maskormenacelogs | we came out from the deep

[He's missed the first two weeks of class, unfortunately. And he misses the next one that happens since his return, but only once. The second one that pops up, Will's already gotten whatever books and materials are necessary, found a fittingly dark blue messenger bag at a thrift store, and sent a message to the teacher. Bag tossed over his shoulder with everything he'll need, Will makes his way in about five minutes before class is scheduled to start with a mind to pick out Jaime Reyes first and foremost. Which he does, it's not too difficult, sliding up to sit beside without making himself known until he does just that, quietly dropping his bag to the floor and looking over at the young man with a lopsided smile on his face.]

Teacher asked if I needed notes about what I've missed. Said I wasn't sure yet. You wouldn't mind filling me in, would you?

[That's his hi, good to see you, I'm back. Because hi, good to see you, I'm back is just so dull!]

[When Will approaches, Jaime's exactly where he'd expect him to be. He's at his desk, aimlessly doodling on the notebook in front of him - only abstract shapes and nothing more - and nursing a styrofoam cup of cheap cafeteria coffee. Honestly, class hasn't even begun yet, and Jaime looks ready to just plant his face on his desk and go back to sleep.

That doesn't last long, because seeing a good friend suddenly rematerialize beside him is better than any amount of coffee for putting a little pep back into his step. He half-leaps to his feet, which basically means banging his knees into the desk and spilling the dregs of the coffee all over the classroom floor.]

Holy -- Will!

[The thing about Will and Jaime is that they don't touch much. Jaime's a huggy guy, but he's only huggy with people who seem to directly invite it, and Will's never been one of those people. Jaime will hug Bart and Ken, he'll fling his arm around all of his pals' shoulders, but he and Will have never been like that.

But screw it, Will's been away for a while his time, from the looks of it, and Jaime had been worried that he wouldn't come back after all. This has been a rollercoaster of a month, with so many people vanishing and reappearing, and it only serves to show Jaime how transient these things are -- and how much they're worth celebrating while they're present.

Which is basically a long, roundabout way of saying that once the expression on Jaime's face changes from shock to happiness, he reaches out to manhandle Will into a hug, as tight and warm as all of his hugs are.]

You could have texted me or something beforehand, you jerk!

[Spilled coffee! Will pays it minimal attention, nothing past a quick glance. He doubts anyone would appreciate giving out a hug only to have it noted there is a spill, as if that's more important. No, Will hasn't been a touchy-feely type with Jaime at all, but he's not incapable of basic human interaction. He's helped by the fact he actually does quite like Jaime Reyes, makes it easier to return that hug. Wrap one arm around his back, nothing too clingy but definitely welcoming the contact just the same. Despite the age gap, there's something far more friendly, brotherly, than paternal. Don't nobody need Will Graham as their father.]

And spoil the surprise? [He's not even bothered by the jerk comment, why would he be? He's definitely a jerk, and worse than that when he wants to. He pulls back, one eyebrow lifting to keep a dumb smile off his face. It's there in spirit, though.] Good to see you again, Jaime. How's the class been treating you so far?

[Poor Jaime, abandoned and stuck with strangers. Strangers who can deal with calling someone to clean the coffee mess.]

[Jaime doesn't hang onto the hug for much longer, and once he leans back into his chair again, his own dumb smile making up for Will's lack of one. Jaime's never been one to hide his emotions unless he's actively concentrating on it, and that's all too clear now.]

I dunno, it's school, [he says with the lofty confidence of someone who's been in school his whole life, and has found that it's melted into its own sense of tedium.] Who cares? You'll see soon enough! How are you? It looks like you've been gone for a while.

[A while, yes, and in a place that's left him a little worse for wear, from the looks of it.

(Please don't be dead.)]

[Will settles into the desk right next to Jaime's, though he does that sort of shuffle-sit to bring them closer together. He finds it difficult to keep up any pretenses at feeling just as pleased to see Jaime again, and the Who cares? brings out a dumb smile from Will, too. Who cares about school when there are old friends to reunite and plenty of time beforehand so they're not disrupting class? Only nerds would care, gosh.]

A while, yeah, you're right. About four years back home. But I'm doing great. Don't have any complaints. [For how trite that could be considered, Will says it sincerely, propping his arms on the desk. His body language is relaxed, he seems content, nothing contradictory. No lies here. Not for now.] And you? Doing good too?

[Worse for the wear but he can't complain. He honestly can't. Dead men don't have the ability to complain. :')]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing good.

[He hadn't been for a little while. Ken, Shepard and Will had all gotten ported out, leaving Jaime a little paralyzed, doing very little but marching on. Now? They're all back, and Bart's back.

However temporary this may be, he's feeling particularly lucky right now. How many other people are there around here who've had this kind of good fortune to have so many old friends actually get back?]

What happened to your...? [He gestures towards his own cheek, obviously indicating Will's own injury.

Something tells him that wasn't a hunting injury.]

[Will has no doubt. That Jaime is doing good, the kid always seems surrounded by it. Good company, good thoughts, good feelings, goodness in general. But he hasn't got a clue just how far that goodness really extends, would be baffled by Jaime being too upset over Will's disappearance. In a few weeks, he'd understand better, but it's good Jaime doesn't overindulge now.]

Case I was working back home. [Mumbled, dismissive, as though it doesn't matter. Really doesn't, not concerning Jaime Reyes. If there was an imPort out and about slashing up faces, that would be different. But what happens back home stays back home, right? Until it pops a head up on the Network.] S'not as bad as it looks. Doesn't hurt any more. Just gotta give it time to heal, you know?

[He reaches into his bag as he speaks, as if his continual acceptance of wounds will be enough for other people to do the same. Or, at least, nod and leave the topic behind. Not everyone can have an angry bug shrieking in their head, protecting them, warning them from danger, probably helping the recovery process along, covering them in poo...]

Right.

[The only reason Jaime has to even think of Hannibal is because his name is fresh in his memory from his little talk with Chilton. Does he seriously think that Hannibal did it? He's not so sure. He just knows that the dude's a vicious, cannibal serial killer with a weird hard-on for Will, so anything's possible.

It could have very well have been another dangerous person that Will attracted through his work. Jaime lifts one hand to rub at his own cheek, as if feeling a sympathy pain, and says,] I thought that you did more of the after-the-fact work, and less of the, you know, actively dangerous stuff.

Did they at least catch the guy that did it?

[For the first time since he's shown up, there's tension. He's fine, really. Up until halfway through Jaime's question. Will's shoulders stiffen, and as if trying to make up for that visible hackles raised, he spreads his legs underneath the desk like he hasn't a care in the world. It's an appropriate inquiry, really. Temptation to latch onto his job is strong, but Jaime isn't an idiot. He'd figure out deflection. Perhaps not immediately, but he would. He'd be able to. And then how would that make Will look, hmm, that an adult can't even be up front about topics he'd rather not discuss? For shame.]

He's been taken care of. [Well, they are in public. Kinda. Better to be polite.] Isn't a danger to anyone any more, which is what's. Important.

[U know unless he shows up here and instead of making big hero posts about the bad dude they just all scatter and hide in fear, but it happens.]

[Okay, that's definitely making Will uncomfortable. Which, again, is perfectly natural; Will was caught up in a case where he actually received physical harm, which is something that would bring back unpleasant memories for anyone.

At the same time, though, that's Will's job, and ostensibly one that he's used to discussing. Jaime doesn't mention Hannibal - it would be foolish to do so on Will's first day back, and even more foolish to do so in public - but he does venture towards further articulation on Will's part, though he seems a little tentative to do it.

That's the Jaime Reyes way, anyway: look tentative, and barge ahead with his questioning anyway.]

Uh, well, that is important, but that sounds less catchy and more... killy.

[Killy. It's absurd. Really. That's the most ridiculous way to put it, and Will has heard a lot of words used in the place of murdered/killed. He's struck by that, and how this is a refreshing sort of simplicity, and for a moment he just stares forward like if he ignores everything happening around him, it'll stop happening.]

Sounds that way... [He leans back against the seat and looks over at Jaime.] ...because that's what I meant. If he was caught, I'd have just said yes.

[His eyebrows lift and he gives an uneasy shrug of one shoulder, fingers fidgeting. Uncomfortable, yes, but not so uncomfortable he'll get too rude. Yet. Superheroes have to kill their own bad guys, too, don't they? Jaime's not going to be flummoxed over this, right?]

Not being able to hurt anyone else could mean a lot of things besides getting captured. There's, um... there's a lot of different ways that people put dangerous guys out of commission. [Jaime's swift to point out. There's injuring them to the point that they cannot be repaired, there's giving them away to their foes, or, as the Justice League did, there's messing with their minds and the very fabric of what makes them, them.

That would be a much more difficult process in Will's world, he supposes, a process that has more to do with drugs than magic, but it all depends on who's in charge. Does Jaime approve of killing? No, of course not. That's not what he does.

But sometimes, for cops and soldiers, it seems to him a necessary evil, if someone cannot go down any other way; if someone's pointing a gun at your head and you don't happen to be bulletproof, your options are limited. He shrugs, a humble sort of gesture.]

But I don't exactly know a whole lot about your work, so I figured I might as well make sure. At least whoever it was isn't here to come back for you.

[Will licks his lips, teeth tugging on his bottom one for a bit longer than necessary. Very much the picture of biting anything back, of swallowing a truth he's already extremely familiar with rather than spouting off that much. Jaime's a good kid, hasn't shown signs of being overly judgmental. Not that how this particular Dragon went down is something that doesn't deserve judgment, because it does, but Will doesn't get the feeling Jaime's essentially saying that Will's crap at his (former) job because of how things ended.

There are no superheroes in Will's world. Only extremely damaged people who play at being gods, at devils, human "monsters" who'd enjoy the term supervillain. No salvation could ever come from above, swooping down with enhanced strength, with special skills. People saved themselves or they didn't. Will straddled both boats comfortably.

And he's more than familiar with particular phrasing, finds Jaime's last sentence potentially an issue. He's also familiar with his own problems of listening without hearing, and how that may mean he reads too much where there's nothing, but...]

For now. Isn't beyond the Porter to bring the dead back around. [There's that ease again, shoulder tension leaking out.] You've got some experience with that by now, don't you?

[Jaime can take that as experience with dead imPorts or experience with people coming back around trying to get at others, either is fine. Will's curious which one he'll latch onto. What that might tell him, depending.]

Of course. Crane was from my world, and...

[Minato, Shinji, Laurie, Manolo... the list of the dead who have been granted a second chance is a long one, and would be longer still if he knew more people, he's certain. It's not an entirely comfortable conversation to have, but considering that he pried into Will's work so quickly after his return, it's only fair that he let Will have full disclosure.]

Well, I know plenty of people who couldn't go back home even if they wanted to. But don't we all? I don't think any of us can meet imPorts without meeting one or two who've already died back home.

[Ah, there has to be a balance here. He may infomod, but infodumping is just pushing it. Best to save some mystery for later. Not that Will's ashamed of his final fate or anything, of course not. But people react differently and they are in public.]

Small wonder we're not all completely desensitized to the idea by now. [He opts for instead, leaving what idea he's specifically referring to vague. The idea of death in general, dead imPorts, whatever Jaime takes it as is fine.] He's still around, isn't he? Doctor Crane.

[Will's not about to throw down a hate-fueled tirade about Crane, he isn't growling and bitter. Just asking a question, moderately amused. More like he's inquiring after a poorly behaved friend or a pain in the ass dog he can't forget even if he wanted to.]

[Jaime makes a quiet, disgusted noise in the back of his throat that accounts for all the answer that Will likely needs. Then again, Will knows that Jaime's close friends with one of the people abducted by the man, so he's probably not expecting anything else.]

Yeah, just our luck that he's still around. He's still locked up, but all over the network, he's just, [he holds one hand up in mid-air, repeatedly tapping his thumb to his fingers; blah, blah, blah.]

But everyone knows he's bad news by now, so I guess if he starts talking about your relationship to your great-uncle or whatever, people know what's up.

[None of that surprises him, Jaime's disgust nor the fact Crane's still yap yap yapping when and where he can. Will shifts in his seat, shoulders slouched, settled into like a slacker who's just here because his parents paid for the class, all the signs of a dude who should be sitting at the back with sunglasses on and mystery juice in his water bottle. Relaxed again, basically, though perhaps too relaxed for the setting. To some, at least, who take school more seriously than it calls for.]

Well. [Sigh. But it's the contented sort of sigh, not the exasperated sort.] Nice to see that everything's the same as it was when I left.

Not much has changed. Except for having a lot of people around who were probably really glad to see you.

[April must be overjoyed to see him again, though Jaime's not entirely certain how she'd actually look when overjoyed. Either way, they love each other, and it's terrifying having someone you love ripped away from you without rhyme or reason.]

...how long was it for you, anyway?

[Indeed they do, and if Jaime takes the fact Will spreads his fingers and glances at his wedding ring (the one for this world, the only one he'll wear here) as a sign he's thinking of how glad April was to see him, that's just fine. Better that to assume Will's thinking about a different band once wrapped around him snugly. Jaime might not be the best to drop that particular bomb on. It's still an odd idea to Will, even, and he lives it.]

Four years. [Dull, so dull, stating facts along the lines of "the sky is blue" and "water is blue" and "Eiffel 65 only matters because of Blue."] Probably why I was away for so long. Last time I went home, it was only for a couple of months, and I was gone for a day. Porter must have a sense of balance.

There's no actual correlation between how long you're gone for and how long you're at home for, [Jaime points out, almost idly, with the swiftness of someone who's paid very, very close attention to the Porter over time. There's nothing that he can do but gather incidental information, pay attention to who comes, who leaves, and who comes back. He's very glad that Will's back, but in and of himself, Will is another statistic; people who are gone for less than a month are the most likely to come back with their memories intact.

Now, what does it mean? He doesn't know. But boy howdy, he sure will gather the facts!]

That's crazy, though. Four years... you must have taken a couple days just to get used to this place, right? Even when I wasn't gone for long, it was really weird remembering everything all over again.

[Wow, Jaime. Wow. Will's been around a while, too, he didn't mean that sincerely. But at least Jaime corrects him without being a condescending jerk about it. Still, Will has a moment where he bites the inside of his cheek, though any offense taken is quickly covered up by amusement. It's good that Jaime has done his own research, or knows enough people who've blipped out and come back that research isn't necessary. Just asking around. That sort of looking into the world he lives in should never be discouraged. What's the thing kids say? Will just got pwned.]

Sort of took a weekend vacation when I got back to settle in again, yes. [A weekend vacation wherein he plopped himself at Chilton's without invitation and hid from the rest of the world. He just needed some time, okay? And full confirmation Chilton was still in good health, not that he made any secondary agendas known.] Trying to remember everything at once would be like...drowning. It's too much to bring on at the same time. Or maybe that's just me.

[And he knows ALL ABOUT drowning. Literal inside jokes are the best.]

[Sorry, Will. Jaime is as casually pedantic as they get, and such corrections just fall out of his mouth without even thinking twice about it. This is the guy who interrupts others' philosophical, poetic musings by pointing out scientific exceptions.

Sometimes, he needs to learn how to keep his mouth firmly shut.]

That sounds like the best way of dealing with it.

[Later, he will learn what it entails, that Will's journey back home didn't involve only a huge length of time and an injury, but death as well, and he'll look back upon this a little differently.

He assumes that he'd spent that time with April, and finds this to be such a natural assumption that he doesn't even bother voicing it.]

And I don't think it's just you. A lot of people I know come back here a little... frantic. It's the kind of thing you need a few days off for. I'm glad you took 'em instead of, you know, just trying to push your way through it.

[He can't help but smile the longer Jaime talks. He has a point. A good point. A point Will ignored repeatedly, which resulted in nothing more than his own suffering and the suffering of everyone else around him. Out of the mouth of babes, and all.]

Taking a vacation from time to time is healthy, you're right. [He's so glad no one from Baltimore is here to interrupt, Oh, you are one to talk about THAT, Mr. Graham. Keeps that smile in place, Will back as relaxed as he ever is. This class might as well be a second home, the way he's treating it already.] We should keep that in mind, you know. Probably gonna need a vacation from homework in the next couple weeks.

[That smile grows. However long he's been gone, however really gone he is, he's genuinely glad to be going through the educational process with Jaime Reyes.]

[Generally speaking, Jaime's bad at taking his own advice about vacations, but that's only if he thinks of them himself. Whenever he gets a bright idea in his head about how he and Traci need to go see what restaurants Santa Fe has to offer, or how Bart needs to see Christmas in New York, or how his group needs to go on a road trip...

Well, he's probably taken more vacations in his year here than he usually takes in three years at home. It sure isn't a bad thing. Either way, he's back to relaxing in his seat now that all of his pertinent questions have been answered -- or so he thinks for the moment, anyway.]

The homework's not so bad so far, but I gotta say, I thought you were ditching me to have to make a bunch of new friends, [he has to tease. That's what he texted April with, after all.]

I'll have to catch you up on the stuff you missed.

[A bunch of new friends, aw. Well, it's true in its own way. A wife, a son. Among others, all long gone. "Friends" is such a loose term back in Will's world.]

That'd be great. [Since Will's not going to take a single note in this class (he doesn't have to), he wonders if Jaime will take that as a sign he's not really interested. That he's here but not. Curious. He'll find out soon enough.] I'll try not to be a problem student for you. It'd be even more unfair if I was, considering you can't put me in detention.

[Heh heh, look at that "show some teeth and this is a true shiteating smile"! The Blue Beetle could totally put him in detention, though. Behind bars if certain things came to light, sure, but he could just beat Will's ass and stuff in time out somewhere. (He remembers, okay? And even though BB said it was cool, he's still moderately concerned.)]

we came out from the deep

Jaime Reyes;

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