Room 313, early Saturday morning

[solo_sword]

After being dropped off at the causeway, Jaina hadn't been entirely sure what to do with herself. Not wanting to go straight for the cabins just yet, she instead returned to her room at the dorms. Everything felt different here now. She knew the room, but it felt like someone else's, even if she recognized everything in it.

And against her better judgment, she focused on that one presence she knew to look for, touching lightly on him and sending along an image of where she was, assuming he would take that as a hint to find her. This wasn't a conversation for the cabins, with all their lack of privacy and walls.

In the meanwhile, if anyone asked, she was packing. What she was doing was sort of trading things out, replacing one move with another, and maybe surreptitiously packing some things away.

[For the boy, and SP is love because despite clicking on those Australia links sleep will be needed. *gets popcorn*]

Comments

[solo_sword]

Jaina shook her head. "Though I'm not exactly in the place to be giving conditions."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No doubts either?"

[solo_sword]

"Multiple," she replied. "None to do with you."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

He couldn't help wondering, "Should I be worried?"

[solo_sword]

Probably, but she had to clarify. "About?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Your multiple doubts."

[solo_sword]

"I don't know," she answered. "I kind of am stuck questioning everything now. But I don't know what that means yet."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Okay. Will you do me a favor and keep me in the loop?" Not that she was known for leaving him out, but he didn't know all of what had changed.

[solo_sword]

"As much as I can," she promised. "Kyp's under strict instructions to be feeding me every intelligence report he can get his hands on, and if he doesn't, plenty of people are going to find out you don't want to make a goddess wait."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

He shook his head slightly. "I meant with what's going on with you."

[solo_sword]

She sort of wished that could be all that was going on with her. "I have a feeling that'll be more complicated," she said, a touch wryly.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"When are we ever not complicated?" He tried to take some of the pressure off of her.

[solo_sword]

"When we're not," she said, trying for some levity. Barely.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Oh right, I forgot about then," he smirked.

[solo_sword]

She bumped his shoulder lightly. "There's a lot going on with me right now. I just don't know what all it is yet. And I'd rather do instead of think, so I don't even know how to go about figuring it out."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I'm always here for the doing," John told her. "...And I don't mean it like that!"

[solo_sword]

Jaina had to laugh. She couldn't help it. She'd really needed that, too.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Not that I'm against that, but you know what I'm trying to say here. I can do things." He couldn't seem to stop talking and digging his hole.

[solo_sword]

She turned to place her hand over his mouth and said, "I get it. And thank you."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John mumbled his appreciation through her hand.

[solo_sword]

Jaina removed her hand, feeling much better than she thought she had any right to. "I'll remember you're there to listen," she promised. "I'll even take you up on it."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No pressure," he told her.

[solo_sword]

She paused, and couldn't believe there was still so much she hadn't talked about. The thing that had helped mess with her at the end there, though, she thought she needed to. "Then I should explain something."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Okay," he didn't know why he felt worried.

[solo_sword]

"If I told you someone actually wanted me to be queen of sixty-something planets, what would you say?"