War Camp, Glacia, Autumn,

[glacial_witch]

Between what Dinah and Momoko had found and the fact that winter was very, very close now, it was time to take serious action. There had been skirmishes up and down Glacia ever since they had fled the capitol, but nothing definitive. Karla still held the north, Hobart the south. And with winter practically breathing down their necks, things were

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[apocalipped]

"I thought staring at those bloody things until I couldn't see straight anymore was my job, luv," Jonothon noted, quietly stepping up to peer down at the map that Karla was trying to focus on. "This one doing any tricks for you yet?"

[apocalipped]

"Personally?" Jonothon gave his shoulders a shrug. "I'm better than I have been. I burned up my personal power pack a few days back on a recon run, though. That'll be the last of it until I can get back to the island again."

That was... close to what she was asking, anyhow.

[glacial_witch]

The glare she leveled Jono's way suggested that point was not lost on her, but she held off pursuing it. If Jono wanted to be cagey, then she wasn't going to push.

Right this moment.

"Thinking about heading back to the island for a recharge?" she asked. "Do you know about how long you'll stay for?"

[apocalipped]

"Hard to say," Jono replied. "Now more than ever I'm wary of spending too much time away. But if I come back at only half-capacity, I run the risk of running out all over again, and that's something I can't really afford, either."

Talking shop was the best he could do, right now. It was letting him cling to his sanity, even while he was getting twitchy in the face of losing his soldiers and having to wait to fly again.

[glacial_witch]

"Take some time and go home," Karla said, with enough force in her voice to make it an order. "Pet Joni, recharge your batteries, chew some lager. You'll be the better for it."

[apocalipped]

Jonothon's reply to that was a raised eyebrow.

"And can you afford to be without me for as long as that takes? It's war. People don't generally get weekends off for war."

Funny how that worked.

[glacial_witch]

"Better question: can I afford to lose your powerpacks?" Karla shot right back. "Can I afford to have you climbing the walls with your eyes gone all crimson? Or would it be better to give you a bit of time so you can be back in top form?"

Feel free to take your time with this one, Jono, if the answer isn't immediately obvious.

[apocalipped]

"Point made," Jono sighed, shaking his head. "I'll wait a few more days, though. I need to at least get an idea of who's leaving and who'll be sticking around so that I can re-work things to make up for this. It'll give me something to do when I'm feeling productive back on the island."

Read: Something to do, because it wasn't like he was going to be doing things like sleeping or watching the telly or anything.

[glacial_witch]

Ahahaha, of course not! Because those would be helpful activities. Hmm, maybe she'd call Ben or Emma or someone and make them get Jono blindingly drunk one night. It would be good for him. Or something.

"Not too long, okay? I'd rather have you go in the middle of the Fandom week, so you don't get caught up in any island fuckery."

It was whimsy when Karla was in a better mood. Right now? Fuckery.

[apocalipped]

It was fuckery when Jon was in any mood.

"I'll aim for... Thursday, then, Fandom time. That ought to give me a few days here, and it should still be early enough in the week for me to avoid being turned into a bloody horse or another person or anything of the sort."

It was cute how they still thought this way.

[glacial_witch]

Their naiveté was precious.

Idiots.

"Then that's a plan then," Karla said. "Let me know when you figure out what day Thursday equates to here and you can go. Feel free to bring back some booze or whatever else will help keep spirits up."

What did soldiers usually turn to for boosted morale? Porn? Liquor? Food? Puppies?

"Talk to Warren before you go, too. He'll give you enough to cover whatever supplies you might decide to pick up."

[apocalipped]

"I don't need it," Jono replied, shaking his head. "I got enough money in my severance package from the New Warriors to buy enough cheap liquor to keep this lot drunk for a month. I'll figure something out."

It wasn't like he was spending it on anything else, really. He'd sort of chucked it into a bank account, and could probably make a good amount of his purchases on the interest alone.

[glacial_witch]

"Court pays for Court costs," Karla said automatically. "...Is it worth arguing over? Or are you just going to pretend to listen, nod, and do whatever you wanted anyway?"

[apocalipped]

Jonothon's reply to that? Was simply a smug smile.

[trigons_child]

When there was a momentary lull in the discussions, Raven approached Jono.

"Happy birthday," she said. "Well, yesterday it was. In Fandom time." She liked to keep track, just so there wouldn't be any surprises if she travelled back to the island. Well, other than the usual Fandom surprises.

[apocalipped]

"Was that yesterday?" Jono turned a tired sort of smile toward Raven, something just short of being wry. "I've lost track, I'm afraid. It's been too bloody long since I've really bothered celebrating one."

And maybe he didn't want to admit that, while most of his friends were still being carded at the Devil's Nest, another birthday was going to put him another year closer to being about as old as he felt.

"There doesn't seem to be much to celebrate, these days."