18746/The Morning After Jackie

The Morning After Jackie
Date of Scene:	03 August 2024
Location:	The Crowe's Nest
Synopsis:	Joshua and Aria have coffee and exchange information and more.
Cast of Characters:	Joshua Foley, Aria Seraphine

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Joshua Foley has posed:
When Josh came come last night, he was covered in the grime and blood of another man. He sat in the shower while Aria tended to him and he explained to her... he's not just a healer. He harms. He can kill. He had killed last night. A mutant that was using his powers to devour people - he had given him cancer and then popped his brain like a cyst. It was not a fun conversation.

When they went to bed, all he wanted was cuddles. To hold the angel. To know it was okay. That now that she knew the truth, she would not run away. She is not the only one with a scary side. And he apologized for that as well. Because it's wrong of him to consider rejecting her when they had rushed so fast. She was right, he had tried to be playful and blew it out of proportion.

The next morning comes. Rising from bed, Joshua slips on a pair of sweatpants so that he may pad into the kitchen and start making coffee. It's mechanical at this point. He bought fresh cream and sugar was set out. As the cups were set down, he draws in a breath, waiting for Aria to join him while he sips from his cup, eyes closed as he works to flush the images of the night before from his brain.

Aria Seraphine has posed:
The Angel Seraphine, Siren of Solace, Salvebearer, and Eternal Light exists solely for this purpose -- endowed by her creator with blessings to heal when necessary, but mostly to provide comfort.

Most wounds exist outside the purview of the divine to heal. Taking away emotional wounds would be robbing mortals of their free will, essentially lobotomizing them. Stepping into the affairs of mortals is always done with careful consideration and the blessing of the Almighty (unless you're Seraphiel). Comfort, however, was far more often Seraphine's mission. Stories of cancers being cured as if by miracles and longshot surgeries succeeding through the divine hand of God abound, but the less showy and more routine part of her existence was sitting with children when they lost their parents, holding the hand of a man who had just lost his wife, or talking someone through a time they thought they would never be able to push through.

Even though most of Seraphine's blessings have been taken and her divine purpose stripped from her, it hasn't changed who she is.

She loves Joshua.

She loves him more than she thought she could ever love anyone, but in reality, it could have been a complete stranger she was sitting with in that shower. Without judgment or scorn, she listened to him, reassured him, and cleaned away his grime and gore. This is who she is, and though she may struggle in other aspects of her life, when she is needed, she is a tender caretaker, accepting and comforting.

When they went to bed, she held him. She clutched him in a way that left no question about whether she still loved him after that admission or whether she had any intention of leaving him after what he'd been through. Yes, she also has a dark side, but mentions of Josh's reaction on that boardwalk are dismissed. It was irrelevant. The sands of time continue to drain through the hourglass, burying what was to make room for what will be.

The next morning, she slipped on one of his shirts and brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her hair. The newness of waking up together had finally started to give way to hygienic rituals. Instead of stumbling bleary-eyed to find him, she looked a bit fresher as she climbed the stairs. When she found him, she set a hand on his shoulder and pulled her hair back from her face, leaning over to place a minty, lingering kiss on his lips.

Her big, blue eyes sparkled with warmth.

"How are you feeling?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
He hears the water downstairs. Of Aria preparing to face the day. If he listened closely, he'd probably caught her singing. Or at least imagined it. He's in love with her as well. He's fallen in love with an angel - and he has nary a regret about it. As he takes another sip of coffee, he listens for the sound of her ascending the stairs. Once he hears that, the ritual begins.

By the time she has crested the steps, there is a fresh cup of coffee in her blue cup with feathers and a Tennessee Williams quote on it. Heavy cream, heavy sugar, as she wanted. It's set at the seat next to him. No need to sit across from him anymore. They're a couple.

They're in love.

The kiss is shared, his more warm with coffee as they pleasanty tangle together for a moment, his arms reaching up to hold her to him for a few seconds longer as his own blue eyes meet hers. She asks him how he feels. It takes a few moments to find the answer as he looks into her eyes, and finally decides on the only word that meets the moment.

"Better. Moreso with you here." he confesses.

"I was consider making you a key today." he adds further. "So... when you're out, and if you need to come by, you'll know you're welcome."

Aria Seraphine has posed:
She lets Joshua set the pace this morning, and when he reaches up to hold her, her own arms come around him, squeezing him as she gently brushes her fingers through his hair.

She smiles at his words, her fingers briefly lifting to his forehead for a tender, affectionate caress that wouldn't be nearly as possessive without that adoring look in her eye.

"I'm glad," she returns the confession with a hint of a smile.

Reluctantly pulling herself away, she claims the seat beside him as well as the cup of coffee, turning and bending her knees, tucking her feet between his thighs to bury her toes under one of his legs. For warmth, presumably. Or just as a way to be connected.

"Thank you for my coffee." She never lets that go unsaid, and it's never the humdrum of routine when she says it. She isn't used to this. She might never be used to this. Some part of her doesn't want to be used to this. To have someone who loves her enough to dote on her like Joshua is a gift she will never take for granted.

She takes a sip, listening, and nods. No smile. Just a hint of reservation.

"I... would love that, if you're comfortable with it," she assures. But then there's a pause. A significant pause. "I went to see Jackie yesterday."

That can mean so many things. She knows it can. Things that are hurtful to Joshua, so she doesn't let that statement linger for more than a second before she continues.

"We've... gone our separate ways."

What?

"I need to get a new phone and give you the number."

She should look happier, but for some reason, she says it like she quit her job. Like it's a monumental thing but she's not sure if she'll actually be okay -- like taking that leap off a bungee platform, those first few seconds of free-fall.

She takes another sip of her coffee.

Joshua Foley has posed:
They cuddle and connect and kiss, all things that Joshua loves and never expected from an angel, much less Aria. From the first day she walked into the shop, she has surprised, befuddled, perplexed and loved him all at seperate times. She settles in next to him and his hand drops down to caress her calf where her foot is buried beneath his thigh.

"You're welcome. I was going to see if you wanted to go out for breakfast..." he had started to venture. It would be fun. Stacked pancakes, all the toppings she wanted. He knew a place that did like blueberries, strawberries, chocolate, maple syrup /and/ whipped cream. The real stuff, not the oil based crap.

Then she mentions Jackie, and his mental image of pancake stacks collapse. He braces, she can feel the tightness in his thighs, until she continues.

'...gone our seperate ways.'

He should be estatic, right? He won? He should dance on the table, do a jig. Something. But her tone, her posture. He doesn't need his biokenesis to read her. She's lost now. She's missing a piece of her purpose. Hell, she might have actually loved him for cleaning her up.

He'd never met Sera if not for Jackie.

Moving his coffee to the side, he pats his lap in a come hither motion. If she settles in his laps, his arms encircle her, letting her feel the warmth of his frame as he pulls her in against him. No words need to be said. She can talk if she wants to. She can be held if she wants to.

He'll support her either way.

Aria Seraphine has posed:
Not having Jackie in her life changed... everything.

Before Jackie, Aria been a stripper and drug addict who spent most of her Earthly life curled up on park benches, trying to get enough heroin in her system to overdose. To die. Just so that she could lose herself in a few blissful moments of peace before the darkness took her... so that she could wake up some time later and start it all over again. She had no government identification. No social security number. No bank account. No skills. She got paid in cash and drugs.

She hated Jackie. She hated him for kidnapping her, for forcing her to detox, for... for...

There were other things. She was sure of it. For giving her a bed to sleep in? For holding her while she shook and vomited and begged him for another syringe? For going to some stupid little local record store to see a band she wanted to see? For vouching for her with Shaw and Tessa when she went begging for her at the Hellfire Club?

By the time Aria's setting her cup back down on the table and climbing fully into Joshua's lap, the sobs have already started to overtake her. She had tried so hard to be strong -- to anticipate Joshua's jubilation at the news so that she could smile with him, celebrate with him. Because, yes. Joshua had... won. She'd chosen Joshua, and she would do it again a thousand times over.

Jackie was a murderer. A mafia hitman -- someone that killed entire families. He was ruthless, and he was good at his job for reasons that she'd never told Joshua. Reasons that she might never tell Joshua. She'd promised Jackie she would keep his secrets, and she meant it.

She had no idea what she felt for Jackie. Something she shouldn't. She knew that. Was it love? She didn't know, but it _hurt_ to know that he was gone... that her access to the penthouse had surely been revoked, that she'd never again see the softness in his gaze when he started to open up and be honest with her about his intentions to leave the Francetti family... something he hadn't shared with anyone else. She didn't really know what she was to Jackie, but in their final moments together, she realized it wasn't what she thought it was.

She sobs quietly against Joshua's shoulder, clinging to him for a few minutes of absolutely raw emotion before she finally gets it under control again, sniffling deeply and tilting her face up to place a long, lingering kiss against the side of his neck. Then another right under his ear.

"I love you," she whispers.

Another kiss against his jaw. Another against his cheek. Another against his lips, salty with her tears, until she leans back to look into his eyes.

"I love you," she repeats. Because it's true. It's so very true.

Joshua Foley has posed:
There was no celebration. They was no excitement. Joshua can tell that Aria is heartbroken, even while she tries to convince him that she loves him. She doesn't need to.

He recognizes the sacrifice she made for him.

His arms hold her tighter as she sobs, before one hand rises to caress her back and her hair, encouraging her to let it all out.

Jackie is an evil person, yes. But Jackie made the decision to let her go. And in that void, there is Joshua. And he is willing to be there for her, his hand csaressing her back, petting her long blonde hair, treating her very much in the same way that she had treated him the night before - just in a different fashion. She starts to subside, her tears falling on his golden skin... and then things change.

'I love you'.

She starts to kiss him, and his body responds to her, letting her know that she's hitting all the right notes. They start to kiss each other. Soft at first, cheeks, necks, lips, eyes, all are targets.

Until she mentions the second I love you.

And then he kisses her firmly, a growing ferocity and want with his mouth upon hers before he breaks the kiss.

"I love you, too," he confesses.

And without further encouragement, he rises to his feet, lifting her in his arms to carry her back down to their bed.