[she watches the man closely, and frowns only slightly when he goes to the cabinet to retrieve a glass and whiskey. jinx won't protest, however, the girl scurries to the fridge to seek for freshly bottle of water then sets it on the counter — scooting it closer to his radius than hers.
it's a muted suggestion that he should drink some water so to prevent dehydration, and she clutches on a rag to drop to the floor, then uses her foot to mop away any traces of bath water she trailed from one room to the next.]
Will you be okay out here, Pops? I can finish up my bath on my own.
[He fell back into a sense of routine, willing it to bring him calm and to compartmentalize the complex emotions that came with the bombardment of information that he had received tonight. He took another large gulp of whiskey, letting it burn its way down his throat and warm his stomach as he closed his eye and inhaled a deep breath, held it and then slowly released it.
He opened his eye and noted the water bottle that Jinx had nudged in his direction. He had already washed his mouth out, so that was purely unnecessary. He turned his gaze to her half untangled hair and simply set his tumbler aside on the coffee table.]
Don't be ridiculous. Your hair requires more attention. I'll assist.
[her expression plunges to a typical teenager snark, and she says nothing for a second or two before gesturing a wave of her hand towards the basin.]
... You just blew chunks all into the sink.
[in case he forgot, and the tone she uses is dry, but there's care in it, honest!]
I think you oughta sit for a second just in case you wanna go for round two. And bathing in puke is NOT exactly good for the skin. Despite what some nut job scientist might say.
[He decided to correct her on principle because chunks made an indication that he had eaten something in the last few hours, which he had clearly not. Instead, he was fighting to compartmentalize, to compose himself completely, to push down the wild rush of emotions for her sake (definitely not his own). He put the idea of Vander in a neat little box to deal with later internally.]
The moment of nausea has passed, and you're being quite dramatic. We need to finish your hair given the mess you've made of it on the travel back.
[He abandoned his tumbler and made a point of walking back to the bathroom as if he had not shown some of the strain or vomited in the sink or had his world crack all around him or experienced a whole new scenario of revisiting traumas. No, he focused on her because it was easier and better and what he had been doing for years.]
I'll refresh the water. [Be normal. Act normal. He unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve so he could roll it up and then reached it to pull the plug, replaced it immediately and turned the water back on.] You should drink that water you brought out.
Chucks, liquid, screws and bolts, it's all the same crap.
[how would anyone throw up screws and bolts is...questionable, and although her father instructs her to drink the bottle of water, she ignores it and lets it sit there abandoned while she paces after him.]
Fine, you can call me dramatic all you want, but you're being stubborn, Mister.
[returning to the washroom, his daughter removes the towel from her frame once more and folds it over the sink.]
— After this, you're going to your room and take a minute to relax, got it? AND you're drinking that water. I've learned from Isha about how to... [she pauses, scrunching up her face to think of a way to phrase her point, doing wild hand gestures in hope it'll help.] ... stop the brain from going bzzzt,bzzzt. Or at least make it not SO bzzzt, bzzzt. So, we need to find you a good, quiet place where you can feel free and breathe.
It was an unfortunate reaction to something I consumed earlier.
[It was not. He was a master of deluding himself when it came to explaining some of his own personal traumas that did not immediately come with furious anger. He couldn't be angry with Jinx or the situation, too relieved to have her back in his life despite all the oddities of her return and the changes in some of her behaviours.
He returned to where he was sitting, leaning down to pick up the abandoned brush and comb. He used the comb to dig out long strands of blue hair that had ended up tangled in the bristles, unperturbed by her returned state of nudity.]
I don't drink water. [That statement was very true; water in Zaun was dangerous so he made a point of refreshing himself only with distilled liquor. It hadn't killed him yet.] You learned how to control your inner demons? Because of a child. [After all the years of him trying to nudge her to controlling them, to letting her free of them, to soothing her and it took a child to accomplish where he had found great but not perfect success? He experienced a pang of jealousy, which he stewed on rather than reliving all the other insurmountable stresses of this conversation.] You do recall I'm the parent in this situation, and you don't get to tell me to go to my room.
[he is definitely fibbing because of the timing of her speaking of vander and having that reaction is far too close, but she knows when to pick her battles and when not. so she decides to let it go, and approaches the tub again to test the temperature with her right foot. feeling it's perfect, the symbol slides back in the waters and allows her waterfall of locks to hang over.]
They're not completely controlled, they still bug me and like to talk my ear off. I've just learned some little tricks, that's all. — AND!
[she exclaims by lifting a finger and flashing him a bright smile.]
You're not the only parent in this bathroom. I'm a mama, remember? So I CAN order you to go to your room. With supper. Because I don't want you to go hungry.
[Learned some tricks, hmm? He had tried to teach her tricks while also not stifling her innovation and chaos. He had encouraged that. Perhaps he could claim to some fame in that the teaparty was clearly Jinx making a decision on who she wanted to be and after his death, perhaps she had chosen the path that they had been working on for years. Perhaps he had finally killed Powder, even for a time.
But no, apparently it was a little girl. He kept the seething jealousy to himself, the thought eating like spoiled spanner grease through his mind. He had the audacity of mortality and now everything he had built was crumbling away beneath his feet.
He picked pulled her hair back into his lap and returned to his work, sullen and introverted. She had provided him much to ponder, too much perhaps.]
I'm still your father, which means you don't have the authority to order me around. [She absolutely did.] I'm not hungry. I ate recently.
You're such a card, Pops! I've ordered you around plenty of times before I went back home.
[she hoists up her leg from the water, wiggling her toes before stretching over for the shower gel and scrub.]
Except this time, I've got a few tricks up my sleeves to get you to listen to me. — So you better watch out, I'm coming for your bedtime, Jinxie says viciously and laughs out to the heavens while the crowd cheers and shower her with bullet shells.
Indeed because I let you as it was within my own interests to do so.
[His fingers paused to work a particularly difficult snaggle of hair out with the comb, shaking his head when it seemed that his daughter was under the impression that he would do what she ordered of him. That's not how it worked, even if he often would acquiesced to her whims and rarely held her accountable.]
Do you? If you think you can force me to sleep when your sleeping habits are worse than mine.....
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branchandroot
action;
Date: 2025-01-17 04:33 pm (UTC)it's a muted suggestion that he should drink some water so to prevent dehydration, and she clutches on a rag to drop to the floor, then uses her foot to mop away any traces of bath water she trailed from one room to the next.]
Will you be okay out here, Pops? I can finish up my bath on my own.
action;
Date: 2025-01-18 04:21 am (UTC)He opened his eye and noted the water bottle that Jinx had nudged in his direction. He had already washed his mouth out, so that was purely unnecessary. He turned his gaze to her half untangled hair and simply set his tumbler aside on the coffee table.]
Don't be ridiculous. Your hair requires more attention. I'll assist.
action;
Date: 2025-01-18 05:27 pm (UTC)... You just blew chunks all into the sink.
[in case he forgot, and the tone she uses is dry, but there's care in it, honest!]
I think you oughta sit for a second just in case you wanna go for round two. And bathing in puke is NOT exactly good for the skin. Despite what some nut job scientist might say.
action;
Date: 2025-01-18 05:32 pm (UTC)[He decided to correct her on principle because chunks made an indication that he had eaten something in the last few hours, which he had clearly not. Instead, he was fighting to compartmentalize, to compose himself completely, to push down the wild rush of emotions for her sake (definitely not his own). He put the idea of Vander in a neat little box to deal with later internally.]
The moment of nausea has passed, and you're being quite dramatic. We need to finish your hair given the mess you've made of it on the travel back.
[He abandoned his tumbler and made a point of walking back to the bathroom as if he had not shown some of the strain or vomited in the sink or had his world crack all around him or experienced a whole new scenario of revisiting traumas. No, he focused on her because it was easier and better and what he had been doing for years.]
I'll refresh the water. [Be normal. Act normal. He unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve so he could roll it up and then reached it to pull the plug, replaced it immediately and turned the water back on.] You should drink that water you brought out.
action; cw: back to nudity lmao
Date: 2025-01-18 06:00 pm (UTC)[how would anyone throw up screws and bolts is...questionable, and although her father instructs her to drink the bottle of water, she ignores it and lets it sit there abandoned while she paces after him.]
Fine, you can call me dramatic all you want, but you're being stubborn, Mister.
[returning to the washroom, his daughter removes the towel from her frame once more and folds it over the sink.]
— After this, you're going to your room and take a minute to relax, got it? AND you're drinking that water. I've learned from Isha about how to... [she pauses, scrunching up her face to think of a way to phrase her point, doing wild hand gestures in hope it'll help.] ... stop the brain from going bzzzt,bzzzt. Or at least make it not SO bzzzt, bzzzt. So, we need to find you a good, quiet place where you can feel free and breathe.
Your office should be a perfect spot for that.
action;
Date: 2025-01-18 06:13 pm (UTC)[It was not. He was a master of deluding himself when it came to explaining some of his own personal traumas that did not immediately come with furious anger. He couldn't be angry with Jinx or the situation, too relieved to have her back in his life despite all the oddities of her return and the changes in some of her behaviours.
He returned to where he was sitting, leaning down to pick up the abandoned brush and comb. He used the comb to dig out long strands of blue hair that had ended up tangled in the bristles, unperturbed by her returned state of nudity.]
I don't drink water. [That statement was very true; water in Zaun was dangerous so he made a point of refreshing himself only with distilled liquor. It hadn't killed him yet.] You learned how to control your inner demons? Because of a child. [After all the years of him trying to nudge her to controlling them, to letting her free of them, to soothing her and it took a child to accomplish where he had found great but not perfect success? He experienced a pang of jealousy, which he stewed on rather than reliving all the other insurmountable stresses of this conversation.] You do recall I'm the parent in this situation, and you don't get to tell me to go to my room.
action;
Date: 2025-01-19 05:59 am (UTC)They're not completely controlled, they still bug me and like to talk my ear off. I've just learned some little tricks, that's all. — AND!
[she exclaims by lifting a finger and flashing him a bright smile.]
You're not the only parent in this bathroom. I'm a mama, remember? So I CAN order you to go to your room. With supper. Because I don't want you to go hungry.
action;
Date: 2025-01-19 04:24 pm (UTC)But no, apparently it was a little girl. He kept the seething jealousy to himself, the thought eating like spoiled spanner grease through his mind. He had the audacity of mortality and now everything he had built was crumbling away beneath his feet.
He picked pulled her hair back into his lap and returned to his work, sullen and introverted. She had provided him much to ponder, too much perhaps.]
I'm still your father, which means you don't have the authority to order me around. [She absolutely did.] I'm not hungry. I ate recently.
action;
Date: 2025-01-19 04:49 pm (UTC)[she hoists up her leg from the water, wiggling her toes before stretching over for the shower gel and scrub.]
Except this time, I've got a few tricks up my sleeves to get you to listen to me. — So you better watch out, I'm coming for your bedtime, Jinxie says viciously and laughs out to the heavens while the crowd cheers and shower her with bullet shells.
action;
Date: 2025-01-19 04:56 pm (UTC)[His fingers paused to work a particularly difficult snaggle of hair out with the comb, shaking his head when it seemed that his daughter was under the impression that he would do what she ordered of him. That's not how it worked, even if he often would acquiesced to her whims and rarely held her accountable.]
Do you? If you think you can force me to sleep when your sleeping habits are worse than mine.....