[for Jamie]

[butterflyfactor]

There were things about the island that Layla had come to enjoy. They were little things, but they kept some fraction of her curiosity sated, so she had to appreciate them. Resenting how little of her time and energy they took up didn't help anyone. The bookshelf had books that were published in universes not her own, and they were frequently

Comments

[howmanylives]

Though Jamie had, during monsoon season, started to think about possibly relocating to a less isolated location, he was, in that moment, absolutely grateful for his home's distance from the rest of the island. Following his less than ideal conversation with Theresa a few hours prior, he'd needed the time to decompress, his heart rate spiking whenever he afforded the incident more than a passing thought -- and given what they'd talked about, it was pretty much all he could think about. While she'd had a point, saying that her love life was none of his business, it had been the only real argument she'd had in her favor, and he was filled with the sort of righteous indignation that had fueled so many of his efforts back in the real world, where Sergent Brad Colbert mercifully didn't exist

[butterflyfactor]

Layla lowered her chin to look at Jamie, then shared a look with a perplexed terrier.

"Given our histories and present location, this should be pretty good." She leaned back on her hands and crossed her legs at the ankles.

"What happened?"

[howmanylives]

"Theresa just informed me that she's engaged to a man who has involved himself with a certain married, male ex-council member, and that, to add further insult to injury, she's not only fully aware of the situation, she's happy with him because he's, and I quote, 'normal,'" he spat out, disdain dripping off his every word as he gesticulated in punctuation. "Can you even believe that?!"

[butterflyfactor]

Layla had the grace to look a little bewildered, and leaned forward, planting her chin in her palm as she carefully went through the information Jamie had presented to her.

"....Not really," she answered, finally.

"Not that I'm going to be casting any first stones any time soon, but I'm pretty sure the 'normal' argument is fully undermined by everything else you just said. When did this happen?"