The Roof, Late Sunday Evening

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Deciding that the evening was nice enough for an outdoor picnic, John had a blanket laid out on the roof decorated with turkey sandwiches, bags of Cheetos, and cans of terrible beer he'd smuggled up from his room. There was even a chunk of chocolate cake waiting next to the basket. This was his idea of a picnic, and he thought he'd done an okay job of gathering things and setting up.

Despite knowing in advance that Jaina intended to bid on and win his basket, John was still a little surprised by how she'd accomplished her goal.

And part of him still wondered what would have happened if she'd lost.

[John's there for the girl who won him, but the roof is open.]

Comments

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Ben and I talk sometimes," he shrugged. "You know, if you got Dex to dish about me we could get an alternate version sharing thing going."

[solo_sword]

She raised her eyebrows. "You really want me to?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Do you think it's wrong to be curious?"

[solo_sword]

"No," she said immediately. "I used to think it was maybe a wrong idea to ask, but that was before we had Ben with his messed-up future me. I just want to make sure you actually want to know. The messed-up future me isn't much fun to hear about, you know?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Having heard some about yours makes me curious if there's anything in my own that could use some extra thought," he admitted. going for a drink to busy himself with.

[solo_sword]

"I could ask," she said after a moment. "I don't know how much he'll tell me, but I can see what I can find out."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"You would actually ask?" John would never stop being amazed by her.

[solo_sword]

"It's not the first time you've said you wanted to know," Jaina said. "And if you know from hearing about me that everything might not be great, then yeah, I'd ask."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"There's always the chance that just by knowing things can be different, right?"

[solo_sword]

"I think so. That's why I told Jacen some things. Once you know, the chances of being that stupid are that much less. I'd hope. Do you want things to be different already?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No," John said quickly. "But I look at this guy who's supposed to know me and he's...not what I'd expect, you know?"

[solo_sword]

She opened her mouth to speak, then admitted, "Okay, I'll grant that he'd probably fit in better in my galaxy than yours."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"See what I'm saying. Not that he seems at all willing to give anything up, but the closer I get to graduation, the more curious I become."

[solo_sword]

"Do you know how he knows you at all?" She was pretty curious, too.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"No clue. He's barely spoken to me and we've had a good dozen encounters." John was leaving out anything that may have been said while he was six because that was endlessly strange.

[solo_sword]

"Do you think he actually will tell me anything?" she asked, suddenly wondering.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John shook his head. "He won't tell me anything, but I'm hoping that if I keep asking every week he'll get annoyed and something will slip."

[solo_sword]

"Or he'll shove you up against a wall or something," she pointed out, taking a bite of her sandwich.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"It was a tree," he said, wiping mustard from the corner of his mouth. "And he's done that once already."

[solo_sword]

"If there are no trees available, he may try to improvise," she said, amused despite herself.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"You know, I've been attacked three or four times for having someone's face," John said, leaning back on his elbows. "Maybe I should get surgery to fix that."

[solo_sword]

"You have your face," she told him. "Which I like."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Me and at least three other guys." Four, but he still hadn't understood why that drunk chick was always yelling at him when she saw him. "Which I am glad I don't have to deal with as constantly as you do. But I figure you get what it's like."

[solo_sword]

"And now I'm so used to it I hardly even notice," she said. "Which may be sad."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"I'll notice for you," he said. "It's probably healthy that you've gotten to where you can ignore it. Or you're just too busy."