Christmas Eve, Second Floor Common Room

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam sat in the common room, idly flipping through channels. No specials were on, and there was only so long she could watch the Yule log. She sipped occasionally from a glass of red wine.

She was trying very, very hard not to think of her father.

Comments

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander paused in his emptying of the goodie-pillowsack. "Well, I'm told people date Paige."

[can_be_more]

If Paige hadn't once hit on John, Aeryn probably wouldn't have had a reaction. As Paige had once hit on John, she covers the laugh with a cough. Mostly, anyway.

[soldtoarmenians]

"Mostly people don't date frogs," Xander added. "We have a fairytale about a prince who was turned into one by magic, and got turned human again by a kiss, though. I keep telling Jeremiah that only works if you didn't start out as a frog, but will he listen?"

[can_be_more]

"I'm guessing no," Aeryn says. "Does he... talk back?"

[soldtoarmenians]

"Reedeeep!" Jeremiah said proudly.

"Well, not in English," Xander added.

[can_be_more]

Aeryn's pretty glad the translator microbes didn't catch what Jeremiah just said. "Can you understand him?" she asks, fearing the answer.

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander cast a nervouse look at the frog, then covered the side of his mouth so that it was visible to Aeryn but not to the tank. "Well, no, but I pretend I can, so his feelings don't get hurt," he whispered.

[can_be_more]

"Oh," she says, and maybe feels slightly bad for kicking the frogs out of her way the day they invaded the second floor. Then again, they'd been in her way. "Well, we can't have that...?"

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander nodded. "Trust me, you don't want to see a mopey frog. You think Angel does the sullen, brooding thing well? He's got nothin' on an animal with eyes that big." He pointed to Jeremiah's cheerfully-bulging eyeballs.

[can_be_more]

"I don't know that I've actually seen him brooding," Aeryn says, thinking back. There was that one time, but it was way past brooding. "Usually when I see him he's either teasing me or dealing with the toaster or dressing up the dog."

She studies Jeremiah. She didn't want to have to see a broody frog.

[soldtoarmenians]

"Dressing up the dog?" Xander repeated. "And there goes item 1029 on the List Of Things I Never Wanted To Know About Angel."

[can_be_more]

"Sorry," she says, though she isn't really. Hey, if she has to deal with it...

[soldtoarmenians]

"I hesitate to ask, and yet feel compelled to," Xander adds. "When you say 'dressing,' please tell me you don't mean in an actual dress?"

[can_be_more]

"No," she says quickly. "So far just a hat. Though there was talk of sweaters. And shoes."

[soldtoarmenians]

"Oh, just the normal insane dog-owner behavior, then." Xander nodded. "Though usually only little old ladies go as far as the doggie-sweater thing."

[can_be_more]

Aeryn looks vaguely horrified. "That behavior is normal?"

[soldtoarmenians]

"Well, normal for crazy dog-owners. It's all relative," Xander said. "Right, Jeremiah?"

"Ribbirit!"

"Exactly."