2007-05-13: Again, That's Bob Talking

Starring:

Elle_icon.gif Jane_icon.gif

Summary: The conversation after Elle wakes up from being knocked out on request.

Date It Happened: May 13, 2007

Again, That's Bob Talking


Elle and Jane's Apartment in the High Rise building, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, NYC


A quiet watch is kept over the unconscious blonde, Jane waiting for Elle to wake up. She's sitting on the floor by her feet, wondering in her head what happened. She'd looked outside briefly and seen no evidence of whatever might have sparked the sparking, and come back to resume her vigil. After a time she gets up and goes to the kitchen, returning with a glass of water and the bottle of ibuprofen in case pain lingers in the wake of her ordeal.

Elle stirs, finally. She's twitching, like a person who'd been electroshocked. Her return to consciousness is heralded by bursting into tears.

Just as she was about to make another stab at picking Elle up and carrying her to bed, Jane notices a return to wakefulness. It's not been long enough since the soaking, the woman is still wet from it, and so without concern over being shocked Jane moves to offer her a supporting hug without speaking. To simply be present and offer that comfort.

Elle clings tight. For the moment, she's very much the crying child, miserable and plaintive. She cries. "Oh, Jane, I don't know what to do…"

"It's okay, Elle," Jane whispers, giving herself to be clung to. Fingers gently pull hair back to keep it from falling into the blonde's face. "I'm here." She doesn't say anything else, leaving the choice of what to say if anything with her roommate.

Elle doesn't look up, she just cries. "He's going to leave and I don't know what to do. I've lost so much, Jane, I can't lose him."

Not having words at the immediate moment, and also not yet sure speaking will be welcome, Jane pulls the blonde in closer to her shoulder if that's possible, providing support and accepting the tears. Will she lose him? It's not anything Pete's said to her, but… these things do sometimes happen and recent events can't have helped. How would she herself proceed? Words start to come, she speaks them softly, encouragingly. "Go to him. Lay out your feelings for him, quietly and completely. Make a stand with the plain contents of your heart, and keep your dignity intact for having done so."

Elle holds Jane. "I've tried. I don't…I can't…" her shoulders slump. "I've done everything I know how to do." she says. "I don't know any more to try."

"You stop trying, Elle," Jane quietly suggests. "You just tell him what you feel, and don't try to keep him. Love's complicated. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There's always risk. You have to be willing to let go if you want him to not want to leave. And you have to learn to trust." Her fingers continue to brush at blonde hair, the close contact provided for support.

Elle shivers. "I shocked Candice…" she says, sounding miserable. "Just before I came here. I…I couldn't keep things focused."

Her contact with the blonde doesn't lessen, Jane just listens as she speaks now. So many things in her mind, very few of them the right thing to say now. Very often, she knows, the key isn't to speak at all. It's to be present and let the friend's pain emerge as it will, until it's all been expressed. Anything she might say at present, she believes, would sound hollow. All that matters is letting her feel she isn't abandoned.

Elle shivers still. Eventually, as it must, the emotion works its way out, and then she just rests there against Jane. Drained. Still.

She begins to rock slowly back and forth, holding the woman to her and giving strength through it. Jane, the rock to cling to while the tornado rages, demonstrating in silence she's here and will be here to help through whatever comes next. Whether it be happiness or the breakup rituals of chocolate and pulling back together, she remains.

Elle finally pulls back, rubbing at her eyes, almost angrily. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it like that." she says, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Elle," Jane responds. "We all need to let it out sometimes. You've nothing to be sorry for in this."

Elle shakes her head. "No. I should be stronger than that." she stands again, smoothing her clothing, wiping her face. Again, that's Bob talking.

Quietly, softly, Jane opts to paraphrase a song from Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. "Sometimes I'm a strong woman, sometimes cold and scared, sometimes I cry. It doesn't make me weak. It just makes me a person who feels. We feel it, we let it out, and we pick up. The strength is in surviving."

Elle wipes at her eyes again, and she looks more resolute. "Thank you…" she says, though the walling up of her emotions is almost a visible thing. "I'm going to go clean up…I've got something I ought to go do."

"See you, Elle," Jane replies quietly, "you're welcome." She also stands and moves back to the main room. Her mind is adrift in thoughts, the situation with Peter and Elle, with how Elena might be doing. What this might mean for the blonde in terms of Candice. But come what may, she resolves again to be present and help pick up whatever pieces need collecting.

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