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

WHO: Lena and Jamie
WHAT: Bonding
WHEN: Wednesday
WHERE: Rainmayr warehouse apartment
WARNINGS: ? Depends on what they talk about, really.



Lena had taken to basically staying in the fort she had created in the corner of her room. She had stolen the cushions from the sofas in the living room to do so and she was grateful none of her housemates had complained so far.

That afternoon she had had tea with Aidan and then informed Florian that if a really tall boy with fluffy hair came by, Florian should let him in and show him to Lena's room. That way she could stay right where she was in her little safe space.

She had made the walls out of blankets and some lacey netting she had once gotten to make a bed canopy out of before abandoning the idea. Inside the fort, the floor was littered with pillows and blankets and several Moroccan lanterns though the candles inside were battery operated. No one wanted a flaming fort. She was resting on the pillows and reading a book when she heard someone enter the room.

"Who goes there?" she asked with a grin, knowing it had to be one of her housemates or one of her friends. No one else could get through the door with all the wards they had set up.

Comments

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

Jamie had brought a few pencils from the kit that Kat had given him, along with a sketchpad. He'd been let into the apartment by a boy with blonde hair who introduced himself as Florian, and he pointed the way to Lena's room.

He knelt down at what he assumed was the entrance to her fort, smiling. "This is a really excellent fort you've got here," he said. "Permission to come aboard?"

*cries loudly*

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When Lena caught sight of Jamie, she smiled warmly at him and sat up. "Permission granted," she said with a nod. She knew she didn't look great, but he had seen her in the hospital and at least she looked better than she had then. Hopefully it wouldn't upset him. He had enough to deal with, what with a missing mother showing up and his best friend being attacked. "You've had a week, haven't you?"

*pats your hand* It's OK, bb. :)

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Jamie bent down and folded himself inside the fort. Lena looked better than she had in the hospital, still not quite herself, but definitely not as bad.

He sighed, flopping onto one of the pillows. "You could say that," he replied. "Hell of a week."

Just going slightly mental is all...

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"Do you need anything?" she asked worriedly. When she had someone she could fuss over, she tended to be less focused on her own problems. "Have you eaten?" Then she smiled wryly, "right, you live with Thomas. He's probably stress-cooking. Is he stress-cooking?"

I think we're all mad here. A little, anyway.

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Jamie shook his head. "Naw, I'll be OK," he said. "Getting out of the house for a little while will help, I think."

He laughed. "Stress-cooking, stress-tea-making, the whole nine yards. We'll have leftovers for days, at this rate."

Good company!

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

Lena smiled fondly at that. "Not surprised. He's pretty special, but I figure you know that."

She stretched out on the floor pillows, lying on her stomach because it was less injured than her back. "Make yourself comfy. What was your mother like?"

The best! :D

[flare-star.insanejournal.com]

"I sussed that out," Jamie admitted with a small smile.

He grabbed a pillow, placing it between his back and the wall. He bent his knees up and rested the sketchpad on them, a pencil dangling loose in his fingers.

"She was...kind of awkward," he said after a moment. "I don't think any of us were really expecting to ever have this conversation, it was kind of like the blind leading the blind. She seemed nice enough, though."

No arguments here!

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Lena propped her chin up on her hands facing him, and her legs bent so her feet were in the air. "Thomas said he yelled a lot and it freaked you out. I think it's always a little terrifying seeing parents be decidedly un-parenty. I'm glad she was nice though. Are you planning to see her again?"

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Jamie set the pencil to paper, idly tracing the shape of one of the lanterns. "A bit, yeah. I've never really seen him get properly angry before, not like that. So yeah, it was a little freaky."

"I think so," he replied. "Might wait a few days, but she gave me her number and said to call her whenever, so maybe we'll have lunch or something." He flipped the pencil over and erased one of the lines, redrawing it more to his liking. "I don't know if I know how to even have a mom," he added quietly.

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

Both Jamie and Thomas had a way of tugging on Lena's heartstrings in a way she wasn't used to. She had only known them for just under six months but she was always a little surprised to find that when they were sad of upset she felt fiercely protective of both of them like she did with her family. Which wasn't to say she wasn't protective of her friends, but there was a different quality to it.

She frowned a little in sympathy. "She doesn't really know how to have a son either," Lena started. "You could both learn together, if you wanted to. And god...I remember seeing my mother lose her temper once. My parents are artist hippies who preach about world peace and turn the other cheek and all that. But one time this guy showed up on the commune and he was saying all these suggestive things to my older sister, Claudia, and she just lost it. It freaked me out too because she was always so chilled out. But she was protecting her daughter and I reckon part of Thomas' anger was because he felt he was protecting you."

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Jamie just sat in the silence for a little while, sketching the lights and shadows inside the fort. Lena made him feel comfortable with not saying anything and just sitting.

"Probably not," he said in response. "I honestly don't think either of us ever thought we'd see the other one again. But yeah, it was strange. And a little scary, because that was so opposite of what I've seen him do over the years. He's been protecting me his whole life, he did get pretty riled up when some kids at school decided to shove me around when I was a sophomore. But it was nothing like this."

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

While Jamie had been sketching, Lena had pulled over her staff paper and she had scribbled a few notes onto it before abandoning it when he spoke again. She liked the companionable silence, but she would always listen as well. "Did you tell him you found it a little frightening?" she asked gently. She didn't think Jamie would harbour fear of his father, but she had to make sure.

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"Yeah, we talked about it after Serenity left," Jamie told her. "I mean, I know he wasn't angry at me, that he was hurt and frustrated that Serenity basically ditched us once I was born. I just happened to walk in at exactly the wrong time."

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"Yeeeaaah, he may have mentioned that too," Lena admitted quickly, though all he had told her about over the phone was Jamie overhearing the bus ticket admission. "But I'm glad you know it wasn't at you. Does Serenity look like you? I can't imagine seeing yourself in someone you don't really know."

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Jamie's mouth tugged up in a smile, without looking up from his sketch. He shaded a lantern and looked back up at her. "Dad was 17 when I was born. Hell, if I was him, I would have thought about running away too. But he stayed." He shrugged, like everything had turned out like it was supposed to. To him, it had.

"She does," he went on. "I got everything from her, the coloring, the hair, the way my eyes are shaped. The height is all Dad, though. She's a tiny lady."

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

"He made the right decision," Lena said with a nod and a smile.

"Wow...that's just...wow," she finished because she couldn't find the words for it. "And she's a Nerd goddess. I wonder if Sebastiane knows her. He's the god of Goth and we dated for awhile. Back in my totally cliche goth stage," she grinned.

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"That seems to be the consensus," Jamie said. "Plus, he told me Grandma kept thwarting his plans to slip away and hop on the bus. I knew she was a ninja. Or a wizard."

"Yeah," Jamie agreed. "Put us next to each other, you can definitely tell we're related. I definitely got the hair of epicness from her. And yeah, that's what she said. And she has a brother, too, so apparently I've got an uncle as well."

"I'm still trying to figure out how things like goth and nerd have gods," he replied. "Or are they more like...personifications, or something."

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"I think she's both," Lena said with a grin. She had only met Emma a few times, but she really adored her. Emma had even come to visit her in hospital and she hadn't come with Thomas. It had been her own idea. That meant so much to Lena.

"Well, uncle and mother both at once. Have you met the uncle yet?" she asked, glancing down at her paper and scribbling a few more notes. "Definitely more like personifications. I think they choose whether or not to call themselves gods or whatever. Sebastiane usually doesn't."

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"That would not surprise me in the slightest," Jamie agreed. "She's pretty much the best grandma you could ask for."

"Which isn't totally strange, or anything," Jamie said dryly. "And no, I haven't. I'd kind of like to, though. I didn't know either of them existed before this week, and even though they weren't really involved in my life...they're still family, you know?"

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

"She's been so kind to me," Lena added. "I thought she would hate me because you know...pink hair, burlesque dancer... But she hugged me the first time she saw me. Made me feel good."

Lena watched him for a moment before turning back to her music. "Of course they are. I have family in Vienna I hardly know, but when I go over there to visit we get together and have a great time for a few days." Then, a little quieter, she added, "and you know I've started to think of you two like that a little too."