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Buffy is consuming delicious pineapple smoothie by the fireplace, and people-watching. And ... other species-watching. She's inclusive. (Is that a balloon?)

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"- grah!" says Jamie.

When Buffy comes back, the fire has been extinguished through diligent blowing, and Jamie is looking sadly at the ruined charcoal remnants of a marshmallow.

"I don't suppose you like them well-charred?"

That's what she said!

"I'm all set, thanks," Buffy says, eyeing the ashy corpses of what were once hale and hearty marshmallows. "Here --" There are multiple damp paper towels. And a tube of ointment. "I don't know if you actually burned your hand, but I figure it can't hurt."

"Thanks -"

Jamie sets the char-on-a-stick down on his plate, and picks up one of the wet paper towels.

"You're probably right," he says, mostly for politeness' sake. "It's kind of you to think of. I heal fast, though."

She looks at him. And at his hand.

A few weeks ago she might not have asked, but after X --

"Yeah? How fast is that?"

In fact, when in Milliways, Jamie heals at . . . exactly the same pace as anyone else. But he is not yet aware of this.

"I've never stood with a watch to a cut," he says, good-naturedly. "A bit faster than most?"

That's actually true of Buffy, too. She deflates, a little.

"Just curious. I met this girl earlier who can heal anything that's not vaporization, apparently."

. . . there can't be two.

"Laura," says Jamie, brightening. "Or, well, X-23. She's who you mean, right? She's actually a friend of mine."

"Yep, that's her." She quirks an eyebrow. "Not really big on the socialization, I thought."

"She's not exactly the talkative type," Jamie admits.

"But she's awfully nice."

For given values of . . .

"And I'm used to all sorts. Different cultures, you know. And I've known her a long time. She's a good person to have at your back in a pinch."

"Yeah." She rubs her jaw. "I sparred with her, one time. Very acrobatic. And the healing doesn't hurt." Hah, hah!

What is it with Milliways and girls who could beat Jamie up?

"That is not something you'll ever catch me doing in a million years," Jamie says cheerfully. "Fast healing doesn't mean I go out looking for bruises. Or broken bones, for that matter."

Gotta catch 'em all?

"Which is a wise policy," Buffy says. "Although, I mean, you could say the same thing about marshmallow burns."

"I'm usually much better at this," Jamie protests.

"I'm out of practice, is all. I haven't had much chance for marshmallow-roasting recently. And at least with marshmallow roasting you get dessert out of it, which isn't something you can say for getting beaten up by Laura."

"You don't know that," she protests. "Maybe you could ask her to buy you a brownie after sparring with you. Like how you might buy your friend dessert if they peer edited a paper for you?"

Jamie laughs. "That would only be if she got something useful out of sparring with me, which she wouldn't, because I don't know anything about it. You might ask her for a brownie."

"Maybe I will." She makes a thinkyface. "So what's the deal with your healing thing?"

"It's this sort of curse I'm under," Jamie explains. The words sound like they have been said many times before, possibly in this exact way.

"The, ah, the getting better thing is one of the not-terrible side effects."

"I was going to say," she says, "sounds like a pretty nice curse...but I'm guessing there's a downside?"

"The part where I've got to keep wandering through hundreds of worlds until I find my way back Home," Jamie agrees, "that would be the downside.

"It could be worse though, it's not like everyone I talk to turns to stone. This place is great for giving you perspective."

"Yeah, that would be." And she pauses. "...Stone?"

"That's another girl I know here. Well, not talks to, looks at without glasses or something. She's cursed too."

Beat.

"Not by the same lot, I think."

Medusa's curse, Jamie thinks, is probably more of a local thing than part of a vast multi-universe conspiracy.

Buffy looks at him.

"You're not stone?" she says. "-- So, glasses?"

"Exactly," says Jamie.

"She's good about catching herself. Well, you would be, I suppose, after a bit of practice."

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