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Harbingers; War
1.3 - It's not breaking and entering if you have a key

1.3 - It's not breaking and entering if you have a key

"Motherfucker!"

Jackie immediately shot up in bed and propped himself up onto his elbow, squinting as he looked around his room. When he saw his room was empty, he rubbed his eyes, picking up his phone. He looked at it for a moment before dropping it onto the bed and flopping back down in bed.

He shifted around before settling, but as soon as he was comfortable, his bedroom door was kicked open. Skyler stood in the doorway wearing an apron and pointed at Jackie with a spatula. "Wake up, bitchass! We got shit to do!"

Jackie shot back up, looking at Skyler. He raised one arm, incredulous. "What the fuck?!"

"Get your ass out of bed! We got a Code Dickweed and we only have 36 hours before Ourias gets to the airport. We gotta get moving stat!"

"Wait, wait." Jackie sat up, and rubbed his face. "Hold on for a minute." Jackie inhaled and dropped his hands into his lap with a sigh. "Why are you in my apartment?"

"Oh." Skyler gestured behind her, with the spatula. "I wanted to make pancakes."

Jackie's face scrunched and he shook his head. "And you couldn't do that in your own apartment..." He gestured vaguely, "why?"

"Power's out." Skyler shrugged. "My stove's electric."

Jackie pressed his hands together, closing his eyes. "And why exactly is the power out in your apartment?"

"It's not my fault this time. I didn't forget to pay my electric bill, the entire building blacked out."

"But, why?" Jackie clasped his hands together, leaning forward. "Why did the power in the building go out? Are you okay?

"Well, yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Skyler shook her head. "I don't know why we don't have power, though. The notice in the lobby this morning just said we'd get it back by the end of the week. I heard some ladies there talking about how it was a kid practicing electrokinesis, but they're also racist Karens who blame all their problems on witches, so..." Skyler shrugged. "Can't really trust anything that comes out of their mouth."

"So you're just without power for..." Jackie waved his hands around. "an undetermined period of time?"

"Pretty much." Skyler said. "It sucks, but it is what it is."

"Okay, sure. But what about the stuff in your fridge? Or your freezer? It'll all be bad in a week."

"Oh, I already threw out most of it. I didn't have much since it was almost grocery day anyway. Mostly just old takeout that I forgot about. Except for my ice cream and dino nuggets. Those," Skyler shot Jackie a finger gun, "are in your freezer now."

"That's good. Does your apartment have heating?"

"No, sir." Skyler spun around, "I woke up this morning feeling like I was stuck in a freezer."

"Oh-kay." Jackie shook his head, "Fuck that. You're staying here until you have power again."

"Oh-my-god, sleepover! We could have a movie night." Skyler spun the spatula in her hand. "I already got the ice cream."

"We'll see." Jackie stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "How'd you get in anyway? I thought I locked the door."

"You did. You also don't hide your spare key very well." Skyler gestured towards Jackie with the spatula. "You should probably fix that, by the way. Erin would be sad if you got murdered in your sleep."

"...Thanks." Jackie walked over to his closet, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Do you want pancakes? They got chocolate chips in them. They were gonna have blueberries, but I ate all them all before they made it to the pancakes."

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Jackie snorted a laugh. "Yeah. Pancakes are good." He dug through his closet. "...Why did you wake me up?"

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot. We have a Code Dickweed. Or had." Skyler walked into the room, plopping onto the bed. "Wear clothes that can get dirty."

"Okay..." Jackie pulled out a pair of sweatpants, looking at Skyler. "Code Dickweed?"

"Use your brain, dipshit. Who do we know that's a dickweed?"

"I don't even know what a dickweed is." Jackie propped an arm on the doorway to the closet to pull on his pants.

"I'll give you a hint." Skyler rolled her eyes. "His name starts with a D, and rhymes with Aaron."

Jackie grabbed a shirt out of the closet. "Seriously? I thought we were done dealing with him."

"Me, too."

"He's at least gone now, right?"

"Oh, yeah. He was gone before my mom showed up to the cafe, but he made his presence very obvious." Skyler pulled out her phone. "Hold on, my dad sent pictures."

"Is it only in the cafe?"

"He didn't get into Ourias' apartment this time. Mateo replaced his door screws for the good door screws. The one as long as your finger? Good shit. I'm gonna ask him to swap mine out, too." Skyler leaned back on one of her hands. "But my parents texted to ask if we could come help with clean up. Figured it was an all hands on deck situation."

"Definitely." Jackie tugged an old t-shirt over his head, walking over and leaning over to look at Skyler's phone. "...Does that say what I think it says?"

"Yeah."

Jackie looked up at her. "Isn't he-?

"Yup."

"Openly?"

"Yup." Skyler

"Wow."

"Mhmm." Skyler put her phone back in her pocket. She opened her mouth to speak, only to pause and sniff the air. Her eyes widened. "Oh, shit." She jumped off the bed, sprinting out of the bedroom. "Goddamn it!"

Jackie followed her, laughing. "Please don't burn my kitchen down."

"Fuck you!" Skyler shouted from the kitchen.

Jackie walked into the kitchen, sitting on the counter next to a plate of pancakes. He grabbed one of them, "Do you know who's coming in to help? And are the part-timers still coming in to work?"

"My mom called them to tell them they didn't have to come in since we aren't opening today. Mateo is rescheduling his appointments today, too, but the other artists at the studio are still working today."

Skyler took the pan off the stove, scrapping the burned pancake into the trash. "He and my mom are cleaning up and accessing the damage right now. And she's pissed because he fucked with some of her plants."

"Damn." Jackie took a bite of his pancake. "These are pretty good."

"Thank you." Skyler walked towards the sink, "Your parents are on their way. My dad is calling local businesses to see if they caught anything on their security cameras. I assume lawyers and insurance are next. He also said he's going to set up the new cameras tonight." Skyler handed Jackie the spatula. "Hold this."

Jackie, nodded. "Is Zach coming in, too?"

"Yeah, he's just dropping Anatase off at school and then he's going to call in some favors to get the windows replaced and the new furniture expedited." Skyler scrubbed the pan vigorously, hissing through her teeth. "Guess it pays to have rich friends." She paused, "We're also getting the locks changed. We don't know if he took a key but, yknow."

"Better safe than sorry."

"Exactly." Skyler turned off the water and shook the pan off. "If we can't get everything cleaned up by the time Zach and Mateo have to pick Ourias up from the airport, they're going to deploy Anatase to get him to stay with them over night. While the rest of us pull an all-nighter."

"Are we telling him about any of this?"

"We aren't not going to tell him. But we figure that he's stressed enough as is. We don't want him holing up in his apartment because he's too scared to leave."

Jackie nodded, quiet.

Skyler swatted his leg. "Go put some shoes on. Good ones. I'm not gonna be the one driving you to the airport because you got some glass or something in your foot." She plucked the spatula from his hand. "I'm gonna finish making the rest of these pancakes, and then we'll go."

Characters:

Jackie

5'7", 120lbs. A coltish black man(seriously. my boy is all limbs) with dark shoulder length coils, generally kept natural and tied back. Has bright blue eyes and gold scales covering his arms and legs(to about his mid thigh). He also has scales along his back and shoulder blades, as well as down his chin and the front of his throat. Fashion is modern chic, with some vague hippie elements, in warm neutral tones.

Skyler

5'2", 110lbs. A small white girl with dirty blonde hair cut short and shaggy with the bottom layers died green. Has a tattoo of a daffodil on her inner wrist. The earring in her left earlobe is always a pair of scissors hanging from a chain. Fashion is grungy, with dark neutral colors.