The Morning After (RP for asthenoseonyourface)

[coatandscarf]

You should have some coffee. -JR

...John? How did you...? Nevermind. When you took my phone. Of course. I already had coffee. RH

One cup? Stingy. -JR

All I need is one, Holmes. RH

I like caffeine. -JR

When are you moving into the office? -JR

Well, I'm packing the things I need now, John, but someone keeps interrupting me. RH

Oh. Who? -JR

Go look in a mirror. Or at Jacob. It's close enough. RH

...Why? -JR

Because it's you who keeps interrupting! RH

Well I'm BORED. -JR

You're welcome to help me pack. RH

Really? Why? -JR

Because you're bored. RH

So? -JR

Just giving you something to do. You're welcome to say no. RH

I'm not saying no. -JR

But why are you helping me? -JR

There a reason I shouldn't? RH *attached is her address*

Comments

[asthenoseonyourface]

John nodded, almost to himself at the end of her story.

"That must have been traumatic, I'm sorry." He almost sounded like he meant it...almost. Janie would have said it, so John figured it was worth a shot. When he was done, however, he lifted his hand to make his point: her work was flawless.

"I'm gonna just assume they're dead, if that's all right." he suddenly declared out of nowhere. Because if they'd hurt her, and they weren't dead...well, he wasn't about to enlist, and traveling to that part of the world was expensive, and he really didn't know her well enough yet to kill a bunch of people for her.

Maybe in a week or two...that was sufficient, wasn't it? He'd have to ask Jock and Janie.

"So how do you do it? The thing." he finally asked, moving to get his coffee again and pick up a danish, offering it to her. "I wasn't as good before I finished college. I still miss things, now and again."

[coatandscarf]

Randy felt a scoff escape her at his statement, her eyes looking up and away as she blinked back tears. "Understatement."

He then floored her, the unshed tears obvious in her wide eyes. "...Sure, yeah. P-probably are, actually." They had gone into that cell not long thereafter, trying to recover the other people they had lost. It had been a partial success, from what she heard.

When he moved to get his coffee, she brought a hand up to rub the tears away. She looked up to see him offer her a danish and shook her head for it. Instead, she reached for her own coffee and took a drink from it. She remained silent at first, trying to think about what he was referring to. The thing... where he wasn't as good until he completed college. She sighed, shaking her head a bit. "Sorry, Holmes, I'm not following. Bit unsettled to follow your train of thought at the moment. What's 'the thing'?" She asked, moving to step out of the kitchen, limping her way towards the living room so she could grab a seat. She'd deal with putting things away later. Right now, she needed to settle down.

[asthenoseonyourface]

John followed her, taking a swig of coffee and wildly grateful she wasn't crying. Yes, there were tears, but she hadn't done that thing Janie did when she cried, where she folded up and clung to him and got his shirt all wet and shook and shook and sobbed and sobbed. That was crying, real crying, and he just...had no idea how to cope with crying women.

"Noticing things." John pressed, not bothering to take a seat. He stared down at her, open and curious and cold. "I've always seen, but I didn't know what I was seeing for years." He paused, growing very still again. "I've never known anyone else that saw the way I do."

[coatandscarf]

Randy motioned for him to sit, taking another sip from the coffee. Seeing things. That was 'the thing'. It was some time before she answered, composing herself with a few more drinks from the coffee. "Noticing things, hm? I've always been observant, especially when it came to people. Always got along well with folks. But I'm not like you are. I can't read things anywhere near as well. I'm more... clinical in my analysis. People are far easier for me to read than things are."

[asthenoseonyourface]

"But there's no difference." John insisted, pacing slowly, even leisurely, ignoring her invitation to sit. "People are things...muscle and bone and tissue, vessels for information. As a doctor, you should know that."

[coatandscarf]

"There's a lot more to people than just what they're physically comprised of, John. If I was just made up of my parts, then whatever I went through in Iraq wouldn't bother me at all," she pointed out, watching him pace over her cup of coffee.