Second Floor Common Room, Tuesday Night, Oregon Statehood Day

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Trying to ignore everyone coupling off all over the damn school, Sam turned on the Aaron Echolls film festival and prepared to lose herself in the movies. She had a large bowl of popcorn and bottle of diet coke and settled into one of the chairs.

Of course, she was immensely interruptable.

[ooc: For anyone without a significant other, abandoned by them, or protesting Valentine's Day in general.]

Comments

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Or so anyone kissing the aquarium would have something bad happen to them?" Sam suddenly had the urge to go gargle.

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander snickered. "If it helps, that's a new aquarium? He's only had it since Christmas."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Well, okay, then." She stuck her tongue out at him, "because I wouldn't want to have to explain that to the guy running the clinic in town."

[soldtoarmenians]

"Wouldn't want the new guy to know your shameful froglicking secrets." Xander nodded knowingly.

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"I think the worst that could be said is that I was an aquarium kisser. I've never licked a frog in my life!" Sam made a face. "Okay, there was the one time, but that was a complete accident and I think someone slipped something into my drink."

[soldtoarmenians]

"Me neither, but my BFF keeps accusing me of it." And he so owed her an e-mail. Just... gah. "For some reason she thinks I'm occasionally strange. I can't imagine why."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Oh? Where's your friend?" Sam gave Jeremiah in his aquarium a pointed look. "And I have no idea why she would think that."

[soldtoarmenians]

"Guest-starring in someone else's fandom. England. Sort of. They kind of did a mass exchange-program-without-the-exchange-part with everybody in our high school, and she ended up in another dimension at this academy for witches. I think it's the same place Malfoy's from, but..." He shrugged. "Dimensions wacky, Xander weird, News at 11."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"So this place must feel kind of familiar, huh?" She offered Jeremiah a piece of popcorn. "Do you miss her?"

[soldtoarmenians]

Jeremiah tilted his head and opened and shut his mouth several times, trying to figure out if the Thing that was being held out to him was food or not, but it didn't smell like food. Food wriggled and flew, or at least smelled like it used to wriggle and fly.

Xander nodded. "Kinda, yeah. There's a couple people from our gang of friends here, or close enough, but it's not the same without Willow. Or Buffy - she's back at home trying to hunt down a giant snake." He glanced down at Jeremiah. "He probably won't take that; he won't eat Twinkies, so clearly he's got no taste in snacks."

Then he looked back up at Sam. "What about you? You leave friends back home, or did everybody from your school of inbred mutant jewel thieves get shipped here? I know there's a pretty big bunch of you."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam tossed the popcorn kernel towards the garbage can and missed. "Is it weird for you, being a guy who's best friends with two girls?"

"No, I'm lucky. Most of my friends are here."

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander shrugged. "For me? No. Willow and I've been friends for as long as I can remember. For other people? I dunno; it's not like that stands out among the rest of the weird." He snorted. "I think I'm just destined to be one of those guys who's an expert at holding purses, braiding hair, and learning way too much about products I will never use unless dressing battlfield wounds."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"There's nothing wrong with being one of those guys," Sam smiled at him, "and in fact, some of us like that kind."

"Wait, you know how to dress battlefield wounds?"

[soldtoarmenians]

"More or less. There was this thing a couple Halloweens ago where we all got turned into whatever we were dressed up as, for real, memories and all. I was a soldier." He scratched his head. "Some of it's a bit hazy, but your basic emergency first aid's definitely still in there; not a skill you're gonna lose from lack of practice in Sunnydale."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Definitely a handy skill to have," Sam mused, though, wow, she wished she'd known about that when they'd been setting up the study group. Janet could have used the help. "A soldier, huh? Ever want that kind of life for yourself for real?"

So maybe she was still looking for good people to recruit...

[soldtoarmenians]

"Thought about it at one point," Xander admitted. "I'm ok at following orders. But... not so ok with the part where if you don't like the orders, they throw you in the stockade instead of firing you when you tell your boss to kiss your ass." He grinned. "Also not so great with the getting up at 0600 hours, Shop class aside."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam grinned back. "I'd tell you that you only have to follow orders until you're high enough in the chain of command to give your own, but that's a lie."

"My dad used to tell stories..." Her smile dimmed slightly. "Well, let's just say that getting up early isn't an automatic skill for a lot of people."

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander snorted. "It's definitely not for my dad. I come by it honestly, I guess. "

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"It's not for everyone. I think that's why God invented coffee."