If you had told the Jude of six months ago that he'd have been spending his evenings straining Paragon's Blood, he'd have said you were insane. There was just no way. Absolutely not going to happen.
And yet there he was, getting home just before midnight, having spent the better part of two hours straining his blood with a ridiculous machine.
He'd already told Officer Genovese what was going on (although he might have left a few details out) so that he didn't wake up, but when he crept in the front door he was really hoping no one else was up.
Except Jude was sorely disappointed. Rory was up, sitting at the table nearest the doorway and reading a history book. She looked up and closed it after dogearing the page when Jude came in.
"Oh, you're finally back." She yawned, hiding her face in the crook of her arm as she did so.
So much for that. Rory was still up, and Jude kicked his shoes off, locking the door behind him as he did. Everyone else had a key, so it wasn't like he had to leave the door open for them.
Plus, you know, everyone else was probably already back and in bed.
Waiting up for him. It felt so... domestic, and Jude dropped his bag on the little rack near the front door as he came inside, stretching with a grimace.
"I"m still sore from yesterday. Officer Genovese is a slavedriver when it comes to working out."
"Hey, maybe I should ask him for some tips then. I'd love to feel sore again." She grimaced, then laughed at how that had come out.
Throwing a thumb over her shoulder toward the hallway, she said, "yeah. Roa is yelling at his homework as usual. Beyond that, everything is pretty quiet. How did the Broen stuff go tonight? He's in less pain, I hope?"
"He's better," Jude said, deciding to get a glass of water before heading to bed. "Or he says he's better. He seems to be taking fewer pills, but if his powers are coming back, he hasn't said anything. Honestly? I kind of wonder if he's nervous about trying it. Because if this doesn't help, it might mean it's just the one in his brain blocking it, and..."
Well, how could you even get that out?
"But I don't know. He does seem better, so at least he's in less pain. We're going to do another one on Friday, and then give it a week before doing it again. It's definitely got diminishing returns."
Rory turned in her seat to watch Jude go into the kitchen and get himself a drink. "If it's the one in his head... well we can find a way." And Rory sounded entirely confident in their ability to do so.
Jude wasn't nearly so sure. Not even close, and it probably showed on his face as he got himself a glass, leaning up against the counter and staring into space for a few minutes.
"He wouldn't like to wait," he finally said, cracking a grin.
No, no he wouldn't.
"Is it weird it bothers me when people do the whole he's just doing it for a reaction thing?"
Rory shrugged. "Honestly, people just don't understand. You can't expect them. When they think of superheroes they think of all this media shit. But our world wasn't like that."
She paused to debate whether she wanted to say what she had on mind. "Broen is... angry. He's not completely right when he says he doesn't care. He does care. Not about people and their opinions, no. He cares about the Gallant stuff. Hell, he could probably care about people, if he let himself, but he's not going to if he keeps going down the road he's going down."
Except Jude was sorely disappointed. Rory was up, sitting at the table nearest the doorway and reading a history book. She looked up and closed it after dogearing the page when Jude came in.