More Waiting ((Closed))

[jillian]

Usually the cluttered flat in London made Jill feel at home; but this was completely absurd. Obviously, Joann hadn't been cleaning up like she usually did. Jill being away at school wasn't anything new; she always left on the same day and always came back on the same day. But a visit like this was out of the ordinary, so she wasn't as surprised as she should have been at the sight of the wreck, or at the fact that Joann wasn't there. The flat was completely empty, still; still but extremely messy. There were millions of shoes on the floor, clothes on the couch or hanging off lamps and doorknobs. A couple of boxes with various items inside were lined against the wall, it appeared that Joann was on one of her artist thrills. Which wasn't unusual for the 31 year old.

Joann was an art student at some fancy school. Straight A's and an attitude toward life that no one could measure up to, she was as unique as one of her abstract paintings. When Joann had taken Jill in, she was a street-corner performer. She had a nice guitar and a lovely voice to match, on the nights that were nice she would play at the corner of the tube and then the nights it was rainy or snowy, she would play in a random place. Sometimes it was the lobby of train-station, others an airport. Joann was always inventive. She went through phases like she went through shoes, at least two every month. But painting was something Joann just did because it was fun. Not for money, but for leisure. She never sold her paintings. They were her soul.

Jill put the keys in the ceramic dish on the kitchen counter like she always did when she returned home for a visit or the holidays. The sounds of the busy streets drifted in from the open window, well, the broken window really. She had missed this place on more than one occasion, but it didn't feel welcoming when Joann wasn't around. Where could she be? Oh well, she would wait for her. Possibly cook something to eat and watch some television, maybe pop in one of her favourite movies. She made her way across the crowded flat to her room, it was exactly as she had left it. The bed in the corner, facing the east (because everything begins in the east), and her wardrobe and vanity table side by side on the wall with the door. She had a book shelf with knick knacks and books that went from the floor to the ceiling, and her stereo sat next to her bed on a nightstand that also had a lamp in the shape of a giant white candle.

She reached out her hand and touched the waxy surface of the candle. It was made of wax, but no matter how hot the light bulb got - it never melted. Her fingers became waxy as well, but she didn't care. Memories of her aunt flooded her mind as she looked at it and traced the designs with her fingers. White is for magic. Jill felt a longing in her stomach, and she pulled her hand away; leaving the room behind her. She couldn't deal with that feeling at the moment. Her feet carried her to the refridgerator, even though her stomach was telling her she wasn't dreadfully hungry. Nonetheless, she pulled out some lettuce and tomatoes, and some dressing. She would make herself eat a salad. After she had chopped some lettuce and placed it into a bowl, she chopped up the tomatoes and put those into it too. Then she covered it in ranch dressing. Grabbing a fork, and moving into the living room, she settled herself down on the couch. She didn't even bother to turn the television on. Instead she watched the sunset, possibly the most gorgeous thing you could watch.

[jillian]

"C'mon, Jillian! It's fun!" Joann was whining, oh God was she ever not whining? They were in Joann's studio, which had changed drastically since the last time Jill had seen it, and Joann was trying to persuade her to paint with her. Painting just wasn't Jill's thing, it wasn't anything personal to Joann - she just didn't like it; not like others did. Sure, she could appreciate a painting, but making one and then appreciating it was a total different story. Jill put her hands in her pockets, opening her mouth to say something and then closing it, and then opening it again; only to close it once more. She closed her eyes and breathed in for a moment. They had been arguing for thirty minutes; and counting.

"Yeah, just like fun; only...boring." She finally replied. Joann scoffed and sunk down into her fuzzy pink butterfly chair that was next to the window. The room was very decorative. It had sketches pinned up all over the walls, a whole cabinet full of fabric for various uses, so many things hanging from the ceiling - prisms, if Jill remembered correctly - and photographs lined a large mirror that took up one of the walls. There was a desk near the window with papers and a light perched on it along with a jar of paintbrushes, pencils, pens, anything you can think of that had to do with art. Jill also had reason to believe that the linen closet in the hall held art supplies such as clay and crayons and glass; and she was pretty sure Joann had no idea she knew. The thought of that made her smile, Joann thought Jill was so oblivious, but she wasn't...she just didn't speak her obersvations.

"You never have fun!" Joann continued to whine as Jill picked up a feathered pen from the desk and twirled it over in her fingers. Why couldn't they use something like that at Hogwarts? Surely the only reason why they used quills was because it had a flipping feather on it, well, so did this - why not use that? Jill mentally shrugged and placed it back down before turning to study Joann. She didn't look her age, if anything she looked 24. Her bright red hair was unruly and very curly, it was usually pinned up with two unsharpened pencils which could be used at a moments notice considering she always carried a portable pencil sharpener with her. Her eyes were a light green, but they looked so dark in the light that you wouldn't tell the difference if they were a brown. She was short, possibly around the height of 5'2", 5'3"; and her weight was average for her height. At the moment she was wearing a pair of old blue overalls with a tie-dye shirt and a ribbon laced through the belt loops. She was bare foot and her feet had paint on them.

"I never have time for fun." Jill corrected. Joann rolled her eyes and mimicked her in a squeaky voice as she crossed her arms and looked out the window. For a 31 year old she sure did know how to throw a tantrum. Jill sighed and sank down into a bean bag that had been kicked into a corner. She pulled her legs up next to her and curled herself into a little ball. It was times like these she missed her aunt more than anything. Oh, don't get her wrong, Joann was sweet - she was more than enough, but her aunt was everything to her. She just didn't feel complete with her aunt by her side. Then again, a lot of her aunt's teachings weren't something you'd want to hold onto. But you just had to see through that exterior junk her aunt put up to get to know the real Lucille, who was as lovely as a swan. Her aunt always made time for other people.

"Oh, sugar cubes, I didn't mean - I'm sorry. Look, how about we have a girl's night tonight? A sort of catching up party. Just you and me, Snickers, and John Cusack. Does that sound nice to you?" And this was when Jill remembered how much she adored Joann and how she looked at her like she was her own mother. Although they didn't look the same, they were the same. They both knew that nothing cured a heart better than Snickers and 'Say Anything.' Jill smiled up at Joann and nodded who smiled back. And that was when she had a sudden inspiration and shooed Jill out of the studio. She never got to see the comings of a new piece of art. Jill was used to this by now, but now she had nothing to do. She made her way to her room and sat down on her bed, looking at the candle lamp and feeling that sense of lonliness once more.

[jillian]

The sweet smell of inscense wafted out of the holder and into the air causing Jill to get light headed. She had been burning inscense for the past two hours; after she had tried to put a rather large painting on the wall and had it fall on her. Now she had pulled her scrapbook out and flipped to a calming spell. Hoping that way she would stop stressing on the ripped canvas. Joann was going to kill her; she knew she should have used magic, it would have been so much easier. But she hadn't. Jill moved her hand through the smoke and then breathed in and out; feeling calmer.

After ten minutes of clearing her mind, Jill took out her wand and pointed it at the ripped painting; "Reparo." The rip mended itself and it looked as good as new. It was kind of sad when she had to take ten minutes to think of a way to repair the stupid painting. Jill put her chin on her knees and watched the smoke roll up into the air. It was her favourite type of inscense, lemongrass. It reminded her of her life before her aunt's sickness took her from the world. The last of the inscense cone burnt out and Jill looked away; deciding to try putting the painting on the wall again.

"Wingardium Leviosa." She muttered, and the painting rose into the air; she directed it to the hook, and then let it hang. It didn't fall. Jill smiled, satisfied, and then sat back down. Joann had gone out for food, leaving Jill alone with her thoughts once again. That wasn't exactly the best idea in the world. Jill's thoughts lately cosisted of her aunt, her uncle, and....quite astonishingly...Payton. Ever since their chess game that night, he had been on her mind a lot. It wasn't in a creepy way, but in a contemplative way. Over a game of chess Jill had actually had a conversation with someone other than Joann. He interested her, his life interested her. She thought the fact that he had so many siblings to be wonderful. It made her remember the lonely nights she spent up in her room.

"Hello!" Joann's voice called through the silence. Jill heard her dump the bags of groceries on the counter and then make her way into the living room. Immediately her nose wrinkled up; "Lemongrass? Why not something like moonlight ball?" Jill shrugged at the question and looked at the scrapbook. She flipped through some of the yellow pages. There were some coatd with wax and stains. It was just that old. Joann knew about Jill's past, she also knew that Jill went to some school for uknown reasons. She respected that and even used the scrapboook sometimes.

"Eh, it's okay. I had to burn some last night..." She finally admitted. Jill smiled a small smile. She knew Joann had used some, there were only ten cones out of 15 she had before she left. Jill sifted her fingers through the ash, letting the softness soothe her almost as well as the smell had. Joann pulled out a stack of DVDs and without asking or looking at the covers; she knew they were John Cusack movies.

Jill looked up at her flatmate with a raised eyebrow;" What did you need lemongrass inscense for?" There were many reasons to burn lemongrass, but none of them were something that she could see Joann doing. Joann threw Jill a package of mini-Snickers, as if that's an actual answer. There was silence until she appeared with two glasses of tea. She sat down and turned the television on. She still hadn't answered Jill. "Jo?" She pressed.

"No reason..."

[jillian]

Jill awoke to the smell of lemongrass. She opened her eyes, her vision slowly coming into focus. Once she could completely see, she glanced at the clock and groaned when she saw the time. Three in the morning. What was Joann doing at three in the morning with lemongrass? Jill sat up from her makeshift bed on the floor in front of the television. There was popcorn strewn all over the place as well as snickers and empty soda cans. Jill lifted herself up and stumbled her way toward the studio, where she was positive the smell was coming from. There sat Joann, cross legged, in the middle of her studio with a bunch of lemongrass incense burning. Jill raised an eyebrow and yawned, causing Joann to jump and knock over the incense; "Sugar cubes!" She exclaimed as she quickly picked them up and placed them back on the tray.

"What are you doing?" Jill asked with another yawn. Joann blushed and blew out the incense. Obviously she wasn't going to answer right away. Jill sat down across from her and picked up the scrapbook which was opened next to Joann. She flipped through it and noticed that some pages were marked. She looked up at Joann who had sighed defeatedly, as if she knew she would have to explain. The older woman threw hands up in the air before pulling a pig stuffed animal from underneath her desk. She propped her chin on the pig's head and then looked at Jill with tired eyes. It was then that Jill realized she had dark circles underneath her eyes.

"I've been having nightmares, and I thought that book of yours could help me get rid of them. I must have been mistaken." Joann looked at the scrapbook again, as if she still had hope that she wasn't mistaken. Jill laughed tiredly and placed the book on the floor in front of her and in between them. She smiled and flipped to a page that looked fairly new. Jill had the same problem the year before. She had been getting nightmares about her aunt, and so she had made a spell to stop them. Well, not really a spell, more like a soothing satchel. She went into her room and pulled out her spell supply box. It had herbs and containers, anything she needed. Jill picked up some thyme, a blue velvet pouch, some lavendar, and a new blue candle. She then stumbled back into Joann's studio.

"You were looking for the wrong thing. Here." She handed Joann the pouch, before taking a bowl from a shelf. Jill then put the thyme and lavendar in the bowl and crushed them, a lovely smell rose from the bowl - mostly because of the lavendar. She lit the incense once more, and then put the blue candle through the smoke; "Blue is for nightmares..." she explained as she took some powder in her hands and sprinkled it over the candle. She then carved the word 'rest' into the side of the candle with a pin. Lighting the candle, she handed it over to Joann before placing the rest of the thyme and lavendar in the pouch and closing it. "Sleep with the pouch under your pillow and the candle by your bed." Joann nodded sleepily and sauntered out, the light flickering as she walked. Jill yawned again and laid down, and sleep over took her almost immediately.

[jillian]

“One cappuccino, please.” Jill leafed through her wallet and withdrew the correct amount of money. She tilted her head to the side, feeling her neck crack, and then moved it to the other side, feeling it crack once more. It was mornings like this that made her wish she were back at Hogwarts. She at least got sleep when she was at school, unlike when she was visiting home. It was so different, and she just wasn’t used to sleeping in the bed that she should be used to sleeping in. Finally, her cappuccino came to her and she placed the money in the man’s hands before grabbing a straw and walking out of the coffee shop. The streets of London were wet from the night’s rain last night. Cars drove by, splashing water out of the puddles everywhere. The typical London setting. It wasn’t raining anymore, but it could start at a moments notice and Jill was prepared – she had an umbrella, which she despised; but she despised getting wet even more. Besides, it would ruin her clothes.

She turned a corner that led to the art store at which Joann worked. She was an instructor there during the day, and she painted for the decorations in her free time. She didn’t get paid for the paintings though. After all, her art was her love and her passion, not her job. Everyone in the store knew Jill, after all whenever she was in town she came to work with Joann. It was a tradition they did not plan on breaking. The familiarity of the store made Jill’s head spin with longing of the memories she had once cast out of her head. The lights beat down on her neck and head, but she didn’t mind – it made her feel like she was in a spotlight that was meant for her. That’s the way she always felt when she walked into the Art Studio 101. The paintings were various sizes, colours, types. But all each had its own unique quality about it. And in a way, they were all part of the same category.

“I smell cappuccino!” “No, you don’t!” “Yes, huh!” “Um…no, I think you need to get your sniffer checked out there, Joann.” Jill took a sip of her cappuccino before Joann could claim it as her own. That girl’s nose was remarkable. Jill couldn’t sneak anything yummy in without Joann being aware of it. It was a gift and a cursed. So a cursed gift. Jill took another drink of the coffee and looked around the shop for any knew additions. There were a few, but none that interested her much. It appeared that new artists were just copying old ideas. She hated when that happened. No one creative would appear with a painting for at least another month. “Give it up!” “What?” “You know what!” Jill grinned and hid her cappuccino behind her back as she pretended to be interested in a painting hanging near her. It was a shoddy piece of artwork, but it was still art in its own twisted little way.

“Aha!” Jill felt the cup slip from her hand and into Joann’s. Fantastic. Joann put them warm coffee to her lips and took a long drink, watching Jill with teasing eyes as she did. Jill smirked and sat down on the checkout counter as Joann finished off the cappuccino. She handed the cup back to Jill, who peered inside it and grimaced; “Yep, thanks for leaving some for me.” Joann winked and bent down to retrieve a paintbrush which had fallen off a shelf along with a bunch of other things. When everything was in its proper place, she turned back to Jill, “Busy day?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. Jill shrugged. No. Of course not. Her days were never busy when she visited Joann.

“That’s fun. Hey, um, I might be a bit late tonight – and since you leave tomorrow morning, this might be the last time I see you.” Joann said this all in a rush, like Jill hadn’t known it was coming. This happened every time Jill left. Joann wasn’t one for big emotional goodbyes, so she tended to make herself scarce when big emotional goodbyes were in order. Jill didn’t really mind, after all she wasn’t the emotional type either. Jill smiled, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back in three weeks, so it’ll be good.” This made Joann stop stocking the shelves. “Did you just smile at me ditching you tonight?” Jill shrugged again, but continued to smile. Truth was she wanted to go back to school, and big goodbyes would only make her feel guilty. Joann raised an eyebrow, “Something’s up. And you’re so going to tell me.” “Maybe, I will, Maybe I won’t.” Jill replied as she hopped off the counter. She threw the cup in the garbage can next to the counter and made her way toward the door.

“Maybe? No. Definitely.” Joann called to her as she stepped outside. Jill grinned and stuck her head inside the shop once more; “You owe me 3 pounds!” And with that she was gone.