bakerstreet | it never rains but it pours -

it never rains but it pours -

the rain meme

Ah, rain—the precipitation that the whole world has a love/hate affair with. It waters the garden for free and ruins baseball games. It cools you off in the summer and it causes more ice and sleet to appear in the winter. Sometimes it is lovely and falls at a decent pace for a few hours, other times, it blasts the whole eastern seaboard away.

Poems and songs have been written about it, people have danced in it, others have cursed its entire existence, and still more refuse to go out and drive in it.

Now it’s time to roll some dice and see what the weather will have in store for you today.

directions

1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc in the subject.
2. Roll a number between 1-5 with the RNG for an intensity.
3. Roll 1-15 with the RNG for a situation.
4. Reply to other comments and play the scenario out!
5. Don’t catch a cold!

intensity

1. DRIZZLE ☂ It’s not too heavy or too light of a downpour, just enough to wash away stuff in the air, water the ground, and clean up the streets.

2. MONSOON ☂ It’s horrible and awful! Rain is coming down in buckets, no one can get anywhere, the wind is whipping everything about, and now the cable is out.

3. SHOWER ☂ Reminds you of early spring, doesn’t it? A nice shower to make everything all green and smell fresh again. Lovely.

4. FLOOD ☂ While rain is good, it can sometimes be bad. Grab a boat!

5. CATS & DOGS ☂ You’re lucky with this one. It’s not the worst storm in the world, but it’s still pretty heavy. Be careful when driving!

prompts

1. A DARK, STORMY NIGHT ☂ You know all those stories that start off with a stormy night before something goes wrong: a murder, an attack by ninjas, a crime. It is one of the best known clichés in the world, and you’re stuck in the middle of it.

2. HUMIDITY ☂ It’s that time of the year again when the humidity rises and the rain has two options: make it worse or make it go away. Good luck getting the latter.

3. GRAY RAIN OF DEPRESSION ☂ We all know this one. Stuck in the middle of no where, or right after an argument, or something that leads to angst, the rain decides to express someone’s feelings in a physical form, serious or over the top.

4. QUIET MORNING ☂ Nothing to do, nowhere to be… sometimes the rain is a welcomed addition to a quiet day. Gives you an excuse to stay in, curl up in a warm blanket and a book, maybe a loved one or a cup of hot chocolate. With sprinkles.

5. PUDDLES ☂ After it rains, what is the number one thing you have to do? Go put on some rubber boots and splash around of course!

6. SUDDEN STORM ☂ It might have been predicted, but sometimes storms just sweep in and do their thing with little to no warning. Hope you’re not outside.

7. THUNDER & LIGHTNING ☂ Loud, surprising, scary, ominous, comforting, fantastic to watch or listen to… some like thunder and lightning, others not so much. Of course, if this happens before a big confrontation, the universe is telling you something.

8. CAN’T GET WORSE ☂ You did not say that. You did not just say that. How many times does this need to be seen in movies and books before anyone learns?

9. STUCK ☂ No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. What happened to the ten percent chance of rain? You forgot your umbrella and now you’re stuck in it!

10. RUINED PLANS ☂ You had all these wonderful plans to go outside, have some fun in the sunshine, do some errands, maybe a date… and the weather goes against them.

11. DANCING ☂ Sometimes rain is a cause for celebration, or you just feel like doing something spontaneous. Grab someone to join you and get wet!

12. RAIN BATTLE ☂ The most intense, important battles happen in the rain. Verbal spars, punching someone in the guts; it’s all dramatic and climatic. And no one slips.

13. DATE ☂ Aww, don’t let the weather ruin your date! It can be really romantic, being out in the rain, and it’s always fun to go with the flow.

14. A DAY INSIDE ☂ Sometimes, it’s just better to stay inside and enjoy something simple and easy like board games or catching up on TV shows, or maybe the bills.

15. WILD CARD ☂ Was there something I missed? Did you want to roll again or choose your own adventure? Go for it!

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[ sup nerd. wanna keep the cr going? if so, 1 last q: any pref for who finds whom irl or third option if it's a mutual meetup? ]

[ caaan do! he can definitely seek her out if you'd like. he tends to hallucinate men in dark suits following him sometimes but he's never quite sure if they're real or not so he could be coming to her for confirmation. or dropping by her office because he hacked into the DA's computer with a folder of stuff that basically says, good job jess! you're not going to prison. ]

[ her place it is! if anything doesn't work for you just ignore it ]

[ she's so swamped with work, she has malcolm put his expertise in stalking her to good use and help out on the cut and dry, point and shoot cases. not so much that she has far to reach for an excuse to get out of the office, which is also the waiting room. also her living room, though, by her own design, she hasn't slowed down enough to do much living in it. work, drink, sleep or don't sleep, then do it all again. it catches up with her on what she thinks is a sunday until she reads the MON beside the time on her phone. feels like the rug getting yanked from under her feet, despite lying facedown on a pillow saturated with her drool.

dragging herself out of bed is a matter of necessity. she draws up a CLOSED sign with a ballpoint pen and the nearest piece of paper, tapes it to the cardboard on the outside of her door, and locks it so that malcolm knows that includes him. it's pouring outside, which seems fitting. even writing off the day, she'll have to go out in it at some point; her kitchen is almost empty. she takes a page from her neighbor's book and is spooning peanut butter into her mouth when there's a knock (or whatever) at the door. if any knocks come up, she's content to ignore them, play dead. calls too.

good thing elliot texts.

jess eyes him from rain-drenched hoodie to grime-splattered heels when she lets him in, then marks or buries the resulting associations as she locks the door. pale and dry-eyed. uncomfortably familiar for a totally new face. right into the unconscious that goes. ]

You in trouble?

[ so here's what he knows.

jessica - jess, he mentally corrects himself - lost her parents as a kid. she got adopted by patsy walker, seemingly winning the lottery as far as lucky orphans go. all of that is a matter of public record, and anyone with some curiosity and a knowledge of online archives could figure that out.

she doesn't seem to use social media, and that makes him like her a little more.

she also seems to use her phone to conduct most of her business. email inbox is pretty dry on most days. elliot hasn't hacked her phone yet but he probably will at some point, because it is the only way he feels in control. she's actually a legit PI, all of her licenses are up to date. it doesn't surprise him all that much.

he's hacked some of her clients. word of mouth travels fast. and if most of the reports are to be believed, she's a good detective. elliot knows he's spending a lot of time with this, because mr. robot keeps showing up and telling him to stop wasting time. yelling about revolution and wealth redistribution and how he needs to get to work. but he has to admit that she's interesting, if only because he feels like he doesn't know anything about her despite all his research.

showing up irl to her place is a risk, but he braves the rain for it anyway. no men in black on the subway today, that helps. the rain soaks through his hoodie and into his shoes, but he doesn't mind. he ends up dripping a little at the her front door ( no welcome mat, because nobody's welcome ). ]

I think I'm being followed.

[ the blinds have been left open to let in the light. without any mind paid to what he's doing to her floorboards, she steps past him to the windows and twists the slats closed on one, then the other. ]

Okay, and? [ she crosses back to switch the lamp on. it doesn't cast enough light to reach her desk. she gestures to the couch and drags the client chair over, sitting in it squarely. "being followed" is about as vague as it gets. the shit he can apparently do with a computer, though, she believes him right off the bat. ]

I see them all the time. On the subway. Walking down the street. Guys in black suits staring at me.

[ krista tells him that these men are not real, they're merely a delusion. but he actually has been brought in by some of them, forced into a sketchy meeting with a sketchy swedish businessman. so they're either tyrell's guys, or maybe the dark army. the fbi? who knows.

or they're not real. but if they aren't, she'll be able to tell him that. he has verifiable proof that jessica jones exists. if you google elliot alderson, not a single search result related to him comes up.

he sits on her couch, somewhat mindful of his wet shoes and clothes. the hoodie gets zipped down and comes off, but the t-shirt underneath is black, too. along with everything else he wears. ]

Do you care if I smoke in here?

Guess.

[ that's a big old nope. there are empty bottles, some upright and others askew, dotting her shelves, her desk, and the floor, speaking to the cleanliness of more than her apartment. nobody at alias has had time to recycle these past two weeks. she might have gotten around to it today if not for the unexpected guest. that's twice now that elliot's cut in with a save. no need to point this one out. no need to point out his blatant paranoia either -- it doesn't invalidate his claim. if jess had been a bit more paranoid herself, she could have pried kilgrave's clutches loose from malcolm months earlier. ]

So, these guys. You think they want to hurt you? Use you? [ the rain has soaked through elliot's hoodie to his shoulders. he looks cold, or -- no, he looks like he'd be cold but by choice or instinct, isn't entirely aware of it. which is a fucking weird vibe. god, does she ever do that? ]

[he pulls out a small crumpled pack of cigarettes and a lighter and when he lights up he does it in smooth, practiced motions. elliot doesn't really feel the nictone these days, not compared to the rush of morphine. but the act of smoking is soothing to him. he takes a long drag and offers the pack over in her direction. ]

I think they're onto me. They're trying to find evidence that I'm linked to fsociety.

[ he basically is fsociety, the now-infamous hacker group responsible for attacks on mega corporations. ]

[ besides saying shit like that, she assumes. jess turns down the pack with an open palm, sighing and simultaneously rising from her seat. ]

I need a drink. [ malcolm has taken to offering clients tea and she'd be lying if she said it didn't make a remarkable amount of them slightly easier to deal with. without his people skills, jess walks into the nearby kitchen and fills up the kettle without asking elliot if he wants anything. he doesn't want it, he doesn't have to drink it.

after that's plugged in and switched on, she grabs a short glass for herself and returns to the office, going first for her desk drawer where there's stashed a full bottle of.... o'harren's, as it turns out. while she pours that, she regards elliot stiffly, gauging him. ]

Did they follow you here?

[ breathing in is easy, and it's soothing. that's one of the reasons why cigarettes tend to help him when he's frazzled. inhale in the heat, exhale a cloud of smoke. the taste of ash fills his mouth and he relishes that.

it's weird to think that drinking is somehow socially acceptable right after the stroke of five o'clock, or whenever happy hour's supposed to be. anything before that, and it's a problem. elliot doesn't begrudge her right to drink whenever she wants, but the empty bottles strewn around the apartment tells him a lot.it's like all the times when darlene barged into his apartment to see the remnants of the line he snorted the night before laid out on the table.

maybe shitty coping mechanisms are better than none. either way, elliot doesn't look surprised. she stares at him and he stares right back with that unnerving gaze of his, the kind where he holds eye contact for way too long without even realizing it. ]

Not today. I checked. I was thorough.

[ the last thing he wants is to drag her into this. ]

I've been told that they're not real. That it's all in my head. I think that's bullshit.

[ maybe she'll laugh him out of her office for being crazy, a schizo off his meds. ]

I just...wanna know if you can see them too.

[ she's not one to flinch when she's got a drink in her hand. jess sips, listens and watches. little in his face changes when he confesses the possibility that his pursuers may not exist, though there's a tinge of recognition in hers. she remembers receiving a prescription for an antipsychotic after practically begging dr ross for help and she immediately tries to stop remembering it and especially dr ross. ]

Without them seeing me. [ better left said and roughly as easy to get done when she can access most rooftops with a jump.

accepting is nonetheless a risk but creepy, well-dressed assholes who can't leave well enough alone are in her wheelhouse and, much more importantly, she owes him one. a burbling and a click in the next room signals the few cups of hot water have done boiling. jess sets her glass on the desk and goes into the kitchen to "make tea," resulting in a mug of steaming hot water with a teabag floating to the top of it and a corner of the tag torn. she puts it down on the seat of the empty wooden chair in front of him. ]

Are there any patterns you've noticed? Streets or stops they show up at more than others?

[ he doesn't really drink tea, but she gave it to him and that was nice. accommodating. something like that. he watches the tea bag float in hot water for a moment, instead of watching her. he can feel her gaze on him even when he's looking away - she's got a gaze like she's seeing past all the crap and looking directly at the truth.

the tea burns his tongue a little on the first sip he's not used to this. but it feels nice given his wet clothes. ]

They show up sometimes in my neighborhood. I see them when I'm walking my dog.

[ his neighborhood is absolutely not the type of place where you'd expect to see well dressed men. there's a dilapidated dumpling place next door that barely passed health inspection. his neighbor is his drug dealer. ]

Thanks for the tea.

[ she would say "don't mention it" but even that's lingering too long on the subject. ]

I'll need your address. [ jess returns to her desk to finish off her whiskey and grab a standard form and pen. fully expecting elliot to lie or omit any private information she chooses, the paper flutters heavily to the couch and the pen tumbles off it when she hands them off haphazardly. there's plenty of writing room in the additional info section on the back of the page. ]

Write down anything useful. The guys' builds, accents if you ever heard them talk, the time of day you saw them, shit like that. [ in the meantime, considering the lack of immediate danger, she's going to go crack a window to try and move some of the smoke out. ]

[ there's only about three people that know where he lives right now, and that fact makes looking at the page an exercise in anxiety. elliot keeps himself separate for a reason - because what he is doing is illegal, because he'd go to jail for years and years. but mostly, it's because he just doesn't trust anyone.

in the end, he writes down a building a block down, in the same neighborhood, and that's better than what he gives most people. that's a definite vulnerability - she could just follow him back to his real apartment, if she wanted to.

elliot's writing is frantic chicken scratch, so cramped it gives off the sense of being hurried at all times. he writes for about half a page. ]

Okay. I'm done.

[ he's decided that her apartment reminds him of his own. maybe that's not the most charitable comparison, given the state of his home. ]

How much do you want me to pay you?

You helped me out before. We'll call this even.

[ jess leaves the window, letting little drops of rain fleck the gouged wood of the sill. she snatches up the form and then joins him on the couch, skimming his notes and squinting when her mind snags on one of the ink knots, but it can all be deciphered and disentangled. the job is easy on paper, though time-consuming, since she'll need more than one sighting to confirm, and out of her usual way. not unlike a lot of jobs lately. work is a better outlet than sleep and anywhere's fine as long as she can get there with a metrocard.

malcolm wouldn't protest if given the whole story but jess has already decided not to tell him. she's done talking with him about kilgrave. ]

I'll check the neighborhood out tonight.

Thank you.

[ he means it. She's the first person who hasn't dismissed what he says right off the bat. she actually looks at him like he isn't spouting pure insanity, and maybe that's because she's seen so much that being followed must seem strangely ordinary. she's not normal. just like him.

he feels an odd kinship towards this small, angry woman.

elliot leans forward on the couch, catching her gaze. ]

You're not going to jail, by the way. According to the DA's records. You're gonna get a call tomorrow, but I thought I'd tell you anyways.

[ his remark that they may not be real is still at the front of her mind but if it factors into her willingness to accept payment from him, she's unaware of it. she merely gives a quirk of her head in acknowledgment, putting the form between them. it's once he's moved past the gratitude he gets her full attention.

jess is unnerved by his delivery of the news more than she can be relieved by it. it means hogarth did her job and that's not surprising when it's all she's got. ]

Stop doing that. [ she's curt but even, hard tone and hard stare. of the few secrets she has left, even fewer are hers. so what if he's not the NSA? that doesn't mean the NSA couldn't get him someday. or whoever the hell luke was afraid of. she's probably using the need to protect him as a poor reason to hold onto him but she could find a handful of justifications to do that. might as well fall back on the one she can blame on her professional reputation. ]

I do it to everyone.

[ he can't help it, and he doesn't know why. maybe it's a way of exercising power in a society where he feels like he has no choices. guarding himself in layers of information, trying to make himself untouchable.

she looks annoyed, not happy. he definitely read this situation wrong. elliot fiddles with the strings on his hoodie for a moment, in silence. and then he stands up almost abruptly. ]

I'll go.

[ she's taken aback, unsure if he's excusing the behaviour or simply explaining it. it's tough reading him, especially when all he's putting out is that he's reading her. he's spooked before she can do anything about it, as if she'd know what that is. jess forces a sigh out, closing her eyes briefly before getting to her feet. she's got everything she needs. any extraneous conversation was a timebomb anyway. ]

Well take a damn newspaper or something. [ jess owns no umbrellas. she also rarely falls ill, ty IGH. her edition of today's paper should still be in her mail slot, or outside her door if malcolm grabbed it. ] No one's gonna stalk a sick guy.

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it never rains but it pours -

elliot alderson | mr. robot

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5&14/8/4/∞

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