Olivia Jensen is on her way to ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ғᴀsᴛ (sprinted) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-06-10 10:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [05] may, nathan posey, olivia jensen |
Who: Olivia Jensen and Nathan Posey
Where: The Oval Office, LBJ Library
When: Backdated to 5/9, afternoon, after Savannah's phone calls
What: An awkward run-in with a side of surprise understanding.
"Oh. Hey." It was an odd, rare thing for Olivia to have time to herself these days, without Maizie, but the small presence of mind that Savannah's surprise phone calls had given them meant that at least for a little bit, Maizie and Olivia had separated. All right, so it was intended to only be for a couple of minutes -- Olivia was just running up to the Oval Office to grab a book for her girlfriend -- but it was a novelty all the same. Even if it meant that she and Nathan were now alone in the Oval Office together for the time being. She ducked behind their divider, easily spotting and retrieving the book in question, then came back out to the center of the room. But unfortunately, in the half-minute that it'd taken for her to do so, Nathan had not decided to leave. “Hey,” Nathan replied belatedly. He hadn’t been paying much attention when Olivia came in, preoccupied in his own head with things having to do with Savannah. She was safe, far as he knew, but he couldn’t get to her. Couldn’t fulfill the promise that he’d made so many people. It was a hard place to be at. On top of that, he and Liv were cordial at best, and he knew he probably hadn’t made a good case for himself when the water truck thing had happened. He pushed his hand through his hair and mustered up a smile. “I can clear out if you and Maizie wanted the space,” he offered randomly. "No, it's okay. I don't think she's coming up here, so." Olivia leaned against the doorway, the book tucked under her arm, and debated excusing herself. She knew Savannah wanted them to get along, though; this fact was the only thing keeping her there, without Maizie as a buffer. “How’s she holdin’ up, you know, with..” he gestured, meaning the phone call, meaning the knowledge that Savannah was far away but safe. “How’re you?” "Maizie's all right," Olivia said with a shrug. "Better, I think." It sucked knowing Savannah was still so far away, but it wasn't the uncertainty they'd had to deal with over the last few days. At least now the hope she'd tried to keep up for Maizie's sake wasn't entirely in vain. "I'm okay." She paused, biting at her lip, then asked -- with obvious difficulty -- "How are you?" Nathan hadn’t expected the question to get turned around on him, it hadn’t rolled off of Liv’s tongue easily if her tone was anything to go by. But it was something. He pushed a hand through his hair, which left it mussed up more than it’d already been. “Frustrated.” Honesty was a good olive branch, right? “Knowin’ she ain’t dead or hurt somewhere takes a lot of weight off. But I can’t get to her, can’t bring her back,” he shrugged. “Just leaves me feelin’ like my hands are tied.” There was a lot more than Nathan could have said, but it was Olivia, not Luc or Nick or Pete asking him the question. He didn’t need to unload all his baggage onto her. “I’m holdin’ it together.” With what felt like masking tape and sheer force of will, but other people got the luxury to crack under pressure, not him. She nodded faintly, taking this in. It sounded a hell of a lot like the way she felt about the whole thing, actually, and the realization caused an odd, inopportune smile to appear briefly on her face before she suppressed it. "I guess that's all we can do right now," she said. It was vague, sure, but somehow she had a feeling Nathan would know just what she meant. Easier now to hold on to hope that Savannah would be back, knowing she was alive and well -- relatively speaking -- but harder at the same time, the longer they went without her presence. Olivia needed to keep it together for Maizie's sake, though. Whatever she was feeling, it paled in comparison to what Maizie had going on. Nathan, too. Like, he was actually related to her. Olivia knew Savannah cared about her, and it was obviously mutual, but. "It sucks, but it's not like time's gonna pause." Nathan wanted to laugh. Not because anything was particularly funny, but because he could have said those words just as easily. It was a realization that maybe he should have caught onto a lot sooner. But it was hard to recognize similarities sometimes, and most especially when the longest running interaction they’d had was when he’d brought her back after the water truck. “And it ain’t gonna up and speed up on us either, no matter how much we will it,” he agreed. Olivia shifted, crossed her arms over Maizie's book, the edges of it digging into her arms as she nodded again. "Yeah," she said, her eyes finally lifting to meet his. "Exactly." He hesitated before he added, “You know, I appreciate not bein’ the only one holdin’ shit together, kiddo.” Had he gone too far with the kid reference? Maybe, if the way her eyebrows drew together over her narrowed eyes was any indication. Too late to take it back. “Appreciate havin’ the both of you around too, ‘cause all of this would be a hell of a lot harder to cope with if it were just me.” "Me, too." It was a truthful response, too, even if it came after another pause. As much as she relied on Maizie as a buffer, sometimes, when it was the two of them and Nathan in the Oval Office, she hadn't realized how grateful she was for his stabilizing presence. "So…" She straightened up, pushing off from the wall and shifting the book underneath her arm. There was still that unsettled feeling, of course, and she was sure it wouldn't be going away any time soon, but it was better now, somehow. "I guess I'll, you know." She took a few steps towards the doorway, then turned to look back at him once last time. "See you later." |