(Untitled)

[jill_langston]

Although she expected the island to return to the tropical climate she was used to, Jill was still out in the jungle with a notebook and pencil, documenting the new plant life, the new animals, new anything she could find, really. It kept her busy, it kept her from thinking too much on the recent disappearances and it kept her from worrying about

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[mayko_tran]

"Secret admirer?" says Mayko, spotting the blue bow before she spots what Jill is actually holding. "You certainly get your share of attention on the island, don't you."

[jill_langston]

"Yeah, too bad the attention I get is from men who end up with boyfriends or men who disappear," Jill answered dryly, but she was smiling when she turned and held up the vortex for Mayko to see. "David got it for me back home after mine was ruined."

[mayko_tran]

Mayko remembers entirely too well what happened to the old vortex, and while Jill seems happy with the unexpected gift Mayko can't help but feel the faintest chill.

"I think I'm happier when the island gives us things we haven't had before," she admits.

[jill_langston]

"If it had to give me a vortex, I'm glad it gave me this one," Jill answered, setting it down carefully in the box once more before she closed the lid. Collecting the notebook and the vortex, she got to her feet and offered Mayko a small smile. "So how would you feel about having a new neighbour?"

[stilljustbob]

Bob hasn't changed his clothes in two days and it shows. With Gamelon's help, he's checked throughout the Compound and the area around it, around the school and the stage and the playground and the places he knew Pearl liked to spend her time. He's tried the church and Delirium's treehouse and both waterfalls.

But, there's too much island and it's stiflingly hot and when he pushes his way through the jungle underbrush, he's relieved to see a familiar face. Even if it's not the one he's looking forward.

"Oh-- Jill. Hi." His voice is quiet, but frantic and Gamelon covers it up by giving a quick, happy bark and jogging towards Jill, her tail wagging.

[jill_langston]

"Hi, Gamelon," Jill said as the dog came toward her and she gave her ears a quick scratch, holding the vortex carefully in the other hand. Between her pleasure at seeing David's gift and the dog at her knees, she didn't immediately see Bob's face and it was only when she looked up at him that she frowned.

"Bob?" she asked quietly, tilting her head slightly to look at him.

[stilljustbob]

"Have you-- I haven't--" he stops himself by forcing in a breath, hands drawn up close to his chest. The heat makes everything even more uncomfortable and he's sweating, his dirty shirt sticking to him.

Gamelon gives a quiet whine and wanders over to him again, nudging his leg with her nose and then pawing at his foot.

"Pearl's gone. I can't find her, Jill. I've looked and I can't-- I should tell the IPD. Do you think they could help?"

[jill_langston]

"Oh, Bob, honey..." Jill murmured, getting to her feet, tucking her notebook under her arm. She knew it wasn't so easy as telling him that if Pearl was gone, she was gone. The little girl had been the closest Bob had to family here and she knew he wouldn't give up looking for her so easily.

"Let's go tell the IPD, okay? It might help," she said softly.

[making_choices]

Tony had been home for a grand total of a day and a half, under strict orders not to over-exert himself and to come back to the clinic daily for his pills. At least he was managing the second, heading back from there to his hut, where, truthfully, he was planning on just getting more sleep.

He smiled when he saw Jill just off the path, looking at- Well, he didn't know. It looked labby though. "How's my favourite virologist?"

[jill_langston]

"I'm the only virologist you know, Tony," Jill answered when she heard his voice, but even the sudden and awkward discovery that he apparently had a boyfriend couldn't colour this meeting. Not when she was in such a good mood. "But since you asked, I'd have to say that she's not too bad, all things considered."

[making_choices]

"Even if I knew twenty others, you'd be at the top," he said reassuringly. Malarian might have done some things to him, but removed his ability to charm? Not one bit. "That looks like a fancy little thingamajigger."

[jill_langston]

"It's a vortex mixer," Jill answered, holding it up so that Tony could see it. The vortex was a much better topic of conversation than Tony's new boyfriend or his bout of Malaria. "David gave it to me back home after mine malfunctioned."

[im_a_toughguy]

"Well, that doesn't look anything like an Easter egg." Freddy commented as he came across Jill. Well, less having come across and more had seen her bent over from a distance and taken a moment to gander innocently at her ass. Saddly, that picture had been ruined when she stood up, though he supposed her company would be just as good. It usually was.

He stopped and eyed the thing a little closer. "Yeah, actually, I don't have a fucking clue what that's supposed to be." He dropped his hands down into his pockets and fixed her with a look. "I'll go out on a limb and say it's the next addition to your doomsday device."

[jill_langston]

"It's a vortex mixer," Jill explained when Freddy came closer, holding it out so that he could see it, although it was obvious by the way she was holding to it tightly that she wasn't about to hand the thing over to anyone at this point. "David gave it to me back in Toronto after mine was damaged."

The bow was still on it and everything, which is what convinced Jill that this was the one David had given her. There was no other reason for a vortex with a bow to appear in the middle of the jungle.

[im_a_toughguy]

He wasn't even going to pretend that he knew what that was. "Vortex mixer. Right. I'll just redirect back to the comment about a doomsday device." It didn't seem like the kind of thing to find underneath a shrub, whatever it was, and the fact it was all neat and done up with a bow gave it away as much as the way Jill was treating it like something special.

"One of those island things, huh? I'm hoping this is a good find?" It seemed like one, she didn't look all that moody. And it sure as fuck was better than an ear.

[jill_langston]

"Well, David gave it to me," Jill repeated softly, smiling down at the vortex before she put it carefully back in the small box it had arrived in. She'd take it to the lab, of course, there was no sense in hoarding a perfectly good piece of lab equipment just because David had given it to her, but it did have sentimental value. "I mean, the lab needed it anyway, but he put a bow on it and gave it to me."