Log: Johnny and Sarah, Friday afternoon (backdated)

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Sarah runs into Johnny in the kitchen and ends up dumping a fair bit of information on him. Sorry, Johnny.


Time was flying by and Sarah was finding herself overwhelmed by nearly everything in her life at the moment. School was interesting at least but the workload was starting to get to her, especially with finals coming up much sooner than she'd like. Work was going well too but it made it difficult to keep up on her studies at the same time, which sucked because she both didn't want to let her school down or her employer. Eventually she'd have to make a decision between the two, which she didn't want to admit but which she also knew was inevitable.

And then there was Layla. Or, well, there wasn't Layla. Which wasn't her girlfriend's fault, of course, but dammit Sarah really missed her. Skype, texts, and e-mails were all nice but they were no replacement for being together in person, and the time apart was starting to take its toll on her. Their relationship status had two potential outcomes as well, Sarah knew, but unlike the work/school dichotomy she knew which side she was on with Layla. There was no way she'd give up on them as a couple, not while she had any say in the matter, but it was hard to deal with due to the distance between them.

All of which had been weighing heavily on the young mutant's mind, and she didn't really know where to turn with it all. It would all come to a head sooner or later, there was no denying that, but for the time being Sarah had decided to just let it all stew. It had resulted in a higher consumption rate of junk food, which lead her to the mansion kitchen for a late night snack. Entering the room she saw a familiar face and forced a smile for her fellow mutant.

"Hey Johnny, how goes it?"

Johnny turned, barely jumping at her voice and looked over at Sarah, leaving the half-made sandwich on the counter. "Better than you, I think," he said. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I... kinda." Sarah shrugged, heading for the cabinet where the cookies should be and rifling through it with a sigh. "Just a lot goin' on, you know? Nothing for it though, so it'll be ok." Or so she hoped, anyway. "How about you, how've you been?"

"Eh. I busted my arm in the danger room a while back, but it's better now?" Johnny said with a shrug and sighed. "You're not okay. What's wrong?"

"Things are just so busy, ugh." She chomped down on an Oreo, holding it in her mouth while taking a few more with her in one hand and closing the cupboard with the other. Chewing carefully, Sarah placed the cookies on the kitchen counter and removed the remainder of the one she was eating to continue talking. "Sorry. It's just... busy is one thing but it's been harder to deal with without Layla here." She took a glass down from another cupboard and then went to get the milk from the fridge.

Part of Johnny, the part that he never let speak in public always wanted to ask 'like, so, how does it even work when one of you isn't a guy?' whenever Layla was mentioned. He ignored that part and nodded. "Gotta be rough. You heard from her recently?" He grabbed one of the cookies from Sarah's pile and ate it in a single bite.

"We talk all the time, by texts, e-mails, phone, Skype, but..." She paused as she poured the milk, being careful not to spill any of it. "It's not the same as being face to face." Talking was important but so was the physical contact - the holding hands, the cuddling, the just being there - along with the other senses that digital interaction couldn't replace. "I miss her so much."

Would Sarah think he was hitting on her if he gave her a hug? Because he wasn't. But what if she thought that he was? It would mean that a hug was out of the question. Yep. Out of the question. "That's rough," Johnny said. "Can you go visit? Clarice would give you a lift..."

She plopped down on a nearby stool and sighed once again, picking up an Oreo and dipping it into her milk. Sarah wasn't sure if Johnny was pro-dunking or anti-dunking but at the moment she didn't really care. Hopefully it didn't bother him at any rate. "I can, and I have, but... yeah." Sarah wanted her home and she wanted Layla to be with her and she knew it was completely and utterly selfish of her but, much like her Oreo etiquette, she didn't really care.

Johnny shrugged, ignoring the issue with the cookies and milk. It was totally gross because you got crumbs in the milk but you know, he was making a cheeseburger casserole sandwich so he suspected that he couldn't point fingers. "When's she coming home?"

"That's just it, I don't know when... or if..." Sarah trailed off, killing her sentence and her train of thought both with another cookie. She looked down at the milk, telling herself not to cry because hey, she hadn't even spilled the milk, right?

Oh. Oh shit. Johnny reached out and gave Sarah a one-armed hug, pulling her in against his side. "Aww."

Sarah leaned into the hug, careful not to knock over her milk as she did so. "It sucks, man. It just really, really sucks." That was a pretty succinct summary of her situation. "I don't know what to do."

"Dude. I don't even... Dude." Johnny nodded his head. "Have you talked to her about it?" He was so far out of his depth right now. So far.

She shook her head for a second before realizing that he couldn't actually see her doing it, what with her leaning into him and all. "Not yet. I know I should, but it's just... it's the kinda thing you should discuss in person, I think. And when we're in person, which isn't very often, it's not what I wanna talk about I guess. But I should."

Johnny had made out with a cute girl called Tara at Junior Prom and taken a different girl to Senior Prom and Homecoming. It had never been ...serious, you know? The sort of twist you in knots give you all the feelings Sarah had wasn't what he'd had. "I dunno. I think you really need to talk to her in person. Go to bloody Attilan and talk to her."

"I really do, yeah. You're right, I know." Part of her knew that was the case but she hadn't been sure, so hearing it from someone else was helpful. Sarah leaned in for another little hug, smiling up at him. "Thanks, Johnny, I really needed to hear that."

He returned the hug. "Glad I could help."