Shady

"What's with you and hugs?" she muttered. "But sure, if your boozy ass can pull it off, that'll earn a hug."

"Jerica." She strode in and stopped in front of Elias, putting a finger in his face and giving him a pointed look. " Jerica ." None of this 'Jessica' bull ...

She laughed and laid back on her elbows, smirking at him as she gestured at the clearing. "Alright, you're up Soldier Boy. Show me what you got."

Jerica hesitated. This hadn't at all been how she expected this interaction to go. Now, she suddenly felt like the jerk -- even though they'd been the ones to wake ...

"Oh, hmm, that'd be--" She flopped down on the ground next to him, and turned to look him in the eyes. "Fuck you."

Jerica gasped, waking up with a start as music blasted from the next apartment over. For the love of the gods! She put the pillow over her head and slammed ...

She took a deep breath and then let it out with a puff, letting her arms swing to stretch them out. She nodded once, decisively. "Math."

She wrinkled her nose at him as he touched her stomach, then gave him a challenging look as he tried to push her over. Which only gave her yet another ...

Jerica unbuckled her swordbelt and just dropped it, letting it fall to the ground heavily. Her daggers clattered to the ground on top of it. She pulled the last two ...

"Just lil bits of poison," she agreed, popping to her feet before she even realized that she'd decided to stand up. She needed to snap herself out of it. "Confuses ...

"What's so good about it?" She sniffled, still rubbing away the tears. "It just makes me miss Rek."

"No." But she leaned into his chest anyway. It was like her words knew what to do but her body was rebelling against her anyway.

"Yeah." She furiously scrubbed away the tears that she couldn't hold back. "I'm fine. This isn't like me... it's... the rum."

Tears sprang to Jerica's eyes in an instant and she choked as her throat constricted. She looked away from him and took another long drink of the rum. Stop it, ...

" Rek is..." She sighed, a pang of homesickness running through her chest. Well, not sick for home -- but wishing she could see Rek and Derik and Akie again. ...