A very cracky entrance post

[nita_callahan]

omg Nita bling bling.

She enters through the lakeside door and snags a table and a soda, pulling off her grey sweatshirt to reveal a black T-shirt with the words "PLZ HELP I AM TRAPPED INNA BAR" in white on it. Hey, it's not her fault, she's getting all her clothes from the Bar. . .


[OOC: *disappears* BBL.]

Comments

[nita_callahan]

She winces. "Yikes. Unfortunate indeed."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Well at least it's something the Secretary of Defense remembers, for the most part it's either people who aren't in the department or a few people who are under his command that don't remember that, so he can give them a reminder when he needs to."

[nita_callahan]

She smiles. "Is reminding them your job?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He smiles a little sheepishly. "Depends on who it is. If it's one of Secretary Heller's colleagues, probably not. I'm not exactly the most...tactful person on staff when it comes to that sort of thing. Then again, sometimes you need to be rather blunt with some people." Not mentioning any names...Ryan.

[nita_callahan]

She grins. "Oh yes. Bluntness is a good tool. You just can't overuse it. But really, I'm a little surprised. I'd expect diplomacy to be sort of a pre-requisite for a job in the White House. Are you the Secretary's -- secret weapon, sort of?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He smiles. "I can be diplomatic when I have to. Which isn't a lot of the time, particularly as some people just need--or want--someone to talk to them straight. I don't know if I'm his 'secret weapon' exactly. Kind of hard to keep a secret when you've been working there for nearly a year."

[nita_callahan]

With a laugh -- "Is your work interesting?" She snaps her fingers. "That reminds me -- I met someone else you know. Chase -- something."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it is interesting. Maybe not quite as 'interesting' as what I used to do, but then sometimes that kind of 'interesting' is highly overrated." He looks at her slightly curiously. "Chase Edmunds?"

[nita_callahan]

She points. "Yeah. Chase Edmunds. He met the same evil Speak N' Spell Kim and I did." Her face darkens a little, and she looks oddly protective.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Now he's really looking at her in confusion. "Evil Speak N' Spell?"

[nita_callahan]

"Yeeeah. . . Who knows where it came from, but it's an evil psychic Speak N' Spell. I suppose it's still around here somewhere." Suddenly growing angry, she adds, "If I see it again, I'm dumping it in the lake."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He's rather surprised by her flare of anger, and he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Nita, what did it say to you? It's just a...well, okay, maybe a somewhat sentient piece of electronics, but still."

[nita_callahan]

"It didn't say anything to me. . ." She looks up at him, and says quietly, "Kim thinks it asked her how -- how her mom died." She grabs his hand and squeezes. "I'm really sorry, Jack."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He sits there, stunned for a moment. "I-it asked her about Teri? ...Did Kim tell you about...about her mother?"

[nita_callahan]

Nita nods, silent, worried.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack sits back and rubs his forehead. He has to wonder exactly what Kim told Nita--or rather, how much she told Nita--but then considering it wasn't exaclty a topic Kim was comfortable with either... "That's just...strange. And somewhat disturbing." He looks over at Nita and notices her obvious concern, and gives her a weak smile. "You don't need to look so worried. It was almost six years ago now. Though I might help you chuck that thing in the lake if I see it."

[nita_callahan]

She smiles a little. "Strange and disturbing sum it up, yeah." She looks away and says quietly, "Time helps, but. . ."

She looks back at him. "I would just smash the thing, but there's the whole no violence in the Bar rule. It deserves to be gotten rid of, though -- Kim was really shook up."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Time helps, but never quite enough," he says, looking at her carefully. He looks at her for a minute, there's something about her expression that makes him think there's more behind this. "What is it, Nita?"

[nita_callahan]

She sighs and closes her eyes. "I'm not going to say I understand what you and Kim must have gone through, because I can't." A small laugh. "I got so sick of people coming up to me and telling me 'I know how you feel,' because they didn't. But I sympathize, on a couple of points. I sympathize about losing a mother."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He leans forward again and squeezes her shoulder. "What happened to her? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

[nita_callahan]

She opens her eyes and quirks half a smile at him. "She had a glioblastoma -- a malignant brain tumor." Her hands sketch the air as she talks. "I tried to save her. People all have a sort of magical center in them, a kernel, that has instructions on how their own personal universe works. I tried to work with my mom's kernel, to tell the cancer to stop reproducing."

She sighs, and her hands fall to her lap. "I bought her a little time, a month. Long enough for us to say goodbye. She died about three months ago." She shrugs. "You can see why I'd just as soon be at home right now."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

His heart tugs to hear her talk about it; it's obvious that her grief is still pretty fresh, though he'd never seen a sign of it before now. He'd like to pull her into a hug and tell her it would be all right, but he wasn't sure she'd want him to.

"Oh Nita...I'm so sorry. Maybe I don't know exactly how it feels, but I do know what it's like to lose someone you love dearly, and that you tried so hard to save. And I can see how it would be hard for you to be separated from your family right now."

[nita_callahan]

"Thanks." She shakes her head, trying to shake off the mood. "Being here isn't all bad. I mean, you guys are practically my extended family, now."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He kind of laughs at that. "A very messed-up extended family, that is."

[nita_callahan]

"Well, yeah, I've never had to save any of my extended family from ODs or werewolf attacks."