(Untitled)

[jill_langston]

The snow had been charming and distracting for the first day or so and the fireplace had been even more so, but now Jill was starting to get tired of it. All her life, she'd had poor circulation and the frigid weather certainly wasn't helping. She was cold, even though she'd been in the Compound for nearly a half hour already. Her things were in

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[stilljustbob]

Bob had done his best to kick the snow off his boots before stepping into the Compound, but there's still some lingering in the cracks, making him slip a bit on the floor as he walks toward the rec room. He has one hand against the wall to steady himself and he pauses after a moment to tug the boots off completely, holding them carefully by one hand as he gets to the entrance way.

The mistletoe has been there as long as the snow and prior to a few days ago, Bob's not paid it much notice. But, things are different now and he eyes it warily and sticks close to the wall as he tries to get by it, not wanting to get caught under it even by accident.

"Oh, hi, Jill," he says with a slight smile when he sees her standing just in front of him and gives a stilted nod before he works on taking his coat off. She doesn't look happy, but Bob hasn't expected her too and he's already thinking about work-related things he can talk to her about, starting with all the various new plants he's been able to find. Anything but David.

[stilljustbob]

"Really?" Bob asks, excitement clear on his face once again, his spoon halfway between the bowl and his mouth before he remembers to chew again.

He scoots forward then, leaning in like Jill knows some kind of secret. "We should do a picnic down there," he decides. "But with hot chocolate and soup if we can find something to keep it warm in. I bet Mayko'd like to come. Pearl and Delirium, too."

[jill_langston]

"And lots of blankets," Jill decided with a short laugh, taking another spoonful of cereal, still flipping through the pages of the notebook. "But, yes, there were penguins this morning. I bet you could find all sorts of strange animals on the island now that the weather has changed."

But on the mention of Delirium, Jill turned a little and looked at Bob. "How are things with Delirium?" she asked innocently.

[stilljustbob]

At the mention of blankets, Bob gives a quick laugh and nods down at his cereal, taking another bite. Though, he thinks that with the amount of blankets they'd need, they'd probably have to bring a wheelbarrow or two down with them and that wouldn't work very well in the snow.

He glances up again when Jill asks about Delirium and he can feel his face get a little hot before he looks down again, his lips curling into a shy smile. "Good," he says. Very good, actually and he can feel his smile growing, head still ducked.

[jill_langston]

"Mm-hmm," Jill hummed, her own mouth turning into a smile just at Bob's reaction. It was impossible for her to not notice how often Delirium had come to visit Bob in the lab and how he reacted to her, though she wasn't sure she'd be able to get Bob to tell her much of anything. He wasn't exactly big on gossip.

"How good is good?" she asked, looking sideways at him, still grinning.

[stilljustbob]

Bob hesitates in answering, his stomach twisting, but not in a completely uncomfortable way. It's not often that Bob feels giddy, but he thinks it may be something like this. It's a good enough feeling that it makes the pain of David's disappearance not hurt so much.

"She's my girlfriend," he tells her eventually and he can still feel the heat in his face and he can imagine Delirium laughing about it. And then kissing his cheek. Bob's gotten used to those kisses now; he likes them quite a lot.

[jill_langston]

Jill wasn't sure she'd ever seen Bob's face turn that red and it was kind of impressive, but she just smiled at the news and said, "Congratulations." Because it was definitely something worth congratulating. Delirium was strange, but that was a given, and Jill wasn't entirely sure how their relationship worked, but that didn't matter.

"When did this happen?" she asked, returning to her cereal, smiling mostly to herself.

[stilljustbob]

He bites his lip, his spoon dipping into the cereal idly as he watches it intently. It's a question he's not entirely sure how to answer, so he only shrugs for a moment, that not-quite-uncomfortable feeling in his stomach twisting slightly.

"I found out the other day," he says because he remembers how Delirium had said, like she'd assumed Bob had known. "We were out in the snow and I was telling her about Pearl. We're going to have a sleep-over sometime soon, just the three of us. Delirium wants hot chocolate and snow cones and pumpkin pie."

[jill_langston]

"Are you going to make said pumpkin pie or is she?" Jill asked with a smile, continuing on with her cereal. It was good, though. It was nice hearing that Bob had people to take care of, people who would take care of him. It made her feel better about how he was going to get along on the island.

"Good for you, Bob, I'm glad you're happy," she said, smiling over at him. And she genuinely meant that.

[stilljustbob]

"Pearl will help with the pumpkin pie," Bob says easily and he finally sneaks a glance up at her, his smile still shy, but definitely there. "Mrs. Novotny taught her how to make one for that celebration day a few weeks ago. It was very good."

[jill_langston]

"Good," Jill said again, looking down briefly and although she was still smiling, she felt something an awful lot like guilt twisting in her stomach. If she was honest, a small part of her was jealous. She was jealous that Bob and Mayko both had someone and that her someone had gone home. He'd left.

[stilljustbob]

Bob nods again, still smiling to himself as he takes another bite of his cereal. It is good, he thinks. Delirium and Pearl are both good, both for different reasons and he's starting to learn that he can have something he cares about outside of work and Gamelon.

He glances up again and only then notices a flicker of something on Jill's face. His smile falters then and he's not sure what he's done or what he's said, but he's known Jill long enough now to read her and something seems wrong. "Jill?" he asks carefully.

[jill_langston]

"Hmm?" she asked, looking up at Bob again. She'd assumed that she'd hidden whatever she was feeling well enough and she certainly didn't want to bring Bob down by talking about David or how remarkably alone she felt on the island. It wasn't necessary and she didn't want to ruin the good mood he was so clearly in.

[stilljustbob]

"I thought--" he starts and then stops, brows furrowing as he studies her a moment longer. He thinks there still might be something there, but he's not sure, so he shakes his head before he scoots closer in his chair and takes another bite of his cereal.

Chewing, his mind wanders to the lab again and he glances over at the notebook, nodding toward it. "Do you think we should add those?" he asks. Because if the snow was going to leave in a month as Jill and several other people seemed to believe, Bob isn't sure it'd be worth it to catalogue. But, if the Island seemed fit to do this every year, then maybe it would be. Although, he guesses, it wouldn't hurt just to have it.

[jill_langston]

"Maybe we should, just to have a record of it," Jill said thoughtfully, nodding as she looked down at the notebook. She was glad Bob had dropped it, if only because she really didn't want to bring him down when he was so happy. "This happened last year as well, so I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it's an annual thing." If it was, there would be no harm on having the record.