Room 406, afternoon into evening

[izzyalienqueen]

Isabel has not been having the best time of it the last week or so. There'd been the horrendous trip to LA, coming back to find out that Jack was in trouble, and then fighting with Greg. The only thing that could make things worse would be a call from Max with more of his particular brand of stupidity.

Too keyed up to even attempt sleep, Isabel sat on her bed and floated the nerf balls from the day at the beach with Cedric and Jack through the air in a complicated pattern. It was easier to focus on that then think about how closely the argument she had with Greg paralleled why everyone was mad at Jack.

The door was open.

Comments

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

After hearing Isabel's message yesterday, Peter figured it might be a good idea to check up on her and see how the trip to LA went. He knocked on the door as he peeked his head in. "Hey, Isabel. How was your trip?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Honestly? It sucked," Isabel said, sending the balls over to land on her desk. Scooting back towards the head of the bed she motioned for Peter to take a seat.

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter came in and noted that Isabel looked terrible. "What happened?" he asked, sitting down.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"The demon was scarier and tougher to kill then I thought it would be," she explained. "That's why I was there so long. It didn't finally end until late, late Friday night."

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

"Ugh," Peter said. "But you did get the demon? That's an upside, at least."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"We did. It just took too long." Isabel paused, biting her lip and gathering her thoughts. "Did you ever have to make a choice about who you saved?" she asked finally.

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter thought he could see where this was going. "Not quite. But I've been in situations where I haven't been able to save someone. And more than a few where a decision I made directly lead to someone dying. And that sucks. And it hurts. But one thing you learn quickly when you dedicate yourself to doing this kind of work is that you can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try."

"So, with that disclaimer out of the way, what happened?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin was out stretching his legs.

He was in no way avoiding thinking about what would be happening in the next few weeks.

Really.

He smiled at the floating balls. "You've been practicing," he said.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Hey stranger! Long time no see on the fourth floor!" Isabel said with a genuine smile. "I have. It's fun."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"I'm glad to hear it," Anakin said, leaning against the doorjamb. "Living on the first floor is too quiet."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You can come in you know," she said. "There's no need to lurk in the doorway. I can't imagine living on the first floor. I like having people wander by the door."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"I'm normally good with quiet, but it's a little too much," Anakin said, coming into the room and sprawling out on the floor. "How are you?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I've had better weeks," Isabel admitted. "I just got back from spending a week helping Angel in LA."

After Everyone Else Leaves

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack'd been asleep all day, and when he'd woken, Sam and Cedric had finally let him leave. He suspected it was because they thought Isabel would yell at him.

As he tapped quietly on the wall, he really hoped she wasn't going to.

Re: After Everyone Else Leaves

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Isabel said with a small smile before sending the balls over to hit him in the chest. Waving her hand slightly, she sent them back to the desk. "That's for making us worry."

Re: After Everyone Else Leaves

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

He managed a small, pained smile and pushed the door shut behind him, leaning against it and making no move to go closer. "I'm sorry, Isabel. I didn't mean to."

Re: After Everyone Else Leaves

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I know," she said quietly all too aware of the parallels of what they'd both done. "Trust me. I know." Isabel patted the space on the bed next to her. "Come. Sit."

Re: After Everyone Else Leaves

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack settled next to her, slower than usual, still hurting and still tired, foregoing his usual sprawl in favor of sitting neatly, his shoulder just brushing hers. "Do you want to yell at me?" he asked, with a small smile. "I'm getting pretty good at it."

Re: After Everyone Else Leaves

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel reached for his hand. "Somehow I think you've had enough yelling today. Besides, I really can't talk at this point."

(Before Jack)

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander, only realizing just long it had been since he'd been up here as he was knocking on the doorframe, peered in. "Hey, Roomie. Heard you were back."

Re: (Before Jack)

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Xander!" Isabel smiled. "How are you? Come in! Sit down!"

Re: (Before Jack)

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander came in and grabbed a chair, turning it around to sit straddling it. "I'm...good. Mostly. How about you? It was in the radio notes that you went to see Angel?"

Re: (Before Jack)

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"He needed help. I went. The big scary demon is dead," she said with a shrug. "It wasn't a pleasure trip but at least I was able to help. Sorry I missed class."

Re: (Before Jack)

[soldtoarmenians]

"Missing class for demon-slaying's not only an acceptable excuse, it really needs to be a pre-printed checkbox on the passes," Xander said. "You okay?"

Re: (Before Jack)

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm dealing," Isabel said with a wry smile. "I'm sure you know how that goes."