InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I want u around 4 a long time."

Isabel Lane Hemingway (isabellane) wrote in spinningcompass,
@ 2018-05-24 13:50:00

Entry tags:

~ernest hemingway, ~isabel lane

Who: Isabel and Ernest
Where: the food court
What: getting lunch
When: Thursday afternoon
Rating: likely low
Open: no
Status: ongoing
Isabel had decided when she woke up that this was going to be a buffet kind of day. At least for lunch. Her talk with Neville had gotten her back comfortable using magic again so it was pretty easy. Along one wall of the seating area she set up several tables. Food warmers and some ice buckets as needed were spread about. She had gone with a back home barbecue kind of lunch.

There were ribs, brisket, chicken, and pulled pork. The sides were corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, and baked beans. Sje also had several kinds of pie, chocolate cake, and banana pudding. It had taken her a while but everything was out and ready before noon.

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papahemingway
2018-05-25 06:52 am UTC (link)

Ernest was getting slightly more used to the idea that a touch could be a kind gesture, but there was still a slight tension that ran involuntarily through his muscle as she touched his arm.

"Yeah. Maybe. Hopefully," he agreed, following her over to a seat. "And how are things with you? I'm sorry, I can't remember much. Charlie jogged my memory on... some things, but I don't remember the finer details."

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isabellane
2018-05-25 02:06 pm UTC (link)

"It's okay, hon. You don't have to remember everything at once." She smiled. She set her plate down and grabbed a glass of iced tea before actually sitting to eat.

"Things are....interesting." she nodded. "Been spending most of my time here. Getting the place exactly the way I want it, that kind of thing." He didn't need to know that she only seemed to have an apartment to shower and change clothes as of late.

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papahemingway
2018-05-26 07:02 pm UTC (link)

Ernest gave her a little nod, but looked at the table top rather than making eye contact. "Yeah. Sure, of course," he agreed, although his heart wasn't in it. He knew there was some stuff, possibly important stuff, that was lost forever. But he hadn't mentioned that part to anyone yet, not even Charlie.

"Interesting? Interesting isn't good. Interesting is what you say when you can't think of anything else positive to say. How was the movie? It was... interesting," he pointed out, and just for a moment he was quite... himself. "How are things really?"

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isabellane
2018-05-26 07:22 pm UTC (link)

Isabel moved some of the food around on her plate. She took a deep breath and let it out before looking at him. "I got blamed for granting a wish that nearly killed my nephew's husband, nearly burned the kitchen down twice trying to cook without using magic, and I have a son now that I share with Brynhild because....magic." She made a face. "Saying it out loud feels really weird." She sipped her tea. "And I'm sure other people are dealing with worse."

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papahemingway
2018-05-26 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Ernest listened as she spoke, and he was sure that his face had to be an absolute picture.

"What the fuck, Isabel?!" he exclaimed, completely dismissing her stupid comment about people 'dealing with worse'. "I knew something was up, but I never would've guessed at... well, any of that, frankly. Shit," he exclaimed. "Yeah, sorry, not helping. Okay, start at the beginning. The wish?"

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isabellane
2018-05-26 07:54 pm UTC (link)

"I'm sorry." She started playing with her food again. "It's a mess." She shook heard head. Starting back with the wish. She took another deep breath. "During all the nonsense when everybody was changing ages and swapping genders, apparently Bucky got aged up. Steve found out that he wouldn't make it to see 35 because of his heart. He didn't like the idea of Bucky being alone so he came to me." She sipped her tea. "We had 13 years to figure out how to fix his heart but he wanted to make a wish." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Once a wish is made, I have to grant it unless it breaks one of the rules. Wishing for his heart to be healthy didn't break the rules. It did cause some other issues, though, and when I told Richie what happened because he was Steve's doctor, he went off on me. Blamed me, told me I should have told Steve no." She sighed.

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papahemingway
2018-05-26 08:02 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, don't be sorry. Come on, you're not alone in the mess," he insisted, gesturing to himself. They were a damn mess together, apparently.

He ate and listened as she spoke, trying his best to take it all in. Focus and attention weren't his strong points anymore, but he was doing pretty well so far. "What about Steve? And Bucky? Did they blame you?" he asked of her, and then gave her a more curious look. "Do you blame you?"

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isabellane
2018-05-26 08:07 pm UTC (link)

She smiled a little at his comment. She definitely wasn't alone.

"No, they didn't." She shook her head. The last question was the harder one to answer. "I did. I still do a little but not as much." Neville had been a great help with that. "I warned Steve of what could happen. I told him it was messy magic. Part of me thinks I should have stopped him but.....how am I supposed to tell a 19 year old that he just has to deal with only having 13 years left?"

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	papahemingway 2018-05-26 08:14 pm UTC (link)
	"Well, good. And for the record, I couldn't blame you either," he assured her, just in case she was wondering what he was thinking of her. "And you said 'nearly'. So... hes okay? It ended up okay?" he asked her before taking a forkful of potato salad. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isabellane 2018-05-26 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	Isabel nodded. "Yeah, he's going to be fine. It'll take some time. His new heart is stronger than his body is used to, but he's going to be okay." She smiled. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	papahemingway 2018-05-26 08:35 pm UTC (link)
	Ernest's expression brightened a little at her answer. "Then you did good, right? Took a risk and it paid off," he assured her, with an eager nod. "Don't beat yourself up for that, you had good intentions." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isabellane 2018-05-26 08:39 pm UTC (link)
	Isabel allowed a real smile now. She reached over and patted his arm. "Thank you. Sometimes I forget to look at things that way." It was easy to let the bad take over sometimes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	papahemingway 2018-05-26 08:45 pm UTC (link)
	Ernest smiled fondly back at her, and this time he didn't flinch when she touched his arm. "Yeah. An outside perspective can help," he nodded. "So what was next?" he asked, searching his short term memory and coming up short. "A fire?" he tried. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isabellane 2018-05-26 08:48 pm UTC (link)
	"It does." She nodded. "Oh! That was part of the ridiculousness after the wish. I've apparently forghoten how to cook without using magic. I burned a few things." She chuckled. "I used to be really good at cooking but the magic helps so much." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	papahemingway 2018-05-26 08:53 pm UTC (link)
	"Ah, but surely it's the results that matter? And this food is incredible. So what if you didn't cook it like a muggle," he said without thinking, and then pulled a bit of a confused face. What was a muggle? Where had that come from? "Um... heh. Um. Okay, and... sharing a kid?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

isabellane
2018-05-26 09:01 pm UTC (link)

Isabel laughed softly. "That's very true." Hearing him say muggle was kind of cute. "And thank you." She nodded before taking a bite of her own food. "The kid, yes. Well..Bryn and I have been...special friends let's say." It was nicer than saying fuckbuddies. "And apparently at some point in the future she makes a wish.." She cleared her throat.

"I found out a while back that the only way I can get pregnant is if a wish is made. Apparently it doesn't matter who makes the wish. Brynhild mis biologically his parent and so am I. His name is Leif and he's a genie vampire hybrid." It still sounded so weird out loud.

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papahemingway
2018-05-26 09:32 pm UTC (link)

Ernest definitely quirked an eyebrow and smirked at her use of the term 'special friends', and he made a mental note to remember to mock her for that one later, when she wasn't in the middle of sharing some deeply personal shit.

As she kept talking he started to piece it together and he gave her a knowing nod. "Ah, okay. One of those complicated new family dynamics," he smiled. He was a biological father to four children, and an adoptive father to Charlie, but he'd been involved in the process right from the get go with all of them. So far. He wasn't sure how one coped when it was something so completely unexpected. He'd found the island version of Jack hard enough to cope with. "A... genie vampire hybrid? That's not something I ever thought I'd hear. How long has he been around?"

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	isabellane 2018-05-26 09:37 pm UTC (link)
	"I never thought it would happen but it did." She chuckled. "He's been on the station for a little over a month but apparently he grew up here." She shrugged. "He's a good kid. And already has a girlfriend." She chuckled. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	papahemingway 2018-05-26 09:39 pm UTC (link)
	"Well, I think we could say that about a lot of things around here," he smiled. "Good. Good, you sound pretty positive about it, I've got to say. How old is he?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isabellane 2018-05-26 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	"He's 25 and he's wonderful, really. Over six feet tall. He's very much a viking." She chuckled. "And he's so smart. I could probably go on for hours." She blushed a little. "I honestly freaked out at first but when it's your kid, it's easy to get over the initial shick." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	papahemingway 2018-05-26 10:06 pm UTC (link)
	Ernest couldn't help but smile as she spoke about her unexpected son. It was a really heartwarming story once she got started on it. "He sounds great. I'll look forward to meeting him sometime," he said with sincerity. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isabellane 2018-05-26 10:09 pm UTC (link)
	"He said he likes to help me in the kitchen so it'll probably be one of these days you come to get food." And she did hope that would happen again sooner rather than later. "Alrught, Ernest. Tell me what's going on with you. Besides Charlie being back. You said it's been ten years?" She sipped her tea. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

papahemingway
2018-05-26 10:20 pm UTC (link)

"Swell. That would be great," he told her with a broad smile that slowly disappeared again as she asked her question. He moved leftovers about on his plate for a quiet moment and then let his cutlery rest. He had been quite enjoying talking to Isabel about what was going on in her life, and he suspected that was also partly because it was a distraction from the elephant in the room that was clearly him.

"It's... complicated," he started, and then scoffed lightly at himself. Considering what she had just told him, it wasn't complicated at all.

"The short version is... got sent home, remembered this place, everyone thought I was crazy and tried to make me not crazy and I'm worried they might've broken something important in the process," he blurted out even to his own surprise.

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	isabellane 2018-05-26 10:24 pm UTC (link)
	Isabel just nodded and listened. She reached over and touched his arm again, this time leaving her hand there. "Sugar, I'm sorry." She squeezed his arm gently. "Is there any way I can help?" She hated the idea of him getting mistreated, especially since they thought it was for his own good. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

papahemingway
2018-05-26 10:29 pm UTC (link)

For once, the human contact didn't make his skin crawl. Actually, it was comforting, which he supposed was the desired effect.

He sighed a little and shook his head. "I don't think so. 'What is done cannot be undone'. And don't worry, I won't be making any risky or badly worded wishes. Or any wishes at all," he assured her. "I'm just not really sure who I am anymore," he added softly.