005 | video 🍻 two hot messes for the price of one

[hardedged]

[ As the video feed starts, there's some quick, unstable shaking of the camera, panning around the room to reveal a dimly lit dive bar. After a moment, it finally focuses on two intoxicated women making the healthiest of life choices — Sarah Manning and Jessica Jones. They certainly didn't arrive here together, but after a drinking contest gone wrong, they're inseparable now. ]

Shit. [ Jess mumbles, her gaze barely focusing on the camera. ] Sobriety sucks. So does this dump. Stuck here for a goddamn year, and you dumbasses still can't find a way out.

And—and what's with all the complacency? [ Sarah points to the camera and, presumably, whoever is watching on the other end. ] Everybody's so bloody happy here.

Like morons. [ Wake up, sheeple. Jess stops her ranting, only for a moment, to take yet another swig of hard liquor. Apparently, she hasn't consumed enough. ] Jesus Christ.

My sister... [ Sarah laughs, but it's a kind of disbelieving laugh, and then she takes a swig of her own drink. ] My sister got married. To someone from another universe. Married.

The hell? [ Her brow furrows, matching Sarah's incredulous expression. If she was slightly less wasted, Jessica would be able to process this revelation better. ] Sarissa?

No, Cosima. [ She sighs and tips back her drink, draining the rest of it. ] Sarissa's got enough shit going on even without adding a wedding.

[ Oh right. God, there are so many clones, she can't keep track anymore. ] Yeah well, don't we all. [ Brushing off the subject, and the hidden layers of guilt and self-loathing beneath it, Jess leans back in her seat. She lifts her almost empty glass in a mock toast. ] Getting hitched here's a death sentence. Congrats to the happy couple.

Yeah, cheers. [ Sarah refills her glass before sloshing a little toast back towards Jess, then towards the camera. ] And cheers to all of you. It's not gonna last.

[ Amen to that. ] Never fucking does. [ Jess drains the rest of her glass in an instant, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. With one more angry glare at the camera, she reaches out to turn the device off. What a good idea this clearly was. ]

Comments

[hardedged]

Public service announcement.

[hardedged]

Bet I'll get the same answer, no matter what.

[oddbod]

She will be. They're talking it through.

[Because she's not quite sure she wants to say anything further about those two here.]

[khajidont]

Well, yeah. Who knows you better than family?

[khajidont]

Good. I'm glad.

[ Jaime pauses. ]

It's kind of weird talking about this where those two can hear us, isn't it? Let me just, uh...

[ He switches the feed to private. They may not be talking too much more than this, but he values the peace of mind to be able to say whatever they want. ]

I don't suppose you know what happened to spark all of this?

[arsiento]

Right, yeah.

[ Wrong... the one time he went to jail for, but there was also many more. But anyway, not important..,.,

With a slow shrug: ]

We all make mistakes we gotta live with.

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[arsiento]

Some club. No wonder you always drinking.

[ Well-- maybe that "always" applies more to what he knows of Jessica than to them both, but it's probably a fair guess. ]

There's really people who wanna get married here?

[cigarbribery]

So who's that you're drinking with, someone you just ran into? [He does not believe her.]

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[cigarbribery]

[That says a lot more about these two women than Foggy ever wanted to know.]

So, what, you're just gonna let this blow up horribly, then? Disappoint your sister?

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[coppelganger]

I don't believe that.

[coppelganger]

[ Normally she'd try and argue, but right now the thought of having that conversation with Jesse is too much. She nods. ]

Yeah, right, so we're at this place in Maurtia Falls. I'll send you the address.

[coppelganger]

I went home. That's what happened.

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah just stares at her for a minute, expression unbelieving and yet somehow amused, and then she leans a little bit closer to Jess so she can really look ~into her soul~ as she asks this next question. ]

Are you seriously giving me shit about this? Like, why do you care?

[oddbod]

[Ah. That... explains at least a little of it. Clara may not have the whole story, or even the context for the story, but she remembers her own experience.]

I'm sorry. That's never easy. [She's almost afraid to ask, but - ] How long were you there?

[coppelganger]

Couple days.

[ Not long, but long enough for everything to go to shit once again. ]

[oddbod]

[Doesn't she know it. Her whole life went to shit - and subsequently ended - in an afternoon.]

... What happened?

[Is everyone okay? she's really asking.]

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[am_i_a_monster]

It's the truth.

[coppelganger]

Another one of my sisters died. Among other things.

[ She doesn't sound sad, when she says it, though clearly she is. Just tired. ]

[infomodder]

Depends on how you listen.

[Phrasing is the important part of any answer, doubly so when everyone is saying two things at once every damn scene.]

[oddbod]

Oh, my god.

[Clara's stomach drops. She knows it's not Cosima or Alison, as Sarah would have mentioned them by name, but the relief is scant. Sarah's still lost family.]

I know I can't say anything to make it better, but I am sorry.

[infomodder]

Yeah? Good to hear.

[At least there's that with any eventual fall out later. Not that Will cares but words coming back to bite people in the butt, sometimes literally, is like half his life. Nice to have them out there for others to deal with, too.]

perma-private

[oddbod]

Not a clue. Neither of them are spilling.

[Which is to be expected of Jess, of course - they're total strangers. But Sarah? She'd thought they were alright, as well as sisters-in-law went.

A sudden change of topic: ]

You're friends with Sarissa, right?

[heisenbitch]

Okay. I'm in Maurtia Falls right now, so... See you soon.

[ And he peers at her face on the screen, caught somewhere between completely unregistering who this chick is, and rueful for not remembering her. He hopes she's someone he's never hurt. He's been finding out he's hurt quite a few people here. ]

[coppelganger]

Yeah. Well.

[ What else is there to say? ]

[coppelganger]

See ya.

[ She gives him a wry smile and hangs up, without any of his hesitation. ]