Room 313, Monday after classes

[solo_sword]

The door to Jaina's room was cracked open, so anyone who peeked inside wouldn't be able to see her occasionally poking at her ribs experimentally like it would hurt less since the last time she did it. Or maybe she was building up a tolerance. Times like this she missed bacta and bone knitters, though to her credit, this was healing up much better than she'd been able to manage in the past. And she didn't even really mind needing to spend time in a healing trance when it meant she didn't have to put up with the dreams she had the night before. She was all about the avoidance.

For now, though, when she was conscious and had a say in what she didn't think about, she was choosing to read her copy of the Art of War- like anyone would be surprised- with the occasional very very quiet "Ow".

[Open!]

Comments

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John stopped by after class and hooked his fingers on top of the doorframe. "Don't tell me you're reading?"

[solo_sword]

"Did you think I didn't know how?" she asked, looking up at him.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No, I just don't think I've ever seen you engage in that particular activity before," John teased releasing his hold and wandering into the room.

[solo_sword]

She held the book so he could see the title. "I'm sure you're shocked."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Well, now it all makes sense," John replied.

[solo_sword]

"I'm taking a class in it, figured I might as well read the full source material," she said, putting the book down and sitting up, still a little stiffly. "What's up?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Nothing," John shrugged, finding a place to sit on the bed. "Thought I'd come bug you, see how you're feeling, that sort of thing."

[solo_sword]

"About as good as new," she told him. Almost. "I was in the gym yesterday and everything."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Good to hear," he replied. "I'm surprised it didn't take longer."

[solo_sword]

"It's supposed to take six weeks to heal. If I can cut it down to two and a half weeks or so, I'll take it," she said. She just had to work up to it. And really, most of the tenderness in her ribs at the moment probably came from poking herself in them.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Do I dare ask how everything else is going?" John wondered, figuring the whole brother beating her to a pulp had only worsened her sleeping troubles that he had been attempting to ignore for the most part.

[solo_sword]

"Depends what you mean by 'everything else'," she replied.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

The last thing he was looking for was confrontation here. "Define it as you will."

[solo_sword]

'Everything else' was a very large subject for her. "About as fine as it's gonna be," Jaina answered.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

She was worse than he was about avoiding talking about stuff that probably needed some talking about. "So you've been sleeping better?"

[solo_sword]

Jaina hadn't realized he'd noticed. "I've had trouble sleeping?"

So much worse than he was, yes.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Ever since you got back," he said. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

[solo_sword]

There was a short silence, and then she admitted, "Kind of." It wasn't like she woke up screaming or anything, she didn't realize it was anything that could be noticed. "It's not a big deal."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"It wasn't a big deal," John corrected. "But it's been a couple of months and it hasn't exactly stopped." He could understand the reasons for the nightmares were different, but that didn't make it more okay.

[solo_sword]

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Jaina wondered. "It's not like I can exactly help it."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, I just figured maybe I should mention that I know and that you don't have to pretend with me," he shrugged. "Or not."

[solo_sword]

"I'm not pretending. I've been more open with you than anyone," she pointed out.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Well, I appreciate that," even if he wasn't really aware of it.

[solo_sword]

"And if I have bad dreams, I wouldn't think it'd be a big shock," she conceded.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"It's not, but it can't be good to have had them for months."