Jake, Alison -- Just as Jake´s arrived at the mansion

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Alison runs into someone she hasn´t seen in a while. And then there are hugs.


Her head was full of plans and possibilities, and Alison was surprised
she wasn't being screamed at by every telepath in the mansion to be
quiet. Then again, she'd had a very long talk with the professor that
morning - at least he knew well enough to not worry as to whatever she
was turning over and over in the back of her mind like that, even as
the more surface related thoughts were bent on the protective
assignment which would start tomorrow. Very early tomorrow, at that.

Going down the steps, head bowed and deep in thought, Alison kept one
hand on the ramp to keep track of where she was going, registering the
sounds around her but not really paying attention to them.

Until one in particular caught her entire attention.

Oh, sure. Remy had no problems watching him as he packed, commenting
his wardrobe, paintings, library
and TV set while doing so. But would he actually touch Jake's bags? Of
course not. Jake scowled.

He was elegantly ignoring the fact that he was only carrying two bags
and his laptop case, and in any case
had added to his muscle mass, just to be on the sure side. Remy had
ditched him to go have a chat with the professor, and Jake was
attempting to find the teachers lounge to leave his bags in. He
thought he
was getting closer...

He was so busy trying to remember the way, he didn't see her until she
was on top of him.

Each person in the mansion had a very particular way of walking. And
even though the tread was far heavier than usual, this was still the
one Alison usually associated to Jake.

Only Jake had left.

Looking up from the designer shoes (which were typical Jake) up to the
face merely a few inches away from hers, Alison considered the sight
before her. Yep. One Jake, complete with 'am I toast or not?'
expression. And bags in hand.

Waitaminute.

Reaching forward, Alison poked him in the shoulder - lightly - as
though making sure he was really there. And then looked at the bags
again. Which were, yes, big enough to contain stuff of the 'staying
over for a while at least' nature. Of course, that didn't mean
permanent. Or even staying at the mansion, it could be a dropping by
on way to hotel in town thing. Frowning a bit, Alison straightened up
from staring at the bags, and looked Jake straight in the eye.

Jake blinked.

She'd just poked him.

And was now looking at him with a suspicious expression. Alison was a
strange, strange woman.

"Hey," he said, cautiously. "Do you think I could drop my bags in the
teacher's lounge until someone finds me somewhere to stay?"

"Stay." Alison contemplated the word for a moment, and then Jake
again. "As in... stay but I'll soon be on my way, lah dee dah, or -
stay stay? Not going away again without a word stay?"

"Stay stay. Unless... I'm not welcome?" Why this option hadn't
occurred to him before, he really couldn't say. It would be an
entirely natural response after the way he'd left, though.

"Stay stay," Alison repeated, lips quirking a bit. "Stay stay is
good" was the murmur, even as she slowly reached over, giving
him time to process what she was about to do only because she
remembered how skittish Jake was about touch sometimes. "I'm glad
you're back." The underlying joy in her voice was soon echoed in the
low laugh that followed. She wasn't letting go of the hug, too.

Startled, he hugged her back. This was unexpected, and had she moved
faster, he'd probably have ended up bashing her with the laptop case.
As it was, he just held on, feeling warmed by the happiness in her
voice. Jake hadn't really had the time to give her a full look over,
but he thought there was something slightly different about her, he
just couldn't put his finger on what, yet.

Finally she pulled back, beaming at him. After all the departures, it
was just so nice to actually have someone just... come back. "Mmm. You
look good." And he did. Not worn out or tired or with that 'something
if after me wah' edge. "Why don't I help you haul your bags upstairs?"
Her grin widened a bit. "You can even have your old room back, if you
like. There hasn't been anyone in it since..."

Jake looked a little uncomfortable. "I think I'll just leave them in
the lounge for now. If that's okay." He smiled. "But, sure, you can
help me carry. Do you want the one with the DVDs or the one with the
books?" at her look, he added, "there's clothes too."

"I'll take clothes anytime, silly." She resisted the urge to reach out
and just poke him. Poking Jake was mean on the poor man's overwhelming
sense of skittishness, after all. "When you're ready - just let me
know and we'll move stuff to your room." Tilting her head to the side,
Alison listened to the footsteps heading down the hallway.

Jake nodded, turning towards the sound of the footsteps. "I'll do
that. And, hey, maybe we could have a cup of coffee sometimes? You
could tell me how many times the mansion has been wrecked since I was
here last, and I'll tell you about that time I met an Alison Blaire
look-alike in a small town in South Korea."

It took all of two seconds for Alison to agree to that, even as she
took a small step back up a stair, smiling down at him a bit. That
sounded like Remy heading this way, and Jake was clearly intent on
meeting up with him alone, from what she could tell. "Sure thing.
Although I'm almost scared to hear that story now," she added,
wrinkling her nose at him. "I'll let you get to whatever you're going
to be up to, now. And Jake?" She leaned down a bit, smiling at him
despite the worries weighing on her mind. "Welcome back."