(Untitled)

[misschimera]

Date: Fall 2008
Characters: Candice Wilmer, Jamie Madrox
Summary: With Kirin gone for months now, Jamie has sunk into depression. Candice comes to help him out of it. Things... get out of hand.
Status: Complete
Private

The intercom was shot to hell. She didn't bother with it, not when the door was left ajar for lack of a proper lock. It felt strange to

Comments

[multiple_mania]

He'd started washing dishes about a couple of hours ago.

At first, it'd just been a few plates and some silverware. Several cups, because he still had a bad habit of leaving his drinks somewhere and just getting a new ones. It'd taken him about fifteen minutes to wash, dry, rinse, stack. But then he thought the ones in the cabinet were probably getting dusty from disuse, and that it wouldn't be healthy when he came back to eat off of dusty plates.

So he'd taken those down and done them, too. Ditto for the pots and pans. He was starting to do the first load over (a couple of the glasses had dried with spots) when there was a knock on the door.

Heart skipping in his chest, as always, he had to push the sudden rush of hope back, as always, and leave the glasses soaking in the sink. Wiping his hands on his jeans, he went to the door, peering through the peephole and opening it when he saw who it was.

"Candice, hi."

[misschimera]

What should you expect when you go to visit a friend whose boyfriend has been kidnapped by his deranged father and could be dead at the very moment? Candice doubted Cosmo ever wrote an article on that.

In the months since Kirin disappeared, they all did their best to cope and, for a while, she almost allowed herself to hope Jamie was holding on okay. Until the door opened and she saw him wearing a t-shirt that she knew was Kirin's.

She tried to smile and almost succeeded. "Hey, can I come in?"

[multiple_mania]

"Uh, yeah, sure."

He stepped back to let her in, rubbing at the back of his neck absently. "I was just cleaning up a little. Is everything okay?" did they find him?

Jamie clenched his teeth as he heard the unspoken question echo in the silence, like it always did. He already knew the answer, even if he'd stopped asking a long time ago.

[misschimera]

"Everything's fine. I was just... around." She shrugged, trying to ignore the unspoken question. It hung between them, heavy, unrelenting. Always there. "Thought I'd see how you were doing, if you'd like some company."

She hadn't been in the neighborhood at all, she had been worried. By the looks of the apartment, she shouldn't have been. What she could see of the kitchen looked in disarray, but it seemed like methodical, intentional disarray.

[multiple_mania]

Jamie smiled quietly. Falsely.

"I'm okay. And sure, if you wanted to stay for a bit, that's fine."

He gestured at the kitchen. "I'd ask if you wanted something to drink, but most of the glasses are still drying."