trans_9 | "The gods play games with men as balls... In wondrous ways do the gods make sport with men."

He'd stayed quiet once the townspeople had arrived. When everybody was talking about mind control and getting upset, a telepath speaking up in everybody's heads was NOT comforting. No way was he going to set them off.

Once they were back on the Obs Deck, Jono found a chair and pretty much collapsed. Feeling his powers come roaring completely back was slightly disconcerting, but it was better than the weeks he'd spent under the power dampening field.

It took a few moments, but he shifted the guitar case from his back to the ground, then he leaned back and closed his eyes. Sometimes, he said, not really to anybody in particular, I really hate this whole 'chosen' bollocks.

After the attempt to throw in the coin, Jamie had remained quiet as well - although there were one or two moments where he had looked like he wanted to join in. Between his throat and the situation, however, he managed to keep his comments to himself.

Still in the borrowed coat, he walked over to where Jono was sitting, and briefly touched him on the shoulder to get his attention. "I'd not be here now if ye hadn't come by," he said quietly. He was more grateful for the rescue than he could properly put into words, but he had to try. "Thank ye, Jono."

Jono looked up at the touch, blinking slightly in surprise. He wasn't that used to being touched, mostly.

After a moment, he tilted his head, reaching up to squeeze Jamie's hand on his shoulder. Yer welcome, Jamie, he said, the corners of his eyes turning upward in a tired smile. You were one of me few friends there. No way I was gonna let you get hurt if I could avoid it.

Sometimes he didn't consider himself much of a hero. And then he did things like that that made him wonder.

Jamie doesn't really pick up on the surprise as being from the touching. He's a tactile enough person that's been around enough people willing to put up with his preferred level of physical contact that he tends to go with the assumption that most people aren't bothered by it. He figures if they're not, they'll let him know.

In this particular case, it helps where words aren't working, and he squeezes Jono's shoulder gratefully. "Aye, well, I'll do the same for ye if it's ever needed." It's the least he can do for someone he considers a friend.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to get in touch with ye after the fire, though."

Well, he's also tired. They all are. So, obviously, the surprise came from being 'woken up' again.

He straightened up slightly, shrugging. Don' worry 'bout it, mate. Things happen. An' that las' bit was pretty whirlwind. Everybody kind of getting their memories back at the same time and all. 'M jus' glad yer okay.

Well, obviously. Letting his hand drop, Jamie nodded. "I'm glad we didn't wind up in a fight, even if that one Q wanted it. I'd not care to test our chances against that many guns unarmed."

Mostly unarmed, anyway. Jamie never did remove his morpher, figuring the townsfolk wouldn't have seen it as something dangerous. Glancing down at the guitar case, his mouth quirks a bit. "And ye got to bring a wee bit of McCrimmon Music back with ye."

Me, too. Jono closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the feel of the energy coming back in his chest. Reckon would would've been well screwed. That many guns and most of them unarmed or severely depleted because of the power dampeners? It would have been bad.

He chuffed out a laugh, blinking his eyes open again to look down at the case. Aye. Couldn' leave me girl there, now could I? 'Ad no way of tellin' what'd 'appen. He reached down, patting the case. Which probably prompted a small 'meow' from the front chest pocket on his duster because of the movement.

"Aye." Jamie's under no illusions whatsoever that it would have ended well, no matter what. And if there had been some sort of backup on the way...

Fortunately, he's distracted by thoughts of how bad it could have gotten by that small meow - which he couldn't possibly have heard correctly. Could he have? His head tilts slightly as he looks at the duster with a slightly baffled expression.

"Er, Jono? Did your pocket make a wee noise just now?"

Jono shifted slightly, glancing away. Erm. Why would me pocket make any noise?

Which, at just about the same time, there was another meow and Jono heaved a mental sigh before reaching in and bringing the kitten out. Near as I can tell, found 'er jus' after we were placed in the town. Wasn' like I lived with anybody, so she kept me company. It was obviously a young kitten, tail still more like a matchstick than anything else, and black but for a patch of white over its neck and chest and 'socks' on each foot.

"Hey, will ye look at that!" A smile appears on Jamie's face as the kitten is brought out. It's the first time he's truly smiled in quite some time. Slowly reaching his hand out, so as not to startle her, he leaves it there to see if she would like to be petted.

"Well, it's good ye had someone else besides me down there," he says dryly. "She seems a wee bit more companionable than I am. What's her name?"

Edited 2011-01-06 09:24 (UTC)

The kitten leaned up, sniffing over Jamie's hand before butting up into his fingers. Yes, petting would be lovely.

Oh, I dunno, mate. You were companionable enough when we talked. And when Donald was out of the shop. Though...he wasn't really Donald and now Jono could feel a headache starting so he stopped that though. Named 'er Siouxsie. Jamie couldn't see the odd spelling, so it would just sound like 'Susie' to him. Favourite band back 'ome an' I always fancied the name a bit.

"Aye, well, I suppose." For a moment, there's an odd flash of memory of the two of them talking, and Jamie shakes his head to clear it. The name of the group's unusual enough to bring him back to the conversation, however. "Funny name for a band, if ye ask me."

Then again, some of of those rock and roll groups he had listened to on the wee radio he had picked up during his travels with the Doctor had funny names, too. So who was he to judge?

The kitten gets a momentary ear rub before he reaches down to scritch under her chin. Most cats he's met seem to like that. "So what type of music does this Susie play, then?"

Jono's own memories of the time in Fairplay hadn't faded very far, yet. He's possibly more used to keeping hold of information. Or maybe he just doesn't want to let go of that little bit of normality that he hasn't had since he was sixteen.

Lead singer's named Siouxsie. And yes, Jono's slightly amused. It does happen sometimes. Full name o' the band's Siouxsie an' the Banshees. Which...is probably still a weird band name by Jamie's standards. They play punk music. Dunno if you'd've heard of 'at yet.

The kitten gives a soft, chirping meow, as kittens often do, tilting her head up. The chin scritches get her purring, leaning into them.

"Is that anything like that MTV-thing that ye can pull up in the media library?" Jamie asks, moving the scritches up to the side of the jaw, just below Siouxsie's ear. Finding those archived videos were a wee bit odd, to say the least. "With that song by that Bug-less band?"

He means the Buggles, but you really can't blame him for getting the name wrong there. It was a prime example of 'What where people thinking when they came up with that?'

"Susie and the Banshees? What were people thinking when they came up with that? I'd not want to go about bringing banshees into things, if I were them."

Sorta. Ten's to be a bit more angry. Though reckon they've got a few bands on MTV. Look up the Ramones sometime. There are others, but the Ramones will work for the moment. An' the Buggles were wrong. Radio's still goin' strong. MTV's killin' the bloody videos back 'ome.

Oh, the irony.

Jono shrugged as Siouxsie turned her head to make it easier for Jamie to reach that spot. Dunno, mate. Though one o' me teachers back in the Academy 'ad the codename of Banshee. 'Is powers were sonic screams, though, so made a fair bit o' sense, other 'an 'e was a guy an' all.

The irony of that is lost on Jamie, alas. He simply nods, accepting the statement at face value.

"Aye, I'll have to do that, then." Later, maybe, after he's had some time to decompress and try and sort these thoughts out in his head. Right now, he'll settle for sitting down for a bit, which he does - although he moves in such a way that he doesn't have to stop petting the kitten for more than a second or two. Hopefully she won't mind much.

"Codename? Oh, so people don't know who ye are. Did ye mention that before?" The dual memories are making it a bit hard for him to sort through everything at the moment. Well, that and everything else that's happened in the last few days.

Well, Siouxsie isn't exactly happy about it, but she doesn't do more than give her squeaky meow once when Jamie pulls his hand away to sit. And goes straight back to purring when he starts petting her again.

Jono nods. Professor Xavier--the guy what ran the school an' funds the X-Men--'e outed the school a few years back. So the codenames ain't quite so necessary anymore. But they're still useful on the field. Can't remember if I mentioned 'em before, though. Might've done.

"I don't remember." Jamie says apologetically. "Everything's a wee bit of a muddle at the moment."

Jono will understand that, he knows, and he falls silent, dropping his head to look at Siouxie as he concentrates on giving her his full attention for a minute or so to make up for his moving. After that, however, he looks back up and over at the other man.

"Jono? Do ye think we'll be able to sort these extra memories out?"

The silence is good for Jono. He's not always used to talking much, especially after the past few weeks. He had lived on his own and that hadn't given him much reason to talk when he hadn't been teaching or at the music shop.

Not that he'd ever been much of a teacher.

Jono blinks at the question, then shrugs. Probably, he says after a moment. I mean, we ain't 'sactly 'ad a lot of time t' deal wit' it all, roight? 'S all pretty open an' raw. 'S gonna take some more time t' fin' out what's gonna 'appen. He reaches up, rubbing his fingers down Siouxsie's back. But if it don' really start goin' on its own, might be able t' 'elp.

"Aye." Jono is right, of course. It's not as if there aren't options if things don't resolve themselves on their own - although, to be truthful, Jamie hadn't considered that Jono might be one of the ones who could help. There must be more to this telepathy thing than he thought.

"With luck, I'll not need to ask ye." His friend has done enough - more than enough - already. He adds quietly, "There's some things I'd not mind remembering, though."

It's not really something that he advertises. Most people, in his experience, dislike having someone in their heads enough to be able to talk. Knowing he could do more would be bad for some of them.

With luck, yeah, Jono agrees, then glances over and tilts his head. Maybe they won' all go away. Jus'...fade int' the background.

Knowing that makes Jono's departure after the fire a little clearer to Jamie. Personally, he's not worried about what Jono would be able to do. Partially, it's because he doesn't really have much of a grasp on it yet. Mostly, though, it's because he trusts Jono - even more, now, than he did before.

With a nod and a small smile, Jamie lapses into silence. His throat's still bothering him somewhat, and he knows too much talking will make it worse.

He continues to pet Siouxsie, however. It's oddly soothing, and something he can focus on for awhile without having to delve too deeply into his rather jumbled thoughts.

Jayne was pissed.

Royally pissed.

Pissed in a manner that he had not been pissed in quiet some time.

He'd been roped into a mission that he wanted no part of, had his brain messed with, forced into a shitty job, a shitty life with a daughter who had a shitty attitude and for WHAT!?

So a couple of almighty assholes could bet on the outcome like it was a gorram pony race.

Fists clenched, muscles straining against his desire to beat something senseless Jayne immediately turned to stalk in the direction of the door. People might want to get out of his way.

Starfire, for her part, looked about ready to cry. All of that life---a lie. She'd been lonely and miserable for what felt like a whole other person's lifetime just...so those beings could amuse themselves! How cruel. The only good news was that they'd all survived and returned to themselves.

She closed her eyes and took a grounding breath, still trying to scrub the dirt from her face and hair. Oh she was relieved to be back. Would be gladder if she could clean herself off.

Kang hated gods. They always screwed him over.

He was angry, and confused, and a whole bunch of other emotions, all at the same time; it took him several seconds to get enough control over himself to make the sparks that had started dancing around his mouth dissipate.

Alright, first things first.

"Who needs medical attention?"

"Toothless does." Said the kid with the bruised-up nose who yes, was totally ignoring his own injuries. (They were mostly just bruises anyway).

Seriously, even if the wounds had shrunk in relation to the rest of his body as he got bigger, getting tossed against a wall as a cat had to hurt.

Snorting, Kang pointed at one of the visible bruises on Hiccup with a growl, "And you. That bastard is lucky he isn't dead. What happened?"

"I'll be fine. It's just bruises."

And that was it. That was all he really planned to say.

"You'd best not be lying to me," Kang narrowed his eyes at Hiccup. It was a look that clearly said that he was definitely going to press for details later.

More quietly, "I'm fine. Toothless got me out before it got any worse."

Any worse.

Hiccup gave him a look back that clearly said he wasn't going to give the details. It wasn't his father, it wasn't his life, it didn't matter, and he planned on just letting go and moving on.

Jono stirs, pushing himself up a bit. McCrimmon, he says. Since there are two Jamies in the room at the moment. With the fire, 'e really should be checked out.

Kang nodded, "No serious burns, though, right? And how about you?"

Nah. Though might 'ave a bump on 'is noggin. Yes, Jamie. Jono's telling all your secrets. That much, at least. I ain't got lungs t' worry 'bout an' neither of us got burned. An' the power dampeners didn' do nothin' 'at a good night or two of rest won' cure.

Of course, his pocket picked that moment to start meowing. Jono cursed softly, shifting so that the pocket was freed up and he could pull out the small black and white puffball with a matchstick tail.

"...a cat. Why'd you bring a cat back with you?"

'Cause I didn' realize they were gonna come after us with guns, mos'ly. Nobody seemed to notice the guitar. But, then, Jono was often seen with one around Fairplay. It might not have struck anybody as unusual yet. Didn' seem roight, jus' leavin' 'er behin'.

Kang shook his head. He'd never been a pet person, so he didn't get the compulsion others had to rescue cats and dogs and whatnot. People were more important.

"I suppose it's yours now."

Jamie waited until Kang had finished dealing with the injured to approach him, using this time to try to calm himself down. Not counting the incident with the rage virus, he hadn't felt this utterly furious since he'd woken up on Stacy. It was no easy task, reining in his anger, but he was determined not to give vent to it; he'd already lost his temper back in Fairplay and was beginning to feel guilty over it.

He wasn't entirely successful at hiding how angry he felt, though; when he spoke to Kang, his muscles were taut, limbs shaking slightly, and his voice was tense. He found it difficult to meet Kang's eyes. "Do you have any further orders, sir?"

Kang sighed, "No, Jamie. No further orders. Was your Zoid damaged?"

"I don't think so, sir." His voice was still clipped. "I was going to go check on her once we've been debriefed."

He paused, tone considerably more subdued when he spoke again. "...I know I didn't help anything by bringing her through town and confronting the mob with her. I should have found a different route to the rendezvous point and not given the locals something else to feel threatened about. I'll take whatever disciplinary measures you or the captain think I deserve."

"Look at me," Kang put a hand on Jamie's shoulder, wings rustling slightly. "It was all a mess. None of us knew what the hell was going on for a while there, and if any punishment comes your way, it won't be very much."

Jamie's head jerked up and he stared at Kang, startled by the hand on his shoulder - he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting at the end of all this, but it certainly hadn't been anything like reassurance, and he was uncertain how to respond. His throat felt tight all of a sudden and he felt the quivering rage abruptly start to drain away, leaving growing exhaustion to take its place. He averted his eyes.

"...yessir. Thank you. Sir."

Jamie had been been standing nearby when Jono had spoken up on his behalf, and - not surprisingly - he wound up looking vaguely disgruntled as the conversation progressed. Especially once hitting his head was mentioned.

"Och, I'm fine," he said stubbornly. "I've not been burned, and my fam...the people who thought they were my family had a doctor look me over already." Both Jamie and the man who thought he was Donald had been treated for smoke inhalation after the fire, but he hadn't had a chance to mention it to Jono.

"My throat's a wee bit sore, that's all."

That slip didn't escape Kang's notice, but he didn't say anything about it, understanding completely. They all were probably going to have slips for a while, until they got the memories completely sorted out. Snorting, he took the makeshift cloak off, debating tossing it into the trash; on one hand, it was a reminder of how they were played, but on the other... it didn't seem right. Someone needed to remember what happened, since the townspeople wouldn't.

"Alright, then. If you start feeling worse, you'd better get yourself to the medbay fast, though."

He's very glad that Kang didn't point it out. Trying to sort everything in his own head was bad enough right now without being reminded of that fact.

"Aye, I will." It's a relief that he doesn't have to go right away, and he's grateful to Kang for that as well. Jamie slips his coat off, not out of any real wish to be have another reminder removed, but simply out of sheer practicality. There was a very large difference between the temperature in Fairplay and on the ship, and a wool coat is much too warm. Still, it was Donald's coat, and that brings back to mind what the beings had said would happen.

"Do ye really think those...Q...will take away the townsfolk's memories?"

"The gods play games with men as balls... In wondrous ways do the gods make sport with men."

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