fandomhigh | Library [02/28]

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Library [02/28]

As thankful as Jonothon was that people were going to be returning to the island today (one person in particular, who he was going to have to grab hold of and possibly never let go), he was definitely heaving a mental sigh at the realization that this meant that the place would stop being so blissfully quiet.

At least there would always be the library.

... Barring a freak accident or alien attack or something, at least.

[Open!]

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Well, Didi was in the library about ... three nanoseconds after she got out of the portal.

No. Three and a half. She stuck her suitcase in the dorm lobby so she wouldn't have to keep lugging it around, first.

She entered the library carrying a small bag, with a vague intention of playing it cool that evaporated the second she looked to the counter and saw Jono in all his glorious Jono-ness.

"I'm back! I missed you!"

//Didi!//

Jono did not get up to go around the desk in order to grab her and pull her into a hug, no.

He went over the desk, instead. Going around would have taken too damn long.

Didi buried her head against his shoulder, breathing him in. "God, I missed you. Like, every second I missed you."

He was going to hold her even closer still, now. There was no such thing as close enough.

//Long week,// he agreed. //Did yer have fun, at least?//

Please?

"It was beautiful and amazing," Didi confirmed, a bit reluctantly. "I laid on the beach and went dancing every night. But -- it wasn't as good as Disneyland."

In so many ways.

"Did you have fun here?"

//Here was... quiet.// Yes. Yes, here was. //Went back to Massachusetts for some of it, though. Lee insisted.//

He shifted his weight a bit, and then gave his shoulders a shrug.

//That was less quiet.//

"Oh." She stepped back lightly -- staying close, but no longer in an embrace. She wanted to be able to look him in the eyes. No: She wanted to be able to check him over.

Well. He was still as in one piece as he ever was, anyhow.

"What happened?" she asked.

Jono gave his shoulders a small shrug.

//Nothing new and unusual, so far as the students back at th'Academy are concerned,// he replied. //Kidnapped by a mutant cannibal, buried alive. Found out what it was like to have teeth gnawing my ribs from th'inside. That sort of thing.//

A pause.

//Th'last part was Gayle's idea, I think. Have I told yer much about Gayle?//

Apparently he'd missed the 'she is bloody psycho' part.

"That's horrible." Didi looked alarmed at the whole story. "Gayle, like, Gayle the girl you dated before me? Just her name."

Edited 2010-02-28 21:47 (UTC)

Oh, boy. This would make for some interesting explaining.

//She... I was with her when my powers manifested. Thought I'd hurt her, when it happened. A lot. That was most of th'reason that I went to Massachusetts. Couldn't face her, after that. Didn't have it in me.//

This was going to be an interesting conversation, yes.

Didi set aside the and you didn't think it was worth telling me this out of sheer concern for him right then, though that was something to talk about. "So you ran away and never really heard what had happened?" she asked, hoping she had it straight. "And now she's ... kind of angry and sadistic?"

//I was led to believe that she was...// Wow, talking was suddenly very difficult. //... Confined to a wheelchair. Considering that, I couldn't blame her one bit for wantin' to get revenge for it.//

Toescuff. Feel like a complete arse. Yep.

"Because you picked your powers, and you're having an awesome time with half your body missing?" Didi checked. Impatience was leaking out in her tone. "Okay. Okay. So you took off, and the next time you hear from her she's ... trying to have you buried alive and eaten by a cannibal?"

It was insane.

//... More or less, yes.//

Didi was good at this.

//Also, she can walk. Didn't hurt her near as bad as she wanted me t'think.//

It helped to speak fluent Jono.

"... oh. Well. So at least you can feel less guilty about that." Didi kind of thought the bitch probably deserved it. "How'd you get out of it? This week, I mean."

Jono gave his head a shake and shrugged a bit. Again. Lots of shrugging today.

//I didn't, so much. Spent most of it up t'my shoulders in dirt wearin' a psionic dampener. Th'rest of th'team did all th'hard work.//

Didi hopped up on the counter, still looking at him thoughtfully and with a little suspicion. "I think I need you to tell me the whole story from the beginning."

//It's a bit of a twisted story,// Jono confessed. //And I spent half of it feelin' like somebody shoved my 'ead up me arse.//

The joy of psionic dampeners.

//But it started, more or less, when I got a letter from Gayle sayin' she'd be in America, and she wanted t'talk with me. T'sort out what happened.//

"And, being the nice guy you are, you said 'sure, where and when?'" Didi asked, fighting the urge to facepalm. "Don't worry about it being twisted. I have time."

Jono lifted a hand to rub at the back of his head, looking toward the floor. When she put it like that, it really did make him sound like a bit of an idiot.

//I did, actually,// he agreed. //Yer don't exactly expect somebody that yer grew up with to suddenly have connections with the cannibalistic mutant that nearly ate yer when yer first set foot in America. I was expecting a guilt-trip and a thorough yelling-at, at best.//

"Okay, yeah. I've walked into a couple traps myself," Didi admitted. She hadn't meant to make him feel like an idiot; she was just upset at the situation. "Good thing you had your team with you when you went to see her."

And here's where Jono did the scuffing of his toes against the floor... thing.

//Actually, I didn't.//

"I thought you said they rescued you," Didi said, puzzled but withholding judgment. "What really happened?"

Jono took a moment's pause to try to sort out what had happened, himself. And then he gave his shoulders a shrug.

//We all went into Boston, but I split up with th'rest to meet up with Gayle. She... Attacked me.// That was not easy to admit. //And when I came to, th'entire team was bound up, and we were back in th'woods near th'Academy.//

"Jesus," Didi swore softly. "That's terrible, Jono. How'd you guys break free? Did anyone get hurt?"

//Nobody too seriously hurt, by the end of it.// A pause. //That's not entirely true. Emplate got a good bite out of Jubilee, and I think he'd fed from Paige, too. And we don't know where Everett is.//

But, you know, other than that? No huge injuries.

"... who was Everett?"

Yeah, that was all Didi had once she finished gaping.

//One of us,// Jono replied, lifting a shoulder a little. //He's a tough bloke.//

For a guy who was powerless unless there were other mutants about, but that was beside the point.

"But you lost him." Didi went quiet, then reached out a hand to touch him. "I'm -- sorry. For all of it."

Jono gave his head a small shake.

//The others have gone off looking for him,// he replied, and then sent something like a sigh before stepping forward to gather her into his arms. //He'll be fine. He gets into trouble on a more or less regular basis.//

No. Really. Everett getting into trouble was the reason Jono was in Fandom in the first place.

//And I've managed t'make my peace. I... Never thought that'd happen.//

Didi let herself be gathered up, slipping off the counter to snuggle into his grasp. "Yeah?" she said, mollified. "Congratulations. How's it feel?"

//Something like finding out that I didn't accidentally put someone I once cared about in a wheelchair,// Jono replied. How he managed to psionically mumble would be anyone's best guess. //Like... I'm not just a walkin' bomb waitin' to go off.//

That didn't mean he didn't struggle with that power any less than he did before. But there was a huge weight off of his shoulders.

"Oh, Jonothon." And she squeezed tighter, holding him so closely that she'd feel his heartbeat if he had one. "You never were that. I'll take care of you this week."

No heartbeat, no, but his chest was possibly a little warmer than usual. He wasn't pulling into himself so thoroughly as he almost always did. Maybe because he wasn't completely terrified. Maybe he realized that he didn't have to be.

//'M sorry,// he said, still maybe a little mumbly. //F'r every time I jerked away. I won't, anymore. I shouldn't've then.//

"You didn't jerk that far away," Didi said. "You let me fall in love with you."

Scary, to admit that.

"But I'm glad I can touch you, now. It took a while."

Here and now would be where Jono regretted not being able to kiss her again. Because if he could, then he would never stop.

//I love you too,// he replied, and this time, he wasn't mumbling in the least.

He held her even more closely, actually. If ever there was a time to try to squeeze Didi ridiculously tightly, now was probably pretty much it.

It is not given for mortals to love the Endless...\

Didi made Destiny's voice SHUT UP. The Eldest wasn't wanted, here and now. Now was for squeezing back, and whispering, "I know."

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Library [02/28]

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