Jono's Apartment above the Boards, Sunday evening

[trigons_child]

When the auditions seemed to be winding down, Raven went to Il Pollo to fetch some Italian take out. She dropped off Troy's portion with him, then headed upstairs with her and Jono's food to wait. She happily passed the time playing with Joni.

She hadn't brought his belongings yet; she was just going to just teleport back to her room to get it all when she was ready to surprise him. Of course she had no idea someone had spoiled the surprise, KARLA.

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono didn't even bother to hide the confusion as it flitted over his face when Raven said that Karla had told her to... not be understanding? That almost had to be some sort of miscommunication between the two of them, though he didn't bother saying as much. He could only speculate as to what in the world these two spoke about when he wasn't around.

They spoke about him, apparently.

"I'm not fragile, Raven," he said instead, in spite of the fact that he could practically feel the cracks tracing through him, held together by willpower and stubbornness and not much else. "You aren't going to break me by caring, luv."

He took a deep breath, and then stood and held out his hand to her.

"The worst of what's eating at me isn't going to go away just because of some reassuring words, or because people tell me that I shouldn't let it eat at me, or because it wasn't my fault. I've been chewed up, spat out, used as a weapon and made into a pawn and they made my hands hurt more innocent people than I could hope to count. There's an estimated two hundred mutants in the world where once there were millions. For all that I hated what my powers did to my body, I feel deaf and blind and empty without them, and the body that I have now is... it's wrong. In so many ways. Everything is not okay. But I don't want to be coddled, either. I can't. I can't handle that. It's like telling me that I'm enough of a lost cause that I actually need to be."

[trigons_child]

Raven looked at his hand for a moment, then placed hers in his, rising to her feet.

"I know," she said. She still struggled with her own guilt, though she was more prone to clinging than putting a distance between herself and others. More than once after Sebastian had resurrected her she'd considered running away, but she'd feared causing more pain.

"I just feel so helpless, and I hate that. I want to help you so much."

[furnaceface]

There was a bit of a dryness in Jono's mouth at that, and he found himself struggling in an attempt to find the right words. But he'd... He'd already said them, really. Things weren't okay, and she couldn't just make it all better, and he wasn't certain that he knew where to start even if he wanted to let her try.

So he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. More for her sake than for his own, true, but... making her feel small and helpless because he was hurting didn't help anything, either.

[trigons_child]

Raven sagged against him, too tired to be able to hold back a choked sob. She pressed her face against his chest, shaking as she started to cry. He wouldn't let himself do so, but she couldn't help it now. She'd been holding too much in for too long.

It took a few long minutes to pull herself together, but when she finally regained her composure, she drew away. "I am sorry," she said. "I did not mean to do that."

[furnaceface]

He let her cry it all out, not letting go, not giving any sort of indication that he might have wanted to.

"You needed it," he offered, softly, reaching forward to tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. "I don't mind, Raven."

Especially since he suspected that so many of those tears were his own damn fault.

[trigons_child]

Her tears were for him, but not necessary because of him. Everything he'd been through was making her heart break.

"I am overtired," she said, still apologizing. "It has made me more emotional than usual." She sniffled and tried to find a smile, just a small one. "It is strange how I have gone from having no emotions to having too many."

[furnaceface]

"No such thing as too many, luv."

It was true. And he'd stand and fight tooth and claw to hold that opinion, if need be. Just because he repressed didn't mean he expected that everyone else absolutely had to.

"You should get some rest, though. Especially if you haven't been feeling well this week. I worry about you when you're under the weather, you know."

Which was completely different from him not sleeping. Honest.

[trigons_child]

"I do not get sick," Raven insisted. "My Soul-Self protects me. I think perhaps it is just stress."

She had to wince at that, remembering how she used to dismiss the effect her father was having upon her as the same thing. "It is not my father nor my brothers," she hastily assured him. "I do not sense their influence at all. I would tell you if I did."

[furnaceface]

Jono's jaw clenched minutely and his breath caught regardless of the quick correction.

"Have you been to the clinic since this started, at least? Or had another healer give you a looking over? You don't get sick, Raven. That's why I'm worried."

[trigons_child]

Raven wrinkled her nose at the mention of the clinic. "I have not, but I will go if that will make you not worry," she said. She didn't want to add to his troubles.

"That will make Dana happy as well. And if they find nothing I will have Karla check, just to be certain. But I can sense nothing physically wrong with myself. My body is perfectly healthy."

[furnaceface]

"Well, if it isn't your body, then it might be your soul," Jono pointed out, still frowning. "Still cause for concern, all things considered."

Until he'd met Raven, Jono hadn't really believed in things like souls. And now he was kind of protective to a point of borderline paranoia when it came to making certain that hers was safe.

Go figure.

[trigons_child]

"That is a troubling thought," Raven had to agree. "But I promise, I will not ignore this. I will submit to an examination to see if anything is truly wrong."

She'd learned! See?

[furnaceface]

Good! Because if she hadn't, Jono would have had to resort to playing dirty to get her looked after properly.

He was not above tattling to Professor Skywalker.

"Thank you, Raven," he replied, a tired attempt at a smile surfacing right alongside an almost relieved sigh. "And if they don't find something at the clinic, if you're still not feeling better, that means something is still the matter. I'm going to chase you down and remind you of that every waking moment until it isn't an issue anymore. You know that."

It was just different when Raven wasn't doing well. Honest!

[trigons_child]

That so wasn't fair.

"Will you put me to bed and feed me vegetable soup?" she said, trying to tease.

She didn't want to be ill, but it was almost a tempting thought to use it to distract him if she could.

She rubbed the side of her hand against her eyes, then frowned as her fingers came away streaked with black. While she appreciated the cathartic emotional release of crying, she hated what it did to her eyeliner. "I must look a mess," she said.

[furnaceface]

"No more than I do," Jono countered, shrugging a little. "A few smudges. I think my shirt got th'worst of it, though."

It was a bit smudged. See how concerned Jonothon wasn't. Shirts were easy enough to wash, and if it stained, he could just get a new one. It wasn't like anything he wore these days really counted as high fashion, after all.

[trigons_child]

"Perhaps I should return to my room and rest then," Raven said, wiping her hand on her shirt. At least the smudges wouldn't show up on her black clothing.

"I will hopefully feel better with some sleep." If she said it confidently enough, she could almost believe it.

[furnaceface]

Jono didn't believe it, himself. Not for an instant. And yet...

"A little sleep would probably do the both of us some good," he murmured, quietly. "Who knows? Maybe it is just stress."

[trigons_child]

And she, in turn, didn't believe for a moment that he would get any true rest, either.

"Thank you for sharing dinner with me," she said. "It was very enjoyable." Well, not all of it, but she blamed herself for that. "I hope we can do so again soon."

[furnaceface]

"That would be... nice," Jono replied, attempting to give her a sort of... game little smile. He'd like to try again. Maybe have a meal that didn't end in arguing and tears. But tonight, they were both tired, and everything seemed raw between them. "I'll see you later, luv?"

[trigons_child]

"Of course," Raven said, her own smile growing warmer. "I will come visit soon. I must bring your music back to you as well."

She'd almost brought it all at once, but she'd been too eager to gather up everything before she'd brought his guitar to him.

[furnaceface]

It was kind of almost a relief, really, that she'd left it behind. One more reason for them to try to make the world make a little more sense between them, at some point that wasn't, say, rehearsals.

"Excellent. Next time, I'll pick up dinner, then?"

[trigons_child]

"Surprise me," Raven said happily. "You have but to name the time and I will be there."

[furnaceface]

"Maybe we can make an evening of it, sometime. Go out to eat. Somewhere... nice?"

Let it be known that the last time he'd actually gone to a nice restaurant, his ex girlfriend shoved her hands clear through his chest and then turned him over to a cannibalistic mutant.

He was fairly confident that this date would go at least a little more smoothly than that.

[trigons_child]

"I would like that very much," Raven said. They'd never had a real dinner date before, for obvious reasons, and her last one hadn't been all that great, either. But not on the same level of bad as his.

At least he didn't have to fear that this time. She'd never hand him over to a cannibalistic mutant. If she went evil, she'd keep him for herself. Much better, right?

[furnaceface]

Considering the slow, malevolent creeping power that seemed to like to remind him that it was there, twisting around inside his chest from time to time, being kept all to Raven could not possibly end well.

For the rest of the world.

"Fina, perhaps. Or Il Pollo again? The pasta was certainly good... I'll come up with something."

Yes! Something! Good! He was... so bad at this.