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

[heisenbitch]

Ain't like I got anywhere I gotta be tonight... [ quickly checking the name attached to the video call ] ...Sarah.

[ He tries to make it sound like he knows her, but... The kind of blank way he says her name, and the whole blank way he clearly doesn't recognise her, pretty much says it all. ]

[coppelganger]

[ She's drunk, but even drunk she's pretty observant. She narrows her eyes, almost suspicious, like she thinks he might be screwing with her. ]

What's with you?

[heisenbitch]

[ Pursing his lips. How does he begin to even answer that question, let alone over video call to a drunk chick he's supposed to know? ]

Nothin'.

[ That comes out less convincing than he wanted it to. ]

[coppelganger]

You're acting different.

[heisenbitch]

[ Boy, comments like that make Jesse feel like he doesn't belong in his own skin. Because that's what arriving in this place and discovering this whole life he has established here with no memory of any of it feels like: Like he's stepped inside someone else's skin that's supposed to be his own, but is someone else's entirely. ]

That's 'cause, um. I'm not the guy you remember, I guess.

[coppelganger]

The hell does that mean?

[ She knows people sometimes port out and then come back, but she hasn't heard about anything like that happening to Jesse. Not that she would, but still. ]

[heisenbitch]

Exactly what it sounds like. [ A pause. ] I was Ported out and... came back. 'Cept without, y'know. Memories of this place.

[coppelganger]

Jesse, are you just fucking with me? 'Cause it's not funny and I'm too bloody pissed to handle that tonight.

[heisenbitch]

[ Definitely not the kind of conversation to be having with someone as drunk as she is right now. Jesse is quick to try and downplay it, dismiss it as nothing. ]

Don't worry about it. We can talk about it later, or— Look, just lemme know which bar you're both at. I can be there in like, twenty, tops. Or later, if you're planning on sticking around to keep drinking.

[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.

[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]

See ya.

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