InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I have GREAT eyes!"

Sebastian Vega (ismybar) wrote in freedomtownic,
@ 2019-02-01 09:34:00

Entry tags:

~jo laughlin (imjo), ~ric saltzman (ismybar)

WHO: Ric Saltzman and Jo Laughlin
WHEN: 01/31/2019
WHERE: in and around the welcome center
WHAT: Jo's arrival
RATING: tba

It wasn't as if Ric didn't know the power of the reality gem. He had seen before people being surprised by loved ones that should be dead and gone. Still the thought of Jo coming to Galador hadn't crossed his mind. It would have been better if it did. That would mean that he planned for how he was going to react and what he was going to say. Especially with how his life was now. With Caroline and the girls, all four of them, and with Buffy. He didn't think he would truly love again. Not the kind of love that he felt towards Jo but it took him by surprise.

Now Jo was at the welcome center and everything he wanted to say seemed bad. Not that the words were mean at all. He just didn't know how to say it to the woman he almost married. One of the reasons he had those beautiful girls in his life. All he knew was that he couldn't just leave her there. She meant too much to him and he wanted her to be okay. He knew that this place could be a lot for someone just arriving. He didn't have a welcome center when he arrived so he didn't know how much it helped. But he figured it would be better coming from someone she knew.

He walked up to the welcome center. Pausing when he saw her and taking a deep breath before he approached. "Hey Jo," he said with a soft smile on his face. She was alive and he was so thankful for that.

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imjo
2019-02-03 12:27 am UTC (link)

Jo had no idea how any of this was possible but somehow there she was. Alive and in a strange place where not only were Ric and her girls living happily but so were Liv and Luke. She should know better than to say something was impossible, given her magical talents but even her beliefs were strained by this turn of events.

She’d promised to wait for Ric but the nervous energy filling her made sitting still impossible. She’d taken to pacing, biting her fingernails. And then, hearing her name, hearing his voice, she whirled, eyes filled with so many conflicting emotions.

“Ric.” She did her best to return the smile but tears welled, throat working a moment as she struggled to push those emotions down. “You look good,” she advised, voice soft and choked. Then, before she could think twice, she stepped forward, hugging him tightly. It felt so familiar, the hug, his cologne in her nose...

“I’m sorry, I just...I really needed a hug.”

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ismybar
2019-02-06 10:02 pm UTC (link)

The fact that people came back here that were dead in the home universes hadn't prepared Ric for this. He didn't think that he would see her again. He should have at least considered it. It would have made him ready for this moment.

It was too late to think of that right now. He was walking up to the woman who he once thought he would grow old with, raise children with. "It's good to see you," he said as he accepted the hug from her. It was somewhat awkward on his side of it. Not on purpose but he was so taken back by her being there. He hadn't had the time to wrap his head around it all.

"It's okay," he said as he took a step away from her. "It's been.. It's good to see you." It had been so long he didn't know what to say first and he didn't want to overwhelm her.

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imjo
2019-02-08 01:21 pm UTC (link)

He stepped back far too soon, leaving Jo feeling vulnerable once more. Arms wound around herself as she tried her best to offer him a smile.

"You look good, Ric." Older, of course, but he'd aged well enough. But he seemed awkward which should be expected when talking to one's dead fiancee/wife. So she hurried on to the next comment.

"Liv and Luke messaged me. And the twins, too. They're so big." And she hadn't been there for any of it. Her head ducked, hiding the rising emotion. "You did a good job raising them."

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ismybar
2019-02-14 06:22 pm UTC (link)

"I didn't raise them alone. Caroline has been great. She's a good mom to them and I'm glad she's here too," He was glad they were all there now. He wasn't sure how Jo would fit it the family. He knew it wasn't going to be easy but he wanted the girls to know her.

There was more that he should probably tell her but it wasn't something he wanted to talk about at the start of the conversation. "I bet you didn't expect to see Luke too. He showed up a little while ago," It seemed the whole coven was showing up. He really hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't know what he would do if Kai showed up. In his time the girls were seven but he hadn't planned to tell them about the merge. Ever. He didn't know if the older twins knew about it or not.

"You look amazing," he smiled at her.

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imjo
2019-02-18 01:07 pm UTC (link)

"I'm glad they had a mom," Jo answered softly. It was good that they had been able to have something of a normal childhood.

"And no, I wasn't. But I'm glad he is here. He didn't deserve to die. He shouldn't have attempted the merge." Jo was the only one who should have done that. Even if she knew she was doomed to fail.

But she smiled at the compliment. "Because I haven't aged at all," she answered. "I'm the same age I was when we fell in love." He'd aged, she could see the toll on him, but he was still handsome. Still her Ric.

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ismybar
2019-02-25 01:49 am UTC (link)

"Me too. If it wasn't for Caroline I don't think I would have them at all," For that Caroline would always hold a special part of his heart. They had even been in a relationship and he was happy that back home she had found true love in Stefan. He had found that kind of love here on Galador. "Our girls, they're beautiful. They're older here then they were back home for me. Before I was brought here I had just opened a school for them with Caroline."

Ric couldn't help but agree with her. Luke was too young to die but it gave him more time with her. It gave him his daughters. So he was thankful to Luke as well. "He gets a second chance here," They all got a chance to live a different life here.

"Are you still..." Are you pregnant?" He wondered at exactly what point she was brought from.

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	imjo 2019-02-25 01:50 pm UTC (link)
	That made Jo's brow furrow. "That...is a good question," she admitted. "I hadn't even gotten that far yet. I remember being stabbed. I remember the look on your face. I don't think that I am but I should probably do some tests. To be on the safe side." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ismybar
2019-03-11 12:17 am UTC (link)

"We should get you checked out. Just to make sure you're okay. That everything is," Ric said with concern. He didn't want anything to be wrong with her and if she was pregnant that they were all okay. "We don't have to worry about it all this second." They could take a couple days to help her get settled. Being on Galador and all these possibles could be a lot for anyone. It was a lot for him so he could only imagine what it was like for Jo right now.

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	imjo 2019-03-11 12:08 pm UTC (link)
	She nodded. "How long does it take to adjust? To accept that this is actually happening and it' snot just some strange fever dream?" It was said lightly enough, a small smile spreading but her eyes were full of confusion still. "I feel like I don't quite know what's real and what isn't anymore." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ismybar
2019-03-30 11:15 pm UTC (link)

Of course she had to ask that question. The one question that he didn't have a clear answer for. He wanted to have the answer but he noticed that it wasn't the same for everyone. Some people were all fine with it the moment they arrived and others took a bit longer. "It depends on the person. It took me a while but I couldn't really show it because of the girls," he had to be okay for them. "They were little when I first arrived here and they were sent back home. Now they're sixteen." That was a big adjustment for him too.

"I'm real, you're real. That seems like enough for day on," He wasn't going to push for anything more than that.

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	imjo 2019-04-01 12:40 pm UTC (link)
	"Right. One day at at time." Jo could do that. She didn't like it but she could do it. "Thanks, Ric...for being here." (Reply to this) (Parent)