Room 528, Early Monday Afternoon

[icecoldfrost]

Half the room seemed rather desolate, much like some empty spaces in Emma's mind; where the thoughts of her friends usually thrummed quietly as they went about their business on the island.

She'd skipped the welcome picnic for a spa treatment and massage, and today was packing up most of her winter clothes and some books to drop-off with Hank. She wasn't going to be needing them before school started, unless the island decided to do Christmas in July, and it was something to do that was productive with her hands. And it made the room seem not so gloomy

Things were getting tossed into one of three piles; donate, keep, or store, as Emma used Triela's old bed for sorting. And if she was humming along to the radio - which she had turned up rather loudly - well, people were just going to have to deal.

[OOC: Door and post open!]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

"Not much to explore there," Jack said, equally cheerful. "But what else have you been up to, when you aren't ministering to the less fortunate among us and finding all sorts of trouble?"

[icecoldfrost]

"At the moment? Sorting clothes to go in storage," she sighed. "Dreadfully dull, but it gives me an excuse to go shopping for the season. And what about yourself, Jack? Summer so boring already that you're going through your phone book?"

[bitten_notshy]

"I still have some final papers to do," Jack sighed. "Not boring in the least. Actually, I had a thought I wanted to run by you -- strictly for your opinion, of course."

[icecoldfrost]

"Do I get to write one of your papers?" Emma was possibly too thrilled at the idea of trying to stymie one of Jack's professors. "You give the best presents."

Say no, Jack.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had the strangest coughing fit before he could answer. "Actually I was thinking about spending the summer on the island, since I've been out there every other week anyhow. I wouldn't inflict my coursework on anyone."

[icecoldfrost]

"Are you feeling all right, Jack?" Emma asked sweetly. "That sounds like a nasty cough."

Emma, you are a Bad Friend sometimes.

Then what he'd actually said sunk in, and she blinked in surprise for a moment. "Here? But I thought you loved London, darling." And, well, Sebastien.

[bitten_notshy]

"I've been reliably informed London won't go anywhere in the next three months," Jack said solemnly. It was distraction from discussing his 'cough.' "And my other commitments seem like they can manage without me."

Or, Sebastien had found a salon he liked and was scarcely home, and Alistair was out of town for the summer anyhow. It was complicated, as usual. The island felt simpler.

[icecoldfrost]

"Well, we'd most likely be more entertaining than whatever summer job you could find," Emma mused. "We still have the vikings."

[bitten_notshy]

"Still?" Jack sat up more in surprise. "I thought they'd stay for the weekend only. How are they they settling in?"

[icecoldfrost]

"Well," Emma hedged, "-more like we settled in here....I think we're in Greenland? Or Iceland or...I honestly have no idea beyond 'chilly.'"

[bitten_notshy]

"... And this is why I think I need to be in Fandom for the summer," Jack rejoined. "If I don't, you'll end up in bloody India and no one will tell me."

Well, it made sense to him.

[icecoldfrost]

"And of course it has nothing to do with unlimited mead and viking wenches," Emma teased. "I would call you, if we hopped again. I promise."

[bitten_notshy]

"The mead will be a nice bonus," Jack agreed airily. "And you won't need to call, since I'll be there within the week if Ms. Cabot will have me. I wouldn't want to miss the move to outer Mongolia."

[icecoldfrost]

"So soon?" she asked, surprised. "You really must be bored out of your skin. Should I start checking the vacancies at the local apartment buildings for you?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Why should I wait?" Jack shrugged. "I was just going to stay in the hotel, though. I don't fancy having to clean after myself."

[icecoldfrost]

"Spoiled, Mister Priest," she chided with a laugh. "So very spoiled."

[bitten_notshy]

"She says, as if she doesn't like it," Jack laughed in return. "Am I to believe you're eager to set up housekeeping?"

[icecoldfrost]

"I live in a dorm, Jack, I already am in charge of housekeeping for my own room," she pointed out. "Especially with Triela gone."

[bitten_notshy]

"And there you go using logic," Jack sighed. "It's been a bit since I stayed in the dorms."

[icecoldfrost]

"How short your memory is," she consoled him. "You must be getting old, if your memory of living at Fandom is fading so soon."

[bitten_notshy]

"A hundred and twenty-one. You have to make allowances for my advanced age, Miss Frost," Jack said.

Then, casually, "Who's left for the summer? You mentioned Triela is gone."

[icecoldfrost]

"Alex went home, Peter bolted, Jono left," she said, ticking people off on her fingers. "Triela's gone back to Italy; she's dying. Kennedy, Miss Kerrigan...right now it's me, Sookie, and Effy left."

God save the rest of Fandom.

[bitten_notshy]

"God save Fandom," Jack said, echoing her narrative. "That's -- can anyone help Triela?"

He scarcely knew her, but death was kind of a big deal.

[icecoldfrost]

"Doubtful," she replied crisply, doing her best to sound professional. "Neurological degeneration has been an ongoing problem this year. I've done what I could in the area of repairs, especially with her memory, but anything I did would degrade again in weeks, if not hours. She has developed a resistance to her medication at the same time her body is rejecting the cybernetics."

Professional. Emma had to think of Triela as her patient, since she was the consult on her mental deterioration. Thinking of her as her abandoning dying roommate was just going to throw her into mental chaos, and that would not help either of them.

"The healer-types seem insistent that something can be done, but I think it more selfish denial than actual fact."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack let out a low, heavy breath, and rose from his seat to pace. "If there's anything at all I could possibly do, let me know," he said. "I didn't know her well" -- and he wasn't completely sure what cybernetics were -- "but no one should die this young."