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+---- Thread: you play the victim with your finger on the trigger (/showthread.php?tid=12883)
RE: you play the victim with your finger on the trigger - Vesper - 06-08-2026
Vesper doesn’t miss the shape of what Jack is giving him, even if the Captain offers it in pieces small enough to deny later if either of them gets too uncomfortable with the sight of it. Being open, for Jack, still has locks on most of the doors, but there’s enough truth left in the spaces between them that appreciation settles through the upper level of Vesper’s thoughts before he can make it useful or hide it properly, soft as cream and just as difficult to scrape clean once it’s there.
The laugh that leaves him this time is genuine, low and brief, warmed by the absurdity of the offer as much as by the vicious practicality of it. He shakes his head, the corner of his mouth still faintly lifted as he looks down into his drink. [say]"I appreciate the offer,"[/say] he says, and though the words are dry, they aren’t evasive. [say]"But I figure I gotta be the one to speak ’em if they’re gonna stop feelin’ unsaid."[/say]
Very nearly he adds thanks Dad. It gets close enough that the thought has weight, close enough that Vesper’s blue eyes flick up toward Jack before he can quite stop them, but he keeps the words behind his teeth and lets the glance carry what his mouth won’t. The glass turns once beneath his fingers and for once he doesn’t immediately reach for something sharper to put in the space after.
RE: you play the victim with your finger on the trigger - Jack - 06-08-2026
Jack doesn't say it - that's one door still firmly locked between them and likely even to himself - but he also has what happened with Flora, both good and bad, to thank for the way he acts now around Vesper and the other Marins. It makes the vulnerability he offers feel more like a paper-cut than a missing limb, and the appreciation that slips through in return is an unexpected balm against it; a reward as unlooked for as it is a stepping stone to similar behaviour in future.
His laughter follows a beat after Vesper's, as if they're both acknowledging the bizarre scenario Jack has just painted for them, and the Captain spreads his hands as if to say the offer is always there. [say]"Guess it's just a matter of you decidin' if an' when to say 'em, then,"[/say] he says, because if one thing has become clear from the strange turn in the conversation, it's that things can't keep limping on as they are for the young demigod.
[say]"If you ever need an in, like I already said, there'll be plenty of back an' forth between here and Hak Etme."[/say] Jack holds Vesper's gaze as it flicks up to meet his own, sky touching ocean, and says precisely nothing, which is all the indication in the world that the point sits between them, understood and accepted. [say]"And in the meantime,"[/say] the Captain continues, [say]"there's more besides to get on with."[/say]
RE: you play the victim with your finger on the trigger - Vesper - 06-08-2026
Vesper grunts softly and nods, because there it is, laid out about as cleanly as it can be without Jack making the choice for him. An in, if he wants one; a route, if he takes it. The first step still has to be his, which is the same problem as before, but not until now has the way forward seemed as clear.
For a moment he only holds Jack’s gaze, blue to blue across the table, able to read enough there even without leaning too hard on the thread still open between them. Not everything, but enough to know the point has landed where it was meant to and that neither of them needs to bruise it by saying more. Vesper’s mouth shifts faintly, not quite a smile this time, but close enough to carry the weight of one. [say]"I appreciate it,"[/say] he says again, quieter.
Taking another sip of whiskey, this one is smaller, more measured, and he lets himself taste it instead of using it to cauterize whatever had been bleeding under his ribs before he tilts his head slightly, pale eyes narrowing with renewed interest. [say]"Oh yeah?"[/say] he says, the drawl smoothing back into place now that the worst of the conversation has been given somewhere else to sit. [say]"You got more in the works?"[/say] A plan for LongNight perhaps, or the following season?
RE: you play the victim with your finger on the trigger - Jack - 06-08-2026
Humming something non-committal that nevertheless holds all the weight of The Ark's anchor for existing at all, Jack raises his glass to Vesper to close the matter officially, drinking at the same time as the boy and letting the liquor burn away whatever soft space had opened between them. It doesn't mean it isn't still there, doesn't mean it isn't getting easier and easier to offer with every meeting like this, but it's certainly a chapter of a conversation rather than the entire thing for now.
[say]"I always do,"[/say] the Captain quips with a wolfish smile, shifting in his seat enough to make it clear that they're talking shop to anyone drifting by, his magic sharpening for eavesdroppers and interlopers. [say]"I need somethin' from Torchline to make this happen, though. Ain't ever thought I'd need it, but then I never thought I'd be here either."[/say] Shrugging, he wastes little time in delving into the matter.
[say]"It's a ledger, 'bout the size of a man's hand..."[/say]
~FIN