together

Who: Shane and Jillian
When: Late morning
Where: Shane's house

Jillian hadn't slept terribly well last night; sure, Shane's guest room bed was comfortable, but she'd had an uneasy rest, punctuated by dreams she couldn't really remember. Waking up after a night like that was usually a relief and led to a day of vegging on the couch watching movies and staying in her pajamas, but she couldn't do that here. Plus, she was freezing. How low did he set his heat? Ignoring the sly little voice in her head that was pointing out how warm her bed would be if a certain someone was sharing it, Jillian buried her face in the pillow momentarily with a heartfelt groan at having to get up. She'd get out of bed to find the thermostat, but she was taking the comforter with her. No way were the clothes she had warm enough for this.

She sat up, silky hair falling in tousled array around her face, and stood long enough to yank the down comforter off the bed and around her like a ginormous cape. Shuffling towards the open door (she couldn't sleep with the door closed, the space was too small), she shoved a hand through her hair to get it out of her face. She caught sight of a figure in the shadows and jumped back with a shriek, surprise and fear jolting through her before she realized it was Shane. "Jesus Christ," she gasped, heart pounding. "Dude, you scared the hell out of me. What the fuck?"

Shane flinched when she screamed. He'd been going to say something, but hadn't done it fast enough. He hadn't meant to scare her. But then, not scaring her would probably have worked out better for him if he hadn't been standing in the shadows, watching her like a stalker. But...he'd gotten up, saw the power was out, looked outside and saw boarded up houses...and just come back in. He hadn't explored very far. And he'd gone to wake her. Really he had. That had been his intention...but she'd been asleep. And he couldn't do it. He couldn't actually bring himself to wake her up into what was probably their worst nightmare. So, he'd let her sleep. And he just hadn't happened to have walked off to let her do that. There was a shame deep down, knowing something was clearly wrong with him for that, but...he hadn't been able to move. "I'm sorry--" he started, not sure what else he could say.

"Holy crap," Jillian said on the tail end of a sigh, inviting him in with a wave of her hand while she went to sit on the bed and catch her breath a bit. "Wow, okay. That's a year off my life, easy." She looked over at him, realizing he looked... kind of uneasy. Still upset about last night, maybe? "So, what were you doing?" she asked. "And dude, you know it's like, super freezing in here, right? Any chance we can get some heat going? Or maybe I can borrow like nine more sweaters?" Or him, that would work, too. She yanked that thought back in line and buried it.

He had his own blanket, which became apparent as he walked into the room properly. He didn't say anything right away, and eventually just walked over and sat down next to her. He stared at the floor, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "Power's out." he said finally. "And empty houses are boarded up. Or...that's what I saw when I went for a short walk this morning." I think it's starting. Or I know it is. I just don't want to give myself that last bit of finality. To say it, that'll make it true.

Jillian froze, hearing the one thing she didn't want to acknowledge in his tone. No power, boarded up houses... that spelled trouble. If one wanted to believe it. "No," she said automatically. "No. It's coincidence, it has to be. Maybe they just want to keep people from breaking into empty places and trashing them or something. If we're all the people who're coming here, maybe they don't need those houses. No power... there could've been a storm or something. Don't people lose power up north all the time? The lines freeze or something? Plus, like, it's Russia. Isn't everything here all old and crap? Someone's got to be working on it." Because if they weren't, she'd lose it. She didn't think she could deal with all this again, not when they'd just seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Shane didn't say anything. Why? Because he didn't really have anything good to say. Like he didn't buy it. Like there was no storm. He hadn't slept very well at all, a storm he definitely would have noticed, especially one that would have been bad enough to kill the power. What he did do was reach over to take her hand in his, tugging it over where he just...kept hold of it, his eyes still down on the floor.

His silence was scarier than him telling her houses were being boarded up and they had no power. She hadn't just been trying to convince him that things would be all right; she could've used a little of it in return. "...We have to go see," she said after a moment, voice barely above a whisper. "The rest of the town," she clarified. "Or what we can of it. Town hall, see what the volunteers say about it."

He nodded, but was still mostly looking at the floor. Or her hand, where he brushed his thumb back and forth. They'd go see. Sure. And they'd see more of the same. And maybe the volunteers would all be gone. Or maybe they'd gotten stranded here too. Either way, they were trapped. The middle of nowhere, still being manipulated by the scientists...they were probably watching right now. Cameras hidden where they couldn't find them. He finally looked up, but didn't quite meet her gaze. "We'll go." he said, more just to have said something, and what was going through his mind wasn't acceptable.

Her hand tightened on his, an anchor to keep her from flipping out totally. "Now," she said, half request and half demand. "We should go check it out now." She needed to go before she had time to think of worst-case scenarios any longer. It was like pulling off a band-aid that had been on for a couple days. You had to do it fast, all at once, or it ended up just hurting like a bitch if you tried to ease into it. Same thing here. She had to know, she couldn't spend a couple hours pretending nothing was wrong or hoping it wasn't when she could know for sure in the span of ten, fifteen minutes.

He squeezed her hand back and nodded. Sure. They could go now. "I'll meet you downstairs. If you want to borrow anything to wear...go for it. You know where to look." he told her. Since he was already dressed. Impulsively, he leaned closer, to turn her face towards his more, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead, then one to her cheek, and one across her lips.

"Thanks," Jillian said, eyes closing briefly while he kissed her. Getting up as he pulled back, she saw him to the door, closing it behind him for privacy. She shivered her way through dressing in the jeans and white button-down of yesterday, tucking her jeans back into her boots. Those were warm, at least, black knee-length suede, comfy and flat-soled. Her jacket was useless for real cold so she paused for another poke through his, grabbing something plain and black that, while kinda big on her, was delightfully warm. Then she headed downstairs to meet him, finger-combing her hair into some semblance of order. "Okay," she said with a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Shane was downstairs, by the front door, waiting. He'd gotten his coat on as well, and had his hands shoved into his pockets. He didn't have anything that much warmer, knew that would have to change, but...for right now he really could not in any way be bothered to give a fuck. When she was there, he tugged the door open and stepped outside, holding his hand back for her to take if she wanted it.

She took it immediately - hell, she'd've taken it even if he hadn't offered first. "Let's go by the town hall," she suggested. That was where the officials were based, or at least most of them. If anyone knew what was going on, it would be them. She tried to avoid looking at the boarded-up houses; she'd known they were deserted before, of course, but seeing all the boards just made it look all that much lonelier.

He shut the door behind them, then started down the steps with her. He wondered if they should take the car that was sort of left sitting in his driveway, even if he hadn't really done much with it of yet. Vintage cars were lovely and all, but...the town was so small, taking a spin around it would just be depressing. But he didn't mention it. Maybe they'd see other people wandering around too, who the fuck knew. But they'd go see. So what do we do if no one's there?

Jillian fell silent as they walked, barely even noticing the car in the driveway. She could normally hold a conversation effortlessly with even the most reticent of people, but not now. She was too worried, stomach in knots as she both anticipated and dreaded what they were going to find. So far, she didn't see anyone else out on the streets, and she had a terrified moment where it didn't seem too implausible that they were the only two left in the town.

Shane sure as hell wasn't encouraging idle chatter. He had absolutely nothing on his mind that wasn't entirely fucked up and terrifying. So, best to not share all of that psychosis. Instead he walked, taking them past houses, most of them boarded up, but not all of them. Houses here or there that he seemed to recall people occupying. Like he knew that someone had lived near him, that house still wasn't boarded up. So he was assuming others were left with them. That there were other people around. But...that really didn't matter, now did it. Not if nothing was over. Not if they were all still stuck in this fucked up nightmare.

By the time they got to the more commercial section of town, Jillian was shaking - not from the cold, but from fear and tension. Businesses stood empty - sure they weren't boarded up, but no one was there, the doors were wide open. It didn't take a genius to see something was wrong. "...Shit," she breathed, feeling terrified and nauseated. She was torn between wanting to hide, wanting to find someone else, knowing they should check the whole town but unable to force herself to go further. "Shit." It was only marginally better than the litany of ohgodohgodohgodohgod that was rolling through her head at lightning speed.

When she stopped, he stopped with her, and after a moment, he tugged her over, putting his arms around her, like he was going to shield her from the bad or something. Which was impossible, he knew. He was, in fact, utterly ineffectual at the moment. There was fuck all he could do here. But...he was going to try. "Calm down." he said quietly.

Jillian's short burst of laughter had a hysterical edge to it, until she forced herself to shut up. Burying her face against his shoulder, she gasped for breath, hands fisting in the back of his jacket. She knew it wasn't fair to be flipping out on him when he was probably freaking, too. She just needed a minute. "What do we do now?" she asked, voice muffled.

Shane stroked her hair, just kind of standing there being present. Trying to be a solid presence, but he wasn't sure how well he was doing. He didn't generally have to do this, and he was a different person than he was the last time he'd done it. "Go back to my place. Start a fire in the fireplace." he said. "Bring a lot of blankets downstairs and curl up in front of it."

"...Okay," Jillian said after a moment, trying to get herself under control. "For today. I want to stop at home and pick up a few things on the way, though." Like hell was she going to be staying by herself during all this. In fact, she didn't think she was going to let him out of her sight for fear that he'd be snatched away suddenly. "But we'll need a plan for tomorrow." Like how to survive the cold without dying, figuring out supplies... she stopped herself before it got too overwhelming. She needed baby steps right now.

"Right, that's fine." he told her, more than fine with that. Really anything that had her not leaving was good for him in that moment. He felt spectacularly unequipped to deal with this on his own. So...yeah. He wanted her there. Even if they were both on edge and freaking out, it was better than being alone again.

"I don't live far," Jillian said, deliberately turning her back on what was now like a ghost town. "Just a couple blocks over." Warm clothes, toiletries. She didn't know how long she'd be staying with him, but she could always keep heading home to get more stuff.

Shane set a fairly fast pace, wanting to get back. Now. Even if it was almost like going to shut himself back in a room like he had been, he wouldn't be alone and that was the important part. And right now the emptiness, the obvious emptiness...it was getting to him. Bad. Really bad. So he wanted to shut it out. As soon as humanly possible.

Jillian had to stretch a bit to keep up, but she didn't say anything. She understood the reason for wanting to hurry. Hell, she felt the same way. They reached her house in no time and she pulled her keys from her jeans pocket, unlocking the door so they could go inside. She disappeared into her bedroom to grab a duffel bag and start throwing clothes in - pajamas, underwear, another pair of jeans and some warm sweaters. She grabbed her warm coat as well, but didn't put it on. The one she had was already warm from her body heat, no sense wasting it. Moving to the bathroom, she grabbed her toiletries and shoved them in a separate bag. Dumping everything on the couch, she grabbed her electric bass off its stand and shoved it in its case. She was bringing the acoustic because she could play it without power, but she wasn't sure about this one. The cold would screw it up, but she didn't want to haul it over to Shane's just to keep it warm. "Can you bag that one for me?" she asked him, nodding to the acoustic on its stand. Its soft gig bag was leaning against the wall behind it.

Shane glanced over, and nodded, doing as she asked. He didn't really mind what she brought, and he was good with her bringing guitars of any description. He'd liked hearing her play before, he couldn't imagine that he wouldn't want to now. Especially now. It might be calming, even. So, he did that, then picked it up to sling over his shoulder. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Jillian said with a final look around. "Actually, one sec." She dashed into the kitchen for the bottle of wine Nate had brought her. It remained unopened, but if ever there was an occasion to drink, she figured this for a winner. She shoved it in her duffel and reappeared. Since the duffel bag and toiletries weren't that heavy, she grabbed the electric anyway. Might as well keep it warm if she could; it'd save her the time required to potentially re-string and tune it. "Okay, now I'm ready," she said.

Shane grabbed a few things for her as well, then headed out the door. He kept up that fast pace again, or at least, as fast as he could manage without dropping anything, and it didn't take long to get them back to his house. He opened up the door, held it for her, then turned and locked it behind them. Setting things down, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, leaning his forehead against the door for a long moment.

Jillian set her stuff down as well, leaning back against the wall as she took her own deep breath. The urge to just collapse right there and freak out was strong, but she forced herself to keep upright. Having a breakdown was going to do absolutely no good right now; the last thing either of them needed was the stress of going batshit crazy. "You start the fire, I'll snag some blankets?" she offered instead. Keeping busy was good. Or at least distracting.

He nodded. "Right." he agreed, pushing off the door. He grabbed some of her things, figuring he'd bring them into the den where the fireplace was. He set them down, and closed the doors, wanting to keep as much heat inside the room as possible. He also pulled the drapes, and shut the blinds. Then he went to the fireplace, and threw some logs in there, lighting kindling and trying to get it going good. He was going to need more firewood. A lot more. Fuck.

Jillian headed upstairs, snagging a couple blankets before rejoining Shane in the den. "I'm glad you have that job," she said as she returned, setting the blankets down. "I suck with trying to start fires." They didn't really have fireplaces in Phoenix, but she'd been camping a couple times where it became apparent that she should not play with matches. She was aware she was trying to joke at least a little bit, but it felt like it was falling a bit flat.

He took it, however flat it may have fallen. "I'm a guy, it's in my genetic structure." he said, setting the grate back into place, and he sat on the floor, starting to tug his shoes off. If he was going to be in front of a fire in the middle of a nightmare, he was going to be comfortable for fucks sake. He looked at her for a long moment. "You okay?" he asked.

She choked back a snort, picking up her guitars from where they'd been set down. She set them nearer the fire, enough to pick up some warmth without risk of them catching on fire, and pulled her boots off as well. After a moment's thought, she took off the jacket, too - it was a little bulky, and if they had fire and blankets she'd get warm again soon enough. "Not really," she said plainly. "Are you?"

"Not in the slightest." Shane told her. He removed his own coat, throwing that over with his shoes, and he got up to walk over to the love seat that was up against the wall. He started to shove it over nearer the fire, so they could at least be comfortable and off of the floor. "But we'll be warmer now, at any rate." For a while. Until they ran out of fire wood, and he didn't know where to get more.

"For a while," Jillian said, unconsciously echoing his thoughts. She didn't know where they had pre-cut firewood, but hell, there were trees around. Surely they could go looking for downed branches or whatever if they got desperate. Setting her boots and coat aside, she went to help him move the love seat, pushing from the other end. "Maybe someone'll get the power back on," she said, knowing it was probably impossible but hoping anyway.

"Maybe." he agreed. Then he stood straight, and grabbed up the blankets. "Lay down." he told her, giving her the ghost of a smile. It didn't reach his eyes, but he was trying. Maybe he'd stop feeling so haunted after the shock wore off. He doubted it. He was feeling more off than ever, and he'd been feeling off the night before to boot. Things didn't look anything but grim.

"Um... okay," Jillian said, blinking. She didn't think he meant, like, laying down-laying down. The loveseat was long enough for her to nap, but she didn't know if he'd fit. So she hopped over the arm of the couch and plopped down, legs tucked up close. She slouched down comfortably, but propped her elbow on the arm of the couch to support her head. "Come on," she invited, patting the spot next to her.

He laid the blanket over her first, spreading it out nice, and he added two others, before he crawled beneath them, tugging them up around the both of them. He leaned back against the arm of his side, and looked at her for a long moment, stretching out a little bit. "C'mere." he invited.

Jillian shifted until she could tuck herself against his side, laying her head on his shoulder. She was warmer already, under three blankets and next to Shane. And despite the fact that she knew they were probably so, so fucked, it was comforting. Things might be going to hell (however much she hoped it was just a fluke and everything would be back to what passed for normal tomorrow), but at least she wasn't locked in a room by herself.

He put his arms around her, and shifted to hold her as best he could, as he started to play with her hair. He wasn't looking at her, but at the flames, mentally trying to guage how long it would be before he had to put more wood on the fire. How long they could drag things out for. How long they'd just be there, in limbo, wondering when they were going to get pegged off, or pulled away from one another, or put back into their little rooms. His grip on her tightened a little at that thought.

Jillian tugged the blankets a little closer around him as if to make sure he was all covered up, sliding an arm around his waist and tangling her legs with his. It was partly to get more comfortable, partly to get as much contact as she could. She didn't want to be alone, and she guessed his thoughts easily enough when his arms tightened around her. "We won't be separated," she murmured, pressing her cheek to his chest. "We won't let it happen."

Now he looked down at her, fingers still stroking through her hair. He looked vulnerable, and hated it. He pretty much hated everything he was feeling right then. It was like someone had come in, gutted him, and rewired his entire emotional structure. It wasn't fair. He didn't know who he was anymore. He didn't say the pessimistic assurance in his mind that there was nothing they could do. That they were helpless against them and if they wanted them seperated, they'd goddamn well do it, and they'd both be fucked. Instead he bent to kiss her forehead.

"I'm serious," Jillian said, catching the vulnerable look on his face and wanting to say something - anything - to erase it. She didn't think anything would work, but she tried anyway. "I'll kill anyone who tries." So okay, some of that was for her own reassurance as well, but whatever. Her head tilted slightly into his touch, enjoying the feel of him playing with her hair, though she didn't know if she'd be able to fully relax until they had everything fixed and an explanation. Maybe not even then.

"Good to know." Shane said. He gave her a light smile, and kissed her forehead again, but stayed in close there, drawing in a breath to catch her scent. He let his eyes close, and just sort of let his thoughts drift down, and he focused much more on his senses. He could hear the fire crackling, he could feel her breathing, he could catch the scent of her hair. Little things but he grounded himself in them.

Jillian felt a little better when he smiled at her and she settled down a bit, closing her own eyes. She could hear his heartbeat where her head rested, a steady rhythm that lulled her gradually into a more relaxed state.

Shane let the silence continue. He kept on playing with her hair, as he stared off at a middle distance, not really seeing what was in front of him. He kept trying to think on ideas. Plans. Anything, but nothing was really coming to him. He'd lived his life very trapped, and that was just on a brand new level now. He just had to figure out a way that it wasn't going to drive him mad.

Jillian was trying very hard not to think. She was aware of how close she'd come in her room to swallowing a bottle of aspirin or taking the same way out that blonde girl had, and she was afraid that it would be too easy for her to slide back to that place. She was determined not to, but sometimes determination wasn't enough. She shifted slightly to hide her face as tears threatened.

His attention ticked back down to her as she shifted and he could feel the tension in her frame, saw she'd hidden her face, and he held onto her tighter. "It'll be okay." he said, not believing a word of it, but telling her that. He sounded sincere, even. He didn't know how he'd managed sincere, but he did.

Jillian took a shaky breath, though she didn't look up at him. "Yeah," she said after a second. She didn't believe it any more than she thought he did, for all that he sounded reassuring. "It better," she added, glad at least that she wasn't alone, that she had someone to curl up with.

*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jillian woke up, it was later. How much later, she didn't know - the clocks had been out when she'd woken up that morning, she hadn't been wearing a watch, and even now the drapes were pulled to block out the day. She was curled up with Shane, warm and comfortable - well, a little overwarm, actually, which was strange. She wondered what had caused her to wake so suddenly, and then she heard it. The faint sound of mechanical things going, of air moving through vents. Then she noticed the standby light on the stereo. Relief flooded her and she propped herself up on her elbow, giving Shane a small shake. "Shane," she said, "power's back."

He stirred slightly, making a little sound, and then he came awake all at once. "What?" he asked, sitting up slightly, looking around. Then he turned his eyes back on her. "What?" he repeated. The fire was embers, and it took him a second to recognize the whole too-warm thing. It didn't register in light of the momentary panic that something else was fucking up.

"Power," Jillian said quickly, watching distress fill his eyes. "The electricity came back on. The heat's running." She thought it was good sign; she wanted to believe that everything would be okay. She would give anything to make sure they weren't being messed with again.

"Power's back?" he repeated, then listened, and sighed, dropping back again, and he reached up to scrub his hands over his face. "Thank christ." he said, even if he wasn't a religious sort. He'd been expecting the worst, and he didn't even know that he had been quite as badly as all that until right then.

"Tell me about it," Jillian agreed wholeheartedly. She flipped the blankets off herself since she was way too warm to need them, flopping back down to rest her head on his chest again. The return of the power made it easier to rationalize - or at least resign herself to waiting from an answer - as to the disappearances. "Maybe it was all just a fluke," she said.

He doubted it. He did look down at her though, and reached up to draw his fingers through her hair again. "Maybe." he said anyways. "....what say we find out later?" he asked. "Like, tomorrow, even?" Tomorrow was okay. Tomorrow was long enough from now.

"Yeah, tomorrow works," Jillian agreed, content to stay in their cozy little cave for whatever remained of the day. It was enough that they had heat and power; sure, they should probably still be thinking of a plan but it could wait a little. "I'm okay with tomorrow." Her eyes half-closed when he started playing with her hair; it had always been a weakness of hers.

He watched her, and leaned forward to brush a kiss against her forehead. Just a small one. It wasn't really intended to draw her attention, or do anything else, it was purely impulsive. She tended to do that to him. Make him impulsive. Or, what he would have considered impulsive at one point, he supposed. She also inspired a lot of things he normally would have loathed, but he couldn't help it around her. Maybe it was the shared trauma, maybe it wasn't He couldn't say, and right then he didn't care.

Jillian glanced up when he kissed her forehead and gave him a small smile, palm rubbing absently in soft circles over his side. "Doing okay?" she asked quietly. The nap had done her some good, helped push back the fear and near-hysteria to something manageable. It felt a little farther away, and she was content to let it stay there on the back burner until tomorrow.

He nodded. "Yeah...slightly better anyways." he said. Which was giving more credit than was the truth, but he didn't want to let on that he was still feeling fucked up. "You?" he asked. "At least we have heat now, so that's a plus. If that's fixed..." Probably nothing else was. And he wondered how he was going to tell her that he didn't want her to leave. That the last thing in the middle of all this he wanted was to be left alone again. He didn't know if he could, but at the same time, he really didn't think he'd be able to handle not having her around.

"Definitely a plus," Jillian agreed. She didn't bother to finish his sentence; she hoped that fixing the heat meant that everything else would be fixed. She hoped that bigtime. But she wasn't terribly optimistic that she'd be proven right on that one. "At least now we can cook dinner," she joked. "Unless you went full-on dude and decided to live entirely on Pop Tarts and ramen."

"I think I have a few more things than that." Shane said, smirking. "Though with the power being out for however the hell long, I'm betting everything in the fridge is forfeit." he added. That'd be fun. In a way that meant he didn't want to deal with it until tomorrow. "Ramen only requires water....pop tarts only requires the toaster..." he added, flashing a little grin at her.

"You never know," Jillian said. "It was pretty cold in here, and we didn't open the door at all. Chances are a lot of it might still be good." She grinned at his suggestions, rolling her eyes. "You are a total dude," she mock-complained. "Crap."

He chuckled, and snuck a kiss in there. "Can't help it. I am. Or, mostly. I'm not a cook. However if you have suggestions, I'm more than happy to entertain just about anything right now."

Jillian snickered, giving him a quick kiss back, then climbed over him to stand and stretch. "Why don't we see what you've got and go from there?" she suggested. "If anything, there's always breakfast for dinner. I make a mean bacon and eggs."

Shane grinned up at her. "I like the sound of that." he agreed. Then he pushed himself up too and stretched as well, rolling his head back on his shoulders to crack is neck. He was sore, having slept with a girl on him on a cramped love seat, but he wasn't going to complain about it in the slightest.

And from a practical standpoint, they'd probably make food while they could in case the power went out again and they couldn't use it at all. "Hey, there's some chicken in here," Jillian remarked, having meandered her way into the kitchen to poke around in his refrigerator. "If you've got some pasta and like, some frozen peas we can make chicken and pasta salad."

"And by 'we' you mean 'you', right?" Shane asked, smirking a little bit, pushing himself up onto the countertop. "Because I can't make any of that. I wouldn't have the first clue where to start. Which was true, he wasn't just being a dick about things and wanted her to wait on him.

"Noooo," Jillian said, drawing it out a bit. "By 'we' I mean 'we.' I promise, chicken and pasta salad is not hard, otherwise I wouldn't be cooking it." She poked around in his cupboards and found some bow-tie pasta, pulled that and the chicken out. She'd worry about the other stuff once they got these bits cooking. "You can start by boiling some water," she suggested, finding the cookware and pulling an appropriately sized pot out for him.

He took the pot, and made a face at her. "You realize I can mess this up, right?" he asked, filling the thing with water and setting it on the stove anyhow. "I mean seriously, I could mess this up. I should stay clear of just about anything that has to do with cooking. Like you said before, I'm kinda one of those guys..."

"Nope, you'll be fine," Jillian said firmly. "Every guy needs to know at least how to make pasta, and besides, I'll be here to supervise." She flicked the burner on for the water and turned the oven on to pre-heat as well. She added a touch of salt to the pot of water, then reached to grab a baking dish for the chicken. "Now, when it boils," she instructed, "add the pasta and lower the heat by like, a notch or two." She wasn't a fancy cook by any means, so the chicken was merely coated in some olive oil that she poured in the bottom of the pan, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. "And you'll want to give it a stir when you pour it in, otherwise it'll stick together."

"Okay, I can handle that." Shane said. That was simple enough. So, he kind of hung out of Jillian's way, but kept an eye on the water occasionally. His mind was starting to drift over things, though he didn't especially want to share any of the subject matter. It was all shit he didn't' want to be thinking about.

"Besides," Jillian added, setting the pan next to the oven to go in when it was heated, "if my brother can learn how to do this, anyone can." He was a total retard in the kitchen. The thought made her miss him and the rest of her family all over again, but she pushed it aside. Pulling out the bag of frozen peas (success!), she tossed it in the sink and ran a little cold water over it. That done, she slid the pan of chicken into the oven and set the timer.

"Am I learning how to do this? As in there'll be a quiz later? Or I'll be expected to do this on my own next time?" Shane asked. of course, being locked in a room forever and having all meals provided hadn't helped out his non existent cooking skills either...but now... and it wasn't' as if there was take out to be had.

"If it'll provide enough incentive for you to learn it," Jillian said with a grin, "then yes. Next time we have pasta, I'll expect you to make it completely by yourself. Besides, the instructions are kind of right there on the box if you forget."

Shane gave her a disbelieving look. "Yeah, somehow I doubt that's a great idea without the benfit of an ambulence to call...." he started. Then wished he hadn't said anything. Because that was a bit outside their structured little 'talk about fuck all' unspoken rules, now wasn't it? Fuck. That wasn't good. He looked away. "Or I'll just learn." he muttered.

Jillian's smile faltered slightly at the mention of an ambulance, because what the hell would they do if someone was seriously hurt? Where there even any doctors left? But they were trying to escape that kind of mood, at least for tonight, and so instead of saying anything Jillian just moved up behind him, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her head on his back, between his shoulder blades where she could hear his heart beating. "If you stop complaining," she said in a deliberately light and joking tone, "I might be persuaded to pour you a glass of the potentially awesome wine I was given as an early birthday present which would probably go very well with the meal we're creating."

He appreciated the hug, even if that kind of made him twitch. God, when was he going to get over this...this stupid clingy stage? Seriously. But he wasn't. Instead he rested his hand on her wrist lightly. "Consider my complaints ceased." he said. Wine sounded good. Lots of wine sounded good. Excessive amounts, even.

"Good," Jillian said as she released him and stepped back. "Because your water's boiling." She grinned and leaned back against the counter with her arms folded, watching to see what he'd do. She didn't really think he'd be more inept than her brother.

He glanced back. "Alright then." he said, then he walked back to dump the pasta she'd given him into the water. And he dug around for a wooden spoon so he could stir, as he'd been told. Maybe it wasn't so hard. "Done to your liking, madame?" he asked, looking back over at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well," Jillian said, giving him a cheeky smile, "I would've gently slid the pasta into the water, stirring clockwise while holding the spoon at a precise thirty-degree angle..." She trailed off, grinning, and shrugged with feigned nonchalance. "But yeah, good job. I guess."

Shane rolled his eyes, but it was a playful roll. "Well I guess I'm just a failure then. Guess I should probably not cook anymore, if I can't get these precise angles worked out and everything...I wouldn't want things to be less than one hundred percent awesome or anything...."

"Oh, but you know what they say," Jillian countered, reaching out to turn the heat down just a touch. "Practice makes perfect. I'm sure you're eager to perfect your craft. Awesome," she said then, glancing at the timer for the chicken. "Pasta'll be done in 10 and dinner in 15. We rule."

He leaned back against the counter and smiled at her just a touch. "Yeah, I'll back that logic up." he decided. Right now he would, anyways. He also had a random thought that he'd nearly said but didn't, not just yet. He didn't even know where it had come from. He'd just nearly said 'stay here with me'. But...did he even want that? Because what he'd meant was long term. He didn't do that kind of thing though. Sort of at all. Fuck. At least he hadn't been stupid enough to articulate it.

Oblivious to his inner musings, Jillian had gotten down plates and cutlery for their meal, finding and pulling out a pair of wineglasses as well. "Okay, so we're about as done as done can get for now," she said. "So what do we do to kill... 8 minutes while that pasta cooks?"

Shane was thinking they could start on the bottle of wine, because he needed a drink. He really needed a drink. So, that's what he did. "I say we have a drink." he told her. "It'll warm the blood a little more." Or that was his excuse and he was sticking to it. It also might dull his disturbing thoughts the fuck down, which he really needed. Desperately.

"Sure, sounds good," Jillian said. "Let me go grab the bottle." She didn't know if he had a corkscrew or not, but it didn't matter; she'd grabbed hers before leaving. Returning, she handed over both bottle and corkscrew. "You can do the honors," she told him. "I'm shit with corks for some reason." Yet she could pop the top on a beer with a lighter. Go figure.

Shane had opened enough wine bottles in his life to have that shit down. So, he did in fact, do the honors. He also got out some nice wine glasses, and poured them both a pretty generous drink. Setting the bottle off to the side, he held her glass out to her. "For the lady."

"Thank you," Jillian said as she took the glass from him, holding it up. Hm... what to toast to? She had a list of things to avoid - to getting out alive, to surviving, hell, even the standard 'good health' seemed out of place here. "To... puppies," she said after a second's pause.

Shane had to quirk a smirk at that. "To puppies?" he asked, though he held his own glass up anyhow. "Interesting choice." Though his mind sort of went to a darker place with that. How he wouldn't want to have a puppy in this kind of environment. Stupid thing would probably get killed, one way or another, and that wasn't something he'd want to think about. No, he had enough problems dealing with his own safety. And...well. Probably Jillian's. Or more than 'probably'.

"It was the first--" Or third, or fourth "--thing that came to mind," Jillian said with a shrug and a grin as she took a sip. "I suppose I could toast to rockin' basslines and people who shred on guitar or something, too. Or being awesome. What would you pick?"

Shane thought about it, and knew she expected just a blowoff answer, but...he gave it thought anyhow. And a lot drifted through his mind. Quite a lot. In the end he moved closer to her, ducked his head, and nuzzled against her neck, beneath her ear. He breathed along her skin, and brushed a kiss just beneath her jaw. "You." he told her. It was a simple answer, and even somewhat truthful. It was the most acceptable answer he had, anyhow.

Jillian squirmed a little when he nuzzled against her neck, slightly ticklish there, pulse picking up a bit when he kissed below her jaw. She slid her free hand up to cup the back of his neck, fingers just brushing his hair, and turned so she could smile at him. "That's sweet," she said, leaning forward to give him a soft kiss.

Shane kissed her back, again deciding that this was a nice distraction from all of his fucked up thoughts, and he let everything else go as he did so. It could wait. Everything could wait. In fact, if he could avoid everything long term? He would. He didn't want to actually put up with anything. No dealing with it on a real level. Just...kissing her and maybe pushing her back a little til she was against the counter...see that was good for him.

Jillian fumbled a moment until she could set her glass down on the counter; she didn't want to risk dropping it. That would be a total pain in the ass. She kissed him back, though she was careful not to get too crazy. She didn't want a repeat of last night. She cracked an eye and glanced behind him at the timer, sighing. "Four minutes," she mumbled against his lips, nipping briefly at his lower lip before kissing him again.

Right, food. Which he should care about. "Mmhmm." he said, doing much the same as she had, and setting things aside before he kissed her again, reaching up to cup her jaw, tilting her head back farther as he did so. There'd be an alarm or something. Some...timer or whatever. He wasn't overly worried about it. He kissed her again, and while he understood that he shouldn't necessarily do so as deeply as he did--he did anyhow.

Jillian gave up; there'd be a buzzer when the timer went off, anyway. If he wasn't going to care about it until then, she wasn't either. She wrapped both arms around his neck and tilted her head back accommodatingly, pulling him down and into her. She could do this for four minutes. And then they could eat dinner. Or let it get cold.

What happened with the dinner situation was really not at all in any fashion on Shane's mind. When she kissed him back like that and pulled him closer...he went, of course. That and he pushed her back against the counter more, fully just...forgetting everything else and going for unchecked passion. He was much better at that than trying to curb anything.

Jillian met his passion, sliding her hands down his back and pressing herself against him with a soft whimper in the back of her throat. It felt like she couldn't get close enough to him, skin tingling where it made contact with his. And then, like a perfect example of the worst possible timing ever, she heard the timer buzzer go off. Fuck.

Shane broke the kiss off and buried his face in her neck, making a little growly sound. "Are we really that hungry?" he asked. He might have been kidding. Maybe. Probably not, but there was enough room in there to wonder about his level of seriousness. He knew he'd forgo it. In a heartbeat. But he also remembered last night where she backed everything off, and her reasons, and he didn't really blame her for any of that.

Jillian slid her hands through his hair, taking a second to really consider his question. "More importantly," she said reluctantly after a minute, "do we want to risk setting your kitchen on fire if we don't take care of business?" And well, she was kind of hungry. But more she just wanted a few more drinks in her.

He sighed, and nuzzled her neck for a good twenty seconds, ignoring everything else. But then he pulled back. "I'm not really up for moving to someplace else because we burned this one down." he said with a reluctant sigh. Then he forced a smile. It wasn't bad though, he didn't look like it was forced. He was good at that. "So fine, let's eat. And keep drinking."

"Smart idea," Jillian agreed, feigning a smile of her own. It was true, house fires were nothing to laugh about, but damned if she'd never moved faster in a kitchen. Her only hangups were finding stuff, but she managed to get the pasta drained and into a bowl, mixed with the frozen peas, some cut-up tomatoes, and some italian dressing. By the time all that was finished, the chicken was ready. "And voila," she said, forking a piece of chicken and some pasta onto each of their plates. "Dinner."

He smiled. "Thank you. It smells delicious." he added. Maybe he was hungry. He was just slightly more interested in forgetting absolutely everything ever and finding much more positive things to be up to with Jillian. Either way he downed his own glass of wine and poured himself a second one as he nodded for them to head to the dining room. He grabbed his own plate, and glass, bottle of wine under one arm.

"My mom made sure I was well-versed in a few different recipes that are near-impossible to fuck up," Jillian said. "It's come in handy once or twice." She took a big gulp of her own wine, picking up her plate and glass and following him in. She took a seat, nudging her glass his way to be topped up. "This and like... grilled cheese. That's about the extent of my cooking skills."

He poured her some more wine, and sat down, starting to eat. "Well, it's good." he said. Or maybe it was good because today had been fucked up and traumatic. That was a possibility. "And there's a lot to be said about grilled cheese, you know." he added, mock seriously. "A lot. It's the standard food just about everyone ever can actually manage, and manage well."

"If I was stuck on an island with only the means to make one food," Jillian said with a nod, "it would be grilled cheese. And then I would die from malnutrition because grilled cheese covers like, two food groups and is definitely not a balanced meal, but at least I'd die happy because it was delicious." She took another sip of her wine, finding her appetite as she took a few bites of food.