#// also proof he loves makoto and doesn't realize it

[team-mavericks]

A moment of weakness.

Morgan comes out of her room with some sketches she's been working on. She wasn't surprised to see Rin and Michael rough housing in the common living space. When she asked where Jet was, they paused the fight to answer he went to the roof and acting weird, and with a "Thank you" from Morgan they resumed fighting. Morgan opened the door to the room and immediately started talking. Jet was facing the horizon, away from the door Morgan just came from.

"Jet, there you are. I've come up with another bike design. It's a cross fusion of your hover bike and-" Morgan stops mid sentence and sniffs the air. That's a familiar smell in a not so familiar place. "Hey, what smells like-"

It was then Morgan saw smoke come from Jet's face. There's a cigarette loosely being held between his fingers, the hand that held it hung low to his side.

"JET!" Morgan rushed over and swiped the cigarette from him, Jet didn't even flinch. "What the hell are you doing?? You don't smoke!"

Jet didn't even respond. He's too focused on the horizon. Almost as if he's waiting for something.

Morgan's tone suddenly shifted. "Hey. What's gotten into you?"

It took a moment before Jet responded.

"Gatz is in trouble, Makoto took Tamako to save him, and she didn't want me to go with her. And I'm... trying to be optimistic." He just dropped all this on Morgan, and of course that made more questions than before.

"What?" Is all Morgan was able to get out. She was still processing what was just said.

"Somewhere, Gatz is in so much trouble that someone had to call for help. They asked for Makoto specifically. I can't even remember the last time Gatz was in a bind, nevermind actual danger. Makoto's capable, but..." Jet's hand formed a tight fist and started shaking.

"Why? Why didn't she want me to come with her? What if she gets hurt? Why didn't I just go with her anyway?? I'm such an idiot!"

Jet does get worried for his fellow Mavericks, but Morgan's never seen him get this upset before. He must actually be scared. Morgan puts her hand, still holding papers, on Jet's shoulder.

"Hey. Do you think that maybe the reason she didn't want you to go is the same reason you wanted to go with her?" This made Jet turn to Morgan with a raised eyebrow. She continued. "You're over here worried for her safety because you don't want her to get hurt. What if she told you to stay behind because she also couldn't stand the idea of you getting hurt? You said it yourself, this is a GATZ level threat. She had to know the risk."

Jet huffed, looking back to the horizon. "You're probably right. I just don't see why we both couldn't take that chance."

Morgan moved her arm to Jet's opposite shoulder and leaned into him for a side hug. She looked off to the distance with him.

"Gatz can be a cryptic bastard sometimes. He has connections we don't know about, even contingency plans for things we don't think of. For someone to call us about him, and ask for someone specific, it's probably more planned than we realize. Makoto is probably the perfect piece to the puzzle he needs, and the one who called knows it. Just have faith in her."

Jet took a deep breath and nodded slowly at first only to grow more confidence in the nod. "I believe in her. I know she will come back. It's just hard in the moment."

"It really is." Morgan nodded and then looked at the hand holding the cigarette she snatched. "And the cigarette?"

"Mm. They're hers." He calmly admitted. "She doesn't smoke often, and she tries to hide it, but I've known about it for a long time. I thought maybe if I smoked her brand, some mysterious force of nature would grant her luck. Or at least she'd change her mind and call me."

Morgan shifted her frown a little. She then sighed and offered the cigarette back to Jet. "Then just this once. Don't go picking up bad habits like it's nothing, got it?"

Jet took the cigarette back with a nod. This time, he took a drag not out of stress, but out of determination. She will return. She will be safe. And if she doesn't, he will fight the world if he has to just to bring her back. With an exhale, and a stronger resolve, Jet broke it in half. Another deep inhale, followed by a yell.

"FUCK EM UP, MAKOTO! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

#ic (Jet) #ic (Morgan) #event: black space white light #dash comentary #// the timeline for this is jank; its gonna be confusing when makoto shows up for a thread later today. #// just... the event is D&D related and all activity is slow paced #// but i have drama related things to post about it so i just *gotta* #// also proof he loves makoto and doesn't realize it