try to be speechless for a minute

Jacob kept his gaze on the skyline of the city, a smile placed easily on his lips. The cool water slightly stung his skin to numbness, but he somehow enjoyed the feeling. Of course he didn’t particularly know this girl next to him, yet he couldn’t quite ask for better company than her. Jacob was man to follow his gut, or at least know to trust it. She was different in the best kinds of ways. He could see it in her eyes. He could see it in her smile. He looked at her with a smile and said, “This place brings me back down to earth. It kind of just gives me a moment to breathe, you know?” He swayed his legs back and forth, looking down at the water that the moonlight reflected off of in ripples. With a sudden idea, he gave her a slightly mischievous smirk. “I dare you to go in.” 

Ada was in the middle of nodding in agreement with his words when his proposition caught her by surprise. Her attempts at words of protest ended up coming out like a small scoff, a laugh trailing after. If there was one thing Ada wasn't, it was an adventurer. Or, she didn't like to do things outside the realm of normalcy without someone to hold her hand and walk with her through whatever unknown she was sent towards. To begin with it was normally hard for a person to get her to go out and do something she wasn't used to doing, and someone had to prod and prod at her before she'd finally give in. She nibbled her bottom lip, and after a couple seconds of contemplation she held her hand out towards him. "Only if you'll go with me." 

It wasn’t even worth trying to pretend things would turn out to be better for him. It never would. He was a junkie, someone who didn’t have the option to turn things around. He’d dropped out of college, had thrown his life away, at the age of only twenty years. Twenty years of living a life on a cruel planet, in a cruel world like this and he was sick of it, didn’t want to bear it anymore. He had to close his eyes when she fixed it, reinserted the IV. He didn’t want to be helped, didn’t want to lay here. He wanted to go home, this old apartment that looked so run down. Wanted to take some rest on the dirty mattress on the ground. When she held the glass to his mouth, he opened his eyes again, despite the urge to keep them closed. He found the darkness to be comforting, not like the bright light of the sun that was reflecting in the mirrors of the buildings outside, the light that was floating into the room and would have given it a warmer atmosphere. But he felt cold, numb and vividly dead on the inside. His throat and mouth both felt like sandpaper, dry like the desert in the depths of africa. He didn’t want something to drink from her, not like this. She was treating him like a baby, which made him feel so pathetic, ridiculous and vulnerable. But the pain was too overwhelming, so he took a few sips of the cold water, enjoyed the way it helped to ease the pain a little bit. And he was mad at himself that he’d given in, accepted something that somebody else offered him. He never accepted offers, especially not from somebody in a hospital. “Why am I still alive?” The words didn’t sound thankful in any kind of way, his voice had something of a growl, although it wasn’t very prominent. But prominent enough to give away that he was angry, not happy about the situation. Not the broken bones but the beating heart inside his chest. 

His question somewhat caught Ada by surprise - but then again, what else could he have been asking? She'd had a few patients who were generally depressed or pissed off that they were suddenly in a hospital and had to pay a bill, but she'd never met anyone who was actually irritated to be alive upon waking up in a hospital bed. She felt her irritation starting to fade, and now she didn't even know how she felt. Sympathetic? Confused? Maybe a mingle of both and a few other emotions here and there. Not only that, but curiosity. She wanted to know why he was like this, what could have caused him to be acting like this or view being saved as a negative thing. Her eyebrows drew together as she rubbed her lips together. "The guy who hit you called the ambulance pretty quickly. You weren't in too bad shape so we just patched you up and now we're here. Recovery." She spoke gently and brought her eyes up to his, examining them as she talked. The way he asked the question sparked concern in her, and she paused before continuing, "Was getting hit by that car intended or an accident?" 

He laid still as he heard her comment. Asher was sure that she wasn’t any different from other people. He himself was someone who stopped caring about other people, along with himself. After all he’d done, after all he’d seen, he didn’t want to care anymore. A heartbroken and depressed man in his mid-twenties. That was what he was. Not more, not less. Why should he care? He wasn’t made to care about things. At least not anymore. Dropping out of college, shortly after his twenty-first birthday, being abandoned by his father for good only a few days after. Now living in an empty and run down building. The one thing that had once meant oh so much to him, photography, was now something he hadn’t spent one thought about in a long time. It had been years since the last time he’d even touched a camera. The need to was missing, not prominent anymore. Sometimes he was in doubt, thought that it had disappeared completely, that there was nothing left. He felt empty inside, his impassive and stoic expression mirroring what he felt like on the inside. There was only the bitterness, self-hatred and emptiness inside him. He once had a heart of gold beating inside his chest. But all these years had crucified it, turned it into a heart of stone that was hardly beating. Only enough to keep him alive. If he could have moved, he would have taken the chance, took advantage of her having left the room. He would have made his way out of this bed, trying to sneak out. So, he simply took the sleeve of the infusion and pulled it out. A short pain on the back of his hand and it was done. His torso and his leg, not to mention his head were aching, in a striking pain, whenever he moved. When she came back into the room, he had his head still turned away from her, cleared his throat before a weak and very hoarse voice that could be mistaken for his could be heard. “Why?” It was all he was able to say before his throat hurt too much, but it was a start.

Ada loved being in a hospital environment since she was younger. All the people being saved or helped was a comfort to her, but after the accident with her family it somewhat lost its charm. She remembered being in the hospital bed rather than scrubs, and being told that half of her family was dead. It was rough, and it made her think less about the pros of the hospital and more about the cons. The cons were all the people who died, all those who couldn't be saved. It wasn't until now that her drive to be a nurse started to come back, after helping to save a life or two. And just as things were beginning to get better a man like Asher came along, who didn't get too broken up and didn't seem to at all be appreciative of it. But she always hated when people were rude to her, since it had a habit of bringing on anxiety attacks. Just because the man started to get on her nerves didn't particularly justify the way she was acting, so she tried to push her harshness aside. She sighed at the sight of his IV being detached, walking around the bed and reinserting it. She held the cup up to his lips, waiting for him to open them and accept the drink. She bit her lip, her patience with him starting to be regained. She said gently, "Why what?" 

Jacob couldn’t help but smile. He looked at the woman and nodded, trying to make his grin smaller but couldn’t help that it was so big. Slowly, he made his way close back over to her booth, and shuffled his feet as he though, “Uhhm.. I think I get off in about thirty.. So whenever you finish your pancakes I can take you out… And you could continue to talk to me.” Jacob didn’t really have anyone, or anything, to be honest. This much attention was something he wasn’t exactly used to, but in a good way. He liked it. So the thought of being able to be around with this woman for longer was really making him excited. He just stood there, smiling at her.

Ada tapped her fingers on the table, nodding as a grin spread on her lips. "Alright, I look forward to it." She watched him as he went back to work, bringing her attention back to the pancakes in front of her. For the first time that day she found herself actually eating something, since she'd lost her appetite over the course of the day. She ate the pancakes and finished it surprisingly fast. When Jacob finally made a reappearance and seemed to be off his shift, she grinned at him. "Ready?" 

A smile began to spread on his lips at the mention of his car. It was one of the few objects he loved in life. “Since I was seventeen. My parents told me "Jacob. Go pick out a car- any car." And I chose this one. They were a bit surprised, considering it needed a bit of work done, but I fell in love with it.” He shrugged his shoulders then tapped his fingers along the steering wheel to a random beat. He looked over his shoulder to give her a smile, glad she had taken the risk of being whisked away in the middle of the night by a complete stranger. He couldn’t pass her up. He had to seize the moment. Jacob drove for a bit until he pulled up to a park that had a creak with a small platform deck leading out to it. Despite the obvious beauty from it all, there was also the perfect view of the city, glowing away despite all those who were asleep. “I come here a lot, once I’m done eating at the diner. I love the city, I really do. But I love to get a way from it once in a while and admire it from afar.” He sent her a smile, then hopped out of the car before running to her side to open her door. Taking a leap of faith, he took her hand, really just to guide her, though it still managed to make him blush a little. “Come on,” he spoke softly, leading her to the dock that wiggled slightly with their weight on it. He assured it was sturdy enough to hold them, then slid out of his shoes and rolled up his jeans. He took a seat, placing his legs into the cool water, hissing slightly at first but then growing used to it. His eyes darted up to hers, a smile growing on his lips before he patted the space next to him. “Care to join me?”

As she slipped her hand into his she couldn't help but grin, following his lead down the dock. As it creaked under her feet she pursed her lips to avoid squeaking out of nervousness. She watched him roll up his jeans and sit down, and smiled as she did the same. She sat down criss cross on the edge, slowly letting one of her feet down. She wiggled her toes in the water, laughing and shaking her head. "Holy shit, that's cold." She slowly put both of her feet into the water, and looked over at the city from afar. "It's beautiful out here. I feel like I've almost forgotten what it's like to be out of the city." 

He was surprised she agreed so quickly; he was sure it was a shot in the dark. A smile grew on his lips as he playfully narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Hm. I don’t know. I mean, you are a complete stranger. You could be agreeing so quickly because you plan on killing me some time tonight.” His features softened, almost shocked himself that this girl had him joking around. When was the last time he did that with another? Jacob piled in the last of his burger, then pushed his plate towards the waitress. “Gloria, I’m leaving you early tonight. Looks like there’s another woman in my life. Don’t worry, don’t worry,” he started, then leaned forward before he whispered loudly, “you’re still my number one.” Gloria simply shook her head with a smile, taking his plate before walking off. He spun around on the stool to face Ada, then hopped off. Nodding his head towards the exit while placing his hands in his pockets, he said, “Let’s get out of here.” The two exited the halfway busy airport, and was greeted by the cool night. Jacob turned towards Ada as he walked towards his 1979 chevelle malibu and asked, “Mind if I drive?” 

"I think I should be the one who's more concerned, I'm going into your car and going to God-knows-where." Ada grinned and nodded when he asked if it was alright to take his car, the two of them hopping in. Honestly, she really should be worried - she'd only met this Jacob less than an hour ago, and she was already getting in his car and going to an unknown destination with him. He was different, though. That she knew for sure. She smiled in admiration at the car, as he started to drive, turning towards him. "I haven't seen a car like this in while. How long have you had it?"