I'll be there for you... when you come back from the expedition

[huntersdaughter]

Who: Jo, Jet, Spike S., Max, Julia, and Gwaine.
Where: Jo's house in the city.
What: Gwaine returns after the expedition. Julia is upset. Clearly.
When: ... when Gwaine returns.
Notes: Friends Loss Continues.



[Apparently, when you're raised in a military-like compound and not exposed to pop-culture while you grow up -- you miss out on a lot of things. Max has recently realized that she doesn't exactly know all of the movies that Jo and Julia grew up loving. We'll skip over the part where Jo and Julia know all the words to Lawfully Pretty and skip right to where they're trying to explain to Max that hard work does pay off and that the core message is really about accepting you for yourself, and that the sequel deals with a side of animal rights. Which, they figure Max will appreciate.]

We can watch the next one, too. [You know, in case Gwaine isn't back yet. She glances to the boys, because she is not putting in Die With Difficulty again. This is supposed to be making Julia feel better.]

Comments

Pre-Gwaine.

[huntersdaughter]

[Come sit on the couch at Jo's place. Or the chairs. Or mill about the kitchen and eat some of the potatoes she's made recently. She's testing recipes...]

Someone remind me to let the dogs out when this is over.

[whatialways_do]

[That and the fact that she was one when the movie came out might have had something to do with it. But she sat down and watched it all that same, and ... still wasn't sure she was getting it, but that's okay.]

I think Bruiser's my favorite.

[also, HI PUPPIES. Max is going to be giving you lots of attention]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Don't mind Julia. She's only half-listening to this conversation because she's decided to take it upon herself to go ahead and put in that second movie. In fact, she kind of snatched it and almost ran with it before anyone could say otherwise.

Lawfully Pretty? Is totally serious shit. Anyone who comes between her and it will die.

She seems in pretty upbeat spirits, though. At least, in comparison to what she has been all week. After she pops the movie in, she stays on the floor, propped on her knees, staring up at the television screen almost excitedly.]

Here we go.

[huntersdaughter]

You know, her ex-boyfriend in the first one looked a lot like Alaric. [Oh, Matt Davis.]

Does anyone want tater tots? [Yep. Potatoes.]

[whatialways_do]

[hand shoots up in the air in favor of small, fried, potato balls, before her head tips to the side]

He did.

[another beat]

I miss him.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Of course, that'll be her hand going up in the air, too. She doesn't even bother to look away from the screen.

But she really wishes they'd be quiet. Who cares about this Alaric guy? There's a movie coming on! She makes a little "shh"ing noise.]

It's starting.

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Spike is hanging out on a nearby chair, half-listening until Jo mentions tater tots. Oh yes god, an out.]

Don't get up, I'll grab them. [And he shoots right up before Jo has the slightest chance to beat him. He might have to grab a few beers while he's at it to make it through this one. (Or maybe pretend to answer the door and sneak out the back.)]

The Idiot Brother Returns

[huntersdaughter]

[The sound of the door opening and closing makes the dogs bark.

WELP. So much for sneaking in quietly, Gwaine.]

We're all up here. [She wants no sad "Hi..." from you tonight.]

[gwaine.livejournal.com]

[When Gwaine suddenly shows up at Jo's door when just a few seconds before he'd been at the border, he barely even blinks. He's finding it difficult to focus on little things like that when he has a blinding headache. Just one of many gifts the subway crash left him with. There's also a bruise over his left eye, which extends down to his cheek and back to almost his ear and his left index finger is swollen and refuses to bend. Assorted aches and pains aside, he's at his sister's house and he can eat properly and he can find Julia and she'll nurse him back to a happy state.

It's with this thought in mind that he pushes the door open and walks inside. He greets the dogs and follows the sound of Jo's voice to where the others are. Sorry, Jo, but you're getting the saddest hi of all today.]

"Hhhi."

[whatialways_do]

[Yay, it's Gwaine! They're ... oh, they're not supposed to be happy to see him. They're mad at him because Julia's mad at him, and really, being this angry at Gwaine is not going to get anyone anywhere, but that's not Max's distinction to make. It's that realization as well as the state of Gwaine that makes her frown and sink into the back of the couch a bit]

... You don't look so hot.

[huntersdaughter]

[Jo is up and trying to get the dogs to settle down. She's trying to give her brother some space, but really... he's been gone a week and he looks like he should've just stayed here.]

I have potatoes? [Food might fix his "Hhhhi." at least.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[The sound of that familiar greeting causes everything to stop. Everything to go numb. Maybe she'd been picturing this moment in her head for an entire week, but when it comes down to it, all she can do is sit there and wait.

Or, at the very least, wait for the inevitable anger to set in.

It seems like forever before she finally stands up and turns to face Gwaine. If there's some sort of explanation for his current condition, well, that can wait. Because there's only one item of explanation she wants out of him right now. Doesn't matter that she's just interjected herself into a conversation that she wasn't part of (and was totally ignoring).]

Long time no see.

[Though, for now, she's making her best attempt at being casual, her voice is icy. Dangerous.]

[gwaine.livejournal.com]

The train stopped abruptly. Through a wall. [Potatoes sound amazing~] I'll take whatever you have, Jo.

Hi, Julia. [That tone...is not what he'd been expecting.]

So... we should go somewhere else.

[huntersdaughter]

[Well, this got personal fast. Everyone has something to do... in Jo's room. Obviously. Not that this is how it went last time, but you know... it doesn't really matter. Everyone knows that everyone is in the house this time.]

Did anyone bring the alcohol with?

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[Spike cringes, not even subtly. Tell him there's alcohol somewhere here.]

That would have been the smart thing to do. [He's the idiot who didn't think thugs through when he came over for movie night with the girls. He pulls out a cigarette a second later to substitute for it. He needs something to break the tension.]

[huntersdaughter]

[GHJIORHGSU!!!! Jo reaches over and steals the cigarette away from him.]

You're still smoking!!

*things through ... Phone tagging B|

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

[What the hell was that?!]

Well, yeah. I think I earned for suffering through 'Lawfully Pink'. [Or whatever that was.] So give it back.

[whatialways_do]

[anger at Spike! For something they should be actually angry for! Max can do this one. Have a lineface.]

Smoking is bad for you, never mind the fact that it's totally gross. My twin used to smoke all the time.

[grossed out face]

She always smelled like a garbage truck.

[gottaknockhard.livejournal.com]

Nobody's perfect. [Remember when you guys were mad at Gwaine? Focus people.]

-- Fine, I'll go outside. [And he's up again. Always with the third degree, geez.]

The One Where Chase Is Late

[nocushywill.livejournal.com]

[ Whoops. Chase is late for movie night. So late that even movie night is over. But it's not entirely his fault. He had an emergency to attend to at the clinic, and then afterwards; already running a little late, he headed back to his room to  take a quick shower just so he wouldn't end up looking as tired as he felt. That then ended up with him deciding to take a short nap which turned out to be a little more than just a few minutes.

So. ]

Whoops? I can explain. [ Which he promptly does. Long day. Emergency at work. Yadda, yadda, yadda. He smartly enough skips the part where he fell asleep and gives her an apologetic smile instead. ]

You look nice. [ Distract, distract, distract. ]

Here. I brought you flowers. For the apartment. [ Yes. For the apartment. They're just friends. ]

Got a vase?

[huntersdaughter]

[Jo is relieved to see Chase. It's been a long day, longer than most and she just wants to not think about her brother and her best friend and the fight and lobsters and everything else.]

I have a vase. [She'll take them and her fingers casually brush to his when she takes them... oops.]

Come on in, everyone's gone already. Gwaine and Julia had a fight about the expedition and Arthur.

[nocushywill.livejournal.com]

Was it a bad fight? [ Instead of just standing there by the door, he decides to follow her to help get the vase. He won't attempt to put the flowers in the vase though. He knows Jo likes it done a certain way. ]

[huntersdaughter]

[Darn straight she does. She's already filling the sink with cool water so she can cut those stems beneath the water to prevent air... and yeah, that's boring.

She's still doing it though.]

He didn't tell her he was going, Arthur was there -- they're taking a break.

[nocushywill.livejournal.com]

Taking a break? [ He's watching her do her thing and it's possible that despite the fact she has to be so precise and in control over everything, he likes her anyway. More so even. Funny how that is. ] What exactly does that mean?

[huntersdaughter]

[SNIP SNIP! Oh, that was the stems. The vase is filled with water and in go the flowers. She'll sniff them now and then set them in the center of the table. She goes to hug-- no.]

They're really nice, you didn't have to. The flowers, I mean.

With Gwaine and Julia... I think it's the castle, to be honest. It shoves us all together and maybe we were okay back home, but back home we could go away for a weekend. Here a weekend away could end in train crashes [Which there were...] or dinosaurs.

They just need some space. Do things not together... because I know my brother can get a bit suffocating.

Not everyone likes to be around someone all the time. [The way she says that, it's almost as if she's trying to hint that she's not one of those people.]