text + New Camelot&Buffy Filter | 6

[swedge]

[ If anyone's been wondering, Jo has been locked up in the Roadhouse, with her finally restocked bar, and doesn't really plan on moving. Door's locked, lights are off, and it's really just her and the bar (and Ash probably somewhere, working on building his laptop or something - she won't let him go very far) and a lot of alcohol. ]

I'm getting really fucking sick of this, to be perfectly honest.

[ Oh. Also should mention that she's been drinking, for a few hours now. Bless her talented soul that she's able to type coherently. ]

I've done everything they've asked. I've got no problem fighting their war, saving their city. Hell, I'll give them all personal fucking thank yous for the bringing me back to life. Really. I'll shake their fucking hands if they want. Get a damn 'you're the best' tattoo.

But is it so much to ask for some people to stick around? Really? They've already got them here. What's so fucking hard about keeping them?

[ There's a pause here that the rest of the network won't see. A good five, ten minutes where Jo is just staring at her bracelet, thinking over if it's worth it or not, before she has another what the hell moment and adds the next bit. ]

What more do they want from me?

[ Losing Sam, Cas and Daphne was rough. Really rough. Jackson? A lot harder. But now Dean Winchester is gone and Jo is kind of tired of all this. Really, really tired. ]

Oh, and The Roadhouse is gonna be closed for the next week. You'll have to find another bar till then.

[ She'd rather not deal with patrons when she's getting really really drunk. And probably angry. And just overall dealing with feelings she's been putting aside for some time now. ]


Filtered; New Camelot & Buffy seeing as she and Ash are what's left of TFW...

Dean's room is up for grabs, if you have anyone left. He's gone. Checked for his name on the network today to make sure he was still gray and...yeah.

So there's another open bed. Wasn't sure if we're like, renting them out at this point or not.

Comments

[Video]

[dragonspeak]

[He has so many things to say, but that can wait until they're in the same room.]

Where are you?

[text] nope she's being stubborn

[swedge]

Out.

[ ouch. sorry, Merlin. Don't take it personally. ]

I'm fine. Just need a little alone time.

[text] /shakes her

[dragonspeak]

[Though she can't see it, Merlin shakes his head.]

How long is a little?

[He's going to be stubborn right back.]

[text] >:c

[swedge]

I don't know. I'll text you when I figure it out.

[text]

[dragonspeak]

You had better. I'll be waiting.

[He's worried about you, okay.]

action because i said

[mullets]

[ Ash has been pretending to work on his laptop for the last few minutes. In truth, he's been waiting to read whatever it is Jo's been typing. After that becomes possible, he abandons his work and wanders over to her. ]

Hey.

[ Just gonna sit next to you, old buddy. He feels pretty bad about this whole thing, and he misses all of the people he knew as well, even if he doesn't show it, but he definitely cares about Jo. ]

Y'know, I'm not normally the one to poop the party--that's usually your job, ain't it? But I think you've had enough. You oughta go lay down or somethin'. I'll clean up.

assssshhhhh

[swedge]

[ Maybe she should have filtered that away from Ash. Kinda defeated the purpose of 'wanting to be alone', with him hanging around like he is. But she can't even bring herself to move into a different room.

It's probably the alcohol, but she's absolutely convinced that as soon as she turns her back, closes a door, he'll disappear. Just like the rest of them. Just like everyone. Jo would toss her bracelet across the room if she could, but instead just she kind of slips it back on, takes another drink out of the bottle of Jack she's been nursing. Still had a good third of it left.

She raises an eyebrow at Ash when he sits next to her, about to swallow and ask him what he's doing when it becomes painfully obvious and she snorts. ]

I've still got some left, you know. And this is mine. [ She moves the bottle into her lap, holding it between her thighs, before she turns to face the bar. Crosses her arms over the counter and sets her chin on them. ]

You read the thing, didn't you. [ Thing. Wow, not as articulate when we're talking now are we? ]

jooooo

[mullets]

[ Maybe, but Ash would have pried eventually anyway. Jo and Ellen have always been family to him, and right now Jo is all the family he has. He thinks of her as a little sister, so he's allowed himself the perk of annoying her and butting into her business any time he likes just like an older brother. ]

I'm not gonna take it for myself. Hell, even Jack's too expensive for me. You really oughta get some PBR in. Cheap, entirely classless, and still goes down better than what you're drinking.

[ He turns to face the bar as well, and mimics Jo's posture because why not. ]

Yeah, I read the thing. You're really missing 'em, huh?

[swedge]

[ And he's never allowed to leave. Jo might not have wanted an older brother, but Ash... is different. The only family she has left. Family from back home, at least. She's met people here who she considers close enough to consider family - mostly new camelot, Arthur and Merlin - but they don't get it. Not really. Even if she tried to explain. ]

But better defeats the purpose. I just want it to hit hard and fast.

[ Which, technically, it has. It hit her almost an hour ago. She's just riding it out at this point and being stubborn. She doesn't even turn her gaze towards him, though, sighing a bit. ]

When I first got here they were it. Plucked right out of Carthage with my insides falling out and into this fucking Norse Disneyland. [ To borrow your comparison. ] And they've been here. For some time. [ She laughs. ] I freaking said Sam and Dean's name over the network and you wouldn't believe the amount of people that responded.

It's like they've been here for years. Just months, really, but it was weird. And then they're just...gone. Them, Cas, Daphne, Mary, John, mom. [ And maybe her voice cracks a little at that last bit, but she just takes a breath to hide it. ] They'll be here one day and gone the next, for no reason. None. I'm just...I'm sick of it.

[mullets]

[ Even Ash, with all his smartassed comments and his chill, easygoing personality, has to struggle to hide a grimmace. He's only asked for the broadest details of Jo's death, and he really didn't want to know anything more. He wants to know even less now that he's had a glimpse into just how gruesome it must have been.

He recovers quickly, as usual, but he's not just going to give up because Jo is being stubborn. ]

Nah, nah, Jo, we've been over this. It's more of a Disneyworld than a Disneyland. Disneyland's the small one and this place ain't small by a long shot. And, I mean--c'mon. It's Disneyworld. Just name me one person who doesn't pay a second visit when they've got the cash. Give it time. If I know the Winchesters, they'll be back. And Ellen? Well, damn, she never let you out of her sight for too long before, I don't see why she'd start now.

text;

[gymnast]

[ Allison obviously doesn't know Jo very well but she was apparently a friend of Jackson's - how good of a friend, she's not sure because it's Jackson - so she figures she'll check in. For Jackson's sake.

And because Jo seemed nice enough when they talked last time. ]

Who did they take?

[ Read: This isn't about Jackson, is it? ]

text;

[swedge]

[ It's a good thing Jo's had so much to drink, or else she probably wouldn't have responded at all. Probably would have closed off the bracelet and ignored her. ]

Who didn't they take?

[ and now she's just being stubborn. ]

text;

[gymnast]

I don't know. A lot of people? I'm guessing they've taken a lot of your friends, though.

[ She doesn't know anything about you, Jo, but she can guess. ]

Re: text;

[swedge]

This makes...seven. Five in the past...week?

[It's not like she's trying to hide it.]

text;

[gymnast]

[ Ouch. Allison's lost quite a few people, too, but none of them were really around long enough for them to make an impact here. And a good portion of those were people from home. There's been a few she really liked but she wasn't quite close enough to them to be as upset as Jo apparently is. ]

That really sucks. Is there anything I can do?

[ video || private to Jo only ]

[pratentious]

Joanna.

[ No. That's not - it's instinct, habit, but it's not right, for this. It stings on his tongue and makes him feel bitter, acid and poison poured down his throat until he can't breathe. ]

Jo.

[ Where the first was a whisper, the second is an exhale, a breath caught somewhere between a sigh and silence. There seems to be a lot of that, these days. They've lost so many and they're only losing more. And she's right.

After all they've done for this city, and Arthur still doesn't understand why.

He shakes his head, drops it to his hand. Rubs his thumb and forefinger at his eyes. Weariness never leaves, and that hole is just growing bigger. Filling up with a lingering burn. Bitter and jaded; these are Asgard's last hope. ]

I'm sorry.

[ text/video || super private party ]

[swedge]

arth

[ She accidentally presses sends and curses, sitting up on her bar-stool so she's not hanging over the counter any more, trying to look less like a complete mess than she really is when she turns the video feed on. Jo couldn't really care less how she looked, or appeared, to others - the alcohol giving her the kind of confidence that could be dangerous, if she was feeling reckless - but she can't let herself look weak. Not in front of anyone, let alone Arthur or his knights. If he and Merlin are the only ones she has left...

Well. She just can't. That's the end of it, really. Even if the way he says her name - the Joanna, first, but then the correction - stands out to her. If she wanted to, she could probably think on that. Let it sink in just how much Arthur's trying, how she really has no right to shut them out (lock them out, literally) like she is. But she doesn't think on it, and instead just shakes her head when the video feed turns on, ignoring the way her head continues to spin even after she stops. ]

Don't- Arthur. Just. Don't. [ Jo's not slurring, not yet. But there's a haze over her eyes. Anger and pain and alcohol. But she's trying, always trying, to keep her head up. She should probably say something about how it's not his fault, he has nothing to apologize for, but she...can't. Instead, Jo stares for just a moment, thinks about saying something else, before she sighs and shakes her head. ] Apparently the gods just couldn't keep 'em around any longer.

[ text/video || because we are cool kids in cool hats in the sad corner ]

[pratentious]

[ Arthur recognises the state. He saw it in Dean more than once, and many more times than that in Camelot. ( He considers himself fortunate to never have seen it in a looking-glass, though perhaps that's more foolish stubbornness than luck. ) It's haunting sight, particularly in one whose spirit always burns bright and wild, powerful in its own right.

Perhaps it's just burning a bit hotter tonight. ]

Our time was never assured. This city has lost some of its strongest allies of late.

[ Cas and Sam were amongst the greatest of Asgard's assets, surely, for all the work they'd put forward. It's near proof enough for Arthur to know the gods haven't done this intentionally. ]

[ video || the sad corner is the place to be ]

[swedge]

[ Sam, Cas, Dean, Daphne, her mother...she just doesn't understand why they leave, why people who would do so much good, so much more than she could, are sent home when she's still here.

Survivor's guilt, at it's worst, but she knows it'll pass. For now she's allowing herself a night. Maybe a few days of embarrassment, and then she'll keep moving. This must have just been her first (and hopefully only) big mistake, putting this all on the network. Her lips stretch into a dark little grimace as she tilts her head in agreement. ]

Funny how we always manage to stick around. [ But not funny. Not in the least. She's just...not sure exactly what she's feeling. Stir-crazy. Lashing out to see when she'll finally hit a wall, or run out of gas. Something. ]

[pratentious]

[ To the brink and back. Whoever would call them fortunate is either horribly misguided or deluded themselves. ]

Perhaps we're simply too stubborn to let go.

[ He remembers, during the height of the war. She'd told him their sheer strength of will would pull them through victorious. She gave him strength. He smiles, wry. ]

Or perhaps we're simply too handsome to be let go of.

[ He wonders if they look more the part of walking through Hell now or then. That it's a close call should be telling. ]

video; private

[burping]

Are you alright? [ I'M ASSUMING THEY'VE TALKED AT LEAST ONCE BECAUSE... C'MON.]

video; private

[swedge]

[ YEAH I'M GONNA SAY SO, do we wanna plot some kind of past interactions between these two at some point? ]

I'll be fine.

video; private

[burping]

[ YES! we should considering they run with the same crowd and all.]

Are you certain?

video; private

[swedge]

[ yes! and especially since they're all co-mingling living situation wise. ]

Yeah. Just... [ she takes a breath, shrugging. ] Need some time?

video; private

[burping]

[ Pretty much.] Well, I am here if you are in need of anyone to listen.