242: DANGER! DANGER!

[Merle]

Poor Jamie. I think they've switched games without telling him; it's no longer Truth or Dare, it's Minesweeper: The Home Game!

[McKathlin]

Yeah...wow.

I do believe that Ellen has thrown her inhibitions out the window and is trying to logick her way into some lovin'.

This confirms my speculations on the current state of the feelings of these characters, which are thus:

Ellen finds Jamie attractive, and understandably so: he's "mentally stimulating," both in conversation, and in playing the games he invents. And he can cook! But (when sober) Ellen forbids herself to act on the attraction or even dwell on it, because she considers it a Bad Idea.

Jamie enjoys Ellen as a friend, but probably doesn't find her attractive (yet). He hasn't seen her "artfully presented" as a desirable woman; Ellen's not the type to exude feminine charms. Of course, even if Jamie were into Ellen, he wouldn't take her up on an offer that she wouldn't make while sober.

I'd love to hear counter-speculations, of course.

[snowyowl]

I think McKathlin is reading too much into the cast page (it is after all attempting to condense entire characters into a name, an age, a job, an orientation, and a pun), but otherwise spot-on.

It's been two weeks in-story since the comic began, but it's been an action-packed two weeks. I don't really know what the usual minimum time between meeting and forming a relationship is, but even if two weeks is abnormally short they've spent a lot of time together and had a lot of powerful shared experiences (see also: every single plotline in this comic). I can see no catastrophic life failure resulting from any make-outs at this point in time, unless Max gets involved.

It's really a question of what they want to do at this point.

Ellen: Drunk, offering quasi-sex as "apology" to Jamie even though he already accepted her verbal apology. I'm usually pretty oblivious to that sort of thing, and even I'm picking up on it. She liiiiikes him (read in mocking 10-year-old voice). Interestingly, note her distinction between "sexual" and "romantic"; it's clear she approaches the sex/romance divide from a completely different direction to Max, and probably from a completely different direction to Jamie though I don't have enough data to confirm that one.

Jamie: Sober, stressed out from his lawyery ordeal, mentioned an "instinct to wait until marriage", fairly uncomfortable with Max urging him on, and reacts to Ellen's offer with a sarcastic response that doesn't actually acknowledge what she said. He may or may not liiiiiiiiiiiike Ellen, but he's not going to act on it tonight.

Sum total plot prediction: Ellen makes more blatant advances on Jamie, Jamie turns her down (explicitly or not), Ellen wakes up the next morning to a pounding hangover and the smell of Jamie making fruit crumble for breakfast, has an "ohgodwhathappenedlastnight" moment, slight awkwardness in the short to medium term, story arc comes to a close, later story arc brings it back up and either has Ellen and Jamie enter into a committed relationship or has some traumatic event that makes them never look at each other that way again.

[Tailsteak]

Ellen makes more blatant advances on Jamie, Jamie turns her down (explicitly or not), Ellen wakes up the next morning to a pounding hangover and the smell of Jamie making fruit crumble for breakfast, has an "ohgodwhathappenedlastnight" moment, slight awkwardness in the short to medium term, story arc comes to a close, later story arc brings it back up and either has Ellen and Jamie enter into a committed relationship or has some traumatic event that makes them never look at each other that way again.

Yup.

Yup, that's exactly what's going to happen.

[GreatLimmick]

Really? Fruit crumble?

[Tailsteak]

Yep, fruit crumble. You nailed it exactly.

[snowyowl]

If I had Jamie's cooking skills, I'd have fruit crumble for breakfast whenever I wanted.

[Merle]

If I had Jamie's cooking skills, I'd have fruit crumble for breakfast whenever I wanted.

I've never even heard of fruit crumble.
To Wikipedia!

(And personally, I'm hoping that Max winds up seducing Ellen and Jamie, then sets herself up as Sex Queen of the Eastern Seaboard.)

[McKathlin]

I think McKathlin is reading too much into the cast page (it is after all attempting to condense entire characters into a name, an age, a job, an orientation, and a pun), but otherwise spot-on.

Yeah, maybe I did read too much into it, but you've gotta admit that the cast page is quotable and makes a good starting point.

Poor Jamie. I think they've switched games without telling him; it's no longer Truth or Dare, it's Minesweeper: The Home Game!

And then Jamie himself compares the situation to a minefield in the next strip. Cool points for Merle.

Yup, that's exactly what's going to happen.

Tailsteak, I love how you'll give this as the answer to anything. But seriously, I do find snowyowl's predictions quite plausible. It'll be fun to see what happens.

[Merle]

May I just say that Max's expression in yesterday's strip is simply adorable.