forum The Hero shows up at the Villain's doorstep one night // One on One // CLOSED

Started September 13, 2019 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Killian nodded. "Hm." He looked at Sparky. "Yeah, I agree with you on that." He looked at Jade again. "But seriously, that's cool."

She shrugged. ”It’s about as cool as if you were asked to go to Vegas and be the next Chris Angel or Penn and Teller.”

"I…don't know who those are, so I'll take your word for it." Killian replied with a laugh. He put his hands in his pockets and began to whistle.

Jade gave him a double-take. ”How do you not know them? They're really famous magicians. I’ll admit I'm not really a fan of Chris Angel but Penn and Teller are huge.”

He blinked. "Oh. Uhm…" he shrugged. "Okay? I'll look up some Youtube clips sometime."

Jade sighed. ”I was trying to give you a compliment and I ended up putting my foot in my mouth.” she muttered.

Killian laughed softly. "Mm. Do your feet taste bad?" he asked in an innocent tone, though his expression was anything but.

Jade was torn between laughing at his bad joke or smack him for it. ”You’re infuriating.” she managed to groan out.

Killian winked. "Me?" He replied, acting affronted. "I'm offended, madam!"

”She’ll make it up to you when she's calmed down a bit.” Sparky reassured. ”I’m afraid she's a bit flustered right now.”

Jade glared at Sparky. ”What are you, my father?”

Killian laughed. "Technically, he's your child." He replied, raising his eyebrows at her with a smirk.

”Actually, she based my appearance off of her-”

”NO! You don't get to bring that up!” Jade yelled, immediately feeling bad about it but she couldn't stop right now. ”And you, ” she turned sharply to Killian. ”that’s not helpful to point out.” She stormed off quickly wiping away tears that were threatening to fall.

Killian blinked quickly. "I-I…Jade? What did I say?" He said slowly. "You said the same earlier. What did I…?" He trailed off, watching her go and not sure what to do.

”It's not you she's mad at.” Sparky told him sadly. ”I’m afraid I brought up a painful memory for her.” he sighed and looked down, ashamed of himself… or appeared to be. It was hard to tell with him. ”There are parts of me that are obvious but… If I could tell you more I would.”

Killian nodded slowly. "Oh. I…should I go after her?" he asked slowly, eyes still following Jade as she walked away. He glanced at Sparky, then at Jade again, biting his lip and wondering what he was supposed to do.

Sparky shrugged. ”I'm not sure. What is the best way to deal with grief? Some say it's better to be alone for it, others say that having someone to share it with is better.” he tilted his head questioning.

Killian frowned. "Not helpful." he said. "I'll go after her. I guess." he walked after Jade, remaining at a bit of a distance. "Jade? I…what's wrong?" he asked slowly, trying to figure out how to help her.

Jade was leaning against a metal support with her arms wrapped around herself. Her helmet had been thrown a good distance away from her and was laying on its side. As she heard Killian approach, she quickly wiped away the small tracks of tears on her face. ”Nothing. I'm fine.” she told him, her voice cracking a bit.

"You don't sound fine." Killian replied slowly. He stopped a few feet away from her, trying to respect her space. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I don't think Sparky meant to, either." he bit his lip for a moment, green eyes studying her carefully.

She shook her head, not looking at him. ”It’s not you. You didn't hurt me and Sparky… I just need to teach him not to blurt things out like that.” she sighed.

"Alright." Killian replied slowly. He might be charming, and flirty, and arrogant on occasion, but he had no idea what to say to make this better. What to say to help Jade.

”It’s just something I don't like thinking about.” she told him. She wanted to tell him more but she wasn't sure if she could talk about it yet. ”Did you ever read Sherlock Holmes?”

"Alright." he repeated. he frowned a little, but nodded. "I…yeah. I have. Why?" he asked, looking over at her and raising an eyebrow, a little confused.

She sighed. ”Well, I forget which case it was but at one point Sherlock became so self-assured in his ability to solve a case that he actually got one wrong. Norbury. His one failure.” she cleared her throat as she tried to continue. ”In future cases, if he ever reached that level of arrogance again Watson would remind him of that case. Let's just say that Sparky played the part of Watson to me just now.”

Killian narrowed his eyes a little, looking at her. "If you say so." he replied slowly, studying her carefully. "I still don't quite understand, but I know you don't have to tell me, and I won't pressure you."

Jade nodded and wiped away a few fresh tears. ”I’ve lost my fair share of fights. I never claimed to be perfect but there's one failure that… hurts to think about.” she choked back a sob. ”And the worst part? He wasn't mad at me. He didn't blame me. He tried to tell me th-that it would be ok. I don't understand how he could say that when he was…” she had to stop as the tears flowed freely.

Killian hesitantly put a hand on her back, rubbing her back gently. "I'm sorry." he said softly. "I…don't know what happened. But…i'm sorry."

Jade didn't say anything but slowly nodded, her shoulders trembling slightly as the details of that moment played in her head. It was almost like a movie that she couldn't turn off. Her heart breaking all over again at the loss.

Killian kept rubbing her back gently. "I'm not going to ask for specifics; I know whatever it was probably still hurts." he tried to reassure her as best as he could.

Jade nodded. ”It does.” she whispered, leaning against his shoulder. ”Thank you… for understanding.”