[identity profile] nicknamegirl.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] hh_mirror
((Backdated to Valentine’s Day.))

Right. Busying herself and talking to Gatsby, to try and keep her mind away from Jaime and the Impending Talk, had only worked so-so. Fine. Lola knew she couldn’t avoid it forever. And besides, she had missed Jaime a lot during her mission. Part of her couldn’t wait to see him. So. She went up to her own room, changed out of her trouble-shooting outfit, which was dusty and completely not-okay to wear when you hadn’t seen your boyfriend in... how many days now? Lola frowned. She was pretty sure it had been at least a week where she’d been looking after Azhar, but who knew how long that meant she’d been gone from Hogwarts? Oh well, she’d find out soon enough.

Now she was standing outside his door, and calmly counted to five before she knocked. During those five seconds she checked her hair, made sure she hadn’t gotten anything in her teeth, and adjusted the locket around her neck. Today the little pad inside had been dabbed in a rich perfume of jasmine and spices that she’d picked up in Tunisia, but that was the only thing different about her.

Then she knocked. And forced herself to look calm and smiling, though her heart was hammering in her chest.

Date: 2008-02-17 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Lola had interesting timing, to say the least. Jaime was just getting back into his room when she knocked - that is, coming in through the window. He'd been out flying to clear his head and just for the excuse to go out flying. Rural wizarding Scotland wasn't exactly teeming with superpowered crazy, so aside from helping put out a fire and some ensuing awkwardness it had been a pretty uneventful trip. (Luckily, the wizards whose house was ablaze had the sense to realize that no Dark creature would stop to help get people out of a burning building.)

So he was perched on the windowsill when he heard the knock, and trying to carefully step down to the floor when the Scarab informed him that Lola was on the other side of the door.

Which was why Lola might hear a "Wha-" and then a heavy thud. "Thanks for the warning, man. Smooth. Real smooth." This was followed by some scuffling and the sound of a chair scraping across the floor as he righted it and himself, as well as picked up the books he'd knocked off his desk. Footsteps approached the door and then stopped. "Crap. Uh, just a sec!"

There was an odd hissing noise, and a faint blue glow could probably be seen under the door for a second or two before it faded away. Finally, Jaime opened the door, looking perfectly normal and put together - except for the last telltale wisps of steam that were rising from his clothes. "Hi. You're back," he managed lamely.

Between the sound effects plus the fact that his window was still wide open, Lola could probably figure out what had just happened.

Date: 2008-02-17 09:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Jaime was just relieved he hadn't opened the door suited up. That would have made things even more awkward.

"Huh?" Hello, wide open window. "Oh. Yeah. I kinda had trouble with the landing part," he admitted with an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his neck and trying not to stare at Lola. Jaime had never quite understood the phrase "sight for sore eyes" until now. He was nervous as hell and simultaneously really happy to see her; it was a weird feeling, to say the least.

He remembered his manners and opened the door wider, stepping back so she could enter. "You, uh, you want to come in?"

Date: 2008-02-18 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Jaime could relate. "Don't I know it." Seemed like forever before he'd finally figured out how to hover. He shut the door and hurried to close the window, kneeling on his bed to reach the latch. The Cuddlewrap Lola had given him for Christmas was draped over the bed.

As a rule, his room was generally pretty clean, and today was no exception. This was not the case for his desk, which still bore the evidence of the temporary research insanity he'd gone through. You couldn't see the surface of the desk beneath the stacks of books and notes on it. There were a couple of photos tacked up on the bulletin board above it - mostly ones he'd taken with the camera she'd given him. Somehow, the small framed photo (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d134/per1etwo/h_h/p2_jbppic.gif) on the desk was untouched by the chaos.

Lola's question... was not what he'd been expecting. He had just finished latching the window when she spoke, and turned, a confused and worried look on his face. Was she hurt? After all, he'd completely dropped the ball when she told him she loved him - something it had taken him a week and some prompting from Brenda to realize. If she was mad, she'd definitely let him know, but not so much if she was hurt. The last time she'd been hurt she'd resorted to random questions, too. Oh, man.

"Ten days. Uh, roughly." Yeah, not like he'd been counting or anything - although he hadn't quite done the math as to what day it currently was yet. Jaime twisted around so that he was sitting on the bed, patting the spot beside him and hoping she'd take the invitation. "Did everything go okay?" Sure, she was back and she was fine, but he knew from experience that didn't mean things went the way they should.
Edited Date: 2008-02-18 12:38 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-02-18 02:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Not being a mind-reader (and being generally clueless sometimes), Jaime didn't know that. It had taken him a few minutes to realize what she'd said, and thus had frozen up like an idiot and spent a week freaking out about it. Not exactly the best reaction to leave her with.

He did take the hint when she touched his hand, though, and reached over to take her hand in his. "Yeah, I was kinda trying to look up stuff on that," he said to fill the silence. "The weird time thing." Distractions aside, it looked like he'd had the right idea. Still no clue if he could do anything with it.

Small talk wasn't helping his nerves. "I'm really sorry," he blurted out suddenly. "For, you know, not saying anything when you took off." Well, that didn't make total sense, but it was a start.

Date: 2008-02-18 07:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Okay, maybe he could have eased into that. If he was someone else. Who was actually good at being subtle. Hadn't he rehearsed something that sounded better than that? He didn't remember.

Jaime blinked, taken aback by the apology. That wasn't in the script that he'd mostly forgotten. "Um. You don't have to - I mean -" He shook his head, trying to put his thoughts in order. He'd had long enough to get this to come out right.

"I guess... I started thinking about stuff that I'd been trying not to think about. Like that you're an angel, and I'm, well, not." Before she could add anything to that, he barreled on. "Like what would happen if I had to go home and you went back to Heaven and we couldn't come back. Checked the Popcorn Room once or twice - hey, the last person I knew who had to leave in a hurry wound up there, after all."

He studied their clasped hands for a moment before looking up at her again. "That's what kinda freaked me out. 'Cause - I love you too."

What? He sucked at small talk anyway.

Date: 2008-02-19 04:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
Jaime had noticed Lola opening her mouth to say something, which was why he'd hurried on before she could stop him and he'd completely lose his nerve or get distracted and say the wrong thing.

And then suddenly Lola was beaming at him, and it was his turn to blush under the force of that hundred-watt smile. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yeah. Really." But he was still grinning like an idiot, and the anxiety he'd been carrying around for several days was starting to melt away. His smile didn't fade when she swatted at him. "Yeah, I know. Been told that a lot this week."

Being dead... well, yeah, Jaime had considered that over the course of the week, which was one of the possibilities that had driven him into mad research mode. It was something that had occasionally bothered him even before he'd met Lola - that one day he'd go out to put out a fire or stop another crazy giant person from destroying a town and not come back. He certainly didn't plan on dying anytime soon. It had nothing to do with being practical; it would hurt too many people he cared about, in more ways than one.

There was also the question of the proverbial third wheel, who had been mercifully quiet during their whole discussion. (Although at one point it almost felt like the Scarab was urging him to just tell her already. He couldn't be sure. Whether or not it understood the situation, it had picked up on his anxiety and was impatient as hell.)

Yeah, that was a lot of problems. When Lola leaned her head on his shoulder, though, Jaime relaxed in spite of himself. "Maybe later. Been a long morning anyway." They'd have to talk about them eventually, but not all at once and he didn't want to ruin this. Between his earlier excursion and the relief of having gotten that out in the open, he wasn't up to running off. He rested his head on hers, smiling as he breathed in the familiar scent of her hair. "I'm definitely not going anywhere right now."

((Sorry for the multiple edits. Avoiding work weirdness.))
Edited Date: 2008-02-19 04:16 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-02-20 05:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
((Okay, now it's my turn to apologize - researching technical paper topics does not lend itself well to tagging. Lola can ask about "the deal," it's just something silly.))

Sunshine? Well, it felt a lot warmer than it had ten minutes ago, and that had very little to do with closing the window. Jaime blinked and managed a soft laugh. "Lucky for me." There was no trace of sarcasm in that statement whatsoever.

As the warm weight left his shoulder, he looked up, confused, relaxing when she didn't try to pull away. "Are you sure? I -" He paused, listening. "Wait, how do you know about Valentine's Day?" Obviously, he wasn't asking Lola. "From the Internet - okay, that's enough, I don't want to know the details. We had a deal. Don't share."

Jaime shook his head, looking sheepish. "I totally forgot," he admitted. "If I knew you'd be back today... probably would've done more than this." And been even more nervous, probably, so maybe being forgetful worked for him in this case.
Edited Date: 2008-02-20 02:01 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-02-21 01:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
The main difference was that the advice, more often than not, wasn't that helpful. Even though it had eased off the "ack it's a threat kill it" tendencies, it still didn't get a lot of important things. Like individuality, love, sex, pacifism, or personal space. But when its advice made sense, that was usually a sign that he'd been missing the obvious. It knew that Lola made Jaime happy, and that was enough.

And the kiss on the cheek made him grin even wider. "Okay. Good." It was a rare moment where being clueless paid off. "How long was it for you?" he asked, curious. "In Tunisia, I mean."

"Uh..." Well, he'd walked into that question, and in light of everything it was kind of silly. His smile became a bit self-deprecating. "Scarab can pick up wireless signals on its own." Like the radio broadcast on Halloween but he was not even mentioning that. "Off-campus, that means wireless Internet. Wouldn't be such a bad thing, but it checks the Internet on its own sometimes." He reddened a bit, remembering some of the stuff it had dredged up. "Ever know a little kid who asks embarrassing questions out of nowhere about stuff they're not old enough to understand? Multiply that by ten and give them the ability to bring up visual aids. Usually not the kind you want to see when you're trying to take an algebra test." He'd nearly fallen out of his chair.

"So the deal was that it's not allowed to go into details unless I ask for them. And never when I'm at school. Ever." They would only make so many allowances for him being the "One Year Later" guy, after all. "Some things I've gotta explain eventually, but... its timing tends to be kinda off."

((OKAY I WILL STOP EDITING NOW. Promise.))
Edited Date: 2008-02-21 04:37 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-02-25 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bantersucks.livejournal.com
((Well, it's hitting that point anyway. Goodness knows this week's been nuts on my end. That's the problem with these threads that require some actual thought: they take so long! :) Susan-mun okayed the offscreen freakout mentioned. ))

It had been a long week and a half on Jaime's end too. He'd missed her like crazy, and it was worse than that first week when he'd been unexpectedly dumped back home. At home, he had his family and Brenda and Paco to confide in, and school and hero-ish stuff to distract him. He could have done without there being a need for the heroing in the first place. But distractions at Hogwarts had been pretty scarce due to the lack of classes, and he'd been making a point of trying to keep his promise to Lola. Which was why, when the Scarab had inexplicably started panicking and freaking out (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1542054.html) a few days earlier only to suddenly stop after a few minutes, he'd decided not to ask what had triggered it.

At least Brenda had been here to talk sense into him. Thank God. Jaime wasn't sure what would have happened if she hadn't. He'd have realized how stupid he was being and how he really felt eventually, but not without screwing things up first en route.

"So you were one of those, huh?" He smirked. "Do little sisters have some kinda internal radar that tells 'em to ask you about something embarrassing your best friend said a week ago at the worst possible time?" The first time Milagro had overheard Paco telling Jaime he needed 'pimp school' had made for a really interesting morning at church. At least she'd grown out of that phase and into the snarking back at him phase.

Jaime had been pretty tired, coming off of the morning's events and the nervousness and then the utter relief after confessing to Lola - but he was starting to get a second wind. He was happy just to spend time with her, whether it was just sitting and talking or if they decided to cover the entirety of Hogwarts on foot.

He pretended to think about the question, then grinned. "Yeah. A walk sounds great." He got to his feet, offering her his arm. "Anywhere in particular, or just... go wherever the staircases let us?"

That wasn't entirely facetious. Even though he wasn't on the moving staircases' hit list, they still kept him on his toes.
Edited Date: 2008-02-25 02:42 am (UTC)

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