week three - wednesday evening (handsome jack)

[eisenundblut]

[Prussia's stumbling on her way back from the beach, still checking her bandages as she moves. Newt had already helped her with the worst of her scratches, and the rest she'd been able to take care of herself, so at least she isn't visibly bleeding anywhere. Her blouse is unfortunately the shreds of cloth she used as bandages, so she's just walking around in her plain white bra. Don't get too excited now. And don't say she never gave you anything.]

Jack!

[She's a little too tired and injured to be properly enthusiastic, but she's not disappointed to see him. Instead, her lips curve into the start of a smile as she holds her side.]

Thanks for earlier, mein Schatz. It sucked, but... we'll be okay.

Comments

[almosthandsome]

Ha, says you.

[Prussia's just who he's looking for. After the whole mess of a triage, Jack had gone off and pitched a little fit in private. That had been pretty freaking awful. He'd helped a kid lose his arm. That's the kind of stuff he pays a team so he can avoid. They're the ones in the thick of things, not him.]

[That's not an option here. Nope, he's right in the middle. Bloodied and holding kids down for impromptu amputations. But he isn't the only one who had a long afternoon.]

C'mere sweetheart, you can barely walk. You want a shirt? I got a few. Well, two shirts and like a tank top. Point is, I can spare one.

[Not that he minds the view, but...it's sort of not as hot when she's all messed up and bandaged. And he likes her. She's fun and she's cheeky and she's calm in a crisis. Plus cute, but it takes more than cute for Jack to actually like someone.]

[eisenundblut]

I've got that shitty t-shirt they gave me when I got here, but... ja. I'll borrow the tank top, if you're offering.

[And she'll probably return it in a way cleaner state than it was in when she received it?? She's a stickler for clean laundry.

She reaches out and pats his shoulder twice, with maybe a little more force than anyone in her shape should rightly be able to exert right now.]

You did good. With Keith. You're not used to this shit, huh?

[almosthandsome]

Yeah, you can borrow it. Still leaves me two shirts, it's no big.

[He's a gentleman, damn it. He'll give a lady in need his shirt. That's what good guys do!]

Ha, no, no I am not. I'm a guy who programs super computers and builds robots and lives on a space station and works for a company that's got a private army. I've seen all kinds of violent shit, I run a mining operation on a really violent planet and I'm kind of in the middle of fending off invaders... [He sighs.] But it's never up close like that. Worst I ever seen up close was...a guy shot. Just one clean shot.

[And he'd been the one making it. But it was self defense, the guy had taken a shot at his retreating back. After he'd let him go! What else was he gonna do?]

And here, you want to lean on me? You're kind wobbly looking.

[eisenundblut]

Danke.

[She exhales a sigh and nods. Sure, living on a space station? Weird, but alright. Super far in the future is no less plausible than way far in the past, anyway. She's too tired to question it to much, even if she's sober this time.

And she nods again, pausing to throw an arm over his shoulder. He's only a couple inches taller than her, and her heels probably make up enough of the difference that it's not too uncomfortable.]

Bandages should hold so you don't get blood on you, probably. Anyway... hope you don't have to see that shit again. War's brutal enough without civilians having to see it firsthand.

You gonna be okay?

[Says... the girl who looks like she got run through a woodchipper?? Alrighty.]

[almosthandsome]

[Jack leans down a little, to make it easier on her.]

Eh, I'll be fine. I'm a big boy, I can handle some traumatizing gore. And don't worry about the blood, I had a bunch of Keith's on me earlier. Kid's a trouper. What about you? You were going pretty hard there, and you're pretty banged up yourself.

[He's just maybe mildly mentally scarred, she's the one who got all cut up and crap. And then played Doctor for everybody else.]

[eisenundblut]

If he can keep that attitude up... he'll be okay.

[She nods, tries for another tired smile. She's genuinely proud of them all for stepping up, keeping anyone from bleeding out or dying of shock (ASSUMING NOTHING CHANGES).]

Kesese... I've been through way worse than this.

[A lot of it was the adrenaline of suddenly being surrounded by the carnage on the beach. A lot of it's from her expecting she'd heal a lot more quickly than she has.]

You're some kind of cosmonaut, so maybe you never learned your history about how bad shit was when I was a cute little knight.

[almosthandsome]

Here's hoping.

[At least nobody had died. But still...the damage was pretty high. Limbs, an eye...they really don't need to embrace the island theme that strongly.]

You sure? You're kinda having an extra shit time of it. You need anything or whatever...I mean, you know where to find me. I even held back some booze - don't judge me.

And nah, history only goes back so far until it's pretty much a mess of guess work and pop culture. I don't even really get what you are, to be honest.

[eisenundblut]

[Embrace every single theme. Go hard or get dead!!!!]

Kesese I don't blame you. They said they'd give you three bottles, oder? And I only counted two.

[SHE IS MORE OBSERVANT THAN. she acts tbh. She sags against him a little more, exhaling a breath. So far in the future that none of them (countries) are important?? That's. Pretty bleak for her to imagine, tbh.]

You must still have countries in space, right? Territories? Sense of identity and citizenship?

[almosthandsome]

Yeah, there's...a lot of jaeger left. Felt...kinda weird drinking it this week, plus it's the really good stuff. We'll head back to my hut, I'll give ya that shirt, you can have some, if you want.

[If he's gonna share it with anybody besides Newt, it's gonna be Prussia. Seems kind of fitting, since Austria had asked for it. Hence why there's the most left.]

Well, we've got companies and planets. Like I'm Hyperion, 'cause that's the company I work for. And some planets have divided territories. Pandora's mostly tribal, but the Hodunks have the Dust and the Zaphods have the Highlands, that kind of thing. But no, there's not really any countries.

[Sorry, Prussia.]

[eisenundblut]

...

[Yeah she. Remembers talking to Austria about that. Mein Gott, she's tired. And Austria isn't even here to scold her for being reckless.]

Just a little. Don't want to waste it.

[But more importantly, there's the weirdo future Jack comes from that's really terrifying for her to contemplate.]

You still got Earth, right?

[almosthandsome]

Yeah, probably wanna save it. Who knows how bad we're gonna need it down the road? Son of a taint, I'm running out of coping mechanisms here...

[He's sure as not gonna poke around at jungle plants now. Not that it had been a great idea in the first place, but now...no way.]

Uh.....

[He's pretty sure she doesn't want the actual answer to that.]

I mean, I'm out at the frontier, like...galaxies away....

[eisenundblut]

Huh...

[Yeah, she decides not to push the issue. There's been Enough trauma for today, she doesn't need to know what's happened to the whole planet. She'll be long gone by then, anyway... No, wait, that's even less pleasant to think about.]

Anyway, me, I'm the country of Prussia. Europe, Earth. The greatest country on Earth, except maybe my awesome little sister Germany. Started as a cute little order of knights, some other stuff happened, became a kingdom. War... it's always bad, but it used to be bad. Real bad. I didn't know how to handle amputations just from Google, you know.

[almosthandsome]

Yeah, that's the whole thing I don't get. 'Cause...you're a person. And I thought maybe you meant like you're the president or whatever, cause I get that, that's a thing where I come from. One person being the face of a company or whatever. But that's...not what you are. And it's really confusing, to me, actually. I mean...do you function like a regular person?

I'm not trying to be rude, just...I dunno, trying to figure out your whole deal. 'Cause I like ya.

[eisenundblut]

It's okay, lots of people get hung up on it. But nah, the president, the Bundeskanzlerin; they're my bosses. Don't think about it too hard, you'll hurt your head.

[She waves her free hand dismissively, then grimaces. Ow, no, okay, that stretched a couple cuts she didn't want to stretch. Fuck.]

France had a whole saying about like... us, the country? We're a ship, and the people are the... sails? Or the wind or something. Anyway, point is, we're nothing without our people to keep us going. We're... I dunno, shaped by our experiences, by the perceptions of our citizens, by our culture, our language, our bosses... but we're people, too. Me and Austria both. Seen a lot of shit in eight hundred years.

[She looks like she wants to start feeling sorry for herself again, talking about Austria, but she forces it aside for now in favor of patting Jack's shoulder with the hand that's over it.]

I like you too, mein Schatz. You did a good thing today. Proud of you.

[almosthandsome]

Yeah, sorry, I still don't get it. But it doesn't matter, you're cool. Whatever you are.

[He's had enough headaches on this island, he doesn't need anymore. She's a country, he's not gonna think any further about that.]

That's a hell of a long time, shit. And I've been feeling old! [And also a hell of a long time to know somebody. That's gotta be messing Prussia up. Jack's not the best at sympathy, though, so he doesn't try and say anything. He contemplates giving her a gentle squeeze with the arm he has looped around her, but that'd probably just hurt her right now.]

Yeah, I did pretty good, didn't I? Kept it cool under pressure, didn't puke. Now I can add 'battlefield surgical attendant' to my resume, that's pretty sweet!

[eisenundblut]

[IT... SURE IS MESSING HER UP!! But she's trying to deal with it, in her own way. It's why she needed to obliterate her entire brain with alcohol, though.]

Kesesese, you've got some years to go before you catch up with my awesome self.

[She pats his shoulder again. Please don't live to eight hundred, Jack, humans aren't supposed to do that. There's all kinds of movies about bad stuff that comes from that!!]

You didn't puke. That's a lot more than I can say about a lot of kids who've gone through this stuff. You want more training, maybe try talking to Erhard. Another one of my precious citizens, he's a real trained doctor.

[She's... so proud she's almost sparkling. Both the Germans here, both doctors!! She's so proud of them both.

...She'd be proud of them no matter what though lbr.]

[almosthandsome]

Oh no, nope. Gonna pass on that. I am not the doctoring type, learned that for sure today! I will participate in an emergency only capacity. I'm glad I did good, I'm glad the kid's gonna live, I'm glad I scored some points with you...I'm good. And I'm sure your doctor is a great doctor.

[Jack's got his bragging rights. He doesn't need to get himself roped further into this whole beach-front triage thing. He'd like to keep one set of clothes blood free if at all possible.]

So just...ya know. Out of curiosity...how many points did I get today?

[eisenundblut]

Hope we don't have many more emergencies like this... Leave it to me. You can be my assistant, that'll make it better, ja?

[She pats his shoulder again with another quiet kesese. This stuff isn't for everybody. It should be left to cool people like her, but, well, things don't always work out that way. Not in this kind of situation.]

...?

[She gives him a glance, clearly confused.]

What points? You have a bet going with somebody? Who's going to get my Awesome Award of Awesomeness or something?

[almosthandsome]

If hope was...something plentiful...aw shit, I forget that stupid phrase. Anyway, I wouldn't bet on it. But yeah, sure. I'll stick with you when shit gets gory.

[He returns the pat, since that seems safer than a squeeze.]

What? No, I just mean...come on. Where'm I standing, is what I'm getting at. Cause for most of us, life is short and getting shorter by the minute. And I'm not the kinda guy that rolls over and gives up just 'cause things are getting doom-y. I dunno about you, but I wouldn't mind having some fun before everything goes completely to hell. And you...you're pretty cool, Prussia.

[eisenundblut]

...

[Wait. She gets it now. And is still kind of ??? about it honestly because people... don't come right out and call her cool. Nobody actually calls her cool? It's absolutely the right thing to say to get her panties off.]

You know I'm all about havin' fun, kid, but I don't think you want my awesome blood all over the place. Kesesese...

[She might be covered in bandages now, but moving too much will absolutely reopen those wounds. Also she's genuinely not used to anyone taking an interest in her, in any fashion, so... she's honestly a little flustered? She's dumb.]

[almosthandsome]

Oh geeze, I don't mean...like now. I just mean in general. Like...say, when you're doing a little better, am I gonna look like an idiot if I ask ya for a walk along the beach or to one of those little private places or something? I'm just trying to feel this all out. But it's dumb to be coy about it. Mind games and shit drive me crazy.

[And Jack honestly thinks he's the smoothest thing in the galaxy. He is clearly crushing this! He's giving her a shirt and helping her and everything. Classic hero moves.]

But again, already got blood all over. Kinda getting used to it. How messed up is that?

[eisenundblut]

Oh... haha, yeah, 'course I knew what you meant!!

[She didn't.]

Tell you what. Take that Jaeger on a walk along the beach with me, we'll see what happens, ja?

[She's trying to sound cool even though she's still ??? about all of it. And also completely heartsick over Austria at the same time. She's a mess just drown her in the ocean tbh.]

[almosthandsome]

I'll take that! And don't think I'm gonna be all butthurt if nothing happens. I'm just letting you know I'm available for you. For whatever. Everybody wants different things when the world's falling apart.

[He likes to drown himself in his favorite vices. He still likes her as a person. Or whatever. But he's gonna give it a shot, he's going nuts here.]

But you let me know when you're up for that walk.

[eisenundblut]

Aaah, you're right about that. But that just means we have to keep fighting back to make sure the world doesn't end on us, oder? We'll keep fighting until we win.

[She pats his shoulder again, finding some of her usual nonchalance now that the pressure feels off.]

I'm flattered, mein Schatz. It's about time someone recognized how cool I am!

[-She says, coated in blood. So. Cool.]

[almosthandsome]

Obviously you're cool, you're hanging out with me! I only hang out with the coolest people.

Gotta be honest, though, not really sure what our odds are here. How the hell do we 'win' this without most of the island dying?

[He doesn't give a serious crap about most people here, but there's a small circle he'd be really pissed off to see die. Plus he wants to survive, and get back to whatever the hell he's getting back to.]

I don't wanna sound like a Downer Dan over here, but...a bunch of people couldn't even handle the jungle for an afternoon...

[eisenundblut]

Ahaha, natürlich!

[She's silent, though, giving the question serious thought at odds with her usual cheerfully dismissive demeanor.]

We figure something out. I'll figure it out!! I just need to find the right people to fight and then crash bang pow-- ow!! Fuck!!

[She'd tried to punch the air with her fist but nope, shit, that hurt. She sags more against Jack as she bites back another swear of pain.]

Anyway, don't worry about it. Leave it to me, I'm the best! The mistake was they went without taking my awesome self along!!

[Which. is kind of fair?? Her group survived with the least amount of injuries, after all.]