recolle | everybody knows shit fuck

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everybody knows shit fuck

WHO: James Barnes and YOU!
WHERE: the prison
WHEN: November 1st through November 15th
WHAT: visiting James in prison!
WARNINGS: general prison visit stuff

[ This month, when sitting down to a visit with James Barnes, people may notice something about him feels off. Earlier in the month, he may just seem restless--his feet tapping furiously against the floor as he sits in the visitation room, or deeply inspecting every groove and crease of his metal hand. Some days, he may look like he's seen a ghost--literally.

But as the month wears on, he'll become moodier. Maybe he's frowning and hunched over in his seat. Maybe he's distractedly looking out the window with his jaw set. Whatever it is, he doesn't seem nearly as relaxed as he has the past few months since turning himself in. ]

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[Way back in February, Li-Na learned that Zee's birthday was on Halloween. And along with promising to make him a PSL, she'd decided to bake him a very nice birthday cake. Unfortunately, he's not around to celebrate his birthday anymore. And even though it's been nearly nine months since February, Li-Na doesn't forget. So she decides to do the next best thing. Make that cake, make that PSL, and bring them to someone who probably won't get either for a very long time.

James.

So here she is James, plonking down a large pumpkin spice latte and a small box containing a 6" round cake. It's vanilla, made of four 1/2" layers, with sweet cream and fresh strawberry layers in between, topped with a light vanilla whipped icing. All topped with sliced, fresh strawberries. Hope you aren't allergic to strawberries, James. About half of it is already missing, as she might have bribed a guard or two to let her bring the food in... but hey, that's still half a cake more than he had this morning!]

I see you managed to not escape.

[ He startles a little at the sight of Li-Na hauling all that food in, but then grins a little at the mention of escape. ]

I guess I'm just really good at getting in and staying in trouble.

What's all this about?

[ He gestures to the cake and drink. ]

You can't even stay out of trouble in prison. That takes effort.

[Li-Na leans her elbows on the table]

Well. Back in February I told Zee I'd make him a pumpkin spice latte. And a birthday cake, though I didn't tell him about the cake part. And yesterday was his birthday.

[she rests her chin on the heels of her hands]

I just... wanted to celebrate his birthday for him. Is that silly?

Oh. I didn't know about his birthday.

[ James reexamines the cake and the drink in a different light now. He doesn't know how to feel about this. Guilty? But he didn't kill Zee. Appreciative? He wasn't exactly close to him either. If nothing else, it feels significant. ]

...Nah. It's not. People have celebrated the dead in weirder ways. Why here, though? With me?

He was nice and sent the cake since Futaba and I have birthdays really close. So I asked him when his was.

[and that's how she got on Zee's favorites list]

You're willing to do the time for his murder. Even though he'd probably like his actual killer caught, I think Zee would appreciate that you tried to give people some sort of closure on what happened.

[not... what happened... but... hey, assumptions]

And it's just... it's kind of weird in the city right now. There's altars everywhere, with our pictures. Like the one I have at home for my parents. But we're not dead.

[ That's not even what he was trying to do but whatever, he's not about to correct that right now. It doesn't really make a difference and this isn't about him anyway. ]

Altars, huh? ...Is there one for Zee?

I don't know. I haven't seen one yet, but I've mostly just looked for it around Tisse and Apprassage. It could be in one of the other districts.

[She's going to find it though.]

[ He hopes there is one. Although he's not sure what there would even be there--James barely knew the first thing about the guy, aside from his relationship to Retrospec. ]

Maybe you should put these [ gesturing at the cake and drink ] there instead, if you find it.

When I find it, I'll make new ones.

[eat the damn cake James]

[ After a moment of staring at Li-Na and then the food, he sighs and grabs the drink. ]

You got a fork? Because I'm not about to dig into this cake with my bare hands.

[Oh. Where did the fork go? Li-Na looks around and there it is, dropped on the floor. Luckily, it's one of those individually wrapped ones.]

Here you go.

[ Fork in hand, James finally digs into the cake--tentatively at first, but then taking a much larger bite. ]

Damn, this is really good. Where did you get this?

[Li-Na smiles as he enjoys the cake]

I made it. I like baking.

You made it? And you're wasting it on me?

[ He says it jokingly, but he does stop eating, just holding onto the fork of stray crumbs. He can't believe he's eating a handmade cake meant for Zee right now. This feels perverted, somehow. ]

What do you mean wasting? I get to choose who eats my cakes.

[Yeah, sure, she could have shared it with Xiaolang or Leon or numerous other people, but for whatever reason they were too busy looking at the altars or trying to find her to apologize to her... and she just didn't want to deal with any of that right now. Plus... it seemed like she was the only one thinking about Zee anymore...]

You made a cake for Zee's birthday and now you're giving it to the guy who almost killed him instead. You don't think that's weird at all?

So what if it is? Aren't you also the guy doing time for his murder even though you didn't do that? You're sorry you attacked him, aren't you?

So this is supposed to be my "reward for feeling sorry about almost killing someone" cake, then?

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