Xaviers!

A few days after the shrinky dink incident, and Jez's related mental breakdown, Katarina hesitantly knocked on her door.

There was a short pause before the voice inside responded that she would be just a minute, and then the sound of rustling came from beyond the door. Shortly after it opened and Jez was revealed in all her self-care day glory. Oversized t-shirt, PJ pants, the fuzziest of socks, and could her ponytail be any messier? Her side of the room and her desk were a mess of papers and textbooks - essays and reports were still due after all, even if the teachers did tend to give generous extensions after "incidents" - especially to students who's computers had been cannibalized by the nanites.

"Oh, hey Katarina. Sorry if I haven't been replying to your texts or anything, I've had my phone on silent for awhile and keep forgetting to check it. I..." she looked back at the state of her room. "Do you... want to come in?"

Katarina frowned when she saw the state of Jez's room.

"I was just...

...you weren't in a good place after all of the, um, excitement. And I hadn't heard from you for few days, so I wanted to make sure..."

Jez opened the door a little wider and beckoned Katarina to follow her inside, the girl heading toward the window. "That's really sweet of you. Actually, I should've been checking on you too... I guess I've been stuck in my own headspace for a bit. Lemme crack this window open to let the stink out."

"...I wasn't going to say anything," Katarina said, with a slight smile.

"Well staying cooped up for a couple days can make the air a little... ripe." Yeah, it seemed like she hadn't been focusing on certain aspects of hygiene for a couple of days. Katarina could probably tell that she wasn't wearing any makeup, which actually might've made her realize that Jez actually did wear make-up on the regular, just going for the natural look.

"Unless you're into that."

"And your roommate doesn't mind you being...stuck in your headspace?" Katarina said, dodging the question.

"Honestly, I think she's so deep into her own finals that she either doesn't notice, or doesn't care." Or maybe Jez is just playing up her own slovenes in some self-deprecating humour.

"Go ahead and have a seat if you want, just shove the papers aside, I'm done with 'em anyway. Mostly."

Katarina delicately moved some of the papers to one side as she tried to clear a small spot to sit on the bed. "How much more work do you have to do? I am afraid if you stay in here much longer, you may ferment."

"Well honestly other than studying? I'm pretty much done. But I could do more, for better grades. Thank goodness I email stuff to myself to make copies." Jez didn't show as much care for her work as Katarina did, sitting directly on some sheets of paper when she sat down beside the redhead.

"It really is very sweet of you to come check up on me."

"I suppose you get the benefit of multitasking, too? You must be the easiest person to work with on group projects," Katarina teased.

Jez gave an uneasy chuckle. "Heh, yeah, that's how I get burnt out so fast. Sometimes I forget that doing five things at once is still a ton of work for one mind. But I've been going at it solo for now."

Katarina looked away, a little guiltily.

"I...didn't know what to do. After you got...hurt, fighting against the bugs. I thought I would just try to pretend like everything was normal, as you seemed to be alright, but...it wasn't alright, was it?"

Jezabelle put her hands in her lap, looking down at them.

"No, things weren't alright. But that's okay. It's not your job to make sure I'm doing well, that's not a responsibility you should have to bear, and it wouldn't be fair of me to demand that of you. I mean, things weren't alright for you either, were they?"

"Well, perhaps they were not alright for me, either, but I do not know if it's fair to compare what I went through what what you went through, no? You are the one who went through the harder experience, yes? You needed someone to lean on, and I stayed away."

Jez reached out and wrapped an arm around Katarina's shoulders, pulling her a little closer. "You can't always put other people ahead of yourself. Sometimes you have to take care of yourself first so you'll be able to take care of others. Maybe you weren't there for me then, and I wasn't there for you... but you're here for me now. And that means a lot."

"I'm very used to putting myself ahead of other people. It is sort of what I do. I came here to try to get away from that a little bit. And yet, here I am, doing the same thing I would do back home. As if you were the hired help. Well, no more," she said, firmly.

“Hey, stop criticizing yourself for something you didn’t even do.” Jez’s tone sounded halfway between pleading and an order. “We both want to help others, for our own reasons. But that doesn’t make you a bad guy for needing to look after yourself, or someone else to help you.”

"Well, I have looked after myself, and I am looking good, no? It is time to do the same for you. Come!" she said, standing up.

"Buh?" Jez didn't seem to process what was being asked of her. "What do you mean? Where're we going?"

"First, we are going to get you cleaned up. Spend too much longer cooped up in here, and someone will suggest you move out to the stables," Katarina joked, in poorly-worded ESL humor.

"And then we are going to get some food in you that didn't come out of a box or a bag or anything freeze-dried."

Jezabelle whined softly in protest, even if she didn't put up much of a fight other than being dead weight.

"Noooooooo...."

"Do I need to, what is the expression. Sweeten the pot?

Or would you prefer staying here with your term papers and your Fritos and your...earthy smell?" Katarina teased, poking Jez's nose.

"But if I get cleaaan then I know how grooss I waasss." Jez continued to whine, even as she was grabbing her mesh shower caddy from the bathroom, a towel draped over her shoulder.

"The stable is still an option," Katarina teased. "Spread some hey down, paint your name in front of the stall. I could braid your hair and feed you wee sugar cubes."

"I didn't know you were into ponyplay." Jez quipped, a glimmer of her usual self showing through. "I will admit, I've had a soft spot for Equestrian uniforms since... I dunno, some Disney movie from the 60s? The Parent Trap maybe?" She was straying off topic as she slipped on her slippers, hence the name.

"I do not know about playing with ponies," Katarina replied, not quite getting what Jez was implying. "But I do have horses. We shall have to riding together -- unless it is just the uniforms you like?"

Jez's eyes widened a little bit. "I've... I've never ridden a horse before. I think I'd like that!" Well now she was just getting excited.

Katarina smiled. "Then I shall see what is available around here or, failing that, shall bring you back to Symkaria over a break. And we shall get you a riding uniform and everything."

She nodded, plans going about in her head.

"This sounds like the start of a Hallmark channel movie. 'An American in Symkaria.' Starring Lacey Chabert and Jessica Lowndes." Jez got the door, all set to hit the showers. "Oh, who am I kidding, it'll be another 30 years before they make something with a non-hetero couple in it."

"Well, that is a bridge we will cross when it is burning," Katarina said with a small sigh. "For now, I will just enjoy being here. You get the benefits of being with a princess in terms of horses and fancy dress. I get the benefits of being normal, with your video games and your 'pony play".

"Yeah, maybe don't mention that last part in front of others." Jez advised, pausing at the door.

"Are you gonna wait here for me until I'm done?"

"Hrm," she said, scratching her chin and looking Jez up and down. "I'm not sure I can trust you here. Afterall, you weren't taking care of yourself before I showed up. I think you may need to be supervised."

Jez's cheeks flushed, the girl looking up and down the hallway before she quickly went back to the ensuite to grab a second towel, and then Katarina's hand.

Katarina grinned. "I think I like it best when you are blushing," Katarina said, grasping Jez's hand as they walked together down the hall.

"Well, if you keep doing stuff like this, it'll keep happening." Jez reassured her, giving another quick glance around before ducking into the women's bathroom - the likelihood of another female student needing to use the showers at that time in the afternoon slim enough to bolster her courage a bit.

"Is that an invitation or a warning?" Katarina smiled, slipping in behind her, scouting out the bathroom herself.

She had let Jez go first. Who knows who could have been in the showers? Assassins? Paparazzi? Colette?

Jez checked the room fairly thoroughly, stalls and all. It seemed like the coast was clear, no spies or students in sight, so she opened the shower stall furthest from the entrance and beckoned Katarina to follow her.

Katarina walked across the room like she owned the place, to join Jez.

It was clearly, clearly an affectation, and a practiced one at that. Rehearsed and choreographed; a nervous girl trying to appear like she was in control of the situation.

Even if it was practiced, it helped put Jez at ease, the girl already hanging up her towel and caddy, before locking the stall door behind them.

"Are we... are we really doing this?" She softly asked, unable to hide her nervousness. Sure, she talked the talk, but that was just talk. This was walking the walk.