Spiders and Bears

Posted on Sat Dec 21st, 2019 @ 12:57am by Executive Officer Jake Ford

Mission: Mission 10 - Temperance
Location: Rosie: Lounge
Timeline: MD-11
674 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

"So you know she's got a pet now."

"Hmm?"

"A pet. A...spider." Jake sighed, sipping the glass gently. "She calls it Stan."

"That's cute! I have an uncle called Stan." Perrie propped her chin up with her palm. "Not a nice uncle. Drunk a lot. Rude."

Jake sighed, staring at the swirling golden-orange liquid at the bottom of the glass. Having a drink seemed like a good idea. Things were a little crazy lately; with Jea getting taken out over on the Temperance, it felt like his workload had doubled. Indeed, he'd pulled an extra shift to help run yet another sweep. Still nothing. And more annoyed reports from some of his people about weird noises and freaky stuff.

"I only got here a few weeks ago and I already have myself a girlfriend, a stressful job, and now I'm the de-facto co-owner of a spider the size of my head," he grumbled.

"Sounds like you've never been happier," she snickered.

"It's not as bad as I make out, I guess. This whole business is just...frustrating."

"The girl or the ship?" Perrie asked.

"Not the girl. Not really." Jake took another sip. "Eden's great. Fun. And caring. More caring than I am, probably. Heart of pure gold; the rarest kind, you know."

"Isn't that a line from one of my songs?" Perrie's eyebrow went up. "I didn't know you did actually listen to them."

"Hey, spend almost two years backstage while you're singing? You listen, believe me." He chuckled at her surprise. "Never anything wrong with your songwriting, trust me. I just never...I don't know..."

"Never realised what it was actually like? To feel that way about someone?" she asked. He shrugged unconvincingly. Perrie's eyes twinkled. "Jake Ford, you old romantic. She's gonna make a good man out of you, isn't she?"

"Maybe."

"One day perhaps you'll write a song about it," she giggled.

"Ha!" He actually laughed out loud. "Now that would be something."

"At least give yourself a break, Jake. Sounds like there's a lot of 'new' in your life at the moment.

"A lot of new," Jake nodded, knocking back a full mouthful. "And chaos. Seems like I'm attracting a lot of it at the moment. Sometimes wish things could be a little bit normal for a while."

Perrie put a friendly hand on his arm. "A friend of mine once told me that that whole world of 'normal' is just an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly."

"Really? Spider quotes?" he retorted.

"Maybe I was just letting you know your fly was undone this whole time," she quipped. A giggle escaped as she watched him suddenly shift and check himself, before he realised she was punking him. "Like I said: Relax a little, Jake. I remember the man who used to go with the flow. Papa Bear Jake? Maybe let him out for a while."

Jake finished his drink, thinking about what she was saying. Maybe Perrie was right, and he was being more uptight than he used to be. Could be that the stress of all things Temperance was making him feel that way. Ironic, in many ways.

"Papa Bear Jake, huh?" he shrugged. "Guess it couldn't hurt."

"Atta boy." Perrie grinned. "Maybe that'll be the name of my next album."

"Don't push it," he snorted, rising from the table and putting an arm over her shoulder for a quick hug. "Thanks little sister."

"Any time, 'big brother'," she replied, jabbing him gently in the ribs.

Jake left the bar feeling a lot better than he had when he arrived. He made a mental note not to leave it too long before finding another opportunity to do the same again soon. And while Perrie wasn't necessarily a counselor, she did know him better than most people. Of course that meant that so long as she was on board she could drive him up the wall just as much as she could help him get over himself.