OPEN
Jane pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, added another log to the fire, and laid back in her chair to look up at the sky. She liked the quiet only found in the dark of night, where she could be alone with her thoughts and her ideas and the stars. She chewed on the end of her pen, notebook open to an empty page resting in her lap, and waited for the constellations above to reveal their secrets to her.
Darcy shrugged on a warm sweater before heading outside. The nights were surprisingly cold out here, considering how warm it was in the daytime. She’d needed a bit of air, though, after spending all day at the computer searching pages full of numbers for anomalies.
She caught sight of the fire as soon as she stepped outside, and ambled over.
"Hey, boss, mind if I join you," she asked, occupying the other chair before Jane could answer. "You know, we have marshmallows… We could make s’mores!" She grinned mischievously at the other woman.
"You need more than just marshmallows to make s’mores," Jane replied, rolling her eyes slightly. Darcy, for as hard as she worked, still had a tendency to think things through, in Jane’s opinion.
"You don’t usually come up here. What’s the occasion?"
Darcy mock glared at Jane.
"Yeah, I know how to make s’mores, Jane, but I always have crackers and chocolate. I only buy marshmallows when I’m cravings s’mores."
Honestly, Darcy wasn’t particularly surprised that Jane hadn’t expected her to think her idea through. Darcy generally didn’t have much of a brain-to-mouth-filter, so she supposed she often came off as flighty or silly.
"I just needed a bit of air. I went to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. Some silly nightmare…" She shivered, hoping she’d managed to seem nonchalant and unshaken by the dream. "I hope you don’t mind some company?"
Jane shook her head. “No, it’s fine. My mind wasn’t really on work any more anyway.” With a heavy sigh she leaned toward the flames and held out her hands.
"Wanna tell me about your dream?"
Darcy hesitated."I... I was dreaming that someone was chasing me. I couldn't see him, but I knew he had a knife, and he was gonna..."
She swallowed and hugged herself to ward of the sudden chill she felt.
"And I just... I didn't wanna be alone."
