Who: JJ Monroe and Felix Weissman What: Visiting JJ after her bad plant reaction When: Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | morning Where: Brightstar Reserve, medical wing Warnings: Plot, but tame.
The only thing Felix had done before coming straight to the medical wing was to drop his bag in his office, and that was really only because he needed a moment to compose himself. There were too many things piling on, attacks coming from too many directions, and he didn't want any of that on his face when he saw her. The walk between the buildings in the crisp morning air was a sort of involuntary meditation period, wherein he thought about nothing other than his wish for a coat, and it was sufficient to clear his head. He hoped.
He found the room she'd been assigned easy enough—it wasn't as if the place was all that large—and knocked on the doorframe before sticking his head into the open doorframe. "Up for a visitor?" he asked with a smile, relieved that her eyes were open. "I'm starting to see a dangerous trend of you with plants. Do I need to stage an intervention?"
She gave him a bright, delighted smile, looking up from the book she'd been reading. JJ was tired, but the night in medical had done her a world of good. "Well, I mean, the first step is admittin' you have a problem, but I'm afraid I'm not there yet, so I'm gonna have to decline your kind intervention invitation, hon."
After she put down her book, she scooted over on the bed and patted the newly made empty space. "Come sit a spell, why don'cha. You can tell me if I've made it into the rumor mill yet."
Felix sat down in the spot indicated and reached for one of her hands, immediately winding it in his own. Other than the fact that she was sitting in a hospital bed, she seemed her normal self. "I'm sorry to report that the rumor mill hasn't exactly made its way around to me yet, so for all I know, you might be the talk of the town. Probably some wild rumors, too, because Derry's not the sort to go talking about it to just anyone, which means it's conjecture based on anyone who saw you," he added, the tease obvious in his tone.
"We're going out there this morning to figure out what happened." He squeezed her hand lightly. "Can't have my beauty spending all of her time hidden away in here when there's a world of psychic creatures who need her. And not-so-psychic herbologists."
"Felix!" she affected a believably scandalized voice. "How dare you do your job instead of keepin' your finger on the pulse of all the hot Reserve goss. Once you miss a day, you might as well just leave. There's no comin' back from that one." JJ grinned at him, but a name he'd said snagged in her head and it faded quickly into a thoughtful look. "Derry… he's the one who was with me? Sorry, I'm still not rememberin' things so great."
With a slow nod, her eyes fell on their tangled fingers, and she gave them a squeeze. As happy as she'd been a moment before, it tipped right back over to the fear she'd felt as soon as she'd woken up in the middle of the night, finally lucid again. It twisted inside of her, and she pressed her lips tight just to keep from screaming. A tear fell down her cheek. It took her a bit before she felt like she could speak again, and she managed a watery smile at her not-so-psychic herbologist. "I have no doubt that y'all will get to the bottom of this. I must've scared the dickens out of your colleague. Will you tell him how sorry I am? I can't remember anything I said or did, but I probably caused him quite a fright."
"Oi now, none of that apologizing. All you did was stumble into some hallucinogenic plant that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Not even remotely your fault." Felix wiped away that tear with his thumb, his chest clenched with concern that he attempted to keep off of his face. "And yes, it was Derry. We're going to walk the area—with appropriate safety charms," he added, for clarity. "Last thing anyone in this town needs is me high. Last time that happened, there was a lot of table dancing, singing, broken things, and random crying in the corner. Or so I was told." He chuckled, because there was no other appropriate reaction to those particular memories. Or, well, stories of memories, since he didn't actually remember any of it.
"Any idea when Healer Strand is letting you out of here?" It was odd referring to Njall so formally, and yet gave him an odd little thrill, too. Like using the title somehow was hiding what had been happening between them, their own little secret.
JJ giggled; she couldn't help it. Felix always had that perfect thing to say, and she wondered joyously at the Divine will that brought him into her life. "You say last, but now that's just made my top ten of things I'd like t'see before I die. But don't you worry none--I'll make sure there's absolutely no enduring evidence of these shenanigans, should they come to pass. Heck, you won't even have to worry about me rememberin'!" She grinned brightly. Maybe too much. "I hardly ever remember the good stuff anyway, so you'd be perfectly fine."
At the mention of one of the resident non-creature healers, JJ's gaze went from bordering on maudlin to shrewd faster than anyone could blink. When she and Healer Strand had talked in the wee hours of the night, she remembered him calling the Deputy Head of Herbology by his name and not his official title as Felix had just done. She also remembered the look in his eyes every time he'd come up. Sure, it was late, and she was exhausted, but she knew what she'd seen.
She tried to find some trace of it now, but Felix either had a perfect poker face or she'd maybe made up the whole thing in the middle of the night. Some residual drug maybe. All the same, she shrugged. "Sounds like noon-ish, but he's already told me to take it easy for the rest of the day, and I gotta check in first thing tomorrow before he'll release me back t'work. Maybe I can sweet talk him into lettin' me haunt your office for a couple of days. There's a better than good chance I won't mess up your filin' system too bad."
"You remember me. What other good things do you need?" he teased, winking at her. It didn't stop the continued worries flowing through his thoughts, going all the way back to the earliest days of their acquaintance, when she had entirely forgotten that they kissed. He wasn't the sort to dig into someone else's problems—he had far too many secrets of his own for that—but there was a tug of temptation in this case.
"You're welcome to try to ruin my filing system, but I promise you it's ironclad these days." And starting to go paperless, even, that was moving slower on the side of getting others in the department to adopt it, and because he didn't exactly have spare time to digitize every piece of paper he got. Hence, meticulously organized file cabinets. He was pretty sure even his father would approve of those. "I wouldn't say no to the help, though, if you can get clearance to be borrowed. Let me know if you want me to put in an official request."
Reaching up, she booped the end of his nose with a finger. "You have an excellent point, Mr. Weissman. The day I forget you is the day I should just pack it all in an' call it done-for."
JJ gasped and leaned back to put a hand to her chest, with all the trappings of being deeply appalled. "I would never purposely ruin anything in this place. I love it too much. I mean, I know I've only been here since January, but it already feels like home. I'd cry if somethin' happened to it." Her eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly, hair bouncing around her face. "An official request would be amazin'! Even just havin' a couple of days of some kind of steady schedule would do wonders for somethin' like a mental reset. Have I told you lately how much I love you, or would that just make me workin' for you for a spell really awkward? Should I be fillin' out HR forms and whatnot?"
"I think I can behave myself if you can," Felix said, laughing both at her enthusiasm and her teasing. It had been a long time since he'd had a friend like her, where one day they could be kissing and sharing chocolate, and another they could sit on a bed and joke around just as comfortably. "I'll submit it as soon as Derry and I get back from the enclosure." After they'd taken care of whatever they found there, because Felix was confident they would find something, even if it wasn't the vine that Derry had flagged for further examination.
"Is there anything I can bring you while you're 'taking it easy?'" he asked, holding one hand out to grasp for hers. "My roommate is a wicked baker, so I can supply pretty much all the sweets you could ever want."
She grinned right back at him. "Oh, darlin', I'll have you know that I have the kind of restraint that would make a saint sit up and take notes. Pure as the fresh driven snow, me." JJ caught the corner of her lip with her teeth, and the look was positively impish. Her brain might be swiss cheese, but some things were kind enough to stick around. A thought flashed through her head: can't keep the good, you wicked girl. She resolute ignored that cruel little voice. "Just maybe don't examine the kissin' bits too hard. It don't exactly hold up to scrutiny when you factor that in."
His hand was warm in hers as she took it again, and she used it to tug him into a hug that was mostly just her burying her face against his neck while she clutched him tight around the shoulders. "Just seein' you here is sweet enough. Although Stevie's baked goods are pretty legendary around here, so this isn't a flat refusal if somethin' of hers happens to make it into my sad and pathetic, medical-bound hands."
"I'd never examine too hard. Cross my heart," Felix said, making the corresponding gesture. "Takes all the fun out of it anyway."
He laughed as he gave her a tight squeeze and brushed a kiss on her temple. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said, the playfulness leaving his voice. "Rest up and do what Nj—Healer Strand says about taking it easy, yeah? And I'll make sure there's something sweet waiting for you when you get back to your room."
One last squeeze, and then Felix pulled away and stood, smoothing his work clothes into play. "Duty calls."
That little slip made her smile, completely unseen. "I can be a model patient if I put my mind to it, especially when sweets are on the line." JJ nodded as he got up, and gave him a grin. "Go kick some plant booty, and show those woods who's boss around these here parts!"
Felix laughed, unable to dwell on the difficult task ahead of him in the face of that smile. "Technically speaking, that's not me, but somehow I don't think that excuse is going to get me out of it." He stepped through the doorway and only paused long enough to blow her a kiss before starting toward his office.