Fourth Floor Common Room: Early Wednesday morning [before workshops]

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Not wanting to wake Aravis if she was asleep, Karal had crept out of their room, bringing two books and his ridiculously thick (especially when you consider they were written in the Karsite version of shorthand) pile of notes with him to the common room.

There was a pot of coffee brewed, and Karal was sitting on one end of the couch, cup of coffee to hand, with the television playing quietly in the background. It had been on when he arrived, and he wasn't entirely sure how to turn it off. He occasionally glanced at it, blinking in amazement at some bit of apparent idiocy, before diving back into his notes.

Altra was sitting on top of the TV, tail hanging in front of the screen, watching Karal.

[ooc: the common room, she is open.]

Comments

[solo_sword]

Jaina was having one of those mornings where making her own coffee was out of the question, so she's very happy to see that there's someplace that already has some, but making the trek up a flight of stairs to see if anyone else had it was perfectly acceptable.

"I'm invading," she said, still a little sleepily as she went to get a cup.

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

Charlie didn't have classes today, or work, so she was just wandering again, and was happy to find coffee one floor down. "Karal! Hi, I heard you were back."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Hi, Jaina," Charlie said, as she looked around for the sugar. "Are you bringing troops with you?"

[solo_sword]

Jaina? Clearly not entirely awake. "Um?"

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"For the invasion?" Seeing Jaina's look, Charlie grinned, and just passed the cream and sugar over, so Jaina could use them if she wanted. "Never mind. Not important."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra snickered inside Karal's head, and Karal smiled at her. "Are you claiming the common room in the name of you, then?" he asked. "Good morning, Jaina."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Good morning, Charlie," Karal greeted her with a smile. "Back from home or back from New York?"

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"The first one, since I didn't know about the second one," Charlie said, and took a sip of her own coffee. "But I'd like to hear about both. I stopped by and said hi to Trenor a couple times. Did you have fun?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"New York was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. We went to the top of the Empire State Building. It was if the entire world was spread out before us." He didn't think he would ever lose the touch of awe he knew was filing his voice. "And thank you, very much. Did he remain a horse the entire time?"

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

Laughing, Charlie said, "Every time I saw him, yeah. And isn't New York great? That's where we lived for six months, when I was seven. Did you see Central Park? And the zoo?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"I hndwavily did. I must say, it was a relief to find such an expanse of land in that place. Everything there was so crowded." He sipped his coffee then wrapped his hands around the mug and considered her. "Charlie, did you ever got a place called FAO Schwartz? A place that purports to be this world's largest toystore?"

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Ohhh! Yes, I did." Charlie smiled wistfully. "They had the best dolls ever. We couldn't afford much there at the time, so I liked just going in to look. You guys got to shop there? Did you get anything?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal gaped at her. "You didn't think it was evil?" he blurted, then flushed. "Umm, no, no we didn't get anything."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Evil?" Charlie started laughing, then choked it off to a giggle. "Um, no? But I was seven. Seven-year-olds are kind of evil too."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Altra was looking very amused as he watched Karal and Charlie, but he didn't say anything. Karal groaned and rubbed his forehead. "No, I know it is not actually evil. But it seemed evil. It is a long story, and one I will not bore you with." Having Molly know it was embarrassing enough. "And I am sure you were a very nice seven year old."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

Charlie's smile faltered a moment, but she recovered to say, "Most of the time. Although I did make my dad stay there with me for much longer than he probably wanted to. They had a set of blocks that I had built up as tall as I was, and I didn't want to leave." She grinned again. "And long stories are fun. But what else did you see while you were there? Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty?"

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal caught the way her smile had faltered, and he looked momentarily worried, but he chose not say anything. "There was an amazing place, called the Met? Such beautiful things, and everyone was allowed to come in, no matter what class they were. And we had pizza, and I tried a hot dog, and rode on the subway, which I would be happy never to do again." He grimaced. "Horses are far preferable."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Ohhh!" Charlie's smile widened and she nodded enthusiastically. "That's one of the best ones! D.C. has some really great galleries too, Namine' and I visited some last month. They're *free*, too. At least the Smithsonian is." She giggled. "The Metro here is nicer than the New York subway, but if you like horses that much more, you probably still won't like it."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Isabel said there were a number of places to be visited there. I would very much like to see them, if it can be arranged," he said, smiling at her enthusiasm. "She was talking about perhaps organising a train trip. Would you like to join us?"

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Sure! I like Isabel, she's cool. I'd love to go along." Charlie grinned and took a sip of her coffee. "This weekend I'm camping, though. Two of my classes are going on a trip south of D.C. I'm a little worried, it's my Explosions class and my Stabbing People class."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it would not be so soon. I," he nodded at the books and held up his sheaf of notes, "have something I must finish before I can think of doing anything else."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"Wow. What is all that? Homework?" Charlie asked dubiously. "I didn't think any of the workshops were *that* bad right now."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"No, no it is not. It is from home," he explained. "I think if the teachers assigned homework to this extent the students might rebel!"

[solo_sword]

"It's morning," she said, curling up in a chair and holding her coffee like it was something precious. "Hey. And yes, I am. The flag's being made. I have all the appropriate paperwork done and permits arranged, though."

[girlzippo.livejournal.com]

"So is it part of your job?" Charlie asked, curious. "Being the, um, acolyte? You don't have to say, if it's all confidential."