Jamie and Rahne and stress relief, Tuesday afternoon

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In which Jamie and Rahne practice traditional forms of stress relief (well, traditional for some, anyway) and talk about why exactly it is they're stressed.



Grrrrrrrrrrr.....

Rahne had always felt this looked a little silly, but she'd been sitting outside trying to cheer herself up by wagging her tail, and the tip had caught her eye. Suddenly, it seemed like a good idea. Anyway, she'd always used to like spinning around in circles until she was dizzy.

Maybe she'd do that next.

In the meantime, she stood up and made a sharp turn, then another, curving as far as she could and growling a little, chasing the waving flag of her own tail until suddenly she had a mouthful of fluff. She took a good (but not quite painful) solid grip without quite thinking about it, then yipped without letting go as she overbalanced and ended up on her side, doing a full roll like a wheel before she wobbled over again.

"Woof."

Gasping hysterical laughter came from the doorway as Jamie slid down the wall, holding his sides. "Oh, my God, Rahne," he managed between bursts, "Tycho does that all the time. Right down to falling over."

Rahne sat up, looking rather sheepish, and half-shifted back to sit up and wrap her arms loosely around her knees. "Och, at least I cheered somebody up." She was smiling a little, though; it had been unexpectedly refreshing. "Turns out, 'tis more fun than it looks," she said wryly, "and a lot more fun than the journals right now."

Jamie snorted. "Speaking of tailchasing. I almost expect it by now. Something happens, then somebody gets into a fight on the journals." He shrugged, picking himself up off the floor and sitting with his back to the wall. "Guess everybody deals with stress their own way--at least yours looks fun. I'd try it if I had a tail."

"I had to get away from the keyboard," Rahne muttered. "I was going to be getting in a fight myself if I didn't watch it."

"See, this is why video games were invented. So you can have something to do that takes up all your computer screen and doesn't involve arguments." Jamie paused. "Well, mostly doesn't. And in video games, generally, you can hit people who argue with you." He smiled wryly. "I gotta say, though, when you do speak up? You tend to make a heck of a lot of sense."

"Sometimes. Other times I just get into foolish fights with..." She edited, as Jamie got along well with Illyana. "...people."

Jamie snickered knowingly. "People who I'm friends with for no apparent reason, maybe?" He shrugged. "If it helps, I'd bet money she thinks you won that one. If there's anything in this dimension 'Yana hates more than being off-balance, I . . ." He blinked. "Actually, now I'm kinda morbidly curious. I wonder if she'd implode."

Rahne smiled reluctantly. "Nathan made me see that for how she grew up, she's not nigh as bad as she could be. Although she's not even one of the ones I was wanting to growl at today. I shouldna have even said anything that time." She paused and looked up. "Those times ye or Kitty will invite her to do something and get off the journals, is it just to stop the fights or do ye agree with her and figure on sniping in private?"

"Little of both, I think," Jamie replied thoughtfully. "Most of the time, yeah, I just want to get her off the computer before she says something everybody's gonna regret. Which isn't to say that I always disagree with her--sometimes, she does that thing where she says what I secretly wish I were enough of a jerk to say, you know?" He shook his head. "But no sniping in private, no matter what I think about what she said. The point of getting her off the journals is to end the argument, not keep it going."

Rahne considered the idea of people saying things one secretly wished to be enough of a jerk to say, and entertained a brief and wistful mental image of Illyana and Paige getting into an argument. No. Bad wolf-girl. No rabbit. "Thanks. I just... I suppose that wasna a fair question."

"No, hey, it's fine." Jamie smiled sheepishly. "'Yana's tough to be friends with sometimes, I'm not surprised she gets on your nerves, and if I minded you asking I'd've said."

"I shouldna let her get on them when that's obviously what she's trying for," Rahne said with a flash of humor. "I do get the idea she can be a very good friend when she chooses, and 'tis something to appreciate."

Jamie laughed. "Yeah, she wouldn't poke so much if you didn't give her a reaction. I like making her laugh, though, it feels like an accomplishment. And she has a nice laugh when she's not using it on somebody."

"Hmm. I doona *usually* say anything. I'll have to go back to it." Rahne let her head fall back to look at the sky. "She's not even said anything today anyway. And I've been good, mainly. Today, I mean. Was all too irritable for a while."

"You and me both. I coulda kicked Shiro for bringing Skippy up like some kind of, some kind of trump card. Oh, oh, I'm losing the argument, time to kick people in the scabs." Jamie pulled himself to a halt and gave Rahne a sheepish look. "Okay, so maybe I'm still a little cranky."

"Canna blame ye. I am too, and with less reason."

"Yeah, but your cure looks fun." Jamie scratched his chin speculatively. "Wonder if I could manage it without a tail?"

"Well, I suppose ye could try...." Although she wasn't quite sure how.

Jamie got onto all fours experimentally, half-crouching. "I think I've seen monkeys spin in circles at the zoo. Can't be too hard." He flashed Rahne a grin. "You gonna join me? I mean, it'd be hard to explain otherwise if somebody else happens to show up."

Rahne laughed and shifted fully into wolf form, still laughing as she stood.