Something about the Beatles

The process of getting his arm installed had turned out to have been significantly more painful and exhausting then he'd hoped. It had taken several days to reconnect all the nerves, and by the time it came time to just snap the arm into place... well, Jude was pretty much done. He was still supposed to be going in for tweaks, but he'd all but begged Armorer for a day off. He needed it. He needed a day where he wasn't having his arm picked apart.

But it was there. And it was functional. And when he stepped into the cafe and spotted Alma, he made a point of waving with it, even if the motion was weird and jerky.

Still learning, in other words.

But the sight of her--and the bracelet on her wrist--was enough to bring a smile to his face.

"What've I missed?"

His arm was very obviously not working quite like an arm. The motions weren't fluid, first and foremost, but more obviously, his pinkie had no movement at all. No matter what he did with his left hand, the pinkie stayed exactly where it was--perfectly straight.

Jude flushed red when she mentioned his 'gift'. "I figured you'd google it at some point. Yes, it is, technically. Technically the evil eye wasn't even wishing evil on you... just impotence and infertility. But nowadays it's less of a sex thing, and so has that, so it's more like a historical phallic symbol."

That was his story and he was sticking too it.

"I still have another day of fixing the arm before I can really do much with it, but if I spent one more day in the workshop I was going to go crazy. We've still got some kinks to work out, obviously."

"Don't remind me," Jude said. "My dad isn't exactly the superstitious type, so it wasn't like we had a bunch lying around at home. I wanted something with symbolism, but... it's Italy. Land of the church. Everything had religious symbolism baked in, and I couldn't exactly give you a fancy crucifix."

That would have gone over well.

Jude went pink at the mention of back massagers. He knew Alma well enough not to doubt for even a moment if the innuendo had been implied. Of course it was. It was Alma.

"Just an arm to start," he said. "Having real-as-a-real-arm tactile feedback was priority number one, ahead of everything else. Once that's done we can start tweaking, but... I want to be able to touch things and feel them again. The feedback Giltenn gave wasn't the same. More like someone whispering in your ear."

He smiled despite himself at the mention of Iggy in the hospital, reading poetry.

"He's a romantic at heart," Jude said. "Gabe seems that way too. He's just taking some time to get used to things on the island."

Technically, the door was open for Gabe to date the same way Jude was dating, but... A part of him doubted that would be happening for a while. More than anything, it was simply because of how nervous Gabe was.

Jude's entire body seemed to twitch with surprise when she touched him, jumping like he'd been zapped with electricity. Almost immediately he flushed red with embarrassment, pulling his new arm closer to his body.

"Sorry," he mumbled, taking a moment to recover himself. "It's just sensitive. Armourer wanted me to start at like ten percent and increment up, but I wanted to start at a normal level and then just get used to it." Jumping into the deep end, effectively. It would be faster, even if it would probably be, overall, far more uncomfortable.

"Gabe's adjusting," he said with a shrug. "Outside of the stuff with Xavier, I would say he was doing great. This whole thing's been... a setback for him. From one thing to another, before anyone can even adjust properly."

He sighed, reaching up and dragging his fingers through his hair.

"Everything alright at school?"

"Angelo," Jude started, before pausing and clarifying, "other Angelo warned me about that. That I was probably used to a lot harsher sentencing, but that the island makes a lot of accomodations. He figured I'd see Xavier out within the month, but even that... I'm not sure if he was punished at all."

He scowled a bit at that, and then shook off the concern. He wasn't going to focus on him. He wasn't going to spend his energy on him.

"I will," Jude said, nodding to her. "He's part of the daisy chain, just like Iggy is for me." He liked that term. Daisy chain. It felt nice and normal and, in a strange way, content. Warm. Homey.

"With my arm mostly done, I can start looking into other stuff - moving out, for one. I like living with Officer Genovese, but honestly? I can't wait to just... have a home with my dad again."