[Crystal and Jennie] - Sunday Evening

[x-roulette.livejournal.com]

Jennie gets herself released from the infirmary and gets to go back to her room. Where she finds Crystal, who isn't out camping. And the dog.



During the summer, Crystal had not known when Jennie would be coming back. She had been forced to make important decisions such as whether she should leave books and papers spread out because she'd be using them later and Jennie probably wouldn't suddenly arrive or whether to make everything neat and organized because who knew when Jennie would walk through the door.

Now Crystal knew that Jennie was going to walk through the door. The room was clean and looked almost the same as it had when Jennie had left; the main exceptions being the cage containing two hamsters and a bulldog puppy. The puppy in question was currently sleeping on Crystal's bed.

Meanwhile, Jennie had paused on the landing to the second floor as another wave of dizziness overtook her. She had insisted on making it to her room under her own power, but it seemed that without outside influence, Jennie was actively feeling what being severely underweight was like. Jennie's lip curled in distaste and she pushed herself away from the wall. Just a few more feet and she would be home. To her room, where she could sleep in her own bed. Until somebody woke her up and made her eat again.

Jennie fumbled her way through the front door of the suite, noting the two new names. She slid around the couch in the common room and went to her door, which had both her and Crystal's name tag on it. At least that hadn't changed. Quietly steeling herself against whatever would be inside, she opened the door. And froze.

Hiding her shock was something Crystal had become extremely good at since her arrival at the mansion. She had been good at it before, but had never needed to hide her shock so much before. Jennie did not look quite right, and Crystal was amazed that she was already being allowed back to her room. Was there even a right thing to say right now? "Welcome home, Jennie. I did not touch any of your belongings."

"Thank you?" Jennie responded. She was staring at the menagerie that Crystal had added. "Man, I disappear for two months and you turn into a pet lady," she gave Crystal a tired grin. "Least the room's not full of cats and doilies." She wandered over to her closet, which was still just the way she left it. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Jennie pulled out a long-sleeved top and pulled it over her head. "Gets to be cold when you have absolutely no body fat," she muttered dryly.

"I purchased the hamsters myself and received Lockjaw as a present from Medusa, my sister. Would you prefer for the room to be warmer?" Crystal didn't feel cold, but then again it would take a lot for her to feel cold. Before, Jennie had seemed to prefer cooler temperatures, but if she wanted to have a warm room now...

Jennie shook her head. "No, it's okay, it's just me." She spread her arms, on which the shirt hung loosely. "Behold, what happens when an energy manipulator forgets to eat," Jennie smiled ruefully. "I should have listened to you earlier in the summer. They say I'll gain it all back, but it means eating on a schedule," she made a face.

Plopping down on the bed, she eyed the puppy. "No offense, Crystal, but the dog can't stay here. I don't like dogs."

Crystal frowned slightly. "He does not have anywhere else to go, Jennie. He is my dog now. Besides, just look at him!" She picked up the snoozing puppy who then let out a small yawn. "He is so cute and sweet! Animals are often used for therapy to help people relax and feel better. Are you sure you do not want to hold him?

"Crystal, you should have thought of that before you acquired that puppy. Or your sister should have thought of that," Jennie frowned. "With the way that I am, do you think I'd be able to relax with him in the room?"

During the summer, Crystal hadn't known if Jennie would even be coming back, but she didn't want to say that. "He is very quiet. You will not even know that he is here. I have already been training him to stay on my side of the room. He could even help you relax, if you let him."

"Crystal, no. I'm not going to budge on this. I don't like dogs. I don't care if he's sweet and loveable and housebroken. I don't feel comfortable with him being here." Why oh why did this have to happen now? "This is my room too, and I've made compromises for you. Please, make some for me." Jennie's voice never rose above her normal speaking voice, but her tone was pleading. "I'm sure there is someone with a single who would be more than happy to care for him. I'm not asking you to give him up, just find someplace else to keep him."

Jennie had made compromises for her? During the whole, what had it been? month that they had actually lived in the room together? Still, even without knowing what had happened to her roommate, it was obvious that Jennie had been through a lot. "I am sure Medusa will let him stay in her room," she answered sadly.

"Thank you Crystal." Jennie said, meaning every word of it. She reached over and grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it to her chest. It even still smelled the same. She took a deep breath to keep from crying. At least she was home now. "So. . .your sister is here? The one who can control her hair? Isn't she supposed to be in like, college now?"

The whole thing was too difficult to explain, so Crystal just nodded, cuddling Lockjaw while she spoke. "She is in college and she is here, yes. Medusa is staying at the mansion while she takes classes at Columbia."

"That's good, having your family around probably makes your life a lot easier." Jennie had already spoken to her father over the phone. Thankfully there had been no yelling. "I'd ask 'what else'd I miss?' but I gather not a whole lot."

Oh, of course. Not much had happened other than the fact that Jennie had been missing for over a month, people had worried about her, but the fact that she was missing had been hidden. She had been so busy being upset at Forge that she hadn't noticed his workshop was on fire, but at least she had been able to stop the fire.

"I am glad that you are back, Jennie," Crystal said softly. "If you do not want to tell me anything, I will understand, but I would like you to know that you can speak to me about your summer if you wish and it will not suddenly become known to the entire school." Crystal placed a high value on keeping private conversations private.

Jennie nodded. "I..." she paused, looking for the right words. "I did a lot of stupid things. But I don't know if it was me doing those stupid things or if because I was under somebody's influence." She looked at her hands, the red marks were less vivid, but they were still there.

Under someone's influence? That sounded fairly typical of previous mansion-related events. "I am sorry, Jennie, if someone forced you to do things you did not want to do." It would actually explain a lot, though, like why she had never contacted anyone the whole time she was gone.

Jennie snorted. "Oh God, I've become one of the mansion's clichés." She put her head in her hands. "This is what I get for bragging about being the trauma-free one. No kidnappings, no blowing anything up, and no going evil. And I end up committing the trifecta. Karma is a huge bitch."

Crystal eyed Jennie warily. She certainly didn't look evil. She didn't like cute puppies, but that wasn't necessarily an indication of being evil, was it? "I think kidnapping are considered a rite of passage here," she offered, "and things do seem to get blown up a lot when powers are involved." She paused for a moment before adding, "You are not evil any more, are you?"

That got a smile. "No, I do not feel a sudden inclination to laugh wickedly, put on a stupid costume, or kick puppies." She eyed the puppy in Crystal's arms. "Your puppy is safe, I am decidedly non-evil." She got off the bed and carefully scratched the puppy behind the ears. "It's an OCD thing," she said by way of apology. "Having the puppy actually gives me more anxiety."

"Oh." This didn't make any sort of sense to Crystal, but she wasn't about to say that to Jennie. "I think he likes you," she said, as Lockjaw opened his eyes and sniffed at Jennie, trying to nudge her with his nose.

Jennie lifted her eyebrows at Crystal. "You know that I'm Obsessive Compulsive, right? That's why everything in the room is the way it is, otherwise I can't relax. I'd never be able to concentrate on anything if I knew we had a dog in the room." She eyed the puppy in Crystal's arms and gave it another scratch. "No offense, sweetie. It's not you, it's me," she told it.

Crystal nodded. "Yes, I just do not understand what having a puppy in the room has to do with needing everything in a room to be organized. He has been here for nearly two weeks and everything is still organized, just as you left it. You do not have to explain it to me, though." She'd rather hear what happened during the summer, not a description of OCD. Despite Jennie's earlier declaration of disliking dogs, she seemed to like petting the puppy. Lockjaw clearly thought so, too, as he decided to lick Jennie's arm.

Somehow Jennie doubted that. She suspected a lot of cleaning was involved before she came up. She was a little touched. "It's....complicated." Jennie said simply. "And he may be little and cute now, but when he gets big he better be nice." She lifted her chin and pointed to two small pinprick scars on the underside. "When I was four I got chased by a pit-bull, and in my panic I tried to climb over a chain link fence, fell, and hung myself by my chin."

"And everything else is....complicated. I don't really feel like talking about it."

"I am sorry, Jennie. I had no knowledge of your prior experience with a dog," Crystal explained softly. "Also, I will not make any attempt to press you into telling me anything you do not yet wish to reveal. If you wish, I will even prevent others from making their own attempts at asking pestering questions. I am not going anywhere anytime soon." She offered Jennie a slight smile. "You know where to find me, after all."

"Thank you," Jennie said sincerely. "I really really appreciate it. I know how fast gossip travels around here. I should know, I perpetrated a lot of it," she gave Crystal a tired grin. "And now I should eat, because well, I'm disgusting. I could see my spine this morning."

"You are not disgusting; you are malnourished," Crystal corrected Jennie. Thinking of herself as disgusting was not beneficial to Jennie. "Are you able to eat whatever you want or are you only allowed to eat certain types of food at this point? Do you want to eat in the room? I can order something for you, and I will go ahead and take Lockjaw to Medusa's room so that you will not be bothered by him." Even though you actually seem to enjoy having him here.

"I'm supposed to eat stuff with a lot of calories, and preferably with lots of vitamins. I have no idea what those could possibly be. Lorna's going to help me on this, I think." Having a gourmet chef help you gain weight probably wasn't a bad thing. "I can't eat too much right now, because my stomach's all shrunk. You know about health food, what should I eat?"

Crystal's eyes widened. If Lorna was going to be involved in this, she was not going to say or do anything that would go against the advice of the Kitchen Goddess. A suggestion of Power Bars, although highly amusing, would likely put her out of Lorna's good graces without a chance of ever improving the damage. "The doctors and Ms. Dane did not give you any suggestions or a list of food? They are not going to prepare the exact foods you require?" Help later would be nice, but Jennie needed to be looked after now, not later. The staff members didn't intend to just leave Jennie to her own devices, did they?

"They're consulting with Doctor Voght at the moment. I demanded that they let me out of the infirmary so I could go sleep in my own bed." Jennie sat back on her bed. "To be honest, Herr Doktor probably rattled off a list of foods I should be eating, but I wasn't exactly paying attention." What with all the emotional upheaval. "I don't know. Maybe soup would be good? Or a sandwich?"

"Soup is an excellent choice, with a sandwich, or maybe just half a sandwich if you feel that you need something more than just soup. Do you have a favorite kind of soup? Do you want a light soup or something with more substance?" The questions flowed one after another, the worries of the past month quickly fading with the relief that Jennie was back. True, she was not in the same condition she had been when she left, but she was here, she was alive, and she was now safe.