(no subject)

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

WHO: Lena and Jamie and then maybe later Thomas
WHAT: Bonding
WHEN: Backdating to Sunday morning so they can lounge around
WHERE: Kemps apartment



After spending the night with Thomas, Lena had ended up waking up stupidly early and she was unable to fall back to sleep. She dressed in her bloomers and one of Thomas' Joy Division shirts before shoving her pink hair up into a messy bun. She left Thomas sleeping, and she stole out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Then she seated herself at the table with her booklet of staff paper and she started scribbling notes to see if the music in her head was actually worthy of being a song.

She heard footsteps approaching her and she looked up with a smile when she caught sight of Thomas' son, Jamie. "Good morning!" she said brightly.

Comments

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Usually, if he woke up early on the weekend, Jamie was able to go right back to sleep. He loved weekends for just that reason, and relished being able to sleep in past 7 a.m.

Today, however, someone up there just didn't like him very much or something, and he'd woken up to sunlight in his eyes, unable to fall back asleep. Yawning, he pulled on a T-shirt and ambled out of his room, following the smell of coffee. Lena was in the kitchen, looking far more chipper than he felt for the hour.

"Morning," he said around a yawn, pulling out one of the oversized mugs he kept for occasions such as these. He filled it and added some sugar, taking a sip before continuing. "What are you working on?" he asked.

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Just a song," she said with a shrug. "Violin instead of piano. I'm not sure what it is yet. Does that happen to you when you start a new piece?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Sometimes," Jamie said. "I'll start off with random lines and shapes that look like a bunch of doodles, but sometimes it coalesces into a bigger picture. And sometimes it just stays doodles. But it's really cool that you write your own music."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

Lena grinned at him, and she closed the book. "Sometimes I play them while I perform. Obviously not while I'm dancing, that would be awkward! Could you not sleep?"

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"It would take some serious coordination to play the violin and dance, but that would be wicked," Jamie said. "And yeah, I woke up and just...couldn't fall asleep, for some reason. Sucks, but whatever. At least there's coffee, thank you for making some, by the way."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Technically, I stole some coffee and was just nice enough to leave some for you as well," she said with a wink. "I couldn't sleep either. Not just because your father was grunting in his sleep. He sounds ridiculous."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Tomato, tomahto," Jamie said, smiling. Then he laughed. "I don't doubt that for a second. He can be a bit ridiculous, did you get a text about him being called Captain Giraffe? That was me and Kat being goofy. But anyway, what's up, how come you couldn't sleep?"

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

Lena laughed too and she nodded. "I did! I informed him I would be calling him that from now on too. It really does fit him perfectly."

Unsure of why she couldn't sleep, at least specifically, she looked thoughtful. "I don't know, I'm still getting used to this whole relationship thing. Not in a bad way! He says he hasn't really had much in the way of relationships either. Is that true?"

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"I'm going to scour the internet for a giraffe Snuggie and give it to him for his birthday," Jamie said. "Shh, it's a secret." He laughed into his coffee.

"That is indeed true," he said, more seriously. "You'd have to ask him for details, but my theory is that, for a long time, it was just him and me, trying to figure out how to make it on our own. He was trying to raise me, despite still being a kid himself." He shrugged. "Like I said, though, I don't really know for sure."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Best present ever," she grinned.

"Well he did a damn good job, you're pretty awesome," she said with a smile. "That's basically what he said to me too. I'm still getting used to being the girlfriend. I'm actually terrified of meeting your grandmother despite the fact that she sounds awesome. I'm hardly...I dunno...parent material?"

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"He did, he's pretty much the best," Jamie agreed. "I, however, cannot speak as to my own awesomeness."

"Trust me, you and grandma will get along great," Jamie assured her. "She is pretty awesome. And pssh, you totally are. She might ask a lot of questions, but I think that's just how she rolls."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

Lena looked wary, but Thomas and now Jamie had reassured her it wouldn't be a problem. "I guess I'm used to people giving me strange looks when they find out I'm a burlesque dancer," she explained. "People seem to think it's akin to murder or something. I don't know why."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"She'll probably go the opposite route and ask you how that all works," Jamie said. "She's really very non-judgmental, and Dad likes you, and I like you. But yeah, that sounds like a very stupid assumption to make. People can be jerks, I have no idea why."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"I don't know why either," she said a little quietly. "But asking how it all works is awesome because I love talking about it!" She grinned then, "you like me, hmm?" And she threw her hands in the air to show triumph. "I once went on a few dates with this guy who had kids, though they were younger. And they hated me because apparently I wasn't posh enough for them."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"You make dad happy," Jamie said simply. "It doesn't hurt that you're awesome." He opened the fridge and took stock of its contents. "I feel like scrambled eggs with cheese. You want some?"

He leaned over to give her a 'WTF, seriously?' look. "You weren't posh enough," he said, disbelief thick in his voice. "What the hell."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Well I'm pretty much the opposite of posh," she said as she jumped up and went into the kitchen. "Scrambled eggs and cheese sounds delicious! And maybe toast if you have bread."

She watched him dig a few things out of the fridge as she chewed on her lip and then she asked, "how have you been doing lately? I mean with your dad and everything. Have you been okay?"

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Being super posh always struck me as sort of boring," Jamie said, shrugging. "That's just me, though." He held up a loaf of bread in triumph. "There shall be toast!"

He sat the eggs and cheese on the counter, digging for a skillet without saying anything. He stood back up and looked at her. "I've been doing OK," he said. "I know I've got people I can talk to if I need to, and that's a great thing."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

It probably wasn't even her place, but Lena just loved taking care of people. It was instinctual. "You can talk to me too if you want. I know I'm new, but if I can help I'll always try." She wasn't a motherly person and Jamie likely didn't need that anyway. What she was was a caring and empathetic person who always tried her best.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie smiled at her. "I appreciate that, thank you," he said, and he meant it. He had a bad tendency to bottle things up sometimes, and it helped to have a network of people he could call or text, or whatever.

He cracked some eggs into the skillet, getting out the spatula. "The last few days have actually been pretty good, there's been more smiling and laughter around the place, and that's good."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"I've been doing what I can to cheer him up," she added, though she in no way thought it was all down to her. "I've promised to send him text messages when he goes back to work too so he doesn't get too worked up. Distractions are nice. Especially when surrounded by fundies."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"I'm pretty sure everyone's going to breathe a collective sigh of relief when he starts at Clea's school next year," Jamie agreed. "And believe me, he can find humor in just about anything, as I found out the other day." He snickered a bit, remembering. Humor usually won out over embarrassment with him, at least in hindsight. "Although the text messages sound like a good idea, too."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Oh I very much agree," Lena said. The way Thomas spoke about Clea was with reverence, though Lena knew that was because she was really Sappho. "What happened the other day?" she asked, picking up a few bits of cheese and shoving them in her mouth.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie glanced at her over his shoulder. "He may or may not have walked in on me making out on the couch," he said, hiding his grin as he cooked the eggs. "I swear to god, the look on his face was like Sylvester had caught frickin' Tweety Bird."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

To be fair, Lena's grin was pretty wide too. "Awesome! Way to go, you! Was that with Theseus? I'm pretty sure he's friends with my housemate Aidan, though I don't if it's the same one for definite. Though really, how many people out there are named Theseus? If it is him, he is way hot."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Blonde, dimples, totally cute?" Jamie asked. "That's him. And yeah, it's not that common of a name." He snagged the cheese and tipped it into the eggs, mixing everything around the pan. "Did I mention he's really cute? And nice? Because he is."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"That's the one!" Lena laughed. "Feel free to mention that as much as you want! I've only met him in passing, but he seemed lovely. You're totally blushing, by the way. It's adorable."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie just stuck out his tongue and grinned, aware that he probably was blushing, but he couldn't be arsed to care. The eggs were almost done, so he put bread in the toaster and got down some plates.

"He's pretty cool, he's a film student, wants to make movies that make people think," Jamie said. "Like, from the perspective of the monster. Which sounds pretty awesome to me."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"Oooh, thinky movies, my favourite kind!" Lena clapped and then she leaned against the counter. "So is he a good kisser?" she asked with a grin.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Nosy!" he said, laughing. "But yes. Very much so." He dished up plates of eggs for both of them and grabbed the now done toast. "Let's eat!"

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"That's what I do," she said with a wink. "Kisses are awesome!" She took a plate and carried it to the table to reclaim her seat. "Thanks for the breakfast, you're awesome." She took a bite and then made an approving 'yummy' noise.

"Hey, you should meet my sister Ilsa. She's been travelling in Europe for about five years. She draws and paints the most amazing things. You could be arty together."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"I'm inclined to agree," Jamie said, taking a seat next to her. "And you're very welcome."

He dug into his own plate while she talked. "I'm always down to be arty with people. If she wants to, I'm down."

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

"She loves meeting people," Lena smiled at Jamie. "I can bring her over sometime. And you can...I dunno, art. Gosh, I'm clueless about it," she winked.

Lena heard commotion in the hallway and she looked up to see Thomas stumble out of his room, rubbing at his eyes. "Murgh?"

"Morning sunshine!" Lena said brightly. "I'm gonna steal your son. He's awesome and so he's moving in with me."

"I protest?" Thomas half-mumbled.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie smiled. "Sounds good to me. I'm sure we'll figure something out. And hey, I'm less than clueless about music, so it evens out."

He laughed as his dad appeared, really not awake. "It's true," he said. "I'm moving into Lena's artist commune apartment...thing. It's gonna be awesome."

[thomas_kemp]

Thomas made a sad face and he sat beside Lena. "I could try to start an artist commune here," Thomas suggested, though not seriously.

"There's totally enough space for that," Lena said as she leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek which caused Thomas to light up adorably. "Here, toast." She handed him a piece and giggled as Thomas looked like he had just been handed a piece of gold bullion.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie just snickered and continued eating his eggs. "Yeah, we could stick them in our tiny closets," he said.

He got up and poured his dad some coffee. That emptied the pot, so he put another one on to brew. "I think there's still some eggs left, if you want some," he added.

[thomas_kemp]

"I'll be okay-" Thomas started to say, but Lena arched her eyebrow at him and Thomas' eyes widened. "I...think I'm being peer pressured to eat breakfast."

"You could fit into my jeans, Mister. Go have eggs!" she said sternly.

Thomas just glanced at Jamie and then he smiled. He had a girlfriend who had apparently just spent the morning with his son and now she was ordering him to eat. She was taking care of him. Out of nowhere he said, "you guys make me so happy."

"And you are a gigantic sap monster," Lena informed him before kissing his cheek again.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"As far as peer pressure goes, it could be worse," Jamie said, dishing up what was left of the eggs. "Besides, if she hadn't said anything, I would have given them to you anyway." He set the plate and mug down in front of his dad.

"He really is sometimes," Jamie agreed. "But it's just who he is." He smiled.

[thomas_kemp]

Thomas just grinned and dug into his breakfast.

"I'll help clean up," Lena jumped up and went to rinse off the used plates to stick them in the dishwasher.

With Lena in the other room, though she could still see and hear everything since the kitchen only had a half-wall, Thomas looked up from his breakfast. "Yes yes, it's who I am. But I'm still happy. She's pretty good, isn't she?"

"Oi, that is so putting him on the spot!" Lena protested from the kitchen, but she was laughing.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"She is," Jamie agreed. "We were talking for a while before you got up. She mentioned bringing her sister by sometime, apparently she's an artist too, and she's been traveling all over for the past five years. She said we should hang out and be arty together. Which I can get behind. So yes. She's pretty good."

[thomas_kemp]

"Ilsa?" Thomas asked and Lena nodded. "Ilsa is really sweet, I think you'll like her. These are great eggs! Mmm and coffee. I officially like this morning."

Lena just smiled to herself. Thomas was a gigantic dork, so it was just lucky that was her kind of thing.

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Then let the artyness commence," Jamie said, drinking some more of his coffee. "Glad you like them. But we're going to need more cheese soon, Lena ate some and I used...well, most of the rest."

[thomas_kemp]

"Cheese thieves!" Thomas said with a laugh. "I'll head out and get some later. Lena and I were discussing a trip to the Met in a few hours if you want to come too? We're going to pretend we have culture."

Lena nodded sagely. "We're almost sure we can be convincing."

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"Perhaps, but it was delicious thievery," Jamie pointed out. "Delicious, melty thievery."

"Sure," he agreed. "Though fair warning, you'll probably have to come and find me in the depths of the museum."

[thomas_kemp]

"I think we could handle that," Thomas chuckled. He rose and ruffled Jamie's hair and then he stole a kiss from Lena before heading back to his room to dress for the museum.