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[. . . oh. . .]

[he feels a little happy to be asked that]

Mars: yeah, actually
Mars: i do
Mars: right now?

Joker: soon as you're able

Mars: give me five minutes

[and, true to that request, he is knocking on Bad End's door some five minutes later]

[ye.

letting him in and immediately leading him to the bedroom.

... there is a plate with half a well-done burger on the bed and actually, Joker's looking a bit disgruntled this evening, even though he is very happy to see Mars.]

[MARS IS DRESSED IN HIS PAJAMAS, the shirt that hangs loosely from his collarbone and the pants that are slightly too big]

[he opens his mouth to greet Joker when the door is opened, but. doesn't have much of an opportunity to before he's guided to the bedroom. IS THIS A BOOTY CALL--]

[-- oh]

[no it is not, and he blinks at the half-eaten burger on the bed]

. . . everything okay?

[shutting the door. he's actually in his pjs of red plaid pajama pants and black tank top which shows off all his fun betrayal scars. tail lashing with clear aggravation]

I mean... nothing's wrong. Just a unitmate got pretty injured after a nutjob on FiN stabbed Talon and then got into a fight with an avante.

[waves... a hand.]

And then acts like he's handling it fine. Right after pushing at me about not handling things fine.

... and that's a lot of burger.

[oh]

[. . . oh. he suddenly sees why he was called here]

[Mars feels a small touch of warmth and gratefulness (which is probably something that doesn't need to be addressed aloud right now, while Joker is still reeling). he makes an understanding noise, before sliding an arm around Joker's waist and guiding him to sit on the bed]

C'mere.

[mrrrr, going along with the tug on his waist and sitting on the bed]

[flops them both backwards onto the mattress, curling up at Joker's side. not yet pushing him to finish the burger]

. . . sounds like future is now has a real asshole on their team. Intensity should be able to rein him in though, yeah?

[. . .]

Not that it changes what already happened. Jay's an idiot.

To be fair, the Future is Now guy stabbed Talon.

[and yet, Jay says he's fine. yep. an idiot.

anyway, hand going into Mars's hair]

But yeah, I'm gonna be going to talk to them about what happened.

[it's in a braid toady instead of his usual ponytail, courtesy of Prim]

I'm not saying he's dumb for getting into a fight about it. I'm saying he's dumb for being a hypocrite.

[puffs a little]

[. . . though he really probably has no place to talk about that, he is gonna anyway!1]

... I know I probably don't do great with dealing with things or talking about them, but... I do try to get on with my life, you know?

We're in hell. Who here is good at dealing with and-or talking about things? 'S not like you let anything completely break you, and in my opinion, that's all that matters.

[props himself up on his elbow, resting his chin in his palm as he allows his fingers to meander across Joker's arm and shoulder, touch gentle and light]

Is he talking about something specific?

[he's going to be looking at his hand more than at him directly.]

Mm... about how I handle things with Maki. He asked me why I wasn't as mad about what happened as Silk was. Even though... it all pretty much involves me. And I guess he's seen me and Maki struggle with talking without some misunderstanding or argument during a fanmail thing...

[just... shrugs a bit]

[. . .]

[his expression softens a little, hand straying from Joker's shoulder to his cheek so he can trace the lines of his jaw]

It isn't his business how you're handling it.

[. . .]

Being mad all of the time takes energy and work. And getting Maki to. . . understand things, is also. . .

[trails off there]

[turning his face into the hand and closing his eyes, because in fact is tired]

It's not even that so much as... he took it as me just pushing it aside and ignoring it while Silk's still dealing with it. But it's really... I dunno. I already put down my boundaries, after what happened in my heart. And he wasn't exactly keeping in mind that... it's not like I can just completely erase the feelings I had before it happened?

[just... it bad.]

There's just no real point in being angry. And I don't like to be angry like that, either.

[gently stroking the line of his cheekbone. he can tell Joker is tired]

. . . yeah.

[a small sigh]

Of course you can't. She was-- is-- important to you. It's. . . complicated.

[. . .]

If you set out your boundaries, then you have dealt with it. Just. . . in a way that's different then how Silk is dealing with it.

Mm... probably still not... very well, but...

[what else should he even do?]

[a small sigh, and he flops back down onto his side again]

I dunno what else you're supposed to do. What does Jay expect you to do?

Not deal with her at all? Which, considering how small this place is...

[and also stupid old feelings that makes it complicated]

It's not very realistic.

[STUPID FEELINGS MAKING THINGS HARD IS VERY STUPID, TEN OUT OF TEN MARSES AGREE]

It's your choice how you deal with it. Not his. You can be angry, or you can not be angry and enforce boundaries and still talk to her on your own time.

[a small noise]

The next time Jay heckles you about it, tell him to fuck off.

I don't know about heckling, but he was definitely aiming for getting a rise out of me.

Probably to get me to talk about it more? Or something? I dunno if he was trying to help or not.

. . . probably tryin' to help. In his prickly Jay way.

[a snort, and he starts carding his fingers through Joker's hair]

Probably.

I dunno... what happened earlier turned out more complicated than what I said, but...

[it's kind of a Bad End problem.]

[. . . ?]

What does that mean?

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