Fourth Floor Common Room [evening]

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Aravis was curled up on the couch, a dog at her feet and a bag of popcorn beside her.

No, of course it wasn't burned. That might imply that she had followed the directions as best she could, and still failed. Which was certainly not the case.

She flipped through the channels on the television, no real aim in mind aside from steering away from anything with that obnoxious false-sounding laughter. Her mind was elsewhere, and possibly pondering how she could possibly mock that awful woman more. It had suddenly become vastly more appealing, now that she was not allowed.

[oooooooooopen like a thing]

Comments

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J....really had to get out of that room. Sometimes, he didn't know how Troy could live with him, considering he left the place filled with so many paint fumes, you could walk around high for a week if you spent too much time there.

So he went to the common room for a breather. He was feeling pretty damn good when he just flopped right down on the couch and gave everyone a smile. "What's up?"

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Hello, A.J." Evie waved from the kitchen. "Tea. Would you like some? I have Earl Gray, Darjeeling, and Russian."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Uhhh...Thanks, Evie, but I'm...not really much of a tea guy."

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Too bad," Evie said cheerfully, choosing Russian for herself. "How are you settling in now? Are you used to this place yet?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"You know," A.J. said with a laugh, "I might say I'm disappointed. Aside from dinosaurs and the occational moment of boggling here and there, things are pretty normal. So...either you all were lying, or, congratulations, I've been successfully assimilated."

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

Evie chortled, putting the kettle on to boil. "As in Galaxy Quest? I'm afraid it's true, A.J. You've become 'one of us.' Resistance is pointless!" She raised her arms in victory. "But the dinosaurs *were* quite something, weren't they?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J.'s eyes shifted slightly to the side, a secret sort of smirk on his face. And a little bit of a blush, too, maybe. Or it could have just been some paint smeared on his cheek too. "Yeah," he said, a little distantly. "They were something all right. Did you see any?"

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Mostly from the library windows. I spent the weekend researching, trying to find a cause or a cure for them. Although I *did* enjoy watching the stegosaureses-- stegosauri?" She paused, trying to figure out which it was. "In any event, those, bashing in trees. Wonderfully destructive from a distance. *Not* something I wish to experience at closer range. And yourself?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Stegasauri," A.J. nodded importantly; he was sure of it. "And Troy and I narrowly escaped this really mean, big, terrible dinosaur. You should have seen the jaws on this thing, Evie! Put that shark in those one movies to shame. No. Question."

That was the story he and Troy decided to stick with, anyway, hum hum.

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Oh, goodness, I am glad you're well then. Narrow escapes are much more enjoyable in retrospect, aren't they?" Evie shook her head, getting out the sugar for her tea. "Did you hide, or just run away very quickly?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Well, Troy tripped and hurt his ankle, so we had to hide," A.J. admitted a little sadly. It would have been a cooler story if they had tried to fight it or something instead of running away like dorky wusses. Even if they were dorky wusses.

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"Ooooo. Oh, goodness. You really are a survivor, then, if one of your party was injured!" Evie nodded vigorously. "Bravo for getting away under those circumstances, truly!"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Why, thank you, Evie!" A.J. straightened proudly and took a dramatic bow. Well, as well as one could when they were sitting.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Aravis was so pleased to know the correct response. "I am quite well, thank you. And yourself?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Pretty good," A.J. nodded. "Pretty good." He held up a hand that still has some dark blue paint on it and grinned widely. "Been painting all day."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

She raised her eyebrows. "What have you been painting and why is your hand still blue?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"My room, and it's still blue because..." His head tilted; he regarded the hand for a moment and then shrugged. "Too lazy to clean it off yet, I guess. It's dry, so it won't get on anything."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Was there something wrong with the walls of your room? Or did you just feel a sudden inclination towards blue?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"They were boring!" A.J. told her with conviction. "That's what was wrong with it. You should see it, it's great. Each wall is a different color, with different designs on it. One wall's got handprints. House rules that if you visit, you can't leave without putting your handprint on it, and..."

A.J. blinked, stopping himself, head tilting at the girl. "Have we met?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"No, we haven't," she replied, amused. "I was waiting to see if you'd realize it. My name is Aravis."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"That's a really neat name," he said with an admiring smile. "I'm A.J." He went to offer his hand to Aravis, realized that was the hand with the paint on it, and, blushing, pulled it back, running it through his hair with a nervous chuckle. "Uh, um, yeah. Good to meet you."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Thank you, it's Calormene," she said, smiling a bit. "Do the letters stand for anything? A and J, I mean. Or were they just arbitrarily chosen to represent you? And why is it not Aj?"

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Calormene?" A.J.'s head tilted. "And it's A.J. because that....sounds more...important?" It was a total guess. And for reasons he couldn't understand like no one ever knowing, he didn't even think to answer the rest.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"From Calormen. My country of origin," she replied. "I am not from this world, exactly."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Ahhh, okay," A.J. nodded. "One of those things..." He looked at Aravis thoughtfully for a moment before asking, "What's it like there. In...Calor..men?" He wasn't sure if he got the name right.