034; dictated

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Ordinarily, stories about prison breaks and explosions would be right up Spike's alley. Today, however, he seems stressed out over something completely different. As if the upcoming holiday -- he hates all holidays, but this one in particular is the worst -- wasn't enough, he's been unemployed for way too long. Bills are going to start stacking up soon.]

Would it kill the castle to put out classified ads once a week?

[He tosses the open journal on the coffee table and sighs as he picks up his oversized mug. How is he going to raise money for a family at this rate? (Not that he's even dating anyone, but you know. It could happen.)]

There's got to be someone looking for a guy with virtually no experience in anything practical. [Hear that journal? He's talking to you. Great catch over here!] Maybe I could start selling jokes and see how that turns out. Or something in marketing. [Hm. There's an idea...] I could do that.

(Gwaine)

[Despite Spike's own personal crisis to deal with (that he's totally not procrastinating on right after he started), he hasn't seen him moping around the lobby like usual. Which means he's probably moping alone somewhere. And that fight with Julia sounded pretty bad from where they were all evesdropping in the next room. -- Thus, Spike will be a buddy and force him to do something he hates.]

Hey. Want to go out?


ooc - RE: Chandler/Friends loss!

Comments

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Oh, so that's why he still doesn't have a girlfriend. Good to know.]

Doesn't sound like much of a job to me.

[... Like she'd really know about jobs.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Way to keep kicking him while he's down. It's not like he's never had a girlfriend!]

I'm still trying to put my resume out there. All it has on it is my name, but you never know what will get attention.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Okay, he's had a girlfriend. A crazy girlfriend. Which possibly counts for... something.]

That might. [And not in a good way, man.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Of course it counts! Now please don't mention her ever again.]

I'll let you know how it goes.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

Please do.

[And a pause before she'll actually get down to the real reason why she started talking to him. It wasn't really to mock his pathetic joke-telling.]

You think you might have time to take a break from your job search later?

[Because she... needs a friend. Who isn't the asshole who went to pal around with his ex without telling her. Or anyone related to him.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[His awesome joke telling, thank you. But he gets it. Even if this puts him in that awkward territory between friends. He is more sensitive than Max and Jet, so...]

I think I've been ready for once ever since I started.

[How important is a financial crisis and his failing career, really?]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[That's what she wanted to hear. They may have their differences, and especially different opinions about what constitutes a good sense of humor, but at the end of the day, she knows she can count on him when it really matters. Even if she could be potentially putting him in an awkward position.]

I have Scrabble.

[Just don't call her pretty again. That was... really inexplicably weird.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Yeah... Just let him take care of Gwaine and he'll be right over.]

Duly noted. I'll come by in a while.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[... Well, if that's the case, maybe she shouldn't hold her breath.]

I'll see you, then.

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[It's something like 50/50 odds.]

You got it.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[It's at this point that she'll go ahead and close the journal and go back to... whatever she's doing while waiting for him to maybe or maybe not show up. Moping? No. Julia doesn't mope. Not for long, anyway. She's too proud for that. (She may have found a more constructive outlet.)]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Later... A lot later, Spike shows up at her door. At this point it's very possible he came over for a completely unrelated reason, but he should still get points for what she doesn't know.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Good thing she didn't hold her breath.

Give her a minute or two before she finally answers the door.]

Glad you could make it.

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Hey, he's a busy guy. He's got job interviews and ridiculously depressed best buddies to make uncomfortable.]

Yeah, sorry. There was a... thing.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

A thing.

[... Does she really want to know?]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

A job... thing. [Remember how he was looking for one? Totally legit excuse.]

So. [... you asked him here.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

You found one?

[Focusing on the job part. Yeah, she did ask him here. But she can't really.... Saying, "I don't want to be alone right now" sounds incredibly awkward, and she's never been good with that sort of thing. So, instead, she'll silently pull the door open a little wider as an invitation.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[He gets that, and enters on the pretense of binning off her hospitality -- the usual.]

I might have. Going to see how it goes tomorrow. [Actually happy about it, but be tones it down for her... Nobody wants good news rubbed in their face.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Maybe it's the result of days of being on an emotional roller coaster, but right now, she's overwhelmingly grateful. Grateful not only that he showed up, but also that he's not asking her questions. Giving her that one shred of normalcy that she's needed so badly. She's so tired of being asked questions.

... Next step will be getting her to leave her room.]

What is it?

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[He figured she was going to ask that next. There's a lengthy pause while Spike crosses the room, presumably to find a place to sit and not just to buy time.]

Sales. [Oh look, a seat. He'll be taking that now.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[There aren't many seats to choose from in that room, and so, with that, she'll take the only other one left. She takes a more modern approach to her decorating; it's stylish, but minimal. Too much clutter would ruin the effect.]

Sounds exciting.

[And she's honestly trying to sound genuine. No, really. She knows he has to be more excited than he's letting on (considering, well, it's him), and when it comes to the big stuff, friends don't burst their friends' bubbles. But she cannot think of anything that sounds more boring.]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[That could be a secret strategy of his. Make is sound as boring as possible and he won't have to go into detail about what it really is. Surely that will never come up again.]

Around here, I'll take it. [You know, whatever.] So what about you? Keeping busy doing your... [...shopping, he's guessing.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Don't mind her while she shuffles some papers away for a second as she settles down at her desk. Nothing to see here.]

I stay busy.

[... Yep, she's avoiding discussing what it is she does, exactly. Shopping is about accurate. But it's totally legit! Really. :|]

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Noticing the shuffling... If only he knew pointing it out wasn't the best distraction technique.]

What's that?

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Really, it should be a non-issue. They're just papers, right? If he's watching carefully, he'll see that she gets just a little too jumpy about it for a fraction of a second.]

It's nothing.

[Act casual, Julia. You're good at that, right?]