MA

[jageskro]

Jag was just grabbing the old bag of peas they kept just for this purpose out of the freezer when he heard someone walk into the kitchen. He pressed the peas to his bruised cheek, then grabbed a beer out of the fridge, because one more wouldn't hurt. It wasn't like he was drunk. No, he wasn't drunk.

He turned around and smiled at the sight of Em. And no, he wasn't at all a little wobbly on his legs. "Heeey, Emma."

Comments

[offthebeatenpath]

"Nope." Em didn't giggle, but it was a near thing. "I just recognized that you have a dirty mind and might try."

[jageskro]

"Blame your gutter mind on me, why don't you," Jag teased, crumbling some pot onto the tobacco.

[offthebeatenpath]

"You're a corrupting influence. Look at you, giving me pot and everything." Her face was a picture of innocence. "Some of my favorite people have been corrupting influences on the sweet, innocent convent school drop-out."

[jageskro]

"You dropped out of convent school, I'm not taking the blame for your corruption," Jag told her with a snort, and tore a little cardboard out of his pack of cigarettes to make a filter.

[offthebeatenpath]

"Corrupting influence," Em repeated, but her innocent look failed her when she couldn't hold back the laughter.

[jageskro]

"Always the quiet ones,"Jag retorted, and rolled the joint at last, licking the skin and closing it up. He lit it with a tiny flame, taking a deep drag on it, then held it out to Em. "Pretend it's an apple."

[offthebeatenpath]

Well, Em was one of the quiet ones, and only people who knew her well, like Jag, got to see more than that. So she wouldn't argue that point. "An apple?" she repeated, not following at all.

[jageskro]

"Corrupting influence, yeah?" he offered, holding the joint out for her.

[offthebeatenpath]

From apples to pomegranates to Persephone to the underworld, but Em didn't need to follow that thread right then. She grinned, taking the joint and holding it the way he had. "The apple would've been my downfall. I never could resist knowing more." Then lifting the joint to her lips, she inhaled cautiously.

[jageskro]

"See, you had the seed of corruption in you already," Jag grinned, watching her take her first drag.

[offthebeatenpath]

Pro tip: Laughing in the middle of your first toke, not a good idea. Half laugh, half cough, and it made her eyes and the back of her throat itch from the smoke.

When she could breathe again, Em shook her head. "I am not touching that one."

[jageskro]

Jag smirked, and leaned over the side of the bed to grab the bottle of water on the floor and hold it out to her. "So many directions I could go with that one."

[offthebeatenpath]

Em offered the joint back to him as she took the water. Anything she could have said would have made things worse - or maybe her mind really was just completely in the gutter right then - so she shook her head and kept her mouth shut.

[jageskro]

Jag's own mind was very firmly in the gutter, clearly, and he saw no issue with it. He took the joint back and took a drag, holding the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before speaking. "It's going to burn your throat at first, but don't give up, you'll get used to it," he stated, and held it back to her.

[offthebeatenpath]

She nodded, accepting the advice. He was the one who knew what he was doing. "Try not making me laugh next time. That'll help."

It did burn, but her second, laugh-free, try was better than the first and didn't end with her coughing to the point of tears.

[jageskro]

"Not my fault you find me devastatingly funny," he retorted, leaning back on his hands and letting her have the spliff for now.

[offthebeatenpath]

"What did I say about making me laugh?" she asked, eyeing him. She took another drag, only slightly deeper than the previous two, and trying to adjust to the burn.

[jageskro]

"You weren't pulling on it!" Jag protested, completely unrepentant. "How does your throat feel?"

[offthebeatenpath]

"Okay, I guess." It was hard to describe, the sensation was too new and different from anything she was used to. "How should it feel?"

[jageskro]

"Not too scratchy, hopefully," Jag answered, and gestured to get the joint back.

[offthebeatenpath]

She handed him the joint, and tilted her head. "No, not too scratchy, I think. Just, different."

[jageskro]

"Different?" Jag echoed, and took another deep drag.

[offthebeatenpath]

"As in I don't smoke. I'm not used to it," she explained. "So yeah, a little scratchy maybe, but not bad."

[jageskro]

"It's rougher than cigarettes," Jag supplied, and took another hit before handing it back to her.

[offthebeatenpath]

"Which I also don't smoke," Em pointed out before taking another drag and holding onto the smoke a bit longer this time. Sabine smoked on occasions, but that was one area where they'd never really broken the early 'keep the bad habits away from the kid' dynamic, or maybe just Em being the nominal 'good' cousin, compared to Wicked.