, would Auri try to get ahold of him again? Would Anya pay a visit to his dreams?

Or would the wheels continue to turn all the same without him? Jack felt something in his chest twist into a knot. He didn’t want to leave, back when they were kids. He tried to preserve the coven, tried to push it in a better direction. But there was nothing left to save in the end.

These people were strangers now. But they were all he had left.


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Stormy might’ve accepted their offer for a drink in return, were it not for the fact that his attention was grabbed by the Maiden acting up again. That wasn’t too surprising. His aura had been running low, and he didn’t think to renew it. Understandably, the whole table was a bit concerned. And he almost succumbed to the temptation to fold Trevor in half the wrong way at his comment. Stormy tapped his hand to his chest, and his Phantombane aura quickly renewed back to normal. The green smoke returned to visible levels. That should [i]hopefully[/i] have a good enough effect on the Maiden that she decalamitied her mammaries. Stormy wasn’t about to let [i]that[/i] get out of hand again.

Stormy kept an eye on the feathers and the talons sprouting from Lila’s hand. He wasn’t too worried, but he was taking the circumstance seriously regardless. If all else failed, he could  offer to give Lila the aura as soon as he was able. That would be as close to it as the Maiden could possibly get. Everyone started talking about an after party, and a healer. 

[color=00ff98]”Lila, I can lend you the Phantombane aura I’m using in about… Fifteen minutes, once it wears off. I’d need your permission first, but the Maiden won’t have anywhere to go.”[/color] And it would give Lila some space between her and Stormy after this little “peace talk.” 

He kept an eye on Trevor as he walked over to heal Lila. Meifeng [i]did[/i] say not to be weird, but surely she’d understand if he flattened the little shit if he did get weird.

[color=00ff98]”If Emily [i]does[/i] try anything,”[/color] he cut in, after Max’s offer. [color=00ff98]”I’ll handle it. She’s an Adjoined, and I’m good at countering them better than most paranormal.”[/color] Was that a flex? Probably not, but it sounded like on- Holy shit was that fucking Kenshiro?

[color=00ff98]”Good to see you, Toad Man,”[/color] he said with a grin.

And then the others invited him to the party. Jasper… Whispered in his ear? That was weird. But if they needed help, who was he to say no?

Oh, there goes Ken. Poof.

[color=00ff98]”Of course I will,”[/color] he answered Lila. [color=00ff98]”I’m not sure I want to know what Emily is doing this time, or what a “toga conga line” looks like. I’m not sure I want to find out, either. I’m ready whenever you all are. I’m sure Ken can handle Emily himself. He has friends in high places, after all.”[/color]

He turned and addressed the agents gathered at the table. [color=00ff98]”Hopefully, we won’t be running into each other too much in the near future. But still, I appreciate being able to talk without violence. Thank you for that.” [/color]