damnfinecup | (no subject)

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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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"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.

"Long before I came to the island," said Dale. "Experienced it? Yes. Enjoyed it? Well, that's another thing entirely, isn't it."

"The last time I think I actually enjoyed this weather was earlier in the week." During the disaster of a snowball fight. "But before here? Norway, probably."

"Not Canada?" said Dale curiously. "And just what was it that you found so enjoyable about the weather earlier this week?"

"Not Canada, no," Jill said, because she hadn't spent much time outside in Toronto. Her mouth turned up fainting and she said, "Snowball fight. I hadn't had a real one since I was a kid."

"Snowball fight?" repeated Dale with a grin. "Now there's something I haven't done in a while. Though I bet I can still pack a mean snowball."

"I won," Jill said smugly, although she'd only really won because she'd ended up destroying Radek's shelter by falling on it. "You better not throw any at me," she warned a moment later, raising her eyebrows as she looked over at Dale.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Dale assured her, raising his un-coffee-laden hand in a gesture of innocence. "Clearly it's already been done. I prefer originality."

"So you don't favour the 'punch the girl in the arm and run away' trick?" Jill teased, her mouth turning up into a smile. All in all, she didn't mind that trick. Which probably said something about her.

"I don't find that one's worked very well for me since middle school," said Dale, with a regretful shake of his head. "It's a bit of a shame; things were much simpler back then."

"I don't remember things ever being simple," Jill told him with a quiet laugh, thinking back to the way things had been. Had it really ever been simple?