Drabble meme: 49 + 28, cassandra railly & jennifer goines
“Nice place you got here.” Jennifer strolled in with her hands in her pockets, only recoiling a little when Cassie hugged her, hard. “Oof. Wow. We just saw each other yesterday, let’s not go crazy.”
Cassie stepped back, coughing at the smell of patchouli. “Jennifer, it’s been two years.”
“Has it? Oh. That’s the problem with the crazies. Time is meaningless.”
Time had dictated their lives for what felt like centuries. But Cassie didn’t argue. “Cole’s back,” she said like it was a simple thing, and not the earth-shaking moment that had made her finally feel whole.
“I know that. Who do you think drove him up here? I mean, it took Otter Eyes like a full five minutes to realize he had no way to get here and no money so…”
“He didn’t mention that.” He was passed out upstairs, no doubt wiped out by the splinter that had literally ported him back into existence.
Jennifer gave her a lascivious look. “I’d say he was a little busy.”
Cassie laughed. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“’Kay. He wasn’t expecting me to wait around, but, eh, I’ve got time.” Jennifer flicked her hand through the back of her own hair. She seemed far less of a pressurized container for mania than Cassie remembered. She couldn’t tell if the passage of the years had dulled her memories, or if Jennifer truly had mellowed. Primes did tend to disassociate less as they grew older, she knew. And the timeline had fixed itself, which meant that Jennifer might not need to plug in so intimately and intensely. But even mellowed, she still bristled and crackled, pacing around Cassie’s living room, picking up knickknacks, setting them down, running her fingers across picture frames. “Nice place. Homey. Expected more minimalism from you, Doc.”
“A house like this calls for something more rustic. Speaking of, you should check the room at the top of the stairs. On the right.” She added the last bit quickly, knowing Jennifer would happily burst into the left room and wake James up.
“What is it? Some kind of sex dungeon?” Jennifer asked, not bothering to climb the steps quietly.
“Yes, I keep all my dungeons on the second story. Just open the door.”
Jennifer gave her the patented okay weirdo look that Cassie had always felt was unfair, and pushed the door open. She paused in the doorway, brow furrowed. “It’s a guest bedroom. So what?”
“It’s the Jennifer guest bedroom. Yours any time you want it,” Cassie said.
Jennifer stared at the room, her face blank. Or it would have seemed blank to anybody else, but Cassie had seen her at every level from rock bottom to absolutely floating. She saw the tremor in Jennifer’s jaw as she no doubt took in the wallpaper Cassie had picked out (yellow and sunny), the 90s girl group posters on the wall in the corner, the professional drafting table and set of charcoals set off to the side.
But in true Jennifer fashion, she said, “You know I’m rich, right? Like gonzo rich. I have like nineteen houses.”
“Nineteen houses and one room, then.” Cassie shrugged.
She knew well enough to brace herself before Jennifer could tackle her and send them both tumbling down the stairs. And she was pretty sure the other woman called her a dweeb, but coming from her, that was an I love you too. Missing James had felt like aching for a phantom piece of her soul. Missing Jennifer had been like mourning a sister.
And now, she thought as Jennifer predictably disengaged quickly and vanished into her room, shutting the door behind her, she had them both home.
