Inverted AU Character Intros: 5/7
A JSE Fanfic
[These are intros for the versions of the guys for my Inverted AU! Inverted is a reverse-morality story where the good guys are bad and the bad guy—Anti—is good. These intros should help newcomers understand just how the dynamics work :) This one is for Inverted!Jameson.]

It was raining. Buckets of water were pouring from the rooftops, rivers were washing away stray bits of paper, and it was just generally a horrible afternoon to be out in. But still, there was a woman sitting on the curb. Her head was in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. Her green umbrella was open, but she held it precariously in the crook of her elbow, so that she was still half-exposed to the weather.

She was oblivious to her surroundings. This became evident when somebody tapped her on the shoulder and she gasped, jumping a foot in the air. She looked up and saw a man in a vest quickly leaning back as if startled by her response. He smiled, adjusted his umbrella, and waved. “O-oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” the woman said.

The man shrugged, and smiled once again. Then he tilted his head. He pointed up to the rainy sky, then at her. “Excuse me?” the woman asked. “Are you trying to tell me something? I’d be able to hear you fine, the rain’s not that loud.”

He frowned, and tapped his throat, right where his voice box was—or, where it should have been. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I, um, didn’t realize…” The man waved away her apologies with a silent laugh. Then he repeated his gesture from before.

“Are you trying to ask me what I’m doing out here? In the rain?” When the man nodded, she continued. “Well, I…I didn’t mean to be, it just…happened…I was walking home after…” The woman couldn’t take it anymore. She started crying again.

The man’s eyes widened. He sat down on the curb next to her, moving his umbrella so it sheltered both of them from the rain. He reached out, hesitated, then patted her shoulder. The woman began gasping out her story between sobs. “My-my parents kicked me out, they s-s-said that I sh-should have my own place by now ‘cause I’m-I’m twenty-six and st-still living with them, b-but I can’t find a job and my rent is due this Friday, b-but my savings are running out—on top of this I found out my best friend—I thought she was my best friend, but she’s-she’s saying shit about me that isn’t true, m-making me look awful because I d-didn’t cry when my brother got put in the hospital—he hated me any-anyway, he always has, only talks to me to insult me so that-that makes it hard to get upset, b-but that doesn’t mean I want him to die—!”

She kept going on for some time, tears mingling with the rain water on her face. The man remained silent the whole time, but the woman knew this was because he had to be. He walk away or look uncomfortable. He was polite and attentive, reacting in all the right ways to each of her problems. After a while, the woman gave up on talking and just cried, letting the man rub reassuring circles on her back. And soon, she wiped her eyes. She looked at the man. “Thanks for listening. You didn’t have to.”

The man beamed. It was a nice smile, wide and happy. The woman laughed. “I feel a bit better now. Guess I’ve just been…bottling this all up. Really, thanks for sitting here in the rain and listening to the ramblings of a complete stranger.”

He tilted his umbrella back, pointing once more to the sky. The rain appeared to have lessened. It was coming to a stop as the clouds above lightened. “Huh. Guess the sun is coming out soon.” The man looked toward her, then poked her in the arm. “Hey!” she said, jokingly offended. “That’s not a nice thing to do! But…I think I get what you’re saying. Or, uh, telling me. The sun is going to come out on my life, right?” The man nodded cheerfully. “Huh. Maybe it will. I still have a few days to get a job, and some savings left. I guess I should just keep trying…talk to my friends and make sure they know how I feel…” She nodded slowly. “Yeah, that might work.”

She stood up. The man copied her. “Guess I need to go home, then.” The man raised an eyebrow, then offered her his arm in an old-fashioned gesture. “You want to walk me there? I don’t know…” His eyebrows furrowed. He pointed in the direction she had to walk to get home, then looked at her with a question in his eyes. “Oh, yeah, my apartment is that way.” He bit his lip. Then he raised his hand, made a fist, and brought it down in a stabbing motion before pointing back in the direction of her apartment complex. “I’m sorry, I don’t…are you trying to say it’s dangerous?” The man nodded.

It was true, her apartment had never been in a safe part of town. And with the way things had been recently…just last month a guy in her own apartment complex had disappeared. She’d heard fro his neighbors that they found him recently…or at least, his remains. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. It can’t hurt to be part of a pair…but what about you, walking back?” The man shrugged, the made a lighthearted I’ll be fine gesture. “You sure?” He nodded firmly. “Alright then.”

As the rain faded away, the two of them set off towards the woman’s apartment. Naturally, they walked in silence. Soon, they put their umbrellas away. When they were only a few blocks away from the woman’s apartment, the man reached into his vest and pulled out a silver pocket watch on a chain. He stared at it for a while, then a look of confusion came over his face. “What’s wrong?” the woman asked. In response, the man showed her the face of the watch. The hands were spinning, spinning, spinning…“That’s not normal,” the woman muttered. “Is it s’posed to do that?” The man shook his head, then pushed the watch towards her. “Huh? Want me to look at it? Well, I don’t know if there’s much I can do, but sure.”

She took the watch in her hands, though the man still held the chain. It was odd. As she watched, the clock hands sped up, slowed down, varied in speed, always going around and around and around and around…it was actually kind of…{nice to look at.}

Yes…it was nice to look at…she wasn’t holding the watch anymore. It was…swinging. She should…{keep watching it.} She should keep watching it. She’d been standing there for a while…didn’t she have something…something to do? {No.} No, she didn’t. And what would be more important than the swinging of the watch, the spinning of the hands, the spirals in the back of her vision? {Nothing.} Nothing was more important. This was the only thing in the world…

She was starting to feel tired…{When you’re tired, you go to sleep.} Yes, sleep…that was a good idea…{Sleep…} Sleep…{Go to sleep…} She closed her eyes…

The library door opened, and Marvin looked up from his book to see Jameson enter the room. “Hey dude,” he said. “Noticed you got a new one.”

Jameson strolled over to the shelves, running his fingers over the spines of books. {Indeed,} he said, his voice slipping effortlessly into Marvin’s mind.

“What happened to the other one?”

{He was becoming less efficient. I had to get rid of him.}

Marvin snorted. “Get rid of him…you don’t even do anything.”

{Well then he had to get rid of himself. Does that soothe your troubled mind?}

“Yeah. How’s the new one coming?”

Jameson plucked a book from the shelf, then settled down in a nearby armchair. {She’s very weak mentally. Should be easy. But I’m conflicted, because the ones like this are never as sharp as they were before.}

“You should fix that.”

{That is what I’m doing in here, my fine fellow. You’re sure to have something useful to me in this collection of yours.}

“Well, good luck.”

{Thank you.} Jameson settled in for a long night of research.