Bob is sitting on the couch when she shows up, toying with the water bottle she'd left him, but he pushes up to stand when she comes through the doorway. "Hey." He offers a little smile. He's awake, and he feels vaguely weird about the lost time, but it's still nice to see her.
"Hey." She lifts the tray a little. "Let me put this down, and then I am going to give you a hug."
It's said in a tone of mock-warning, and she gives him a lopsided little smile as she makes her way over to set the tray on the table. She won't if he objects, of course - that's the entire point of the warning.
"Oh. Um, okay." He's not averse. He likes hugs. And with the warning, he has time to pull his gloves out of his pocket and pull them on, just in case. The last thing he wants is to accidentally ruin a good hug. Again.
Once the tray's settled and he's had a chance to pull the gloves on, she turns toward him and wraps her arms around him, not quite as tightly as that other Yelena had upon finding him here and alive - or as alive as any inmate can be considered to be - but still firmly.
He wraps his arms around her, back, less because he's missed her-- because it doesn't feel like he's been gone-- but because it helps him feel more solid to have a person up close to him. It's like an anchor, proof that he's real and... well, sort of alive, at least. "I'm sorry I passed out like that." He knows it's not his fault, not really, but it's still because of him that she had to deal with him like that.
Well, that certainly begs the question: "Has it happened to you?" He's heard about it, of course, but this is his first real experience with it, whether himself or someone he'd actually miss.
"I hope not, I'd miss having you around," Bob says with a smile. "And I know it can't be fun to lose time like that." It isn't for him. He's kind of used to it, but it still sucks.
"I probably will freak out the first time it happens," Yelena admits, a hint of chagrin in her voice. "So if I am pounding on your door to make sure you did not die or vanish, I am sorry for that in advance."
"Apology accepted in advance, so you won't need to do it again there," he answers. "I might even hug you before you got the chance, so I'd have to apologize instead." He'd be careful about it, sure, but if Yelena went down... he doesn't even know what he'd do with himself. He has to recognize that a lot of his time is centered on her schedule.
He finally lets her go, reluctantly, but he feels a little silly just standing their chatting with their arms around each other. "Your note said I didn't miss anything big, but did I miss anything little? Anyone graduate or any of the pets in the kennel get adopted?"
She settles onto the couch, leaving a clear spot for him to sit next to her while they drink their coffee. "No new graduations - or at least the warden roster has not changed - but one of the foxes was adopted. Do you know Chase's inmate? Nancy."
He takes the unspoken invitation, coming to sit shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee. "Nancy? Wow, good for her. Yeah, I know her, kind of. I did a memory thing on her once. We have some, um, stuff in common. She seems like a good kid, under all the, you know, prickly."
"She is very angry," Yelena says, with a slightly crooked smile that suggests recognition rather than judgment. "Which I do not think I can blame her for, if she is here so young. But the foxes like her, and B likes her enough to let her adopt one of them."
"Yeah, I don't blame her for that, either," Bob has to agree. Maybe if he were younger, less jaded, he'd have been mad, too. Maybe not, though. He hasn't been good and mad for a long time. "But if she's got a new friend, maybe that'll help. Hard to be mad when one of those little guys is looking up at you being all cute."
"Why do you think I spend so much time in the vet office?" she asks, only mostly joking. She still feels responsible for the foxes, and for Blue, but she can't deny that their company is also soothing. Even their chaos is adorable.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-12-02 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-02 05:25 am (UTC)It's said in a tone of mock-warning, and she gives him a lopsided little smile as she makes her way over to set the tray on the table. She won't if he objects, of course - that's the entire point of the warning.
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Date: 2025-12-02 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-02 06:10 am (UTC)"It is good to see you awake."
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Date: 2025-12-05 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-14 06:08 am (UTC)A brief pause, before she admits, "Or so I have heard."
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Date: 2025-12-15 07:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-20 06:02 am (UTC)She looks up at him with a crooked little smile. "And now that I have said that, I probably will be the next person to go down."
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Date: 2025-12-24 07:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 12:11 am (UTC)The Blip: the gift that keeps on giving.
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Date: 2026-01-05 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-11 02:28 am (UTC)It would, after all, be a bit hypocritical to object to him hugging her, given her own reaction to seeing him up and mobile again.
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Date: 2026-01-13 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-17 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-18 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-18 07:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-20 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-24 07:08 am (UTC)