Trouble Follows {Jacob}

[imaya]

With rapt curiosity, Imaya listened to that familiarly low voice while fiddling with the straw of her drink. It was so weird how relaxed she felt...almost as if listening to him speak was the equivalent to a day spent in the spa. It was kind of funny; she’d always seen him as ‘Tess’ little brother,’ or ‘yeah, I know him; me and the girls used to make him crazy, along with the other guys before I dropped out of the Hunters Academy.’ She’d never really gotten to know him as well as some of the others in their little ‘clan’ of families, and…well, if she wanted to be truthful with herself, she felt more at ease around him, than with people she’d talked to for years.

Wasn’t that funny? Or was it scary? Eh, either way, he had a sexy voice; she had to give him that.

A grin curled her lips as he described his dad’s business. Yup, leave it to Papa Jordan to provide the local hunter community with all the guns and ammo that their little hearts could want. She could just see Jake sitting behind some desk, taking orders about grenade launchers and machine guns, and she couldn’t help but snicker with amusement.

“Yep, you’re a mean, savvy arms dealer, just like your dad,” She said with another grin. While he continued to speak, she snagged his straw wrapper and proceeded to twist it into the shape of a small doll. Despite his wounds, he would be the perfect person to continue his father’s work with the local Hunters.

When the conversation turned to said wounds, however, all such happy thoughts stopped. Slowly, her fingers stopped in their fiddling, and she looked up into his face. Reading the expression there, as well as imagining what it felt like to be the sole survivor of an entire squadron of men…good God, it was no wonder why he had a brooding air to him nowadays!

With a sympathetic sound, she reached over the table to grasp his hand, running her thumb in soothing circles around his knuckles. “I am so sorry, Jake,” She said, her own brows creased. She didn’t want to look pitying, but…gah, how she wanted to hug him and steal all those bad memories away! He reminded her so much of her twin, when he’d returned home. Jericho had been angry, jumpy, bitter and reclusive…but he hadn’t lost his entire unit. She had no idea what Jake must be going through.

Suddenly, a firm expression slid onto her face, and she gave his hand a good squeeze. “Don’t you go saying things like that,” She said, an uncharacteristic seriousness in her voice. “Dying with your comrades…Jake, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through, but don’t think like that. There are people here who are so insanely happy that you’re home safe.”

She really didn’t like being so serious, or showing emotion that wasn’t ‘party ‘til your eyeballs explode,’ but she needed him to hear that. When he asked about Jericho, she reluctantly released his hand and sat back, playing with her little makeshift doll once again.

“Jericho’s…well, he’s Jericho; you know him. We don’t exactly know what went on during his time in the army, and he isn’t about to say anything to us. All we do know is that he got shot and the bullet messed up his eye. The doctors say that they could fix it with surgery, but he’s a stubborn little poop and refuses to go. Without the surgery, he’ll supposedly go blind.” Grumbling, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Stupid, stubborn piece of crapola. It’s almost as if he WANTS to go blind, or something.”

[Jacob Derek Jordan]

Jake had never meant to let everything out like that. He wasn't exactly the sort of fellow who unburdened himself to just anyone that came along and he found himself a bit embarrassed that he'd done so with Imaya. But wasn't that just like him though? He'd always found the spastic little woman easy to talk to and he felt as if he could trust her with all his secrets even as his family would worry and hover. It was actually a bit of a relief to get those words out and into the clear.

And wouldn't you know it? Yaya knew just the words to sooth away the burn they left in the air. With a squeeze and a swift turn of the conversation, she took the pressure off his confession and instantly put his feet on more solid ground by turning the attention on her own brother.

Damn, the woman was good and she didn't even seem to notice. Not that he was going to tell her... That would just give her an even bigger head.

Stiffling a chuckle at the brunettes words, Jake took a drink of his beer and eyed her over the rim. Part of him wondered if she realized how animated she became when she talked about her family and he was enchanted by the sparkle of life that seemed to glow within her dark eyes.

"Well, I dont think its anything that drastic... War does things to a body... " he said thoughtfully when she trailed off. "Especially when you've been injured and then poked and prodded by a million doctors. They all take on the most pessimistic out looks possible and after a while... You just get to the point that enough is enough. As a soldier.... Your taught to deal with the worst and false hope isn't something that comes easy to us...... "

Taking another swig of beer, the caramel haired young man shrugged a bit and then leaned back in his seat.

"Your brother will come around.... We all have to deal with it in our own way and .. well.. Shit happens.... Jerichos never struck me as the cowardly sort so this is just something hes going to have to work through......"

Just then, the waitress brought their food and Jake was a bit relieved for the distraction. For awhile, they both went to town on the large quantity of shell fish and oysters that were put in front of them and words were not needed. Once in awhile, they would share a quip or two over the feast and Jake found himself chuckling when an oyster would evade the witch to go flying to the floor.

Finally, feed and contented, he settled back and watched Yaya finish her own food. A glance outside showed night fully fallen and the ocean waves crashed against the shore with soft waves. It was peaceful in its own way and the young soldier found himself more relaxed than he'd been in a long time.

[imaya]

Imaya found herself relaxing when she saw some of the tenseness leak out of Jake’s shoulders. Jeeze, what the heck had happened over there, to make him so darn haunted? The urge to leap over the table and pull him into a smothering hug was almost too much to bear. As a means to keep her hands on something other than his head as she shoved his face into her boobs, she grabbed hold of her drink and took a deep sip.

Down girl, she told herself with a mental growl. The last thing the poor guy needed was for her to give him one of her patented bear hugs. With the way he was limping around and wincing- though, like the manly man he was, he was obviously trying to hide it- she’d probably end up breaking his hip, and then where’d they be? She’d be in a body cast, his father would be stapling her butt to the wall…gah, now that she thought about it, what in hell’s name was he even doing out here with her in the first place?

For a split second, Imaya felt a bit guilty for being unable to act normal. Other people would probably never have gotten themselves in jail, actually spoke like they had an internal filter and probably didn’t try to burp their ABC’s for ha-ha’s.

…And then she came back to reality and decided that normal people are boring. But back to Jake being insane.

From what she remembered about her brother, the poor guy needed some peace and quiet. He needed time to come to terms with the horrors that he’d seen; maybe some R&R with nature, or something. He shouldn’t be there, bailing her out of jail and having to listen to her prattle on to her heart’s content. So, why the hell was he there? He could’ve easily sent Ash or Curse over to get her. Why’d he come himself?

”Yeah, well…I just hope that it doesn’t take him 50 years to work through it, ‘cause he’s driving all of us crazy. Do you know that he actually tied me up with bungee chords the last time I tried to get him to see a doctor? Not that he made the knots really tight, but…crazy much? Gah.” She managed not to squint at him as those questions ran through her mind, instead concentrating on the gumbo. Hot damn, but this place was the best in Louisiana.

She dug into the food with gusto. At one point, in an attempt to lighten the mood, she began to play with the mussels in the plate, even going so far as to make the shells beg her to leave them alone, before she slid the salty meat into her mouth.

Finally, the feast gone and YaYa practically falling out of her chair, she grinned over at her companion. ”I think I might actually explode,” She informed him with a little laugh, thanking the waiter as he took their plates. ”Thanks again for helping me out today, Jordan. I’ll pay you back when my RenFair check comes in, kay? But gah…just look at those waves.”

Without a second thought, the psychic scooted her chair over so she was next to him, and draped an arm over one of his shoulders. She leaned forward, making sure that she wasn’t putting too much of her weight on him, and looked out the window at the beautiful scene beyond.

Another grin scored her lips as she used her free hand to give his chest a little pat. ”I’m really glad you’re back, Abs. Just so you know; if you leave again, I’m gonna follow you like I do Jericho. So…don’t be going anywhere again, kay? You’re home.”

[/blockquote]

[Jacob Derek Jordan]

(Hey Yaya... Didn't we say we were going to end this here and skip forward sometime?? I was thinking we did but not sure what we decided??)