nexus_crossings | Manhattan's Diamond King

Manhattan's Diamond King

Jack had been wandering the streets on a night watch with Diamond. The people of the Party and their Ministry of Truth goons were getting bold. It made Jack antsy and he wasn’t sleeping. It was weird sometimes how he went days and weeks here and there without sleeping. No one knew how he could do it.

The scenery had changed oddly when he turned a corner, Diamond at his side whining. He reached down and patted the white mutt that went with him everywhere. Straightening, Halloween Jack shifted the automatic weapon slung over one shoulder that stood in stark contrast to his feminine clothing including spike heeled black boots and gaudy diamond bracelets and earrings. He came very close to shooting the hologram when it startled him by appearing on his blind side. He’d seen something like this before but couldn’t remember where. He listened to it all the while wondering why the guy was in the weird get up. It looked enough like a military uniform to make him suspicious of the Nexus.

Walking on he kept looking up at the building corners, the trees, anywhere something could be hung. Though the gun was back in a resting position, he remained jumpy and jittery.. one part drugs and one part nerves. Diamond was watching the people coming out into the plaza. Normal morning traffic of shops opening.

Jack narrowed his eye at the people and eventually asks. “There aren’t any cameras or drones here?”

He is confused as hell about what is going on. The dog sat at his feet, looking up expectantly at her one eyes master. In the back of his mind there is a lingering worry that this is some Party trap or that he had been caught again and this was something in his own mind.

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"Is that why you can't stay away?... because I carry all the big weapons." If this man is going to sling innuendo, Jack's going to flirt.

"I can get you back into them." Jack winked, even if he only had one eye showing it was obvious as he opened his own bottle. "I've got the charm for it."

Diamond is so excited she starts nipping playfully at Balthazar's fingers. She can feel that her master likes this persona dn so she does too.

"In the midst of a bet over who can drop more choppers out of the sky." Whether it is true or not, the mischief in his expression certainly is. "And how about you, beautiful? Still getting onto trouble."

She raises an eyebrow, but her goal here isn't to argue about how tough she is, so she opts to simply take him at his word. "Well, for what it's worth, it's very difficult to commit violence in this area of the place. Not impossible, but difficult."

She laughs softly at the dog's excitement, and sinks to one knee to be in better range for petting. She's not terribly experienced with animals when it comes down to it, but it's not hard to love a friendly dog. "Uh-huh. I bet I smell like the camels or the granary cats, hm? Yes, we can be friends, Diamond."

"Some people live here. There are apartment buildings and houses, and hotels. I only visit, mostly for trade, though I have a few friends around."

He visibly relaxes with the commentary on the lack of violence. That was a first in the time he could remember. All he can do is smile at the excitement of his dog. He loved her. She might be the only thing he really cared about.

"You live in the desert?" Jack registered camels as being an unusual form of transportation. His people used horses sometimes but not camels.

"We could do with trading. Food will get scarce in a few months." He offers the words but his eyes are on the shops.

"The world I come from is mostly desert," she explains. "A Wasteland. Used to be Earth, but fallout killed a lot of it. We're working to bring back what we can."

She glances up from Diamond and nods. "What have you got to trade? If we can make a deal, I'm willing, or I can point you to some of my contacts. Mostly I come in for fabric, medical supplies, specialized tools and technology."

"We live in a wasteland that used to be New York City. It was renamed Hunger City years ago, I don't remember when, but it's because they started starving everyone." Jack imagines fallout means nuclear warfare which seems even worse than what he's endured.

"Clothing is something we can trade. We also make drugs that can be used for medicine." Jack contemplates and then shrugs. "We can steal most things when we need them. Food and weapons are usually what we need most but manpower too. A lot of the people who come are young or parents bring their children to us."

"Writing your own words is deviant, or going beyond your regimented amounts of foods." Jack wasn't sure he could explain how strict things were to someone who didn't live it. "Halloween Jack, Madame of the Diamond Dogs."

Jack nods and then laughs. "That's what we do when they come to our turf."

There was no sense in hiding what he was; killer, thief, madame, deviant.

"That's good to hear." Official monitoring was what he worried about.

"Halloween Jack." He smiles at her. He's tall, but with the towering heels he's well over six and a half feet tall. "People do come in all sizes."

It seems to her there's some nervousness in him, one a bit like she's encountered among prisoners. Erika hopes he can relax in this place. Whoever he is.

"That's true. Are you hungry? I can show you some places where you can eat well."

"They are devices used to spy on people. Cameras are fixed and drones fly." Jack is talking while his one eye stares up widely at the bird... dinosaur... thing. What the hell is this thing? His words come slowly because he's trying to process what he is seeing. "We have a government with thought police."

He's still processing whatever this being is in front of him but he is listening. "Halloween Jack, Madame of the Diamond Dogs." Introductions seemed strange in the middle of an explanation but Jack easily rolled with the flow of the conversation. "We exiled ourselves. Humans aren't much better than what you describe. They kill and forcibly alter people if they don't fit the uniform society they want."

If this thing wanted to rant about how shitty the people in charge were, Jack could certainly keep up on that front.

That's a relief for Jack. Several people have told him this is a safe place and for some reason he believes this woman more than the others. She seems like his type, the kind he lives with back home. That is also a comfort.

The most charming smile appears. "Who would turn down a drink from a woman this beautiful?" He offers her an arm or hand, friendly and more like girlfriends heading out than anything on the sexual spectrum. "Show me what's fun here, beautiful."

Harley is quite comfortable linking arms with him. She laughs softly. "A lot to be seen. But we will start out at the Vipers's Pit. Once of the best places to get drunk around here."

"It sounds like you are slaves within your own world. If it were me I would find those responsible and kill the leader. Or preferable all of them."

He had no qualms in admitting he'd freely kill his enemies or those who would seek to imprison him. Loki had never been one for confinement and control since he was a free spirit and very unpredictable when locked up. Almost dangerous as most found out. SHIELD didn't have a very good time trying to constrain Loki to their helicarrier.

"You sound like a man who enjoys a good chance at getting his own back. A rebel. Isn't it much more fun to do what you want and not care what anyone else thinks?"

A slow smirk spread across his lips as he remembered fondly what happened back on the helicarrier.

"Some poor fools sought to contain me within a flimsy prison. Of course I broke out and killed one of the agents who sought to aid my demise."

"I know how much you enjoy bragging about your...weapon, Jack."

He almost rolled his eyes but held back and instead offered his friend a knowing smile; his eyes crinkling up at the sides out of fondness. Could he ever be irritated truly at this man? It seemed not. The angel had enjoyed getting to know Jack ever since their liaison back in New York. Diamond's nipping was welcome as he stroked her head and played with her ears a little.

"Oh? How is that going for you? I do hope you win since that rocket launcher was ever so impressive. How about we throw a few empty scotch bottles at a few cameras one day? That could be fun. We could do it naked too."

"It's the truth." He counters with a characteristically charming smile.

Diamond slowly settles down at the feet of both men, or well sort of men in this case.

"It's slow. After the first day they stopped sending so many. Now, it's an actual challenge to find one." Which made it better. That first day had been shooting fish in a barrel. This was more fun. "I wouldn't do it naked. you haven't seen enough of the world to know what a bad idea that is but I am up for camera destruction any time."

Jack shivers visibly at the idea of running around naked in the wider area of the world. It was disgusting even for someone who liked nudity as much as Jack did. The world was dingy and less than appealing for such things.

Even though Balthazar was often reckless and shameless he did have some principles and those included looking out for those he cared about. The visible shiver from his friend had been picked up and this caused him to frown a little; his brows knotting together as he stepped closer towards Jack.

"Perhaps not naked then. Although, we could moon the cameras and see how they like seeing our backsides on show."

Was it a kick in the teeth for the Ministry? Oh yes. Balthazar gently laid a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. The guy had come from a world of filth and control. It was a worrying concept and one that the angel abhorred. Now that they were both residing within the Nexus, perhaps both men could find some peace with one another, especially Jack.

"Where are you staying?"

"If you want to use naked... sneaking into one of their facilities and defiling a conference table has merit." Jack is mischievous and he could break into just about anywhere. It was also something that would legitimately piss off the Ministry, the Party, and a large portion of the general populace.

"Nowhere yet." Jack leaned into the touch. It was nice that, despite still being paid, there was someone who wanted to be around him for what seemed like the sheer desire for his company. "Is this where you take me home, instead of me always having to take you home with me?"

He's teasing, flirting, but also friendly. Jack is really starting to like the angel as more than someone to have sex with. The idea of friends with benefits drifted through his mind and he could definitely settle into that kind of relationship with someone. Especially someone who didn't mind his various professions.

"Defiling a conference table? That sounds like the perfect day out, love. Just tell me when and I'd love to join you and piss of those corporate bastards with you."

It didn't surprise him to know that Jack had nowhere to go as of yet in the way of an apartment. Hadn't he just arrived within the Nexus? It only made sense that it would take a while to find somewhere. Balthazar himself had a nice rooftop apartment close by the Plaza so that he could enjoy watching what was going on down below. The hubbub of the Plaza often in his line of sight in the morning when he was enjoying a breakfast of boiled eggs and some scotch in a rocks glass.

"Need a couch to sleep on, darling? I can offer you that if you want. Or, there's always the large double bed. I managed to procure that off a rather friendly trader in town."

The truth was he'd charmed the man and made a few promises then perhaps broken a few along the way. Collateral damage.

"Any evening you're free beautiful." This was one of the main reasons he was starting to like this angel's presence. He was always ready for chaos and causing trouble which was Jack's usual. While he was destructive and killed when needed he would much rather cause mischief than murder.

"How dare you try to shuffle me off to a couch!" Jack could barely keep his smile under control with the mock offense. "Diamond can have the couch. I'll be taking a more comfortable place if I'm staying anywhere. "

Though he's trying desperately to sound serious but the way his eyes are lighting up give away the flirt and jest. To hide the smile he takes a long drink out of the bottle he has.

"Uniform minds for a uniform society." Jack mocks the voice he's heard on the announcements more often than he'd like. However, as much as he agrees with throwing off the yoke was more difficult than this man suggested. "It's not a single leader or group. The thought police are as young as 5 or 6. You'd have to kill of half of the population or more."

How many of those people had been brainwashed into being problematic now? Jack had no idea.

"The list of crimes put out by the Ministry is hard to avoid. It's not really rebellion when almost everyone ends up being a criminal."

Jack shakes his head and laughs. "I'm outside the prison now. It's everyone else that's still inside."

"It's alright, no one's watching you. Well, probably," Hiroki says.

It seems like this is what this man is worried about. Or maybe Hiroki's just projecting.

"You look a bit like someone I know. Hey. Welcome to Nexus. Not many people would watch you here, even if you are handsome."

No, that is exactly what Jack is worried about. His eye drifts back up to the eaves where he still expects to see cameras. However, there still aren't any that he can see.

"Who is that?" The comment about a look alike brings Jack's full attention to the person who had approached him. The smile spreads wide, charming and flattered. "You aren't hard on the eyes either."

"I don't think you've ever met, or I'm sure you'd remember. That person is Ziggy Stardust. My beloved. Heh, you'll recognise Ziggy if you ever meet."

Whatever power translates everything in Nexus, translates that, too, but beloved is said in another language. Altean, not that he'd know. So it might be differently accented.

Not hard on... if not Lucifer, the clone'd now think looking this gorgeous makes one a flirt, or something, as a rule. Ziggy, now this stranger...

"Thank you. A few months ago I'd've said nobody says that about me anymore."

"I've never heard of him." Jack is curious but he's missing a lot of memories, and a lot of people are just missing in his world in general; either dead or rewritten. "He must be tragically sexy if he looks like me."

Jack walks right up to him, touching all that long hair unless of course he pulls away. "I'm half blind and I can see it. You must've been surrounded by fools."

Jack definitely flirts a lot like Ziggy, in fact for Hiroki it probably seems even more alike since he has a lot of experience with Ziggy's brand of flirting.

"Sounds delightful." He leans in and kisses her cheek as they walk. He is a flirt by nature; harmless and charming most of the time. "Lead the way beautiful."

"Yes." Jack answers honestly. "...but I don't think any of these nice places around here take what I have to pay with."

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Manhattan's Diamond King

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