1559/In Your Head, In Your HeeeEEEEAAAaaadddd

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In Your Head, In Your HeeeEEEEAAAaaadddd
Date of Scene: 07 May 2020
Location: Alias Investigations
Synopsis: Jessica gets another visit from the Straw Man, which she once again sees as Kilgrave. But this time, Straw Man decides to take the mind games deeper, making Jessica start to question her sanity.
Cast of Characters: Straw Man, Jessica Jones




Straw Man has posed:
    The late evening office is quiet, which can be dangerous when a woman is left with her thoughts by herself. No noise to distract, unless the gathering thunderstorm outside counts. The wind has started to pick up slightly, the sidewalk planted trees outside swaying as ripples of wind cross their boughs. The radiator rattles and kicks to life as the old windows seep the smell of rain into the apartment.

Jessica Jones has posed:
Jessica was just getting focused into her study on the Roxxon case, for her next rendezvous with Danny Rand, when everything seemed to go just this side of creepy. The wind, the rustling trees, that stupid barely functioning radiator doing its thing. She sighed and got up to slam her window shut, before heading to check on the thermostat, anything to get the coveted quiet to finish her preparation. "Can't get one god damned moment of silence in this stupid city..."

Straw Man has posed:
    The city can be obnoxious that way, can't it?" that familiar voice of the Purple Man comes from the opposite side of the room, "Restless as it is. As if the wind could blow right through you, as it were." He strolls to examine the windwo with the name of the investigation on it. "Alias" investigations." He cocks an eyebrow. "I wonder why you chose the word alias. It does sound catchy, I'll give you that. And things are going well, that should please you."

Jessica Jones has posed:
"Of course it c..." Jessica was just starting to reply, before realizing nobody was there with her. Oh snap! Slowly turning towards the voice, she braces herself, "you can' t be here...it's not you. I was here all alone..." which is true for the most part, but if she's honest, the Purple Man is always in her head. Even if she hates to admit it. "Why do you think...?" Jessica tosses the question back at Purple Man, not sounding like she's keen on giving it away. Not to him at least.

Straw Man has posed:
    "Oh you are alone, though, aren't you? With all of the new friends...clients, however you want to coin their presence. You are still alone." The purple man moves to the desk, sitting on the edge of it, looing sideways at her. "I'm sure there could be many reasons you call it that. Maybe it's because people go by aliases, and you find them out. Or maybe they need aliases because of their vigilantism. But I think deep down, it's the alias you give yourself. A competent, clever investigator. Bulletproof and strong enough to take on the world. The funny thing about aliases, though." He holds a finger up and wags it. "They always are a mask, aren't they? Designed to hide, designed to obscure the truth."

Jessica Jones has posed:
"Yes, I am." Jessica replies with a complete lack of humor in her voice, glaring at the image of the Purple Man, because it can't truly be him can it? She still has her free will, it has to be in her head. One of the worst things is dealing with these episodes, at least this time it's not in public. Last month she almost punched a pedastrian for wearing a purple suit. "Great job," Jessica says as she applauds Purple Man, "you going to become a therapist now?" And just like that she's wandering towards the whiskey cabinet, not bothering with a glass, it seems straight to the bottle is the order of the day. "I help people now, okay? That's better than what you do!"

Straw Man has posed:
    "Yes, well, since I'm only in your head, I'm not sure what you're insinuating /I/ do," he answers with a smug smile. "Anything you can do~" he sings the line from Annie get your Gun, "I can do...exactly the same. But see now, let's put these petty squabbles behind us. We are bound to share space, I think you know there is no avoiding that." He hops back up, and walks toward the window. "There's no reason it can't be a more pleasant experience, is there? After all, we share the same blue sky," he glances up and out. "Or...black." A shrug of his eyebrows. "And a black sky is just the sort that you prefer, if you're honest with yourself. Perhaps the only place you feel truly at home."

Jessica Jones has posed:
"See? I knew it! I knew you weren't real!" Jessica has something of a triumphant smile on her lips, as she points one accusatory finger at Purple Man, "that means, you can't hurt me! You can't make me do anything, and you definitely can't get me to fucking smile! So there. A win. For me. Checkmate." But for someone who thinks they just made their winning argument, she still has a sip of that whiskey straight from the bottle. "See?" She quips after her swig, "I beg to differ, I think we shouldn't share any space whatsoever. Ever." When he speaks of Black Sky, Jessica all of a sudden becomes very serious, and a bit sharper, "are you involved with The Hand?" She asks a totally unrelated, and somewhat stupid question, considering she just established she's essentially talking to herself.

Straw Man has posed:
    "Only as far as you are involved," comes the response. "But I'd have to be real to be involved, wouldn't I? You're right, I can't make you do anything. I can't make you take that sip of whiskey. I can't make you punch civilians on the street for wearing the wrong color, and I can't make you lash out at those who care at you because you have a misplaced sense of rage. I can't do any of that." He flips the blinds closed, then open, then closed, then open before releasing them.
    "You have your own free agency. You aren't forced to do those things by anyone." He gives a sly wink. "You know, I think about children sometimes, how they see monsters." He looks back at Jessica. "Did you see monsters as a child? Of course, then it is explained to us that we don't see monsters. We're...civilized. And so, these monsters become no longer seen. " He pushes off from the window with his shoulders, walking behind Jessica. "Of course, we all know they are still there. Huge ones. As big as you can make or suppress them in your mind. Only the monsters aren't out /there/," he says, indicating over her shoulder with a nod out the window. He wanders back in front of her. "No, they aren't the Purple Man, or The Hand, or the Kingpin. Those aren't the monsters." He shakes his head slowly, maintaining perfect eye contact. "The real monsters are far mor elusive. I come from that land. Where the real monsters lie. You might consider me something of a lion tamer, perhaps. I am here to parade them before you, let them do their tricks." A slow rumble of thunder grows in the belly of the sky until it fills the rooms.

    There's a silence, but a certain impending presence of his statement that says there is more. "For instance, we have a wolf. Which is unlike any wolf you might see this side of the darkening clouds. This wolf likes to walk on your ceiling at night and stare down at you. He can come from nowhere, like the big bad breath of another planet. All things blow aside in his path!" There is a building energy as he continues. "He has no concept of how a door, or the wall of a house, whether straw or sticks or bricks, is meant to keep him separate from getting to you. And he can speak! Oh yes. Full speeches. And this wolf who speaks can give you fantastic monologques and tell you that what YOU see, out there," he points out the window, "As a WOLF..." he becomes very quiet as he adds the next life. "Is the bare tip of what a wolf can truly be. But I don't need to tell you, do I? You've heard this wolf, prowling outside your door at night...Just waiting for you to fall asleep."

Jessica Jones has posed:
"Fuck you with your preaching, you're just a ghost in my mind!" Jessica snarls at the vision of Purple Man. No matter what she claimed about knowing he's not real, he's clearly aware of all of her buttons, and he's been pushing them in rapid succession. "You did a fuckin' number on me, and it's really hard to normalize after, ok? That's why I'm not even thinking about getting a fucking boyfriend, that's why I'm alone, that's why I'm only friends with people who can look after themselves. Because of assholes like you!" Her voice steadily rises, almost in danger of screaming to the point the upper floor neighbors might hear.

The turn the speech took, and the predatory pace about routine of Purple Man finally has Jessica quieting down. Doubting. Watching him warily. "What are you...?" She asks, feeling like there just might be more to this than her scars after all.

"Wait...are you the wolf or am I the wolf in this analogy?" Jessica asks, peering ever so suspiciously at her bottle of whiskey, and still drinking more. "I'm going mad, aren't I? Talking to myself like an idiot."

Straw Man has posed:
    And that question, about who the wolf is, elicits a smile. At first glance devious, and second not at all unnatural. "That's the real question, isn't it? Who indeed? You freed yourself from Kilgrave. Or...maybe mostly freed," he amends. "But free from and free indeed are two very different things. As for me? You can think of me as a neighbor, I think," he decides. "That might be simplest for now. And I'll come back and visit. We can talk some more, and then maybe you'll understand a little more of who I really am."

Jessica Jones has posed:
    "So you do know about him!" Jessica looks furious, "how!? I told nobody!" It's true, who would believe there was an evil man that made her do things with words. Well, she wasn't fully truthful, Carol Danvers knew. But that was quite the circumstance. "Okay wise guy, so what is the big difference there? What am I missing?" But even as Jessica presses with the question, she starts stepping further back from Purple Man, a bit spooked about the possibility it might not just be in her mind. And that it just might be some specter wearing Kilgrave's form. "Isn't there a third option? Like you fuck off and leave me alone? I suffered enough, trust me."

Straw Man has posed:
    "I know nothing that is not given to me," the fake Kilgrave takes a bow. "Remember, I'm all in your head. I know only what you know, and I will leave when you're ready for me to be gone. But I don't think you're ready, despite your protests. If in fact I must spell it out for you, it is simple enough for a person to free themselves from the prison fashioned by another. The brick house you've built yourself, the one you made with no door and no windows? It takes something more. Remember, the wolf can still get in, but that doesn't mean you can get out." He tilts his head to the side, as if expecting understanding.

Jessica Jones has posed:
"But I didn't give you anything, hell, I don't even know you..." Jessica protests, trying to remember if she ever told anyone save Carol Danvers. And even then Carol didn't quite get the full story. Just enough to not kill Jessica.

As Purple Man keeps talking, Jessica starts laughing manically, before drinking more from her whiskey bottle, "I get it now, you're an incarnation of the damned priest who counselled me after I came out of that coma, aren't you?"

Straw Man has posed:
    "If you like," he answers. "But, like I said, we're neighbors. And as a good neighbor, I won't overstay my welcome." As if he had a welcome to begin with. "For now, I'll leave you with your drink, and let you allow it's properties to stimulate your mind so that you might think...more clearly." The door is opened, and he walks through it like any flesh and blood man would. As his foot disappears, though, there's a split instant where the eye very nearly can catch a patch of blackish gray fur, but then he's gone, and once again, Jessica is alone.

Jessica Jones has posed:
"Sure, just like Mr. Rogers," Jessica scoffs, only when he winds up walking to the door, opening it, and walking out...Jessica starts to look real concerned, "I'm fucking losing it..." she mutters to herself, mind racing as she tries to think who she might be able to contact for help. It's a very slim list, and she needs to make sure nobody ever hears about these episodes at the same time. Life is very difficult indeed.