Massachusetts Academy, Thursday Evening, Fandom Time

[apocalipped]

'Movie night.' Things had been relatively quiet at the Massachusetts Academy, and so Angelo had decided that tonight was going to be a 'movie night.'

Which meant, of course, that after a quick run to Videos R' Us (which was not technically a quick run away, but Jono and Ev had made an error in judgment in letting Angelo drive), there was now a stack of horror films on VHS about twenty tall, being precariously balanced in Angelo's arms as they made their way back into the common room of the dormitory building, where the girls were already doing... girly things.

Ugh. The place reeked thickly enough of nail polish and remover that even Jono could smell it. Quite the feat, when you didn't inhale. But at least the girls didn't seem like they were protesting too thoroughly to the boys crashing in and stealing away the television. They'd needed this, thank you.

... Of course, they probably shouldn't have let Jono deal with the popcorn. The microwave was busted, and he'd improvised using his powers, and, well... Microwaveable popcorn apparently wasn't intended to be heated via bio-nuclear psi-furnace. It was everywhere.


[OOC: NFB for distance, but open for e-mails if you have any to send, or a visit if you happen to be able to teleport across space and tiiiiiime!]

Comments

[trigons_child]

After Triela's funeral, Raven teleported herself to Jono's home dimension. She'd been there once with him, for the concert, not Massachusetts Academy itself, and she had better sense than to teleport directly into the school and alarm everyone within. Instead, she appeared outside the school and walked up to the front door of the main building, taking a moment to compose herself (crying did terrible things to black eyeliner) first so she didn't look so forlorn before knocking on the door.

And hoping it wasn't Emma who answered.

[furnaceface]

Fortunately, it wasn't Emma who answered, no. Emma was out of the evening, as was Sean, which meant that the kids were all but fending for themselves. And, since the girls had all protested vehemently to the idea of getting up to get the door while their fingernails were still wet, and since Ev was busy making Sugar Bomb snacks and Angelo was... a lazy ass... the job of answering the door went straight to Jonothon, popcorn in his hair and all.

The door opened a crack, kind of warily, before Jono realized who was on the other side and pulled it open all the way.

//Raven!//

...

Oh, she didn't seem so well.

//... Raven, luv?//

[trigons_child]

She didn't know what to say at first, with thoughts running through her head ranging from "I know you are not expecting me, but may I come in?" to "You left without saying goodbye, and you are so lucky I have not yet learned to slap people." She could fear tears starting to well in her eyes again and tried to blink them back.

Finally she just abandoned trying to speak and moved forward to throw her arms around him.

[furnaceface]

That was... unexpected, but Jono wasn't about to protest, wrapping his arms tightly around her and holding her close. Something had happened. He could gather as much, easily enough.

Just what had happened, on the other hand, was... fairly up in the air. He set a quick aside to Angelo and Everett, telling them to go on and start watching their films without him, and then gave her a light squeeze.

//C'mon in, luv. Let's sit down somewhere.//

Somewhere less out in the open, where anyone could trip over them and decide to stick their nose in it, say.

[trigons_child]

"I hope I am not interrupting," Raven said, dabbing one hand at her eyes. "I did not warn you I was coming...."

Not that he deserved it for sneaking out of Fandom.

[furnaceface]

It hadn't been sneaking, so much as it had been chickening out and fleeing, really.

//I told you before, luv, you can stop by any time you want, announced or no.//

He'd meant that much, at least. He nodded inside, putting a hand on her back and gently guiding her through the door and into the lobby of the dorm building.

... The one that was still standing.

//Should we head down to my room? Get a little privacy?//

Completely not a dirty offer, at the moment. Believe it or not.

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded, leaning against him as he moved them through the lobby. "Yes, that would be fine," she said. She could feel other people not far away, and while she did want to meet more of Jono's friends, she'd rather do it when she wasn't so teary and upset.

That morning and the past few days had been awful, but she was already starting to feel a little better just being close to Jono again.

[furnaceface]

//C'mon, Sunshine,// he murmured, leading Raven down the hallway toward the door that led down to the basement. It was dank and dark and perhaps a little too moist and chilly for most people to really be comfortable, but Jono wasn't 'most people,' and there was plenty of space for him to keep all of his junk.

... Mostly filed under 'floor.' The controller for his Sega Genesis tangled up under some guitar magazines from '95, kitten toys absolutely everywhere, but best of luck actually locating Joni down there unless she wanted to be found.

Home sweet home.

He was leading her to the edge of his bed, so that they could sit and talk.

//I get th'feeling that I've missed something.//

[trigons_child]

Raven sat down on the bed, folding her hands in her lap as she tried to compose herself again. Her own sorrow and guilt over not being able to save Triela had been bad enough that morning, but everyone else's emotions on top of it, battering against her shields, had made it almost unbearable.

"Triela's funeral was this morning," she said softly, looking back up at him.

[furnaceface]

//Funeral.// Jonothon winced a little. //Triela.//

She'd mentioned Triela's condition to him. And he'd told her that he couldn't possibly cope with her hurting herself for the sake of anybody. And now Triela was gone. He hadn't known the girl very well... She'd signed his yearbook, come to think of it, just a couple of weeks ago.

Another chill reminder that life was fleeting.

//Christ, Raven, I'm sorry...// And with that statement, he sent a wave of sincere apology, of sympathy. Comfort, meanwhile, came in a slightly more tangible form as he sat down on the bed beside her and pulled her close.

He never knew what to say in moments like these.

[trigons_child]

Raven just clung to him for a long moment, letting his comfort, physical and emotional, warm her. "She went home to Italy," she said. "We were there with her. She passed in the night, peacefully, late Tuesday."

She'd made prayers to Death that she be there to guide her, like she'd met Raven after she'd died. She hadn't known if Triela knew Didi, but it would be nice if she hadn't been alone.

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded slightly, the same thought occurring to him, in a sort of vague haze at the back of his mind. Death was there for everyone. She was the one person that they would all have in common someday.

But there were different Deaths for different realities. Still, it was nice to think that perhaps Didi had asked to be the one to take Triela's hand, when her time had come...

//She isn't in pain anymore,// he said, quietly. //And she wasn't alone.//

She'd been so young...

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded numbly. She was still trying to process what Momoko had told her and what Ender had said at the service with what Hilshire hadn't denied to her about just what kind of life Triela had lived, but what mattered now was that she was at peace.

"I wanted to try harder to save her, but she would not allow me to do so," she said. No one had wanted her to try again because of the risk to her own life, and while she hated to admit it, part of her had been glad for that. Her Pride wouldn't let her admit something might be too much for her to handle, but she still feared dying again.

[furnaceface]

//Maybe she was ready,// Jono offered. He closed his eyes, only for a moment. Remembered Triela, all he'd known of her. An awkward girl who had greeted him on his first day of classes. Her attempt to get him to vote her into the student body during their Junior year. Her admitting that she didn't know much about music at all.

The first actual song he'd ever played for her had been Stairway to Heaven.

//Are you going to be okay, Sunshine?//

[trigons_child]

Hugging Karla and Dinah had helped a lot, and now Jono as well. They were all real and alive and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure they stayed that way.

"I will," she whispered. "I have just never felt like this before." When she'd lost Azar, she hadn't been allowed to grieve. Even when she'd thought her mother was dead, she'd still been practically a stranger, and when Didi had died, she had transformed into a new form. This was the first time a friend was truly gone that she'd been allowed to feel such sadness.

"I am sorry that I ever made you feel this kind of sorrow," she said. Because of course she would apologize for that, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for being responsible for such grief.

[furnaceface]

Jono shook his head a little, projecting a soft kiss to her cheek.

//Don't be.//

It wasn't her fault. And she'd come back to him. She had nothing to be sorry for.

//You have nothing to feel guilty about, Raven. Nothing.//

[trigons_child]

She sent a kiss back to him. Even after just a week, she missed that. And speaking of which....

"You left without saying goodbye," she said woefully.

[furnaceface]

//I...//

Oh, hello, pang of unexpected guilt. Jono hadn't really been anticipating you, but he certainly deserved you.

//Have I ever told you how terrible I am, at goodbyes?//

So bad at them that he didn't even attempt them, apparently.

[trigons_child]

"I wished your last night in Fandom to be special," Raven said. "I felt you go but I thought you would surely come back, but when I went to your room I realized you were gone. That hurt me."

She wasn't going to mince words about that.

[furnaceface]

And when she was being blunt around it like that, Jono wasn't even going to attempt to dance around it with excuses.

//I'm sorry,// he said, instead. //I hadn't intended to hurt you. I'd even thought about going to see you, before I left.//

Which made it sound almost as though he'd deliberately chosen to hurt her, but that wasn't quite right, either.

[trigons_child]

"But you must have known I would be upset," Raven said. "Is that why you did not wish to see me? I would have hidden it if it would have caused you that much distress. Or is there something else that I did wrong?"

She knew he wouldn't deliberately hurt her, so that made her worry she'd done something to provoke his actions.

[furnaceface]

Jono gave his head a shake, scuffing his foot against the floor awkwardly.

//I'm terrible at goodbyes,// he said, lifting a shoulder a little. //They're always so... final. I couldn't. I wasn't letting you go, I was just moving where I kept my things, more or less... You didn't do anything wrong, luv. This was completely me, being an idiot.//

At least he was also honest about that much.

[trigons_child]

Raven let out a soft sigh of relief. "Good," she said. Wait, no, that wasn't right, either. "No...I mean I am glad I did not do something to upset you. But I wish you had come to me, or at least warned me."

She shifted her position, moving her hands to catch his face between them. "I do not like goodbyes, either," she said. "And perhaps I would have cried. But I wanted to touch you and hold you and wish you well before you left." Which were all things he already knew, though.

[furnaceface]

He would have nodded, but with his face held in her hands like that, he settled for... well, nuzzling what was left of his cheek against her fingers, mostly. Far better than nodding, anyhow.

//I know,// he sent back, brushing his fingers against hers. //I'll remember, if there's a next time, to come to you before leaving. I just... I'm a plonker, I know.//

A massive one. Yep.

[trigons_child]

"A plonker, yes," Raven said. She'd heard him use the word before, of course, though she had little idea of the actual meaning but could venture a guess based on the context.

"And now you must make it up to me," she added. Holding her now and letting her cry on his shoulder was more than enough to do so, but she didn't have to mention that, did she?