Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

Once again Isabel was grateful that traveling with Wyatt was so much nicer then regular air travel or even portal. She made it home from Angel's with time enough to run into town to get some chocolate pudding before The Amazing Race started.

Wondering how Michael was doing, she handwavily left him a message then settled back to watch the end of 60 Minutes.

The door was open.

Comments

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Hey!" Isabel smiled. "Come on in. How are you doing? How was your weekend?"

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"Pretty good." He wandered in and sat down. "Worked my first shift at the diner."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It went well?"

Annie regally walked over to appraise the newcomer.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to stop by," she apologized. "By the time we were done with the dancing I had to get back here and pack to get out to LA."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

Michael peered down at the cat, then offered her a hand to sniff.

"Yeah, River came by and made me go to the dance in lunch break. I didn't know you went to LA."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I had a friend I needed to check up on," Isabel explained. "He was being stoic boy. So my friend Parker and I met up out there and made him take us to dinner." And that was the very short version of a long story.

Annie was completely disinterested. Which was why she moved closer.

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

Of course.

"Oh, okay. Someone you met here?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Remember the vampire I mentioned?" she smiled. "He lives in LA now. I hadn't seen him in a while." Angelus totally didn't count. "Since Parker's on break from Oxford, it was a good time to see two friends at once."

There was no back arching, or rubbing against Michael's ankles. That was beneath Annie's dignity.

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

Well, clearly. There was no scritching of Annie's jaw, either.

"I didn't know you could just take off for the weekend like that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel shrugged, "I probably should have filled out a form in the office?" Oops. "But lately traveling's been so simple, I forget. But also, don't forget that I'm a senior. And older then eighteen."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"True. And you came back, so it's not like they've got anything to worry about."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I have no reason not to come back," she pointed out. "My friends are here. This is home for me now."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"Not unless something stopped you."

Spot the subtext of the last couple of lines.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Then there'd be a really pissed off rescue party coming to get me." That was something Isabel was absolutely certain about.

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"I've heard stuff about that. They could reach you wherever you were?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Ninety-nine percent of the time? Yes," she nodded. "I can only think of twice when things got cut off. When plague hit in the fall. The whole island got cut off from everyone and every where. The other time? Xander went home. And was cut off for six years. Except for us it was only six months."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

Michael nodded slowly.

"So the one time was quarantine, I guess... do you know why the other time happened?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm not a hundred percent sure," Isabel admitted. "Although he'd come from six years in the past. So by the time we were back in contact, things had synced up. That might have had something to do with it."

"Why all the questions?" Although she had an idea.

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

He shrugged.

"I just wanna know how things work around here."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Well now you do. Of course having said that? Something bizarre and unexpected will happen," she told him matter-of-factly. "But whatever it is, we'll cope."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"Yeah", he agreed with a crooked grin. "Like always."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much yeah," Isabel nodded, realizing he had no clue just how much they'd coped with. "Just like always."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

There was a comfortable silence for a moment, and then Michael glanced around, noticed the pictures on the walls... and stared.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

It took Isabel a moment to realize what he was staring at. "Oh yeah. Things are a little different for us. But in a very good way."

[rebelheartalien.livejournal.com]

"A little?" he echoed incredulously. "Who're those girls?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Liz is Max's girlfriend, and Maria is, well, your girlfriend," she explained. "They're very close."