Room 222 | Sunday Afternoon

[pursuedthestars]

Once upon a time, Jim's weekends had been spent doing every thing possible to get out of his house and away from Frank. He'd stolen cars, run away (not that anyone noticed), gotten into fights, picked up girls and every single thing in between just because everything else bored him.

And what was he doing today? He was reading. He'd chalk it up to the streets being too small in this town to steal a car, running away not holding the shine it used to, fighting causing bleeding which he didn't want to do and girls just being...well, different here than they were back home. There wasn't even a Frank around to piss off (though there was a Jackson).

Jim would have called these sad times a few years ago. Right now, he'd just call it a quiet phase in his life. He'd gotten a letter (two paragraphs long) from his mom that seemed like a freaking form letter yesterday. He'd read it once and tossed it. He hadn't heard from his brother (not surprising).

For the first time, Jim really felt the years that separated this place and back home. He felt it in his bones and in his head and in his heart. It was weird but he internalized it.

That was just his way.

[Open post]

Comments

[pursuedthestars]

"Only one?" That didn't sound a little lonely. "Where are the rest of your people?"

[solarhippie]

"Majesdane." And no, she didn't know where that was. "Probably."

[pursuedthestars]

"How'd you end up here?" Jim asked, unable not to be curious. "Were your parents not...the same as you?"

[solarhippie]

"My parents were... settlers, I guess." The facts were hazy for her, for understandable reasons. She hadn't really been in a position to ask her parents anything. "I was born here. I didn't even know there was anything off about any of us before, well. Before I found out they were evil."

So yeah, that had been fun. Finding out your parents were evil and you were an alien, all in one.

[pursuedthestars]

"Ever tried to go home?" Jim wondered. "See where you're from?"

[solarhippie]

Karolina shook her head. "No. Even if I had the coordinates, I think you'd need a spaceship for that."

[pursuedthestars]

"Huh."

Jim scratched his cheek.

"I bet I could steal one of those."

He'd stolen cars, the next step up was a spaceship.

[solarhippie]

She managed a slightly more convincing smile, this time.

"But not the coordinates."

[pursuedthestars]

"Details." Jim shrugged. "Besides, I bet there's someone out there that knows where your home's at. Tried looking?"

[solarhippie]

"Not really," she admitted. "I didn't really even have time before I was sent here."

And she didn't think that was the kind of thing you could really find online.

[pursuedthestars]

"So, nothing's impossible if you haven't even tried," Jim told her easily. "Don't rule something out if you don't know. There could be someone out there from your home. You're here, aren't you? You got here. So, someone else could have too."

[solarhippie]

"But what if they're like my parents?"

Evil space invaders. She really hoped that wasn't all her species did, but, she didn't have a lot to go on and she couldn't help but wonder.

[pursuedthestars]

"Then, at least you know and you can start coming to terms with that," Jim said reasonably. "Isn't knowing better than wondering?"

[solarhippie]

"I'm not so sure." Did he get what the implication of other Majesdanians only seeking to conquer was? She had a hard enough time with just knowing her parents had been bad. She shook her head, again. "Like I said, it's... complicated."

[pursuedthestars]

He got it, he just wasn't bringing it up if he could help it.

"Do what you gotta do, Karolina, but don't let someone else make you feel guilty for a choice you've made. It's your life, not theirs and you've got a right to feel what you feel."

[solarhippie]

"Yeah." She sighed, then managed a little smile at him, clearly ready to move on from this topic. "Hey, do you think you'd want to come to town to grab a bite to eat?"

Food. Food was a safe subject. Even if it could entail getting mocked for her vegetarian choices.

[pursuedthestars]

"You keep asking me out on dates, people are gonna start to talk," Jim said, clearly joking. "I could go for some food."

He could always go for some food.

[solarhippie]

Well, he was a teenage boy. In Karolina's experience, never not wanting food was a thing that went with that.

"It's not a date!" Karolina exclaimed, but with a laugh. "It's just food. But, great."

[pursuedthestars]

"It's totally a date," he said, still joking with her as he grabbed his coat. "It's a date with food!"

He reached for the door to let her out first. "C'mon, date. Let's go."

[solarhippie]

Karolina chuckled a bit, shaking her head, but moved past him out into the hallway.

Well, wasn't like she was having any other kinds of dates, either. This would do.