Room 322 [Monday afternoon]

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime grinned as he dialed the phone. He felt like he'd been a bad boyfriend, neglecting calling for so long. But better late than never, right?

"Hi," he smirked into the phone when it was answered, "I'm trying to reach a magus with brains and beauty. I can hold if you need some time to track one down."

"Well, of course I wouldn't say that to your face. I'm not stupid enough to tweak the awesomest magus I know without a phone between me and her to keep me safe. And, yes, I know that you could teleport over here and get your revenge, but... I'm way too cute for that, right?"

Whatever she said next had him laughing. "Ouch. That hurts."

"What? A guy can't just call to hear his girlfriend's sexy accent?"

"Well... yeah, you've got me there," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "And I should know better than to try to fake out someone with your deductive capabilities, huh? So... yeah, I kind of had an ulterior motive. See, this weekend students here can have visitors from out of town, friends, family, that sort of thing. And... I was wondering if you wanted to?"

There was a long pause during which Jaime's face lost a bit of its grinning expression. "That sounds... ominous." His hand flailed behind him until it hit the bed and he sat down. Just in case.

"See... other... people?" Loooooong pause. "Are you... breaking up with me?"

"No, no, no! I'm not upset, just... trying to make sure we're on the same page, you know?"

"Yeah. No, yeah. That makes sense. We're both busy, and... things have been weird. Yeah, with the Scarab. Uh huh. No, I see what you mean. Yeah, maybe that's the best idea."

He managed a wan smile, even if the other party wouldn't see it. "Oh, definitely. We can still be friends. And... yeah, maybe you're right. In a couple of years, maybe after school, if we're both still interested we can give it another go."

The smile became a bit more genuine. "Yeah. You too. And if you ever need anything... Yeah, you know the drill. Stay safe out there."

Jaime closed his phone and then flopped back on the bed.

Dumped via trans-continental cell phone call. Well... that certainly sucked.

[Door and post equally open.]

Comments

[living_endless]

"Like it was already over, you just had to say the words?" Didi asked. "That's still not any fun."

[weldedtomyspine]

"It wasn't exactly like that. Traci..." Jaime snorted. "She was always out of my league, and... I guess it was just time for us to... branch out? Something. Maybe after I graduate..."

He shrugged. It wasn't like he could argue with anything Traci had said.

[living_endless]

"Eh, your league is whatever you say it is," Didi pointed out, dismissively. "But ... so now you branch out? Well, at least school's like two-thirds girls."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime took a moment to absorb that thought, then grinned. "I... guess it is." This apparently hadn't occurred to him yet.

"But... I think I might take a break, you know? Try to figure out what I want and all that stuff people do in bad movies with uplifting endings after they get dumped."

[living_endless]

"No, that's a good idea," Didi said. "Nobody wants to be the rebound chick, anyhow."

she turned to see him better. "How long had you guys been together?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"A year, I guess? We both had a lot going on, and she's from the UK, so we did the long-distance thing mostly."

He sighed. "I think that was probably a major contributor to..." The whole break-up thing.

[living_endless]

"You're closer now than you were in Texas," Didi said, not unkindly. There was still an ocean in there. "Still. If it's meant to work out with her, it will, right?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah," Jaime managed a chuckle. "Destiny and all that." He cocked his head, "I don't suppose you get to know anything about that, do you?" Even the Scarab couldn't get a full read on what being the incarnation of Death meant.

[living_endless]

"About Destiny? Well, he's blind?" Didi said, trying to look cute.

... look, she had to be enigmatic once in a while!

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime frowned. "I thought that was Justice."

Then he reached for her pillow and tossed it vaguely back in her direction.

[living_endless]

Didi snagged the pillow with a forearm, batting it to the ground. "Maybe. More than one thing can be blind."

Then, laughing: "... what was the pillow for?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Thought you might have wanted it back," Jaime teased. "But if not... I could always use another one."

"Besides, I've got to have something to do when you're being all mysterious and stuff."

[living_endless]

Didi shook her head, hugging the pillow to her chest. "Nope. Sorry. Mine. I could ask you not to throw things in the room, but I did it first."

She seemed cheerful about that. "It's not being mysterious to say Destiny is blind. But no, I don't know the future. It's not one of my gifts."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Eh," Jaime shrugged, "that's probably a good thing. I imagine it would suck to know what was going to happen."

He glanced over and smirked. "That sounds sort of trite, though, doesn't it?"

[living_endless]

"Depends which part," Didi admitted. "I lost track. Sorry."

[weldedtomyspine]

"You know, that whole 'it would suck to know the future' thing. It's like... every movie ever about knowing the future is all about that."

[living_endless]

"Oh." Didi had to think about that one. "I think ... it's hard? But it might depend on the person, and if they wanted the gift. And if they could change anything. I wouldn't want it if I couldn't."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah," Jaime admitted, "it might be cool if you could change things, but... Isn't a lot of the fun of life the surprise of things? I mean, yeah some surprises suck," like getting dumped, "but without them things would get boring."

Jaime grimaced in amusement at himself. "Wow. I sound like an after school special, don't I?"

[living_endless]

"You sound" -- about seventeeen, which he was, so he got a pass -- "like you're figuring things out."

She rested her chin on her palms. "If you'd known how things would end with what's-her-name, Traci, would you still have dated her?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"No question," Jaime's smile was a bit dopey. "She's amazing, and I'd have to have been a bigger idiot than I am to pass up the chance to get to know her better."

"Actually..." Jaime cut himself off and blushed. Telling his roommate that she sort of reminded him of his now-ex-girlfriend might give her the wrong impression.

[living_endless]

Didi had a theory about that blush, but it seemed like the kind of thing she was better not mentioning. "So ... you got some time with her. Now you get some time for you. I dunno. Maybe it's all for the best."

She added, "You don't sound like you need me to call her an evil wench. That's refreshing."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime looked honestly surprised at that. "Why would I do that? I mean... it's not like she got less awesome hanging out with me. Or," he chuckled, "I hope not."

[living_endless]

"Oh, because you're a teenage boy and she dumped you over the phone," Didi said. "Some people would get their egos involved and be all pissy."

Hello there, Morpheus.

She smiled. "You're a good guy, Jaime Reyes."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Well, I won't deny that it hurts a bit, but... what else am I going to do?"

He grinned over at her. "And... thanks. It's kind of comforting to know that someone thinks so."