fandomtownies | The Street Outside The Boards, Thursday Evening

To say that Jonothon was still somewhat out of sorts since the island had reverted back to normal on Sunday would be something of an understatement. Most of the week, he'd spent more or less just going through the motions. He'd checked in with the New Warriors, at least, let them know that he was still alive and that his being missing all last week was one of those crazy Time Travel Things That We Don't Talk About, and they'd all been more or less understanding, just so long as he got his head back onto his shoulders right before jumping back into the line of fire along with them again.

That had worked out well enough, really.

Tonight, he was finally trying to buck those motions that he'd been going through. He wasn't doing anything huge, or anything particularly shocking, but he was outside for a change, sitting in front of The Boards and idly tuning an acoustic guitar that he'd found buried under a stack of props in the back room. He wasn't busking, not really. He just needed to see the bustle of people on the street, and have the open sky overhead. Hiding himself away in his room hadn't done him a hell of a lot of good, after a week in detention.

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Raven shook her head slightly. "I cannot help but wish," she said. "I have tried not to speak of it because I know it makes you uncomfortable. That is why I kept my distance for a time."

She ducked her head. "I am sorry. I should not have said it."

"When they say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' I don't think that's quite what they had in mind," Jonothon noted, closing his eyes. "I needed distance before because I wasn't in any sort of state to maintain a healthy relationship, Raven. I can barely hold myself together on the best of days. I care for you. I do. But I'm not certain that I know you the same way I used to."

Truth be told, he still wasn't certain that he knew himself.

"I know," Raven said, fussing with her skirt. "I tried, but...I always seemed to upset you, and that was the last thing I wished to do. I did not wish to be smothering, so...."

She brushed a hand across her eyes again. "Now there is not much time before I must go."

"And are you planning on leaving and never looking back?" Jono's eyebrow moved upwards slightly. "You can teleport, Raven. Any time you want to see somebody, it isn't as though you can't just go to them, as easily as some people get up and walk across a room."

It wasn't that Jonothon wasn't sympathetic, per se. He just didn't have much will left to get upset over things, tonight. So... bright side.

This was new.

"Of course I was upset, Raven. And not all of that was you. I was half-mad at the best of times. I still am. I'm just fairly adept at hiding it, these days."

"Of course not," Raven said, Being able to teleport was wonderful for avoiding Portalocity's delays and layovers, and she'd be happy to take advantage of that.

"I just do not want to be a bother. I do not want to be a pest."

Otherwise she'd happily kidnap him to Woodstock or bring him muffins or just listen to him play guitar. Her insecurities, they were showing.

"Which do you prefer, Raven? The risk of being a pest, or the certainty that you'll become a stranger?"

Jono didn't like asking the easy questions. He felt like it was cheating.

"I would never wish to be a stranger," Raven said without hesitation. "I do not want to imagine my life without you in it."

Except she had over the course of the past few days. Her brow furrowed a little; she was still struggling with thinking he would be better off without her, that everyone would. First Trigon and then Umbridge, and with her brothers seeking her out, she feared being a liability to her friends.

"I'm right here, Raven," Jonothon noted, sighing and then playing something soft on his guitar. Nothing in particular, really. Just a few notes, however his fingertips saw fit. "And I'm not going anywhere. If you don't want to be a stranger... don't be a stranger."

"And I would make the same request of you," Raven said softly. "Please do not be a stranger."

She tried to find a smile again. "But how could I be a stranger when you still owe me a song?"

"I... a song," Jonothon echoed, looking momentarily perplexed. A request? Or had he promised to write one to make up for the tweaked cover song that he'd thrown at her for the showcase? The past week had trampled almost everything in his head, and had left him fumbling, now. "What sort of song did you want?"

Better asking flat-out than fumbling and trying to pretend that his head was in order, perhaps.

"The song you promised me since there was not enough time to write one for the showcase," Raven reminded him. She wasn't in a rush, but she was looking forward to it.

"And...whatever you would like. I just want to hear your words. Whenever you have the time."

Jonothon nodded a little. Right, then. He had managed to put a finger on it, at least. Better than nothing?

"I did get a start on it," he offered, playing a few notes for her to hear, "but things have been... well, you know how things have been."

The notes had been... rough, sort of like a sketch of a song, waiting for someone to come along and flesh it out into something more solid. Soft, too, like he wasn't entirely certain he ought to be playing it at all, without having it finished, first.

Raven closed her eyes for a moment and listened. "I am eager to hear it, when you are done," she said. "But there is no rush. I know you are busy, and...." Things. Yes.

"Perhaps for my birthday? That would be a most wonderful present."

"That gives me until... December?" Jonothon pursed his lips a little. "I think, unless I manage to get myself in over my head back home, I'll be able to manage that, luv."

He could! In fact, that was almost too much time. Most likely, he'd procrastinate like hell and try to force a burst of inspiration on December twelfth.

The Street Outside The Boards, Thursday Evening

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