Okay guys, So I put the down payment on the Colt Anaconda...and immediately saw another gun I wanted to get for the collection which was a Chinese made Tokarev.
Remember Folks, Communism is bad, but their guns are pretty cool.
Don't believe that? Just remember Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov liked each others designs.
Oh also I was trying to post this chapter sooner because I want to remind all of you that one year ago today...
'We the jury find the defendant Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty.'
Hell Yeah
Jem
Jem had returned to Remnant after recuperating from the loss of Zeus. He was ready to tackle the campaign trail again. Robyn and Jacque had used his time off wisely. While they didn't know the reason why he was out of the spotlight for two days, they found that the less attention Jem got from the media the better. It gave them more time to advertise themselves as politicians.
Jacques was surprisingly picking up steam. It didn't surprise Jem too much. He had seen much worse candidates for office back home. Hell recently a dead guy was voted back into office back home. (1)
However, that was besides the point. Right now he was out for a jog on the streets of Mantle. He kept getting waves thrown his way from citizens who appreciated what he had done for them as a normal civilian. He had to admit, it felt really good. How could anyone voted to office want to screw these kind of people over when they could do something to help them out? This feeling he was getting just from helping them as a civilian was honestly amazing.
He started to slow down as his watch beeped letting him know that he had reached the end of his five mile run for the morning. Steam was coming off of his head in the brisk air as he took his headphones off. He sat down on a bench next to some lady wearing a cloak as he looked out at the early morning sunrise.
"Beautiful isn't it?" He said as the woman in the cloak didn't say much.
"Its one of those things that make you realize that hundreds of years ago, there was someone looking at the same exact sun you're looking at right now, thinking it was their god. Because the beauty of it all was just beyond comprehension to them. And now here you are, admiring the sunrise but for a completely different reason." He said as he was in the mood to talk to someone.
The lady remained quiet but you could see she tilted her head up to look at the sunrise.
"I've...never really taken the time to watch." She said as Jem heard she had a very soft voice.
"Oh? But you're up pretty early aren't you?"
"I...I just had a long night." She said as Jem noticed a smell in the air.
Alcohol.
"Ah, rough night?" He asked as she remained silent, but she nodded.
"Been going through some stuff lately?" He asked as she let out an almost depressed laugh.
"Thats the understatement of the century." She said as Jem had been in this situation before.
"You know, at one point I was going through a really bad time in my life, lost my sense of purpose, started drinking heavily because I figured it would help. Sadly it never does. Just ended up owing a lot of money and feeling even worse about life." He said as the lady remained silent.
"But what you see right over there?" He phrased it as a question as the woman's attention was brought back to the sun peaking out from the horizon.
"Its appreciating little stuff like that that makes you realize there are more things to life then what you're going through at this point of time." He said as he stretched his legs out a little more.
The woman seemed to consider what he was saying. But he could tell she wasn't fully convinced by him.
"I'm not saying that this one little thing is going to erase all the bad thats been going on in life, but think of it as the beginning to the rest of your life. Every morning the sun rises to a brand new day, and just like the sun, you have the power to rise to a brand new way of life. All you have to do is have the courage to go through with it." He said as the woman was silent.
"It's not that simple."
"Of course it is. Maybe not easy to do all at once. But there are a lot of things you could do in small increments that could help." He said as he held out his hand.
"How about this, how about I treat you to breakfast? Theres a Crepe Castle right down the street from here? Looks like you could use it." He said as he smiled a bit.
Not just because he was trying to do something nice for this lady, but also because Remnant had their own version of waffle house. Which based on how this lady smelled, she needed waffle house style food more than anything.
"I...I've never been to one of those." She said as Jem laughed.
"Trust me, its just something you have to experience at least once." He said as the woman thought it over.
"Alright, I'll go." She said as she stood up.
"But you know, it would be nice to know your name first." He said as she nodded and slowly took her hood off.
"Willow." She said as Jem's eyes went wide.
Because he realized this whole time he had been talking to Winter's mom.
"Huh, what are the odds?"
But this was a good thing. He hadn't gotten to meet Willow yet. Jacques...hadn't been happy when he found out Winter was dating the man he was running against. And even more pissed when he found out they had adopted a faunus daughter together. So Winter had not talked to her father ever since he found out. He had also made communicating with their mother nearly impossible. Jem was suddenly glad he ran into her. He knew enough about her that she had an issue with alcohol.
Seems like he met her at just the right time. But why was she in mantle?
"Well Willow, nice to meet you, I'm Jeremiah Cotton." He said as her eyes widened in recognition.
"Wait, you're the-" She went quiet.
"Yes, I'm the guy running against Jacques, but nows not the time to discuss that, come on, lets go get something to eat."
He could tell she was hesitant to go with him. He could see a flash of anger on her face almost. But it quickly went away.
Five minutes later, Crepe Castle
"Two sausage egg and cheese hashbrown bowls, and also an SunStar Special for her, and two black coffees." Jem said as he sat down in a booth with Willow.
She chose to keep her hood up since she didn't want anyone to recognize her down here. She had a feeling that the people down here would not be fond to see an Atlas high society type down here with them. Jem understood why she was doing it. He had sent a text to Winter.
"Winny, you are not going to believe what just happened." He texted her and she immediately responded.
"What did you do?" She assumed he got into some crazy situation again.
"Your mother is down here in Mantle!"
"What? Why? Where is she?" Winter couldn't believe it.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm literally sitting right across from her in a crepe castle right now." He said as he saw Winter's texting bubbles go silent for a bit.
"You...brought my mother to the remnant equivalent of a waffle house?" He couldn't tell if she was amused or annoyed.
"Look, she needs this right now, I'll explain more later." He said as he put his phone away.
Willow had been awfully quiet so far. After all it wasn't everyday that you meet your daughters boyfriend at random.
He had a feeling she wouldn't be as accepting as he hoped.
"Heres your food Sir." The Waittress said as she set the food down and Willow looked at it.
"Thank you Maam." He said as he picked up a fork and looked over at Willow.
He could tell she was a little apprehensive. He didn't blame her. Crepe Castle was a lot like waffle house in a lot of ways. Its why he loved it so much. And he could only imagine what was going through Willow's head when she saw that the melted cheese on the hashbrown bowl was literally just slices of cheese thrown onto the potatoes. It was the ultimate poor people food. And she was not used to it.
"I've...never seen something like this." She said as she picked up a fork.
"Amazing isn't it?" He asked as he was happily chowing down.
"I'm not sure I would say that." She said as she took a bite.
"Say what you want, this is perfect for sobering up especially after a long night." He said as she went silent as she took a bite.
"Its...very salty." She never had this much salt in food in her life.
"And delicious." He said as she begrudingly admitted it.
As sad as it was, the artery clogging food was pretty tasty. But she just felt so out of place as she sat there eating it. She felt even more out of place when she realized she wasn't in the Schnee Manor and she hadn't had a drink ever since the bars closed. She wasn't sure if she liked that feeling or not. But she continued to eat her food in relative silence and acceptance. As much as she hated to admit it. There was a strange sense of peace she got from eating the slop in front of her.
"Looks like you're warming up to it." He said as she took a sip of coffee.
"Its...strangely delicious...if a little dirty." She said referring to the floor being sticky.
"Thats the charm to the place." Jem was trying to think of things to say to her.
He was trying to make a good impression on Winter's mom. But he wasn't sure what she was like. Sure she made an appearance in the show. But he wasn't exactly sure about her personality. He knew she could be as paranoid as he was with how many security cameras she had set up. But she did obviously care about her children even with the excessive drinking and depression. But he was certain they could fix that if they just got her away from Jacques. Speaking of which.
"Look, Willow..." She cut him off.
"Miss Schnee. I'm sorry but we're not that friendly." She said sharply.
Ah, there it was.
Jem had a feeling it would be like that. Even though he had called her Willow earlier. She was probably a little weary of him due to the fact he was dating her daughter. So the mama bear senses were kicking in. He couldn't tell if he was worried or glad. Either way, at least it was progress.
"Sorry, Miss Schnee, its just that what were you doing outside of your home?" He asked as she went silent.
She was probably debating if she was going to talk to him or tell him to fuck off. Only she could make that choice.
"Life has been a bit more unbearable lately at that house." Jem noticed she didn't call it home.
"Ever since my daughter called back and told us she was seeing someone, and that someone turned out to be YOU." Willow looked a little mad at him.
Ah, thats why she was angry.
"Jacques has been even more of a pain to live with." Oh, that did not go well with Jem.
He liked pissing off Jacques, but he never stopped to consider what it could be doing to Willow. No wonder she had been mad at him once she found out his name. She might have blamed him for why Jacques was being an even bigger dick lately.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but what were you doing out in Mantle? Why not Atlas?" He asked as he was hoping she would be willing to talk to him.
"I needed to get as far away from him as possible, so I took a ship down here. I was...exploring the sights." She said as Jem knew what that was code for.
She had been bar hopping. No wonder she smelled like booze.
"Ever since you came to town I haven't been able to talk to either of my daughters." Willow said as Jem stayed silent.
He thought about defending himself. But he decided to just let her talk.
"My scroll is useless, Jacques controls the signal coming in and out of that house. Ever since he started running against you I haven't had a minutes peace!" She raised her voice a bit, but not enough to catch the attention of the rest of the restaurant.
Her hands shook a bit. Jem recognized the trembling. It was usually a sign of panic from people in abusive relationships. He didn't know enough about that house. But considering in the show when Jacques admitted he only married Willow for her money and name recognition, it drove her to alcoholism, it wouldn't surprise him if it had also made her more prone to panic attacks.
"Do you know what its like to be trapped in your own house not being able to talk to your own children?!" She almost hissed as Jem remained silent.
"No...No I don't..." He said as he felt like a dickhead.
Here he was trying to make Mantle a better place. But he never once thought about getting Willow out of that house. He couldn't imagine what she was doing through being stuck with Jacques.
"I can't stand it there, I hate it." She said as Jem remained silent.
...
...
"What if you didn't have to stay?" He asked as she stopped for a second.
"Excuse me?" She asked as Jem tried to get a word in.
"Look, I'm sure Winter wouldn't mind having you around, and Nala would be excited at having a grandmother." He said as suddenly her eyes changed.
"Grandmother?" She asked almost confused.
"You didn't know? Winter and I, we have an adopted daughter." He said as Willow seemed to be calm at that.
"And I certainly wouldn't mind having you around." Jem said trying to be nice. After all this woman could be his future mother in law.
"Why? You don't know me." She asked as Jem realized he had to think of something fast.
It was true. He didn't know her, he only knew her from the show. But he did know that she cared about her children, even if her mental health wasn't up to par. Maybe a little kindness could help her out.
"Look, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry, I didn't realize what I was doing was causing you...issues to put it lightly." Jem honestly didn't know how to talk to her without looking like an ass.
"Look, I'm heading back to the house after this. You're welcome to join me, and I'm sure Winter would love to see you." He said as she went silent again.
He could see that she was thinking it over.
"No, I can't do that, I have to get back." He could see the panic in her eyes as she thought about what would happen if Jacques realized she was gone.
"Miss Schnee, look at me." He said looking her in the eyes.
"Do you WANT to go back to that house?" He asked her.
"I have to go back to that house."
"I'm not asking if you HAVE to go back. I'm asking if you WANT to go back?" He asked her again.
"I...I...I have to go back." She said not understanding where he was going with this.
"Do YOU WANT to go back?" He asked again emphasizing the 'want'.
"...No..." She admitted as Jem nodded.
"Just come back with me. Winter would love to see you." He said as she thought it over.
"I want to leave." She said as she stood up and walked outside.
Jem sighed and he paid for the food.
But what he wasn't expecting was when she was waiting outside for him.
"This doesn't mean anything, you're still a stranger to me." Willow said as Jem nodded.
"Of course." As much as he was hoping Willow would like him right away. He figured it wouldn't be so easy. (2)
But it was a start.
(1) Tony Deluca, Now they say that he died too late for them to change the ballots, but honestly that whole situation is just ridiculous
(2) So I don't remember if I had introduced Willow into the story yet or not. But I wanted to go a different route this time. The last story I had she got along with Jem relatively well right off the bat. But that was also a crack/parody story. This time I wanted to do something different.
And this I figured makes a lot more sense considering Willow's panic attacks in the show. It would make sense if she would see Jem as a source of them because Jacques hates Jem. Hate makes him angry and I have no doubt he would take it out on Willow. Maybe not physically but emotionally for sure.
This way I figured it also shows that not eveyrone in the show is going to like Jem right away.
Obviously the happy hunttresses can't stand him except for Fiona. Willow isn't very welcoming at first. It just makes sense to me.