Welcome to Gaia! ::

The food was somehow slightly better than she had expected. A better brand of MRE? Or did someone finally find access to something not an MRE? It wasn’t up to normal cafeteria standards, by far, but it was a fair bit better than they had been eating. If only she had known that before sitting down. She might have grabbed a bit more food.

Though, as Jake had pointed out, fighting on a full stomach would not be a good idea. So maybe it was for the best.

“Any, um,” Sherry hesitated. She knew what she wanted to ask, and since they’d been eating and not talking, it wasn’t like she was changing the topic or anything. She just, hoped he wouldn’t mind the topic she was bringing up. “Any progress on… your weapon?” Her voice was a little quieter than she meant it to be. Sensitive subjects were sensitive. “

At least she didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing them. The cafeteria was rather sparsely populated right then.

There were times when Jake was easy to read, and times when he was not. (Most people were, but Sherry was not concerned with them at this moment.) Right now, Sherry was trying to decipher just what emotion was behind those eyes of his. Sensitive as the subject was, she didn’t want to make things worse.

“Oh.” She bit her lip and poked at a biscuit. Not sure was better than knowing there had been no progress, maybe. “Has there been any hint of improvement? Or anything?” Jake had been working his tail off on this, after all.

She poked at that biscuit again. Why had she even brought this up? It wouldn’t do to make him upset right before they went out to fight another titan. She watched him, nervously but close.

So many emotions, Sherry was having a hard time deciphering them all. She did feel bad for bringing it up, though. Jake didn’t really look happy in any sense of the word. Still, she was a little bit happy, deep down inside, when he told her why he wasn’t happy. Not because of what he said, but because he said it. Jake wasn’t the sharing type, really, especially not when things hurt. She would have been warmly delighted by the fact that he told her, honestly, if what he said wasn’t so gut wrenching in the end.

It hadn’t been that terrible, at first. Hearing Chester was a huge improvement. Perhaps that even helped lead to the happiness she’d felt. But that wasn’t all there was to the story. “To stop?”

The biscuit was completely forgotten about, so was the rest of her food. “Are you sure?"

Sherry knew him well enough to know he wasn’t likely to volunteer such information, which was why she’d gone ahead and asked. She’d half expected him to give her a half hearted response, if anything, so this… This was good. She’d worry more if she didn’t know what was going on. Even if this information was almost as confusing as going into this blind.

“But you heard him. That’s… that’s real progress.” She smiled at him. “Don’t stop. Keep trying. You’re right, it IS better than doing nothing, and besides, it seems to be helping.” She didn’t even notice her hand reaching for his so she could squeeze it. “I don’t think Chester would want you stop looking for him, anyway. He was probably trying to tell you not to get yourself killed.”

He didn’t sound convinced at all. In response, Sherry smiled again. “It is, and everything will be okay.” She had to be sure of it, and so did he. She… she couldn’t be anything but sure of it. If things not working out meant death or podding or whatever. No. She’d believe what she said and she’d believe in Jake. He could do this. He’d be fine.

She shook her head at his apology. “Why? I agreed to help. I want to help.” She cared about him, how could she not want to help? “Don’t be sorry for anything, Jake. I’m happy that you are letting me help you.” It seemed he’d finally gotten it through his head that he didn’t have to do every little thing alone.

“Besides. You promised me a date when this is all over, so it’s not like I’m not getting something out of this.” She pushed as much humor as she could into that statement. The promise of a date was not her motivation for helping him, but she felt the need to lighten the mood a little, if she could.

The shake of her head was slight, but there. Hearing Chester was certainly something, even if the weapon had asked Jake to ‘stop.’ It was way more than she’d expected to hear, in her eyes it was good news. “It’s progress,” she repeated. “And you’ve had all the hard work.”

She was glad to see him smirk. Exactly what she wanted, a better mood before the next titan. “Of course. As if I would do any of this out of the goodness of my heart. I’m expecting amazing food and a great time.” She hoped the look on her face said she was mostly joking. She did hope there would be food. (She’d never forgotten that time he mentioned them going for waffles.)

“I doubt that.” She was still grinning, even as she leaned closer. “I’ve known you for a while, and honestly, I don’t find you boring at all.” She was almost close enough to kiss him, but she kept talking despite herself. “Besides, a date takes two people. I’m almost certainly the boring one.” She was serious. She’d be content to just sit and hold hands. Probably. That was questionable, especially considering the fact that she decided to go in for a kiss right then. A kiss that was little longer and more sensual than she should have in public.

Sherry held on to her opinions, all of them. Jake had made progress, he would be fine, Chester would be back, the date would be amazing, and Jake was wonderful. She could and would argue any point necessary.

But she didn’t need to. Jake was laughing and agreeing, and most importantly not pushing her away. In any sense of the word. Which was good, because she’d very much wanted that kiss right then. She didn’t quite know what she might have said if he had pushed her away, but Jake’s response meant she didn’t have to worry about that. Nor was she worried about who might see what. It wasn’t like she planned to do more than that one kiss.

“Really,” she said, grinning and ending their kiss. “It’s true.”

She might have been blushing as she leaned back and settled in her seat again. “But we can worry about all of that later. Have you had enough to eat?”

She was an optimist, or at least she tried to be. It was hard sometimes, but she tried. And usually, things worked out one way or another.

Jake was certainly learning. Sherry had no plans to change her ideas. Any of them. So she smiled back.

“I have,” she almost laughed. “I don’t know where you put it all.” She made a show of looking him up and down. “Though if someone wants to eat all of the MRE’s I don’t fully know if I’d complain.” They were not her favorite.

“Shall we clean up and go for a short walk, or something?” She didn’t know if she wanted to run off chasing titans just yet. Later, yes.