III. (open-ish) i said i've been through a lot of noise

[oorah]

featuring: hotdog & his (close) cr
what's happening? frank is suffering from vaccine side-effects and has been ordered to go to the clinic to take care of it; meanttime max has arrived! and just undergone debarking surgery.
day: march 1 (night) & march 2 all day
content warnings: sick man, sick dog, the whine (not)heard round the world.
notes: if it's feasible that frank or micro would have told your character where he is, then feel free to show up. or if you are sick maybe you are unlucky enough to encounter this jerkbutt. hit me up if you want something specific!

march 1

[ after frank gifted jessica a lovely murder basket, she suspects he isn't feeling himself (joke's on her tbh.) since only just injecting him with the experimental drug that would (with any luck at all) make him immune to kilgrave's powers, she assumes frank's weird behavior is a side effect and sends him to the clinic to get checked out. after akira puts him on bedrest, he's open to visitors, and of course the first person he wants to see isn't a person at all. he texts hawkeye and micro furiously: ] bring me my fucking dog, you assholes.

[ okay, so he might be a little testy. once a sleepy max just out of surgery is brought to the clinic, too, the dog will lay at the foot of his bed, alternating between lazily guarding and even lazier dozing. frank hates being stationary. he hates feeling useless. the aches and pains are taking a toll on him, but not as much as the rising tide of frustration and irritability. even if he's usually not a chill guy by a landslide, today he's especially twitchy. he'll likely be up long into the night fantasizing different and creative ways to make kilgrave hurt. oh, hi kids. didn't see you there. ]

march 2

[ frank hasn't slept much. between the fever and refusing to take anything stronger than aspirin, he's sweating and out of it, an angry red rash climbing steadily up the back of his neck to peek out of his black jumpsuit collar. the blankets are on his feet, but he keeps kicking them off. he hates being sick, and he knows he's a terrible patient besides. maria always used to scold him for acting like a child; or worse than their actual children since they took being sick like a champ, just happy for the day away from school. he could endure torture and pain aplenty, max the dog had witnessed both first-hand. he lived in bunkers buried in the sand and traveled to countries that were just holes in the ground, but a little fever and nausea and he's ready to die. every time a cold shiver wracks his spine, he wishes for it even; picturing the bullet in his skull. the doctors telling him a shift in millimeter increment would have killed him. should have, even the way it is.

max is on the floor now, his big block head peeking out from underneath the cot. he watches the door, alerting frank to any new arrival with a tiny growl before shutting his eyes again. the noise little more than a rattly rumble from the dog's barrel chest. the message is clear: you take this one, dad. i'll get the next. ]

Comments

sorry. I've written you a novel....

[rockypath]

[Frank Castle. That's his full name? Why had he been so worried about telling anyone? She'd just figured it was something super embarrassing. Like Crotchfelt or Manlick. But she doesn't tease him about it now. That's not the time for that. Maybe later when she's beating him up at the next fight club meeting, if he does in fact still want her around.

And no, it didn't escape her that he admitted to murdering a whole slew of people. And she's not condoning murder, not by a long shot, but at least those people deserved it, at least on some level? Like she'd deserved it when Buffy had stabbed her and put her in a coma. Faith will have to mull that over later by herself. She listens to his words, holding tight on them. He's lost everything, which makes her wonder if it were more than his wife. She finds herself afraid to even ask. Faith presses her lips together in a thin line, quickly taking her hands back to clear her eyes, they felt like they were burning. But she stays close to him, finding comfort in his embrace. She tries to put up walls, avoid acknowledging that she needs people. Need acceptance.]

This place is terrible, I'm not gonna lie. But... it was my chance to be someone else, I think. So I liked it too. So I avoided telling people anything about me. Lies of omission, that's the phrase.

[She needs to know that he'll still want her around. If he knows everything. It's something that's terrified her from the moment of coming here. She's made friends. Family. But none of them knew her. She'd told Poe in an attempt to push him away, minor details of her betrayal but not the entire picture. He hadn't left, so perhaps it will be the same with Frank. But she's still terrified. ]

You don't have to talk. I just... I gotta let you know about me. I can't just keep pretending. Someone will show up eventually, I'm sure. Someone who knew me from before, maybe start talking shit about me. I don't know. Maybe they won't, but- [Faith shrugs weakly. She'd left on better terms with Buffy, but the way they butted heads she could see the blonde Slayer trying to hold it over her head here if she ever showed up.

Maybe Frank's not a good talker but she needs him to know, never mind how much he responds with words. It's how he responds in general. She just wants to be sure he won't change his mind about her. Everything she says spills out like word vomit, a tumult of information she's just dumping at Frank's feet to see what he'll do with it. She's not meeting his eyes, just talking and staring over at Max to avoid seeing how he's taking it all.]

Don't know what you've picked up from other people about where I'm from, or whatever. But my entire world revolves around monsters. Not like... him, but like the Sound Eaters. But usually I can fight them. In Reims, I feel pretty fucking useless. Before here, I was in a battle on a Hellmouth- a literal mouth of hell in California. I'm a something called a vampire Slayer. Called when I was 18, got all these kick ass super powers. No one could ever hurt me again or so I thought, no- I could hurt them instead.

But I betrayed that not long after I got Called. I killed someone on accident. Staked this guy who was sneaking up on me. But then I just... spiraled. Betrayed the other Slayer, Buffy, who only ever tried to help me. But god, I fucking hated her. Everyone always compared me to her. I got these powers, thought that meant I could finally be special, I guess. But I could never be quite as good as Buffy, who had sunshine shining out of her ass. And a family, friends, a nice house, pretty much everything I ever wanted. She tried to help me, but I pushed her away. I tried to kill her. Joined the enemy who was trying to murder the entire town, all because he was nice to me. Gave me a nice apartment, treated me like I was special. Fuck, it was so stupid. I killed another man for him, this time on purpose. Then I tried to kill Buffy's friends. Nearly killed her boyfriend too. Then she stabbed me and I fell off a building and landed myself in a coma. [She takes in a shaky breath, still not looking at him. Only at Max who had his head resting between his paws, tail thumping softly on the floor as she looks at him. She's gotta lay it all out so she keeps going.]

Then the months roll by... I wake up. I try to kill her again. Steal her body. This whole magic thing. She gets it back. So I skip town, find her now ex-boyfriend again, Angel. He's actually the only one who still tries to help me. Even though I'm trying to kill him again. I- [Faith lets out a small sob, hands covering her face but she forces herself to continue.] I tried to get him to kill me. Push him to do it. I knew that I was a piece of shit. I just wanted it to be over. But... he wouldn't do it. Convinced me to turn myself in for the murders, the assaults, the torture. [Yeah, she tortured a guy.]

So I did. Went to prison. 25 to life. Figured that's where I'd stay. But few years later... Angel was in trouble. The guy I tortured, he came to me to help save him. That's how I knew it was serious. So I formed my own 'early release', jumped through the glass in the visiting room, kicked the shit out of some guards, and jumped right out a window. [Suffice to say she could have left that prison any time she pleased. She'd been the only thing keeping her there.]

it's a beautiful one

[oorah]

[ when she pulls back a fraction, so does he, rocking back to sit on his heels. whatever this is, she needs to get it off her chest, and even if he's not much of a talker he is a good listener. he can do this for her, even as the fever presses on his brain and makes everything seem more dire than it already did. he pushes through it, and the pain, to try and focus on her now. his gaze wobbles, but she's not looking at him anyway. he knows from experience that she can't. he knows they were both angry when they got here, obviously. it's what came before that made them that way that remained a mystery to one another -- until now. frank never envisioned telling anyone here his truth. not even his real name. but here they are, and he can't take it back. he wouldn't want to if he could.

as she begins, though it has nothing relative to his life, it's familiar. like a story. this girl had a destiny to save the world; her world. it's simple in a way he likes -- in a way his world could never be. the only people with abilities were freaks like kilgrave and jessica who had been experimented on until they were something beyond human. or maybe an amplification of it. he's not really sure. there are plenty of people from his world that could come here to talk shit about him too, anyway, he knows he's been lucky so far with the additions he's gotten. there's just something poetic about all of this, she says she was called. but she didn't answer it, she shunned it. and for a moment he's not sure he can hear anymore.

then faith gets to buffy, and even his sluggish sick-brain is drawing parallels. his brother and friend: billy, a man with whom he shared all of his bounty. but jealousy had reigned supreme, bubbling just under the surface. of course, frank had been blissfully unaware of that at the time. and so many other deeper, darker things. Faith Lehane is no Billy Russo, and just the pure remorse dripping from her tone tells him everything he needs to know. This wasn't some calculated bid for evil like the man in question. This was a girl who wasn't ready for what the universe gave her. In a lot of ways, frank can relate to that. he'd always had a violent streak, even as a kid. angry for no discernible reason and without an outlet he could've ended up much the same as her.

frank lets her talk for as long as she needs to, and when it's done he knows he's been told the whole truth. he doesn't doubt any corner of her story as being genuine and hers, and he hopes she feels even the tiniest bit lighter for having told it. recognition dawns in his eyes, and he nods, placing clammy hands on the knees of his jumpsuit. there's nothing he can really say to help her, or to prove that he thinks she's still worthy of love. he thinks the same about himself all the time anyway, and still thinks she might reject him if he were to lay his heart so baldly out the way she's just done. food for thought. ]

I broke out of jail too. [ and it was just as dramatic :') ]

[rockypath]

[It's a great weight off her chest to say it all, lay out each detail to someone here. So it can stop feeling like she's hiding it like some lying sack.

When he finally speaks. She lets out a strangled noise that nearly sounds like a cry of pain but it is in fact laughter, the surprise of his response hitting her and relief filling her insides. It builds into a more clear sound, quiet as she can manage until eventually she has to put her hands over her mouth to quiet it, so it's a sputtering and muffled cackle. She sounds hysterical.

She knows this means he's still wanting to have her around. He is right, it's not his place to forgive her. That's Buffy or Angel or any of the others she's wronged. But that he knows it and still wants her to be there. It means more than she can really say.]

[oorah]

[ her laugh is contagious, hysterical or not and a bark of something startled leaves his lips too. he shakes his head, what a pair they make. two fugitives and they end up in this place together. ]

I was always angry like that too. Violent. Sounds like you already learned this the hard way, but if you can find the right place to channel it... [ he can't even finish his sentence. time to abruptly change the subject!!!! ] When I get out of here, I'm gonna put together a prison for that dirtbag. You in?

[rockypath]

I'll have to settle for punching you. Get some aggression out at the fight club... since I can't punch the Sound Eaters. [Not that she's tried. But all in all it sounds like a bad plan.

The sudden change in topic startles her and she blinks.] Sure, of course I'm in. Not that I know much about construction. Let alone silent construction.

[oorah]

Yeah, well, you know I'm always good for that. [ getting punched. he slowly backs off, closing his eyes as a shiver violently wracks his spine. it hurts to breathe, and the breaths come ragged as a result. ]

Me and Jess found this old shopping mall. It'll take a while to put it together, so hopefully Kilgrave 2.0 isn't waiting for us on Arrival Day.

[rockypath]

Well, if you find a Spencers in there you may already have the handcuffs. They might be fluffy and pink, but beggars/choosers that whole thing. [Faith tenses as she watches him convulse, worry clear on her face.]

You gonna be alright? This thing you took seems like it's really doing a number on you.

[oorah]

[ he lets out a little amused breath and nods. they'll get right on that. but then he sobers up a minute later at her question. it's a hard one to answer when he doesn't know if all of this will be for nothing in the end. ]

Yeah, I'm okay. [ somehow, he manages to make it sound convincing even as he slowly drops back down on his pillow. the rain from outside filters in and makes it easy to edge towards sleep quickly again, hoping it won't elude him this time. his eyes flash up to catch hers before skittering away again. ] Stay? For a little bit. [ the please is there in his gaze even if he doesn't say it -- just until he falls asleep then she can go. ]

[rockypath]

[It may sound convincing. If she weren't looking right at him. He doesn't look okay. But she's not going to call him on it. Instead she nods at his request. This isn't the first time she's kept watch so he can sleep.] You got it, Frank.