xp_logs | Jono and Paige

Jono and Paige sit on the roof and look at the stars, but they're really mostly looking at each other.

Paige walked the paths around the mansion, enjoying the feeling of the night air. She had finished a paper earlier and, taking some advice, decided to take a break and go for a walk. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked up and saw Jono hanging out on the roof. Surprised that he was able to get up there, Paige raised her arm and waved. “Hey! How’s the view up there?”

Jono leaned forward and waved at Paige before pulling out his phone and texting her. 'It's great, you should come up, I'll meet you by the library and we can come back out together?'

Paige sent back an “Ok!” and jogged back toward the door. Since he had been a little closer, Jono had beat her to the library. “Hi! Didn’t know there was roof access.”

“A cat showed me.” Jono typed, eyes crinkling in a smile. “It’s a great view. I’m excited to share it with you.”

“Lead the way,” Paige said, waving her arm to indicate Jono should go first. She really should explore the mansion more when she had free time. There were probably plenty more fun places she hadn’t discovered yet.

Jono led the way to the roof, making sure to offer a hand to keep her steady as she climbed through the window and onto the shingles. He sat down and patted the space next to him, pulling his lightwriter out of his pocket in anticipation of a conversation.

“Wow! You were right, the view is nice up here.” From this vantage, Paige could look across the mansion grounds and over the tops of the woods that surrounded them. It was lovely! And much more peaceful than most of the house.

“Cata, the cat that showed me, is very smart.” Jono typed. “Can see some of the stars peeking out but there’s still a lot of light pollution out here. I’ve been trying to find different constellations.”

“A cat showed you?” Paige leaned back and looked up at the stars. There were less to see here, but she could at least pick out Orion’s Belt. Nudging Jono’s shoulder she pointed up at it.

Jono leaned back with her and gently scooted closer to her as he craned his neck to follow her finger.

“Yeah, Cata. She’s a species of fae from Wales. She’s great.” Jono paused and glanced at the goosebumps on Paige’s arm. “You warm enough?”

“It’s cooler up here than I thought.” Paige shrugged. “I’ll bring a heavier jacket next time. Anyway, she’s a what?”

Jono shrugged off his jacket and gently draped it over Paige’s shoulders. Before she could protest he typed. “Constantly on fire. I’ll be fine without it.”

Jono laid down with his back flat against the roof and turned his head to look at her with his eyes squinted in a smile. “See?” He typed. “Fine. My sweater’s plenty warm enough.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Paige turned a bit pink and put her arms through the sleeves of the jacket. “Hey, this is pretty comfortable. You’re definitely not gettin’ this back.” She laid down next to him and gave him a shit eating grin.

Jono glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and blushed. He hoped it wasn’t too visible in the darkness. “Keep it.” Jono typed, “I’ve got more than one jacket.”

Once he was finished typing, he stretched his arms out, vainly enjoying the way the moonlight glinted off his rings. When he brought his arms back by his side his hand settled next to Paige’s, just barely not brushing hers.

“So you’re definitely an only child.” Paige had expected him to play along. “You’ll get the jacket back, don’t worry. I was only teasin’.”

“It looks good on you.” Jono typed, turning his head to look at her more fully. “I can always make another one.”

Did it matter that it had taken him years to get that jacket how he wanted it? Not particularly when Paige had so definitively told him that it was comfortable and she was keeping it, and not when he got such a thrill out of seeing her wear it. The moonlight glinted off her hair, making it shine like gold, he tapped her hand with his index finger, hoping his silver rings didn’t feel too chilled against her skin.

“Wait, you made this?” Paige immediately sat up and started looking over the jacket. She hadn’t looked closely enough before, but some of the patches were hand embroidered or they were painted along with buttons that were made out of bottle caps and safety pins. “Jono, this is amazin’, I’m not takin’ this from you. Like I said, I was only jokin’.”

Jono sat up and turned to look her in the eye. “It looks good on you. Really good. Wear it as long and as much as you want.”

He tentatively reached out a hand to touch her wrist. “I mean it.”

Paige thought for a second, then took Jono’s hand in hers. “How about a compromise? I give you your jacket back when we go back inside and you can help me make one of my own. Sound fair?”

Jono wasn’t sure that his heart still beat, but he had that feeling in his chest like it was trying to escape the cage of his ribs. He tentatively squeezed Paige’s hand, and then clumsily typed with one hand, unwilling to let go but scared to hold on. “Deal. I’ll make you a Loretta Lynn patch, maybe a big one for the back?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Paige squeezed his hand back and, feeling a lot of metal, looked down at it. “Wow, you’ve got a lot of rings. Anything special or do you just like them?” She tilted his hand back and forth so she could examine all of them.

“Just like them,” he typed, sure that if any more blood rushed to his cheeks he’d get light headed. He let her move his hand however she pleased. “I’ve got more back in my room.”

“They’re pretty.” Paige ran her thumb over one of them, before letting their hands drop. She lay back down next to Jono.

“Did you like that one?” Jono asked, turning to look at her. “I have another of that exact one. You can have it if you like it.”

“It’s pretty, but I don’t need to take your jewelry.” Paige looked over at him, trying to figure out why Jono seemed so set on giving her something. “My birthday isn’t until April, you can get me a gift then.”

Jono rolled his eyes and sat up, sadly removing his hand from hers so he could take the ring off his index finger.

“Left or right?” He asked expectantly. “I’m not taking no for an answer, let me be nice to you.”

What he really meant was ‘let me pay you back for making me feel normal again,’ but he didn’t know how to say that without sounding pathetic.

“I do let you be nice to me, you gave me that CD.” Paige rolled her eyes back at him and offered him her left hand without thinking. “So we’re just going to match now? Is that our thing?”

Jono slid the ring onto her thumb with barely steady hands and then quickly laid back down next to her. “Well, if you didn’t look so good in my things…but I really don’t mind being associated with you, if we’re a matching set, I don’t mind in the least.”

“You’ll mind when my siblings won’t stop making fun of us….Could always ignore them until they get bored, though.” Paige looked down at her watch and cringed. “As much fun as this has been, I should really go finish up some homework before I pass out. Sorry. I’m definitely coming back up here again when I need another break.” She took off Jono’s jacket and handed it back to him.

“I should probably head in too.” He typed, awkwardly holding his jacket in his lap. “What day in April is your birthday? I’ll have to do something.”

“The 13th,” Paige said, assessing how best to climb back down to the window. “You’ll have to text me when yours is so I can add it to my calendar.” Carefully, she held onto the edge of the roof as she lowered herself down to the windowsill.

Jono climbed down after her and then opened the window so she could climb through. He offered her his other hand to help steady her on her way back inside.