one x one for whispers and rose

[rose;]

Giovanni frowned, quite saddened by how Luke was acting. He wanted the happy, confident Luke from earlier in the day, but he knew he wouldn't be back until at least the next morning. When he was done, he threw the rag back in the sink and once again took the boy's hand. "No," he said gently, yet firmly. "After that you-you're going to g-g-ge-get a nice, com-c-comfortable, warm b-b-ed, and you're going t-to get up t-tom-tomorrow morning and m-m-my mom is going to ma-make w-w-wa-waffles with straw-strawberries and whip-whipped cream and p-p-powdered sugar, and you're n-n-not going to ar... argue... Well, unless you d-d-d-don't like wa-waffles or strawberries or-or-or something," he said, smiling sweetly. "Now c-come on, I-I've got a pair of s-s-sw-weatpants that-that'll fit you."

At the end of all that he was blushing with the difficulty in which he spoke, but he pulled the boy to his feet anyway and led him into a small hallway and up a flight of stairs to his room, which was the farthest on the right in the hallway upstairs. He pushed the door open and flicked the light on, not even pausing in the entry way. His room was nothing fancy- his bed was larger than most, a full instead of a twin, but other than that, he had nothing decorating the walls or adorning the dressers. His comforter was nothing special either, just plain cream, and everything was picked up and put away. They could both sleep in the bed, but he didn't want to bring it up, as he was pretty sure Luke would reject the idea.

"Th-the ba-bath-bathroom is right ac-across the ha-hall-hallway," he said, pulling out a pair of sweatpants that were too large for him from a drawer and offering them up. "I'll g-g-go there and y-you change he-here," he said, before slipping out the door and shutting the bathroom door behind himself, brushing his teeth before changing, going back across the hallway to lightly knock. "Done?" he asked.

~~~

Rose sighed, before shaking his head. "Stop avoiding things," she told him, a little testily. "You're hurt, not just physically. If you had just stayed last night..." she trailed off with a huff, shaking her head as he interrupted and began talking again. "Stop it!" she told him again. "You are good," she insisted. "You just... won't let yourself see it!" She glared at him rather forcefully, trying to make her point, but she knew there wasn't hope for it.

When the officers marched up, Rose just stepped aside, rather puzzled. She didn't think they were coming for Jace, and therefor didn't make any effort to stop them. However, when they turned him around and began to read him his rights, she began to protest. "Wait, what?" she exclaimed. "What's going on here?" she demanded to know, and the other officer took her by her arm to lead her slightly away. "One of the boys stabbed yesterday passed today in the hospital. The parents have decided to press charges. He will be given fair trial in due time, but for now the parents are pushing arrest and intentional murder." He left her with that, gaping down the hallway after his retreating figure.

the rest of the day went in a bit of a blur, her mind occupied by thoughts of Jace and how they were treating him down at the station. She didn't think he was being treated as well as they might treat any stray person walking in- she was almost positive that this wasn't his first run in with the law. When her father came to pick her up at the end of the day, she was practically bursting with the news and need to tell someone. She hopped into the car and immediately began to talk, her words quick and rather loud, almost hysterical. "They took him, dad! Marched right in like they owned the place and marched him right out! Right in front of everyone, even. What right have they got-" Her father cut her off with gentle words. "Think about the parents, Rose."

With a huff she scowled, shaking her head. "Well, we have to do something!" she cried. "He was protecting me, for goodness sakes!" Her father seemed quite amused by her outbreak, but he would be supportive if she really decided to take this on. "I'll bring you over there right now," he said, pulling out of the parking lot and heading that way. She sat sullenly next to him, grumbling to herself. She hopped out when they pulled up and her dad got out with her, going in ahead. "Officer," he greeted the man with a tip of his head. "My daughter here would like to speak with the suspect of the murder of Aaron, Jace." The officer looked warily about them, before shaking his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he said. "Not with a suspect of something as such." "Do you really think he did this in cold blood?" he asked, and with a bit of hesitation, he finally relented, opening a door behind him and gesturing for her to go ahead and go in. "Come this way," he said, and they all made there way back there, where Jace sat in a barred cell. "Jace," Rose said softly in greeting, moving over to the bars. "Told you I'd get you out, and I mean it... How they treating you?"

[Welcome to Whysperia]

Luke held back a sigh as Geo spoke, only nodding his head. He paused for a moment, thinking about what he was being told before he smiled a little sheepishly up at his friend. "I like waffles. I don't remember the last time I had them, really," he admitted, shrugging gingerly. At the mention of sweatpants, specifically some that would fit him, he was surprised. He didn't question it though; he was just happy to hear it. He wanted nothing more than to change into something comfortable and go to sleep. Maybe not wake up for a few weeks. He felt like he could do it, sleep for a week.

Standing slowly, Luke followed Geovanni our of the kitchen and to a hallway, though he hesitated when they reached the staircase. Well this would be fun, he thought a little darkly. Sighing softly, he put a hand out to use the wall as he began climbing the stairs, sure to keep his face schooled into a non-expression, wanting to remain stoic for that moment. When they finished, he sighed in relief and followed Geo to his room. Luke stopped in the doorway, not entering all of the way as he started looking around, taking everything in. It was interesting, seeing Geo's room. It was really bare, lacking in the personal touches that Luke's room had. He wondered about that for a moment, but didn't comment on it. As soon as the other boy started speaking, Luke nodded and entered the room fully. He walked over and took the pants slowly, gently, then watched as Geo left him. The bathroom, right.

Once he was alone, Luke sat the sweatpants on the bed, sighing once again. He gently removed his own pants, wincing a little at the bruises that were forming on them. He glanced down for a moment before grabbing the sweatpants and jerking them on rather quickly, not wanting to see anymore. Now that that was finished, he realized he really did need to look over his top half. Awesome. He grasped his shirt and squirmed it over his head, the process taking little longer than he wanted it to. Once it was off, he tossed it onto the bed as well, looking himself over as much as he could. He was bruised, but not broken. He had a few scratches on him, but like the welts that covered his back and one side, they weren't bleeding too much. Blood was at their surface, but it didn't fall. That hardly counts as bleeding, he told himself. He was still looking down at his body when a knock sounded at the door, followed by a voice. Geo. "Oh, uh, yeah," he called back, reaching over to hastily grab his shirt. He was still facing the door when he started to pull it on, though he turned his back to it after a little while. He tugged at his shirt, trying to get it into place before turning back to the door. Blushing, he reached down and grabbed his pants, folding them up neatly as he looked at Geo, not sure what to say.

«☼»

Jace was sitting, silent. His back was pressed to the wall, a cold and hard look on his face as he feigned nonchalance. It seemed his faking was working pretty well, too; the guards were pretty upset by his lack of remorse, his lack of any emotion really. They had put him in the cell and left him there, not even looking at him. Jace wasn't sure if he liked that any more than getting beat up by people. Not existing, or feeling pain, those seemed to be his options in life. He was sick of it, really. Even so, he didn't show any of that. He didn't show how angry he felt, how terrible and afraid and hopeless all of this was. Instead, he glared at anyone who dared pass his cell.

Jace had just looked away to glare at the wall when Rose entered. Her voice surprised him a little, causing him to look up sharply. His face was still stoic, but he didn't glare at her like he had been glaring at everyone else. He still seemed cold and a little distant, but the change over him was there, albeit subtle. He stood up as she approached, pain flashing over his eyes for a moment before he hid it once again. Walking closer, he came to stand nearer. His arms crossed over his chest as he shot a terrible look at the officer over Rose's shoulder. Admittedly, this one hadn't done anything to him, but after all of the things he'd been through with cops? Well, he deserved it anyway, Jace thought.

"Oh it's been great. Five start joint, this place," he said, smirking a little as he said it. His gaze had returned to Rose and softened a little. He frowned then, taking a step closer so he was standing right in front of her. "How about you? You doing okay?" He asked, his voice lowered now so that only she would hear him. His arms came up, his hands resting on the bars on either side of her face. His eyes burned as they gazed down at her, obviously assessing what he saw there. "Anyone messing with you over this?" he demanded, his voice still low though his body had tensed up a little.

Admittedly, he looked a little threatening, though it wasn't directed towards Rose, rather at whoever may have done something to her. He didn't know why he felt this way over her, why he felt that he should protect her, or care about her at all. Must have been because of that first time, when her boyfriend was hurting her. That was one thing he couldn't deal with, men hurting women. It wasn't acceptable, and he hated it. Since that night, Jace had cared way too much about this chick, something that wasn't okay with him. Even so, he couldn't exactly stop.

[rose;]

He paused outside the door even when he was told he could come in, unsure why but still pausing. He pushed it open with a quick glance up to the other boy, and he grimaced at just the sight of his red, welted skin. He politely turned his eyes away, both for himself and the thought that Luke wouldn't appreciate it. He threw his clothes into the closet and shut the door, since there was a laundry basket placed on the floor there. By the time he turned back Luke already had his shirt back on, and he went to the smaller closet next to the door to pull it open and start drawing out blankets, dropping them on the floor. He threw out two comforters and two other lighter ones, first beginning to spread out the comforter on the floor to have something a little softer than the floor to lay on.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked in real concern, real compassion shining in his eyes. He'd seen the marks across his upper body, and if there was anything that he'd be allowed to do, he'd do so in a heartbeat, but he didnt want to push his boundaries and make him leave. He was safe here, and Giovanni wasnt sure he was at home. "The blankets folded up at the end of the bed you can use if the blankets already on it aren't enough," he added, gesturing to the three that were neatly folded at the foot of it. There was a fan at the head of the bed on a bedside table though, and many would wonder why so many blankets if also a fan. The boy had a hard time sleeping without the constant whir of the fan blades, but was nearly always cold while sleeping, and so just slept with a pile of blankets, which also offered a comforting weight.

To try and prevent Luke from insisting on the floor, Giovanni promptly sat down on the pile of blankets he'd made on the floor, drawing the top comforter over his crossed legs. "Make yourself comfortable," he said invitingly. "And if you want, we can still watch a movie," he added almost shyly. "If that would help you sleep, or if you aren't tired yet. The tv is just inside my closet door, I didnt like it out in the open..." He just had to open the closet door to reveal it, since one side of the closet was clothes and the other was a dresser with clothes in it and a tv sitting on top.

----

Rose was really quite apprehensive as she entered. How would he receive her being there, even if it was to help? He'd seemed to swing between moods, and although she was trying to help, she wasnt sure he'd perceive it as such. "I'm sure," she said with a small smile at his first sarcastic comment, dismayed to see him wince as he did as he stood, especially since she knew she was indirectly the cause. She stepped slightly closer when he stepped closer and lowered his voice, her eyes flicking to his hands as they came up to grip the bars. "No, I'm fine," she assured him. "Don't worry about me, no one dares say a thing now," she said, reaching up to place her smaller hands directly beneath his on the bars. "Are you feeling alright? Did they give you anything?" She inquired, obviously much more worried about him than herself, just as he was probably more worried about her.

"You're going to get out of here," she told him, an honest, naive expression to go with it. "I'm not going to let them charge you with this, I won't. If I have to stand up there and testify, I will, and they're obligated to give you a lawyer. Just... Don't do anything stupid, okay?" She gave him a pointed look as she said it, as he knew what she meant. Don't aggravate anyone, don't act completely rude and unforgiving, don't do anything rash. "Let me get you out of here and then I promise I'll go away. I won't prod, I won't give you anymore trouble." She meant it, too. She believed this was mostly, If not all her own fault since she drug him into it all.

[Welcome to Whysperia]

Luke sat on the edge of Geovanni's bed, watching as the other boy pulled blankets out from his closet. His eyes remained locked on his movements, taking in what Geo was doing as he spread the comforters out on the floor to provide something comfortable between his body and the floor. Again he felt guilty, not wanting to take the bed away from his friend. When Geo spoke to him, Luke's thoughts were torn away from wherever they had decided to go, and he looked up. "What?" he asked, then his brain caught back up. "Oh. Yeah, no, I'm okay," he said, nodding his head. After all, he'd had worse.

Listening as Geo explained about the extra covers, Luke nodded his head to show that he had heard, his gaze straying to look at the fabric in question. Just as he opened his mouth to refuse the bed, Luke saw Geo sit down on his pallet, causing Luke to frown. "Are you sure you don't want the bed?" he asked hesitantly, his guilt showing through in his voice. Geo had already turned the topic away from that though, and it made him smile some. "You're not too tired?" he asked, glancing at the closet. He really didn't think he could sleep just yet, even though he was practically dead on his feet by then. "A movie would be..great," he admitted, offering a real smile this time. What he really wanted was for Geovanni to come sit by him, close enough that Luke didn't have to feel alone anymore.

«☼»

Jace would never admit that it had been on purpose, but when Rose's hands came to hold the bars just under his own, he moved his hands slightly so they were touching hers. Still, he wasn't going to admit that. Instead, he continued to assess her until he finally nodded, though reluctantly. "If anyone says anything, or starts messing with you," he told her, his eyes still locked on hers, "You let me know. Got it?" he asked, raising a brow at her. His tone implied there was no other option, she had to tell him.

As Rose continued speaking, Jace blew her questions off. "No, they didn't give me anything. Won't even look at me," he said simply with a shrug. "I'm fine. I've had worse," he said, and it was true. Back when he had been an active gang member, he had suffered plenty worse than bruised ribs and broken knuckles. He would be fine. The bruises and cuts would heal, and his broken knuckles would mend, just as they always did. Rather than tell her all that though, he offered her a smile.

That smile turned slightly bitter when Rose said she would get him out of this, but Jace just shook his head. "I killed someone, Rose," he said then, looking her straight in the eyes. He had to do this, had to be blunt with her or she wouldn't be scared like she should be. She would keep liking him, or thinking it was her fault that he was so messed up. "I took out my knife, and I stabbed some kids with it. More than once, actually," he said, his eyes still on hers. "I don't think you can get me out of this." Pausing for a moment, Jace let himself think about what would happen if she could, though. "If on the off chance you can do something," he said after a long moment, "Maybe we could talk sometime." He glanced away for a moment before looking at her again. "If you're not too scared of me, that is," he teased, smiling a little once more. He knew she wasn't, that she probably couldn't be. She was the bravest person he had ever met, and he had started to admire her for it. "I think you could use a bodyguard," he teased, "And I could use a.." he began, then trailed off, clearing his throat. I could use a friend. "Anyway. We'll see. Don't get your hopes up though, princess," he told her.

[rose;]

Giovanni smiled and shook his head, waving off the question. "I've slept in more uncomfortable places before," he said, trying to get across that it really was okay. Although, he saw where he was coming from- he and he assumed everyone else felt the exact same way. But he wasn't going to make the bruised and battered boy lay on the hard floor. "No, I'm not too tired," he said cheerily. "I m-mean, I'm ti-ti-tired but... it'll h-h-help us both s-sl-sleep." At least, he thought it would. He was pretty sure that it wasn't just him that was feeling slightly stressed, embarrassed, or just plain wound after the events of the day. "I'll p-p-put one in and m-may-maybe it'll help us bo-both unwind and sleep."

The boy got up off the ground and walked over the closet, pulling open the closet door to reveal the dresser with the small TV on the top. He switched it on and then held up three movies- one scary, one a 'chic-flick' and one thriller- he didn't even know the names of them as he held them up, unable to remember which ones he had stored up here. "P-pick on-one," he said. When one had been picked he slipped it into the DVD player and stood next to the TV until he got it going, since he didn't know where the remote was at the moment.

He got it going at a good volume before he came back, hesitating a few moments. Meekly, about as timidly as anyone could imagine, he added, "y-you wouldn't mi-mind i-i-if I s-sa-sat on th-the edge of the be-bed w-would y-y-you? Y-you c-can-can't s-see the TV fr-from th-the fl-fl-floor. I'll s-st-stay a-at th-the e-end." His cheeks turned pink with embarrassment, waiting for the no to come, especially after the treatment the boy had received from his father earler for just having a boy home along with him.

---

Just so he wouldn't get himself worked up over it, the girl just nodded. "Yes, I'll let you know," she agreed, but she highly doubted that anyone would lay a finger on her, but she wasn't going to argue at all with him. She would just nod and say yes if it made him feel better. When he said he had not been given anything for the pain or even looked over for wounds, she frowned heavily, turning and giving quite the look to the deputy behind her. "Get him something, now," she snapped, and her tone left nothing to be argued. He gave her a surprised look, and she only scowled more. "Every prisoner has that right, and the right to a doctor, even I know that. I expect one in before the night ends." Even though she was only a teenage girl, the man only glanced to her father who shrugged before sliding out back into the front room to make a call and get a glass of water and some pills.

She turned back to him and gave a thin smile, but when he began to talk it dropped quite quickly and she glanced away. "No," she said stoutly. Her hand slipped upwards to cover his own large hands, not having missed the way he moved his to lightly touch hers. "Think of what they would have done to me if you hadn't, what they would have done to you," she snapped back, hoping that would keep him away from just thinking about the fact he'd killed a man. However, she grinned when he said she needed a bodyguard, laughing slightly. "Sometimes I wonder," she said softly back. "You just get out, and we'll talk. Bodyguards might not get paid but I'm pretty sure they got housing and more than enough food from their protectees," she added, even more softly than before, so her father might not hear.