Room 313, Thusday evening

[solo_sword]

Jaina was liking June less and less the longer it went on, because that meant it was ending soon. And whenever there was something she didn't want to deal with, she simply didn't, and buried herself in work instead.

There was less work at the moment than there was going through messages, though. It might ctually be time for a visit soon. By the time she got to the one from her parents, she realized she was missing certain people too much not to.


[*CLINGS TO GAME* I am back! Door is cracked open, post is open, and SP warning as I finish up work.]

Comments

[solo_sword]

"You shouldn't have been put in the middle like that," she said.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't in the middle," he said. "It's not like you two are on different sides."

[solo_sword]

Today it sort of felt like they were, at least on this issue. "I know. I mean... You shouldn't have had to hear that on your own, and I don't want it to be the thing that drives you away."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John frowned down at her. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

[solo_sword]

"You did leave," she pointed out. She wasn't judging, but she wasn't sure where his head was at now that she knew this much.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I didn't leave," he corrected. "I took an opportunity to get out of town for a few days. Leaving would entail never coming back and again, I'm right here."

[solo_sword]

"Semantics," Jaina shrugged. "I just want to now where you are with all this." At the beginning she'd had a very real worry that her life and family would drive him off, but this was bigger. This was about her, and something that hadn't even happened, and may or may not happen at all.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"It's not semantics," John said, a little annoyed. "Where am I with all this? I can't believe you're asking that."

[solo_sword]

She wanted to hear that he was willing to deal with her being a possible future brother-killer, but those words really weren't coming to her and she wasn't so desperate as to say it anyway. "Forget it," she said, shaking her head.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No. Am I pissed at you for having a possibly gruesome future? No. Am I going to dump you over it? No. You know this already." Or at least he felt she should.

[solo_sword]

"That's a big thing," Jaina said simply. "And what you've suggested, me staying here instead of going back there... I can't do that. Now more than ever."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"What I said this weekend was I was working on not making you stay. Because I was trying to get over all this. It was kind of a lot at the time." And his repression was slow-going with people bringing things up.

[solo_sword]

"It wasn't the first time the subject came up," she said. "That's not even what this is about. I don't even know what it's about right now." It was possible she was having a harder time dealing with this than she knew.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"This has nothing to do with me," he told her, giving her a squeeze. "Other than trying to help."

[solo_sword]

She gave a small smile she didn't really feel at all. "I've got to try to prevent it."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I know," he nodded. He'd also had a full week to process this already.

[solo_sword]

There was a very large part of her that just wanted to just lock herself in here and curl up with him and stay here for as long as humanly possible and just forget everything.

"This may be an argument against specializing in your field," she said, trying for light instead.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

At this point he'd be willing to go along with that if he had any clue.

"There's lots of arguments against that," he replied.

[solo_sword]

"I'm going to go back soon. See him before I end up getting caught up in everything like usual," she mused. "As soon as I figure out what to say that's not condemning him for something he hasn't done."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"You'll think of something," John replied. "Want me to come along?" Not that he knew when she was thinking of going.

[solo_sword]

"Of course," she replied immediately. "But I don't know that it'll be while you're here." She hated saying that, she really did.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Oh, right." That might be a problem for going along.

[solo_sword]

"We'll figure out logistics," she told him, completely assuming theycould.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

He considered the possibility that their classes could line up and give him nice, long weekends free.

"Right, we'll have weekends and things anyway."

[solo_sword]

"We'll manage it. We're good like that." And she was not considering for a second that they wouldn't, especially not right now.