InsaneJournal

Who: Theo and Jaina
What: Tethered!
When: 2/13
Where: Theo's
Rating: PG-13



““Hnng?” Jaina’s bed felt wrong, too soft and … there was someone in bed with her, a warm, soft body that definitely didn’t belong to anyone she knew. She ran through her night; she hadn’t even had a glass of wine, having simply stayed up late working equations before crawling into her own bed.

Slowly, she sat up, turning to get a better look at the woman.

Theo didn’t make a habit of sleeping beside other people. She tended to be far too protective of her personal bubble, unless she actually wanted to feel close to someone for longer than her normal sexual encounters tended to last. However, she hadn’t noticed the shift in the bed when someone else had appeared beside her because she was deep in one of those Dreams.

There was something incessantly wrong with the house in these dreams she had. It was always cold and yet no one other than her seemed to notice that. She always wore sweaters and sweatshirts despite the fact it was the height of summer. And this time, she was sleeping in her bed when she felt someone crawl into bed behind her. She’d thought it was her little sister, until she noticed the hand was holding hers too tightly and it woke her up enough to also realize the hand was cold. When she rolled over to look, no one was beside her in bed.

Whose hand was I holding?

Theo woke with a little bit of a start, mostly from the dream. But then she was suddenly hyper-aware that she wasn’t alone and she sat up.

“What the hell?” She asked, noticing the woman beside her. At first, she wasn’t quite certain if she was still asleep, though one look at herself told her she wasn’t still dreaming, she definitely wasn’t ten years old currently. She looked at Jaina with a mix of fear and confusion on her face. Was this woman real or was she a ghost?

“This is going to sound pretty crazy, and I’m sorry if I brought you home last night and don’t remember, but...can I touch your hand?” She just needed to make sure this woman was solid and not a ghost. If she was a ghost, Theo wasn’t going to deal with this.

Both of Jaina’s eyebrows disappeared into her golden hair. “This isn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever seen or done.”

So she held out her hand, smiling nervously as she did so.

Theo was still adjusting to the whole Orange County being crazy thing. When Jaina held her hand out, Theo reached out, hesitating slightly before she touched her hand. Oh, good, the woman was real. And warm. Theo let out a little breath of relief, though she also suddenly felt...anxiety? Worry? It was hard to tell, but she brushed it off.

“Okay, you’re real. Good to know.” Theo pulled her hand back and brushed some hair out of her face. “But how did you get here?” Though as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Theo looked around to see where they were. It was definitely still her room, so...that was something.

Jaina dropped her hand to her side. She was wearing her night clothes; a thin blue gown that hugged her curves. But it was better than being naked. “Maybe my …” She almost said ‘magic’, frowning. But then Theo had just randomly asked to make sure she was real, so she finished. “Magic. Acted up.”

Theo was clothed as well. She didn’t typically sleep naked. She had a tanktop and pajama pants on, so at least this wasn’t awkward for either of them. “Magic,” she responded. Alright, she didn’t exactly grasp that magic was fully real yet, but she had borne witness to the Walking Dead attack the month prior. So who was she to say what was real or not anymore?

After all, Theo saw dead people, but that was before she’d come here. It was also because of that that she absolutely hated the movie The Sixth Sense.

“Well, I suppose that’s better than thinking I got too drunk to remember I brought someone home with me last night.” She had a very dry sense of humor.

“I’ve been trying to avoid that level of drinking,” Jaina responded, smiling. “I’d rather remember such things.”

She held her hand out into the air, and something popped and spun into place, like a rip in the air, a bubble. And on the other side was another bedroom. “See? Magic. I probably teleported in my sleep.”

“Typically I also prefer to remember such things as well.” Which was true. There were times when Theo drank to cope with everything she held inside, but she hadn’t had one of those nights in a while. When Jaina opened a hole or whatever it was where Theo could see another room on the other side of it, she kind of stared at it.

“That’s pretty hardcore. Teleporting would be very handy to do at the wave of a hand.” She could be practical like that.

“I’d say I’d try not to abuse it, but that would be a lie.” Jaina gave her another smile, trying not to check her out too much. “It was nice to meet you. Maybe again under better circumstances.”

She stepped through the portal, the portal snapped shut, and then a sound like the world was being torn asunder filled the room and Jaina reappeared where she’d been standing, only to snap like a rubber band, slamming into Theo’s dresser. A magical bubble wobbled around her and then popped as she stumbled away from the dresser and collapsed on the bed.

A little out of breath, Jaina declared. “Well, fuck.”

“Yeah, one can hope under better circumstances,” Theo said. When Jaina appeared to leave, she took a breath and glanced at the clock. Only to then be shocked as Jaina not only reappeared, but slammed into her dresser. “Holy shit!” She exclaimed in shock, then looked down at Jain when she collapsed on the bed. “Are you alright?”

“I’m okay,” Jaina assured her. Sore, probably with a few splinters in uncomfortable places, but okay. She pushed herself up. “I don’t know what happened. It was like I got yanked back here.”

She looked at the dresser and winced. “I’ll uh.. pay for that.”

“All I know is that I didn’t do it.” Theo didn’t have magic or any sort of ability that could quite do that. So it was certainly something new and weird, and she didn’t quite know what to make of it.

“Don’t worry about it, I didn’t like it much anyway. Call it a hand-me-down from my sister.” Which was the truth. Theo had gotten it from Shirley several years back when she’d moved into a new place. Theo had needed a dresser at that point so it had worked out.

Jaina wasn’t sure what had done it either. But she was of a mind to put a little scientific method to it. “Something hands me to stuck around miss….”

She hadn’t even gotten Theo’s name. Oops.

“Theodora,” she said. Yeah she probably should’ve gotten the other woman’s name earlier, but oh well. It had been more than jarring to wake up with someone she was fairly certain she hadn’t brought home the night before.

“Jaina,” Jaina said. She ran her hands through her hair. “If I could borrow a robe? I’m going to see if I can simply walk out of here.”

A robe. Theo thought she might have one. “Uh yeah, just a second.” Theo went over to her closet and started shuffling through the clothes hanging there. Finally, she came out with a robe, then went and handed it to Jaina. Theo wasn’t short, but she was still shy of six feet by a little bit.

It wouldn’t be too short on Jaina then, and at least she didn’t have to walk down the street in her nightgown. She pulled it on. “Thanks. Test one. Can I walk out that door or go crashing through your living room?”

She nodded, counting the feet as she walked out of the bedroom and towards the door. She got a few meters, just outside the door and almost to the sidewalk before she turned around and walked back inside. Like she desperately needed to see Theo again. She walked into the bedroom and blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Let’s hope it’s less of the crashing.” Not just for the sake of Theo’s furniture and general apartment, but also for Jaina’s safety. She stayed put as Jaina left, wondering if she’d come back. She felt a need to see Jaina again, but she didn’t move, mostly because she was utterly confused by the feeling. At least until Jaina was suddenly back in the bedroom.

“What happened?” She hadn’t heard crashing so clearly everything was still in tact in her apartment.

“I couldn’t leave,” Jaina said, dropping her hands to her sides. “I started to, and before I realized it I was walking back in. Like I was being drawn to you. Like a magnet.”

It had at least been less violent than the whole issue with trying to portal. Until they figured out whatever this was, Jaina would not be able to teleport without Theo, she was certain.

“Gotta say, never been called a magnet before,” she quipped. “Though I get it, I kind of felt the same way when you left. It was kind of weird.” Theo said. She hadn’t really felt anything like that about anyone before. “You’ve been here longer than I have. Has anything like this happened before? Or is this just some really weird way of meeting people around here that I didn’t know about?”

“The first week I arrived in Orange County, the sun disappeared,” Jaina said, tone indicating that she was still not over that. “I’m a physicist, you can imagine how well that went for me.”

She sank onto the edge of the bed. “So this is… about as strange. I’m sorry to have met you like this.”

“Wait, the fucking sun disappeared? The fuck is up with that?” Theo asked, finding that a hard thing to swallow. She could maybe kind of take the invasion of the undead thing, but the sun disappearing? That was...way beyond that.

“There are worse ways to meet people. Granted, the heart attack upon waking up was not the most ideal thing.” She shrugged a shoulder. “So. What do we do now?”

“It was the fucking apocalypse,” Jaina said, pressing her palms into her eyes. “But no one ever really explained that one too me. Everything has only gotten more insane, since.”

Looking over at Theo, she offered her a tight smile. “I should probably text a few people. But I do make good scrambled eggs if you’re hungry.”

“I don’t know, I can take the undead running around more than I could the sun disappearing. That would just wreak havoc on this planet to a degree I can’t even imagine.” But Theo wasn’t a scientist, she was a doctor of psychology. She’d let the scientists handle the science.

“I won’t say no to scrambled eggs. I can make some bacon, too, if you want.” Something to go with the eggs and all.

“You must have missed the demons then.” Jaina quipped. “Or the Orcs.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Kitchen was on the right, right?”

She tried not to think about the sun. Just thinking about the sun sent her on a death spiral in her brain even after over a year.

“Uh, yeah. I just moved here in December. So long enough to know there’s insane amounts of snow in a place that shouldn’t ever get snow.” Theo was trying to wrap her mind around that one, but she did feel it was a lost cause in that respect. “Yeah, on the right. Mind the boxes, I’m still unpacking.”

Luckily despite the fact she still had some boxes stacked against the wall in a couple rooms, there wasn’t a huge mess. Theo was being neat and orderly about unpacking, making sure to put everything away that she took out of a box instead of just leaving it lying around until she decided on where to put it.

Jaina nodded her head slowly. “Snow isn’t..the worse thing, really. It’s actually kind of nice once you’re used to it.” She headed into the kitchen. The eggs were easy to fine, there was some cheese, that’s important. Milk to make things fluffier for the perfect eggs.

She found a pan in the expected place, though a bowl to mix the eggs into was a bit harder to find.

“Gotta say, it was nice to have snow here as I moved here from Boston. It actually made me question if I’d actually moved at first,” she said dryly. Theo headed out to the kitchen after Jaina. When it was obvious she was looking for a bowl, Theo went and grabbed one out of a cupboard.

“Here. It’s not in the best place, but it was the only place I could fit it.”

“Must have been a nice transition,” Jaina said, glancing at Theo as she took the bowl. She started cracking the eggs,then stepped away to look at Theo’s seasonings while the eggs continued to crack and mix themselves.

“I suppose,” she responded with a shrug. “I’m used to moving, so it wasn’t really anything new.” Sure, Theo had settled in Boston for a while, but she had moved around often as a child. Her parents had flipped houses, thus she’d lived in quite a few places. Moving was second nature to her. As the eggs continued to crack and mix themselves, Theo watched them, rather intrigued by it. Also possibly slightly unnerved, but she actually felt a little less of a weirdo living here, as odd as that may sound.

“You said you were from Boston, right? I went to MIT, and my family is from that area.” It was a large area, obviously, but it was an interesting thing to think about. “Haven’t been back in the state since I moved here. I don’t even have the excuse of avoiding my dad, since he’s in DC.”

“I am, though not originally. I got my PhD at Boston College and lived with my older sister.” Theo didn’t exactly always get along with older sister, or most of her siblings for that matter, but her and Shirley got along enough that she lived with her while she got her PhD. “Sounds like your dad’s a politician if he’s in D.C.”

Jaina nodded, returning to the eggs and seasoning them while the pan heated up, unawares that this was probably the second time in recent weeks someone had made eggs for Theo. Though this time without a good time preceding it.

"I've got two brothers. I don't really speak to them often. More than I do my dad."

Wrinkling her nose, Jaina was reluctant to talk about her father. Her voice took on a bitter note. "Lets just say he and I disagree on literally everything because he's raging racist asshole who'd lose his shit if he knew I was bisexual."

Theo nodded a bit, listening. Oh she more than understood the bitter tone. Sometimes Theo felt that way about her older siblings, and sometimes even her father. It depended on the day, really. Every family had its issues, after all.

“I can understand that. I won’t pry, promise.” Theo more than understood boundaries. They only time she’d try to press past them was with a patient, and Jaina wasn’t her patient.

She hadn't given her last name, so it would be harder to google Admiral Proudmoore. Jaina preferred it that way. Aside from all her other complicated feelings about her father (and not including the dreams), she was ashamed to call him family. One only needed to look at the news to know why; he was actively helping in the dismantling of the country.

"Have you ever had taco seasonings in your scrambled eggs?"

Everyone had their hot button topics, and Theo preferred not delving into such things with someone she’d only just met. Of course, when it came to divulging much of anything about herself, Theo was the thickest brick wall anyone would ever meet. She didn’t talk about herself or her family much, and for good reason. Under the right circumstances, she’d divulge more substantive information. But otherwise? Not so much.

“Can’t say that I have. I might actually have some if you want to educate me on the matter.”

"With just the right amount it can add a little flavor to the eggs. And it goes really well with cheddar." Jaina grinned at her. "I'll replace any packets. I've got a huge container at home that I usually dip into. I picked this idea up when I was overseas doing volunteer work, only it was with curry spices so it was like eating fire eggs. Tried it with taco seasonings once and decided that was the right amount of kick."

Theo went and started to sift through her food to find some taco seasoning. Luckily, she still had a packet and handed it over to Jaina. “Curry eggs? Now that sounds like something.” Maybe something she should try, if for nothing else than to give it to her older brother or older sister whenever she was upset with them. Without warning them, of course. That would be hilarious, actually.

“It was really good, but you’d have to be in the mood for it.” Jaina said. Maybe if there was another time making eggs for Theo under better circumstances, but she shunted that thought away.

Setting the eggs to cooking and allowing them to stir and scramble themselves with magic, Jaina turned and leaned against the counter. “We should probably see if anyone else is experiencing an unexpected attraction.”

“Something to keep in mind there.” Theo thought it sounded good, but it was starting with the taco seasoning first. Perhaps another time she’d go for curry eggs.

“Oh yeah, probably a good idea.” Theo went over to the living room area, picked up her laptop and brought it over to the counter in the kitchen, turning it on in the process. Once it was on, she navigated to the Valarnet to look at the posts she’d missed since she turned her computer off the night before. “Looks like some people have woken up with strange bedfellows,” she commented dryly.

“And likely without any of the festivities one would usually prefer to have first,” Jaina commented. She checked on the eggs, then went in search of plates. The smell was making her mouth water and she hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now. And again, without doing anything to work up an appetite.

“Hopefully no one was put in any danger.”

“That’s about the consensus thus far. I’d have preferred the festivities leading up to it, but guess we don’t always get a say in that.” Though Theo wasn’t exactly the type who liked keeping people overnight, or staying overnight with someone she hooked up with. She was finicky like that, and it was one of her ways of icing people out, as it were. “I don’t see any reports of anyone being in danger because of this, so that’s a positive?”

“I guess so.”

Jaina spooned out the eggs while thinking about it, and about how to make the best of this. There was no telling how long it would last, though she now knew how far she could get. God, she hoped they didn’t need to shower in the same room together.

“Breakfast is served!”

Inwardly, Theo was wondering just how long this would go on for. She most likely wouldn’t be able to work, which she hoped Elsa would understand. And if it went on for too long, how would they manage things like showers or deciding who got to work and when? And, in Theo’s case, how could she work if she couldn’t be in a different room than Jaina?

“That actually smells great.” She said with a smile. It wasn’t lost on her that this was the second time she’d had eggs made for her for breakfast. Was this going to be a running theme with her? Wake up in her bed and she’ll get eggs for breakfast? It was an amusing thought.

Jaina waited for Theo to sit before she seated herself, so she could dig in and eat. In the meantime, she supposed, she ought to get to know her new roommate a little bit. “So what do you do for a living, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I’m a psychologist. If I’d come out here to get my doctorate, I could’ve written my dissertation on the psychology of dreams.” She was joking, she wouldn’t have done that. Theo was far more self-aware than that. She dug into the eggs, taking a moment to savor the taste. “Taco seasoning surprisingly works with eggs. Huh, who’d have known?”

“Wouldn’t that be an irony?”

Jaina flashed her a smile, studying her now that she had time to do so. She’d have to take her to her place soon, just to change into some clothing. Then if it went on long enough they’d have to figure out sleeping arrangements; Jaina was inclined to stay at Theo if only to keep Chloe out of this.

“A new meaning to dream therapy.”

“It really is a new meaning to it. Luckily I didn’t put much stock into psychoanalyzing dreams in school. Now? I might have to rethink that.” After all, she had quickly picked up on the fact that some people had problems stemming from their dreams. But Theo wasn’t going to pick apart anyone’s dreams without their permission as her patient and as long as it was relevant to why they came to her for help.

“I wonder if one of the universities here offers some kind of dream-related courses,” Jaina mused aloud. “I’d suggest some scientific tests but this …. bungie cord between is is likely to be some sort of magic. But it’s not like anything I’ve experienced in my dreams. Or while awake.”

“I can safely say it’s unlike anything I’ve dreamt about either. So whatever it is must have some other point of origin.” Of course, Theo was more open to the possibility of the supernatural given her sensitivity to ghosts in this life. And the fact she could touch objects and just...see things that no one else could possibly see or know. Or feel.

“I’ve a few theories on the dreams, they might be relevant to this. Or not.” Jaina frowned. “Most … events that happen, typically occur based on someone’s dreams. My own have spawned unusual events.”

Like the walking dead and demons.

Theo looked at Jaina as she chewed some of the eggs and turned that thought over. “I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. I mean, at least there’s a chance someone would always be able to say what’s going on and how to handle it. But people like me don’t exactly do well when the walking dead becomes reality.”

“I’m sorry about that one,” Jaina said, looking genuinely upset. The invasions from Azeroth seemed to come almost on a timer, a few dream years after she’d dreamed something.

Which meant a cataclysm was possible. And they were in California….

Oh. That was unexpected. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was from your dreams. It must be bad enough dealing with that in your dreams, but then waking up and seeing it happening here...I’m sorry.” Theo hadn’t yet put her finger on what her dreams were actually about. There was some creepy things happening in that house her parents were flipping, but she couldn’t tell exactly what was going on. Not yet, at any rate. Hopefully it didn’t turn out that she was in some zombie apocalypse or something.

“One danger among many,” Jaina lamented. “But I won’t bore you with the details. I suppose it’s handy that I do have magical abilities that let me fight both here and in the dreams.”

It was then that Theo was thankful her dreams just seemed to be about some creepy old house that was always cold. “That is certainly a good thing to have. At least there are people who can fight.”