Timelined immediately after Another One Bites the Dust
<Anna> "No no, let me do this bit! I like this bit!" She giggled, "Blowin' up its ass! So funny!" She picked up the tiny paper shape and blew in it to inflate it, between more giggles. "Where'd you learn how to do this anyway?"
<Jessica> "Japan... where else?" Jess offered a small smile, adorning Sebastian's chest with yet another origami bug. "I had to do something to pass the time..."
<Anna> "I like Japan. Full of short-arses like me." She nodded sagely. "And they're all mental." She placed her newly inflated frog on Sebastian's forehead and gave it a fond pat. "Pretty!"
<Shaw> Sebastian groaned and shifted, feeling something slide off his forehead and mashing a hand to it. "....right."
<Anna> "The beast stirs! I didn't do it!" Anna levitated the army of paper bugs as a distraction. Then hid the almost empty bottle behind her back.
<Jessica> "Sebastian?" Jess went to his side, taking his hand. "How do you feel? Are you okay?"
<Shaw> He lifted the paper creature off his face and peered at it, eyes slowly focusing on the face beyond it.
<Anna> Awesome! No swinging at things! She got up, somewhat unsteadily, and pulled out her penlight again to check his pupils. "Answer the lady's questions, Sebastian."
<Shaw> He stared at first one face, then the other. There was light, which didn't help his head. Then, his eyes narrowed. "...are you drunk?"
<Anna> Anna paused in checking his eyes while she considered how to answer that. She figured there was no point trying to deny it and nodded. "Little bit."
<Jessica> "Try 'a lot'." Jess supplied.
<Shaw> Finally realizing he was on the floor, he sucked in a breath and jerked to raise his right hand for inspection. He'd used it and hadn't even thought about it, but his memory had returned.
<Shaw> The flattened paper fluttered to the floor and he inspected his palm, turning his hand over and testing all five fingers. The skin was pale and looked.... new. Otherwise, it looked as his hand always looked. "Remarkable."
<Anna> "You're welcome." She picked up the bottle and shook it in his eye line. "Drinky?"
<Jessica> "Should he be having alcohol now?" Jess wondered aloud. "I mean... I know you're the doctor...."
<Anna> "Ah, get away, he's fine," Anna waved it off. "Moving it and everything. Never know it was gone... shame about the suit."
<Shaw> "That's my scotch," he observed. "But yes, thank you." Sebastian took a moment to push himself up on his elbows and look around the room. "Where. Where is he?"
<Anna> "Not here. He's cooling off somewhere." She unscrewed the cap and offered him the bottle. "I'll track him down later."
<Shaw> He sneered, but took the bottle and tipped it back. The alcohol burned, reminding him he was still alive, thankfully - luckily. "What he did... it would have killed me, had you not been so close, yes?"
<Anna> "Hard to say... guy like you... you'd have had a good chance to live... but you'd be using your left hand right now... and that would not be scotch." She plopped back down on the floor and picked up a crane, giving its tail a few yanks to make it flap.
<Jessica> Jess wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She didn't care about any reputation he had to maintain right at the moment.
<Shaw> Sebastian gave Anna a dark look, but Jessica's attention was a welcome distraction. "I'm all right, love." He returned her hug and closed his eyes, breathing her in. After all, their earlier reunion had been rudely interrupted.
<Jessica> "I told you...." She reminded him, stroking her fingers through his hair and kissing him softly.
<Anna> Anna snatched the whiskey back and took a swig. "Awkward...."
<Shaw> "Told me what? That I would be all right or that I would meet a terrible end?" He didn't care for Anna's opinions right now. "I seem to recall both."
<Jessica> "I told you I was paranoid and stupid.... and that you were going to be fine..." she sniffed. "This is all my fault... I'm so sorry..."
<Anna> "Ah, Jesus, if she's going to start crying I'm taking my frog and your whiskey elsewhere." Anna moved to get up.
<Shaw> Ignoring Anna, he struggled up to hold Jessica and run his fingers through her hair. "This is entirely Ford's fault. He is the one who touched me."
<Jessica> "Because you were defending me.... even after I told you to stop..." She glanced up at Anna and gave her a grateful smile.
<Anna> Anna smiled back and gave her a wave before retreating and closing the door behind her. After a short pause, she also locked it from the inside with her teke so that they could have some privacy.
<Shaw> "He was impertinent." After watching Anna depart - with his scotch - he looked back at Jessica.
<Jessica> "I deserved it." She brushed her fingertips over his face. "It hurt... but I deserved it all the same."
<Shaw> Sebastian shook his head, his eyes searching hers.
<Jessica> "There's no use shaking your head at me... I'm going to carry on feeling guilty because I know I hurt him and now he's throwing away his future and that's my fault too... I'm a horrible person... nearly got you killed..."
<Shaw> "Oh, for Christ's sake, Jess. I'm aware of your impressive guilt complex, but you're hardly responsible for every bad decision the boy makes." Still, the whelp had tried to kill him...
<Jessica> "But I am responsible for this... he didn't come here to quit your class... he decided to do that when he found us in here..."
<Shaw> "Out of temper and wounded pride, I surmise." He caught her face in his hands again.
<Jessica> "Doesn't make it any less my fault..." she avoided his gaze, "I messed up again... and I don't know how to fix it..."
<Shaw> His hands tightened. "Look at me."
<Jessica> Jess' eyes flicked up to meet his briefly but she couldn't hold them.
<Shaw> Shaking her gently, he repeated the order.
<Jessica> Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself, she opened them again and attempted to hold his gaze this time.
<Shaw> Smiling slightly at her obedience, he took a deep breath. "This is not a problem that you fix, Jessica."
<Jessica> "But I want to..." she bit her lip, bowing her head to his shoulder. "I feel awful..."
<Shaw> "Of course you do, because you have a kind heart." Luckily, I do not. Sebastian stroked her hair nonetheless. "However, sometimes, there is no fault to a situation, because it's merely a matter of circumstance."
<Shaw> "For whatever reason, he abandoned you, and you sought out companionship in your abandonment. While that was misfortune for you at the time, and for him, it was to my benefit. Of course I will defend that."
<Jessica> "But you're his teacher... and I'm rubbing it in... it's not fair... and we just came from a class where people were talking about cures so I'm sure he was already feeling pretty crappy before he even got here and I know I made that worse..."
<Shaw> "Our relationship predated my role as a teacher here - a role I might confess I'm seriously reconsidering." Her words gave him a moment of pause but he closed his eyes and suppressed it.
<Jessica> "But it's still hurting him..." She slid her arms around him again to hug him close. "I'm sorry...."
<Shaw> He stiffened a little. "And for what are you sorry?"
<Jessica> "For going on and on about Kevin being hurt after what he did to you..."
<Shaw> His laugh was short and mirthless. A wave of exhaustion was threatening to overcome him, between the jet lag and this. "I take some comfort that you're here with me now instead of with him."
<Jessica> She decided not to voice the part where she still wanted to check if he was okay. Giving Sebastian a gentle squeeze, she lifted her head, "Are you alright?"
<Shaw> He lifted his hand from her back and flexed his fingers again. "Yes, I am."
<Jessica> "Good... want to get up off the floor?" She gave him a small smile, taking his healed hand in hers and kissing it.
<Shaw> The gesture made him smile, and he rose easily enough. The loss of the suit was slightly annoying and he stripped off the jacket and started to roll up his sleeves to cover the missing fabric.
<Shaw> "Wait," he said, brow creased in thought. "Did she say 'you'd never know it was gone?'" He stared at his hand again.