JACK
"Oh, it's hardly nothin'. I know what I'm workin' with now at least," Jack says with a casual shrug of his shoulder, nothing if not amused by her faux sweetness, and that amusement sharpens into something dark and knowing when the sugar chafes away with little more than a few well-placed barbs.
His eyebrows raise in quiet challenge - if she wants to talk about the ending he'd helped create they can open all of those old wounds again, but he doesn't bleed through the scar tissue the way he used to, and what Flora has shown him on the other side of their relationship is much less intimidating than what she'd managed to wield when she still had her grip snug around his heart.
"You don't get it, but you will," he says quietly, sipping at his drink. "If I hated you, that crown would be off your head. If I hated you, your love story with the soldier would be dust. If I hated you, Flora, I'd have been the one to request this meetin'. The truth of it is that you're still holdin' a rope that I dropped a long while ago, forcin' this narrative of us havin' to deal with one another so you'll get a chance to... what? Feel better about your consolation prize whenever you go home to him?"
He doesn't know, honestly, and he doesn't care to. "If you want to bicker, I know someone who does hate you plenty you can argue with," he continues, knocking back the second glass and pushing it away on the table lest he be tempted to drink more and scoffing out a mirthless laugh as she continues.
"I wondered when you were gonna flash your demigodhood like a stray tit at the beach. Congratulations, Hot Take," Jack drawls, his faux bow all theatrical sarcasm. "I am a smart businessman, but you ain't offered anythin' worth doin' business with yet. If your resources were all that, the Knight in your pocket would've squashed the trouble in the Fingers already. And we both know anythin' I wanna learn I can find out faster'n you can tell me. So if this is too hard for you, by all means."
His eyebrows raise in quiet challenge - if she wants to talk about the ending he'd helped create they can open all of those old wounds again, but he doesn't bleed through the scar tissue the way he used to, and what Flora has shown him on the other side of their relationship is much less intimidating than what she'd managed to wield when she still had her grip snug around his heart.
"You don't get it, but you will," he says quietly, sipping at his drink. "If I hated you, that crown would be off your head. If I hated you, your love story with the soldier would be dust. If I hated you, Flora, I'd have been the one to request this meetin'. The truth of it is that you're still holdin' a rope that I dropped a long while ago, forcin' this narrative of us havin' to deal with one another so you'll get a chance to... what? Feel better about your consolation prize whenever you go home to him?"
He doesn't know, honestly, and he doesn't care to. "If you want to bicker, I know someone who does hate you plenty you can argue with," he continues, knocking back the second glass and pushing it away on the table lest he be tempted to drink more and scoffing out a mirthless laugh as she continues.
"I wondered when you were gonna flash your demigodhood like a stray tit at the beach. Congratulations, Hot Take," Jack drawls, his faux bow all theatrical sarcasm. "I am a smart businessman, but you ain't offered anythin' worth doin' business with yet. If your resources were all that, the Knight in your pocket would've squashed the trouble in the Fingers already. And we both know anythin' I wanna learn I can find out faster'n you can tell me. So if this is too hard for you, by all means."
it's not your fault that you're always wrong
the weak ones are there to justify the strong
the weak ones are there to justify the strong
- Secret Telepath
- Functionally Immortal (Forever 35)
- Two small star tattoos beneath his left eye
- Click for The Ark!
