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Admittedly, he didn't stray from his part of headspace often. He was too well acquainted with the fluorescent lights and endless, meaningless paperwork, and all that usually served as enough of a distraction.
Sometimes, however, he craved something a little more interesting. He wasn't the only one there, after all. Even if Marc usually kept to himself both in and out of front, there were still more people to bother.
And that day's victim was already in a bad mood, before he had gotten to even do anything. He hadn't even gotten to be the culprit this time.
No. Instead it was a sort of metaphorical car.
"Stupid- damn thing!" Jake slammed his hand down on the fender, its headlights flickering for a moment. "I just can't get it to work. No matter what."
He flicked the straw back and forth on the cup.
"Do you think maybe the fact that this place is meant to be a manifestation of our brain might mean this is a sort of mental issue? Just a guess."
Without looking back up, he leaned to the side to dodge a cleaning cloth the other had thrown at him.
"Thanks for the help." Jake scoffed. "Sitting there watching me with your stupid protein shake has been such great assistance."
"It's boba tea, dumbass."
Jake made a mocking noise as he leaned forward again, looking inside the hood as if it would reveal the problem to him sooner or later. Steven personally guessed that the insides of the car probably looked unintelligible, knowing very well their mind wasn't great with details.
Still Jake fidgeted with the parts.
He took another sip of his drink. It tasted like the idea of tea. He lingered on it before speaking up.
"You wanna talk about it?"
A scoff.
"About what?"
"Whatever is bothering you so much it's fucking with your section of headspace."
From the little view he had of the other's face, he could see his eyebrows furrow. He flicked the straw once more.
Jake seemed to consider it for a single moment before leaning even more.
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Because-" He smacked the side of the vehicle again- "-it's stupid-" -once more- "-and I shouldn't be feeling it-" -and again- "-and I know that and it's pissing me off-"
He grabbed his hand before he could slam it down another time. Jake turned to look at him, seemingly surprised at the interruption.
"Well." He clicked his tongue. "Hitting this thing won't make that go away."
A roll of his eyes, then he pried his hand free.
"Mental stuff's your job."
"Yeah, asshole, why else do you think I'm asking?"
"Figured it would be out of concern for me."
The joke didn't land as well as intended, probably due to the bitterness still lingering on his tone. Steven chose not to comment on it.
The hood slammed shut, the two sharing the silence for a moment. The drink he was holding before was now gone; he resigned to fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt instead.
It seemed he had won their little competition, because Jake groaned out loud and took a few steps before collapsing into a newfound stool. He reached up and tugged off his hat, giving a clearer view of his expression, a rarity for him at any time.
And that expression was frustration.
He crossed the room that looked a lot bigger than it was and sat down next to him, choosing not to question the second stool that had materialised. Mind logic. Didn't matter. Jake stared at the ceiling a moment longer, the cap being flipped around in his hands.
"I miss Gena and Crawley."
It was blurted out so abruptly that for a moment Steven thought he might've imagined it.
After registering the sentence, he leaned forward with a raised eyebrow.
"You said it was stupid, you liar."
"It is." Jake groaned, covering his face with the hat completely. "It's been years and I should be over it and it's dumb and immature."
"You miss people who were incredibly important to you." He made a vague motion with his hand that he had no idea if the other could even see. "Shocker."
"Shut up."
"It's not stupid." He sighed.
Jake crossed his arms. His mood would've been harder to pin down with his face covered if they didn't share a body.
"it feels stupid."
He drummed his fingers on the arm rest- chair was no longer a stool, he supposed, whatever- mulling over what he could say. All the usual comforting methods did little to help them; he had figured that out the hard way through years of trial and error. The problem was, anyone in this body would rather die than ever admit their emotions, and even more to accept help for them.
"Hypocrite." Jake mumbled under his breath.
"I said anyone." He scoffed, reaching out to pluck off the other's cap, an act that was met with an offended yelp. "Look, we're grown ass men. We can admit things affect us sometimes, you know."
He pulled himself away as Jake leaned over the seat to grab his hat again. He held it just out of reach.
"Give it back, asshole."
"Tell me about your feelings and I will."
"Holy fuck, you suck."
Steven waved the cap lightly, gaining a death stare from the other.
"I miss our friends." Jake relented, although through gritted teeth. "I miss having a mostly peaceful life. I miss not being so numb to dying and I miss when our head was on straight. Happy?"
"When you say on straight...?"
"Not filled with dread all the time." A sigh.
"Ah."
Defeated, Jake sunk back to his seat. He watched him for a moment, silently noticing how he rubbed his hand against his coat, a grounding habit that had to do with the gloves as far as he was aware.
Apparently not silently enough, as Jake immediately stopped doing it.
"I know what you'll say." He spoke up again before Steven could say a word. "We were never straight in the head- neither of us would exist if we were. But at least we were happy. I miss being happy, I guess. That's the big thing."
Another bit of silence broken by a loud groan.
"You just made me vent. Asshole."
"I did." Steven hummed, getting up and roughly putting the hat back on him.
Jake swatted his hand away, but seemed satisfied to have it again.
He stepped in front of the car, staring at the hood. He had no idea how to fix cars, yet he found himself tapping his knuckles against it, as if the sound would tell him anything.
"Guess we'll just have to do it again, then." It wasn't directed at the vehicle, even though he had not taken his eyes off it. "Make new friends. New happy memories. It sucks that we have to start all over, but we have the chance to. I don't see why we shouldn't take it."
Jake shifted behind him. He more felt than heard him approach, no real floor for his shoes to hit against, yet still present in that weird, comfortable way.
"Think that's still in the cards?"
"Course it is." He turned to look at him. "We're Moon Knight. We can do anything."
Although the joke was lame, it landed a laugh, and got him to smile slightly as well. The other leaned on the hood, breathing out as if the action alone had exhausted him.
This time the shared silence was a bit more tolerable. He'd call it enjoyable if the conversation had been lighter.
Jake blinked slowly, then raised his hand and slammed it against the hood. In another feat of weird mind logic, the engine roared to life, and Steven backed away at the annoying sound.
"You're welcome." He turned his back on the spectacle, satisfied with his visit.
It took until he reached the door- again too close and too far at the same time- to hear Jake quietly piping up.
"Thank you."
He couldn't help but grin. He wanted it to be smug, but he had to admit these conversations were endearing sometimes.
"What was that-?"
Damnit.
"Nothing." He hurried to add. "Go fuck yourself."
He could tell Jake was the one grinning now as he slammed the door behind him.
Asshole. This was why he stuck to his part of headspace.