cashe: (pic#13004741)
Elizabeth C. Ashe ([personal profile] cashe) wrote2019-04-10 12:57 am
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Ashe here. These things been 'round long enough. Y'know what to do.

D E E R L Y B E L O V E D
almightythirst: (Drankin' on the Train)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Huh. Well, that was a surprise. The way she explains it all makes sense though. No sentimentality to it, just a personal vendetta years in the making. It’s even a bit of a relief. This is familiar territory. ]

Could make you all a pretty penny though, if you change your mind.

[ He says it with a brief flash of a smile, but his demeanor shifts quickly as he considers what else he came here to say. ]

Given, y’know. This whole thing. [ He makes a similar gesture with his free hand. ] I wouldn’t have expected you to stay, when I…

[ While he died. And he’s not really stopped to think about it and process what happened, the fear and the pain and the last words he’d heard her say before-

Jesse takes a drink, knocking back far too much. He hasn’t dealt with it yet, and he doesn’t intend to now. ]


Y’know what I mean. You had no reason to, but you were there.
almightythirst: (Thoughtful)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Jesse rolls his glass between his palms and looks down at it like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. He should have anticipated that question and had something pithy ready to say. Should have being the key part. ]

Not givin’ me enough credit there. You don’t think I keep up with the gang? [ With her, in particular? Though he’s not drunk enough to put it that way. ] I knew enough about your goings-on to catfish you into a train robbery. I stay up-to-date.

[ Now, as for the rest of it… he’ll need more whiskey for that, which he readily pours for himself. ]

Sure, we haven’t been on anythin’ close to friendly terms for years. But that doesn’t mean I want you dead, Ashe.
almightythirst: (Light Up)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
Didn’t much think about it. Happened fast.

[ He doesn’t drink right away this time. He just lets the glass sit in his hands and watches his own reflection ripple in the alcohol. ]

I don’t want your bounty, and I don’t want you dyin’ a pointless death in the middle of someplace like this. We’ve got history, and that counts for somethin’. Not that I won’t fight like hell when you do decide to come get your due.
almightythirst: (Huh)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ While she’d been turned away, Jesse had looked up. He’d been in the middle of studying her profile, puzzling over the strangeness of the moment and wondering at the deceptively simple act of her thanking him. Then she turns back, and he expects… something that isn’t this. Maybe something sarcastic, or sharp, and certainly not her checking his temperature. Her wrist is cool against the veritable furnace of his fever-heated skin. ]

It’s fine, I’m fine-

[ He reaches up to nudge her hand away, only then noting how dry his mouth feels. He clears his throat and blinks away the fuzziness of his vision. The flu is to blame for all of this, of course. Nothing else. Certainly not the alcohol, or anything else in the room. ]

It’ll burn itself out in a week, so I hear.
almightythirst: (Laugh)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Will wonders never cease? Jesse takes the pills first, then water, half wondering if he should have checked to make sure they weren’t poison first. But really, given the way everything has gone, he doesn’t think she has it out for him. Not right this second. He’s not convinced Chloe had it all right either, but… there might have been some truth to it, maybe. ]

Damn, well I try not to because that’s the sickest I’d been, before comin’ here. Swear you had it worse off than me though.

[ He’s grinning when he says it though, despite how terrible the memory supposedly is. ]

B.O.B. had his hands full between the two of us, still tryin’ to run things outta our sickbeds.
almightythirst: (Laugh)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ It wasn’t long ago that Jesse’d had Mercy fussing over him and tending to his fever, but this feels completely different. And Ashe does it like it’s not a big thing, casual as can be. The only reason he doesn’t say something is because he’s sure that if he brings attention to it, she’ll stop. ]

You talkin’ about me tryin’ to ride that motorcycle into town for more orange juice? Seemed like a great idea. That curb came out of nowhere.

[ He realizes he’s turned toward her at some point, his one arm propped on the back of the couch while the other holds his water. He grins and glances over to where the omnic is idling, for away enough to give them privacy but near enough to be of use should something happen. ]

Yeah, you got me. It’s the reason I always let him win at cards too. Can’t stand to see him sulkin’.

[ A straight-up lie. B.O.B. was just inherently good. Jesse had already been good at cheating, but trying to beat B.O.B. had been a big motivator to get better. ]
almightythirst: (Smirk)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
You weren’t far from losin’ your voice before that. Not my fault you had to holler ‘til you ended what the fever started.

[ Jesse’s smile slips easily into a familiar smirk. The weird thing about all this is how it’s both familiar and foreign all at once—but even so, nothing comes quite as easy to Jesse as grandstanding. It’s much too easy to fall into that particular habit, strangeness be damned. ]

Think so? You want to grab a deck of cards and prove it?
almightythirst: (Laugh)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-05 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure he would’ve had some choice words for me if he was the talkin’ type. Probably still does.

[ Her amusement is reflected right back in his grin. Between that and the whiskey and the cool cloth, he’s feeling better than he has since coming back from the dead. Not how he’d expected this visit to go, but in a good way. ]

Now those are some fightin’ words if I ever heard any. Just one round, Ashe. We can wager somethin' to make it more interestin'.
almightythirst: (Smirk)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-06 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There’s a new light in Jesse’s eyes now, bright with the thrill of it all. ]

I’d offer up the bike, but I don’t have it here. And I’m pretty sure you won’t take a promise as collateral.

[ He hums thoughtfully, eyes tracking B.O.B. across the room before he turns back to meet her gaze. ]

Suppose it depends on what you want.
almightythirst: (Just Smile)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-07 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
I didn’t say I didn’t lose ‘em, did I?

[ He’d not be above just giving her the bike itself with no keys. That’s why you always have to be careful what you bet for, or so Jesse likes to say. ]

Looks like you’re not wantin’ for much. I’m sure I could find somethin’ around here…

[ He turns his head, eyes scanning the room. He’s not wanting for anything much either, aside from the things he’d lost when he died. But she wouldn’t have his Peacekeeper, or his serape. No magic key out of Deerington either. ]

What about a bottle of your most expensive alcohol? I know you never skimp on quality liquor.
almightythirst: (Huh)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-08 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ Jesse goes very still, eyes locked on her and searching for any reason to think that was a joke. He’d never call himself a sentimental man when it comes to things. When you’re always on the move, you can’t afford to care about too much. Can’t take it all with you. Peacekeeper, though… that had always been the one constant, aside from the clothes on his back.

And Ashe has had it this whole damn time.

He should be angry—and maybe he is, a little—except that this all seems fair within the Wild West sort of rules he and Ashe had both once sworn by. You steal from me, I steal from you with interest. Can’t be too made when you kick a rattlesnake and then get bit. ]


You sayin’ you have it? Or is that just a bluff? I’m gonna want to take a look before I bet.
almightythirst: (Smirk)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-09 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ That’s his weapon, no doubt about it. It’s reassuring, which is at odds with the self-satisfied smile on Ashe’s face. He doesn’t expect her to pull any punches. Might be she’ll even hit harder, given it’s something so precious to him on the line. ]

She’s an ornery thing. Takes a firm hand to shoot her straight.

[ He’s still got that same smile on, that same easy way about him. But there’s a new sharp glint in his eyes that signals he’s no longer treating this like a game. ]

That’s too bad about the bullets, but beggars can’t be choosers. Now that I know what I want- [ He nods towards his gun. ] You still gotta say what you want from me.
almightythirst: (Light Up)

[personal profile] almightythirst 2019-08-11 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ These stakes are just the kind Jesse loves to play with: ones that matter, and that would severely burn him if he were to lose. Not the safest hobby, but he’s always had an unhealthy taste for danger.

He does give the proposition the consideration it warrants first. Working with Ashe again on some ambiguous endeavor would be no small thing. Given what Chloe has said about it, he already knows it’s something shady. But he’d have to keep his word, if he were to lose. It’s all he’s really got.

Finally, decisively, Jesse nods once. His hand goes out for her to shake. ]


You got yourself a bet.

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