paradisalogs | you got trouble far behind you

Entry tags:

you got trouble far behind you

Who: Spike (

huntersdaughter)
What: Taking someone up on an offer
When: After the masquerade
Where: Jo's place in town
Rating: PG

The leaves were falling. It was an inevitable occurrence, but Spike still found a way to be annoyed whenever one landed on his shoulder or flew past the edge of his vision. The fairies that had finally chased him away from the castle only added to his agitation, which seemed to be growing every time he had to deal with more of the same magic trickery bullshit. Couldn't even trust the weather in Paradisa.

Everything was getting to him lately, one way or another. Definitely more than it used to. He hadn't been sleeping well, so that was probably what it was. Regardless of why, all things led to him stalking down the quiet sidewalks to the one place that might let him in. With the seasonal mischief already starting, he decided that he should check up on a few people.

It was as good of an excuse as any.

He arrived at Jo's door and knocked, then froze as a leaf blew gently across his feet. Before she could answer, he made a point in stomping it into the ground.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The night before had been a good one, despite the odd shrinking and then waking up on the lawn. She'd been drunk, clarification - very drunk and she blamed the fairy wine. Naturally, Jo slept most of the day away and was actually glad that Chase had to work. It gave her a reason to get up, out of bed, and dressed before it got to be too late. She could swing by the Lux, even on her day off, to see how things were going. She was about to do that when she heard a knock at the door.

Jo arrived just in time to hear the thumping of his foot behind the door. When she opened it, she glanced up at him, her head tilting to the side, "Is it dead?"

There was an awkward span of seconds when he froze as the door opened and he realized what he was doing. Then he scrapped his shoe on the ground and lifted it back up, peering down like he had squashed something real.

"Yeah, all dead." He glanced back up at Jo, quietly noting that she didn't immediately look like she had been traumatized by fairies. "I was in the neighborhood."

"You know you don't have to be in the neighborhood to stop by. I do actually like it when people stop by."

Jo stepped away from the doorway, gesturing that he could come inside. "Unless, you were just here to kill the leaves."

Jo always had a way of making him feel less-smooth than he was used to -- or maybe he just never let anyone get to know him well enough to call him on it. He smiled wordlessly as he slipped past her, only checking over his shoulder once by way of habit.

"So you managed to escape." Ordinarily he wouldn't bring up something as obnoxious as magic hijinks, but he was trying to make it seem that he was at least moderately aware of people besides himself. Frankly, after all the time he spent wandering alone, he could use the change in company.

She shrugged, shutting and locking the door behind him before heading up the stairs to join him in the front room of her place. "I was at the ball," she replied easily, moving to sit down in the recliner. Chase the dog moved to sniff at Spike's foot, but then went to lay down over near Penny.

"I didn't see you there, though."

So she was there. He really must have been lucky.

"I'm starting to learn the signs of when to stay away." That had nothing to do with it, he'd been living more-or-less on the streets for weeks now, but he could give himself credit for sidestepping the trap for once. Still, he watched her for a few more seconds, making sure of something without actually asking. Then he smiled again and returned to a more normal tone. "You have any coffee?"

"Yeah, of course." Jo'll get up and go to the kitchen, starting up the coffee pot before returning to the couch.

"So, why the visit?"

Spike took the opportunity to find his own place on the couch -- or more accurately, he collapsed on it like someone who hasn't sat down on something soft in a lifetime. That may have been part of his ulterior motive at work.

When Jo came back, he didn't even have much of a cover story. He'd had an idea of what he was after when he knocked on her door, but it wasn't the kind of thing he was used to talking about. Now that he was in the moment, it was an oddly uncomfortable feeling. He avoided eye contact while he toyed with the idea of approaching the subject.

"I've been thinking."

Leaning against the arm a bit, she nodded and kept her eyes to him. It wasn't that she thought he always came to her with trouble, but it did have a pattern and she was glad to help him out -- it was just a case of whether or not he'd actually let her help him. She assumed that him thinking about it was the build-up to asking her to help him.

Maybe.

She was never really sure with him.

"About what?"

He folded over himself, resting his elbows on his knees, apparently still in the middle of that thought. The truth was, he always wanted to handle everything by himself, for reasons that weren't entirely selfish. But it was becoming more and more apparent how clumsily he'd dealt his hand. If he was ever going to accept that he still had a life here -- which he wasn't sure of -- something had to change.

And he didn't know how.

"I need my own place. Somewhere nobody knows about." That was a start. Keep talking. "And someway to pay for it."

Jo could hear the coffee percolating in the kitchen, but she kept her focus on Spike and the conversation at hand.

"Are you looking for a place in the city or are you going to build something like your friend Brock?"

"I'm not much of an architect." That, and Brock's cabin hadn't been the most successful hideout. He wasn't even convinced that moving again would be enough to make a difference.

There was more he wanted to say, but he held onto it. So far, he almost sounded responsible.

"Any reason why you're looking for a place of your own?" She'd assume it's just like everyone else - that they're tired of the castle. She had a feeling this wasn't just one of those things.

"It's starting to get cold out." Hence the coffee, and for a moment it seemed like that was the only explanation Spike was going to give. He liked to keep it that simple. Pretend that whatever was going on with Vicious didn't affect him, that none of it did. Although she might get suspicious; there was no reason he couldn't have looked himself. Find a place to sleep aside from the back of a car and some increasingly uncomfortable benches that he still favored to spending the night at the castle. But something kept him from it... Like he never could bring himself to believe that he could settle down here.

"And for some reason, I keep sticking around." Things would be easier if his number came up. Until then though, he could use a decent night's sleep.

Nodding, she frowned a bit at his remark about sticking around. She'd seen her fair share of people coming and going and wasn't really sure if she'd ever leave. Of course, she wasn't too rushed to get out of there anyway.

"Where are you looking?"

He hadn't been, actually. Recognizing that he wanted to was a big step for him, he was careful not to push it.

"Locally," was his actual response. She didn't have to know what he was counting as effort on his part. Maybe he wasn't even expecting her to find it for him. Weeks of cutting himself off and suddenly he wanted to talk to someone. Simple as that.

With a nod, she rose to her feet returning to the kitchen to finish fixing the coffee. She pours two mugs of it and returns to hand one to Spike. She hadn't exactly been looking for specifics, but a district, even a general idea of where he'd been looking would've been nice. She knew the city was a big place and there wasn't always easy places to find.

"Did you need help looking?"

Taking the coffee, he stalled in his answer by taking a drink. There wasn't much that he didn't need help with, and that made talking about even more uncomfortable. He hated talking about himself.

"How do you get your alcohol?" It seemed like a completely random change of subject, but he was fishing around his point. Possibly.

It was a very random subject change and her expression showed it. Shaking it off, she replied easily, "There are a few distilleries in the city. A lot of it is left from when Eliot worked there. He couldn't count so he just kept ordering things."

"They deliver it?"

He had a funny roundabout way of opening up. The kind of way he could back out of at any point without making it obvious.

"I usually pay extra for that or I pick it up myself. Why?"

She had a feeling he asked for a reason.

Well, since she asked. He debated one last time to change his mind, but he'd gone that far already. Might as well commit to it now.

"I could save you the trouble."

"Yeah? Is this your way of trying to get actual employment or to work off your tab?" She brought up the tab, even though she always told him that he didn't actually have to pay it off. It was still a light running joke between them.

Spike smiled again, lightly. Words like 'employment' almost sounded like the bigger joke when talking about him. Nothing more than some wild idea he had.

"Just brainstorming." At least, he could attempt not to sound too desperate to get something, anything, going. "I was mildly curious what it'd be like to earn an honest living."

"Oh, mildly curious," Jo replied with a bit of amusement. It wasn't a bad thing, Spike offering to help. To be honest, she was pretty sure he'd get bored of just milling about. Then again, she knew he didn't really like getting in the way of anything at all. Shifting a bit, she considered what it would mean to have someone reliable to help her out. She was short staffed constantly and being able to have one less thing to worry about, would be good.

"If you want the job, Spike. You know it's yours."

Despite all the things Jo had done for him, he was still surprised that she would go along with the idea so easily. It was amazing what minimal effort could do.

"Well that's one thing out of the way."

"One thing, huh? What's the other?" To be fair, Jo already assumed that it was going to be something dangerous or stupid. Possibly both.

Ordinarily she'd be right. In fact, most of his ideas fell into one category or the other. So happened that today he'd run out of creativity.

"I'll save it for later." Another thin smile helped push the reassuring aspects of that statement. Then he went back to playing with the mug in his hand. "Good coffee."

"Later?" Jo wasn't sure that was the best plan.

"You realize that if later ends up being too late, I'm gonna be mad."

The subject of coffee obviously wasn't strong enough to pass for a diversion. He should have known Jo was too cunning for that.

"Fair enough," he said with a sigh. "The plan was to wait until it was too late to turn me away, then ask to sleep on your couch."

Jo smiled at him, "Spike, I have a spare room. You can stay there tonight if you need to. You don't have to try and fit on my couch."

He was actually pretty fond of the couch, but if she was going to insist, he wouldn't turn down a bed.

"Thanks. It's starting to get a little too cold out to be roughing it."

"It's not a problem, Spike. Even if I had someone in the guest room, I've got the couch and even if someone was on the couch, I've got blankets and a lot of floorspace."

"I'm surprised you don't, with an offer like that." He didn't want to take advantage, and hadn't for a good stretch, but just the idea of sleeping on a couch is enough to fantasize over compared to the past few weeks.

So he must be feeling better. "I owe you."

"You don't owe me."

Jo smiled at him, "I'm also very selective with who I offer space to."

If that was true, he doesn't know what he did to make that list. Dumb luck, like anything else.

"I'll try not to let that get to my head."

"Good, I'd hate for you to change because of something I did," she replied in earnest.

Jo took another sip of her coffee, glancing to him, "You're okay, right? There's no one trying to kill you, presently?"

He did like to surprise her every now and then by showing up when he wasn't in the middle of a suicidal plot. It kept her on her toes.

"If they are, they're being quiet about it."

"I'll take the quiet," Jo admitted. It was nice for a change and given everything that the castle opts to do she was just grateful for the break.

To be honest, Spike didn't know how to feel about it. Almost like he wasn't sure what to do with himself when there was nobody actively trying to ruin his life. But he knew better than to get used to it, so maybe it didn't matter.

"So everything has been fine with you and the doctor?" Innocent question. He figured he should ask about her life every now and then.

Jo smiled, glad that Spike was taking the option to change the conversation. "It's good. I mean, we both work a lot, but we manage to make time and it's... it's normal, which I think in this place is well-deserved."

"Sounds like a good match." Two people who wok too much to get into trouble. Must be working.

"It has its moments," Jo replied honestly.

"Wanna head to a bar?" Jo asked, because she didn't mind going to the one in the city. It was nice to have a beer brought to her, instead of getting it for herself.

He thought about that suggestion before finishing his coffee. It occurs to him that her doctor boyfriend probably wouldn't appreciate it, but if there's no dinner involved it's not like it could count as a date. So he nods.

"If you feel like it," he agreed. Then he smiled in afterthought. "And you don't mind supporting the competition."

To be honest, Jo wouldn't consider it a date even if there was food involved, which their might be depending on how she felt when she got there. It was nothing against Spike, but even with the castle shenanigans she considered him one of her best friends. That was just how it worked.

"I could use some air and trust me, they aren't the competition." She smirked a bit at that, rising to her feet and moving to grab her jacket.

"No, you've definitely got the location on your side." He smiled and stood up, feeling at least less worn down than he did when he first knocked on her door. Maybe there was a reason he hadn't thought of that brought him there.

"Just no karaoke." A joking afterthought, if also an important one. He'd do a lot of things for Jo, but singing off-key wasn't one of them.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied honestly.

Then they headed off to the bar and had some drinks!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

you got trouble far behind you

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject