Very late Sunday night, on the plane to Muir . . .

[x-crowdofone.livejournal.com]

Jamie is not the world's best airline passenger. But hey, he has a lot on his mind.



Jamie: The plane is well over the Atlantic--it's about Hour Three of the flight, with far too much time left, and although by all rights he shouldn't be, Jamie is awake. There's a book open on his lap that he hasn't looked at in nearly an hour, held down by a Game Boy he hasn't touched in nearly that long; he's staring out the window into the empty night, absent-mindedly humming something that--if a listener paid careful attention to the rhythm, since that's the only way to tell--is probably one of Alison's new songs from the concert. This has been going on for a while.

Doug: Doug has been tossing and turning for a while, trying to get some sleep. As time passes, he becomes more and more agitated, placing his pillow over his head to try and block out Jamie's completely tuneless humming.

Jamie: Jamie clicks the overhead light on, eyes the book, then shrugs and clicks it back off, twiddling the air-jet a little while he does so, then stares out the window again, still humming. The tune has probably changed, but who can tell?

Doug: Doug makes a half-growl and stuffs the pillow behind his head, staring at the underside of the overhead luggage compartments. Fishing out a pair of headphones, he turns his CD player on to try and drown Jamie out.

Jamie: Jamie doesn't really notice any of this; he starts tapping his fingers on the book in much more skillful counterpoint to his abysmal humming.

Doug: Doug doesn't mind the tapping so much, but tweaks the volume dial up a bit more on his CD player, enough so that if Jamie weren't humming, it might be heard coming out of his earphones.

Jamie: Jamie's still oblivious, but he's getting into it a little more; this is probably a happy song, or at least something that's taking his mind of whatever's got him still awake after an all-nighter the previous night and three hours sitting down in a warm plane. The humming shades into whistling, maybe a touch louder but definitely more piercing, and if anything more tuneless.

Doug: Doug rolls his eyes and jerks out his earphones, annoyed. 'Dude, is it possible for you to be any more tone-deaf?'

Jamie: Jamie jumps slightly and the whistling cuts off. "Huh? Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize it was bugging anybody."

Doug: Doug looks around and notices everyone sighing in relief over the respite from Jamie's off-key humming and whistling, but is too polite to say so.

Jamie: "Just kind of a reflex. Bored and antsy. I'll try to keep a lid on it."

Doug: Doug quashes a sigh and brings his seat back up. Deciding to help everyone else be able to at least grab some sleep, Doug digs through the carryon under his feet, coming out with a deck of cards. 'Why antsy?'

Jamie: "Feel like I should've stayed behind, except I promised the doc. Or at least left a dupe, and the heck with whether or not it woulda worked. Kitty's gonna hole up with her laptop, I can tell."

Doug: 'Well, a promise is a promise. And I dunno if leaving a dupe would have been wise. I mean, have you ever tried having one at a distance before? And I imagine Kitty will be okay. And I bet half of her time holed up with her laptop is going to involve IM conversations with you. You guys will manage. It's only a week.'

Jamie: "Never had the chance to, but I should've tried." Jamie shakes his head. "It's not--there's stuff going on, and it's not really my place to talk about it, and there's nothing I can--look, man, go ahead and get some sleep, I'll knock off the annoying crap. I just can't do anything about anything until we get off this stupid plane, and I hate feeling like that."

Doug: Doug deals out five cards for a poker hand. 'Nah, it's okay. If you need to talk, I can stay up. I'll just claim some sleeping space when I get to Muir Island. Besides, I think this is a little more important. After all, I seem to be turning into the designated talk-to person. So, the talk-to person is in.' Doug rips open a few packets of peanuts, creating a pile for Jamie and a pile for himself. 'Ante up, dude.'

Jamie: "I would love to talk about it with somebody." Jamie sighs and slides a peanut into the middle of the tray. "But I seriously can't. It's personal, and not my personal, and I know it wouldn't go any farther than you, but . . . it wouldn't be right."

Doug: Doug antes his own peanut and discards. 'I totally understand, man. And I definitely respect that. Hell, I seem to have somehow become the guy everyone confesses personal stuff to. Beats me how it happened. But anything you can talk about, I'm here. I'm sure it's in the roommate code somewhere.'

Jamie: "Right after not leaving your dirty underwear on the floor." Jamie sighs again, and tries to concentrate on his grandfather's poker lessons. "She's gonna forget to eat. She always does when she gets worked up or really into something."

Doug: Doug deals out the second round of cards and throws two peanuts into the pot. 'Well, I can think of a solution for that. One of us tells Paige to keep an eye on her. She's a bit of a mother hen, and she worries about everyone. I'm sure she can manage.'

Jamie: "Hard to keep an eye on her when she doesn't want one kept, though."

Doug: 'Paige seems pretty stubborn to me. I doubt she's one to give up very easily.'

Jamie: Jamie snorts. "Well, she made friends with Jono, so I gotta agree with you there. Couple other options too." He manages a grin. "I could not play fair again."

Doug: Doug gives Jamie an answering grin. 'Use Artie and Illyana as spies?'

Jamie: "You know, they have Cadbury eggs year round in England. I checked. I could buy a lot of help with a few of those." The grin widens a bit. "'Course, 'Yana'll raise her prices if she finds out I had a big job while she was out of town."

Doug: Doug snickers. 'Does Piotr realize you're turning his little sister into a mercenary?'

Jamie: "Hey, all I did was give her a cookie after the first time. She came up with the pay scale all by herself. Besides, you have no idea how cute it is watching her haggle."

Doug: Doug throws down a pair of aces. 'I think it's physically impossible for Illyana to do anything that isn't cute.'

Jamie: Jamie grins, lays down the other two aces and a pair of tens, and rakes in the peanuts. "Sounds about right. Ms. Blaire and I had a bit of an argument once on who it'll be harder on once she starts noticing boys--Piotr, for having to beat them all away with a stick, or 'Yana, because her brother's beating all the boys away with a stick."

Doug: Doug laughs at the image. 'My money's on Piotr, because Yana will probably have him wrapped around her little finger just like everyone else.'

Jamie: "Already there. You'd think she'd have longer fingers."

Doug: Doug chuckles and deals out the next hand.
Doug: 'Man, I've said it before, but I'll say it again. That concert kicked ass.'

Jamie: Jamie picks up his cards and slides two peanuts into the center. "It did, didn't it? Man, that was a rush. I still can't believe I actually opened for Alison Blaire, at an actual club." He grins. "And once I find where the old crowd is hiding, I am so back in with them. New Alison Blaire mp3s are worth their weight in favors done."

Doug: Doug antes up and picks up his cards, grinning back. 'By the way, I'm in with you on that little mission. Besides, I was the one who helped set up the recording equipment, so I figure we both have proprietary rights on the new MP3s, and thus any favors they buy.'

Jamie: "Fine, fine, we can both be mysterious gift-bearing heroes to the benighted. I bet I still find somebody faster than you do."

Doug: Doug bares his teeth in a mischeivous grin. 'Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong, roomie.'

Jamie: Jamie grins. "I'm afraid you've just fallen victim to one of the classic blunders, Doug, my friend. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia.' But only slightly less well-known is this: Never go in against a mutant Kansas farmboy when pride is on the line."

Doug: Doug calls and raises Jamie's bet. 'Or I could just build up an immunity to iocane powder and line your fish stick box with it...'

Jamie: Jamie smiles and spreads three tens out on the tray table. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

Doug: Doug stops Jamie as he reaches for the pot. 'As Lee Corso would say, 'Not so fast, my friend.'' Doug grins and lays down a queen-high straight.

Jamie: Jamie pantomimes laughing hysterically and then falling over midway through, thumping softly into the back of his seat. "Good thing I'm better at six-threaded parallel Internet searches than I am at cards. --Thanks, man, I do feel better."

Doug: Doug nods. 'Good. That was kind of the point. And I don't mean to push, but I can tell that you're seriously worked up over something. If you need to talk...'

Jamie: "Yeah, I know. But it's not that kind of problem yet. I'm mostly just worried about Kitty."

Doug: 'Seriously, do you want me to drop a little note to Paige, ask her to keep a discreet eye on Kitty, just in case?'

Jamie: "Can I get back to you after I've actually had the chance to talk to her? I might just be going all dumb worried boyfriend for no reason."

Doug: Doug nods. 'Totally. And yeah, communication is a good thing. Nine times out of ten, things can be solved by just talking honestly about what's going on.'

Jamie: "Says the Amazing Tongue-Tied Man."

Doug: 'Yeah, well, most of my advice comes with the caveat do as I say, not as I do.'

Jamie: "Appreciate it, either way. Now get some sleep, you look as wiped as I feel."

Doug: Doug passes his CD player over and squeezes Jamie's shoulder. 'You try and get some too, man.' With that, he curls up and quickly falls asleep.

Jamie: Jamie pops the headphones over his ears and starts the concert CD . . . but although he remembers not to hum along to the music, he's still staring out the window when the wheels kiss pavement hours later.