xp_logs | Log: Jane, Nathan - Monday Afternoon (Reply)

In which Jane ~~pesters~~ visits Nathan.

Jane was feeling like something of a slacker. She'd popped in to visit Nathan a couple of times since his accident, but it must have been, gosh, at least a week since she'd been by. And that wasn't good. Friends did not leave their shot-up friends high and dry with no entertainment. So Jane was armed. She was dangerous. She had Uno and chocolate chip cookies, and she was going to cheer Nathan right the heck up. If he needed it.

She banged on the door of the boathouse and peered in the window. "Anybody home?"

One of these days he was going to stop napping, seriously. The frustrating part was that his head was clear - or as clear as it could be, given the continuing need to use painkillers. It was just his body that was still not up to much. Nathan rubbed his eyes, peering in the direction of the door. "Come in!" he called a bit hoarsely.

"Hey Nathan!" Jane bounced into the living room, and unceremoniously shed her hat and coat. The cold may not bother her much, but the wet slushiness was unpleasant. "How are we today?"

"Making like a couch potato," he said, smiling. Jane had that affect on you, whatever the situation. "Pardon me if I don't get up. Holes, you know.

"Still? When do they stop being holes and start being ghosts of holes instead?" Jane plopped down on the floor beside the couch. "I come bearing stuff."

"They've actually not been hole-y for a while. It just sounds more dramatic that way." Nathan did shift around slightly on the pillows propping him up, wincing. Worked better to be at least somewhat facing the person you were talking to, then. "I healed up a lot faster when I was twenty-five," he said, offering Jane a tired grin.

"Hey, hey! I'll move so your ancient bones don't have to." Jane hopped over to a more visible perch and grinned at him. "There. See?"

"I'm not ancient, thank you. Just aged." He just felt ancient, these days. "So what did you bring me?" he asked, trying to get a look at what she'd carried in.

Jane made a small squeaking noise and bounced in her seat. "Okay, so I got kinda sick last year and was stuck on the couch for about a week and it was just awful. I do not like puking. It's really gross. Anyway so Ginny came over and sit with me for a couple days while Mike was at work, although Honey came by a couple times, too. Oh! And Colin. But they were just kinda there, all 'Blahblahblah, hey look, American Idol's on!' right? Which is kind of lame. But Ginny would come over with the best thing EVER, and I thought I'd share." She handed him the small Tupperware box. "Also, I brought cookies."

Nathan just gazed at her for a moment, trying not to laugh as he accepted the box of cookies. "Thank you," he said. One of these days I'm going to figure out why it's my lot in life to be surrounded by unusual young women. Must have been something in a past life. "So what's this 'best thing ever'?"

Jane wriggled her fingers in the air dramatically before drawing a small red box from a pocket. "It's Uno! It's a card game. Have you ever played?"

"Nope. People are strange about not wanting to play cards with a telepath, I find..."

"Very strange. I mean, it's not like you'd cheat, right?" Jane gave him a very earnest look.

"Only in poker. And only for very good reasons," Nathan said. Meekly. "Occasionally I have played for things I haven't wanted to lose."

"Hm." Jane sucked on the inside of her cheek. "Well, I suppose if it was for a very good reason..."

"I cheat more often in pool. Hardly anyone will play pool with me because I'm a terrible cheat." He shrugged with one shoulder, giving her an equally lopsided smile. "I do it mostly so that people can rant at me for it. They seem to find it fun."

Somehow, that didn't surprise her. "Thank you for the warning," she replied gravely, suppressing a giggle. "Pool. Nathan. I'll cross that off the list right now."

"Here I am telling you all my secrets. I'd better watch that." Nathan opened the box of cookies, giving them a thoughtful sniff. "These smell good. Did you make them?"

"I did! They're chocolate-butterscotch chip." Jane smiled, pleased. Baking was her therapy and after the avalanche, well, the mansion had not been lacking in sweets. "And you shouldn't worry. I won't tell anybody your secrets. Unless, of course, I'm offered an extravagant sum of money." She paused and thought about it for a moment. "Or a kitten."

Nathan gazed at her for a moment, then grinned. "In case I didn't mention it, Jane, you're a lot of fun to have around."