[4th Floor Common Room: Monday afternoon]

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Claire did nothing all week, and this was OK by her. She wandered town, she hung out in her room. And quite amazingly, not once did she break a leg or another bone almost die or actually die or have to be rescued or anything.

She could get used to this.

She wasn't so sure she could get used to the smell of smoke that was beginning to permeate her room. So while her roommate was in class, she opened the windows as far as they would go, switched on a fan to get the air circulating, and decamped to the common room, where she was now curled up on the couch, channel surfing for sitcoms and painting her fingernails.

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Up early in order to get ready for his Pie class, Seely flopped down on the other end of the couch. "Morning."

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"Hey." Claire glanced up from the Very Important and Focused Job of painting her nails and gave him a friendly smile. "How's it going?"

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"Pretty good," Seely said, grinning back. "Even with workshops starting up again."

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"Classes in summer."

Claire made a face, albeit one far too cheerful for the sentiment. "Whoever came up with that was clearly evil."

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River was on her way back to the fifth floor when she noticed the new girl in the common room. Very quietly she entered. "I have friends who do that too!" She exclaimed happily, referring to the painting of nails.

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"Really?" Claire replied, looking up from her work - a pale, neutral pink. "Quite a few people do."

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Seely snickered. "But at least it's not math," he said, and offered Claire his hand. "Forgot to introduce myself, Seely Booth."

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Seely waved to River. "Hey."

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"I know," River said. "I have never got into that habit. I do paint, though." She sat down on the couch next to Claire.

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"Least it's not math."

That, Claire agreed with whole heartedly. She reached her own hand forward, fingers spread, then retracted it sharply when she remembere dthe wet varnish, and waved instead. "Claire Bennet. I'm new."

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"Yeah?"

carefully placing her palms on her knees to let them dry, Claire turned her attention to River. "What'd you paint?"

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"Hello, Seely," River said, smiling. "Having a good summer?"

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"Thought I hadn't seen you around before," Seely said. "I'm old. So you've heard the horror stories, right?"

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"I try to describe parts of reality, leaving out irrelevant information to clarify a point," River explained. "I had a sea creatures phase. There's a mural in the fifth floor common room."

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"Over and over again," she replied with an roll of her eyes that was genial enough. "I'm waiting to see if any of them are actually true."

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"Oh, that was you?"

Claire had wandered in there on a mission for chocolate milk at some point in the last week.

"It's really good."

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Seely beamed. "Yeah, so far it's been great."

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"Gremlins are," Seely said. "Hence the cheer squad name."

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

That made River smile. "Thank you." She glanced at Claire's hands. "Would you paint my nails?"

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It wasn't too hard to get some idea why it had been great. River grinned. "Good. You're keeping busy then?"

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"That's what I heard," Claire replied, amused that someone was bringing up cheer again around her.

She decided she must have 'cheerleader' written on her forehead again.

"Are you on a team?"

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Claire glanced down at River's nails, shrugged, and smiled broadly.

"Sure," she said, twisting around on the couch. "Any colour you want?"

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River's nails wasn't exactly nicely manicured, but at least the varnish would cover that up a little. She thought for a moment, then beamed at Claire. "You chose a colour that suits me!"

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Seely rubbed his chin. "Well, guess the squad counts as a team, we did go to a couple of competitions last semester."

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"Yeah," Seely nodded. "Between classes and Aravis. How about you?"