damnfinecup | (no subject)

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in-game,
jill

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Dale made sure he and Jill stopped by the kitchen for coffee before setting out on their way for their long-planned outing in the falling snow. It was more for his own sake, and the sake of the weather, than for Jill's, but it was always the gentlemanly thing to do to offer refreshment to one's partner for the day.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked her, his scarf hanging loosely around his neck, only to be tied the moment before they went outside. "These aren't really travel mugs, but they'll do in a pinch."

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Jill was fussing with her scarf when Dale asked and she glanced up at him, smiling brightly, even though she was annoyed with the damned knitted thing around her neck.

"I think I'll be okay, actually," she told him, smoothing her hands over the scarf. Maybe she was just nervous, waiting for David to show up in her head or, almost worse, somehow, wanting for Radek to actually show up. She felt like she was doing something wrong. Which was ridiculous.

"Well, I hope you'll forgive me if I bring one with me," said Dale with a grin, holding up his own mug. "It might be a vice, but it's a fairly innocuous one as these things go. Are you ready to head out?"

"I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you, yes," Jill agreed, finally getting her scarf the way she wanted it, looped once around her neck so that she didn't feel like it was choking her. It was a weird side effect of the bomb, but that was the only thing she could think to blame it on.

"And I think I'm ready," she said, giving him another smile.

"Excellent," said Dale, setting his mug down just long enough to fasten his own scarf. "So, do you have any idea what you'd like to see first, or will you trust me to show you something interesting?"

He doesn't know you well enough if he's asking you to trust him, David scoffed and Jill ignored him with a slightly tight smile.

"I think I'll leave it up to you," she said easily. "You know the island much better than I do, after all. I'm only really familiar with the Compound and the... I think it's called the Hamlet?"

"Ah, by the small waterfall," said Dale knowledgeably. "Well, let's head for the big one, then, it's looking pretty spectacular these days. It's too bad we don't have any ice skates; I hear the frozen pool has turned into quite the skating rink."

"It's turned into a curling rink anyway," Jill said with a grin, remembering the day she'd found Chris there and the talk they'd had. She'd needed that talk, as it turned out.

"And here I thought they were using the stream for a curling rink." said Dale with a grin. "More length to it, I would have thought. Strange sport, curling. Fascinating, but strange."

"I saw Chris on the pond the other day," Jill explained as they headed toward the door. She fished her yellow mittens out of her jacket pockets and pulled them on.

"I worked with a man named Bob Melnikov back home and he knew all sorts of useless facts, including all the rules of curling," she continued, her smile faint and sort of wistful.

"Did you, now?" said Dale, with genuine interest. "I suppose all the rules of curling aren't useless if you play, though. Are any of your people here, Jill?"

"No," she said with a brief shake of her head. She'd pulled her hair back into french braids that morning and they shook against the back of her neck when she looked over at Dale.

"Mostly I think I'm okay with that. I miss them, but I have no idea what I'd do if David ever showed up," she said honestly. Even so, she did miss him. And Bob, Mayko and Carlos.

"Me neither," said Dale with a soft sigh. "Most other people, though, they have someone show up sooner or later. Maybe you're just the first." He still wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, to have people you knew and loved be transported to this island as well, but it was certainly a comforting thing.

The first. That sounded ominous and she couldn't help but hope that if anyone had to show up, it would be Mayko or Carlos. Part of Jill liked being alone. All she wanted was to know they were all still alive.

"Bob might not survive here," she said. "He has Aspergers. Change is difficult for him."

"In all likelihood, he'll never have to worry about it," said Dale, hoping it was the right thing to say. "And if he does... well, at least he won't be the first. I have to think that would be even harder for him."

Jill just nodded, hoping Dale was right. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Bob, but she didn't want him to have to deal with the change of the island.

"Is there anyone you want to see, but at the same time you hope they'll never show up?" she asked.

"Yes," said Dale immediately. There was only one name on that particular list, but it was a significant one. "Very much so."

"Someone you love? Loved," she immediately corrected herself. Maybe she'd been stupid enough to love David at one point, but she didn't love him now. At least, she was trying to convince herself of that.

"Yes," said Dale, just as quickly and decisively. "There are some days when I think I would give anything to see her one more time, and others when I think that seeing her again would be the worst thing that could happen to me."

Jill nodded, glad she wasn't the only one. "My boss back home was... we had something." Had. Some thing. Not a relationship. Just some thing. "Most of the time I'm convinced I'll slap him if he ever tries showing up for real."

"Well, I hope it wouldn't be too traumatic, for either of you," he said, venturing a smile. "Is that the David you mentioned earlier, or is that someone else entirely?"

"No, that's David," she said, her voice a little dry. David, who kept showing up at the most inappropriate moments. "Possibly the most arrogant man I've ever met. With the exception of Rodney McKay."

"Jill," said Dale with a smile, "I wish I could introduce you to Albert Rosenfield. But that's neither here nor there. I can understand perfectly why you might have mixed feelings about his potential arrival."

Mixed feeling was a bit of an understatement, but Jill just nodded her agreement, still smiling faintly. "He saved my life. I guess I should, at the very least, appear grateful for that before I slap him should he ever arrive."

"It would probably go over better that way," said Dale, looking up at the sky for a moment and letting the snowflakes melt on his cheeks. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed weather like this."

"How long?" Jill asked curiously. She'd heard from Chris that it had snowed once before, but she had no idea how long ago that had been. How long any of these people had really been on the island.