11/9 Issue: Shit Happens

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
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11/9 Issue: Shit Happens

Post by Slarti »

Timelined directly after Not Haunted.

Beth: Beth hummed to herself, her hips wiggling as she connected pipes under the sink to take waste water away. The tricky part was going to be replacing all the yucky pipes from the street to the sink but one thing at a time... She rolled over onto her back to finish tightening some joins. Under the sink land was cozy.

Jean: Jean had changed clothes to make herself a little more useful, but right now that use was floating things to Beth and sitting on the cabinet. Around the room, Jean had several things floating, and she watched them do a ballet for her amusement as she swung her bare legs.

Jean: She probably should have found something to make due for pants, but all she had was one of Jamie's old, ratty shirts. She was pretty sure it was the same one she'd stolen from him in school.

Beth: "Nearly finished here then we need to find where the shut off is on the street so I can change some of these disgusto pipes without getting soaked...." She tapped one of said pipes with her wrench.

Jean: "Okay, shouldn't be too hard. Want me to go look for it?" Jean leaned sideways, with teke assistance, to look inside the cabinet at Beth... mostly Beth's butt, tbh. "Is it supposed to sound like that when you hit it?"

Beth: "Like an old metal pipe?" Beth lifted her head to peer out at Jean over her boobs, "That's usually what they sound like, yeah...."

Jean: "Yeah, but usually more clink! than clonk!" Jean giggled, then was distracted by a buzz from her phone. "Anyways, want me to go find it?"

Beth: "Yeah if you want... it should be marked... Google it..." She turned back to her tightening job.

Jean: "Believe it or not, I know what a water pipe looks like." Maybe. Jean floated down from the counter, let all her toys settle, and grabbed her phone. "Ugh. My mom texted me again. She saw me on TV and called this morning. That went super well."

Beth: "Was she as pleased as mine? They can start a club!" She shifted to reach a little better at the pipes.

Jean: "Oh definitely!" Jean tossed the phone back onto the counter and headed outside. Both the 'rents flipped their shit over it. I'm a drug dealer and a public embarrassment now.

Jean: Her tennis shoes scuffed against the pavement as she started the slow circle of the building looking for pipes.

Beth: We didn't even do anything embarrassing yet... Beth rolled her eyes, So they want you to quit before you even start?

Jean: Pretty much. They're also gonna lose it about Jamie. Jean was in a mood now, thinking about her parents, so she sped up until she found said pipe. Found it!

Beth: What's wrong with Jamie? In her distraction, she slipped with the wrench and in an effort not to hit herself in the face she overcompensated with her teke. The wrench hit the questionable pipes with a loud clang and a lot of swearing as water erupted from the now gaping hole. "GAH!" TURN IT OFF!!

Jean: "OH MY GOD!" Jean felt Beth freak out, fueling her own freak out. She grabbed the valve and turned, though of course it wouldn't budge. A boost of teke got the job done though. Holy shit! You okay?!

Jean: Jean kicked off at a run for the front of the building, then skidded to a halt when her lojack pinged. Really? Now? She could tell Jamie was still a few miles away so she sprinted back inside.

Beth: A soaking wet Beth was extracting herself from the no longer cozy under the sink land. "That was not fun..."

Jean: "Fuuuuuuck. No, not fun." She covered her nose. "Ew, water shouldn't smell like that!" There were rags in Beth's kit and she grabbed a few and handed them over.

Beth: "That is the smell of stagnant water.... probably some legionnaires disease..." She wiped the gross water off her face. "I suppose it's too much to hope that my hair survived that...."

Jamie: Jamie did not like the feeling he was getting from Jean and he pushed his car a little bit faster than normal. That was the second time she had freaked out today and they were too close together for his liking. If Beth broke his building...

Jean: "It's..." She made a face. "Rosie had a long shift?" Jean crouched just outside of the puddle of stank. "'kay, so there are some real old towels on the third floor. Probably more stuff from the farm. I'll be right back and then I can totes dry this shit."

Jean: As she straightened, she felt him, and he was hella suspicious. Ignoring him for now, she didn't fuck around with the floating and flew up the stairs.

Beth: "Yep... towels..." Beth pulled a face as she wiped the worst of the water off her skin and tossed the rag to one side. She got up from the floor, grabbed a bottle of water, and wet a fresh rag in an attempt to feel somewhat clean.

Jean: Jean grabbed some of the worst ones in record time and snatched one of her own shirts and a pair of bike shorts from her bag on her way back. She landed back in the kitchen and yep, that was still gross. She needed Febreze!

Jean: "Here," she said, handing off the clothes and going to get the worst of the mess up before he got there. "Got more good news! Jamie's almost home."

Beth: Beth groaned, "Nooo now he's going to think I'm incompetent!" She pouted, tossing the wet rag to join its more gross friend on the way to the counter to put the clothing items down so she could unfasten her overalls. Stinky!

Jean: "Nope, he's going to think we both are." Which, he might be right. "I don't suppose you have a lighter?" Jean was trying really hard not to think about what she was doing as she sopped up the chunky water and plopped the poor towels into a trash bag.

Beth: "I have a blow torch?" She offered. "You know... for the sealing of copper pipes..."

Jean: "That'll work." Jean looked around and spotted the thing. If she knew one thing, it was fire, and this would go a whole lot faster if she got a jump-start.

Jean: Stuffing the last of the doomed towels into the bag and tying it off, she turned around and made a face at Beth's ruined outfit, offering another bag. "Sorry, Rosie..."

Jean: Shit, he was getting close now. She grabbed the blowtorch, cranked the gas, and clicked it on. Taking the flame into her control, she handed Beth the torch.

Jamie: Jamie pulled up next to the curb and barely stopped to lock Baby before he raced up the steps and in the front door. "Jeannie?!" Oh, oh gross. Stagnant water. Yeah, never letting anyone else touch this building. Ever. Nope. Noooot happening.

Beth: Beth blinked at being handed the torch, "Can I turn this off now?" She set the bag on the counter with the clothing offering and froze at the voice. "I'm not decent!"

Jamie: Jamie's eyes went even wider at that. Why was she not decent in the room with his girlfriend who likes girls?! “Jean?!”

Jean: Shit! Everything is fine. Her mental voice to him was distracted as she used the fire to focus. "Turn it off," she told Beth, tone remote. She had to tune out Jamie's emotions now, too.

Jean: The flames licked across her skin and she lifted off the floor, her hair rising in curls of fire. Eyes closed, she heated the air above the wet wood, incinerating the decades of filth in the process.

Beth: Beth turned off the blowtorch and leaned on the counter to watch Jean work. She wished she had that kind of fine control.

Jamie: And now he smelled fire! Jamie swallowed hard and instinctively took a step back toward the door. But... Jean. He balled his fists at his side and forced himself forward. Fire is the worst way to die. Fire would not get Jean.

Jean: Beth, could you maybe calm my boyfriend down? Haunting the hoodrat earlier had been fun, but maaaaybe they should have been working and avoided all this. The only real fire in the room had nearly finished its work and Jean decided to do some cleanup.

Beth: Beth fastened most of her buttons as she headed to intercept Jamie, "Hey! You're back!" She smiled brightly.

Jamie: Jamie would have been excited to see how Beth had been dressed if she hadn't been covered in complete gross. "What'd you do to my building?! Where'sJeanissheokaywhydoIsmellfire?!"

Beth: "Your building is fine. Jean is fine. There's no fire. Be chill!" Beth waved her hands soothingly. "I would hug you but I'm covered in gross water."

Jamie: "Ha! No fire my ass! If there's anyone in the world who knows the smell of fire, it would be me. Where. Is. Jean." No messing around. "JEAN!"

Beth: It's not working! "She's fine! She's just concentrating right now. Stop shouting at her... She'll be out in a minute."

Jean: Jean had taken care of the water damage by now, and let the heat bleed out of the wooden floor and walls.

Jamie: "Fuck that and fuck you." Jamie shoved past her and rounded the doorway to the kitchen, mouth dropping open as he stopped in his tracks. "Jeannie!" Fuckshitdamnitalltohellinahandbasket! Jean's fire doesn't hurt.... But shit! He rushed in to grab for her, his instinct to save her from painful death stronger than the knowledge that she was fine.

Beth: "Charming." Beth rolled her eyes, turning on her heel to march after him, "Jamie, she's fine!"

Jamie: "You don't fucking get it, Beth! Shut up!"

Jean: Now, to dispose of the evidence... The icky pipe flaked away from its connection and started to dissolve into its base elements. Jean felt the flare of Jamie's emotions behind her and winced, turning in the air to see him push past Beth. Jamie, I'm fine. Shit. Shit, shit, shit!

Beth: "I tried!" Beth threw up her hands in defeat. She leaned against the door frame and put her hands in her pockets, waiting for it to be safe for her to strip.

Jamie: Jamie swallowed hard and reached out for Jean, trying to ignore her flamey eyes. "Jeannie... There's no need for fire in here... Right? C'mon now. Come down and turn it off." Fucking fuckity fuck.

Jean: The fire was technically already off, but she knew he wasn't gonna believe that. The trash bag near the sink rose as well, wisping away and dividing into its molecules. Jean set herself down as it vanished.

Jean: She started to reach for his hand but realized the phoenix flames were still crawling over her skin and hair. Whoops!

Jamie: Jamie's hand twitched, but held its place between them, which he was rather proud of. "Jeannie," he tried for his softest, most tender voice. "Turn it off, okay? You don't need it."

Beth: Beth decided to distract herself rather than insert her foot in her mouth and straightened up, heading for the spare clothes and unbuttoning her overalls again.

Jean: His voice made her smile just a bit and she closed her eyes and extinguished the flames.

Jamie: Jamie breathed a sigh of relief and stepped closer to grab her hand, pulling her into his arms. "Dammit, Jean," his voice was shaky and there was no heat behind it. He wouldn't be angry about the office kitchen. Yet.

Jean: Jean slid her arms around him, hoping she'd fucking taken care of all the gross water before he distracted her. "I didn't mean to scare you. That's just... how I work."

Beth: Stinky overalls off, Beth pulled on Jean's spare clothing offering and stuffed the overalls in the bag to throw in a washing machine later. She also whipped off her bandanna because that was wet too and started unpinning her hair. Sigh. It had looked so awesome.

Jamie: "There was fire, Jean. Real fire. You didn't think that would scare me?" He held her tight and close and did his best not to breathe because the stench was still all around them.

Beth: Beth decided to make herself useful now and crossed the room to open some windows and air the room out. Stinky stinky.

Jean: I'm sorry. The pipe broke on Beth. I turned off the water and I was drying it out. Jean heard Beth moving around and squeezed him, trying to project calm. His timing was terrible. FFS.

Jamie: Jamie jerked as Beth crossed his field of vision. She was wearing different clothes. When did that happen? Was that a power she had that he didn't know about?

Jamie: He pulled back to look down at her and bent to give her a fierce, but brief kiss, then stepped fully back, putting her at arms length so he could look at both women. "Water should be turned off at all sources before attempting to fix plumbing. I thought you were certified!"

Jean: "I was turning it off," she started, taking a step back from him to set her hands on her hips.

Beth: "I didn't need to while I was changing the waste pipe!" She complained, leaning on the window sill. "Jean was outside to turn the water off so I could change the other pipes but I slipped with the wrench and knocked the other one and apparently they're flimsier than they look."

Jamie: "...didn't need to? It sure as hell looks like you did need to! That's the first thing you're taught in plumbing school! Turn off the water at all water mains before starting work." He threw his hands up in the air and turned around, not able to look at either of them. "If you're under the sink, you turn it off. Accidents happen and if it's already off, you don't need to worry about it!"

Beth: "If the stopcock hadn't been a piece of crap it wouldn't have mattered!" Calm down. Tekeboom. Beth turned to glare out of the window instead.

Jamie: "This whole building is a piece of crap in case you failed to notice when you drove up!"

Jean: Jean wasn't terribly interested in looking at him either, so instead she turned around to inspect her handiwork. She smirked. Other than the smell, the wooden floor looked exactly like it did before they started. Score one, team Grey. She dropped into a crouch to look inside.

Beth: Street furniture was rattling. A car alarm went off down the street. "I'm trying to help you! Stop being a jerk!"

Jamie: "Oh, yeah, because adding more mold problems to my ever-present list of things to fix is so helpful. I told Jean you could do this because I figured it wouldn't get fucked up since you were supposedly certified!" He punched the door frame, glad he was still wearing his jacket. Stupid, Madrox. Want something done right, send a dupe.

Beth: "There's not going to be a mold problem because Jean fixed it." She ground out, digging her nails into her upper arms. "You need to stop shouting at me."

Jean: Okay, his new habit of hitting things was very annoying. Jean rolled her eyes and inspected the rest of her work. The busted pipe wouldn't be leaking ever again. She felt Beth's control faltering and straightened up.

Jamie: He finally turned to face her again. "I'm not scared of you, Beth. You can stop shaking the outside now." Jamie crossed his arms over his chest. "And maybe you should look into getting re-certified in plumbing. You're supposed to take a class in it every two years here in Massachusetts."

Jean: "She's not trying to scare you," she pointed out, getting ready to throw a shield over Beth if she had to.

9:10 PM Beth: "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm telling you. You need to stop." A parking meter down the street exploded.

Jean: Their words crossed each other and she made a face at the small explosion. "Okay, you're done!" Jean raised her hand and parked a pinkish bubble over Beth, cutting off the rattling of the glass in the windows and the continuing noise from outside.

Jamie: He barely registered the explosion because his head was already full of his many voices. "I need to stop? Says the woman who broke my kitchen." Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to calm down. The kitchen was already broken. She made it worse, but it was still broken to begin with. Just don't let her touch anything else and it would be fine. Jean keeping her in a bubble would be even better.

Beth: "Wow. Five years turned you into a real dickhead."

Jamie: "Five years taught me how to rely on myself in the city instead of on an isolated Kansas farm. If you can't deal with the fact that someone is pissed about a wrecked job, maybe you should look into other forms of employment."

Beth: "It's not wrecked! Look around! It's fucking fine! Accidents happen! You don't have to be a shithead about it."

Jean: Well this was going to shit fast. The noise in Jamie's head was super distracting, but Beth was still pretty loud too. "She was doing it to be nice, Jamie! Not as a job! To do something nice for me, and for you! Yeah, we fucked it up, and we were fixing it."

Jean: She moved closer to Beth, still holding the shield. "We'll just go, so everyone can calm the fuck down."

Jamie: Jamie shook his head, "No. I'll go." Without another word, he turned and walked out, shutting the front door behind him and collapsing to sit on the front steps. FUCK.

Beth: Beth growled a little before shutting her eyes and taking some deep cleansing breaths.

Jean: Jean hadn't really been expecting him to leave, but knew he hadn't gone far. "Sorry about that," she sighed, turning her attention to Beth. "Tell me when you're good."

Jamie: Jamie scrubbed his fingers over his scalp as he took deep breaths of the air that didn't smell like disgusting, stagnant sewage. At least he knew what one of Jean's freak outs had been about. He didn't even want to imagine what was broken for the first one. And of course Beth did it as a favor, not a job, but if this had been a job, then she would have been fucked. Cool it, Madrox. You can fix it.

Beth: After a few more cleansing breaths, Beth nodded, "I'm okay... and don't apologise for his attitude problem. He wants to be pissed at me, he's going to be pissed at me." She sighed, "I had a teke incident under the sink or this wouldn't even be an issue, so I'm pissed about that, too, which isn't helping my mood."

Jean: Jean released the shielding and ran her hands through her hair, drawing in a deep breath and regretting it. Uuuuugh. "Oh, I'm sure he's pissed at me, too, so whatever. He's always had the temper, he just shows it more now."

Jean: "Well, shit," she said, pouting in solidarity. "Teke incidents fucking suck." Jean looked around at the open windows and went to open more.

Beth: "Yeah... the wrench slipped and I reacted trying not to hit myself in the face with it, and hit it too hard, and then it hit the pipe, and..." she made whooshing sounds and hand gestures. "At least you didn't take gross water to the face..."

Jean: "I'm very grateful for that," she agreed. "If it's any consolation I got it second hand, and I can taste it now." Jean finished opening windows, noticing Jamie was on the front steps. She sighed to herself, watching him for a moment.

Jean: Stepping back from the window, she raised a hand, the pink glow growing stronger as she used her teke to push and pull the air through the windows in a cross current.

Beth: "But you don't have to wash it out of your hair," Beth pointed out, deciding to peer under the sink and look at the damage, "We're going to have to cap this off or there'll be no water to the building at all until it's done. Or am I not allowed to touch things now?"

Jamie: Jamie felt Jean closer to him for a moment, but when he looked up, he didn't see her at the window. He sighed to himself and pushed to stand up. There were a lot of reasons he had gotten so upset and he needed to explain himself. And apologize.

Jean: "Your hair was really cute," she commiserated. It was hard to tell if it smelled better or not since they'd been in here with it, but she definitely felt the air moving around. "Ugh. I don't know. I might be able to seal it off... the same way I murdered the pipe and the towels, y'know?"

Jamie: Taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh air was probably a good idea before opening the door, so he did it. Jamie pushed the door open and stepped inside, noticing that it smelled better. Not perfect, but breathable. Awesome. He rubbed the back of his neck then headed toward the kitchen. "Beth. I need to apologize, but I also need to explain why I got so upset. Are you willing to hear me out?"

Beth: Maybe you should ask him which he'd prefer. Beth straightened up from peering under the sink again and turned to look at Jamie, folding her arms because bike shorts had no pockets. "Are you going to talk like a normal person or start shouting again?"

Jean: She sensed him coming but kept moving the air, glowing hand directing the currents. He seemed calmer, so that was something. Jean turned toward his voice, glancing between he and Beth. We'll see. I might just fix it and he can suck it.

Jamie: Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "I'm talking like a normal person already, aren't I?"

Beth: "So far," Beth conceded with a shrug of her shoulder, "As long as there's no shouting, I'll listen."

Jean: Jean watched them both. She could tell he was trying at least, so she sighed and sent him a mental caress.

Jamie: The corner of Jamie's mouth twitched up when he felt Jean and he rolled his shoulders under his jacket, trying to make himself relax further. "This building," he started, then stopped and took a breath. Try again. Do better. "I gave up everything I have ever known in order to buy this building." Better. Keep it up.

Jamie: "I know it needs a lot of TLC, but I was prepared to do that. And to make mistakes along the way. I wasn't prepared to worry about fixing someone elses' mistakes." Going backwards... Jamie winced and tried again, "I know you didn't do it on purpose. I'm sorry I yelled at you for it." There you go.

Jamie: "As far as the fire thing..." His eyes cut to Jean, not knowing how much she had told Beth. "There was real fire here. And I don't do that well. Like, at all. Especially not around Jean. So when you told me there wasn't, it just made my irritation higher." He stepped forward and offered his hand. "I'm sorry I yelled at you for just trying to help. Truce?"

Beth: "It was an accident... I slipped with the wrench and pipe explosion happened," she explained, "Jean was fixing it and asked me to try and calm you down and I, apparently stupidly, thought telling you there was no fire was better than telling you that Jean was throwing tiny fire particles around the kitchen to evaporate the surprise fountain goop..."

Beth: She sighed heavily, "Let me fix it, okay? I can do this and make it nice. I do know what I'm doing..." She reached to put her hand in his, "I'm qualified in two countries, you know..."

Jean: Jean smiled a little when she caught his side eye. Soooorry... Fire was sort of her thing, but she should have thought it through. Sigh. "Yeah, I asked her to catch you, so that's my bad." Throwing tiny fire particles?! Not helping, Beth! She gave her friend a wide-eyed look.

Jamie: Jamie's eye twitched at 'throwing tiny fire particles' but he managed to keep calm. He looked back at Jean for a second, then back at Beth, shaking her hand. "No powers this time," he said it to Beth, but meant it for Jean. "And make sure all of the water mains are off. And then you can fix it."

Beth: "The water is definitely off now," Beth nodded, "I'll go put my stinky overalls outside or in my car or something..."

Jean: "But no powers means I can't get rid of that smell," she complained, waving her pink hand, then smirked at Beth. "Want me to dissolve them for you?"

Jamie: "No powers used on the actual fixing of the sink and plumbing," he elaborated and stepped in to slip his arm around her waist. "Okay?"

Beth: "No! I can wash them!" Beth flailed at Jean. "I don't use powers for plumbing. My powers aren't plumbing friendly... case in point." She gestured at the sink. "I fix stuff like a regular human."

Jamie: Jamie turned back to look at Beth and just blinked. "Your powers did this?"

Beth: "Full disclosure: The wrench slipped. I reacted to deflect the wrench from my face. My powers overcompensated and the wrench hit the pipe. It really was an accident." She shrugged, "Shit happens."

Jean: "Sure smelled like it."

Jamie: Jamie took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Full disclosure is always best to be given up front before someone who has been murdered by fire hundreds of times comes in to find his kitchen and girlfriend on said fire because of a mistake he thought was made, not an accident." He lifted his head and lowered his hand, "Still should've shut off all the water mains first. Just saying."

Jean: Jean had figured out how to keep the air moving though a teke construct, releasing it over their heads. Hands free, she wrapped both arms around Jamie's waist. "Okay, babe, you got the last word on the water mains, just saying. Full disclosure, I was turning it off when the accident happened, so we just had shit timing. Moving on now, right?!"

Beth: Beth decided not to start another argument over the fact he came in yelling and wouldn't listen to her when she said everything was fine. "Yep. It's fine.... Think I'll go home and shower and change then come back with some air fresheners and snacks... Yes?"

Jamie: Jamie grumbled under his breath about agreeing to move on and then reached out to grab Beth's hand and pull her in for a group hug. Two gorgeous girls in a smelly - though almost not smelly - kitchen. Focus on the good, Madrox. "Thanks for helping, Beth." In her own way.

Beth: Beth returned the hug, "It's fine... I'll make it better." With an electric kettle and some anti mold paint so he didn't have to worry anymore. "Also I'm working on the permit for the gas main..."

Jean: While a group hug was normally nice, Beth smelled terrible. "It'll be fine, and we had fun until... well, all this. So hey!"

Jamie: "You're what? I could kiss you! That's awesome!" He grinned at Beth then looked at Jean, "But I won't. Promise."

Beth: Beth laughed, "I wouldn't. I'm still stinky," she advised. "But yes, we'll be able to meddle with the gas main in the next week or so. I know I'm amazing." She stepped out of the hug, "So. Don't touch," she pointed at the sink, "I will fix. But first... destink. I'll be back in a couple of hours. So you have a timer on any hankypanky."

Jean: "Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on any hanky or panky," she giggled, resting her head against him.

Jamie: Jamie flailed a bit and looked between the two. "You tell what we do?" He felt his face heat up and he released his hold on Beth. "Yeah, um. Shower. I'll pick up pizza or something for dinner..."

Beth: "Pizza!" Beth grinned, "All is forgiven if there's pizza involved." She went to pick up the stinkbomb in the bag, "I will see you later! Remember you can't shower."
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