Jeff had just wanted some coffee in peace. He wasn't usually around the Compound this late, but boredom combined with a lack of being able to sleep had brought him there. It'd been a pretty quiet night, all and all - well, until someone started to scream their head off in the other room.
A familiar voice.
Coffee left behind on the counter, he didn't think twice about following it until he was standing in the doorframe of the rec room, and was greeted by the sight of a complete mess.
"Kate? Wow, I know the bookshelf sucks, but it can't be that -" he started, but trailed off pretty quickly. He'd begun to go over to see what was going on, which afforded him a better view of what she was holding, and surprise turned into alarm. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
It was Jeff. Kate liked Jeff, and she grinned brightly, holding the matchbook up for him to see. She didn't feel an awful lot like grinning, not while she stood in a pile of books that would just tell her in scientific terms what was wrong with her mother, but she smiled anyway. All the ridiculous books that would tell her all the right words, but not how to fix anything. Nothing felt bright and filled with lights like it had during the last few parties she'd gone to, but things felt different anyway. Too bright, maybe, and too clear
( ... )
Of course he was. More lately than ever before even, as he rounded the final corner of his first year stuck on the island. But that wasn't the point. The annoyance and sometimes outright anger never led him to stand over flammable books in a room with flammable things in the only building that had supplies everyone needed. That she seemed completely unstable (maybe because of the party she mentioned? he didn't know) wasn't helping matters.
"Burning the books isn't going to make it stop. It's probably going to make it worse," he said, his tone even, clearly trying to talk her down from doing anything crazy. He really, really wasn't equipped to deal with anything like what was happening, though. "How about you give me those matches and we can talk about what's going on, huh?"
"I'm not gonna burn the books," Kate said, laughing. "I'm gonna burn the bookshelf." Then it would be gone and then it couldn't hurt anyone anymore by giving them such complete bullshit and trying to pass it off as help. "Actually, maybe I'll burn the books, too."
They couldn't tell her anything new, after all. They couldn't tell her what had caused her mom to split and they couldn't tell her how to fix it, just like all the doctors couldn't help beyond making sure the right cocktail of pills were taken every day. That wasn't help.
"Just to get rid of it all," she said, trying to pull one match free from the book. "Just to get rid of it and then everything can be okay and no one will have to think about it and it'll just stop. For a little while it can stop and that's not so bad."
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A familiar voice.
Coffee left behind on the counter, he didn't think twice about following it until he was standing in the doorframe of the rec room, and was greeted by the sight of a complete mess.
"Kate? Wow, I know the bookshelf sucks, but it can't be that -" he started, but trailed off pretty quickly. He'd begun to go over to see what was going on, which afforded him a better view of what she was holding, and surprise turned into alarm. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
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"Burning the books isn't going to make it stop. It's probably going to make it worse," he said, his tone even, clearly trying to talk her down from doing anything crazy. He really, really wasn't equipped to deal with anything like what was happening, though. "How about you give me those matches and we can talk about what's going on, huh?"
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They couldn't tell her anything new, after all. They couldn't tell her what had caused her mom to split and they couldn't tell her how to fix it, just like all the doctors couldn't help beyond making sure the right cocktail of pills were taken every day. That wasn't help.
"Just to get rid of it all," she said, trying to pull one match free from the book. "Just to get rid of it and then everything can be okay and no one will have to think about it and it'll just stop. For a little while it can stop and that's not so bad."
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