Timelined after [Instance]Oh God.
<Jessica> Jess curled up under a thick blanket on one of the window seats in the rec room as she sat watching the snow, the window slightly open for the breeze. She had a lot of things to think about and she couldn't really go for a walk. Maybe she'd try the Danger Room....
<Wither> Kevin bit his lip and paced in front of the door - he peeked in at Jess. She looked lost. "Hi, Jess!" Kevin said as brightly as he could, making his way over to her casually. "Uh, do you remember me?"
<Jessica> Jess gave a start and looked round at the voice, taking in his general appearance before focusing on his face. She gave him an apologetic look and shook her head, "Sorry... Might take a bit... not so good with faces apparently..."
<Wither> "No worries. "Kevin's, the name, art's the game," he drawled in his most ridiculous accent he could muster. "No but, really. I'm glad you're back safe and sound," he said in his normal voice. He couched on the floor next to her, looking up. "So...how are you settling in?"
<Jessica> "I don't know... sometimes it seems okay but the rest of the time I want to go back..." she frowned, "Everything's kind of scary and complicated here..."
<Wither> "Yeah, it is." He reached out to pat her hand, but withdrew his just in time. "It'll get better as you remember more things."
<Jessica> "I hope so... though so far what I remember is all pretty awful so..." she gave a shrug, chewing her lip at him withdrawing his hand, "You can touch me... I'm not going to spontaneously combust or anything..."
<Wither> "Hey, you might if I touch you. I sort of have a literal killer touch, it's all me not you." He grinned. "I forgot my gloves in the workshop."
<Jessica> "Oh... wow.... that's kind of... awful... I'm sorry..." she shifted under her blanket, moving along the bench and extracting an arm so she could pat the space beside her.
<Wither> Kevin plunked himself down. "It's all right. How are you dealing with rediscovering your powers?"
<Jessica> "I don't think I like them much..." she leaned against the window behind her, "Keep breaking things... got yelled at for accidentally pheromoning a bunch of people in the kitchen and the headaches from the hearing are killer... oh and I would like to go for a walk but heaven forbid I go out in the cold..."
<Wither> "Ah. Yeah, I can imagine it's terrible." He squeezed her foot through the blanket quickly. "We could explore inside the mansion, if you wanted? See if we can't stir up happy memories?"
<Jessica> "I'm not especially hopeful on that front..." she leaned against him a little, safe with the blanket and clothing between them. "There haven't been a lot of those..."
<Wither> "We could make new ones?" He hugged her tightly. "It'll be all right, Jess. Just give it time."
<Jessica> "Yeah... that's the plan..." She turned her head and gave him a small smile, wrapping her arms and the blanket around him as best she could to return the hug.
<Wither> "Good to hear. So..." He trailed to a stop wondering what on earth to say.
<Jessica> "Fabian told me we were friends... I was going to look for you but... then I remembered I didn't know what you looked like and trying to remember the way to my own room is hard enough..."
<Wither> "I guess I found you. I sort of left you alone for a bit to sort out things. But if you need me, let me know. I'm good at staying up all night."
<Wither> "Er. Not like that - I mean listening and talking or just sitting in silence."
<Jessica> She blushed a little at that, smiling and shaking her head, "Of course not... Johnny promised me I didn't sleep with everyone in the school... have to have a line somewhere, right?" she gave an awkward smile, "But some company would be nice... I've been having some trouble sleeping lately... I can hear... everything... and I'm immune to sleeping tablets..."
<Wither> "What are friends for?"
<Jessica> She smiled again, giving him a very gentle squeeze because she had to be careful with her strength now. "Thanks... I'd kiss your cheek but..." she gave a shrug.
<Wither> He snorted. "Not such a good idea."
<Wither> "You hungry? I'm sort of starving."
<Wither> "We could try my sweet tea again."
<Jessica> Jess leaned past him to close the window over, "Food sounds nice... and tea always seems like a good idea...."
<Wither> Kevin got up. "Shall we?"
<Jessica> Jess nodded, unfolding herself and getting to her feet. She ran a hand through her hair, shaking off the cold feeling from removing the blanket. "This feels familiar..."
<Wither> "Good! It is."
<Jessica> "I don't get specific memories or anything from this... I just... feel like it's right..." she frowned, trying to put it into words, "Like this is normal.... is it?"
<Wither> "Completely. Don't worry - just be natural and easy, and things will fall into place. And if it doesn't, we can make new memories."
<Jessica> She smiled, "Thanks.... and I'm trying... it's just awkward..." she moved towards the door to the kitchen, "I... I feel like you were important to me too... does that make sense?"
<Wither> "Yeah. We were friends."
<Jessica> She shook her head, smiling a little, "Never mind..." Obviously she hadn't said anything. "So... sweet tea.... that's iced tea, right?"
<Wither> "Yes. I don't make it quite as sweet as other people, but it's still pretty sugary."
<Jessica> "Well I'll try anything once... or twice if I don't remember the first time." She grinned.
<Wither> "I'll get the tea." He grinned back and went for the fridge. "I can make a quick stir-fry of leftovers. I'm not really much of a cook, but I haven't burnt anything yet."
<Jessica> "Apparently I can cook..." She headed to the pantry to have an investigate. "Let's see what I remember... my muscle memory seems better than the other stuff."
<Wither> "Excellent." He poured off two glasses.
<Jessica> Jess let impulse guide her when selecting things to cook and went to the stove, filling a pan with water and setting that on the heat to boil while she chopped up vegetables like a pro. "You see what I mean? I don't remember learning knife skills like this anywhere but here it is..."
<Wither> "Weird. Sounds sort of...science-fictiony."
<Jessica> "I wish it was science-fictiony and not real-lifey..." She shook her head, "It's way better to watch this stuff in some kind of romantic comedy where you know all the memories will come back and there'll be a happy ending...."
<Wither> "I think the memories will return. But I'm not a doctor...and since Dr. Summers is suffering from memory loss too, who knows?"
<Jessica> "Yeah...." her posture stiffened at the mention of the doctor, "There's another doctor here though, right? The blue furry one... something about cake..."
<Wither> "Doctor McCoy? Yeah. Blue and fuzzy...I think the cakes are twinkies. You all right? You look a bit pale."
<Jessica> She gave a half shrug. "I think things are going to just be weird for a while, that's all... I keep... getting flashes of things..." she tried to brush it off. "And feeling guilty a bit..."
<Wither> "Guilty?" Kevin poked at the boiling veggies. "About what? It's not your fault you got taken advantage of."
<Jessica> She shook her head, "I feel bad for not remembering people that seem to care about me so much... and some things I did there that I don't know if I'd have done otherwise and I might have ruined everything..."
<Wither> "Nobody blames you for forgetting." He pursed his lips. He desperately wanted to know what had happened at the compound. "So, what did you do?" he asked as casually as he could.
<Jessica> "I..." she looked at him then down at the chopping board again. Nope. Couldn't say that to his face. "I was in a relationship... with Scott..."
<Wither> "What?! Oh wow." Kevin spat his tea all over the counter. "Damn, Jess! Good for you?" He was impressed and more than slightly jealous.
<Jessica> "Well that depends how you look at it, doesn't it?" she glanced up at him, chewing her lip, "It was fine there when we didn't remember anything... but what about now?"
<Wither> "Ah, yes. Well...I don't think he was with anyone, and you never said anything to me about being with someone. It'll be awkward for a bit, I guess." He wiped up his tea.
<Jessica> "Yeah... I've been kind of... avoiding..." she moved to get some stock to crumble into the pot. "I've been kind of anxious about the whole thing..."
<Wither> "Ah. Yeah. Maybe grabbing the bull by the horns and get it over and done with would be a better choice? It's sort of always the lead-up that's the worst part."
<Jessica> "Yeah... but I thought... I don't know..." she stirred the pot a little, "I thought maybe he had someone and I'd be in the way..."
<Wither> Kevin shrugged. "I don't know, maybe he does? You could always ask."
<Wither> "If he doesn't you might have an in." He smirked.
<Jessica> And Kevin got treated to a deer-in-the-headlights look for that statement. "I-I-I... um..." crap.
<Wither> "Don't sweat it. I'm sorry. Let's talk of other things. So, this snow - it's nice, isn't it?"
<Jessica> She nodded, "Yeah it is," that came out a little over enthusiastically. "I mean... I can't go out in it but it's nice to look at..."
<Wither> "Not even if you bundle up a lot? I could bring in a bucket of it for you."
<Jessica> "I don't know... I'd probably have to wear like fifty layers... It's fine... I'll just... deal with it..."
<Wither> "All right. What are you cooking?"
<Jessica> "Um... I think a stew? Or a soup?" she shrugged, "Whatever it is, it smells nice."
<Wither> "It does. I'll get bowls ready."
<Jessica> She gave him a smile, "Thanks Kevin..." she watched him for a moment before giving a shrug and tearing off a bit of clingfilm, holding it taught and kissing his cheek through it. Close enough.
<Wither> He blushed deeply. "Uh, no problem. It's what friends are for."
<Wither> He scrambled away to the cupboards to get the bowls, still burning hot. Oh boy. Bad timing for this!