xp_logs | Arthur, Beatrice, and Jess | Everyone disliked that

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(Backdated.) Arthur has a gift for Jessica, and Bea happens to tag along. Nobody is happy with how this log ends. (Alternate summary: When Jessica tells you something was someone else's idea, she's usually wrong.)

Beatrice had been unsure at the offer of joining Arthur for a walk with 'Felix' but the blonde man had been reassuring and it turned out that Felix was a dog. A very handsome dog that she couldn't stop praising as his fluffy tail fanned as it wagged with excitement. As appeared to arrive where they were going, she paused, looking to the man, and though she drew herself as close as she could, she took a step towards him. "A coworker of yours?" She asked, uncertain but curious. What a strange safehouse.

This drew a curious glance from Arthur as he was stopped in his tracks by the question. One could imagine the thoughts passing over the scales of his mind without being a telepath as his squinted, ponderous expression took a few breaths to process the mental math. "No," he offered. "Jessica is a fellow survivor of evil telepaths, but she didn't get a multi-season, award nominated television show out of it. Sadly." He hefted the bag he held that was adorned with a simple, red bow. It did not jangle, but its weight indicated the thing was solidly packed. "I'm apologizing for entirely different injustices."

Felix, without prompting, had already seated himself to wait patiently with only a tiny, repeated thump of his tail on the hardwood.

"This would be better as a surprise, but Jess, well, she..."

There was the distinct sound of a deadbolt unlocking.

Jessica, habitually, did not open the door all the way, but the golden retriever's nose nudged it open enough that she gave up. "Hey," she said cautiously, as though Arthur were someone to be careful of; the small blond woman made her brows furrow momentarily. "What's up?"

A blue eye and a sliver of a face appeared in Jessica's line of sight to join the eager pup to confirm that it was who she suspected.

"I have two important people who want to meet you!" It was a clear exaggeration, but Arthur was also someone who would count a dog as a person. Felix wagged his tail encouragingly. "Also I got you something."

Bea blinked at Arthur, utterly confused by the man, though she tried to peek through the door and offer the person behind it a polite smile. "Hello."

Jessica reluctantly opened the door and stood aside, her narrow-eyed look at Arthur conveying that she hoped he would be responsible for the blonde woman and not let her do anything annoying. Was this too much to hope for? Absolutely. "Hi," she said. "Come in, I guess." The kitchenette and sitting room of the suite was a repository for books - piled on most of the flat surfaces - and boxes of sugary cereal, ditto.

Arthur was, at least, immediately through the door and taking it all in very casually. Was this the way she lived? Good for her. He wasn't here to judge. In fact, he was here for, "Picture this. I was casually strolling in DX, thinking of your ongoing battle with Lulu, lemons, and pastels, when it just so happens there was a shop with a sale. It practically was calling the name 'Jessica Jones.' So, hey, happy holidays and happy birthday."

All smiles, he placed the bag close to Jess without disturbing any of the sugar cereal boxes or getting too close into her personal space.

Uncertainly - like a woman who has not been given a gift in a long time, and is suspicious of them - Jessica took the bag and opened it. She stared at the contents for moment, turning the box in her hands; if someone had been looking closely, they might have noticed a faint flush, not on her face, but just below her ears on her neck. "Arthur," she said slowly, "This is a camera. A really good camera." It was, in fact, a Sony A7s iii. "Please tell me you didn't spend four thousand dollars on this."

"I didn't spend four thousand dollars on this," was his automatic response. Thankfully, there were more details. "I had a friend who knew a guy, who knows another guy, and that guy I once helped their kid on a case. You know how it goes," this was a transition more than an earnest statement, but coming from Arthur it might have well been, "And there was a very posh store going out of business. Guy said he can't sell them in DX because they are so pricey."

"Oh my." Bea blinked in confusion, suddenly much more confused than she'd ever been. She shared a look with Felix before giving a small smile to the pair. "Oh my, I didn't expect to be meeting your girlfriend, Arthur. She's not really what I would picture you with, but only because I guess I hadn't seen the two of you with each other before. It's such a lovely camera, as well. You must be over the moon, Ms. Jones."

Jessica choked on her own spit.

Arthur stared at Bea, confused, and immediately got no hope when he switched to the suffocating Jessica. His last bastion for relief was Felix, but it turned out the dog was too busy sniffing some of the piles of books and cereal.

Inwardly, he sighed. There was only one way to handle this: improv.

"You've found us out, Bea. Jessica completes me. She doesn't need to be over the moon for me because I spend every day trying to lasso it down for her to keep in her pocket."

"Oh, that's so sweet, Arthur. That's just simply lovely." The blonde woman clapped, smile spreading easily. "Oh, then, is this your suite? You live together? Oh my, now I sure do feel embarrassed for just barging in and not bringing anything at all to offer, especially after you brought me things while I was healing."

An audience of one was a hell of a drug, and a quick glance toward Jess confirmed that she wasn't ready to take the stage. Arthur had this. He sighed, but it was a sigh worthy of the silver screen. It was a sigh of the times.

"It is against the way I was raised to live with a woman before marriage. I could simply never. I propose every day, though. Just in case she'll have me."

Jess managed to regain control of her lungs long enough to say, "Arthur, cut the horseshit," before another mild coughing fit. "No, we are not together," she told the irritatingly tiny blond. She looked at the camera box in her hand again, and sighed, which made her cough again a few times. "I don't understand the gift that should have been incredibly expensive, though."

Arthur's face fell as he looked between Jess and Bea, as if searching for an out. His pleading look caught Jess's stern expression as he mouthed, squaring himself to be out of Bea's sight, "Don't make do this here and now."

Ruthlessly, Jessica crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Arthur. Expectant.

The man sighed and sat down on the first area he could find that resembled a chair, was not covered in books, and was also not covered in cereal. He had a good, clear line of sight to both women.

"Okay," he began. "So, this. Does everyone understand my powers?" He gestured at his left eye, using his hands to make the suggestion of a starburst.

Beatrice in turn, looked to Jess in the utter confusion of someone who forgot there was a quiz. When words didn’t immediately come, she finally turned her gaze back to Arthur before slowly shaking her head. “No, I don’t know,” the admittance was small, bordering on ashamed as her face grew hot.

"Okay," and Arthur was definitely vibing with Bea's anxious tone. "First off, no one really understands my powers. I had Haller give that to me in writing once, like a doctor's note. I keep a laminated copy in my wallet. So, we're all in great company here. But..."

He took a deep breath.

"Picture this:

A man's walking down the street looking to do a little good. Just minding his own business, that's all, but he's got a glow around him. Like a guy who walks into a bar in a movie and you know they're going to buy everyone drinks. Just like that. Everyone wants a bit of it, so the world flips. Everyone's on their best behavior. The sun's shining, the world's perfect, and there's a chorus of birds that won't pipe down.

The man, though, starts thinking about it too much. Why is everyone being kind? The city is dark. No one's this nice, this isn't how the world works. Then... everything falls apart. Turns out the shots at the bar were poisoned. The discount is because the thing was stolen."

He blinked, snapping out of the story to focus on Jess. "That camera wasn't stolen. I'm 85% sure."

"Arthur," Jessica said, blinking once, "I've told you this before and I'm going to say it again: Your powers are batshit." She looked down at the camera, and then, her fingers tightening only a little, added, "You're not getting this back even if it was stolen." The quirk of her lips, not quite a smile, preceded the rare, "Thank you."

"You... poison people?" Bea asked, voice small, blue-green eyes blown wide though they dropped to the floor. She carefully leaned against the wall, confusion winning over everything and the solid object serving as a comfort to her. "Or you - I'm sorry, I don't understand."

The man tossed his hands up in the air. "It was a story! A metaphor. But..." He let that trail off, surveying the women watching him. He sighed. "Good luck doesn't come from nowhere."

"Arthur's explained his powers to me at least twice now, and I still don't understand a fucking thing," Jessica said, rolling her eyes. "Basically, he's lucky, but apparently if he tries to be lucky, things go HBO instead of Family Channel."

"So I just control it," he lied. All the time, endlessly forever. Layers of logic mazes and repressed feelings counted as control. Arthur smiled. That fixed things.

“Sorry, I’m Canadian, I don’t- or, I think maybe I kinda understand. It seems, well to be honest it seems like a whole lot, Arthur.” Beatrice admitted. “That’s a big power to have.” She added sympathetically.

"You don't need to worry about me. I've learned how to manage them through practice. Upside, people get great presents occasionally." The lies were very easy by this point when one practiced everyday in their own mind.

Jessica's dubious gaze made it clear that she considered Arthur's powers a borderline dangerous wildcard. "So what's up, other than the — we're just going to call this, um, felicitous? — camera?"

It took Arthur a second to realize that was a question aimed in his direction. "Beatrice is new to the mansion," he began like Jess might bolt at any mention of the transformative power of friendship, "I thought that she should meet new people. Get to know her new people. So here we are! Jessica, this is Beatrice Davis."

A hesitant smile formed on the smaller blonde's face, hand raising in a slight wave to the brunette. "Hello, Jessica, as Arthur said, I'm Beatrice, you can call me Bea if you'd like. I, uh, just got here last month."

Jessica regarded her suspiciously, gaze going between Beatrice and Arthur. "Um, welcome," she said, voice dubious. "You guys doing the rounds?"

"Bea here," Arthur said with an enthusiastic nod toward the blonde woman, "can't stay in the guest rooms forever. I'm showing her around and introducing her to friendly faces. We're seeing where the sparks fly."

“I have been rather reclusive unfortunately,” Bea laughed softly, unsure but unwilling to let her confusion show. “Have you been here long, Jessica? Two rooms, and now I’m thinking Arthur doesn’t live with you.”

"Uh, yeah, I - got here in the summer, I guess," Jessica said, her eyes flying guiltily to the unoccupied second room. Free rent was great, but you can't spend a significant portion of your life poor and take it for granted. She absolutely did not want this fragile little girl in her room asking delicate, stupid questions, but she still found herself saying, "I mean, it's fine, I guess, it's not like I own it or anything, so if you need a place to stay . . . " She trailed off, pained.

“Oh that’s so kind of you, Jessica,” as Bea spoke a hand came up to rest against above her heart. “I- Well, I mean, if it’s truly not a hassle, that would be so nice.”

A flash of confusion washed across Arthur's face. "I was — what I —"

He was interrupted by Felix, who had decided that Jessica's apartment had been sufficiently explored. His owner and he exchanged pointed looks.

"Bea, remember what we talked about in the hall? Jess should know what you can do."

“Oh! Oh yes.” Beatrice looked to Jessica, meeting her eyes throw her brows pinched together. “You should know, I am a telepath, and I understand if that changes your offer entirely.”

Arthur, for his part, locked eyes with Jessica to deliver the universally agreed upon look for "it is your decision," followed by the less universally acknowledged expression for "you can say no." Jessica Jones was a detective. She knew how to read people.

Expression frozen, Jessica looked desperately at Arthur, and saw the universal expression for "you owe me", perhaps with a frisson of "I'm a good person and this is what I would do". Whether that meant she owed him for the camera, for the place to stay (who did own this place?), for some past favor that Jess no longer remembered - it didn't matter, because doubling down and drowning your regret later had already been on the tip of the tongue. "Stay out of my head, and it's no problem," she said, managing to keep her voice relatively neutral, the tension in her hands disguised by the simple act of holding the camera box.

Beatrice’s eyes widened a fraction, confusion covering shock quickly. “Of course, Jessica, I don’t have any intention of being in anyone’s head without their say.”

"I," Arthur's voice was a cautious knife meant to cut any building tension, "am excited to see how this friendship grows." He said it the same way a man in a burning building might say, "this is fine," but he offered a pair of thumbs up to really sell it. "This'll be great."

Felix, doubtful, let out a small whine.