Waiting For Rain IC: Spring Slowly Comes

[BlasTech]

""Hey Ash?" Isabelle called out, before the other girl could go.

"Thanks ... Catch you 'round, alright?"

[Thanqol]

""Hey Ash?" Isabelle called out, before the other girl could go.

"Thanks ... Catch you 'round, alright?"

"Yeah. You're alright," said Ashley as she left.

[Deadly]

Charlene waved briefly as Ashley left.

"Sounds like a plan," she then said to Isabelle and Jon

[BlasTech]

"Right, lets get this done then." Isabelle replied, walking to the exit and looking around, seeing if she could spot Jess anywhere nearby.

[the_druid_droid]

Jon craned his neck to search for his sister over Isabelle's shoulder. He hoped they hadn't been gone so long that she'd decided to head back to the bar; dealing with the wolves wasn't something he was looking forward to twice in one day.

[Thanqol]

Jessica was, thankfully, immediately outside. "What the hell are you doing, Matt? Who are all these people? Is this a joke?" she said, having had just enough time and distance to get angry.

[the_druid_droid]

Jon looked apologetic, but determined. "I'm sorry Jess, I didn't handle that as well as I might have. I promise this isn't a trick; my friends here, Isabelle and Charlene," here he gestured to the two women accompanying him, "they're like me, or like I am now, basically..."

Jon realized that now would be a good time for his friends to help convince Jessica he wasn't crazy or a prankster.

[BlasTech]

"Well, for certain definitions of "like" I suppose." Isabelle replied, holding out a hand. "Isabelle Keene, nice to meet you Jess."

[Deadly]

"We're friends of Jon. I'm Charlene," she said, also offering a friendly hand after Isabelle. "We met each other recently, and it's all been very difficult, to say the least. It would make a very poor joke for all of us."

[Thanqol]

"Mike, don't you have a fiancée? Why are you hanging around with three random girls?" Jess said, not biting.

[the_druid_droid]

"I-I do?" Jon looked genuinely surprised here; he hadn't noticed the girl with his fetch, or at least he hadn't processed the significance of it in the confusion of his homecoming.

"The last girl I remember dating was Maria, but that was freshman year. We had that nasty breakup and I swore I'd make really sure I didn't end up with someone crazy next time, so I took some time off from romantic stuff..." His eyes were searching, and the memories felt half like a dream, but at the same time he knew they were his real memories.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle's felt her smile slip slightly at Jess' unexpected rudeness. Tramping down the urge to snap something impolite in return, she glanced at her companions, hoping they could salvage the situation first.

[Thanqol]

"I-I do?" Jon looked genuinely surprised here; he hadn't noticed the girl with his fetch, or at least he hadn't processed the significance of it in the confusion of his homecoming.

"The last girl I remember dating was Maria, but that was freshman year. We had that nasty breakup and I swore I'd make really sure I didn't end up with someone crazy next time, so I took some time off from romantic stuff..." His eyes were searching, and the memories felt half like a dream, but at the same time he knew they were his real memories.

"Joeline, remember? Tall, redhead, always on the phone? Your co-worker?" She shook her head. "Look, Mike, I think I know what this is about. That weirdo jumped you the other day in your house and you're freaking out about it. You should just take it easy."

She seemed to be quite adamant that this was the way things were, possibly because of the alternative being what it was.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle rubbed her forehead, it felt like they were going backwards here.

"Look," she tried again, picking her words carefully "what if we knew who that 'wierdo' was?"

[the_druid_droid]

Jon glanced quickly between Isabelle and his sister, "Yeah, we might be able to explain that."

Despite his words, a part of him was reluctant - afraid Jess might misunderstand this news as well...

[Thanqol]

"Uh, right. Who?" she said suspiciously.

[Deadly]

Charlene looked between Isabelle and Jon. That little offer probably narrowed down the options a little. Maybe this was a good ... a better point, at least, to break in. "Can I speak with you two, for just a sec?"

[BlasTech]

Isabelle folded her arms and shrugged.

"No problems here." She said, looking at Jon.

[the_druid_droid]

"Sure Charlene, what's on your mind?" Jon moved in closer to his sister and his friend, still a little on-edge over the whole messy situation. He was doing his best to think things over and be reasonable this time, though.

[Deadly]

"Only a moment," Charlene said and led Jon away from the others, still within sight but far enough that a quiet voice wouldn't be heard. She left Isabelle to either follow or stay with Jess.

"I realize it may not be easy to back out now," she said quietly and quickly once they were out of range. "But are you sure you really want your sister to know? Even if you can convince her you're not crazy, it may be too much for her to take. It's going to cause a lot of pain for both of you. Perhaps it's better to take Ashley's advice and let her think you just got a bad scare because of some weirdo, then find a way to deal with the fetch without involving your family. At least that way it's only you who suffer the knowledge of what happened. If you do decide to bring her into this, you're going to need something much better than your honest word. Just look how easily she shrugged off what she's just seen with her own two eyes. That's what you're up against. You need a safe and sure way to show her, maybe if she sees both of you together, or you could make a pledge somewhere safe, it's your choice just ... please think hard about what it'll do to her life. And if you fail, she'll think you're out of your mind for sure."

This whole mess had her seeing disaster around every corner. And all she could do was offer advice. It was terrible.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle had followed along, listening to Charlene's words and, for the large part, nodding along in agreement. While she hadn't articulated her thoughts quite so clearly, she'd been instinctively cautious in dealing with Jess due to the impact the truth would have on her.

"Yeah, it's not going as smoothly as I'd hoped so far, that's for sure. But it's your family, your life, your decision Jon. I'm just here to help."

[the_druid_droid]

Jon's expression was strained; what his friends were saying was getting through, but he'd been holding on to this reunion as his guidepost through the Hedge and all the troubles that their return to the mortal world had brought. He was actually a little frightened to let it go, not sure he wanted to find out where things might take him if he simply let himself drift.

"Ok, just... give me a sec to think about it, alright?" He spoke slowly and his eyes kept darting over to where his sister stood, trying to read her expression.

[Thanqol]

Jess was looking increasingly irritated at this crypticness with intermittent group huddles.

[BlasTech]

"Take your time" Isabelle replied, glancing back to Jon's sister. "Although little miss prissy there is starting to annoy me."

[the_druid_droid]

"Hey, easy!" Jon frowned as he said it, but the expression was distracted and conveyed no real anger. After just a moment more, he spoke again, "Ok, I guess we should back out for now... I thought this was going to be easier, since it was Jess, but I guess I'm still in over my head... I'm going to have to talk to someone or think it over, or something, if I want to make any progress..."

Jon looked a little downcast, and he made a move to return to where his sister stood, glancing between his friends as he did so.

[Thanqol]

"Have you figured it out yet?" said Jess, more than a little exasperated at this point.

[BlasTech]

Isabelle kept quiet, letting Jon do his bit but staying nearby for support.

[the_druid_droid]

"Yeah... it was, ah, a friend of mine from work. He's really into pranks, but he kind of picked a bad time, y'know? I've been kind of stressed lately... sorry for acting so weird about it all. Maybe... maybe once I get things settled with him we can have a real, normal talk, ok?"

The lie hurt, and it wasn't very good, but he really didn't know how far he wanted to push his sister at this point, after what the others had said. Things weren't going at all like the scene he'd planned out in his mind, and maybe the smartest thing was to pull back for now. It was certainly true that his sister's doubt was upsetting, and more than a little embarrassing...

[Thanqol]

"All right. Look... thanks for coming clean. You should take a break, Mike. Those nightmares have had you jumpy for weeks," Jess said, voice softening a bit.

[Deadly]

Charlene relaxed. Things were probably better this way. Like Isabelle she stayed silent, but supportive.