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ack hasn’t exactly ordered anything, nor was he going to, mostly because the only thing weighing his pockets down was lint and bits of fluffs and a large mahogany door knob (Don’t ask. No really don’t.)
Also there was the small matter of the owner of this place not particularly being a fan of Jack ever since what he did in the bathroom a few months ago, but thankfully he didn’t seem to be here today….
Thank goodness for small mercies
“Na, man…” Jack said shaking your head “I know the kind of girls you bring home,, I don’t want them trying to scratch out my eyes like...the last one”
Deep inhale in. Deep exhale. Tapping of his foot, opening his mouth as if looking to say something but then shaking his head wildly. Rince. Repeat. This went on for a good few seconds as a brief respite of awkward silence came over them,
A mild sensation of bemusement came over Jack, and he mused quietly to himself, a mild sigh left his mouth, that somehow sounded like a combination of a laugh and a sob, because that’s how Jack felt at this moment, he didn’t know if he should laugh or cry, he had replayed this moment over and over again in his head for several years, yet for the first time in his life, his mouth had failed him.
Great, now he shuts up, the one time he needed to start talking and his tongue finally gave up on him
“‘I’m….” Jack began then stopped again, no that wasn’t the way to go, “I loved you since the moment I saw you” might be a tad bit intense and just a little bit creepy at least as an icebreaker.
“I would….” Jack gulped, his Adams apples bobbing “-I would be interested in a date. Me. you. You. Me.”
Jack had calmed down a great deal since he first thundered into the bar with a lightning bolt stuck up his ass like a crisis was waiting around the corner that simply needed to be solved as if it was a life and death matter, and it was like Jack had simply forgotten about it. This was normal for Jack; In the space of ten minutes, it was entirely likely that Jack might run an impossibly intense emotional gambit and then forget about the whole thing ten minutes later.
This was the case now, with Jack, as he calmly sat beside his estranged Jack his spastic attitude starting to settle down slowly but surely as he drummed her fingers against the countertop of the bar
“Well, I gotta be honest, to cut a long and nothing to do with anything I did or said…. I’m pretty sure my landlord is going to kill me in my sleep
With the amount of time, Jack spent in the United States; you’d think he’d be able to throw on a more impressive sounding American accent.
You would think that, but well, you’d be wrong.
Oh he tried, but no matter what his eternally thick shined through even as he practised his extremely well-rehearsed speech that if he doesn’t get in, he’ll get his uncle to build a mort around the club...or a ceiling...or a wall of fire, or whatever that catchphrase was, he didn’t remember. It would help if he watched the news…
Thankfully he was spared being kicked out on his boney butt by Kenny making her presence known, his eyes passing over his friend a note of confusion in his face before it dawned on him what she was doing, getting the play; Jack gently crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out to really “Sell” her words “Bats” He slurred as he was grabbed by the arm “Bats everywhere” he muttered.
“You’d be surprised how often I hear that” he shrugged as he was laid away by the dancer “.....A lot. People are uptight, aren’t they? I mean, it’s all restraining order this and “Hey you in the bushes, get out” and stay away I got the mace. We’ve all been there right?”
Life was slowly getting into a new routine. If Jack could avoid his usual habit for getting into trouble , and manage to not break any of the laws that had been put into place and avoid the odd metal guards that roamed the streets, enjoying a new life in this city could be accomplished. The sun had only been asleep for a short period of time before Jack had gotten dressed and ran out for his latest adventure. The local shops had all but sale signs up on sweets or items for the holiday, Valentine's day.
Yes, that’s just what he needed,a reminder that the girl of his dreams has turned him and couldn’t be less interested in him while everyone in the world seemed to be paired off with each other
Ah, fuck it anyway,
Jack was totally fine, with relationships and Lux and all that jazz, He couldn’t even remember what he was even upset about, it was so meaningless he already forgot….
Which was why Jack was standing in front of the local burlesque club trying to convince the bouncer that he was a member of the trump family
Jack had a very emotive face, to go along with his lemotive everything, Empaths were more the useless around him, because he wore his emotions on his sleeves, Hell his emotions broke out from his body like his emotions were so volatile that litrally formed an entirly different person, So of course his brother would see that Jack seemed actually interested in answer to his rather vague question, his eyebrow raises and narrowing like extremely busy waves lapping against sandy banks, his expression impossible to read, as Taylor told him what was up until Jack abruptly pounded his fist on the bar counter top
In a wonderfully beautiful simple version of the world that Jack would travel to in a heartbeat, a subtle but undeniable note of understanding would come over those eyes and she would say “Oh of course!” And then fireworks would explode, in the background, the music would swell, and the credits would roll, and all will be well.
Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? If nothing else it would rip the band-aid off this very awkward conversation…..
….But judging from the look on Lux’s face that was wishful thinking,
“Yeah no, you don’t do you?” He noticed with a small sigh shaking his head that the words were failing at such a critical moment, probably during THE critical moments of his life….
Shit…he was going to have to say it wasn’t
He leaned over in place momentarily scratching the top of his head ruefully
“Ok, so, I’m going to say something alarming…..but just...just hear me out ok?”
A frown came over Jack’s pale features at her brothers less than friendly hospitable greeting, more than a little confused why he wouldn't want to talk to his dear little brother, what did Jack ever do to him, he failed to take away the insulted look off his face as he simply looked agasp
“WHAT?! YOU KNOW WHAT-I don’t have to sit here and take this….this...baseless accusations every time I want to say Hello to my brother, Here I am, trying to nurture some kind of brotherly bond and you’re here being….I mean I hate to say it….just plain rude;
Well, this wasn’t exactly going as Jack originally hoped, and the worst part is that he didn’t even get to the most emotionally demanding part yet, he was hoping that he would like some how to skip the big emotional, painful part by merely asking Lux if she wanted to go out on a date…..Unfortunately, his choice of words wasn’t exactly the best.
Ok, slight stumbling block, but he could turn this around
“Oh yeah!” Jack said nodding his head vigorously bending his hands in various shapes in a typical flaily manner “Yeah, totally, absolutely they are….but no not really” he said with a strange sense of finality “There’s going out…..and there’s….” Jack paused and framed out the words like a Hollywood marquee with his hands “GOING OUT” he said his voice growing low and dramatic “You know what I’m saying?”
…”I mean I know-What what really?!” Jack's head jolted up almost by instinct eyes dark eyebrows shooting up in surprise as if he wasn’t exactly sure she had agreeded,
Was it-Could it have been that easy? After all this time, such a simple response? Maybe Lux held a torch for him for as long as he had her? No, No way there was no way Jack would ever be that lucky
And the way Luxanna said that…..
…..Oh, she didn’t get the idea…. “I mean we can do anything we want, We can just hang out in my place eat Pizza and just go through the entire horror catalogue of Netflix; Have you heard this time called Black mirror, I already think Mirrors are just unsettling as a concept...Remember that one time I got drunk and rang you at two am and we asked you how do we know if we’re not the mirror” Jack paused shaking his head before moving on
“.....But I’m not asking to hang out, I’m asking to HANG out….” Jack said hoping his meaning would be more clear
There was a small part of him that seriously could not believe he was actually doing this. The rest of him, though? The rest of him wasn't even remotely surprised. Jack had always enjoyed pranks and what was this if not a prank? that went awry?
After all, he was just kid who, still didn't have a job. Maybe it was about time to fix that. Or maybe he could just get lucky one of these days but he knew Taylor didn't approve of that kind of thinking. He'd already made that very clear, but Taylor didn't really get a lot of the things that went through Jack’s head. That was okay. They were two different people
Which is why Jack was overjoyed to find his brother leaning over a bar counter
“So um, in the army ho much did they teach you about killing people with your bare hands ...just asking...for a friend"
Jack grimmished a little, once the full weight of his own words hit him, he shouldhave learned by now not to mention death in front of Lux, it made him feel uncomfortable and she was sure Lux didn’t need to be reminded of the shadow of death on her person at all times, she was well aware of it as it was…..
Jack merely shrugged his shoulders trying to move on from the subject “Cool, cool, yeah yeah, I gotcha” he muttered his eyes on the ground wringing his hands as he did his foot bouncing rhythmically “So….I…” Jack trailed off, a frown coming to his face having no clue how do begin, he was emotionally stunted and on these occasions it really showed
“Are you...like, doing anything saturday? I was thinking we could hang out “
There was nothing that Jack dreaded more than the question “Why” Jack was a creature that seemed to act totally on instinct with just about everything and anything he did, that wasn’t to say he was a man that was incapable of reason. He led with his heart not with his head and while he didn’t see this as strictly a bad thing- More often then not it did leave him having to deal with the question “Why?” Which Jack just seemed to struggle with more often than not, his actions made perfect sense to him, and they should have been self-evidence but when it came to explaining them….He could never quite do it in a way that made him appear….rational.
Which naturally led to the question; “Why was Jack doing this now?” if he was going to do this he would have done it in high school, he would have done it when he was drunk, he would have done it when he was repressing the urge, to crack the faces of every boyfriend Lux has ever had with a baseball bat. Honestly given this was Jack McCarthy, the very fact he has never told Lux he had feelings for her demonstrates superhuman levels of self-restraint by his standards And the answer was painfully obvious, He feared what Lux would tell him, he was well aware of what people thought of him, he knew full well in any rational world he wouldn’t stand a chance with her, but not confronting the idea full on...He could keep hold of it. But now? Now he needed to know
Sat on the beach and tilted his head towards the direction of her best friend offering her a thin smile “Hey” he greeted, doing his best impression of a march hare tapping his foot rapidly against the pavement almost subconsciously as he lapsed into silence.
“Do you ever think when you get dressed if you die that day, that’ll be your ghost outfit forever….I've been thinking about that a lot..."
A morning jog around the park was all he asked for. The very first-morning jog, in fact, where he had but a chance of being distracted from what he called Lux to do, he sat on a bench, breathing heavily, pulse risen to a near-heart attack, and it took a few seconds to fully realize what he just did.
….The invite was sent….
No going back now,
All Jack felt was an encroaching sense of dread began filling his stomach, his jaw tightened
...What’s the worst that could happen?
Yeah it was probably best, That Jack left that question open-ended
AGE: 20 GENDER: Male ORIENTATION: Heterosexual POSITION: Unemployed
♦ THE ABILITY ♦
POWER: Emotional Duplication
Jack is able to create an avatar for all of his repressed emotions and split it off into its own body. The double "Jack Two" is alike Jack in every way, with the same memories and the same viewpoints but he's essentially the embodiment of all of Jack’s denied emotions and as such the copy “Jack Two” is shown to be much more emotional and sincere. When letting their emotional side out, the original person doesn't change.
For the most part he can contain this part, however, when put into a situation when he feels emotionally vulnerable, he may come busting out of Jack’s chest whether he is wanted or not. The process of “Jack Two” getting out is when Jack feels strong emotions, he receives painful stomach aches that builds and builds until Jack has no choice to
LIMITATIONS:
-Jack’s copy only comes out in times of severe stress, leaving Jack in an acutely emotional state -Jack has no control of the copy once it is out and it is the copy's choice whether it goes back in or not. -The energy of both Jack seem to be become more and more drained the more that Jack's power is "Active" and both Jacks become tired and sluggish. -Jack two, can only exist when he's in close distance to Jack, generally they would need to be in the same building at any and all times
SIDE-EFFECTS:
-Severe discomfort when “Jack Two” manifests. -Headaches -migraines
♦ THE CHARACTER ♦
HEIGHT: 6ft 1ins HAIR COLOR: Dark messy light brown hair EYE COLOR: Bright chocolate brown eyes
MISC: Is never seen without a Celtic cross hanging around his neck
PERSONALITY: There're been many words to describe Jack McCarthy but if there was one word that could sum him up perfectly is Misfit. He’s the glitch in the system. He’s almost a brand new subspecies of mankind. Too strange to live among people and yet too rare to die. It’s not hard to see how he tends to rub people the wrong way. It’s like he lives on his own little magical “Planet Jack” and only comes down to reality when he forced to, as this manifests itself in being highly inconsiderate and rude to people. Admittedly his apathetic nature tends to apply more to complete strangers than it does for his close friends but he can be a straight up ass when it comes to most conversations He tends to use crude and raunchy language to make his points, start/end conversations, and overall, make others feel uncomfortable. You wouldn’t see Jack noticing that however, since, evidently, he is mentally disturbed when it comes to socialising with others and rarely is aware when he says something wrong or crosses some kind of boundary Jack’sis an impulsive guy, and that means what he says is much the same. He doesn't censor himself and rarely holds back what he is thinking..
Jack tends to have a lack of mind when it comes to certain things. Relevance seems to be one of his bigger problems since he tends to totally miss certain important details of everyday life (such as people’s names). This is a perfect example of his tendency to see the world as revolving around him. He can appear selfish for his lack of concern or attentiveness to the point of conversations. He really just has a bad memory half the time. Jack is also prone to quite frankly bizarre behaviour. He seems to follow his own internal FLAWED logic that’s so arbitrary and circular that no one can possibly figure it out but him.
He enjoys riling people up and seeing their reactions. It amuses him and due to the fact he doesn’t see that his words can hurt others, he usually takes things too far and has to get physically punched in order to shut him up. He picks fun at most everyone, yet most of the time, he isn’t being serious- but good luck telling which from which, since he tends to use a lot of sarcasm, so it can be hard to tell. The only consistency in Jack is his inconsistency. One moment he’s a happy go lucky cheerful friend who walks around with permanent ease safe in the knowledge that everything will work out in the end…..and the next he’s a ranting raving lunatic in the grips of a massive panic because he ran out of cereal. It’s impossible to tell or predict what Jack you’re going to get. He’s a man of many masks that he insists on wearing because deep down he’s a deeply vulnerable and insecure person, but he chooses to keep a front up so as to not appear weak. He uses words as a means to express himself and keep himself from being hurt since, he doesn’t see himself as someone “Good” His childhood was rough, due to his father’s lack of interest, and his mother walking out (resulting in quite acute abandonment issues) and so, he has learned to adapt to life so that he doesn’t have to feel hurt by anyone again. He doesn’t like to talk about his past, let alone, touchy subjects, and if he does, he usually covers up his discomfort with trademark nonsensical bravado. He is terribly blunt and that along with saying whatever he feels like gets him on people's bad sides. He tends to use a lot of references too, making him very unoriginal when it comes to life advice. (which probably wouldn't be the best thing to follow)
He’s a wild-card that tends to act like out whenever he can. He annoys most, yet there is a part of him that some will learn to love. It may be the fact he is so damn ridiculous sometimes and doesn’t care who sees it that people become his friend (or at least, hang out with him for more than a few minutes) One of his best qualities though, would have to be his loyalty and dedication to those he cares about most likely due to some kind of lifelong fear of people leaving him
SECRET(S):
-His deep seeded insecurities and the touch he bears for a certain brunette
♦ THE HISTORY ♦
Jack was born into troubling circumstances. His father was your Typical “Jack the lad” figure with a weakness for women and silver tongue in his mouth. This weakness would come back to haunt him when one sunny afternoon young women he had met in a local bar shown up on the doorstep of his shitty apartment -pregnant.
Now, this being Ireland in the early 90’s they didn’t have a lot of choices other than to wed and only a few months later Jack was born.
Unsurprisingly the two had a rocky relationship from the beginning, due to their forced relationship, not to mention Darren’s continuing adultery. he moment Jack was born her mother packed her bags and left her child.
Growing up in two-roomed dirty apartment with a drunken dad was always going to hard especially when the kid in question was as shy as Jack. For years in the school yard, he was teased relentlessly. Combined with his resentment of his often absent father, Jack began to act out. He began to develop a cocky attitude and began to insult in order to prevent his own words from being thrown back in this face. Wit became Jack’s go-to response to everything. Smoking, partying, and drinking became Jack’s lifestyle of choice.
Unfortunately, this new attitude only fractured the relationship with his father further. Pretty soon afterwards at the age of 13 his power manifested itself after a particularly nasty argument with his dad he went to bed that night complaining of stomach pains…when he work up the next day, a clone of himself was standing over him. Jack. Freaked. Out. Constantly ignoring “Jack’s two” attempt to explain things, in a panicked frenzy, he attacked “Jack Two” with a broom forcing him out of the house. However “Jack Two” Wasn’t to be denied as he followed Jack everywhere he went until Jack eventually had to accept his crazy story…..Especially when the recruiter turned up at the door...One thing lead to another and he found himself in St. Bethany's before being tranfered to Bellefonte, citing "Discipline issues and for the last few years has proven to be the school's resistant weirdo, until eventually he left and became a general annoyance to the rest of the town
♦ THE PLAYER ♦
USERNAME: Robbo AGE GROUP: 23 EXPERIENCE: Long time! WHERE DID YOU FIND US? YOU FOUND ME
