| Logs |
2006-07-16
| Dreams |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
Lost in the Labyrinth
All is quiet, calm, and dark in Dante's. The only light comes from a single candle burning in Diana's room, its gentle glow softly illuminating the peaceful room. This illusory peace is rudely shattered, however, by a long, piercing scream!
Jason buhabas? His first reactions are totally on instinct, feeling barely registering. He bolts upright, trying to leap out of bed in response to this scream. He manages to make it as far as putting one foot on the floor, when his other foot is snagged and he goes down hard, onto the floor. OW.
Mike mumbles something incoherent but doesn't seem to have been awakened by the noise. Diana is asleep also, lying comfortably across Rita, who is breathing a bit rapidly, a look of ecstasy on her sleeping face. The scream is obviously coming from outside the room. In fact, just as the terror-filled scream fully registers in Jason's sleep-fogged brain -- it cuts off. Was that... a woman's voice?
Jason is bemused for five seconds how no one else could have heard that... how could they not? The very sound sent a chill through him that froze his blood to ice. But he doesn't even bother to wake up or dress, instead bolting out of the room in a frantic, bewildered state. Which way is Beatrice's room?
As he yanks the door open he hears running feet pelting desperately down the hallway towards him, and he dodges reflexively away. The runner is not so aware, and bounces off his guiding arm, slamming with an unpleasant THUD into the wall, then bouncing back and collapsing limply to the floor.
Glancing down in bewilderment in the faint candle glow, Jason sees BJ sprawled on the floor at his feet. She groans softly, and he notices she's given herself a bloody nose. Jason goes to his knees. "Jesus H. Christ, Bonnie... what the hell?" he queries, filled with concern as his fingers go to the bridge of her nose, instinctively trying to stem the tide of her blood. Usually pressure on those capillaries for several seconds will give them enough time to clot and heal...
BJ's eyes flutter dazedly open and she mumbles, "J-jason? Uhhng..." One hand comes up to lightly touch her face, and she winces, "Oogh... hell of a headache... what hit me?" A moment later her eyes fly open, wide and white-rimmed with shock, and she jerks bolt upright, grabbing his upper arms painfully tight. Her voice is a tight, terrified whisper, "Jason! Jason, we've got to run! Get out! He's not human!!"
Even as she speaks, Jason can see the glow of Croaker's eyes moving slowly down the hallway towards them, and the heavy creak of his tread on the floorboards. BJ gives a small, startled cry as she too recognizes the sound, her head whipping around to stare in terror over her shoulder. It's a toss-up as to what's more disconcerting -- the small spray of blood he just got over his bare chest... or the fact that BJ's currently as nude as he!
Jason purses his lips and calmly looks over at Croaker. "Croaker, give us a moment? I think I'd better handle this," he says to the minotaur. He holds BJ's shoulders as firmly as she holds his, not wanting her to give in to terror again. He's not exactly comfortable with this situation... the nudity, the blood... but he knows that if he's going to help BJ through this, he's got to remain calm. Or at least project calmness.
Croaker's voice rumbling in Jason's head is desperately unhappy as he stops and kneels right where he is, "Seer? Help, please? I... I do not know what happened, but... she is no longer pleased with me at all. What did I do? I apologize... please, help her?"
BJ is practically hyperventilating, staring wide-eyed at the huge, red-eyed minotaur like a rabbit frozen by a snake. Jason sighs. "Croaker, I can... I will... but I need you to not be here right now. We're going to get through this, okay?" he says gently. "I promise."
Croaker wrings his hands for a moment... then nods once, tightly, and tries to back away as slowly and quietly and non-threateningly as a huge black minotaur with glowing red eyes can. Wretchedly he whispers, "Call... call if there's anything -- anything I can do to help?"
Between the minotaur and Jason, Joe leans his head out Beatrice's door, glancing both ways cautiously. He nods once politely to Croaker, then leans a shoulder against the door jamb, folds his arms calmly, and looks back at Jason and BJ. His voice is almost startlingly matter-of-fact, "Need any help?"
Jason glances over at Joe. "Yeah... go be with Croaker? He's not in such great shape right now either," he asks gently.
Joe nods, stepping back into the room for a moment. When he emerges he's got a towel tossed over each shoulder, and he's zipping up jeans. He tosses one towel to Jason as he grins insouciantly, "Never a dull moment, eh?" then turns and heads down the corridor, calling quietly and calmly, "Croaker? Dude, light a candle, would you? I can't see in the dark..." He turns in to the minotaur's room, closing the door behind him.
Jason takes the towel and starts dabbing at BJ's face. "Bonnie... Bonnie, are you still with me?" he queries. BJ's eyes are wide and shocky, and her face is pale. Where Jason is touching her skin, she feels slightly clammy, too... but it doesn't feel cold at all in the hallway, to Jason. He snaps his fingers in front of her face. "BJ!" he says sharply. BJ doesn't react at all to Jason's movement or sharp sound... but her eyes roll up in her head and she suddenly goes as limp as a puppet with its strings cut. Her nose is still bleeding as well.
Jason groans. "Goddamnit... she's in shock." He gently lays her on the floor, then props up her feet with the towel after folding it up. And then he just looks at her stupidly... that's all he remembers from his days as a Boy Scout. He wonders if he has the Handbook among his things.
Jason struggles for a moment, trying to remember what shock is about... failure of the circulatory system, right. He pinches just above her nose again, trying to stem the bleeding as he checks her pulse, wanting to make sure her heart is still going...
BJ's heart has returned to an even rhythm, and eventually the color comes back into her cheeks. Before that, Jason's assistance causes the blood flow from her nose to slow, then finally clot and stop. She looks a bloody mess and she's got a huge bruise forming on her forehead from where she hit the wall at full speed -- but at least she's not bleeding any more.
Several minutes pass, and then BJ moans softly again, her head turning restlessly as her eyes flutter open again. She shivers, looking around confusedly. Jason shakes his head, tending to BJ quietly. "In retrospect, I guess I'm glad this happened now... I never expected you to find out this way..." he murmurs to her before realizing she's cognizant.
BJ blinks bewilderedly at him, then whispers, "Jason? What... are you doing?" She winces, bringing one hand cautiously up to her head again, "Oh! W-why do I have such a headache?"
Jason chuckles wryly. "You hit the wall headfirst, hon." he drawls, absently wincing himself... his own face aches from his abrupt encounter with the floor moments ago. "We'll have matching bruises, I'll bet..."
It is perhaps a sign of BJ's disorientation that she accepts that without question, simply asking confusedly, "Why... why are you wearing no clothes, Jason?"
Jason continues to smile. "Because I can't sleep through a blood curdling scream, BJ." he drawls.
BJ is silent for a moment, slowly working that through -- and then once again she gasps, grabbing at Jason to come bolt upright! -and then giving a small, stifled groan of pain and sagging against him, "Oh, god, my head!"
Jason bears her back down. "Being upright not good for you right now, BJ. Just relax. Nothing is going to hurt you."
BJ's fingernails are digging into his arms, and there's an almost panicked edge to her tight whisper, "No! Jason, no -- we have to get out of here! I know you don't believe me, but Jason -- Michael is some kind of huge monster! I saw him! You've got to believe me!" She glances fearfully over her shoulder, then back at Jason, almost shaking him with the intensity of her fervor, "Now, Jason, while he's not near -- get your sweetie and let's go!"
Jason faces BJ with a wry look. "Croaker is not a monster, BJ. Is he the Cretan Minotaur? Very possibly. But not a monster," he informs her bluntly.
BJ looks like she's close to tears as she shakes Jason again, "Look, I know it sounds incredible, but he is-" She blinks, Jason's words registering -- and then her eyes widen again, "You knew?! All this time you knew and you didn't warn me?!" Her voice is raising with fright and anger.
Jason gives BJ this amused look. "Oh, what, and you would have believed me? BJ, I'm like... one out of a million, or even less, that can see Croaker for what he is. I never expected you to be able to do the same. And there's no way you would have believed me unless you could see." As she digests that he adds, "BJ, you've seen how I am about caring about people, about wanting to protect them... do you really think I would have just stood by if your life were in any danger from pursuing an interest in Michael?"
BJ looks furious for a second -- Jason's not entirely sure she's not going to slap him?! -and then she takes a deep breath, visibly yanking herself back together. She pushes away roughly from him, carefully starting to rise -- then stares in horror and dismay down at her front, "What happened to me?! Where did all this blood come from?!"
Jason looks at BJ. "I'm not sure... I thought it was your nose," he murmurs, standing up. He takes a closer look then, wanting to make sure she's not injured...
BJ looks like she's trying hard to cope with too much all at once. Finally she simply takes the towel and, bracing herself against the wall, slowly gets to her feet. "Show... show me a bathroom, please, Jason... and uh... a robe? D-don't want... want to go back after my clothes..."
Jason purses his lips... he wants to argue the point, but decides that now is not the right moment. So he quietly gestures towards Diana's room, which has an adjoining bathroom. After she goes in he opens the door for her and flips the switch. "Should be a robe in there," he murmurs, giving a quick spot check to see if there's a window BJ might try to climb out...
BJ nods, her face pale and her blood-splattered body looking even more ghastly in the bathroom's harsher incandescent light. As she passes by the bed she glances at it, and a faint, wry smile curls up the corners of her lips at seeing Rita asleep there. Just before she closes the bathroom door Jason can hear her soft murmur, "Well, at least one of us found what we wanted..."
Jason leans against the door... suddenly wondering if BJ's words are prophetic. Is it possible she won't be able to handle this? After pondering a few seconds, he heads quickly over to Croaker's room to see how things are progressing there.
Jason knocks gently on the door before opening it up and poking his head inside. "Hey."
Joe and Croaker both look up at Jason's entry. Joe, sitting on the bed, has a hand resting on Croaker's massive shoulder and a sympathetic expression. Croaker, seated on the floor, appears to have been... crying into the towel? It's hard to tell, but the fur on his face appears darker with dampness. He draws in his breath sharply, then rumbles in Jason's head, "How -- is she all right, Seer?" A second later he blinks, giving Joe a faintly guilty glance, and puts the towel in his lap, signing the same question again.
Jason leans against the door frame. "She's still scared a bit... but that's mitigated with being angry at me, I think... at least she's not running out the door." He looks at Joe. "Joe, could you possibly now keep an eye on the bathroom? I'm starting to think she might respond slightly better to someone that's not me... her anger might get in the way of things."
Joe chuckles quietly, gently squeezing Croaker's shoulder and sitting back. "Well, now... I'm happy to do so, but are you sure it's a good idea to have a strange man there to be comforting for her... especially when she's only in a robe?" He glances around, then gestures to a pile of clothing that's obviously not Croaker's, and adds, "Maybe she'd forgive you if you turned up with her clothes, mm?"
Jason muses the truth of Joe's statement. "Mmmph... if she has her clothes, she can leave... but maybe you're right." He looks at Croaker then. "Do you have any idea what happened? Also, where did the blood come from?" he queries as he starts picking up the bundle.
Croaker's face wrinkles up again (at least as much as a bovine face can), and his ears flatten in misery. He signs and rumbles in Jason's head, "We... I thought we were doing wonderfully, Seer, truly. She seemed happy to lie me down on my front and run her hands all over my back -- she called it a massage. Then she apparently wanted some sexual energy, and I gladly gave her that also." He rubs the back of one large hand across his face, then continues, "We were curled up together, sleeping, and I woke up to her running her hands over me again -- my head this time. I did not think anything of it, but she suddenly jerked away from me and I scented a little bit of blood and... and I wasn't sure what had happened but she was staring at me in the candle light -- I left a candle burning for her because I know humans can't see in the dark, and I didn't want her to be afraid, and..."
He falters again, rubbing his face roughly with both hands this time before continuing, "I... I don't know what happened, Seer! I am so sorry -- I wanted to please her as you commanded, and I truly wanted her to be happy as well -- I don't know what went wrong! But all of a sudden she screamed-" he winces at the memory, then continues, "it felt like forever... and then when I reached for her... she bolted out of the room!"
Jason listens intently, and his face screws up, trying to think... and then he leans in. Did she hurt herself on one of his horns, because she couldn't see it? How does the illusion work? He studies Croaker's horns intently. It's hard to tell, in the candlelight... and then he sees it. A small smear of blood on Crroaker's right horn, streaking down a little. He groans as he realizes the truth. "That's what happened... when she hurt herself, it must have broken the glamour," he murmurs, wiping the blood from the horn. "I hope there's bandages in the bathroom..."
Joe nods thoughtfully, watching Jason clean up Croaker's horn as he murmurs, "That'd likely do it, yup. That or touch -- hard to deny sight when touch is telling you otherwise." Croaker hunches up his shoulders and hangs his head, rumbling and signing quietly, "Then... it was my fault. I harmed her, even if accidentally." He takes a long, slow breath, then slowly adds, "I... disobeyed both my lady Beatrice and the Seer."
Jason grimaces. "Croaker, no... stop that right now. This was not your fault. The very nature of an accident means it was not your fault," he says firmly, looking into the bull man's eyes. "You. Did. Nothing. Wrong," he says more gently.
Joe nods slowly, "You could hardly know she was working so hard against the glamor, dude." He glances amusedly at Jason, adding, "Some students are like that."
Jason looks wryly at Joe. "Don't look at me. I certainly wasn't trying. Di just fell in my lap."
Joe chuckles, then tugs gently on one of Croaker's horns, "Guy, relax. Obviously Jason doesn't blame you... and I can almost guarantee Beatrice won't either. Heck, she may not even know, if we get everything fixed up by tomorrow morning -- she's sleeping the sleep of the justly fed, if you know what I mean." He grins amiably at the despondent Croaker, who sadly rumbles and signs, "If I so terrify the nice-smelling BJ that I cannot even approach her, how will the lady Beatrice not realize, Joe?"
Jason smiles a little as the way Croaker puts it. "Because, Croaker... we're going to work her through it. I will fix this. One way or another." And I sure as hell hope it doesn't mean I'm going to have to get someone to make her forget, he thinks as he pats the miserable minotaur on the shoulder. "You just wait here." He carries the bundle to Diana's room, and takes the opportunity to put on some pants before knocking on the door.
Joe is calmly murmuring, "Well, why not wash your face and tidy up a bit, then, in case she does want to see you, guy? You should smell nice too, right?" as Jason quietly leaves the room. A moment later Jason's lightly tapping on Diana's bathroom door.
BJ cracks the door open to peer warily out, and he can tell by the dim light she's lit one of the candles in the bathroom too. He hears her soft, relieved whisper, "Jason! Oh, and my clothes -- thank you!" She reaches out, pulls him into the room, then quietly closes the door behind him again. She's damp but cleaned up, wrapped up in one of Diana's robes. She sits on the closed toilet, still a bit pale, "Did you have any trouble?"
Jason shrugs as he puts her clothes in her lap. "'Course not. Poor Michael was too busy crying and wondering what he did wrong," he replies, deciding to eschew his given name for a moment... he wants BJ to think of Croaker as he himself does. As a man.
BJ gives Jason a startled look as her clothes are dumped into her lap, "What?! Jason... Jason, he has horns!"
Jason nods blandly. "And he has a heart too, BJ. He's acting like he somehow failed me because you gored yourself just because you couldn't see the horns."
BJ rubs her hands along the arms of the robe as if she were cold, shivering slightly, "He... I... I... I... Ihadsexwithhim!" She blurts it out as if she's not sure how to say it.
Jason crouches, so he's more at eye level with her. "Was he any good?" he queries with a small smile, trying to make light.
BJ recoils as if Jason had slapped her. Her voice is tight, "Get out. How dare you. Just... get out."
Jason's smile fades, and he stands. "I'm not handling this well. You're mad at me now, but you're going to have to deal with this, Bonnie." he says quietly. "I knew this day was going to come. If you remember back, you could see it in everything I said, in everything I did. And while you're remembering that, remember, BJ, that he never deliberately hurt you. That he was never anything but kind and attentive and solicitous." He sighs. "Maybe it was not the best idea to involve you in this part of my life in any respect. But then, I'm walking down the same dark path, not knowing any more where it will lead me."
BJ bursts into tears, her hands over her face and sobbing brokenly.
Jason is lost, looking at her. He would comfort her, but he does not know if that would only make things worse. Then he gives in to his instinct... he cannot turn away a soul in pain. He crouches and embraces her once more, snagging the Kleenex box after a few minutes and putting it in her lap, pulling one free and putting it in her hand as he stays with her, rocking her gently.
It takes a while... BJ turns and clings to Jason, crying almost inconsolably into his shoulder, almost rocking from the excess of fear and pain and terror she'd been bottling up so tightly, letting it all pour out... until finally, slowly, her tears start to abate, and her wailing dies down into the occasional hiccuping sob. She realizes she's holding a Kleenex, and Jason gets a watery smile when she realizes she's shredded the poor thing but he's put the entire box next to her.
Finally she finishes wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, and she whispers softly, "Jason... I -- I don't know who else to say this to, but... I mean, maybe you won't understand but I don't have anyone else to talk to about this. It's just..." she takes a shaky breath, then struggles to continue, "He... he was in me, Jason. I mean... what will happen to me? I... I don't know anything about monsters and humans except myths, and those... those are all pretty t-terminal for the woman...?"
Jason tilts his head at her, trying to understand the crux of her worry. "Are you just talking about monsters and women in general... or are you afraid that Michael might have impregnated you?" he says slowly.
BJ's face crumples up and for a moment she looks like she might start crying again, but then she takes a few deep breaths. She looks at Jason steadily and nods once... although he can see a real fear in her eyes. Softly she whispers, "I'm on the pill... but... but does that matter with monsters? How do I know what's safe?"
Jason purses his lips, once more trying to calmly decide how to proceed. "I don't know, BJ. I have only one data point to work with, that suggests humans and supernaturals can crossbreed. In that case the supernatural was the woman. I cannot even begin to know what might happen in your case... but consider these two far more comforting facts." He holds up a finger. "One, all the myths were written by men. The supernatural side was never accounted for." BJ nods, listening intently and unwittingly shredding another Kleenex from worry.
Jason cocks a second finger. "And two, birth control was much less sophisticated when Diana was born. Assuming they used it at all."
BJ blinks, her eyes widening, "Diana?! D-diana is Michael's daughter?!" A moment later she murmurs bemusedly, "No... there have to be more...? The mothe- Beatrice?! B-but sh-she looked so... so..." Her voice trails off in thought... then a moment later she gives Jason a scared look, "How... how many of them are around us right now, J-jason?"
Jason tries not to laugh -- laughing would be a bad reaction now. "Just the three. Unless you consider me unnatural too, because I can see they are supernatural. And no, Michael is not Diana's father... she was born of Beatrice and a human man," he explains. "Beatrice, well... adopted Michael. She takes care of him. Michael, as you may have noticed, is not so good at dealing with the human world."
BJ shivers, her arms wrapped around herself, looking around the bathroom a touch nervously. "Beatrice, Michael... and... and Diana. Are... are they all mino- er... cow people?" She gives Jason a slightly haunted look, "Doesn't that scare you at all, Jason?!"
Jason thinks she needs to feel he empathizes. "When I first saw Diana, I fainted," he admits. "But she never hurt me either, and I fell in love with her." He smiles. "And no, they're not all... minotaurs. But by all accounts, many of the supernaturals spoken of in myth and story do exist. They're very rare, though. Having three in one city is... astronomical odds." He decides to not say what they are directly... not unless asked. She's still at a fragile point; finding out they're succubae might flip BJ over the edge again.
BJ nods slowly, looking around a bit worriedly before she whispers, "Do they ever hurt humans?"
Jason tilts his head at BJ. "Do humans ever hurt other humans?" he asks obliquely. "Just like everything out there, there are some good and some bad... but I promise you that I consider these people my extended family... and none of my family would ever hurt you." He juts a chin towards Beatrice's room. "Beatrice considers herself a protector of this city."
BJ is silent for a long moment, thinking and staring off in the direction Jason indicates. Finally she says slowly, "But... isn't there a difference between the sheep dog and the shepherd? The sheep dog just guards the sheep from wolves... but the shepherd guards them so he can eat them himself." She takes a long, shuddery breath and looks worriedly at Jason, "Which are they, Jason? Do you know?"
Jason finds himself in the position of lying with the truth... he cannot tell her the whole story as he knows it. "They have no need of harming humans, BJ. They don't feed off flesh... they feed off emotion. That's why Beatrice owns a strip club. Can you imagine how much soup stock she gets off the amount of lust this place generates every night?"
BJ looks shocked, "Sou- oh! I th- I thought you really meant..." She pauses, then says a bit quaveringly, "M-michael w-was... was eating my emotions?!"
Jason internally groans. This is going in directions he didn't want to go. "No... no, Michael is a little different. He can't digest emotion the way Beatrice and Diana can, so they have to nourish him a different way." He smiles. "When he was... when he was with you, he did it not to feed, but because he wanted to please you. He thinks you smell nice." he adds.
BJ is silent, thinking hard for a long moment. Finally she says slowly, "You said... he'd been crying? Truly? Do you know why?"
Jason nods. "He likes you, BJ. It hurts him to think you might never want to see him again... he feels like he failed you. That he failed me, and Beatrice too, because you hurt yourself. He's really a very... very gentle soul."
BJ sighs softly, absently rubbing one arm, "I... it was a shock, Jason. I mean, I didn't faint, but it was... it was like all those horrible stupid old monster movies, only come to life!" Slowly, a bit defensively she murmurs, "He... he may not have meant it, Jason, but he really is scary looking -- especially right up close all of a sudden!"
Jason smiles ruefully. "I'll tell you... I fainted when I saw him the first time too, and almost did it a second time when he showed up with some soup to feed me in bed. I'm amazed I've been taking things as well as I have!"
BJ blinks -- then giggles in spite of herself! She bites her lip, realizing how that sounds... then tilts her head and smiles a bit, "Why did he bring you soup?"
Jason tilts his head. "I think he thought I was weak or sick, and that's why I fainted. I certainly was hungry, though."
BJ looks down at the rather mangled Kleenex in her lap for a long moment again... then back at Jason. Softly she says, "Is he... is he all right now?"
"He's stable. I don't know if he'll be 'all right,' though... not unless he thinks you forgive him," Jason says slowly.
BJ looks up abruptly at that, her demeanor wary, "Don't -- don't you try to guilt me, Jason Burke! I -- I'm working on this, okay?! He is damn scary and I'm sorry but I was really scared!"
Jason holds up his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to guilt you, Bonnie... I'm just..." He trails off. "I almost don't even see the monstrous aspects of him any more. You spend five minutes with him, and you can't believe that he's anything like the raging beast that Theseus supposedly slew. In some ways, he's almost like a child."
BJ sniffs, rubbing the back of one hand absently across her eyes, "I guess, Jason. I just... right now, in my head, I still see... s-see... glowing red eyes in the dark, and huge h-h-hands r-reaching f-for m-m-m... oh, hell!" She cuts off abruptly, embarrassed at the tears starting up again.
Jason just presses another Kleenex into her hand. He's not sure how far she can travel in just one night. "Do you want me to take you home? I appreciate how traumatic this is... this doesn't all have to be dealt with now."
It takes BJ a bit to recover -- she's trying her best, but she really was rather horrifically shocked! She sighs gustily once she's manages to pull herself together again, and leans to give Jason a quick hug around the neck, "Thank you so much, Jason, for not thinking I'm a loon." Then she sits back and thinks a bit. "Let's see. Rita's still here, and she's with your sweetie, and you don't seem to mind, and Diana likes Michael, right?" A little anxiously she hastily adds, "And Diana wouldn't hurt her, right?"
Jason smiles. "Diana adores Michael... and no, Diana won't hurt Rita. Hell, we took her in because she got wasted pining over Di. Figured the best thing I could do was give her what she wanted..."
BJ blinks a bit startledly... then peers puzzledly at Jason, "Dude, who are you?! I know maybe two guys in my entire life that aren't rabidly jealous about their lovers -- and I saw Mike in her bed too as I walked by!"
Jason tries to think of how to answer that. "Some of it is just the way I am, BJ... but yes, it's more than that. It's partly that Diana has no biases when it comes to sex. It's that I know that no matter who she's with, it doesn't change how she feels about me... that I am special to her in a way that no one else is. And partly..." He trails off and then gives her a direct look. "Did you see how everyone reacted to Beatrice? How everyone reacts to Diana herself? How can I be jealous of that? I would have to bitch slap everyone I ever met, male and female."
BJ makes a choked noise, trying not to laugh loudly at that! Jason grins. Laughter is a step in the right direction. "But really... I didn't know how I'd react till I did. I'm as surprised as you."
She grins a bit sheepishly, shaking her head, "Okay, yeah... I guess that just makes sense, and I asked for that one." She sighs softly, looking away for a few moments... then smiles faintly at Jason. "I'm... going to guess you've got it right and Michael wants to know I don't hate him, right?"
Jason nods slowly. "It would be nice if you could at least give him that peace of mind before you go... but if you're not up to it, that's okay too. It's just... I'm leaving, possibly tomorrow. I will be here to talk whenever you want, but it's not the same as being here, you know?
BJ blinks, "You... tomorrow? Oh..." She looks away, considering, then nods slowly, "I... knew that, too, didn't I." She's silent for a long moment, then says slowly, "Could -- would Diana be interested in... in one last lunch before you all go, or something? And... maybe we could all go together?" She gives Jason a slightly desperate look, "I mean, I figure in the sunlight, with lots of friends around, it... it'd be easier, you know? I don't mean to be mean, but every time I think about... about these huge hands r-reaching -- reach- uh... I just -- I just n-need a bit of space to recover, p-please? You -- maybe you could tell him tonight I don't hate him, I just..." She takes a deep breath, then whispers, "Could you do that?"
Jason nods firmly, thinking that's about as good as he could ask for. "I think I could convince her... the aftermath with Rita was very likely to prevent us from an early departure anyway," he replies thoughtfully. And he blushes then. "And convincing her will be kind of fun too," he drawls bashfully. BJ blinks again, then giggles in spite of herself. Jason grins. "Well, you just listen to her sometimes! I ask her if she'll do be a favor, and she just grins at me like the cat that ate the canary and asks what she'll get in return." BJ's eyes widen -- then she hastily brings her robe sleeve up to muffle the delighted laughter!