Third Floor Common Room - Monday Late Afternoon

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

It had been a busy day of classes and Neil was still a bit unsettled from the subject matter of Ethics. While some of the rumors started and flung around had been funny, it was also a stark reminder of the power of words and perception.

Dropping off his books in his room, Neil sifted out the ones he needed for Traditional Fairy Tales and then he decided to head back to the common room for a bit. He'd seen enough of the inside of his dorm room this past weekend and felt a change of scenary and the chance to observe some of the post AU weekend awkwardness might be a nice change of pace.

The TV didn't really interest him, so he flipped on a radio and made some popcorn. As microwaves were still a bit of an oddity for him, he made the popcorn the old fashion way, on the stove with oil, salt and fresh butter and he probably made way too much. Shrugging, he dumped it all together into a large bowl, which he placed on the table near the couch he flopped upon. Opening his books and perching his reading glasses on his nose, Neil put his feet up on the opposite cushion and set about doing some extra credit.

[Open, as common rooms tend to be.]

Comments

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably. She chuckled, shaking her head. "Okay, so I will try not to make fun of anyone, but there might one or two that I won't be able to resist." She grinned, truly amused.

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"You tease because you care." Neil said looking up and peering at her comically through the glasses at the end of his nose.

"Besides, a little bit of laughter can go a long way to reminding people it's not the end of the world."

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori chuckled. "I guess it could be taken that way."

She nodded. "I only hope that those who were affected realize that it really isn't the end of the world, and in retrospect, it is kind of funny."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

There was a brief pause as a shadow of a thought flitted across Neil's mind but he quickly banished it and simply smiled.

"Exactly and the sooner people see they aren't being treated any differently, the better they feel and for those who have some fence mending to do, can't mend fences until you talk about it, right?"

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"Right, thought I'm sure some won't be willing to talk about what happened. They may just want to forget it ever occurred." Tori was thinking specifically about Bridge.

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." Neil agreed after some thought. "You going to be okay with that?"

Not that meant to infere that Tori would be cruel about pushing someone just that sometimes, with our friends, it's hard to ignore something that was hurting them.

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"I'll have to be." Tori admitted, thinking about it. "No, I will be okay with it." She nodded. "And who knows? Maybe they'll eventually want to talk about, but I'm not going to push them if that's not the case. I'll just be there for them."

[iftheseshadows.livejournal.com]

Neil smiled warmly and nodded.

"That sounds like an excellent plan, Tori. You're a good friend."

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori blushed slightly. "Thanks. I do try."