Whittemore House, Beacon Hills, Too Early Hours of the Morning, Sunday

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson had never been this glad that his parents were on a weekend trip to visit some family friends. The house had been empty when he and Korra had made it there, and while it had taken some effort to get in without keys and without tripping the burglar alarm, he was still glad he hadn't had to try and come up with any explanations. For anything.

Of course, Korra was still there, which wasn't that good for his continued efforts to not talk about anything. But that was why he'd left her in the kitchen as soon as they'd gotten into the house, so he could go have a warm shower to wash the blood off his hands and get his body temperature back up before getting some actual clothes on himself, and he was just now coming back downstairs.

He kind of hoped Korra had left while he'd been gone, but he wasn't counting on it.

[ooc: NFB, and for that bender chick!]

Comments

[failsatspirit]

Yeah, Korra wasn't particularly interested in leaving. Funny that.

She had however ransacked the kitchen to find the ingredients for a herbal tea, because it mightn't help with the situation but it certainly couldn't hurt. "Here," she said, offering him a steaming cup when he came back into the kitchen.

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson made no move to take it.

"What the hell is that?"

Because it wasn't Jackson if he wasn't pulling a judgey face at being offered tea. But at least that meant he was feeling a little more like himself.

[failsatspirit]

"It's tea." And not even that weird tea made from ostrich-horse butter Tenzin tried to make himself drink sometimes, so there was no call to make that face, Jackson. "You need something hot in you and soup would take too long."

Plus he really didn't want to try her attempts at fish-broth.

[nomoresportscars]

That was probable. A second or two passed, and he reached for the tea.

"Thanks," he said. Not entirely sincerely, but his tone was a little too dull to tell, anyway.

[failsatspirit]

"No problem," Korra said, reaching for her own cup. It'd probably be a good idea to let him drink before bringing up the whole lizard thing, plus it'd give her time to figure out a less than blunt way to ask.

[nomoresportscars]

Yeah, that was definitely not a discussion Jackson was going to be initiating. Nope.

He took a seat by the kitchen table, looking tense while sipping his drink and kind of wishing this whole situation away.

[failsatspirit]

Korra took a seat across from him, wishing she was any one of her previous incarnations who'd know how to handle something like this.

"So, how much of yesterday do you remember?" There, that wasn't too stressful a way to start, right?

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson gave her a dark, dry look.

"What do you think?"

That was to say, not much.

[failsatspirit]

"So not the part where other Stiles drugged you and you turned into a giant lizard after some ghost talked through you?" And then killed someone, but she was working up to that.

[nomoresportscars]

Yeah, he'd actually guessed that part. Past experience, and all that.

"No," he said. "I also don't remember leaving Fandom, or how the hell you got here. In case you were curious."

[failsatspirit]

"I followed you, because you were acting like a jerk." Beat. "More of one than usual."

[nomoresportscars]

"Yeah well you shouldn't have," Jackson groused.

Even though he had absolutely no reasoning of any kind to back that up with.

[failsatspirit]

Korra crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Guess I should have left you naked and unconscious in the street too." ...after being the one to knock him out.

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson's eyes narrowed. "Mm. And how exactly did I get knocked out in the first place?"

[failsatspirit]

Korra sipped her tea. "Someone hit you in the head with a chunk of rock."

[nomoresportscars]

"Of course," Jackson replied, dryly. He looked down at his cup, swishing the tea around a bit. He guessed he should have thanked her, or something, but that would have been veering dangerously close to acknowledging everything.

And he'd rather not.

[failsatspirit]

Korra understood the impulse to act like your problems weren't there, but trust her, it only led to creepy guys in masks making promises to take your bending away. "You know you can't keep pretending this isn't happening, right?"

[nomoresportscars]

"I'm not pretending anything."

Oh yes he was.

Although he had not remembering the things that happened going for his side of the argument.

[failsatspirit]

Right, if Jackson was going to be deliberately obtuse, so could Korra.

"Good, then," she said, clapping her hands together. "Admitting there's a problem is the first step. So how exactly are we going to fix this?"

[nomoresportscars]

"... We?"

Seriously?

[failsatspirit]

Because you've been doing such a brilliant job handling it on your own so far, Jackson.

"We," Korra repeated, since he seemed unclear on that point. "You're my friend, and even if you weren't, someone's using you to kill people, and if we don't do something they're either going to keep on doing it, or decide keeping you around is more trouble than it's worth."

Yeah, Korra failed at tact, but was remarkably good at blunt.

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson shook his head. "No. There's no we. You're going back to Fandom. I can handle everything on my own, and I don't need your help."

Funnily enough, this was partly also about keeping her out of harm's way. But mostly he was just being stubborn.

[failsatspirit]

Because clearly Korra needed protecting. Total damsel in distress over here.

"And how many people will die while you do that?" It wasn't just Jackson Korra was worried about.

[nomoresportscars]

How did Jackson manage to look even more tense? Was that like some kind of a secondary kanima power?

"This is not your problem."

Let him kill people in peace, woman!

[failsatspirit]

Jackson had met Korra, right? She wasn't exactly a sit back and let lizard murders happen kinda gal.

"Yeah, it kind of is."

[nomoresportscars]

Jackson huffed, leaning back in his chair. "There's nothing you can do," he said. "There's nothing anyone can do."

[failsatspirit]

"And you know that because you've asked so many people to help out? Or any at all?" It wasn't like Korra was unfamiliar with feelings of hopelessness and crushing despair, but they'd tried pretty much everything before she'd finally given in to it.

[nomoresportscars]

"How do you help someone who ––"

You know what, he didn't even want to finish that sentence. Everything that was even remotely accurate were things he didn't want to admit. That he had no control over things. That he couldn't stop the transformations, the murders, anything.

He drew in a breath that was a little ragged. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want you involved. I don't want anyone in Fandom to know."

[failsatspirit]

"Then I won't tell anyone," Korra said. "But I'm already involved, and I'll find a way to help." Hundreds upon hundreds of past Avatars, and there had to haven been one who'd encountered something like this, different world or not. "Even if it's just knocking you down when you go all creepy, and getting Naga to sit on you until you're less lizardy."

[nomoresportscars]

"Fine."

It was the same kind of fine he'd given her earlier in the night. Grudging, but too tired to argue about it. Because he was seriously tired. Exhausted, even.

He finished his tea.

[failsatspirit]

Korra would take a grudging fine, it was better than him still insisting there wasn't a problem.

"You should probably get some sleep." There wasn't a 'we' there because someone had to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't getting kanimaed twice in a row.

[nomoresportscars]

Well, he wasn't going to try and argue with that one. But.

"You're not watching me sleep."

[failsatspirit]

"Well, no, that'd be creepy." Seriously creepy. Besides if he was sleeping he should be fine, it was him getting up and walking around all weird, she was worried about.

[nomoresportscars]

It wasn't going to happen again so soon. Not that either of them had a way of knowing that.

Jackson rolled his eyes (like another grudging 'fine'), then shook his head.

"You can't be here when my parents come back."

[failsatspirit]

Korra didn't really want to leave Jackson on his own, but..."I guess that would be kind of hard to explain."

[nomoresportscars]

"Even I'm not supposed to be here." But at least that would be easier to explain, yes. "Random girls? I'm not going to put my energy into justifying that."

[failsatspirit]

"I'll be gone by the time they get back then." Before that, he was kind of stuck with her.