Heart Don't Fail Me Now, Courage Don't Desert Me | Closed to Jake

[mustachioedmaiden]

When we last left our heroes, Jane and Jake's date had been abruptly interrupted by a series of confusing texts from Sollux, requesting that Jane heal Tavros in exchange for his eternal servitude. Distressed by what this could possibly mean in concordance with her already-present suspicions regarding her mother's true nature, Jane resolved to venture to her childhood home, a place she had refused to revisit since finding her father's body there years before, in search of clues. Jake, seeing her obvious apprehension and distress, resolutely deigned to join her, and so they set off together, tension high. 

Jane had only taken the time to change clothes and grab some gear before hopping in her truck alongside Jake, her trusty fedora (a gift from her father) tilted smartly atop her wild curls. It was not far from her apartment to her old home, a 45 minute trek at most. When they pulled up front, the house towered above them, the truck almost seeming dwarfed where it rested in the winding, expansive driveway. They parked right outside of the elegant steps that led to the door, and Jane took a slow breath, gathering herself. ".... I have not been here in 7 years." she said, giving a small shake of her head in disbelief. "I... I didn't even get my things after he died. My room should be just as I left it when I moved into the Crocker U dorms freshman year..."

Comments

[hoperidesagain]

He raised an eyebrow at that, looking to the lock and frowning. "...changed? But..." He moved his gaze back to her, an absolute vital and unknown fact leaving his lips. "This is your house."

[mustachioedmaiden]

No shit, Sherlock. Jane took a slow, gathering breath. "... Yes. That is the issue at hand here." She clicked her tongue before pocketing the key, eyes sizing up the hulking home. "... We could always bust a window, but I'm not in the mood to explain to a police officer why I felt the need to break into my own home. Nor am I in the mood to be questioned any further." She glanced around and noted a nearby tree that rested close to the window of her old room. Unbeknownst to her mother and father, that window's latch had been broken for years, the tree serving as a frequent ladder during her rebellious years. She took Jake's hand again and they headed for the oak in question, the tree gladly accommodating their rise to the top. She slid her window open and nodded for Jake to scurry inside.

[hoperidesagain]

Jake nodded, very pleased with his contribution so far to the trouble. Truly, he was an invaluable addition to this investigation. He was preparing to suggest perhaps checking the backdoor when Jane's personal knowledge of the land seemed to take them on a better path yet.

He wasn't quite used to seeing Jane just command a plant like that, looking at her almost in wonder as she gave him the nod. "That's...still really cool." He moved past her and slipped into the room, dusting himself off and...this looked like a bedroom. Specifically her bedroom. He'd stayed the night with her a few times, sure but...still the only time he'd been in her room with her had started with Dirk there. Now it was them two, alone and- He actually literally slaps himself to snap out of that line of thinking. Jane Crocker needed him to help confront this painful past. Stop thinking about smooching a lady and help her, dammit. He turns to her with a renewed vigor about him, hands on his hips and eyes determined. "So! What...are we looking for exactly?"

[mustachioedmaiden]

"I know." She said with a smile, still a bit amazed herself at the control she was able to demand. When she had first begun, Jane thought that maybe she would need to work her way up to bigger plant life, but it seemed that her realm of control was pretty straight-forward. It was the healing side of things that it seemed she still needed to hone.

She slipped into the bedroom behind Jake and landed firm on her feet, glancing around. She barely heard him at first, so wrapped up was she in the memory of it all. "... I'm not sure yet." She murmured, moving to her bed and allowing her fingertips to trace along the dusty duvet. Her eyes stung, and she swallowed heavily. Posters littered her walls of mustachioed men, Problem Sleuth memorabilia, and favorite movies. A few recipes were tacked here and there, along with the stray sticky note or reminder. She walked to one and peeled it off the wall. "... Pick up cake batter. You're not a teen anymore, Janey!" She frowned, her voice growing soft. "... This was only months before it happened..."

[hoperidesagain]

Jake watched her closely as she moved to her bed, eyes taking in a few more of the details of the room. When he saw the posters of multiple men with mustaches, he stroked his upper lip in thought. Mustache. Definite option.

Then he heard her speak, and he was right by her side. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and he gave a squeeze, head laying against hers. "...I'm so sorry. So much changed for you so fast...I can't even imagine how hard that must've been." He would have some knowledge of course...losing his grandma was not easy, but it was a slow thing. No sudden loss of parents...no sudden shift in life. Just a rough bump in the road.

[mustachioedmaiden]

A hand rose to pat Jake's wrist, and she leaned back against him, taking a slow breath. "... We should keep moving." Jane said after a moment, leaning up to give his cheek a light kiss before parting. She placed the note upon her dusty dresser and headed for her door, turning the handle before exiting. "... We already know that someone has been here. At least we can infer that beyond reasonable doubt, considering the fact that the door's locks have been changed, and I sure as hell didn't do that. I came here briefly to grab a few things in the days that followed my mother's death, so no one with access to this house was alive to do so but me. Something fishy is going on here. I suggest that we check my mom's room first. It was always forbidden." She narrowed her eyes, mind going a mile a minute as they ascended a staircase and headed down a hall. "She has secrets."

[hoperidesagain]

Jake smiled at the small affection, giving her hand a small squeeze with his own as they began to move once more. "I get you...lead the way then, Janey. I'm with you, every step of the way."

His eyes glanced around the rooms as they passed on through the home, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. "Lord, this place is like the size of ten apartments..how could anyone fit enough stuff in here?"

He focused back on her and the stairs as she spoke again, an eyebrow raised. "...well. Detective Crocker. Constable English is here to help uncover those secrets and save the queen's jewels." He gave a wink and pat to her back at that. He knew he wasn't doing much, but if he can help keep a smile on her face, that's all he could ask.

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane gave a little eye roll at Jake's exaggeration, continuing onward. They reached her mother's study soon enough, and Jane hovered her fingertips above the door handle. She hesitated, and turned back to look at him for a moment. "... I suppose I should ensure that you are up to speed. What all have I told you about my... Situation... So far?"

[hoperidesagain]

Jake eyed her with a little concern when she didn't really seem to smile at his little joke. Alright. Not the time then...he'd have to be a little more serious. He was so used to being the guy to put a smile on her face that it was gonna be a little weird pulling out of that role.

When she looked to him and asked, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Well...you told me about how your dad was the company owner. Married ya mom. Mom kinda took over cause she was more business. They had you, things going fine. Then your dad dies in an accident...gas right? You felt like your mom was acting weird cause of it, so you stopped going to the Crocker university and went to Skaia instead. Bit thankful for that, by the way. Then your mom passed as well...missing any details?"

[mustachioedmaiden]

"'Acting weird' is a bit of an understatement." Jane said beneath her breath, exhaling slowly as they opened the door and stepped inside. She flicked the light on and began to look around, speaking as she did so. "My mom had always been a bit overbearing and tyrannical, but after his death those behaviors skyrocketed. She took no time to mourn... And everything she did seemed so artificial." Jane bit her lip. "... Then, I began to realize that everything she had done had always seemed artificial. She was my mother, but it seemed she barely knew me at all." She moved to her mother's desk and sat in the chair, biting her lip. "... When dad died... I was so sure it had been her... Dad always cooked with the window open... But when she died too... I couldn't bear to look any further."

She sighed, and began to rummage through her mother's drawers. "... But 'slaves' seems to be a bit far-fetched, wouldn't you say?"

[hoperidesagain]

He moved in after her, walking around the rest of the room in quiet observation as she spoke. There was concern set on his face of course, but she needed her focus. The room seemed...just like a room to him. He couldn't make out any certain details being too strange or wrong. It was just some room.

He looked back to her as she finished, giving a sigh and nod at her question. "Yeah...I mean...slaves? Really? I couldn't see that...and you'd think that would definitely be something you can't hide well."

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane gave a little shrug, fingertips flicking through a stack of papers. Her eyes grazed the fine black print for anything out of the ordinary, but it seemed to mostly be business documents, with little askew. "... The skeptic in me would be one to agree with you. However, I would like to raise you the fact that we are superhero hopefuls." the smallest of smirks tweaked at her lips, and her eyes flicked up to Jake. "I am beginning to see that anything is possible."

She prepared to go back to the stack of documents when her eyes fell upon something just behind Jake... A door to a cabinet that was ever so slightly ajar... And something that rested on the floor beside it. Her eyes narrowed, and she set the stack to the side and stood, moving past him. She knelt to the floor and picked up what appeared to be a pin of some kind, like one would put beneath a shelf to hold it aloft. She frowned, and her eyes flicked to the cabinet.

[hoperidesagain]

Jake blinked a bit at that, chuckling afterwards and rubbing the back of his head. A small smile was on his face...when a sobering thought hit him. If they were superhero hopefuls...were there already supervillain hopefuls? His eyes looked back to hers with a little more concern, preparing to say something when she stood.

His eyes followed as she moved, looking to the pin she picked up and the cabinet ahead of them. "...so, detective. What have you found?"

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane gave a little smile at Jake's use of the title, but sobered quickly, handing him the pin. "It looks like one of those pins that can be used to adjust shelf height." she said, moving to the cabinet and opening it. For the most part, all items in the cabinet seemed to be in order, but something appeared to be... Off. She frowned. All of the items seemed tilted. "... As if all of these shelves had been picked up and removed in their entirety." Jane said, finishing her own thought. Her eyes scanned the worn, wooden shelves, quickly finding the spot where a single pin was missing. She took it back from Jake and slid it easily into the slot. "... Bingo." she said.

"Help me get these shelves down, dear?"

[hoperidesagain]

Jake watched as Jane went to work, always a little impressed with how she could just...figure things out. A good head on her shoulders in many ways, that Janey. He nodded at her request and got to work doing just that, at least able to do this with ease.

"...what are you planning to do with this home of yours anyway?"

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane took the other end of the shelves, and they began lifting them to the floor one by one. "What do you mean?" she asked, cocking a brow as the second was lowered carefully.

[hoperidesagain]

Jake looked to her before they lifted the second, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Well...I mean this is a lot of space just not being used you know? Nice place and all. But you're living in an apartment instead. Just not sure if you have some other kinda plan."

[mustachioedmaiden]

"I always told myself I'd move back here one day." Jane said, frowning a bit as they moved on to the next shelf, lifting it off of its pin supports. "Maybe now, I finally will be able to. Maybe this is how I can get the closure I need." She sighed. "It's a bit big for just me, though."

[hoperidesagain]

He nodded as she spoke, thinking over it as he helps with the next portion of shelf. When they set it down, he gives a snap and points a fingergun at her. "You could rent out rooms! I know you aren't hurting for cash, so you could make it like a cheaper thing? I dunno! Help people out with an easier home or something. Just a thought!"

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane quirked a brow. "That's an idea!" she smirked, and reached for the final shelf. "... Or we could always make it the base for our new superhero duo, hmm?" she gave a little chuckle, the suggestion silly to say the least.

[hoperidesagain]

Jake blinked at that, waiting to reach for the final shelf at her suggestion. He tilted his head, eyes looking to her own as his tone changed somewhat. "...do you mean that? I mean...I like my apartment but I wouldn't mind a change of place. I wouldn't...wanna mooch off ya though."

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane was about to grab her end, and at his words she fumbled, her fingertips gripping air for a moment. "Oh! I... uh... I didn't mean like.... L-living together! I meant using the space as a sort of base of operations." Jane said, her hard-boiled exterior cracking with his assumption. "But that... Might work actually." She finished, calming a bit. She bit her lip. "... Would you be interested in that? I have plenty of space here. And I could use the help cleaning up."

[hoperidesagain]

Jake blinked, flushing at that and clearing his throat. He had...massively misunderstood that and now he was pretty embarrassed. "I uh...s-sorry! I dunno why I just thought that's what you meant...Um...m-maybe actually. It could...work really well. I'd have to think a little more on that though. S-Sorry! I was a really big dipstick there."

[mustachioedmaiden]

Jane shook her head, shaking her hands in front of her. "You're fine! The way I worded that statement certainly made it sound like such was what I was getting at. I'd need to give it some thought too, but that is certainly an idea. We could easily convert a few rooms into training areas." She nodded to the other end of the shelf, and picked up her own, a soft grin on her face.

Once they had finished, she turned to the now-empty cabinet, eyes scanning for any sign of something out of the ordinary. Her gaze fell quickly to the interior's base, and an eyebrow quirked upwards as it fell upon what appeared to be the smallest sliver of a piece of paper's corner. She immediately began pulling out the pins that had held the shelves, and handed them to Jake, before taking a slow, gathering breath. "We need to find something that we can pry this off with." she said, fingertips trailing along the small crack at its top and sides. "I'd bet my biscuits that this is a false panel."

[hoperidesagain]

Jake nodded in response, still somewhat embarrassed at his immediate thought of what Jane had meant. He knew that had to just be...outright foolish really. But he clasped her on the shoulder before moving to the shelf, lifting it off with her.

When she began scanning as only the great Jane Crocker could, he waited to see what she had to say. At her words, he looked down at his own hands, mumbling something. "And your biscuits are real good...don't wanna lose those...Hmm..." He looked over the small crack she had been working on, giving a nod before taking a deep breath. "...I've been trying to like...make things from the energy besides just like a block or something. So maybe..." He focused on the hope of a tool to lift up the panel and to fit into that crack, hands glowing yellow...and then the energy slowly pouring into the air above them. Not too long, a firm but slim rod of energy was there, just the perfect size to work the angle. He hands it over to her with a wink, breathing a bit heavier now. "Would you like to do the honors, Detective?"