The Living Daylights (Private)

Tensions between the trio of Jo, Ryder, and Jasper have been high since the last failed movie night. The brief but somehow lengthy history between Jo and Jasper have finally caught up with the two as feelings resurfaced-- but as Ryder quickly became involved, things ended disastrously, and show no signs of changing. While Jo and Ryder have stayed as a pair, the relationship between Ryder and Jasper is turbulent, to say the least. The two are night and day, and Jo, caught in the middle of the bad situation she created, often finds herself wandering around alone to avoid confronting her guilt head-on...

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder, most usually, was a very heavy sleeper. He rarely ever woke up in the middle of the night. But tonight, he found himself suddenly lurching awake, sitting up in bed disoriented and unsettled. He paused for a moment as he got his bearings—not really sure what had happened there. He looked over to where Jo normally would be lying—only to see a note. He picked up the note sleepily and read it—unable to help a goofy smile from crossing his face as he read it. He put the note back down, and contemplated going back to sleep—but he couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that he’d woken up with. He got out of bed, walking to the bathroom, and splashing water on his face, then looking at himself in the mirror, moppy bedhead and all.
“…I guess a midnight snack couldn’t hurt…” he murmured, needing something to distract himself from the general uneasy feeling he had. He left his and Jo’s room, moving down the halls of the base until he got to the kitchen. He opened up the refrigerator, taking out the leftovers from the dinner he’d made the night before—one of many tins of leftovers—then grabbed a fork and began nibbling at it. He still didn’t really get why, but he didn’t at all feel like he’d be able to fall back asleep—and that was extremely strange for him…usually he slept like a rock and could fall asleep most anywhere, anytime, if he tried…

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

"... The fuck..." Jasper frowned as he stepped barefoot into the kitchen - only to see Ryder standing there, eating. He gave the other a soft glare, clearly unhappy - but he did his best to ignore the other, brushing past him in order to look in the fridge, apparently having the same idea as Ryder. "... Mmm... why you awake..?" he asked eventually, not exactly friendly, but... curious, above all else. Ryder didn't seem like the type to go looking for a snack in the middle of the night normally - he was curious. After giving the redhead a sleepy look, he snagged a yogurt out of the fridge and began to eat it, simply licking it out of the container due to lack of interest in fetching a spoon.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

As Ryder heard footsteps approaching the kitchen, he looked up expectantly, kind of hoping that Jo was back—only to meet eyes with a clearly not very pleased Jasper. Ryder made a bit of a sour face, then went back to eating his food, doing what he could to ignore the whitette—until Jasper asked him why he was up, in what appeared to actually be a pretty calm manner. Ryder paused for a moment, finishing swallowing the bite of food in his mouth before replying,
“…Bad dream, I guess…I don’t usually wake up in the middle of the night, but I’m wide awake now—I figured I might as well get some food…” He glanced back over at Jasper, noting how he was eating the yogurt, and sighed—normally, he wouldn’t care, but right now he was tired and grumpy and lacked a Jo, so he kind of grumbled without thinking, “Do you just eat out anything that gets close to your face…?”

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper ignored Ryder's less than pleased expression, shrugging as he heard why he was awake - poor baby had a nightmare. He snorted a little, but shrugged and continued eating his yogurt, seeming content to leave the other alone to eat.
At least, until Ryder commented on how he was eating. The whitette froze mid lick of yogurt, eyes lifting to stare blankly at the other - before suddenly, he smirked, swallowing his bit of yogurt as he cocked his hip sassily. "Mmm, worried? Don't be, I mean, if I did, Jo and I would have gotten way more intimate-" The male grinned sadistically, before chuckling and taking a few steps closer, still eating his yogurt. "Besides, what's it matter to you? Jealous I have better skills than you? Or maybe even jealous I never showed interest in you?" The whitette moved closer still, staring at Ryder as he lapped up a bit of yogurt - and then, without warning, he did the unthinkable.
He kissed Ryder.
Yogurt and all, he pressed his lips against the other's harshly, free hand lacing through the other's hair and holding him close, tongue forcing its way forward and into his mouth, still tasting of yogurt. His other hand very quickly set down his yogurt, the whitette taking the chance to slide a hand down Ryder's back right to his ass, squeezing roughly - before he pulled back, picking up his yogurt again and darting away, smirking with a glint of entertainment in his eyes. He was playing hop scotch on a rickety bridge over hell tonight, it seemed, and he had no regrets. "Besides, if I did eat out whatever got near my face, that would have happened a lot sooner! And plus, there, now you've experienced more of me than Jo has! Make it any better? Now you're even!" Jasper seemed shockingly awake and chipper after his actions, almost as if he didn't know he was in deep shit - but he knew. He knew, and he was excited. He'd been waiting for a chance to antagonize Ryder into fighting with him forever - and finally, he had a chance, without Jo being anywhere nearby to stop them.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder just kind of casually kept eating his food—until he saw Jasper smirk. Uh-oh. That wasn’t a good sign. What was he up to…? As the whitette spoke, Ryder flushed slightly, grumbling at him,
“Could you not bring up Jo right now? Seriously?” As Jasper began approaching him, Ryder watched him warily, placing his food down on the counter, backing up against the countertop slightly and watching Jasper, unsure of his intentions. And then Jasper spoke again, which just made Ryder’s face burn bright red as the redhead immediately objected, “Wh-What the—?! No—! Why would I ever—mmph—!” And he was literally cut off by a kiss. A deep kiss. Ryder was not prepared for this. He immediately put his hands up on Jasper’s shoulders in an attempt to push him away but frankly his head was spinning way too much and he was still kind of in shock—especially when he felt a hand grabbing at his butt. And before he could really do much about it, it was over—and he was left staring at Jasper in utter shock, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide, his face still bright red. He stayed like that for a good while—it was almost as if his brain had kind of just stopped working—until he abruptly spoke again after a bit,
“You—yOU JUST—kISSED—mE—yOU JUST KISSED ME—wH—dUDE. dUDE.” He still seemed very much so to be in shock over this entire situation. He really had no idea what to think of it—especially once Jasper said that now Ryder himself had experienced more of the whitette that Jo had—which only seemed to fluster Ryder even further into full out shouting—although moreso in alarm than in anger, “dUDE I AM NOT—fIRST KRAVEN PULLS SHIT NOW YOU—wHY—” He was still kind of just staring at Jasper looking like he’d just experienced the most surprising and confusing thing on the face of the planet—honestly, he just seemed far more shocked than angry at this point. And also really not wanting to admit that Jasper might have even been a better kisser than Jo—dEFINITELY not wanting to admit that because it made him very uncomfortable to even acknowledge it, bUT THERE IT WAS.

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper sighed as Ryder told him not to bring up Jo, rolling his eyes a bit in irritation but letting it drop as Ryder seemed to panic - and as the other just stared at him after he kissed him, he couldn't help but slowly smirk. It didn't take long before that smirk evolved into a chuckle - and then a full on laugh as Ryder seemed unable to understand what had just happened.
When he finally spoke up, his words were scrambled and amusing - and Jasper couldn't restrain his smirk. Much like how Ryder seemed to only be really shocked - Jasper was simply entertained, no longer irritated. He chuckled and laughed at Ryder's shrieking, waiting until he seemed to be done to saunter closer, hands on his hips - until he was close enough to reach out and hold Ryder's chin, pouting a little.
"Did I boggle the little straight boy's mind? Never thought a guy would be so good at kissing? You poor thing, you've missed out on so much-!" Jasper grinned, stepping closer once more until he was pressed up against Ryder and the other was trapped between him and the counter - trapped between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. "You don't even seem upset, you're just surprised - tell me, would you even care if I did it again?~" Eyes half lidded, the male smirked and leaned in, hovering just a hairsbreadth away from Ryder's lips. "Run little straight boy, run - before you learn there's more to life than just boobs and vaginas-" he purred - before closing the distance between them again, this time kissing Ryder much... much more gently. Kissing felt nice - it had been ages since he'd had the chance... and since it freaked Ryder out, it made it all the better. He couldn't wait to see his expression once he finally pulled away - which he surprisingly, wasn't doing. He almost wanted to wait until Ryder pushed him away - if he pushed him away.
So scandalous - kissing Jo's boyfriend in the kitchen half naked while she likely slept not too far away. They could be seen at any time, and he would, he felt certain, be murdered by Jo - but for now, she wasn't there, and he was taking whatever chance he could have to fuck with Ryder and torture him for what had happened before.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

As Jasper began moving forward again, Ryder's face immediately went into turtle-face mode, glaring down the whitette as much as he could despite the blaring red that immediately flooded his face as soon as the guy grabbed his chin. As Jasper mentioned Ryder never having thought of a boy being good at kissing, Ryder spluttered a bit before replying,
"Wh-Why would I ever think about that--?!" As Jasper just kind of moved closer, Ryder let out a prolonged breath of air that sounded a bit like a very quiet screech--and he was a bit too busy internally screaming and wondering if this was really happening or if this was just some extremely strange erotic dream he was going to dwell over confusedly for the rest of his life. And before he could remember that he kind of actually had to respond to things, Jasper kissed him again. Ryder kind of continued internally shrieking for a few seconds before abruptly grabbing Jasper under his arms and kind of just picking him up and staring at him, the most flustered and frantic expression on his face possible. "oKAY I THINK WE'RE DONE I DON'T WANT JO COMING BACK TO THIS--" He kind of just held Jasper up there, catching his breath and not really knowing what to do with the whitette--he wasn't really sure what the guy would do if he put him down, after all. So clearly just holding him up in the air like a toddler was the best course of action. Clearly. His eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but Jasper and stumbling over his words, "L-L-Literally Jo could be back any minute she's bringing chips and probably doesn't need to see us kissing that would totally ruin her chip run I,,,think--"

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper smirked as Ryder glared, but made no move to stop him, allowing himself to enjoy actually being able to kiss someone for a moment - before letting out a yelp as he was picked up. His eyes widened, shock clear on his face - before he scowled. "Goddamnit, lemme go-" he protested, wiggling and trying to get free but having no such luck. He did NOT like how Ryder was treating him now - but as he mentioned Jo, and that she was gone... His attention shifted slightly. "... She's gone? When did she go? How long has it been? I want chips, do you think she'll bring enough chips for me to steal some-" Jasper rattled off a list of questions before sighing and pouting, taking a moment to allow himself to just kind of dangle in Ryder's grasp - before he reached down and without further ado, wiggled his boxers to the floor. "Lemme down and I put them back on-"

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder turtle-faced abashedly at Jasper as the whitette told him to let him go--apparently he wasn't exactly ready to let go yet. And then he started asking questions--and as Ryder focused on answering them, he didn't exactly notice what Jasper was doing with his hands...
"Yeah, she went out to get chips, she left a note. Not sure when she left, though. And I mean yeah I think she was bringing back a loOOOOH MY GOD." And bAM Jasper's dick was right there. wELL. Ryder immediately put the whitette down, actually reaching down and tugging up his boxers himself before giving him possibly the most red-faced embarrassed glare possible. "nO FREE DICKS IN THE KITCHEN."

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper frowned a bit as Ryder talked about where Jo had gone, a bit concerned but only for a moment before Ryder was reacting to his dropped underwear. He smirked, crossing his arms contently as he was set down - though his eyes widened as Ryder bent to pull his boxers up again. "Oh? Well damn, if I'd known you were gonna do that I would have prepared, you did notice your face was right there didn't you?" The whitette smirked, rolling his eyes at Ryder's words. "Stop holding me like I'm two. Besides, it's clean... very clean~" Jasper smirked at Ryder suggestively before stretching and poking the redhead's nose. "See something to be jealous of yet?~"

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder took a moment to get what Jasper was talking about when he said something about his face being 'right there'--and as he understood the comment, his face burned bright crimson. And then came the other question of jealousy--and Ryder outright turtle-faced at Jasper again, quickly sputtering out,
"Wh-What the hell would there be to be jealous of, w-we have the same junk! And it's not as if yours is any bigger than mine! At all! It is NOT bigger at all I sWEAR TO GOD--" He cut himself off abruptly, just sort of standing there for a moment before wiping a hand over his face and sighing. "Christ, now I'm getting all worked up..." He hesitated, then spoke again, more quietly, in somewhat of a grumble, "We are not telling Jo about any of what happened in here, o-okay? What goes on in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen. I kind of want to go buy snacks now, too, now that I'm so wide awake...maybe we should go out and try to catch Jo before she leaves the store..."

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper seemed to be enjoying Ryder's discomfort immensely - he smirked at the other as he flushed and rapidly insisted he wasn't jealous, laughing openly at the claim that there was nothing to be jealous of. "Yeah yeah, go ahead and let yourself believe that-" he commented, smirking even more as Ryder said he was getting worked up. "Worked up over what, hm? A hot man coming on to you too much to handle? Your poor straight brain short-circuiting?" he taunted, seeming to calm as Ryder mentioned Jo again. The fact that she'd been gone for an unknown amount of time was a little worrisome... but as Ryder brought up going to get snacks before Jo left the store, he grinned. "Can I hitch a lift with you? I promise we won't crash even if I'm all over you so I don't die-" he teased, apparently inviting himself along to go and get snacks.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder gave Jasper a bit of a look at his first few comments, then sighed, running a hand back through his hair.
"Alright, fine. You can come along. At least it'll show Jo we're getting along...kinda...just hang on. I've gotta get ready. I'm gonna grab a five minute shower real fast." He put away the leftovers he'd been munching on, then headed towards the kitchen door, absentmindedly shutting the fridge on the way out. He made his way don the hall to one of the communal showers--it was closer anyway. He had to shower and fix his hair--there was no way he was going out like this. Once he'd reached the locker room that led into the shower room, he stripped off his clothes and went on ahead into the shower room--only planning on being in there for a few minutes. He was starting to get worried about Jo--he was sure she was fine, but he was worried all the same...

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper scowled as soon as Ryder turned his back, glaring at him quietly. "Like you're the only one who cares about her - dick-" he muttered, voice too low for Ryder to hear. As he pondered what to do - since getting dressed wouldn't take long - he realized. Ryder... was showering. And he hadn't gone the direction to go downstairs, either. Smirking, the whitette activated his cybernetics and crept to the communal bathroom, grinning with excitement as he heard water running.
Quietly, the male padded into the showers, finding Ryder rather quickly and just... watching, for a moment. He was so innocent. Eventually, he slipped forward and, when Ryder was trying to rinse his hair - dumped more shampoo on top of his head, quickly putting the bottle down again and smirking as he twisted off the hot water.
As soon as a torrent of cold water would pour down on Ryder's head, he backed up and crossed his arms, allowing himself to reappear across from the other. He had disposed of his underwear somewhere along the way, but he didn't seem to care as he chuckled lowly. "Y'know, after seeing both you and Jo in a shower, I gotta say, she takes the cake for most attractive - I mean, don't get me wrong, I like dicks a lot but Jo has really got it going on. I mean, you should know that, but it's nice to know someone else has seen her naked, right?" Jasper was bluffing - he hadn't seen Jo fully naked. Not once in all the time they had been around each other. He didn't usually utilize his cybernetics to peep on Jo or Ryder... but this time, with how pissed off he was, he just couldn't help it. Ryder thought that everything was working out just because he had kissed him?
Time to show him how wrong he was.
"Also, your dick is definitely a bit smaller than mine. I mean, that's nothing bad, it's mostly how you use it - but... wait. Waiiit. I forget who I am sometimes, I'm literally a fucking expert, gimme a Ph.D- yeah. Sorry pal, short straw on that one." Jasper smirked as he thought of ways to antagonize Ryder, thinking of every insecurity he knew of and trying to utilize it. "At least you can go cry about it to- ... oh, wait. Your girlfriend ran off and - do you even have any other friends? What the fuck, dude, bros before hoes!! What happened to your friends, you had to have had someone before Jo or were you always just a pathetic panting little puppy dog?"
On a scale of one to ten, Jasper figured his likeliness to be attacked was somewhere near an eight at least, if not a ten. He had just insulted and used everything he knew about Ryder to try and rile him up - just to show him how little they truly were working together... and to try and get back at him for acting like he was the only one who was allowed to care about Jo at all.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder had actually somewhat been enjoying his shower, taking the moment away from Jasper to relax and let his mind drift to other things--until suddenly, he felt a giant slop of shampoo come down upon his head, followed directly by a deluge of cold water--which, due to its abruptness, made him yelp. He dodged out from the water, looking around wildly and using an arm to swipe shampoo out of his eyes--said eyes immediately narrowing as soon as he saw Jasper.
“Wh-What the fuck—?! Why are you in here?! Get out!” he yelled at the whitette without hesitation—and then Jasper said that apparently he’d seen Jo naked. It took Ryder a second to process it, but once he had, an absolutely shocked and dismayed expression came across his face. “You—were you spying on her?!” And then Jasper just kept going, and going, and going…Ryder’s fists clenched, and after a moment, he looked down—then silently turned around. And then…he began walking away. However, as he passed by one of the shower heads, he paused, picking up the bar of soap that was there and speaking, his voice oddly quiet—although it was clear that there was anger bubbling just beneath. “So, you’re an expert, huh…? Well, I’m so sorry that I don’t meet up to your expectations, you horny piece of shit.” He continued walking—strangely enough, picking up the bar of soap from the next showerhead as well, and then the next, and the next—simply moving towards the other side of the room, collecting a small pile of soap bars in one of his arms. Right now, he felt not only angry—he felt like being downright malicious. It was late at night. He wasn’t a night owl. He wanted to be asleep. He was worried about Jo. This guy had forced himself on him, and frankly, Ryder had just been doing what he could to keep things calm—but obviously, Jasper had other plans. Ryder was done. Once he’d reached the other side of the shower room, he’d collected a fair pile of soap in his arm, and he stopped, speaking again, looking over his shoulder just barely, his one visible eye piercing. “What, are you jealous? Are you lonely? Of course I’ve got friends, Jasper—I’m friends with every member of this faction. I bet you can’t say the same—you’re barely even allowed to talk to them for fear that you’d stick your goddamn cock in one of them. Yeah, I might get emotional and cry, but at least I’ve got a shoulder to cry on. If you weren’t being such a fucking leech on Jo’s back, you’d be all fucking alone. And you know that. That’s why you’re such an asshat—you’re fucking afraid of everyone leaving you. …And I don’t see what Jo sees in you. But you know…I do know one thing that I’ve got over you, Jasper…one thing that I can say I’ve got the advantage on…” And then abruptly, Ryder spun around at the opposite side of the room, grabbing one of the bars of soap he was holding and pitching it towards Jasper, the soap bar becoming a fastball hurtling across the room—straight for the whitette’s head. No holding back. “Unlike you, I actually learned to use my fucking arms for something OTHER THAN JERKING OFF!” He didn’t let up there—the other bars of soap he’d collected were soon to follow, sailing across the room towards Jasper at much the same speed. Surely this would break all of the soap—but Ryder didn’t care much right now. He’d get new ones. Honestly, seeing this guy get smacked would be far too gratifying to pass up.

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jasper smirked openly as Ryder told him to get out, shaking his head quickly. It was a communal shower - he could be wherever the hell he wanted. Hearing the redhead's shock for his claim to seeing Jo naked made him snort in amusement, clearly entertained by Ryder's panic - but as he saw how angry the other was getting... he grinned. He wanted him pissed - he was sick of him just getting sad every time he tried to rile him up. He wanted anger and fire and fury - and it seemed very much like he was finally getting it. He held his ground as Ryder walked away, staring blankly as he started picking up soap. Did he feel so dirty that he needed every single bar of soap in the place...?
Jasper was somehow amused by Ryder calling him a horny piece of shit, the fact that it was honestly true seeming to dull the sting of his attempted insult. The redhead was not good at comebacks, was he? "Mmm, spying, sure- you could call it that, I guess- and y'know, if I found anything wrong with being a horny piece of shit, maybe that insult would actually hurt-" Jasper sighed as it seemed very much like Ryder was just going to take the soap and leave despite how angry he could tell he was - with how stiff Ryder's body was, there was no way he wasn't pissed.
Yet as the other turned and spoke, Jasper's face showed, at first, disdain - Ryder trying to say he was lonely made him roll his eyes. He was anything but lonely - but as the redhead just kept speaking, Jasper's expression shifted to shock - and then a sort of hurt that only lasted a few seconds before the whitette formed a careful mask of neutrality. He stood shockingly still as Ryder seemed to target his exact fears, his muscles shaking slightly in response - he was angry and shocked - but most of all, hurt. He closed his eyes quietly and licked his lips, struggling, for once, to form words - but as he heard something whistling through the air, he ducked automatically, staring in shock as he heard the crack and thud as the bar of soap collided with the opposing wall and shattered.
Jasper looked up at Ryder as if he were crazy, eyes wide as he stared a moment. Once he realized Ryder was intending to pitch all the bars of soap at him though, he gave up on dodging - he simply lifted his arms to protect his face, staggering backwards as bars of soap collided with his skin with dull cracks that left him gasping in pain. Several smacked into his ribs, and arms, and a few even slammed right into his thighs, causing him to fall to his knees in pain. He was shaking with the pain from the assault, but he didn't seem to have any plan on stopping it - in fact, he just knelt there and took it, body trembling from the pain.
"You wanna know something...?" Slowly, Jasper looked up, gaze desolate and pain visible in his expression. "I am fucking afraid of that. Congrats, you figured it out, you figured out my big fucking problem - I'm fucking terrified that everyone's going to figure out what a piece of shit I am and leave. Do you know how often I've seen people leave? It's happened so many fucking times I was numb to it, I didn't even get close to anyone because what was the point? They'd just fucking go, and I'd be alone again, so I convinced myself that being alone was fine. And you wanna know what? I was fucking fine, until your g-goddamn girlfriend decided to convince me I was living a shitty life!" Jasper didn't even seem to flinch as his voice cracked, his arms slowly sinking away from his face as he trembled. "A-and now I h-have a few people that I would d-die to keep safe and I don't even know if one of them is okay. I h-haven't seen him or heard from him and I don't know if he got sick of me and left or if h-he's hurt somewhere and it's not like I c-can fucking admit to anyone I'm worried, because I'm instantly vulnerable- b-because feeling shit m-makes me weak-!! I d-don't mean shit to anyone I care about either, so really I s-still am fucking alone, n-no matter how much I cling to Jo--" The whitette scowled, staring determinedly at the floor as he struggled to keep his face from showing just how torn up he was. He hadn't even noticed that one of Ryder's pitches had knocked his hand into his mouth, causing his lip to bleed - he just knelt there, and squeezed his eyes shut quietly. "... But whatever. That doesn't matter to you... you're oh-so-fucking perfect and everyone p-panics if you s-so much as get a scratch. I'm s-sitting here bruised and bleeding and f-frankly, if I'm so worthless, if I'm just a goddamn lonely annoying fucking leech, then why don't you just fucking kick me out? Send me away, there's no point in me being here, all I do is fuck up your goddamn relationship."
Jasper opened his eyes, then, staring daringly at Ryder even with tears threatening to spill over. "T-tell me to leave. Tell me to get out and never f-fucking come back. I'll do it, you know. I'll leave and I'll never bother you again. If I'm s-such a fucking problem, sentence me to lose the only people I've cared about in t-thirteen or so years. Obviously, y-you don't give a fuck, s-so just f-fucking do it!" The whitette grabbed one of the cracked bars of soap from the ground beside him and sent it skittering across the floor towards Ryder, his eyes squeezing shut again as he tried to pull himself together.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

As Ryder threw the last bar of soap, he caught his breath, glaring Jasper down and watching the aftermath. His expression didn’t seem to lighten at all—that hadn’t been particularly entertaining, but at the very least, it had let him vent a bit. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still angry, though. As Jasper started talking, Ryder let out a bit of a short, quiet growl—he was in no mood to hear this guy talk anymore. He didn’t break eye contact as he listened—and as the bar of soap skittered over towards his feet, he kicked it away, the idle soap bar colliding with another wall. It was then that he walked forward towards Jasper, stopping in front of him before reaching down and abruptly grabbing his arm, pulling him up—only to move in for a punch, attempting a hit right at the whitette’s jaw, then releasing the other’s arm, backing up a step.
“Quit spewing such bullshit!” he shouted, seeming even more incensed than before. “It’s always the same goddamn shit with you! ‘Oh, I’m Jasper, nobody cares about me, BOO-FUCKING HOO!’ You think that Jo would’ve let you hang around for this long if she didn’t care?! You think Eagle would’ve dealt with you if he didn’t care?! You’re so fucking pathetic! It’s so obvious that Jo cares, and the fact that you take advantage of that and then pretend like you’re sure she doesn’t care—that’s what pisses me off the most! You might be afraid of losing people, fine! But that doesn’t give you the right to treat them like this! If you actually cared, you’d quit rolling around in your self pity and accept what they have to give to you! They care, you just—you act like you don’t want them to care! And that’s nowhere near how you should act towards somebody you care about, asshole!” He turned abruptly, walking away a few steps before stopping and rapidly going back towards Jasper again, turning to face the whitette. “And I’m perfect? I’M perfect?! Just how far is your head up your ass, huh?! Nobody thinks I’m perfect! Nobody even thinks I can handle myself! Hell, I don’t know if I can handle myself! At best, people think of me like a confused little kid! You ever wonder why the only times Vulture Team got fucked over, it was when I was in charge? I know you’re some information guy, I know that you at least know that much! And now, you know what I am, Jasper? I’m a fucking figurehead. I’m there to try to look intimidating and act like I don’t realize that I’m not nearly being given what a co-leader deserves, Jasper, do you fucking GET IT?! I’m not perfect! Fuck, YOU’RE closer to perfect than I am! At the very least you can talk to people without making a fucking idiot out of yourself! You look nice, you talk nice, you plan nice—I’m pretty sure that thanks to all that task force shit, Jo probably trusts your decisions more than mine, and you think that she doesn’t care? Is there no room in your head left because of all of your bullshit guilt-tripping? Because you’re obviously missing something here, stupid! Jo cares! Eagle cares! Caring about someone is about having a mutual care for each other, alright?! You’re not fucking worthless, and if anything, you’re worth fucking more than me! So get that through your goddamn thick skull, and—!” He suddenly cut off, pausing for a moment as if thinking, before seeming to come back to reality and locking eyes with Jasper again. “…Yeah. Get out. Jo might care, and Eagle might care…but I sure as hell don’t. Get out of my fucking bunker, and don’t you dare show your face here again! Yeah—if I’m so goddamn perfect, we’ll see how that goes over! How about that?!” He moved away from Jasper then, storming over to one of the shower heads and furiously turning it on, letting the cold water wash over his head, washing out the shampoo that had been dumped on there. After a few seconds he shut the water off and turned on his heel, actually slipping and falling to his knees before scrabbling back up to his feet and moving towards the door. At the doorway, he paused, turning to look back at Jasper, his eyes narrowing. “If Jo chews me out for kicking you out, I’ll leave you alone. I won’t fucking talk to you again, go ahead and ruin my fucking whatever as much as you want. I’m happy as long as Jo’s happy. If she doesn’t care about me kicking you out…then you’d better keep away from here and stay the fuck out of my way—or I’ll literally knock you out. Get it? Good.” And with that, he left the shower room, grabbing his clothes and not even dressing before storming down the hallway towards his and Jo’s room, then entering the bathroom and slamming the door shut, locking it. He still had to go out and look for Jo—he was going to get ready and go do it, Jasper be damned. He didn’t care what Jasper did now—if he left, all the better.

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Ryder approaching him caused Jasper a shocking lack of worry - he stared him down, staggering to his feet as the tight grip on his arm yanked him up - and as Ryder punched his jaw, he made no move to prevent it. He grunted softly with pain after, reaching up to cup the spot gently - he'd have a vibrant bruise there now, he could tell. His eyes drifted back to look at the redhead as he started speaking again, a soft scowl forming on Jasper's lips.
Hearing Ryder insist that the others cared about him was... a little surprising. He figured he'd have gone for the opposite approach yet his words stung all the same, and Jasper shook his head furiously. "You still don't fucking get it, do you-?! I don't want them to care-!! Everyone that ends up caring for me ends up hurt and I'm sick of seeing that happen, can't you understand that?! I'm not fucking strong enough and smart enough to keep who I care about safe and it makes me sick to think someone caring about me is the reason they're hurt-!" The whitette shook his head fiercely, scrubbing at his face angrily. He didn't want tears, didn't need them - he was beyond being just upset to being upset and furious.
Hearing Ryder spin back around, though, and speak more, he stared. He scowled as Ryder just rambled about how he wasn't perfect, running a hand through his hair in disbelief. The fact that Ryder legitimately thought he was just a figurehead shocked him - and he wasn't even sure what to say to that. "No, you're a fucking co-leader because Jo trusts you. She knows you make sound decisions and can fucking handle yourself, that's why you're a goddamn co-leader," he snapped - but before he could go any further, Ryder told him to get out.
The whitette paused, then, expression cold, before he slowly straightened up. He wasn't sure what he had expected from his words - but Ryder actually kicking him out hadn't exactly been it. He watched quietly as he walked away to scrub the soap out of his hair, snorting as he spoke again. "... Doesn't matter. I don't care what Jo says. I'm gone now," he replied, voice dangerously soft. He watched as Ryder left, slowly slumping once he was gone - but he moved soon after, grimacing at the pain in his body from the several impacts of soap. He ignored the pain, though, heading to his room rapidly. He gathered up some of his things, most of them able to fit into a single bag anyways before he got dressed and slammed out of the room - though leaving a note telling anyone who got near it to fuck off. He'd come back once to get the rest of his things, Ryder and Jo be damned.
Ignoring the quickly welling regret and tears, he stormed out of the base, not even sure where he'd go - and not bothering to say goodbye. He probably shouldn't be trusted to drive safely but he climbed onto his motorcycle nevertheless, shooting one hesitant look back at the cactus before shaking his head fiercely and driving away. He didn't even know where he was going - he just needed to get away.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down

░░▒▒▓▓Ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ  ｌｏｖｅｓ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ▓▓▒▒░░



░░▒▒▓▓Ｔｈｅｎ  ｔｈｅ  ｕｎｄｅｒｄｏｇ  ｂｅｃｏｍｅｓ  ａ  ｈｅｒｏ  ａｎｄ  ｔｈｅｙ  ｈａｔｅ  ｈｉｍ▓▓▒▒░░

⧱Ryder Mercy⧱
⧰The Boss⧰
☲-------------------------------------☲
Gold medals aren't made of gold . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they're made of sweat, determination
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts
☲-------------------------------------☲

Ryder found himself still very frustrated even while he was just styling his hair and getting ready to leave--this entire situation was definitely harsh on the nerves. Either way, he got himself set to go, then left the bathroom--looking at his and Jo's bed and letting out a sigh. He picked up Jo's note, reading it once more before leaving, a medley of unpleasant emotions swirling around in his stomach after his encounter with Jasper. He was angry, uncomfortable--and more than anything, just wished that he didn't have to deal with fighting people in his own faction like this. He knew that fighting with JAsper would just upset Jo--but he was finding it really hard to stand the whitette recently--especially after their past two arguments. And the worst part was that he could tell that Jasper was trying to piss him off--and it was working. Ryder liked to think of himself as a pretty mellow guy, but he couldn't deny that he did have a pretty bad temper when people really pushed his buttons. It was something he tried to repress--but it always wound up finding its way to the surface. Always.
He headed to the lift to leave the base, silently standing there as he waited to get to the surface, bringing his motorcycle with him from the garage. He put his helmet on as the lift was moving upwards, eventually reaching the sands above. He paused for a moment, looking around--there were two sets of tracks. Shit. That was probably because he'd told Jasper to get out...which...was going to make following Jo a whole lot harder. He looked down one of the trails of tracks, trying to think about what was in that direction--and not really able to think of much. And then, he looked down the other...recalling that that was actually the direction of a certain establishment that Jo commonly frequented. So...that was probably Jo. He turned his motorcycle in the proper direction, hopping on and kickstarting it, then drove off, following Jo's tracks.
Eventually, he reached Porn and Biscuits, where the trail led, pulling up to the front and taking off his helmet, putting it down on the seat of the motorcycle, then moving to the window to peer inside. No Jo...And then, he hesitated for a moment.
"Wait a second...they don't sell chips here..." he squinted into the building, not really seeing anyone, screwing up his face a bit and then looking around outside. After searching for a while, he ended up noticing something--a few more tracks, along with..an unfinished cigarette that was still burning faintly, its embers almost having gone out. He frowned a bit, reaching down and picking it up, examining it more closely. This was definitely the brand that Jo smked, that was for sure... "...She wouldn't just leave this here.."

☲--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------☲
An Anthem of Perseverance - Thousand Suns

☣ Ｊａｓｐｅｒ Ｅｖｅｒｈａｒｔ ☣



★ Ｈｅｍｌｏｃｋ ★
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
"Love's a game, wanna play?.............................
.............................I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Shortly after leaving, Jasper had decided he wanted to tell Jo in person what had happened - or at least, that he was leaving. It'd likely be difficult yet he wouldn't allow her to keep him from leaving - he was done. This meant he had to turn back and track Jo's tire tracks - and though he saw what was presumably Ryder's tracks in the same direction, he didn't care. The redhead could give him a minute to say goodbye no matter how much he loathed him.
By the time he reached the end of the motorcycle tracks, though, he was simultaneously surprised - and slightly amused. He spotted Ryder's motorcycle, but ignored it, slowly stepping off his own bike in order to look around. The immediate lack of anyone nearby had him peering inside - yet just as he'd thought, the place was more or less empty.
After deigning that Ryder and Jo couldn't have gone far, he allowed his cybernetics to hide him from sight as he crept around and tried to find them. What he did eventually find, however - was not what he expected. He frowned at the sight of Ryder all alone, and as he overheard what he said about the cigar... he hesitated.
"She's not here?"
The whitette pushed aside his anger and loathing for Ryder in favor of dropping the cybernetic invisibility, frowning at the cigar quietly. "... Where the hell is she then?"

------------------------------------------------------------------
Jasper's Theme - Shot You Down