Holidays in Paradise // Hawaii

[x-polarisstar.livejournal.com]

After a nice weekend with her parents, Lorna takes off for Hawaii to visit the last member of her family--her puppy, an experience which she's very much looking forward to. The current caretaker of her puppy on the other hand, she's nervous about.

Of course, Alex isn't really much better.



Stepping off the plane in Hawaii was always like winding up in another world. The feeling only intensified as Mailani slipped a lei over her head and greeted her with cheerful 'aloha'. Driving up to the apartment complex was mysteriously like coming home and the pangs in Lorna's chest made her wonder if this had been a good idea. But she was here for Lili, not Alex. And her parents would be here soon.

She'd stalled for a while once they got to the apartment, chatting with Mailani about her life and school work. It had been a while since they'd last caught up so they had plenty to talk about. Finally, after an hour or so and a couple glasses of wine--sneaky child, that Mailani--Lorna had gathered up the bag of toys she'd brought for the dogs and wandered around to the apartment where she'd lived so briefly.

Alex had been pacing in the living since that morning, much to Jared’s amusement. Or not so much now as Jared had tried to rope Alex into playing a little PS2 with him, but the blonde had lasted maybe one round before he was up again, pacing in front of the TV with the puppies at his heels, as Jared continued to try and play.

It was the knock on the door that finally made Alex stop and stare at the door with wide frightened eyes as Crush and Lili rushed at it, barking happily. With a small sigh, Jared pushed pause and got up, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Everything’s going to be alright man.”

It really didn’t matter what Alex’s response to that was as Jared moved past him and went to open the door. “Lorna! Aloha!”

She didn't even know she'd been holding her breath until that moment. The islander enveloped her in an enthusiastic hug and she couldn't help smiling. "Aloha, Jared," she responded with genuine warmth, drawing back and glancing back down the row of doors at Mailani who gave her a wave then vanished back into her apartment. "How have you been?"

At her feet, Lili was in an absolute frenzy of gleeful barking, her tail wagging so hard that her whole body wriggled with the movement.

"I have been well. It's very good to see you! And now, I have to go help my sister at the store." He looked over his shoulder to see a panicked Alex, who he hadn't informed of his working this afternoon. Tossing his roommate a grin, Jared picked up his messenger bag and after saying goodbye to the puppies, moved past Lorna.

Alex quickly composed himself and managed an easy smile as he finally approached the door. "Aloha, Lorna."

They both missed Jared's thumbs up as he passed Mailani's window.

Lorna stared about ten seconds too long at him, wondering how it was possible that he looked so good. Wondering how it could twist her up inside that he did. She dropped to her knees to tend to Lili before the little dog could hurt herself with joy. "Hey, um. Maholo. For taking care of her." She glanced up at him and smiled. "She looks happy."

He didn't mind that Lorna was staring as Alex was mimicking the action. Lorna looked thin...much too thin and while he realized he had no right really to worry, alarm bells were going off all the same. Still, this visit was about the puppies, not him and he kept his smile as he too leaned down, pulling Crush back his collar so the now large dog wouldn't bowl Lorna over in his joy. "Nothing a little time in the sun couldn't do. And I should be thanking you for letting her stay. Crush has been much happier with her around."

"She missed him when I had her back in New York. She played a little with Joyita but it wasn't the same." Lili flopped over onto her back and wriggled to encourage belly scratches. Lorna obliged. "I brought them some toys. I know you probably have a million but I couldn't help myself."

Crush pulled until Alex let him go and went to nudge Lorna's elbow, wanting some of her attention. It was clear the dogs thought they belonged to both humans, a thought that made Alex sad for a moment. "They have already been spoiled like crazy by Mailani, Vida and Jared's family. A little more can't hurt."

Vida. Jealousy that she had no right to flashed through her. "Are you still dating her? How's that going?" she managed to ask in a light tone, turning her attention to Crush for a minute while Lili attacked the bag of toys resting by the door.

Alex bit his lip, realizing that probably wasn't the best thing to bring up. "Yeah, we're still dating. It's going great." He sighed softly, not that he didn't want to admit it, more that he almost wished it wasn't true. "We're really happy."

Lorna smiled up at him, hands buried in Crush's golden fur. "That's good to hear. You deserve it. I've been...oh, Lili, no, no. That's not a toy, that's my shoe. Lili!" With a triumphant yap, Lili got the sandal off Lorna's foot and raced away into the apartment, obviously hoping for a chase. Seeing this, Crush tore after her, barking merrily. Lorna sighed, "I liked that shoe."

"If it makes you feel any better, she seems to like Jared's shoes too. He has been replacing his sandals at least once a week since she came." Alex stood up and offered a hand to her, trying very hard not to sound anxious for her to continue what she had been saying. She was TOO thin and Alex wanted to know why, but he wasn't going to ask. It was none of his business now after all...

"Oh, no, really? I tried to have her trained, really. It just...didn't take I guess." She hesitated a moment then took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. The shoe would keep them occupied for a few minutes so she took a moment to look around, everywhere but her ex-fiance. "Anyway. How have you been? School's good?"

"I think for Lili it's a sign of affection. Jared really doesn't mind," he assured her as he moved further into the apartment, moving behind the counter of their small kitchen. "Can I get you anything?" Alex asked as he opened the fridge, pulling out a can of coke for himself. "School been great. Life's just really been school, work and surfing. How's the mansion? Still standing?"

"Water? Or iced tea would be great." Anything to counteract the wine that was making her head spin just a little bit. Wicked, tricksey Mailani. "School's still standing. If you don't count that thing in Prague, things are downright quiet." She followed over to the counter and hopped up on one of the bar stool, kicking off her other sandal since it was probably a lost cause anyway. "I'm, uh, not on the team right now." She hadn't intended to tell him that, much less tell him in the first fifteen minutes. It has always been hard to hold her tongue with him.

Alex turned for a moment to get a glass so he could pour some iced tea from a pitcher he'd pulled from the fridge. He occupied himself with her drink as he considered how exactly to take that bit of news and how to possibly work in how to ask about her current condition. As he handed her the glass, he settled on just simply asking, "Why?"

"Thanks." She took a drink first, trying to decide how much to tell him. "I said I wasn't hungry one too many times. And David ratted me out to Amelia. So, off the team and back to therapy until I get it under control again." Lorna shrugged deliberately, like it wasn't a big deal. She didn't want him to worry about it, though she knew he would.

Practically sighing in relief that he hadn't had to ask outright, Alex leaned on the counter across from her, holding the soda can in his hands. "Did something happen?" He figured sticking to the simple questions was best, let her share what she wanted as he tried not to appear overly worried.

"Not...not really. I mean, things have been stressful and there's been...some other things going on. But it was more just...well, you know how I get when I feel like I don't have control." She rattled the ice in her glass, listening to it clink. "Anyway, it's not anything to worry about. I'm working on it. How's that internship of yours going?"

Damn, not nearly enough for him to be even slightly at ease, but Alex wasn't going to push. It wasn't his place. "It's alright. I've been working out at the Kilauea lab a lot this past month working on some experiments pertaining to the recent earthquakes."

"Oh yeah?" Lorna's eyes lit up and she leaned in. They'd always shared their love of their major even though he'd tended more toward vulcanology and she seismology. "Are you getting to do any of the tests yourself or is it just running errands for the grad students?"

"I'm doing a lot on my own since I was here all summer." This was a safe topic and Alex wouldn't admit to being addicted to the happy sparkle in her eyes.

"That's a good way to get special privileges." So was dating the professor's only child but Lorna didn't let herself think about that. Besides, she well knew that Alex wasn't just coasting on connections. He was genuinely good at this. "We're not doing anything nearly that exciting. Though we have a couple of new kids and you should see the things they can do. I could do my whole thesis on how Amara and Julio's powers play off each other."

"Yeah, I'm practically a grad student. I've been getting a lot of extra credits and everything." And he was good at his job, plus he enjoyed it. Alex would like to think he could have been able to get the job without dating Vida...but not as an undergrad. "Are you doing powers training now?" He asked as he held in his excitement. That must be incredibly interesting.

Lorna nodded, propping her hand under her chin. "Yep. Both the regular rotating class schedule and I've got a couple specialty students. Neither of them are magnekinetics but well, the one generates seismic waves and the other is a variation of a pyro. Her manifestation blew out a volcano in Brazil back in August. Thank God New York's fairly stable seismically. There was that 5.1 back in 2002 but mostly it's quiet."

Alex nodded. "We heard about that volcano in Brazil, one of the other grad students went there to study it. I didn't realize it was Amara! Huh..."

"Well, it's not the kind of thing that you really want in the press, you know? Hopefully your grad student doesn't waste too much time trying to assign a natural cause to it." Lorna wrinkled her nose, thinking about the frustration inevitably in store for the student. When you spend your time studying natural processes, the fact that something might not be natural takes a lot longer to cross your mind. "Of course, if he's worth his degree, he'll figure out that it wasn't naturally caused."

"I don't remember what he had concluded, in fact I really only heard in passing that Dr. Rocca was sending a student." He shrugged as he paused to take sip. "I can probably find out if you're interested."

"If he's back already, he must have figured it out but yeah, if you could, that would be great. I love to see the report." Lorna was pleased for more reasons than just the obvious. This was a lot easier than she'd anticipated it being. Things had been so awkward between them for so long. It seemed that 10 months was finally long enough that they could talk without it hurting every moment.

Not every moment, no. But in a way, it still hurt. Alex took a sip of soda, not thinking about that right, grinning happily about the fact he could help. "Sure thing. I have to go in tomorrow to turn in my own report so I'm sure I can ask Dr. Rocca for it. What else are you going to be doing while your here?" Then a moment later he slapped a hand to his forehead. "I almost forgot. When Jared's mother heard you were coming for Thanksgiving, she insisted you come spend it with us."

With Jared's family? "Oh, well, um...actually, my parents are flying out. We were going to have Thanksgiving out here together so..." Her hands released her glass and tangled together instead. "My mom wanted you to join us actually."

Him, alone with Lorna and her family? "Why don't you invite them? I know Jared's mother wouldn't mind. Hell, you've seen his family, two more people won't make much more of a difference." Yeah, that was much better. He could deal if there more people around.

"I'll have to ask them." She slid off the bar stool and whistled for Lili. "I'm going to take her for a walk, okay? I haven't had a chance to run with her for a while."

Alex nodded to the back door. "Take her for a run down the beach. I'll take Crush with me while I go down to the surf shop and asked Jared."

Lorna nodded, "Sounds good. I'll just keep her with me tonight and we'll drop by tomorrow." Lili bounded up to her and Lorna bent to clip a ring around her collar, giving her an invisible leash. "Thanks for the drink."

Walking over to the door and pulling out a retractable leash from a basket, Alex bent down to attach it to Crush, who he had to physical separate from Lili. "Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow then." He hesitated slightly at the door before putting his hand on the knob and opening it.

Lorna smiled softly and turned away, afraid of the sudden domesticity of the moment. "Yeah. See ya."