Talking to Myself [Heather]

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

(OOC Note: This is a thread just for Heather, unless Oswald wants to do any reaction posts since he said that he'd have her under surveillance.)

Hearing the door to her cell being locked, VerMillion frowns to herself. She's somewhat disappointed that the fat man turned out not to be any help at all getting Heather to stop screaming. Of course, she also still suspects that it may have been the man's fault in the first place and that he was never even trying to actually help.

But she supposes that her only options now are to either try to bear it and hope that it eventually stops, or she could see if there's anything she can do herself. And as she hardly has the patience for the former, the latter is the obvious choice. But what can she do about it? She's still rather confused about where Heather even is, but if she can hear Heather screaming, then surely the girl can hear her too? That's worth trying...

"Heather? Heather, can you hear me? If you can, tell me!" she says somewhat loudly, timing it between screams.

The next scream doesn't come immediately, and instead VerMillion can hear a shaky voice saying, {Yes...} But that doesn't stop the next scream.

VerMillion winces. "Then stop screaming right now!" she says with a hint of anger in her voice, "There's absolutely no reason to do that!"

{But... Jon...}

"Jon is not here!" VerMillion firmly insists.

{He is, he's right there!}

"No, he's not anywhere! Haven't seen him in days! If you see him then you're seeing things," she persists.

{He's here, and he's won't talk to me! He... doesn't care about me at all!} Heather wails.

VerMillion frowns, confused for a moment. As far as she knows, she is the only one Jon actually seems to care about at all. Come to think of it, she can't really remember Heather being around Jon off the top of her head. Actually, she can't immediately remember seeing Heather anywhere... Of course, there's her rather hazy memory to blame on that. Then again, if she can't remember interacting with Heather, why can she remember who the girl is at all? She'd forgotten Jon for a bit there, even! Yet she seems to know Heather is Heather on a much deeper level.

And hearing what Heather is saying right now, she finds a strangely pressing need to argue against it. "Jon cares about you!" she says, still firmly. She hasn't the slightest clue whether that's true or not, but she feels an overwhelming need to make sure that Heather believes that until there's proof otherwise. "If you think he doesn't, then I know something's wrong with you."

{But I see him! And he doesn't!!}

"You don't, and he does!" she argues back.

There's a long pause in which Heather does nothing but whimper slightly before she says, {What I'm seeing is not real?} It's not the first time that's happened to her, so her mind is more ready to accept that idea than she might have been otherwise.

A look of relief crosses VerMillion's face when she hears that question. Good, she's got Heather thinking right now, so this is probably the end of that awful screaming. "Of course it isn't! I told you - Jon is definitely not here," she confirms.

{But if it's not real, why am I seeing it?}

Frowning at that, VerMillion can only say, "I have no idea. The Penguin said that he talked to you before you started screaming. But that makes no sense because he was talking to me when you started doing that."

{No, I remember talking to the Penguin... He shot me...}

"You too?!?" VerMillion asks, surprised, "What is that guy's problem?"

{And he gave me some drug that looked like fear toxin... But I didn't see the Joker...}

To say that VerMillion is surprised to hear Heather say that would be putting it mildly. She freezes for a moment, trying to make sense of why Heather's experience would be so much like her own. Well, maybe they're just similar people? Though once she decides to think about that later, the question of what's going on now seems very obvious to her. "I think I know what's going on. Fear toxin isn't make-you-see-Joker toxin. It shows you your biggest fears. So if your biggest fears change..." she speculates.

{...You see something different...} Heather finishes, sounding greatly relieved. {But I still see Jon...} she whines.

"Well, you'll just have to wait for it to wear off, I guess," VerMillion comments, "I doubt there's anyone here that would give you an anti-toxin, if they even have any." Of course, now she can only guess why she's not seeing any hallucinations if the Penguin had real fear toxin to give Heather.

{Can you keep telling me you don't see Jon?}

"Yeah, especially if you promise not to scream again. I can hear it like it's right in my ear," VerMillion complains, "And we should talk more when you're out of it." While her own experience with fear toxin is extremely hard to remember, it does seem to stick out among all her harder memories. Perhaps because she'd had so many nightmares about it. But she definitely remembers it was not a pleasant experience, so though she's actually quite eager to question Heather about what happened with her and Jon as perhaps that will shed some light on her foggy memory, she has enough empathy for the girl to leave her alone about it until the hallucination ends.

{Okay, I'll try not to scream,} Heather agrees, still sounding rather shaky.

Knowing that it could take awhile for the toxin to wear off, VerMillion now turns her attention to herself. Specifically, seeing if she can't make herself more comfortable. She'd tried to get up earlier while the Penguin was here, but the pain in her leg had been too great. Perhaps if she's more careful? Moving slowly and utilizing her other leg heavily, VerMillion eventually shifts herself so that she's laying down on her cot, periodically saying different variations of, "No, Jon's still not here." Once she's laying down, she finds that she's unable to find a truly comfortable position because her leg still hurts no matter what she does. Would it have killed the Penguin to give her some painkiller? At least her situation is still greatly improved by the simple fact that Heather doesn't scream again. And she definitely isn't bored anymore.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

It seems like an eon to VerMillion before she finally hears Heather say, {I think I might be coming out of it - Jon's gone.}

"Oh, good!" she replies, glad that that's over with. She's still laying on her cot, having had a few ideas of other things to do but deciding not to when her injured leg reminded her that trying to do anything would be a profoundly unpleasant experience.

{There's something wrong though - I can't move or really feel anything,} Heather adds, sounding a little concerned, {I don't remember this happening last time.}

"Oh, I'm sure you're fine. I'm just confused about where you are, exactly. I mean, you seem to be right here, but you're not in this room with me..." VerMillion comments, looking around as if to confirm the truth of that statement to herself.

{...Um, weird - I just looked around, but I didn't try to...}

VerMillion frowns, "Um, I just looked around the room on purpose...."

{...So I'm seeing what you're doing?! Why?!} Heather asks, now sounding really concerned.

"You think I know?" VerMillion asks, merely perplexed by the situation, "I guess it kind of makes sense though. I mean, I feel like you're behind me. But not, like, literally behind me. Does that make sense?"

{...No, no it doesn't... Who are you, anyway?}

"I'm VerMillion."

{You can't be VerMillion - I'm VerMillion!}

"No, I'm VerMillion, and you're Heather," she insists.

{I'm both - VerMillion was just my pseudonym on the radio...}

"Wait, the radio? Oh yeah, I was on the radio! You were on the radio too?" VerMillion asks in surprise, laughing a little in disbelief.

{...So let me get this straight... You're VerMillion?}

"Yep."

{And you've been on the radio...}

"Yeah."

{And you know Jon?}

"That's right."

{...Do you call him 'Jon'?}

"Yep. I'm the only one who does, I think..." VerMillion comments, before frowning to herself. Wait a second, Heather was calling him 'Jon' too... that's weird.

{...Then you're me.}

"What?! How could I be you? You're Heather, I'm VerMillion. Obviously we're different people or we couldn't be talking right now," she says, her frown deepening as her confusion increases.

{I don't know! I haven't a clue what's going on, but some things only happen to one person.}

"What do you mean?"

{Um... Tell me how you met Jon.}

"Oh, um, let me think - my memory got kind of fuzzy while the Penguin was here..." VerMillion says, her forehead furrowing in thought. "Oh, yeah, I was at the radio studio in my booth, and Jon was there and insisted that I go with him. It was really annoying."

{Oh, well, that's different... I mean, that happened, but it was later. When I met Jon he rear-ended my car...}

"Wait... that sounds right... I was driving and kind of stopped short at the light, and someone bumped into the back... ugh, it's really hard to remember. But yeah, I guess that happened first," she says, really having to concentrate to get at that memory and only being able to think about bits of it.

{...Well, how could you remember that if you're not me?}

"...Okay, this is weird."

{...And why do I see what you see?}

"You think I know?"

{...Wait a sec - can you look at your hand?}

"Okay..." VerMillion says, lifting her hand and inspecting both sides of it carefully.

{...That's my hand.}

"What do you mean? It's my hand."

{You know that saying about knowing something like the back of your hand? There's the cat scratch scar on the pinky from a cat, there's a dent on the knuckle by the pointer finger when my hand hit a brick wall when Tony thought it would be funny to sneak up behind me and pick me up, there's the short thumbnail from when I broke it helping Jon carry that guy two weeks ago...}

As Heather speaks, VerMillion looks at the details pointed out and says, "Okay, stop it that's creepy! I couldn't remember any of those things until you said them, but now I do."

{No, what's creepy is that I think I'm in my head then. I mean, I think that you're in my head. Except that you're moving me...}

"...Wait, how do I know that you're not just a voice in my head with my memories?" she asks with a frown.

{...Oh, um... Well, I feel like I'm more than a voice... I mean, like I ought to be moving me, and not you.}

"Well, so do I," VerMillion says, the frown deepening further.

{Okay, I guess that's a point... Um, maybe it would help if we tried to figure out when things got weird? I mean, I know I wasn't like this when the Penguin showed up...}

"Yeah, he came in, I called him names, he shot me in the leg..."

{Oh, yeah... It's not hurting now at least...}

"Speak for yourself! It really, really hurts. I mean, I'm having a hard time concentrating on talking to you it hurts so much," VerMillion complains with a wince. She really wishes that Heather hadn't brought it up - thinking about how much it hurts makes it hurt worse.

{Oh, I'm sorry! Um, but that was all totally normal, right?}

"Yeah, it didn't get weird until you started screaming," VerMillion replies, glad that they're now talking about something she can remember easily.

{Um, right... You never saw Jon?}

"Nope."

{So it must have been the fear toxin that did it.}

"But why would fear toxin do... this? I mean, I don't remember this happening the first time, unless I'm just not remembering something again."

{It didn't,} Heather confirms, {And, I mean, everyone hallucinates something different on it but I don't think that this is supposed to happen... whatever 'this' is. This is definitely weird. Maybe wherever the Penguin got it from was a bad batch or something.}

"Maybe... Or it could have been the brave toxin," VerMillion points out.

{Brave toxin? ...Oh yeah, the brave toxin... Well, I'm definitely not on it now - I don't even what to think about everything I'm worrying about right now,} Heather says, actually having a bit of a struggle keeping her thoughts on track. Because, seriously, there's another her in her head! {But that's weird too - I feel... normal worried. Not like I'm in withdrawals. I wasn't on fear toxin that long either, was I? I mean, it felt like forever, but...}

"Oh, yeah, definitely felt like forever. But I don't have a watch or anything, but I don't think it was more than, like, an hour."

{So, for some reason, no brave toxin and no withdrawals... How are you feeling?}

"Um, except for the leg, I feel fine. I mean, I was kind of bored while you were hallucinating..."

{So, you're definitely on brave toxin...}

VerMillion shrugs at that, unconcerned, "If you say so."

{...Yeah, definitely brave toxin. Wait, that actually makes sense, I think - you're on brave toxin, I was on fear toxin. I mean, I don't know what they're supposed to do when you're on both, but they're both really strong and kind of opposites. So this happened. Does that make sense?}

"I think so. We should ask Jon next time we see him. Do you know where Jon is, by the way? Something else I couldn't remember."

{...Last time I saw him the Penguin's men were attacking him with tasers} Heather answers, suddenly sounding angry.

VerMillion blinks at that as Heather's words help her remember, and her expression immediately hardens, "Oh, now I remember... I hate tasers."

{Yeah... I wish he was here right now... He probably knows how to fix this...}

"I don't see what the problem is, really. I mean, it's kind of weird but it would be boring in here if I weren't talking to you," she points out, glancing around at the drab cell.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

{Well, it's kind of eerie for me... like I'm watching someone else playing a really realistic video game... except the character is me. What if we're stuck like this? I don't seem to be able to do anything but talk to you.}

"Hey, relax!" replies VerMillion, as she can easily hear the rising anxiety in Heather's tone, "I think I might have an answer for that. I didn't really think about it, but when you first started screaming I remember that you didn't feel like you were in behind me, you were in front of me. I had to push you out of the way before I could do anything. Maybe if you do the same thing, you'd get in control." Or at least that's a guess. Heather's screaming seemed... different before she pushed her to the back.

{Okay, I'll try... Um... I'm not getting any sense of where you are, though...}

"Really? It was a pretty clear feeling to me," VerMillion replies with a frown.

{No, not at all. I don't really feel anything, actually. I can just see what you're seeing and hear what you're hearing I guess.}

"Huh, well, I guess I can always try pushing you ahead of me - I still feel like you're back there."

{Oh, try that then! It would make me feel way better if I could know for sure I'm not stuck in your head.}

"Okay, just a second..." VerMillion replies, giving it a try. And she finds pushing Heather's consciousness around to be a surprisingly quick and simple maneuver.

Heather suddenly blinks in surprise, finding herself abruptly able to control herself and feel what she's doing again. The latter is a mixed blessing - while she's free of the overwhelming feeling of numbness, she's also suddenly forced to cope with the pain in her leg again. And the pain is so severe that her first reaction is to lift her head to look at the injured limb and give a slight whimper. But as she gets accustomed to it, her eyes start to rapidly take in the small cell around her - shifting quickly around as if trying to look everywhere at the same time with a scared look on her face. Her breath quickens and she starts to hyperventilate - to the point that even the fearless VerMillion notices it as a problem.

{Hey, are you okay?} she asks, but Heather doesn't respond and without the ability to worry helping her to decide whether or not it's a problem makes it difficult for VerMillion to decide what to do. But eventually, and probably just in time, VerMillion says, {I don't think you're okay, I'm pushing you back.} That too only takes a moment, and when she's done she asks, "Heather, are you okay?"

Finding herself suddenly in a position where she not only is unable to feel the pain but also doesn't need to breathe, Heather finds her nerves steadying, {Um, I think so...}

"What happened with you? It was like you were freaking out or something," VerMillion asks, more out of curiosity than anything.

{I don't know... It's just the leg, being stuck in here, not knowing where Jon is, not knowing if or when I'll get out of here, suddenly having you in my head... It was all just... suddenly overwhelming.}

"Oh, that's ridiculous! The leg sucks, yeah, but nothing's even happening. Nothing that's really a big deal anyway," VerMillion replies, dismissing Heather's worries immediately.

{How would you know?!} Heather asks, suddenly defensive, {Nothing seems like a big deal when you're on brave toxin - even if it is. What if I die down here? What if I never see Jon again? What if he can't fix this? This is a Big Deal!}

"Fine, if you say so - chill!" VerMillion says, perplexed by Heather's reaction but agreeing because she doesn't want to argue such an unimportant point that's apparently so important to Heather. There's a long pause before she asks, "So... I'm guessing this means that we can't take turns being 'out'? Because that would really be nice - it was heaven not having to put up with this leg for a moment."

{...I don't know. Maybe we can try again later? You're, um, obviously having an easier time with everything right now.}

VerMillion just sighs at that answer, having figured as much. Heather's clearly overreacting to everything, but what can she do about that?

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

There's a long silence then which seems to stretch out for an eternity for VerMillion even though it in reality lasts only for a few minutes before she sighs and says, "I'm so bored..." Perhaps she'd find a way to entertain herself even with the limited resources available in the cell, but the prospect of getting up off the cot while her leg is throbbing so painfully is not appealing in the least. But what's there to do then but stare up at the ceiling?

{I don't think that this place is supposed to be entertaining,} Heather replies quietly.

"Can we keep talking, at least? It gives me something to think about besides how bad my leg hurts."

{Okay, um, anything in particular?}

"I don't know - maybe tell me more of the stuff I can't remember? It's weird that you do and I don't," she replies, though she really doesn't care too much about the missing memories. The very fact might be distressing for some people, but for her it's simply strange.

{Okay, um... where do I start?} she has to ask, because while she may be young there's a lot of things she could go over.

Though the answer to that is obvious to VerMillion, "Jon, of course."

{Er, yeah, of course...} Heather replies. Actually, the prospect of talking about Jon a lot cheers her up somewhat. {Though I don't know if I should tell you everything...}

"...Why not?" VerMillion asks with a sudden frown.

{Well... some of the stuff with Jon is kind of personal. And some of it's secret - maybe it's better if you don't remember that stuff. I mean, what if Penguin comes back?"

"Personal? You mean like when I kissed Jon?" VerMillion asks with a smile crossing her face. Because boy does she ever remember that... "And so what if Penguin comes back?"

{Um... yeah... you remember... um... that...} Heather says, more than a little bit flustered. Okay, so this other person in her head... remembers kissing Jon... even though she was the one who did it... beyond weird. {And, um, if Penguin wants to know the secrets...}

"I'll tell him to buzz off," VerMillion finishes confidently.

{But what about when the brave toxin wears off?}

"Same thing! That bastard is never getting anything from me!"

{But it won't be that easy.}

"Why not?"

{Just... ugh... I'm skipping those bits, alright?}

"Fine," VerMillion replies with a slight frown, "But you're telling me everything else."

{...Er, can I ask a question first?}

"Sure."

{Do you, um... like Jon?}

"Yeah..." VerMillion says with an instant smile, "I mean, I think I do. I like what I remember. He's so handsome and interesting to watch and I think he likes me..."

{Er, yeah...} Heather replies, unsure of how to react to her other side's attraction to the guy she likes, though she too finds herself thinking about him, {He's so protective, and he smiles at the weirdest moments...}

"Oh, yeah, I love his smile..." VerMillion replies instantly.

{So... um... we both like him?}

"Yeah, I guess so," VerMillion replies, completely unbothered by that.

{...I guess... well, if you're like another me... well that might be okay...}

"Why wouldn't it be okay?"

{Um... jealousy?}

"Why would that be a problem?"

{...Oh, forget it...}

"Can you tell me Jon stories now?"

{Um, yeah, sure...}

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Unfortunately for anyone listening, Heather's stories prove to be very boring to listen to when you can only hear VerMillion's side of the conversation. Long silences are only interrupted by VerMillion saying things like "Uh-huh" and "Oh, now I remember!" The exceptions are largely when the two of them break into a conversation about whether Jon likes them or not.

And pretty much all of what can be gleaned from the rest of it is minor details about what it's like to live in close quarters with the Scarecrow - that she'd sometimes find him passed out from exhaustion in his lab, that sort of thing. And apparently she's quite fond of her hamster. But though Heather can actually remember a few things that would be of interest to the Penguin, she strategically avoids mentioning them to VerMillion like she said that she would. While her memories of what she's seen Jon doing in his lab are probably not nearly complete enough for someone to get a recipe out of them, what she does know probably includes quite a few hints that would be useful to the more scientifically minded. And then there is, of course, the matter of the flower that had been in her room. Fortunately, VerMillion is far more interested in the other details of her memories of Jon anyway.

Much to VerMillion's annoyance, Heather's stories are regularly interrupted by the Penguin's men taking blood samples as they'd been ordered to. The samples confirm that there's quite a bit of brave toxin still within her system, enough to last her a couple more days, but beyond that and the more rapidly fading trace of the fear toxin he'd given her is the only other abnormality in her blood work. Therefore, the prudent option would seem to be to wait for the brave toxin to wear off if it can't be cleansed from her system - Jon never did make an antidote to the brave toxin, as he had no need for it.

Given that Heather is merely reminding VerMillion of what happened rather than actually telling the stories in any detail, by the time the day the brave toxin is supposed to wear off comes around she's run out of Jon stories and moved on to ones concerning her life before she met him. These prove to be fully uninteresting to anyone who doesn't care what it's like to grow up in a small town in Kansas or the life of a small town girl going to college in the big city. Especially since the comments regarding her family seem to indicate that she doesn't particularly care very much about them.

Unfortunately, that day passes with absolutely no change in the girl's behavior. Rather than becoming a quivering wreck she continues to boldly curse at the guards whenever she's interrupted by them. Then again, measuring exactly when the amount of drug in her system reaches that critical point of no longer being able to maintain her brave state isn't an exact science. However, a couple more days later, even Heather recognizes that there's something amiss with that.

"What about the brave toxin?" VerMillion asks when she brings it up.

{Well, I'm pretty sure it should have worn off by now. I mean, I think there was more of it in the dart than Jon ever gave me, but... well, I've never been brave for nearly this long before...}

"Yeah, so? Isn't it good that it's not wearing off?"

{Um, I guess it is right now, but later...}

"I feel fine! It's probably nothing to worry about. Or maybe it'll just take longer to wear off. And either way, I'm sure Jon can fix us when we see him."

{...It's been a week, probably... What if Jon's not coming? What if he's hurt or... what if he doesn't want to come?}

"Hey, don't talk like that! He's coming. Though if he doesn't hurry up, maybe I need to figure a way out." Though that comment seems unlikely to amount to anything when she only leaves her cot when she has to in order to avoid using her leg, which she still complains about regularly.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

More days pass, and every trace of the brave toxin is out of VerMillion's system with no apparent effect. She does make another apparent attempt to let Heather be the one in charge, but the result is similar to the first time: a moment of panic and then it's VerMillion in charge again.

"Can't you just breathe normal?" VerMillion is heard asking as she regains control.

{Sorry...} Heather replies quietly. VerMillion just rolls her eyes and accepts it as the way things are.

Honestly, though, Heather is probably the least annoying part of her captivity. If anything, her other half is an excellent way to kill all the massive amounts of free time she has, especially since she remains reluctant to use her leg much. It still hurts badly enough that she doesn't enjoy even the minimal amount of moving around she has to do. But at least Heather's stories keep her somewhat entertained, in addition to helping fill her memory gaps. And as the major events get filled in, she finds that she's able to more easily remember the details on her own, so Heather doesn't need to tell her absolutely everything. Though after awhile Heather notices a trend...

They're in the middle of a discussion about a boy she liked in middle school when VerMillion asks, "So why didn't we ever tell that kid we liked him?" She's taken to talking about many of their shared memories in the plural now.

{...You just don't 'get' fear, do you?}

"Sure I do! I remember plenty of times when we were scared."

{Yeah, but you don't understand anything I did when I was scared.} She, for one, will continue to refer to herself in the singular, thank-you-very-much.

VerMillion scoffs at that, "Because it doesn't make any sense!"

{Well, yeah it doesn't if you don't understand being scared.}

"Whatever..."

{Though that kind of makes sense, if you're not able to fear, that you don't understand. Except that I remember I understood being scared at least a little when I was on brave toxin. I mean, it didn't make sense to me for people to be scared right then, but I understood that people get scared and what they do when they're scared - that's what you're not getting...}

"If you say so..."

{Maybe it's because it's not brave toxin... I mean, there's no way you're still on it now. Maybe you're... just like that somehow...}

"Yes, I'm not on brave toxin. Can we get over it and stop worrying about it now?"

{Um, yeah... how about I get back to the story?}

"By all means, continue!"

{Okay, well I was a lot more shy in middle school - came out of my shell more in high school, when it got cooler to be different...}

But with VerMillion now remembering more and more on her own, Heather's stories start getting less detailed, and eventually she runs out of material. One day, after several iterations of Heather asking if she already told VerMillion about this or that only to be told that she had, VerMillion asks, "Come on, there's got to be at least one Jon story you haven't told me yet!"

{Well, there's one...} Heather admits.

"Ah-hah! You've been holding out on me!" VerMillion accuses.

{Well, it's a secret... Though I guess if you're not going to suddenly get scared it's okay to tell you - just promise you won't tell anyone.}

"You're always worrying too much, but fine! You tell me, and I'll never tell anyone."

{Okay... do you remember when I went down in the basement at all?}

"Where?"

{The basement in the hideout. There were a lot of tables...}

"Oh yeah, and we helped Jon move them out of way."

{Right, so that he could help teach me to fight.}

"For all the good that did..."

{Yeah... Anyway, so he was showing me how to balance first - that was really hard...}

"Heh, because he was touching us so much. That's why I can't remember it very well - you were scared!" VerMillion says with a laugh.

{Um, nervous, yeah... It gets worse. Um, then he told me to fall back, acting like he's going to catch me... only he didn't...}

"Jerk..."

{Yeah... Then he gives me this lecture on how I shouldn't trust anyone, even him. I was really angry, and basically let him know I wouldn't be listening to that lesson.}

"Good for us!"

{So then he tells me that since I'm angry I should try hitting him. I tried, but of course it didn't work. He ends up grabbing my wrists and hooking my leg. I was pretty much trapped...}

"Uh-oh, freak out..." VerMillion comments. She may not understand Heather's fear at all, but even she can recognize that basic pattern by now - Heather is definitely not a fan of feeling trapped.

{Yeah... I pretty much panicked and told him to let me go. But he didn't.}

"Of course... jerk."

{So I tried kissing him. I mean, I hoped that he'd... you know, freak out himself like he did the last time.}

VerMillion just laughs at that and shakes her head, "Oh my God, that's priceless! Why didn't you tell me this one before?"

{I'll get to that part! Anyway, it only sort of works - he kind of freaks out, but he doesn't let me go. Instead he basically asks me if I want to die. I'm... kind of a wreck at that point, but I told him I just wanted to be let go.}

"Hmm, yeah... the look on his face was kind of weird..."

{Yeah... Anyway, so he let me go... Said something about how I was giving him what he wanted just by being there and doing what he says... something like that. I told him I liked being there with him. We kind of had a moment there...}

"Yeah, see, he likes us!" VerMillion says with a quick smile.

{Well, either that or he really does just need me for something...}

"No, he likes us! Just being all evasive about it again."

{Well, anyway... He asked if we could get back to the lesson, but I needed a minute - I was still pretty shaken. But I got up the nerve to ask him what he was thinking about when I was scared - wondering about that look that was on his face. He thought I'd meant the kiss, and he went off on a rant kind of like the first time.}

VerMillion makes a rude noise, but doesn't waste her breath commenting on that.

{But then he answered about how he felt about me being scared, said that he could see who I really was right then, or something...} Sometimes when Jon waxes more poetical, he can be hard for even her to understand, {And he gave me a flower that was on the table...}

"Huh, so that's where that came from."

{Yeah... I said something self-depreciating about him seeing who I really am, how there's got to be someone better... He asked me how I can know that when I didn't know why I was there...}

"...Because he likes us and wanted to make us feel better..."

{Oh, stop it! Anyway, he kept touching the flower so I asked him what it was. He said it was 'the truth', and the most important thing in the world...}

"Fear toxin! A main ingredient for it?" VerMillion asks with a surprised gasp, an excited expression coming to her face.

{Must be. And I think he was trying to grow more of them... but he couldn't. But never tell anyone!}

"Oh no! They'd have to kill us first! Because... seriously, Jon must like us!"

{But it's been a week and a half...}

"No, no! This seals it! Something's just keeping him. He'll totally come - just watch!"

The End!