MHA -1, Monday Evening

[missed_the_gate]

John was still feeling pretty glad the weekend was over when he arrived back at his apartment in the early evening. He hadn't taken the time to clean up his apartment after his guests had fled to the comfort of their own beds, so he set to work putting away bedding and getting things back to normal

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[solo_sword]

Jaina had been to her office, trained, made calls home, cleaned her apartment, and all that meant that when she had more than five minutes without something to do, she was so bored she could cry.

Naturally this meant she went for the phone.

Are you half as bored as I am?

[solo_sword]

She didn't even think anything of it, and let herself be tugged. It might have been a side effect from the weekend, but it was probably more that she didn't think there was anything to think about it. "You're not worried I might do them wrong?" she asked, clearly teasing.

[missed_the_gate]

"Well, if you do it wrong, I'll just do it over after you leave," he reasoned. "That said, do a good job, I don't feel like cleaning again tomorrow."

[solo_sword]

She saluted him before turning on the water and starting to work. "And uh, just to get this out of the way, I wanted to apologize for a certain guest of mine this weekend," she said. "He's an idiot and has been dealt with. Loudly."

She was perfectly content to leave it at that, too. She'd mastered all forms of repression in five years.

[missed_the_gate]

John's eyebrow lifted and he leaned his back against the counter, deciding he could dry while she washed. "No need for apologies. Your guest was just sticking up for...okay I'm not sure who he was sticking up for."

[solo_sword]

"He was being jealous," Jaina said bluntly. "And I think he doesn't know exactly how to handle it when he can't read everything I'm thinking or feeling anymore, so you're here, and I'm here, and he jumped to conclusions."

She glanced at him as she handed him a washed dish. "I kind of figured you'd be more upset about it," she admitted.

[missed_the_gate]

The dish helpfully gave him something to stare at. "Well... I tried explaining that no matter what we get up to he shouldn't bother with jealousy, but he didn't seem to buy it." Also John didn't use so many words.

[solo_sword]

"He actually seemed better about it after he talked to you," she shrugged, also nicely invested in dish washing as a distraction. "Or at least, he dropped the subject, which is maybe the best I can hope for."

[missed_the_gate]

"Yeah, well," John shrugged, turning to shove the dish in the cabinet. "I reminded him that no matter what, you'd be heading his way soon enough."

[solo_sword]

She paused, realizing that in a way she wasn't looking forward to that. She missed her family and didn't have a lot going in Fandom for her, but... "I guess it just depends on when," she said, finishing another dish. "I don't like thinking that far yet."

[missed_the_gate]

"Can't say I blame you," he offered. "Just one of those inevitable things." Always had been, always would be.

[solo_sword]

"We'll see what happens," she said vaguely. The thing was, she had to be ready to go when she did so, and right now, she really wasn't. For a few reasons. "So do all these mean your friends stayed here?" Jaina asked, nodding with her chin toward the dish she was washing.

[missed_the_gate]

"Yeah, it wasn't so bad," he admitted. "I uh, heard they met you. Sorry if that was weird." Mostly because he wasn't so forthcoming ever.

[solo_sword]

"No, it was completely fine," Jaina said. There were one or two things from it she didn't particularly want to deal with, but they weren't exactly new things to repress, so, it was fine. "It was nice to actually meet the physics geek finally. Though I don't think you've mentioned Elizabeth before."

[missed_the_gate]

"Yeah, Rodney got on my case about that the other way around," he said, scowling a bit. "Apparently I can't just keep things to myself and expect people to deal with not knowing everything about me."

[solo_sword]

"Or, people want to get to know you better, and it kind of makes it look like you're holding back," she pointed out. One of her biggest frustrations in that whole last bit of their relationship, actually. "And it doesn't feel great when it seems like you're a secret. Sorry about him getting on your case."