nomoresportscars | Room 222, Tuesday Afternoon

Jackson could only ever have a good time for very short periods at a time, it seemed. And it had been a while since he'd last had a good time. The stress that had been with him for months and months now had started mounting again lately, making him even more twitchy and irritable than usual. Maybe staying away from Beacon Hills wasn't really working out for him after all. Besides, if someone else chose he had to go, it wasn't like he could stop it. That had been amply established already. And speaking of Beacon Hills, he had a voicemail from Coach Finstock about lacrosse. Championship game. How he should be coming to practice. And something about Greenberg, because there was always something to say about Greenberg. Jackson didn't really want to go. But, with the time difference, it would coincide with the full moon in Fandom, and he'd been getting pretty good at avoiding those.

He'd have to think about it, even if it just stressed him out more.

And on a more mundane note, he was still pissed that he'd had to book himself into a hotel a couple of nights back because Jim had dragged some skank back to their room and he hadn't wanted to deal with that. So yeah, his mood wasn't great.

This was some angry yet efficient laundry folding that was going on in room 222 right now.

[ooc: Open door, open post, pissy guy but what else is new? Squirrels, please note: Kanima stuff in the Jim thread NFB, please!]

Current Mood: annoyed

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

pursuedthestars

"Get out of my face, right now," Jim said, looking over at Jackson. "I don't want to smell your breath and I don't give a damn about what you think. Take a step back, right now."

From:

nomoresportscars

Jackson glowered at him. And then he blinked, and when his eyes opened, they were yellow. Reptilian. And his nails were long, sharp claws.

Say hi to the kanima, Jim.

From:

pursuedthestars

Unexpected.

Jim's eyes widened in surprise because he hadn't known that about Jackson. He didn't cower or run away but there was definitely some surprise there.

"What in the hell?" he asked, mentally going through what he had on his desk that he might need to use against this...thing.

From:

nomoresportscars

It got worse, too. He'd probably never seen skin ripple into scales in front of his very eyes before, had he? Because right now, that was what happened. Up along Jackson's arm, and the side of his neck, and one side of his face.

And then the kanima hissed, teeth bared. Those weren't human teeth. Those... were teeth that would easily tear flesh off just about anything. But it was a warning, not an attack.

From:

pursuedthestars

Attack or not, you try staring that down and not do anything. Jim reached back, grabbed a half filled bottle of water that he'd left on his desk and swung it at Jackson's face.

It wasn't a way to start a fight but he needed to get out of the corner he'd backed himself into and give himself some room from this thing.

"Get away from me!" he shouted.

From:

nomoresportscars

Jackson staggered backwards.

Yes, Jackson. His skin normal again, his eyes, his hands. He exhaled a shuddering breath, and looked down at his hands, then up at Jim. Confused. Worried.

"Wha–– ?"

He had no recollection of the past thirty seconds or so. That in itself almost told him all he needed to know.

From:

pursuedthestars

"What the hell was that?" Jim asked, holding a hand up to keep Jackson's lizardness away from him. "What are you, Jackson?!"

That was a demand and he thought he had a right to know.

From:

nomoresportscars

"Nothing." Yeah, that wasn't going to work, but just let him have his few seconds of pretending, okay? He was rattled. Getting his body snatched away from his control was never an easy thing to deal with. "It's nothing."

Look a little less like you're about to puke on your shoes, Jackson.

From:

pursuedthestars

"You're a liar," Jim said, still standing defensively. "You just turned into something! And it wasn't anything good! Seriously, what the hell, Jackson?"

From:

nomoresportscars

"It's none of your concern!" Jackson snapped, rolling his shoulders. Trying to get back on top of things. "I'm handling it!"

From:

pursuedthestars

"Oh yeah, you're really handling it well!" Jim said, rolling his eyes. "And of course it's my concern since I live in the same room as you, you dick!"

From:

nomoresportscars

Jackson snorted, but there was no joy in the sound, not even Schadenfreude. "Well, you've been living with this for months now and haven't known," he said. "Consider yourself lucky."

From:

pursuedthestars

"Are you threatening me, Lizard Boy?" Jim asked, narrowing his eyes. "Really?"

From:

nomoresportscars

Well, thank you, Jim, for at least giving Jackson something to roll his eyes at. That always made him feel more like himself.

"No, dumbass. I'm not threatening you."

He didn't want to hurt people. He was already a murder weapon, he didn't need to add to that.

From:

pursuedthestars

"I'm gonna have to start sleeping armed," Jim said, shaking his head. "And if that happens again, I won't hesitate to use whatever I end up getting."

Gun, knife, whatever.

From:

nomoresportscars

Jackson's lips were a thin line.

"Understandable," he half muttered as he turned to go back to his side of the room. "Not that a weapon's likely to help you."

Again, not a threat. Just a sad fact.

From:

pursuedthestars

"It'll make me feel better," Jim said, finally relaxing some and moving back to his bed. "You're just lucky I'm not running to the cops."

From:

nomoresportscars

For a second there, Jackson felt sick, and couldn't pinpoint why.

"Really think some small town cops have anything on that thing?"

(He was repressing the fact that he knew they didn't. The kanima had slaughtered a sheriff's station full of officers of the law. That was why he felt sick.)

From:

pursuedthestars

"On this island?" Jim nodded. "Yeah, I do. Don't push me, Jackson."

From:

nomoresportscars

"I am not pushing you, idiot." Okay, snapping a little bit again. "Does it look like I did that on purpose, asshole? Do I look happy?"

He rarely did but really, that was beside the point.

From:

pursuedthestars

Jim stalked over and grabbed Jackson by the shirt so he could slam him against a wall and glare at him.

"No, you don't," he growled. "Am I in danger living here with you? Should I move so your alternate personality doesn't kill me?"

From:

nomoresportscars

Jackson's as eyes widened a little as his back hit the wall. "Are you completely stupid?" he hissed. Was this the thing to do to someone who'd just lost control enough to half transform into a murder lizard? His hands balled into fists. Like that would somehow make sure he'd stay who he was. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Jim?"

From:

pursuedthestars

"Getting answers," Jim said, tightening his hands in Jackson's shirt. "Tell me. If I need to move, tell me right now, Jackson, because I am not staying here only to wake up and see you hissing at me. Tell me."