Cheers |Jacob|

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace laughed to herself as she lay on the couch, looking down at the coloring book 'Sam goes to the zoo'. She took another swig of her mostly-drunk bottle and shook her head, "God damn it Sam you fuckin' idiot," She said to the book, eyes slightly droopy and head tilting a little to the side, "You- You.... You don't simply walk to the balloon stand... You.... you cunt." She laughed again, infomercials blaring in the background. She took a pencil, and giggling, drew an arrow to the little girl in the picture and wrote 'Kont' on it.

You can buy this rubber oven mitt for 7 dollars and 65 cents if you order now at this number, or call in to this phone line. Their operators will happily ensure with your purchase that you never have to worry about a burn while cooking again! - And it's so easy to clean.

Around the futon was her papers from her mathematics homework, completed, as well as about half a dozen empty bottles. She was so busy laughing at the book and the sounds of the infomercials were so loud that she didn't even hear the door swing open to the dorm...

[Gleam]

Jacob swung the door open and shut it behind him with a sigh, then turned - and paused. One, Ace was actually laughing very loudly, and two, there was enough bottles around her to waste a full-grown man, let alone a teenage girl. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, then decided disappointment would prove no point at this juncture.

Instead, he kicked off his shoes and called, "Jane, the kitchens have malfunctioned, so for the next three weeks we will unfortunately be forced to live on oatmeal and dry cereal. I brought a few boxes to get us started."

Oh god just saying that made his head hurt. At least he had managed to keep a straight face.

He swiped up a closed bottle from besides on his way over to the kitchen and popped the top, taking a swig.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace laughed some more but at hearing the door slam she slowly started to come to some basic understanding of the situation. "AH, you're home, Jacob. Hey hold on there," She stood up and took the book with her, plopped herself down on the floor and delicately placed the book under the futon where it had been before. She also grabbed her maths homework and did the same.

She kicked over one of the empty bottles as she dragged herself to a stand using the futon as a support, and giggled a little more. She grabbed the bottle she had let spill slightly onto the couch, and took another swig herself.

"So what?" She called to him, staggering towards the boxes where he was in the kitchen, "Oatmeal and Cereal... That's funny." She said, grinning wildly and letting out a small laugh. "MR JACOB HERE," She gestured to the rest of the room, where no one was, "Can't be his chefliness anymore. Sucks to be him," She turned back to Jacob, "Wouldn't you agree?" She took another swig.

[Gleam]

"It is a misery from which I may never recover, but only meagrely survive at the fringes of existence." Jacob replied absentmindedly. Contrary to his words, he started some Papardelle's in a pasta pot and started it to warming - he seriously doubted Ace was up to digesting any complex foods at the moment, or even appreciating them, so . . . stick to the basics. Spaghetti and meatballs.

While the pot warmed he ambled over to the futon and started to collect the empty bottles. "You truly can work through a lot of alcohol." he commented, impressed despite himself. "You should probably be unconscious by now, though I would presume you are three quarters of the way there right now as it is."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace repeated after him, "A misery which I won't recover but meager and survive at fringes existences." She said, her expression showing a sense of awe, "You sure can say a lot, and mean less..." She followed him after he went towards the futon, "Why don't you just say 'Yes, I agree'? You show off too~ much." She said, taking three gulps in succession to finish the bottle she had, and handed it to him rudely after, seeing him pick up the other bottles.

"Me? Oh I'm not. I'm awake. I'm perfectly awake- In fact," She paused, and placed her hands in the air. Then she shook her head back and forth twice and stopped. She took a step back. "Yeah, I'm haardly even drunk." She lied. "No really, look how steady my hand is-" She held her hand out for him to see.

[Gleam]

"My mouth is autonomous." Jacob informed Ace, gravely. "I am incapable of switching it off. Thus I must ensure that what escapes possesses the bearing of intelligence, rather than blabber."

He gathered the bottles with the ease of long practice, balancing them all atop one arm and against his chest, then carried them into the kitchen where he started to wash them out. "And . . . yes. You are awake and coherent. That is, I admit, much more than I would expect out of anyone else at this point."

The bottles, now washed, went in an inconspicuous glass recycling box that he had procured not long ago, once he had realized how much Ace would be going through. Then he turned towards the girl and took her hand, studying it carefully.

The hand was, in fact, steady. The arm and body it came attached to were not.

"I believe this test might be invalid." he said, mild.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

She grabbed another bottle from the fidge, awkwardly moving around him in the kitchenette to do so. She fumbled with the top to it but eventually opened it and tossed the cap to the floor. Almost immediately she stepped on it with her bare feet nearly injuring herself and falling on her face, but she hung onto the wall and just managed to stay upright.

"Haha, Imagine..." She said, "If your mouth wasn't capable of shutting up, like, Iunno..." She laughed again, "I've only drank like, 6 or 7. Dude, you must hang around pussies." She said brashly. Ace felt an itch on her face so rubbed it against the wall.

"Much better." She let him know. "NO! The test is fine. If anyone or anything is invalid around here," She pointed to him with her other hand, which held the drink "It's me." She laughed at that, bringing back up the bottle to laugh into.

"It's funny," She felt the need to explain, "Because I was going to point to you first, and then there was the Shock." She opened her hand and the bottle fell to the ground. "Oh shit..." She said, and picked it up, a lot of the drink having soaked the floor.

[Gleam]

Jacob blinked at Ace once, bemused, and then walked over and scooped her up, hooking an arm beneath her legs. "Jane, you are a level of Don't Sweat It I have yet to witness an equal to. I think I will compensate for some of it."

He carried her over to the futon she used to sleep on and set her down there. "For the moment, I am terrified of you doing more damage to your head, so try to stay seated until the things you see are not blurry anymore."

Jacob bustled away again, choosing not to liberate the last bottle Ace had snagged - that would involve a fight probably not worth winning - and started on the meatballs. "Dinner in five or so." he called, amused. "Hope you left room in your gut for something besides beer."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace let out a bit of a yelp at being picked off the ground, "What? ..You're warm and smell like wet grass.. and why aren't I standing?" She asked him, looking very confused indeed. She clutched her beer as she was placed on the couch/futon and watched as he walked away from her, her head tilting to the side.

"I'm always eating your gonna make me a fat COW" She told him, "That's it isn't it," She laughed, taking another sip of the beer in her arms, "You're making me fat like those guys from the thing... what am I talking-- Oh yeah, there are these guys that are insecure and shit, so... Hey-"

She took another swig, "You can't control me like that anyway, You can't just say I'm sitting on the couch..." She went to stand up again, "My head is okay..." She assured him hurriedly.

[Gleam]

Jacob snorted so badly he staggered when he heard her mention wet grass. He clapped a hand over his mouth and shuddered with laughter for a moment, then sighed and straightened back up. "I promise I am not trying to make you fat so I can take advantage of your fragile confidence and nubile body." He answered, wry, as he checked the Papardelle's and took the pot off the stove eye.

He strained the pasta, added some butter and parmesan cheese, then spooned it onto a plate besides some meatballs and carried it over to Ace. "Not my best, but I doubt you can taste much right now anyways."

Then he poked her in the shoulder just hard enough to unbalance her. "Sit." he said, amused. "Unless you want to eat standing. That'd be a mess."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace took two hearty gulps of beer as she brought herself to a stand. She heard him snort and saw that he was staggering and squinted at him, "Hey you don't laugh right, I don't get it... Is laughing against your personal thing or something?" She shook her head and then held it in her hands, cold bottle pressing against the side of her head, making her hair a little damp from the condensation.

He came over and pushed her shoulder and down she went back to the couch. "Hey that sucks! You're an asshole!" She reached out to grab the plate off him, "My stomach feels empty and full. You suck, but this is awesome." She sniffed at the air for the pasta and sneered slightly, "The scent is so strong, it's like... a bomb of cheese... a bomb..."

She looked over to him, "Where are you going?" She said with a hint of unnecessary bitterness.

[Gleam]

"I do not actually know." Jacob admitted, sitting at the other end of the couch. "It was rude to laugh at people when I was growing up, so one used a hankerchief to cover the lapse. I do not use the hankerchief anymore, but the reflex certainly still remains."

He flipped open his laptop, and started scanning the news. "And I am not going anywhere. Certainly not right now. It is rude for a chef to leave before his table finishes his meal."

Jacob grants Ace a wry smile, then relaxes against the couch, absurdly comfortable. "Well, at least it is the food that smells like cheese and not either one of us. That would be awkward."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

"You tell a lot of stories..." Ace said, going straight for the meatballs, not particularly interested in the cheesy pasta, even when it was supposed to be that you mix them together. She forked the food into her mouth and chewed merrily. A rational part of her mind told her that she would regret this in roughly a half hour, but she ignored it. She drank her beer with the meal, until both were gone, though the pasta took a little more time to get through.

"Where are you gonna be after the meal then?" She asked eventually. She grabbed the pillow from behind her and clumsily set it up beneath her stomach, proceeding to face-plant the couch after her meal and groan uncomfortably at the effort of digestion. She was now taking up whatever space Jacob was not.

"Haha, cheese people." She said finally.

[Gleam]

"Here." Jacob said, and smiled down at Ace, though he knew she couldn't see it. The urge was eventually too much and he reached out and stroked his fingers through her hair, petting her almost like she was a cat. "I am not going anywhere else, tonight. Presuming that you do not mind the company."

He paused in his petting to gather the plates and set them up out of the way, then hesitated - he didn't know how well Ace responded to physical contact, and despite his momentary lapse, didn't want to presume.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace's hair stood up at the back of her neck whenever she felt his hand slide through her hair. The sensation was certainly surprising and surprisingly relaxing. Despite that, she felt her face grow hot and, drunk, she moved her head away, curling into the pillow as she turned on her side.

"No..." She said firmly. Whether this was in response to his petting her head or of whether she minded his company was uncertain. Her muscles felt tense, and her face still feeling hot, she simply hugged the pillow closer and closed her eyes, though she wasn't falling asleep.

[Gleam]

Jacob shook his head and hummed something. Then he stood up and took a few steps away, searching for something on his side of the room.

A moment later, a thick afghan floated down over Ace, warm and snug. Jacob settled back onto his side of the couch and flicked his laptop's touch screen again, bringing it out of sleep mode. "Alright." he said, not unkindly. "Sleep it off, Ace. I will be here."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace noticed the knit blanket land on her, and it's warming effect was very much appreciated. Her muscles loosened a bit and she seemed to relax again. The drunken girl wasn't particularly tired, and when her eyes were closed she felt dizzy, but she kept them shut for another moment.

She eventually peeked out from the afghan in a way she hoped he wouldn't notice, to see what he was looking at on the laptop screen. She shut her eyes again then, worried that perhaps he might change his mind if she didn't sleep.

Eventually she fell asleep on the couch beside Jacob. As the infomercials blared, Ace mumbled in her sleep different words as she tossed and turned. "...$19.95... ... guns... keep you popular..."

[Gleam]

Jacob was quietly reading something on his laptops, the letters something other than the basic Latin, his eyes drifting to and fro. He looked rumpled and satisfied, and did not notice Ace peeking, but he did smile when she drifted off.

~*~

When the morning came, Jacob was thoughtful enough to do the two things all hangover sufferers desire: one, keep the light and sound low, and two, left an enormous glass of water on the endtable besides the couch so that she could get the taste out of her mouth.

Jacob himself was quietly humming behind the counter again, making a very, very English breakfast: sausage, buttered biscuits, and milk.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Ace awoke in the morning because her stomach was turning and her head pounded so hard against her skull she thought it was trying to escape. She winced into consciousness. She felt odd and disoriented, only after a moment realizing that the futon was still in couch form, she was facing the wrong way, and the pillow was under her belly.

She opened her eyes to the world to find the harsh lights of reality slightly overpowering, but noticed that the blinds were closed and was grateful for that at least. She spotted the glass of water and instinctively went for it, gulping it down and then feeling sick. Her teeth felt indescribably horrible. She put the empty glass on the floor.

She pulled the blanket over her head and made a groaning sound of displeasure. Under the blanket's cover she thought back to the night before, pushing herself to remember what happened exactly. She didn't black out at any stage, but her strongest memories made her feel distinctly uncomfortable and confused.

It took only a moment or two for her to quickly pull the afghan off of her, get up, say, "Goodmorning, one second." in a hurried tone to Jack, and walk over to the bathroom, where she closed the door and became ill into the toilet.

[Gleam]

"Good morning." Jacob answered, careful to filter the subtle amusement out of his voice, and ambled over to scoop up the glass and refill it, placing it besides Ace's plate for when she got back out of the bathroom. He ignored the sounds of retching - he was well familiar with the results of heavy drinking - and dug into the medicine cabinet, producing a pair of aspirin that he laid beside the the glass.

All that done, he popped open his laptop and started scanning. He had a free day, which was going to likely come in handy. Though, honestly, he didn't plan to spend all of it just sitting around. The thought grated on him already.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

It didn't take too long for a flush to be heard from the bathroom, and then the sounds of a running shower to start. After perhaps 15 minutes, Ace emerged from the bathroom in the clothes she had worn before, hair wet and teeth washed. Again, she went for the glass of water.

She glanced over to Jack after taking a sip, seeming a lot more open to the world now. She put the glass down once again, and made her way over to the kitchen. She scratched her head and actually paused, "... Can I have some?" She wondered of the english-y breakfast. Her voice was groggy, but it was perhaps an event to have her ask before indulging.

[Gleam]

"You may eat the food." Jacob granted maganimously, with a wave of his hand. He smirked at her lack of new clothes but didn't comment, instead commencing his own breakfast. "You may even, if you wish, ask for seconds, should you be so hungry." Her quietness was noted, and Jacob decided not to ask, ultimately deciding that it was just how Ace naturally was when hungover.

"Was there a special occasion yesterday?" he asked lightly, as he spread some more butter on his biscuits, then took a bite.

['Ace' Julia Dale]

"Cool..." Ace said with a sigh, grabbing as many sausages and buttered biscuits as she could, and digging into them with patience for once. Her stomach was still iffy, and she didn't want to push it into overdrive, but at the same time she was hungry, so these things had to go down slowly.

At the note of whether or not there was a special occasion, Ace shrugged, a small half-grin at the corner of her mouth, "Not really." She admitted, "Just bored, I guess." She didn't feel any real need to elaborate on the topic. She sunk her teeth into another biscuit, seemingly in thought. "Uh, did you like, try to come on to me on the couch when I was drunk last night? Because, like, I remember you touching my hair..." She thought it better to bring it up than to possibly let it happen again.

[Gleam]

"I can understand that." Jacob commented with a nod. "Alright. We will need to order out for more soon though if you plan to careen through the supply at this rate. Running out would be most unpleasant, I imagine."

He paused at her question and glanced at her. "No." he said, rather honestly. "You just made an adorable picture and I couldn't help myself. My apologies if it bothered you this much."

['Ace' Julia Dale]

Her eyebrows furrowed a bit at his insinuation, "Are you saying something?" She asked him, "Running out would be fine, are you suggesting something? Just say it then." She said, her headache growing again. She bit into a sausage to quiet it.

Her eyebrow ticked again whenever he used that word. "Adorable?... I told you not to say that shit to me..." She put the fork down then and buried her face in her hands, letting her hair fall where it would. "fucking hangovers" She whispered.

"Yes it bothers me," She said finally, "I told you didn't I?" She was starting to get upset, and left her plate to walk over and grab the aspirin, popping one. "My side, your side," She gestured, "My stuff, your stuff. A line. There is a line." She pointed to the imaginary line that she had mentally drawn to divide the space.

She returned to her food looking slightly stressed, having grabbed the aspirin bottle. She placed it on the counter.