JUSTIN: * For the moment, Shane honestly doesn't care about Jo's departure, finding that he once again needs silence and solitude. He rocks back and forth in his seat, grabbing the back of his head and fighting back an undignified sob. This goes on for some time after -- his ability to control crying fits and angry outbursts inconsistant at best -- until he finally exhausts his brain to the point of falling asleep.

JENNA: * Jo wanders blankly for some time, anger and hurt roiling around in her brain until she can stopper both with apathy. When she looks up, she finds she's made her way back to that damned book shop, and the owner is standing outside it, preparing to close up for the day. She smiles wanly, making her way to him despite the fact she doesn't really want to talk. They end up chatting, nevertheless, and by the end of the conversation, Jo's found herself lodging until the caravan leaves town.

JUSTIN: * Sleep doesn't hold onto Shane for very long, but his aimless, groping thoughts after he wakes don't prove to be a better condition. Regardless, he wanders the empty, quiet halls of his small house, stopping briefly in what was once his parents' bedroom and staring at the peeling wallpaper. Some unknown amount of time passes as he drifts in the wastes of his own thoughts, until finally he stalks out of the building and begins to make his way down the street.

JENNA: * Jo's conversation with the bookseller continues once she's inside, and she finds herself fed before long -- apparently the man's family is far away, and he's very lonely. She also gets the use of a small bath for the second time that day, and she's in much better spirits by the time she retires to a low cot on the second floor on the shop. She settles down on it wearily, staring at her pack for a moment, then closes her eyes and drifts into a doze.

JUSTIN: * Shane's feet seem to lead him of their own accord, and he is surprised to find himself standing in the entrance to the small pub near his house. It's a guilty surprise, though, knowing that even distracted by his thoughts, he knew where he was going. His leaden feet continue on, depositing him on a rickety stool at the bar, where he is immediately tended to. A lot of blank staring and painful winces later, there is the start of a long line of empty glasses in front of Shane.

JENNA: * Jo doesn't sleep particularly well, tossing and turning not so much out of discomfort as mental restlessness. The old man falls asleep before too late, judging from the snores issuing from his nearby room, and the thief girl finds herself increasingly sitting up and staring out the window at the street below between attempts at taking a nap. She traces the contours of the nearby buildings, washed with moonlight, and smiles wanly, recalling where she slept the last time she was here.

JUSTIN: * Before he can get to the point of killing himself from alcohol poisoning, Shane is ushered out onto the street by the bartender, with a rather pointed suggestion to go home and leave some booze for the rest of the neighborhood. Left to his own devices, Shane makes a limping, staggering zig-zag path down the street in no distinctive direction. He isn't sure exactly what home is at the moment, but determines that he'll figure it out eventually.

JENNA: * Jo has given up on sleep at the moment, kneeling on the cot and leaning her elbows on the windowsill as she stares boredly into the street. After several minutes, she unlatches it and pushes it open to let in the slightly chilly air. She sits that way for a while, watching the shadows change as the moon moves across the sky, then blinks, noticing a movement quite unlike the gradual shifting of the buildings. Peering, she identifies it as human -- and staggering -- then sits bolt upright with a startled curse. Swearing again, she levers herself out the window, slipping carefully down the overhang below to land noiselessly in the street.

JUSTIN: * Shane has a strangely content look on his face, despite the fact that his gut feels like there's a school of fish and a flock of birds having a cage match fight in his stomach. To his eyes, he is trying to follow a very winding, shifting road -- to everyone else, it looks like he's zig-zagging and turning in pointless circles. He does make slow progress down the street, however, at the moment oblivious to the woman coming out of the window.

JENNA: * Jo gives a tight sigh, confirming that it is, in fact, Shane staggering out there drunk -- even worse than the first time, from the look of it. Weariness on her face, she ambles out of the shadows, hands on hips. "I thought I told you ..." she says wearily, ambling over to catch him before he takes a fall. "To do yourself a favor -- and not get yourself drunk off your ass."

JUSTIN: * Shane looks up at the approaching woman -- trying to keep her in his swimming vision with unnecessary squinting -- and yelps in surprise when she attempts to reach out for him. "Whatter you doing?!" He exclaims, sounding surprisingly clear for being drunk -- but still slurring ridiculously.

JENNA: "Taking you home," Jo answers, making an attempt to steer him in the correct direction and glancing back over her shoulder at the open window she's left behind. She grimaces at the strong smell of alcohol when he sways near her for a moment. "Come on."

JUSTIN: * Shane struggles, but he's far too weak from the alcohol to put up a fight, and he has to keep walking or risk falling on his face. "Leggo of me, I don't know you! You... you hussy! You won't take advan'age of me!" He has to stop to catch his breath after all that, nearly falling agains Jo.

JENNA: * Jo masters a reflexive desire to smack him upside the head, realizing at the last moment he's so far gone he doesn't know who she is. "I'm just going to get you back to your house," she says, attempting to keep her voice reasonable as she supports him, guiding him in the direction of his house.

JUSTIN: "Whadda you mean, how you know where my house is?" Shane attempts, again, to stumble out of her clutches, but only succeeds in looking like an idiot in the process. He gasps suddenly, looking at her with wide eyes. "Are you sumkinna stalker?!"

JENNA: * Jo is torn between glaring and laughing, despite the fact that neither is likely to help her case. "J-jo told me where you live," she manages, choking on a strangled laugh. "She -- thought you might need help getting home." Bringing herself into the conversation seems unlikely to help matters either, but it's the only card she can think to play.

JUSTIN: * Shane's brow furrows as he thinks on this -- or whatever the equivalent that his mind can pull off in its current state. "Mmmmm..." He stops struggling, though with the way he's walking it is hard to tell. "Jo'sh a good girl, always lookin' out for me like that." Then he stares at her questioningly. "Why shhhe didn't come herself? I don't like you, I want Jo."

JENNA: * Jo stumbles, startled at this pronouncement, but she chases away the heat that rises into her face with a hard-edged scowl. "Oh, you mean the same Jo you said you wished you'd never met?" she asks him mildly, pulling him none-too-gently through the street.

JUSTIN: * Shane has a bit of trouble keeping up with Jo's pace, and it is causing his already jumbled mind some trouble. "I would /never/ say that!" He begins, looking wholly insulted. His expression quickly turns casual again, however. "Yeah, that'sh the one -- it was all a misunner... understanment. Standin'. She's my girl, you know -- so don' get any ideas."

JENNA: "Misunderstanding, was it?" she growls at him, color rising again at the last half of his statement. "I thought you were pretty clear, myself." She doesn't slow, in spite of his troubles, feeling not at all charitable, despite his conflicting chatter.

JUSTIN: "Whaddoo you know, anyway, you weren' there." Shane gives her a dirty look, his urge to break away from her rising again. "Jo would unnerstan'... she always forgives me." He sniffs, giving her a haughty stare. "I bet you isn't even have the woman she is. /And/ you're ugly... nobody'sh prettier than my Jo." He beams, staring off into his imagination, apparently.

JENNA: * Jo stops in midstep, unable to control her burning face, and wonders if she's going to go insane before she manages to get him back to his house. "You think she's going to forgive you just like that?" she snaps, at least managing to keep her voice clear, despite her own misgivings about arguing with a drunk. "I don't know if even she can manage that."

JUSTIN: * Shane's face contorts with obvious dismay, and he makes a rasping sound of woeful worry. "No, no, don't say that! -- it'll be okay, it'll be okay..." He tries to pull away from her, then, tripping over the cobblestones and continuing to whine that it'll be okay as he stumbles onto his knees.

JENNA: * Jo looks momentarily ashamed of herself, kneeling to help him back to his feet and deciding not to bait him further on the subject of her anger and forgiveness. "Come on," she says faintly. "Let's just get you home. It --" She grits her teeth a little bit, expression becoming weary. "It'll be all right."

JUSTIN: * Whatever she just said, Shane unfortunately didn't hear a word of it. He's stricken with a sudden, surging discomfort in his stomach, and in mere seconds that discomfort it rushing up his throat and exploding all over the stone street. He hacks and coughs, and throws up again, falling over backward despite Jo's help. He lies there for a moment, the strong smell of stomach acid and alcohol staining his shirt, and lets out a few whining cries from his burning throat. "I broke my stomach..." He sobs -- a ridiculous statement, but at this point he believes it, and on top of everything else boiling in his brain, it makes him feel particularly sad.

JENNA: * Jo jerks backward in surprise, almost panicking before she realizes he's only continuing the natural process of being that drunk, then she grimaces, kneeling to help him upright again. "Anything else need to come up?" she asks him wearily, ignoring the smell and sighing, hoping she can get him home before he does that again. "It's better than keeping it in," she adds after a moment.

JUSTIN: * Shane shakes his head blearily, though in honesty he'd have no real idea. He fumbles against the stone, trying to get up with about the success of an overturned tortoise. "I want... to go home now..." He admits, and apparently he no longer cares if she's the one to help him instead of the Jo he thinks she's not.

JENNA: "That's what I'm working on," Jo mutters, hauling the man, admittedly much larger than her, to his feet. She pulls one of his arms across her shoulders, working one of hers around his waist. "We'll get you cleaned up," she says, feeling tired herself from the labor she's done already.

JUSTIN: * Shane is relatively quiet for the rest of the trip, mostly because he still feels like throwing up again, and it is hogging all of his concentration. Once they've gotten to the house, however, he looks suddenly relieved and excited, attempting to pull Jo along at a faster pace.

JENNA: "Easy!" Jo snaps, startled out of a sort of weary reverie. "You want to throw up all over again?" She matches his pace, however, pushing the door open and attempting to tug him down the hall to the bathroom. "First things first," she says, half to herself.

JUSTIN: * Once inside his own house, Shane seems to think he is magically able to walk on his own, and he tries to shrug off Jo's assistance. "I can do it!" He argues, shortly before walking into the corner of the wall that turns into the hallway, and he spins a bit as he stumbles toward the bathroom.

JENNA: * Jo follows him, looking cross, hoping silently that he makes it to the basin before his stomach heaves again -- she doesn't particularly want to clean up the mess. She doesn't bother saying anything, instead taking hold of his arm to help him steer his way up the hall.

JUSTIN: * The rest of the trip to the bathroom is without another incident, as Shane forgets his earlier attempt at independance and lets her guide him along. Once inside the bathroom, he doesn't know what to do personally, and he turns to look at her warily. "Whats we doin' here?"

JENNA: "Cleaning up," Jo replies, then looks at him sternly. "You're /sure/ nothing else has to come up?" she demands, turning to get a cloth and run some warm water. If he throws up again, after all, she'll have to do this all over.

JUSTIN: * Shane makes a grumpy face, crossing his arms over his chest -- more or less -- and falling into a seated position on the edge of the bathtub. "Nothing to come up." After all, he hasn't even had anything to eat all day, and only so much drink could fit in his stomach. "Shhoo, I hafto clean." He makes to wave her away, but slips and falls into the tub.

JENNA: "You'll drown yourself," Jo points out, reaching in to haul him upright and promptly going after his face with the cloth -- admittedly as carefully as she can. "Just hold still, will you?" Part of her mind, somewhere toward the back of her skull is demanding in screaming tones why she is making all this effort, but she continues anyway, looking nearly as grouchy as Shane.

JUSTIN: * Shane lets out a squawk, craning his head away from the cloth a bit. "W-wait! Wait." He sounds like he's catching his breath, for whatever reason, and then he slumps down to the floor where he is more comfortable. "You're awful touchy-feelly for a stranger..." He looks at her accusingly. "I don't think Jo would approve..."

JENNA: * Jo gives him a pointed look, wetting the cloth again. "Jo sent me out here to clean you up, so you'd better just sit still about it, or she'll be pissed when she finds out." She pauses, glancing at his filthy shirt with a pained expression. "Off with it," she says, deciding she might as well do it now, and reaches over to help him remove the soiled article of clothing.

JUSTIN: * Shane wiggles and squirms, whimpering as if she were coming at him with knives. The only thing that keeps him from outright fending her off is the threat of pissing off Jo, and so he resigns himself to the indignity. As he half-heartedly assists with the removal of his shirt, his face takes on a forlorn expression -- as though having this 'stranger' undress him is some sort of cruel torture. He finds himself wishing Jo were here to save him again.

JENNA: * Faintly annoyed by this attitude, Jo attacks him mercilessly with the damp cloth once his shirt is removed. She doesn't let up until she's satisfied she's gotten as much of the muck off of him as possible. Then she sits back, looking tired, and decides he'll just have to live with his trousers. "Come on," she says, getting to her feet and making to help him up.

JUSTIN: * Shane reacts in the expected manner, whining and squawking as he is violated by her roaming hands and damp cloth. By the time she's done, he looks like he's about to pass out, as though he'd just fought off a dozen bandits and barely lived to tell the tale. He scrambles to his feet, wobbling for a moment, and tries to head immediately for his bed where he can feel safe.

JENNA: * Jo catches hold of him before he gets far, sighing and steering him back up the hall to his room. She herself feels like an abused babysitter with a fractious child, though she's mostly relieved that her task is nearly done. "Want any water?" she asks as an afterthought.

JUSTIN: * Shane manages to pull away and fall onto his bed, the frame creaking in protest but holding faithfully. He heaves a large sigh of comfort and relief, rolling over onto his back to stare up at her. "No water... just sleep." His eyes half-close for emphasis, and he starts wiggling a foot in hopes that the attached boot will remove itself.

JENNA: * Jo sighs faintly, debating whether she wants to have the undressing argument with him again, then shrugs and seats herself on the edge of the bed, removing his boots for him as quickly as she can. She frowns silently as she does so, hoping sincerely he remembers this night about as well as he remembers the last one.

JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't put up a fight -- in fact, by the time she's finished, he's already zonked. One eye remains creepily half open, but his subdued breathing and lack of commentary seems evidence enough. His face is suitably contented, now that all that miserable stranger business is out of the way.

JENNA: * Jo is relieved, tossing his boots on the floor and getting to her feet. She pauses, then makes her way to the kitchen and draws him a glass of water, which she takes back to his room and sets nearby. Even if he didn't want it then, he might want it in the morning. Then, stretching wearily, she leaves the house, locking the door behind her and tracing her way back to the bookshop. It takes a good bit of effort, but she manages to scramble back up to the second floor window, crawling back inside to collapse on her borrowed cot and sleep.

JUSTIN: * The following morning goes by without heed, but come afternoon Shane begins to stir from his slumber. His senses comes to him with a peculiar, distinct stench, and he sits upright only to scowl and groan at a headache and the intensely bright light. Fighting to keep upright and steady, he looks down at himself to notice the odd splotches of color on his trousers -- apparently the source of the smell. He scoffs, clambers off his bed in defiance of his pounding head and aching gut, and struggles out of his pants.

JENNA: * Jo wakes late to the sound of the shopkeeper doing business below. He's left some bread and cheese nearby for her to eat, and she does so gratefully, grimacing and lying back down after she's finished to debate whether to grab a couple more hours of sleep. Eventually she decides against it, heading downstairs and waving a polite farewell to the bookseller before slipping out into town in search of supplies.

JUSTIN: * Shane gets a long, hot bath out of the way, devoting a good moment to wonder at the stained shirt on the floor. He ponders if maybe he got sick in the middle of the night, but doesn't recall it, but it is soon behind him as he gets cleaned up and dresses. His stomach is downright killing him, like he hasn't eaten in days, but by now he isn't inclined to trust anything in his house. Grabbing his hat and the cloak he managed to inherit on the way to Morroc, he suits up and heads out the door in search of a late breakfast.

JENNA: * Jo's travels take her past a blacksmith and a tailor, the first to replace her now-single dagger with a new pair, as well as a bundle of slim throwing knives, and the second to repair or replace some of her travel-worn clothing. She decides that foodstuffs can wait until closer to departure time, and leaves the others with her orders before ambling back the way she came.

JUSTIN: * Shane fishes around in his belt pouch and pulls out a small wad of crinkled bills, furrowing his brow as he counts what he has. He was sure he'd been given more money from Graham, but maybe he already gave some to Jo and forgot about it. He shrugs, still having enough to pay for a meal. He enters a small inn that he's eaten at at least a dozen times before, ordering the biggest meal he can afford, and sits down to eat and think none too optimistically about his future.

JENNA: * Jo spends the next several days tending to business, preparing herself and her belongings for a long life on the road. Her clothing and weapons come in surprisingly quick, leaving her only to patch the tent during the evenings while she chats with the bookseller. She's relatively content this way, banishing thoughts of her companion as she goes, particularly since she's not sure he'll be her companion anymore. She meets with her employer once or twice as well, assuring him that she's up to the task even if her partner chooses not to show.

JUSTIN: * Shane's week is depressingly uneventful, and he spends it mostly in solitude. He cleans his house, disposes of old and useless food, even rearranges the living room (only to decide he misses the way it looked before, and changes it back). He also devotes some time to missing his the shiny emblem on his hat, and perhaps the most time -- and at first, denial -- missing Jo. It eventually comes to a point where he can no longer bear it, and he remembers her offer to join her on her job.

JENNA: * By the time the travel date hits, Jo's pretty well convinced herself that Shane isn't coming along, whatever his drunken ravings, though she still manages to buy twice as much as she'll need in emergency rations. When she realizes she's done so, she makes a small, discontented noise and packs it all away anyhow, deciding she'll make use of it one way or another. When the day itself arrives, she finds herself delaying her arrival at the platform, bidding the bookseller a long farewell before starting off.

JUSTIN: * The very same morning, Shane finds himself staring at the building that was once his house, face a solemn picture of mixed emotions. There is the great possibility that Jo has already departed, or that she's changed her mind. He couldn't blame her in either case. But he's made sure there's no turning back now, and whatever he finds at the telepad, he is determined to leave Juno behind. He tightens his belt around his coat, taps his hat down on his head, and straps on a large pack filled with what little remains of his possessions. One last sigh, and he turns to leave, making his way to the telepad.