When Girls Talk About Boys -+- A Log

[Jade Stone]

(( hi-o! it took us a while to finish this, hence the Christmas feel, but better late than never! ))

This the season to be grumpy, if you asked Jade.  Over the past couple of weeks she'd been doing some serious hard core moping.  What else did the holidays do but remind you of the people you want to spend them with?  Which in her case, those people were on another planet, in the literal sense, and she was denied reprieve by the Three to go back to said planet.  Which....did not make her happy.  She wasn't very good at dealing with not getting what she wanted.  She spent a lot of time in her gigantic suite on the third floor.  Had been ordering bottled blood delivered to her room, until the bar closed.  Then she started having it delivered from the bar down the street.  She just didn't feel like hunting.  Instead, she sat on the couch and let the TV numb her brain.  Which is exactly what she was doing now, but at least today she was doing it i the lounge.

It's a good thing that Gwen did not ask Jade!  Gwen thought it was the season for being with those you loved.  The season for giving of gifts.  For putting others first!  Gwen had gone out and about to get her holiday shopping done.  She was still in debates weather she was going to deliver the items to peoples rooms or put them under the big tree she saw in the Meeting room, when she had passed earlier.  It was this mission of checking the tree once more, to decide what she was going to do, when she heard the noise from the tv.  Tv's were still rather new to her, and she still did not understand about the shrinking people.  So she kept walking and made her way to the room the sound was coming from.  It was once she reached the doorway and saw whom happened to be sitting on the couch, her expression became one of joy.  "Jade!"  Even as the name was leaving her lips she was bouncing her way towards the couch and Jade.  "Can I watch with you?"

"Uh huh."  It was an autopilot answer.  Her legs were curled to the side, and she had a half-filled bowl of popcorn on her lap.  Between her shin and the arm of the couch there was a half-filled bottle of red liquid.  Blood and popcorn, what an interesting combination. She was wearing black, as usual.  Plain black pants, plain black top, fuzzy black slippers.  Hair up in a ponytail.  Who knows how long she'd been sitting there for.  Watching a movie she'd probably watched at least twice by now, with how much she was watching television and how often channels tended to repeat programs.  Still, she was totally engrossed until the commercial.  That's when she really heard the heartbeat in the room.  And the scent hit her nose, "Gwendolyn," she sounded surprised as she turned her head just in time to watch her friend bouncing over to her.  "Hi.  I mean...yes.  Were you...there long?"  Yeah, she was a little off her game.  Hadn't talked to many people the last month or so!

Now she could tell the answer was one that she probably could of gotten if she had asked anything.  A simple how's the weather or can I have your blood, might have gotten the same answer out of Jade.  So Jade the vampire was a zombie!  Her smile widened.  "Jade you're silly!  But no, I haven't been here long."  A small flounce before she sat down upon the couch next to Jade, though not right on top of her nor right on the blood either!  Not that she noticed what it was, but if she had it would be fine.  "What's on?"  She figured it had to be good the way that Jade was so tuned into it.  "Are you excited for Christmas?"  Gwen was all ready for the holiday as was evident by her outfit.  She had a deep emerald green fuzzy dress, rather short for her it for it stopped about mid thigh.  The Strings held the dress upon her form, white fluffiness was around the edges.  Her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, with a few wisps of hair framing her face.  White and red stripped tights were upon her feet, though instead of elf shoes she had on fuzzy green slippers.

"Oh, it's um.  Vampire movie."  A beat, and then she added hastily.  "Very fictional.  Very."  She knew how Gwendolyn turned to books and things for answers about vampires, and she didn't want her getting the wrong idea when the movie came back on.  "It's silly.  Totally stupid and silly it's just...you know, guilty pleasure."  Some people watched Christmas movies during the holiday season to feel closer to their families, and here was Jade watching vampire movies.  She held out the bowl of popcorn in Gwenie's direction, to offer without offering.  She pulled her eyes away from the TV screen where she'd been checking out a commercial to look again at her friend.  "You look cute.  Run into Leo lately?" A little cheeky smile, as Jade was very busy avoiding answering the Christmas question.

Now, when Jade said that the movie was a vampire movie, Gwen started to get her hopes up, but then she was told that it wasn't about real vampires. One might say that they could see the air that was building leave her.  Her head gave a bob, "Tis good that they are showing them then!"  The word tis came out when she was around Az for any amount of time.  When the bowl of popcorn came out, she would reach her hand in and grab a few kernels of popped corn.  "Thanks."  A small blush over her features. "Thank you."  A small frown that lasted only a moment, "No, I haven't seen him lately." She didn't even know that her face made a quick lil frown.  And she had distracted Gwen at least for the moment, though there is a chance that the question could come back around.

"Yuh huh."  Jade for 'your welcome'.  She checked out the television again out of the corner of her eye.  Still a commercial, so she kept her eyes on her friend.  "Well tis the season, Gwenie.  Especially in an outfit like that.  You never know when a guy might need a cute little elf helper."  She dipped her hand into the bowl, scooping up a grabful of popcorn.  After stuffing some into her mouth she added, "He seems like a decent guy.  Leo.  Kind of guarded, but he's got smart eyes.  Those smart eyes were checking you out."  Her grin would've been bigger if her mouth wasn't full.  "He's got issues though.  But I guess who doesn't."

She had popped a piece of the popcorn in her mouth, and was chewing, once that piece made its journey out of her mouth, she would laugh hearing Jade.  "I wanted to get into the spirit of the holiday.  I got all my shopping done..."  And she took it wrong, "You really think that Santa would need my help?"  Well that made sense didn't it?  Her hands were still occupied by the popcorn.  And she did not place two and two together, if that was what Jade was intending!  "Leo helped me find Leoette."  She didn't know if Jade would remember who Leoette was but she would only reply if asked.  "He's very nice." She gave a nod of her head, surely he wasn't always nice, but he had been nice to Gwen and that was what counted in Gwen's book.  A hint of a blush crept over her cheeks, "No....how could a guy of noticed me when you were there."  There was not a hint of jealousy or anything in that, just a pure compliment from Gwen to Jade.  Then she let out a soft laugh, "Issues give people character."  Nodding as she spoke, before she chewed on another piece of popcorn.  "Ooo...I made a new friend named Willow, he taught me how to fly.  But he's not like Leo." She shook her head at that, Willow wasn't like Leo nor her forrest friend either.

"I don't know about Santa.  But Leo might.  You know, because he's got issues.  I bet you could help him with those.  You're good like that, Gwenie."  She nodded, dipping her hand into the popcorn again.  "I'm not really good like that.  And besides, I don't think he cares for vampires.  And I didn't need him to find Leoette.  I think he's the type that needs to be needed."  It was just a statement of fact, all spoken really casually.  Before the new mouthful of popcorn was shoveled in.  This time she took the time to chew before she said anything else.  Glancing at the television, the movie was back on.  A very romanticized version of Dracula, how classic.  A movie Jade had cleaved to in the beginning, when she was first turned.  Dreaming if only if only there was someone like this very debonair rendition of Dracula to shepheard her along.  "You know how to fly now?  Why didn't you tell me!  Willow, huh?  Is he cute?  Another angel?"

She couldn't help but giggle.  Jade might not realize it or admit it, but she was rather hopeful!  "Leo probably has to work on the holiday.  But maybe he will make a visit to the Inn for something again."  It was rather logical she thought.  There was not a pout or anything in her voice, just very matter of factly, and it wasn't that she would even see him for sure if he was around the inn.  Usually it only happened by luck or chance.  She wasn't sure how to reply to that, because Gwen did need people at times, though she had that hidden strength for things, as well.  Her gaze did move to the tv, a small intake of breath, before she remembered it wasn't the real thing.  She nodded, "I do!  I can't fly for a long time, because it hurts later, but I am practicing!"  She nodded, "Willow is a fae.  He lives in a willow tree." She thought about that, "He blends really well with the tree, so if your into trees yes?"  The whole time she spent with him she never thought about if he was cute or not, so that was really the only way she could answer it.  "And ooo...I think that Epiphany trusts you with me now!"  That just snuck in there because it came to mind.  That's what Gwen got before she had left that night at least!  So many things to catch Jade up on!

"Working on holidays is a sure sign that he has no one to spend them with."  How was that for some girl-wisdom?  Said with a sagely nod as she pulled out the bottle from between her and the couch, taking a swig.  She tucked the bottle in between her legs this time, so it was more easily accessible.  Thanks to her super hearing Jade totally heard Gwendolyn's gasp.  "I know.  He's really hot, isn't he?  Or was.  This movie's like...fifteen years old or something."  What Gwenie told her about Willow was enough to pull her eyes off dreamy Dracula on TV.  A slow glance, maybe a little bewildered looking.  "I don't think I know any - well.  I did know one.  Kinda.  But that was back home.  Anyway.  I'm pretty sure I'm not into trees."  Great, now she was thinking about Owen.  And their stroll through the apple orchard on campus, sitting at the base of the tree....then there was that tree in the cemetery....come to think of it, she had a bunch of memories when it came to Owen and trees.  And he wasn't around anymore to ask if it was a coincidence.  "She trusts me now?"  Geez Louise did it take every bit of power within her to not say something sassy or crass.  Or sassicrass.  Which is a combination of both.  Jade was good, and all she said was, "Neat," before she took a nice big drink to keep her mouth occupied.

She let out a small laugh,  "Maybe he isn't working and he is spending them with someone."  There was the possibility of that, and she might have her crush, which she still had not admitted out loud not even to herself.  Jade had a lot of good girl wisdom.  She gave a small nod of her head, "Then he was very good looking in his hey day."  That sounded right, right.  "Something is odd about him, but he taught me to fly so that is good." He didn't fit in with all of those others that she had been hearing about. And well she knew to be careful if she ran into him again.  "With me at least." She nodded, "But I think its because of Damon and speaking about drinking blood." She let out a small grin, "Not that it matters if Pip trusts you or not, because I do!"  Gwen had trusted Jade from the beginning.

[Jade Stone]

"Aaaaamen."  Damn right he was a hottie in his good old days.  "I could watch him all day."  And she probably had been, until Gwendolyn came in.  Her green eyes were lingering on the screen...until Gwenie said odd.  That jerked Jade's eyes away from being lost in the television, and now she had a furrowed brow to boot.  "Odd?  Odd how?  He's not dead, is he?  You should make sure about that, that he's not dead.  Dead people..." she shook her head.  "There're some dead people who are real bastards.  And they're totally fixated on whatever it is they want and won't stop until they get it.  I speak from personal experience."  It was probably because they'd just been talking about trees and it made her think of Owen which made her do the odd = could be dead math.  Because two of the oddest beings she'd ever dealt with, yeah.  Both of them were totally dead.  And then, Gwenie said the magic word.  Damon.  Jade did a double take.  "Damon said what about who now?"

She let out a giggle hearing Jade.  Before a impish grin formed. "You look as if you have been sitting here all day...have you?"  She did look as if she had camped out on the couch.  "If I had known I would of come in sooner."  Not that Jade really wanted Gwen and her company sooner then she got it.  "Just odd as in he wanted me to share my innocence with him."  Yes Gwen had ignored that fact when she was with him, but it still, struck her odd.  "I don't know...he kind of made me feel guilty."  She couldn't recall what made her feel guilty but he had!  "I don't know I did not ask him if he was dead...but if I asked him would he really have to tell me?"  She was thinking on that until Jade did speak and struck her out of her thoughts. "I can't remember how it came up, but donating blood came up."  That was her way of saying it, "But Pip said she wouldn't want me to donate my blood to Damon..."  She did not finish that, "But that's when she said that she basically trusted you with me."  She nodded, "But he seems nice."  She had just that one real meeting with him, and that was what she came up with.

"Nice?"  It was hard to read Jade's tone on that one.  Or her expression.  There was obviously history between her and Damon which fed into her strange tone and look.  A little shake of her head.  She was going to drop that subject.  In the name of something more important. This Willow guy.  "Share your innocence?  For what?"  It sounded a lot like Noel.  A lot.  Which is probably why Jade was shaking her head more emphatically.  "No.  He wouldn't have to tell you.  It's not a rule I don't think, it's not like dead people have a moral code or anything they have to follow.  They have rules, but that's more about what they can do and what they can't do, you know, physically.  Or with their abilities or whatever.  Noel used to make me...feel fuzzy.  Floaty.  Not like flying floaty," and she would know, since she was a girl who liked to fly, "More like...'oh you don't need that body of yours anymore' floaty.  Or, 'oh you don't need to think your own thoughts anymore I'll take care of what you want to say or do' floaty.  It felt like he was trying to get into my body and get me out of it at the same time.  He was bad news.  Really bad news."

She nodded but she didn't have any other real things about it.  She thought he was nice, but there surely was a lot more to know.  Now Gwen had already deducted that there was history there, due to the way that Pip whom Gwen had never seen dislike someone, acted toward Jade.  "He said so he would never be without it." She thought it was rather odd to her too, and thats what still rang in her head.  "But that doesn't sound right to me."  She listened to Jades words.  "I don't know iffen it was Willow or not, but I did have a urge to go outside that night."  That did seem a bit odd for she usually was content curled up in the chair, by the fire, with her book...whichever book she was currently reading or books as was the case normally.  "That doesn't sound good!!  I don't want someone else in my body taking me out of it.  I am glad that your still  Jade and not Noelade."  The more time she had spent away from Willow and her thoughts on that meeting, the more she thought things were off.

"Yeah.  I've heard that line before."  Jade turned her attention to the bowl of popcorn sitting between them.  This time just picking at one piece.  The whole ordeal with Noel, and the aftermath....it took years to heal from it.  Two entire years of her life.  And considering she was a vampire and had a healing ability even before her vampire days, two years is nothing to sniff at.  The Three said if it had been anyone else, they would have died.  Jade pushed the piece of popcorn into her mouth and said, "Yeah, I'm still Jade.  Nearly died staying Jade, someone else died helping to keep me Jade, but I'm still Jade."

A little nod as she listened to her.  She thought maybe the silence was good for the moment, instead of having to say something right away, give Jade a few moments.  Yes two years must of took quite a long time, when one wasn't used to such things.  So far Gwen was still all Gwen, but who know how long such a thing would last.  One could only hope it stayed that way a long time.  The one thing she picked up on though, maybe was the one thing that Jade wouldn't want someone to. "I am sorry that someone else died helping you stay Jade."  A hint of curiosity came to play. "What happened to Noel?"  Not that she was really curious about him persay it was more of a how he could possibly effect Jade.

"Yeah.  Me too."  It was all Jade said about someone dying for her.  Her eyes were still on the bowl of popcorn, and she was still taking her time picking pieces out of the bowl one by one.  It was a reason to not look up during this talk.  Thinking about Owen wasn't easy.  That was how she tried to deal with his death, mostly - by not thinking about it.  Which probably wasn't the greatest idea, but who said she always had great ideas?  She popped another piece of popcorn into her mouth as she shrugged.  "I dunno.  Well, I kind of know.  We vanquished him or whatever, two years ago, and we thought he was gone.  But then a few months ago he kind of came back.  He was in my dreams every night and started haunting me, kind of, and he was trying to do that do Damon too.  But Damon took care of it, somehow.  He told me it Noel coming back again was an impossibility."  Jade did not know that Damon had asked his gypsy allies to trap Noel in a stone, which he had given to Benjamin.  Noel's particular set of abilities were now Benjamin's, which was rather ironic, wasn't it?

Impulsively, when Jade spoke, Gwen could not help but reach out just a moment, to give her hand a small squeeze, before picking up a few kernels of the popcorn.  She let Jade have those few moments after that, of quiet time once more, as she popped a kernel of popcorn in her mouth.  "He haunted you?"  That did not sound very good.  "But if Damon took care of it, then you don't have to worry about Noel coming back do you?"  Some reason from her brief time meeting Damon she had a feeling he was someone that did not say anything he did not mean.  Which if Noels abilities were now Benjamin's one would only hope that his memories were not now Benjamin's as well, or he might wish to torture Jade as well, tap into her powers of vampirish.  But one did not wish to dwell upon the sadness of things, she would instead look up to Jade.  "I know that this might sound selfish, but I am glad your still here." A small pause, "Even if you don't put enough butter on your popcorn."  She was hurting in the way that she did not know how to make things better for Jade.  She wanted to give her an out if she wished to talk of something else, yet if she wished to talk more on this subject that she seemed to talk about hesitantly she would plunge along with her.  Sometimes people just needed someone to listen.  It was something she could actually do. 

"He won't come back."  What Gwendolyn assumed Jade was certain of.  When Damon said something, that was that.  Jade hadn't been worried about Noel for months now.  That wasn't even why she was in Rhy'din.  "I got told to stay here for another reason.  Even though they won't tell me the reason."  If she remembered right, her and Gwenie had talked a little bit about why Jade was here.  Not like there had been much to talk about, Jade herself barely knew why she was here.  When Gwenie reached out and gave her hand a squeeze, it was cool to the touch like Jade's hand always was.  Jade turned her hand over, to cup it around Gwen's and give it a squeeze back.  She looked up with a little smile, and there was a kind of awkward silence.  Jade really sucked at touchy feely moments and conversations.  Maybe that's why she talked about the popcorn instead.  "My taste buds are nuts.  Probably because I'm not supposed to eat food anymore, not really.  If I put more butter on the popcorn it would be like if you ate a stick of butter like a candy bar."  Gross but true!

Odd how hearing Jade say that, relaxed Gwen a bit, when it really did not effect her directly.  It was the fact that it effected Jade.  She gave a small nod, "Do you think they will eventually tell you why your here?"  Even if it was simply to get her out of the way for some other greater reason?  She knew from their talks that Jade could be told it was time to leave at any moment.  A part of Gwen hoped that Jade found out what she was suppose to be doing, so she could quit wondering, but a small selfish part of her was glad she had Jade.  Gwen did not even expect Jade to touch her hand back, and the small squeeze was new too.  But there was no visible reaction.  Things like that were able to be learnt if one paid attention to those around them.  Because Gwen was not in her altered state the touch, if it did anything, was give a small bit of warmth, that could be felt on the inside instead of from the skin itself.  She blinked a moment, "Oh!  That would not taste to good.  Do you eat out of habit?"  That was a rather odd question but it was something else right?

"No."  She sounded kind of bitter about that fact, too.  Funny thing was, she probably would have sounded a lot more bitter, but there was something about the warmth she was feeling that kind of muted the bitterness.  Warmth was kind of a precious thing to a vampire, because they didn't have any body warmth of their own.  At least, that was the case for vampires where Jade was from.  Warmth only came for them when they drank living blood.  Which is why Jade preferred it to drinking from bottles.  Which is why it was a rare day, considering Jade had that bottle tucked in her lap that she hadn't sipped from in a few minutes.  "They're very....'need to know basis'.  And they don't seem to think I need to know anything.  Still."  Whatever.  That's what she thought about the Three.  A big friggin whatever.  "Eh.  I eat sometimes.  Sometimes because I miss it, but the weird thing is even while I'm eating I still miss eating.  Because I guess it isn't the same."  Jade was looking down at Gwendolyn's hand, which she'd turned over in her own.  Thumb kind of tracing over the lines in Gwenie's hand, and wandering up to do the same thing to the light blue veins on the underside of her wrist.  Nice warm wrist!

She frowned a bit, "So they treat you like a child?"  Of course, compared in age to the Three Jade was probably still a baby.  But one would think after the time passed that they would let her know something!  Oh they were lucky it wasn't Gwendolyn and her hundred and one questions or maybe Gwen was lucky in that fact!  Nor would she know about the warmth that was being shared with Jade.  The only thing she felt was the small tingling that was normal when she was in Jades company.  "Maybe at some point in the distant future they will be more forthcoming with you."  Gwen knew all about being told to do something without knowing the reason and never finding out why you were doing it. She nodded a bit, "It doesn't fill you the same anymore."  It was said partly as question and partly as fact from what she believed.  Gwen's hand pretty much flipped when she turned it, her gaze moved over to Jade once more.  Gwen had always trusted Jade, and that had not changed.  "Ooo...is it a myth about sleeping in coffins?  They look rather cramped."  The tv had caught her attention for a few moments.

Jade hooted.  "Sure, sometime in a few hundred years they'll tell me what's going on.  Neat."  It was sarcastic, sure, but it was the humorous type of sarcasm.  "Yeah, it's kind of like being treated like a kid I guess.  Damon says it's not a good idea to argue, not yet.  See, back where we're from vampires are supposed to be affiliated with a coven, and pretty much stick around there or stay close to there because it's not like here where people just accept vampires exist and don't go running after them with stakes.  There are rules that I'm supposed to follow, and the covens make sure no one breaks those rules....though turning me into a vampire the person who did that broke a rule.  There aren't supposed to be any humans made into vampires much younger than thirty where I'm from."  Damon was younger than thirty, but not by much and he was made in a different time when the rules had been a little different.  When Gwenie asked her question, Jade kind of laughed.  "Well, yeah...sort of.  I mean, a lot of the old vampires back where I'm from do.  It really freaked me out, when I walked into my guest room at the coven.  This really fancy bedroom with a coffin smack in the middle of it instead of a bed....they replaced it with a bed." A pause and she added, "That's how I met Damon.  I turned the light on of my guest room and I screamed and he 'came to my rescue'."

[Jade Stone]

Gwen was nodding her head.  "Well, I mean if your going to live forever, you might as well have things to look forward too!"  Thats how she looked at it, that if one could think of something in the future, even if its many many years away, they would have something to look forward too!  She blinked, "People would actually run after vampires with stakes?"  She was about to ask if Stakes actually killed vampires, but she didn't want to know, she didn't want to think about anything bad happening to Jade.  She made a face that might of gave her away, for she was not one that was good at hiding emotions.  "So a lot of the old class vampires sleep in coffins.  I just don't know if I would like to be so....stuck in somewhere."  Not to mention her fear of the dark, that would be a big ole torture for her.  A small nod of her head, "You were lucky that he came too your rescue.  He seems like a nice enough guy.  You could of got one of those nasty crusty old people who wouldn't of offered you any help what so ever."  The tone of voice stayed the same, nothing was said in a bad way, not even nasty crusty.  "I think everyone needs a hero in some sort of way."  She might have a small light blush, maybe.  Before she let out a small laugh, "Or maybe I have just read one to many stories."

Jade almost said something about the future.  Mouth opened, no sound came out and she changed her mind.  Not going there.  Not even with Gwenie.  As far as she knew Damon wasn't here, but sometimes he just knew things and the last thing she needed was for him to overhear her saying something like she was about to and get treated to one of his big fat lectures.  "I don't like being stuck places either."  Gwenie was talking about coffins, and Jade was talking about coffins, her current circumstances, her frozen age and about a thousand other things.  And there it was again…Damon, nice? "Damon's not....Nice isn't...Damon's Damon."  That was the best way she could think of to put it.  She wasn't the best with articulating things and her history with Damon was just way too complicated.  She dropped Gwenie's hand to look at her own hands, picking one of her fingernails self-consciously.  "He'll always come to my rescue though.  You're right about that.  One time I threatened to kill him if he ever came around me again and he did anyway...to save my life."  A little throat clear.  "Who's your hero?"  Turning the subject on Gwendolyn?  Totally.

Big fat lectures were not fun!  She nodded, she knew that Jade did not like being stuck at the Inn.  She could understand that, if she was told she had to stay at the Inn and needed to stay near it, she might not like it so much either.  Though she would be obedient, if it was something she was told to do by someone or someones that had such a right.  Now she bit her lip, more of a twist of the bottom lip, "He's not nice, but he's not mean?  He's just him?"  She figured everyone had good and bad in them.  Thankfully she had only seen the good so far in the times she ran into him.  "Then I am glad that he did come around you after you threatened him."  She meant that.  She would of done the same, if she had the power and the means.  She looked around the room, as Jade was asking the question.  Who was her hero.  "Um...my hero?" She had not thought of that, and a thoughtful look crossed over her features.  Brows frowned in thought.  Then she lifted her gaze back towards Jade.  "Leo helped me find Leoette.  Would that make him my hero?" Jamison was teaching her things, but he hadn't helped her save anyone or anything that she could recall.  So she figured she would await to see what Jade said.  Jade knew so much more then her!  Of course, her forrest friend brought her here before he left, so maybe he was her first hero after Cam.

Jade shook her head.  "He's not him either.  He's not anything, really."  A pause.  "That doesn't really sound like it makes sense.  But it does.  Trust me."  That's what it seemed like to Jade, anyway.  That Damon's goal was to not be anything, so that when the moment came he literally could turn into anything.  She moved the bowl of popcorn to the floor, she'd had enough of it.  The half-filled bottle of dark red liquid, that got moved to the floor too.  Because she's seriously had enough of that.  She'd had enough of the bottled gunk even before she'd ordered more of it.  "I think Leo is totally your hero.  Which is why he got all, 'but I could not possibly be what she needs', because that's the kind of thing heros always say.  And then it's your job to make him realize that when it comes down to it he's JUST what you need and always has been.  And then the romantic music plays and you have the steamy bedroom scene and you're happily ever after."

Her right hand lifted finger itched at the side of her cheek.  "He's not him, and he's not anything, but it works?"  She paused a moment, "That does make sense."  In that odd way, it really did, at least to her.  Moving her legs now so that her heels were rested on the couch before her, arms would loop over her legs in a hug, head would move so her chin was in the small indent that her legs made.  A small nod, "Then Leo is my hero."  Now she could answer that question if anyone asked it of her.  Which just might happen.  "How do you make one realize that they are just what you need?"  She pursed her lips in thought, "Well I guess first you got to figure out why they think that they aren't what you need right?"  And then she blinked, "Romantic music appears and where does the steam come from?  Is there traps in the rooms?  Because steam is really good for pores.  Does the steamy bedroom scene have to take place in the bedroom?  Can't you just have a steamy room outside of the bedroom?  Or does it come from the floor?"  She half wanted to go check out her room to see if there was some special spot she had to pour water in to make her room steam.

Jade beamed.  First big smile she'd had in a while, and it was a proud one to boot.  "I can answer that!  He said he was a busy businessman and that it would be a shame to have you sad and wondering where he was.  So he thinks you need your hero around you 24/7 style."  Wasn't she a seriously good friend or what?  Jade had done some hard work at the Halloween party, she'd cut to the chase and asked Leo the tough questions.  "It's not literal steam, it's....you know, chemistry.  You guys'll get steamy because that's what people do when they click.  And it doesn't have to be in a room.  With me and Damon it was outside.  On the grounds of another coven that'd be burned down a few months before.  During the summer.  After an argument."  A slight cough, and Jade looked elsewhere.  To fix the throw pillow crammed in between her and the couch.  "After an argument is extra steamy.  Trust me."

Gwen gave a little shake of her head, "But I don't need my hero around me all the time.  I am happy to get snippets of time with my hero."  She really was, for even if her hero did not know it, she was just happy when she got to see him.  And she did not pine away when her hero was away.  Of course, weather he was her willing or unwilling hero she would wonder sometimes about him, and how he was, but she did not dwell over long.  At least not when she was awake.  She could not control her night time thoughts in the dreams.  Of course! Jade was the best bff ever even!   Even if at first some people might not of thought it was such a good idea for the two of them to be such.  "So then its not real steam...so I don't have to add water anywhere." The rest of that pretty much went over Gwen's head.  She never had 'the talk.' the most of that talk that she had gotten was right now with Jade.  "So its good to make steam with someone else after an argument."  She sounded almost as if she was taking notes, her arms had loosed up on her legs, and her head was popped up and at alert.  Better to take mental notes.

"Oh yeah.  Preferably one where there's been some kicking and punching."  So Jade didn't always give the best advice.  But she found that worked out pretty good for her and Damon's single toss before everything had gone totally south, so that meant it was good for everyone, right?  Right?  Once she was done fussing with the throw pillow, Jade drew her legs up on the couch too and she even turned entirely away from what was on the television despite the fact that her beloved movie wasn't even over.  Talking about steam was totally more important that watching Dracula for the zillionth time.  "So that's what you have to make him understand!  It sounds like he admires you from afar too much or something right now, so he's going by the generalizations of what women want like all guys do, and that he just needs to know you better so that he realizes what you actually need and like isn't what he thought."

Gwendolyn blinked, "Kicking and punching? I don't think I have ever kicked or punched anyone before.  Don't even know how to make a correct fist."  She harumphed!  That could just turn out rather bad, if she goes up and started kicking or punching.  She really did not think that she could do such a thing, she really wasn't one to argue over much either, this was getting more complicated.  But even if she couldn't see herself doing those things, it was still wise to learn how to punch, just in case she had to defend herself sometime right?  "Maybe the next time my hero is around I can ask him, about how to punch?"  That might be how she incorporated Jades words into things.  Gwen shook her head lightly, "But shouldn't heros know that all women are different?  Or do most women want their hero always around?"  She frowned thoughtfully, "Am I odd?"  Not that it would be to much of a bother but she was curious now.  "I'm not broken am I?" 

"NO."  Jade was adamant about that.  Shooting a look at Gwendolyn like she was nuts for even suggesting that.  "You're not broken.  If you ask me it sounds like Leo's broken.  But heros are broken all the time.  Used to giving everything they want up to make other people happy, you know, to the point where they don't think that who they are on just a regular day where they're not saving the world isn't enough to make a girl happy.  They're complicated.  But worth it."  Damon didn't fit into the category of hero she just described, but like she said Damon wasn't anything.  He was a category all his own, with his own rules and complications.  "I don't think you're odd either.  And I think asking Leo to teach you how to punch is an awesome idea.  It's so not a picnic or some other silly idea for a hangout.  I bet he'd be fascinated."  She grinned.

Jumping she did at the adamant no that came out of Jade.  Not that she feared Jade, she probably should but, she trusted Jade, completely.  "So heros are broken lots?"  It did sound like perhaps Jade had a lot of experience in this too!  Of course, Gwen wouldn't ask such the question, it was all about assumptions.  "So you pretty much have to let heros know that even when they aren't off saving the world, is good enough."  She gave a small nod of her head.  Gwen felt herself blush, this time.  "And I am sure that he would be someone good to ask."  Why she thought that she didn't know for sure, but he was a boy and didn't boy know those things.  "It's good to have a wide variety of interests."  She almost sounded as if she was quoting a book, yet no book she read ever had that in it.

"Really I think everyone is broken in some way.  But heros more than others yeah.  Because they don't seem to be able to deal with their broken-ness too well probably because they think doing that isn't very heroic...or if they were dealing with themselves they'd be too wrapped up in it and miss saving someone or something....that kind of stuff."  She nodded.  And thought a minute.  "I've known way too many hero types.  I think I'm like a lightbulb to them and they're moths."  Which was a good thing, considering how much Jade seemed to need saving.  "And I think it'll be fun!  Punching and kicking is seriously fun."

Nod of her head as she listened.  A little sponge.  "They just need a push!"  Not a physical push.  "They might just get confused on the aspect of it all."  She smiled over to Jade a soft laugh.  "I am sure your a lightbulb to lots of different moths."  It seemed as if she caught on for a moment, before she let out a soft laugh.  "I think it sounds like fun to learn something new."  She was always up for something new to learn.  "Not tonight...but soon we need to go out and test my wings."  Yes her mind had fluttered on a bit.   

"Yeah, not tonight.  Tonight wouldn't be good."  A little glance away as she shifted on the couch.  It wasn't that Jade couldn't go for a fly physically, her heart just wasn't into it.  Her heart hadn't been into much lately.  Holiday blues to the nth degree.  "But soon.  When the weather's less cold.  Because you get cold, right?  When it's cold?"  She figured that Gwenie did, since her BFF obviously wasn't a vampire.  But she didn't know the ins and outs of angels, so maybe she was wrong.  "And you should hop to it, too.  Write Leo a note maybe, so that he gets it next time he comes here to hero around?  That way he'll know you need his hero help."

And if Jades heart wasn't into it, then it wouldn't be as fun.  She wanted them both to enjoy their first flight together.  "I do get cold, so when it warms up it will be better."  She smiled.  "And I need to find some more halter tops, otherwise all my clothes are going to be holey."  She nodded her head. "I never realized how many shirts I would go through."  She let out a small laugh.  Gwen grinned, "A hi!  This is Gwen.  I was curious if next time your around you can help me out with something sort?"  She moved up off the couch and gave her body a stretch, waiting to make sure it was that sort of note.

Jade laughed.  One of those silly kind of geeky laughs that sometimes came with a snort.  "Holy," she replied.  "That's funny."  Holes for the holy.  Because she was an angel!  That was the ironic joke.  She picked at the couch cushion thoughtfully as she leaned back against the arm of the couch.  "I can loan you some tops.  But...they're all black."  As was every single piece of clothing Jade owned.  Sometimes, the 'great' ideas you have in high school become a lifelong habit you just can't break.  "No no no, you should say what you need.  Tell him you need to be taught punching.  It'll make him think something happened where you think you need to know self-defense, and he'll really want to help.  And it's not lying, because you're telling him the truth that you want to learn punching, you can't help what he'll thinks is behind you wanting to learn!"  Perfect plan.

She grinned, because she caught it too after it was out of her mouth, and it was funny.  "It doesn't matter the color...I just don't want to break any more."  So far she had been lucky and the fabric hadn't tried to stick to her wings, but that could of been interesting.  She smiled to Jade.  "Thank you Jade!  I will do that first thing in the morning!"  She would of done it tonight but she wanted to take care of Leoette give the kitty a bit of attention before bed!  "See you soon Jade!  Thank you!."  And then she was skipping out of the room. 

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