Play Wid Foir Ye Get Bornt

<OOC>

OOC 1: I thought we were supposed to be doing a thing where Alex was going to get the wrong impression about Jade and Jamie and be jealous! I thought I was supposed to be writing that. Didn’t mean to ruin the party, oops. Good drama though.

OOC 2: If you don’t mind, for these snips I’ve edited some of Alex’s dialogue slightly (like proteus did with Jaxx’s that time) as Alex wouldn’t be quite so vicious. So this is what he really said:

<snip>
"Look. Whatever game you are playing... [He tailed off] Just leave me alone..." He spat [tailing off again], the ache in his heart causing him to lash out at the thing causing it so much pain. She just stood there, as tears began to fall.”
</snip>

<snip>
"Smeg off." He yelled, not caring who it was.
"Solvay open up you drunken dick." Jade hollared, banging on the door and leaning far too much on it.
"I said leave me alone. Please." He grumped through the closed metal.”
</snip>

Also:
<snip>
"Cass was right, he is no good. I shud've listended."
</snip>

She might have a problem with his drinking, but just to also remind:

<snip>
“Solvay?” she asked “What about him?”
“I dunno...” Jade shrugged “What’s he like?”
“What do you mean by 'What's he like?'” Cass asked guardedly
“You know... What's he like? ”
Sliding the handled back into a pocket, Cass frowned and absently nipped her bottom lip between her teeth while she considered her response
“He’s a good man” she said after a moment “Maybe the best aboard the ship. He was the only one who bothered to come and find me…
</snip>

Anyway, to the story… </OOC>

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<snip>
She reached out and slapped him full force across the cheek. An angry hand print began to appear, neat and defined. She choaked back a sob, not wanting him to see her crumble completely and ran out down the corridor.
</snip>

“Not sure I deserved that.” He muttered, his own drunken state causing him to sound not unlike Captain Jack Sparrow for a moment.
“I’m sorry, darlin’” he called after her, confused now as to just exactly what she was up to, but still utterly convinced she was with Jamie. “… I’m just not into women with boyfriends.”
He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
“Not any more.”

There was a period when he’d been into women with husbands, but that was a long time ago.
He’d since been hurt deeply, several times, by women with unexpected boyfriends. It wasn’t a nice feeling and pressed all the wrong buttons. It probably wasn’t very macho, but a while back he'd become irritated at women only liking him as if he was a piece of meat to be tenderized, but not tender to. All fun and games on the side but no-one actually liking him for himself. He was a person for smeg’s sake. But then... why would they? Jade was right, he was a loser and she could do a lot better than him.
“And… I don’t like games either.” He yelled, suddenly angry again. “I’m not a toy!”

She stuck her head round the end of the corridor, having heard the shouted part about games and toys.
“FUCK YOU!” She yelled.

Wow, he’d loved her voice, her accent, but now… She was just using it to hurt him.
... Turned out you could go off the Irish.

Suddenly his mind reeled back over all the nice times they’d shared together, and it almost winded him. It was both wonderful and awful.

Damn those gerbils, why did they have to go and ruin everything? He'd been quite happy plodding along keeping his thoughts private.
Love and relationships and emotional pain - they were best avoided.
Here was a prime example, he’d not even gotten into this one… and already he felt terrible! Ta-da. Another slap, this one of awareness.
Yeh, cheers lady Karma. Not sure I deserved that one, either.

He sat on his bunk, and with a humourless snort recalled the elation he’d felt a short while ago as she'd sung to him. What a terrible juxtaposition it was, butted against his angst. But that was love for you, just another drug. Fooled you into feeling great, thinking it was safe.

He’d been right to be guarded all along. People you cared about only hurt you. Better not to care about them at all. That's why he wouldn't call Plisken his friend, despite the affection he felt. That's why... Well that's why a lot of things which he wasn't in the right space to think about right now.

For a minute he thought about going after Jade. Despite the fact she’d cut his heart to ribbons he didn't like the thought of her roaming the ship alone and wasted.
Nah. A mean part toyed, but never actually meaning it. Leave her to it. Rotten heartbreaking little cow. Yeah right. He'd never do that. What if she wandered into huzard territory. Or worse. With a humpf of resignation he got up and followed her.

---

When he caught her up she was just sort of crouching in the corridor against the wall. "Oh if it isn't the drunkard himself!" She slurred.

You can talk...

“Cahm on” he said. “Let’s get you home.”

“GO ‘WAY!” She yelled. Clawing and pawing at him.
“Nope.” He refused. “Up you get.”

He heaved her gently to her feet and she smacked him on the chest.
He sighed again. “Yep. Enough silly business.” He forced himself ‘sober’. “Off we go then.”
“LET ME GO. I wanna go home.”
“You’ve gone the wrong way then.”
He firmly turned her around and directed her to her quarters.

She writhed about. “Alex. I loved you, you big prick.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that sentence from an angry woman.
“No you didn’t. Come on. Enough of that Jade. Please.” It hurts.

Eventually they got back to hers and he put her wriggling green-clad form onto the sofa.
He couldn't help but recall the other night, when they’d cosily watched Dirty Dancing. What a hollow mockery of that scene the room now seemed.
A wise internal voice spoke up again: “That’s love for you…” It reminded.
"Yep" he said aloud.

At the word, Jade looked up at him, a miserable cat who’d been forced to have a bath. She looked almost as bad as he felt, not that he'd let her see it. She wanted to see it. He felt a tug of empathy and wanted to hold her, take the miserable away, make it all better. But he mustn’t. She wasn’t who she’d seemed. He’d thought…

“I thought you were so lovely.” He told her, a sad smile tugging at his features.
She spat some garbled Irish nonsense which he couldn't decipher.
He left her sitting on her sofa while he went and got a coffee. He doubted it’d sober her up any, but it might help straighten something out.

He watched her as she sipped. It was so difficult to be near her, he wanted to kiss the top of her head again. Take away her pain. But it was her own fault. And she just wanted to hurt him. No. He had to resist. He would resist.

“All right Jade” poppet “I’d better go now.” I love you “Get some sleep.”

As he left her quarters his eye trailed back, catching the box he’d given her, still by the crystal thing. She never had told him what she thought of it. Now he knew why.

“G’night.”
She didn't respond, just sat there, all miserable in her dress.
“Oh for smeg’s sake woman” why do you have to be so adorable, even though you’re a hurtful little wench?

He couldn’t leave her like that.
“Come on," he half grumbled "where’s your pyjamas?”
“What?” Her voice was small now. Not all shouting and hurtful. Not that he'd ever think about it the same way again.
“Nightie. Now.” He said, engaging bossiness like he used to with Bedge, trying to cut through the crap.
She pointed.

He helped her undo her dress then turned away as she put her nightie on.

When he looked back he thought the dark smudges on her face didn't look very comfortable to sleep in. “You have make up on your face…”
She lie down onto the sofa, pulled her blanket around herself, and pointed again, this time to some weird packet of wipe things. He fetched them and she let him wipe away her mascara, and her tears.

“Want a programme on?”
“What?”
“Cartoon or something?”

She shrugged.

“Holly, put some cartoons on the timer for her to fall asleep to.”

Then he sat on the edge of the sofa for a while, looking at her drunk, wretched, face. “You’ll feel better soon” he promised.
And he stroked her hair. She looked at him with Puss in Boots eyes.
Then he kissed two of his fingers and put them softly to her forehead, before standing up and leaving the room.

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