[SE] top of the world

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Why are they here?

Easy.

Jack and the Ark are going to be out of the clutches of the monsoons in just a couple weeks, and this is one of the last times he's going to get to see what's beyond Torchline now that the world has decided to open the fuck up.

Sure, he's messed around on the jungle floor a few times previously, but the Oerwoud is much bigger than that, and much more dangerous. And he's heard on the grapevine that things are happening to some who go wandering through these parts, though no one has been really specific about what sort of things.

Why's Aurelia here, though?

Also easy.

Bitch stole his sunglasses, and now she's got to suffer his company.

The captain reaches the Leap of Faith at midday, while the sun is trying to shine through a sky that's decidedly grey. Grey sky, grey mist, and some plants with weird yellow berries. "An' here I was hopin' there'd be a city of gold."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

There's a lightness in Aurelia's steps as she leads the way for Jack, cloak billowing out around her legs as she moves with expert ease through the jungles of the Oerwoud. Hell, she might even hold a few cumbersome branches out of his way as they go. Can't have Jack going and getting sucked into the void of sentient vines, can we?

But as they breach the canopy of trees and find themselves somewhere quite spectacular, she pauses to take in the view and let him mumble grumpily past her. The mist that surrounds them may be gray, but it's a cool spray that she invites by way of pulling down her hood. A soft sigh rolls out into the dull air.

She peers at him from behind his dark shades which, yes, she had swiped at a very opportune moment. Is she wearing them out of necessity? No, at first it was just to bug him but, now, they feel quite comfortable! Smiling sharply beneath the rims of the glasses, she cocks her head to one side. "Nothing impresses you, does it?"

As they continue, she reaches out and snaps off a small branch. It's wet to the touch, but she dangles it towards him. Those weird berries hang, rather temptingly in her opinion, over his shoulder. "They're not gold, but they're close. Go ahead, try one." There's a hint of mischief in her tone, because she's familiar with the bashful effect they can have on some people.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

"Takes a lot to impress me, it's true," Jack murmurs, and though he doesn't glance over his shoulder to Aurelia, the smile is audible in his voice. The captain sails all over the place every other season - who is to say that he doesn't encounter sights like this on the regular? Still, he glances across to see the dewy, golden berries dangle over his shoulder, and scoffs under his breath. Of course his magic can tell she's up to something, but the joke's on Aurelia - Jack doesn't feel any physical sensation.

(His curse doesn't extend to emotions, and whether the effect of the berries will override that is something he's about to find out).

Plucking some of the fruit from the branch and popping it into his mouth as though he has no idea what they might do, he shrugs his shoulders. "Average," is his verdict - then again, not like he can taste it.

"So d'you find this place impressive?" he inquires, meandering towards the edge of the Leap of Faith to stare into the thick mist.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

She looks over the berries quizzically, wondering if they weren't ripe or something. "What? ... Well, I think they're tasty," she murmurs indignantly, trying one for herself. Yep, still tart and sweet and pretty damn good! Ah, but it does take a lot to impress Jack. Maybe the same goes for food; only fine dining would be acceptable for the captain of the Ark. Anyway, that's not the only reason she wanted him to try them.

With a victorious air she follows after him, paying close attention to dodging slippery stones and precarious rocks. The fact he reflects the question back at her is surprising, assuming he likely wouldn't give a shit what she thinks. "It takes a lot to impress me, I'm jAcK and this is aVeRaGe," she retorts, doing her best, most arrogant impression of him. A chuckle breaks her façade and she tosses the berry branch out into the mist.

"It's quite a view, you have to admit," She gestures out towards the mist that surrounds and clings to the cliff edge in an attempt to convince him. Her own footsteps come to an abrupt halt, though, because she's not confident in going quite so far out as him.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

"I'm sure you fuckin' do," Jack shoots back at her, before raising his eyebrows over his shoulder as if to ask whether she's being obtuse on purpose. "Remember when you showered me with glitter back in Deepfrost, an' I told you I was cursed and couldn't feel anythin'? That hasn't gone away." It's been seasons of tasteless food and drink, getting nothing from cigarettes or booze, and with a limp dick. Berries aren't going to cut it.

They continue out along the edge of the Leap of Faith, and it's either arrogance or the knowledge that even if he falls it won't hurt that has Jack venturing out further. "Know what ain't average? Whiskey sours from the Hanged Man. First thing I'm gonna get once this thing's broken."

He pauses suddenly, though, as if noticing something that can't really be seen, and he holds out a hand for Aurelia not to go any further. "Take 'bout three steps back, yeah?"

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

Aurelia grimaces and ducks her head apologetically. "Oh, right..." she mumbles awkwardly, "I kinda forgot, honestly." She would say more, but as they continue to carve out a path along the rocky crags, she decides better of it.

She'd be bittered by something like that, if she were in his place, though she does want to ask if there's anything he could do about it. Anything she might be able to help with, but the words don't quite find their way past the tip of her tongue at first.

She drops her act of pretending to be Jack and lets the jest go, raising her brows at him hesitantly, "How do you break a curse like that?"

She barely manages to finally ask the question when he brings up his hand and her gaze flashes with confusion. "Huh?" Her lips curls up and her brows press together, but at the very least she accomodates him with two large strides backwards.

Only, she's not looking at where she's going anymore and trips over a loose stone, landing flat on her ass. "Ack," she cranes her neck and stares over at him, grumbling out, "what is it?"

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

"I wish I could forget," Jack drawls, though he doesn't sound as put out by it as his words might suggest. As for how to break the fucking thing? The captain scoffs out a laugh. "I've gotta cause pleasure to someone I'd normally wanna hurt. An' I've gotta cause pain to someone I'd normally wanna please. All well an' good until you consider that I don't really wanna please anyone but myself." And so that's that, he guesses, unless by some miracle he can get a god to lift it. Unlikely, but the possibility is still there.

Or it will be if they live through this. Because whilst Jack's words are comparatively calm, no sooner than Aurelia steps back (and trips, and falls, and gods it's annoying that he can't pause this moment just to laugh), Jack jumps. Not over the cliff, of course - no, he jumps towards her, to where she's just stepped.

And there's an almighty crack as the stone he stands upon simply falls away, leaving the captain leaping across clean air to try and reach the new edge. And he doesn't quite make it.

As far as Aurelia is concerned, Jack is gone.

The reality is that he's clinging to sheer, sharp rock, his knuckles skinned and a great deal of blood drenching the side of his face from a head wound, too. "Well, fuck."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

Aurelia doesn't have much time to formulate a plan of action for Jack's curse situation because what's just happened is setting in. (Which is probably better for them both; you don't wanna hear her solution.) From her position on the rocks, she can only watch in shock as he tries to save himself from falling with the cliff. Her hands reach for him at the last moment but, all of their efforts fall very short.

"No- JACK!" Her shout fills the air, echoing back into her own ears.

Shit. "Shitshitshit- SHIT!" He's fallen over the edge and he's gone and he's probably so fucking pissed off.

Why didn't I grab him?

Unless...

She practically leaps over the edge herself, trying to peer through the mist and see if there are ledges he might've fallen onto. The sunglasses fall from her face, landing against the cliffs and bouncing off into the gray air.

"Jack..!?" Her voice cracks with dread as she calls his name, but then it strengthens into anger - or determination, "Rrrgh! Damn it!"

They may not be able to see each other, at least not yet, but he'll be able to hear the scrape of her boots over rock as she lowers herself down along a ledge. Her heart's in her throat but she's not about to leave him here, if he's still... here.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Honestly, Jack doesn't know what the fuck Aurelia's complaining about given that he's the one who fell off the fucking cliff. Still, there's a sound of something above him, a gentle clack, and then the glint of a falling thing just out of the corner of his eye. He glances up just in time to see that it's his gods-damned-sunglasses, and maybe it's the fact that he feels no pain and therefore has no fear, but Jack actually lets go of the cliff with one hand to reach out and snatch them.

Oh no you fucking don't.

Thus we have a situation whereby, when Aurelia does finally come into view, Jack's wearing his sunnies and flashing a bloodied grin up at her, clinging for dear life against the cliffside. "You plannin' to jump as well or some shit?" he calls. "I know life ain't worth it without me, but there's no need for all that."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

Her gaze scans the misty, jagged ledges for any sign of the captain, looking for his familiar mane of hair or grouchy blue eyes or his skinny, god damn ass. Only it's none of those that catches her eye. It's the dark glare of those sunglasses. She barely hears the words he says, he barely has the time to say them, before she's picking her way as quickly as she can toward him. There's a fine mix of relief and this-isn't-over-yet panic in her eyes as she sees - and even smells - the blood that's smeared and dripping over his face.

"Jack," she gasps out just as she feels the lurch of her weight, stopping completely, eyeing the empty air. Fucking hell, this is terrifying. Her eyes rake back to him, towards the sketchy as fuck space between them. "Just- hold on." She swallows the bile in her throat and stiffens her shaking hands.

She continues on, searching for whatever sturdy thing she can to ground herself to. A particularly strong, lengthy root leans out towards her and she buries it in a vicelike grip. She doesn't need him to risk falling, to risk jumping for her hand, not when she's perfectly capable of grabbing him herself.

But as she reaches out and snags him by a handful of his shirt, rocks beneath them crumble and fall with the added weight. Her eyes widen and, for a moment, she thinks they might both drop. Alas, nothing else really happens. Not yet, anyway, and she lets out an extremely nervous laugh. "I take it back, this place is fuckin' shitty. Why'd you wanna hang out here again?"

At that, she attempts to pull him up towards safety. Well, something more safe, anyway.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Jack's ass is neither skinny nor damned by the gods, thank you very much, and he much prefers to think of his eyes as electric blue, but he supposes she's right about the grouchiness. "Me," he punctuates, rather sunnily all in all, as she finally appears. "Wasn't plannin' to let go to be honest, love. But cheers for the heads up." Maybe certain death yawning below him is just what the captain needs to feel chipper about the Leap of Faith. Still, her fear and upset is infectious, and Jack tries to regard Aurelia a little more seriously - difficult with sunglasses on.

"Hey, listen," he says, his eyes on her as she reaches for the prodruding root just above her. "This place is an absolute shithole, so the best thing to do is to fuck right on off outta here, yeah?" He doesn't expect her to crane out and towards him, admittedly, and Jack winces at the stones that bounce down around him.

Then Aurelia's grabbing his shirt and he's hauling himself to safety with her help. There's not too much room on the ledge, all in all, so it's a pretty cozy scene when he does find his feet again, and the blood lays heavy on the air between them. "You're a doll," Jack says breathlessly. "Now let's fuckin' go."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

"Good," it's meant to be a sarcastic retort but it comes out in a breathy, distracted sigh. How he can keep up his sarcastic bullshittery is beyond her in this moment, but she tries to reflect it back at him if only to keep him from completely freaking out. She doesn't know what she'd do if the situation were reversed.

'Listen' he says, and her eyes flash towards his face with a solemn look on her expression. It doesn't deter her even as she meets his gaze, reaches out to grab him by the folds of his shirt. She pauses only when rocks tumble out into the vast mist, but soon she's hoisting him up and pulling him in towards her, towards safety. The blood on his forehead is enough to draw her brows upward in concern, and she keeps her hand locked onto his shoulder.

Regardless of whether he appears fine, she knows head injuries enough not to trust that he'll be okay on his own. So she hopes he won't be stupid enough to let go of her stabilizing grip, or try to shrug out of it. She doesn't mind the closeness between them. Hell, Jack can lay across her shoulder for all she cares. "Yeah, yeah, agreed," she says to his declaration of getting the fuck on out. "Keep holding on, Jack," she orders him firmly, "just hold onto me, okay? I'll get us fucked right off outta here, okay?"

Her eyes are wide as they move back and forth between the path and him, making sure he's not losing his footing, making sure she's finding good enough footing for him to take.

"Here, let me climb up and give you a hand," she says when they reach a particularly steep edge.

She uses her feet, hands, strength, and agility, whatever combination is required, to clamber up onto the ledge. It's then that she reaches down for him, lifting him up onto the ledge. From here, she turns to examine his head. "Are you okay?" She asks finally, in spite of wondering this the entire time. Her fingers boldly yet gently explore his temple for the source of bleeding before letting him move on.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Honestly, not being able to feel a damned thing of the pain that's undoubtedly pounding through the side of his head or across his skinned knuckles is a blessing in this moment. It also means that Jack is much less likely to respond negatively to Aurelia reaching and grasping and fussing at him, something he would normally swat away as uncomfortable or annoying. So it is that he slouches against her, acting quite reasonably for the captain as they try to pick their way along the side of the cliff.

"Are you worried 'bout me, Aurelia?" he rumbles, unable not to flash her a positively shit-eating grin, even if his steps are not as steady as he would like (awkward) and his legs keep trying to buckle beneath him. Still, however they manage it, she does haul him up and over the side of the cliff to safety. "My hero," he drawls, about to set off far, far away from this stupid place, when suddenly her hands are on him again.

"I've been better," he tells her. "Prob'ly got a helluva fuckin' headache. How bad's it look?"

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

Aurelia

How come silence is so loud in the shadows?
I wanna scream 'til it's on

She's only glad he doesn't put up any sort of protest. Knowing him, that's a bit of a miracle. Her hand fishes around his back, steadying his wobbly legs and attempting to guide his steps to ensure they both don't go tumbling off the edge into the great fucking unknown. Not so great at this moment, she thinks.

Her brows furrow incredulously. "I thought you were dead," she mutters between gritted teeth and concentrated use of all the strength she has to support him, "you fell off a cliff, your head's busted," she eyes him for a split second, gaze flickering between his face and the blood pooling on it, "and you're over here smiling, you bastard. Of course I'm fucking worried!" Stress heightens her pitch in that last sentence.

They manage it, though. Safety at last. Time felt so much slower, and for what felt like such a long time. She heaves in a steadier breath, not so shallowed now that he's not in immediate danger. Imagine what would become of everyone if Jack did fuck off and die. The Ark? The crew? Her? Hero, maybe, but... "I'm your friend," she corrects him, sucking in a sharper breath. She glares up at the wound on his head, "and you're not allowed to die on me."

"You're fine, stay still," she lies and rips off a piece of her cloak using the blade that is always at her hip, a dutiful piece of something long-lost. At least now it can have its own moment, where the words etched on it look up at Jack almost pointedly: 'do not fear, my love, for I am with you'. She gives it to him distractedly, practically shoving it into his lap to hold for her as she fumbles with the material. Her fingers are trembling, something she doesn't know how to stop. She blots out the blood anyway with a gentleness she isn't used to.

Tell my feet they should run
but they don't follow