Room 218, Wednesday Morning

[glacial_witch]

Karla was throwing clothes into an overnight bag and trying not to feel guilty. Or relived. Or guilty about feeling relieved. Jack's phone call had given her exactly what she'd wanted: an excuse to get away from the island for a few days, away from the memory of the Games and Katniss's death. Like Triela's death spurring her to Kaeleer for the

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[ancientbschamp]

Gabrielle was already up too, and rolling soap and shampoo into her towel (it was just a short walk to the bathroom, not a trek down to the river, but old habits and all) for a shower before her library shift.

"It might be a moot point, but I'm passing on Master Skywalker's message anyway," she remarked over her shoulder. "He said he wanted to see all of us --" she didn't think she needed to explain who 'us' entailed -- "sometime this week."

[glacial_witch]

"I should be back by...tomorrow, I think Jack said," Karla replied, brow creased in thought. He'd said tomorrow, right? Just a few days?

...Karla hadn't been listening. "I'm not sure when tomorrow, but tomorrow."

She looked over at Gabrielle with pleading eyes, wanting her to understand. "Jack needs my help. There's a thing. I have to help him."

In London. London that was not Fandom.

[ancientbschamp]

Gabrielle, who fully intended to leave for Greece as soon as she left Anakin's office -- which she guessed would be a difficult place for Karla to be at all for a while yet -- tomorrow, understood; even if she hadn't, she understood the need to help.

She dipped her head once in acknowledgement.

"I'll let him know for you. I think he'll understand . . . I might not be here when you get back, either." Which was to say that yes, she understood.

[glacial_witch]

The idea of coming back to an empty room wasn't particularly appealing, but then, wasn't she leaving Gabrielle to face the same now? Karla nodded, stepping forward with her arms out.

"You're coming back, though, right?" she asked without meaning to. It was just...Triela. Katniss. Ben. Ender.

Way to sound super-needy, Karla.

[ancientbschamp]

"Of course I'm coming back!" Gabrielle blurted out, all but charging forward into a hug that made 'clingy' feel inadequate. "I just really, really want to see Xena for a few days. I need that."

Because that always went so smoothly.

[glacial_witch]

"I understand," Karla said with a fervor that matched Gabrielle's. "I need to get out of here, too. I don't want to abandon Wesley, but--"

But Warren had also promised. And Karla really did just need to leave for a few days, put her thoughts back together in a place that didn't remind her of Katniss or the Games with every step.

"Tell Xena I said hi, okay?" she said into Gab's hair. "And that I said you need an extra-big hug."

[ancientbschamp]

Gabrielle could picture Xena's reaction to that: one corner of her mouth quirking up, the eyebrows twitching upward in sync, and the actual hug itself. The more she thought about that, the better of an idea it sounded like.

Of course, the immediate side effect of those thoughts was to give Karla an even tighter hug (and this was the kind of hug that didn't leave her with swirly breastplate indentations on her cheek, but she didn't complain about those).

"I will. If there's anyone who'll understand what we just saw, and can take it . . ." She took a breath; that was enough on the unhappy topic for now. "You'd better take care of yourself while you're out there. Don't forget, I know you."

[glacial_witch]

"I will," Karla said, wheezing slightly. Gabrielle was deceptively strong. "I haven't the energy for recklessness. Purely going in an investigatory capacity."

[ancientbschamp]

Gabrielle was used to hugging the Walks-Off-Lethal-Poisons Princess. It messed up her sense of appropriate hug strength, okay?

Still, she did let go.

"Ha," she said, attempting to smile. "If I had a dinar for every time 'let's just go check it out' turned into something a lot more hands-on . . ."

Careful, Gabrielle; that sounded a lot like cynicism.

"Just make sure you come back," she finished weakly.

[glacial_witch]

"I promise," Karla said. "I'm far too exhausted to do anything stupidly reckless."

Probably. Well, maybe. You know, some.

[ancientbschamp]

You know that previous claim of "I know you?"

Gabrielle would just try and prove that she could reiterate it with nothing but her facial expression.

[glacial_witch]

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

That meant it worked.

[ancientbschamp]

Very well, if Gabrielle said so herself.

"On the purely relative scale of recklessness?"

[glacial_witch]

"Hey, just what do you think I'm going to do?"

Beat.

"Don't answer that."