Fifth Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

[not_in_the_book]

"Can you hand me the ginger?" Ronan asked, as he ground some spices with a mortar and pestle. "The fresh, I mean." The fragrant smells of cooking curry were already pervading the common room, and probably making their way through the rest of the dorms. When Isabel handed over the asked-for ginger, he added some to the mixture in the mortar, and went back to grinding. "Thanks. I hope this isn't too spicy for whoever else comes along," he added.


[OOC: Open, as common rooms are! Come have some curry. :D]

Comments

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

Johnny wandered up a few floors, following his nose and letting Savannah rest back in their room.

"Hello room full of people."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Johnny," Isabel said neutrally, remembering the last time they'd spoken. "Are you hungry? There's plenty."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Isabel," he said, ducking his head a bit. He too, remembered their last conversation. "I might be a tad hungry. What's cooking?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Ronan's making me Indian food," she said. "Since I've never had it before."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"Ah, nice," he said and felt uncomfortable for the second time now around Isabel.

"Listen, about the other day... I'm sorry, Isabel. Truly. I was an ass so... I'm sorry."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel smiled, finding an apologetic Johnny impossible to resist. "Apology accepted. Thank you Johnny."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

Her smile was impossible to resist and he grinned, leaning in to give her a hug. "Thank you, sweetheart. I've not liked living with myself since we talked last. I'm happy that you're happy, seriously."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"And I'm very happy," she said, returning the hug. "Although I didn't like fighting with you. Let's not do that again okay?"

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"Never. If there is ever a next time, you totally have my permission to color my hair orange," he said and squeezed her tight before he let her go, grinning down at her. "You look so good. Whatever is going on with you and Wyatt looks good on you. You're radiant."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Orange and lime green," Isabel warned. "And thanks. Basically I'm a happy Isabel."

And that was the truth. When she'd met Johnny the specter of Antar was always in the back of her mind. It was amazing what finding out it was over had done to her attitude. "Life is just really, really good at the moment. My brothers are back, Wyatt's awesome, college applications are almost done and I've got a nice guy making me a fantastic dinner. What more do I need?"

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

He stood smiling at her and raised a brow when she was finished. "You need me, sweetheart. A great friend who needs to remind you just how special you are to him."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Okay, just for that? I'll fix you a plate," she laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "So how's life in the world of Johnny? What have you been doing?"

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"Yes! Thank you," he said. "Ah, you know, everything's the same. Been watching over Savannah a good bit as she's not been feeling all that great. Nightmares."

[not_in_the_book]

"Johnny, hey!" Ronan said, smiling. "How's it going?"


[Don't forget his new scar, dividing his eyebrow -- I figured it would be the kind of thing Johnny would notice.]

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Ronan," Johnny said, returning his smile until he drew closer and noticed the scar. "What happened to you?"

[not_in_the_book]

"Got cut," Ronan replied, shrugging. "I, uh, had a bit of an adventure over Parents Weekend."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"With?" Johnny came closer, studying the scar. "You didn't heal yourself?"

[not_in_the_book]

"No, I did," Ronan said. "I just... was somewhere that it wasn't quite as effective." He bit his lip. "I was away for a year, Johnny. I mean, it was just a weekend here, but it was a year for me."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"A year?" Johnny frowned. "But how is that possible, Ronan? Where did you go and who did this to you?"

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan shook his head. "It's a wizardry thing," he said; already he was starting to get tired of explaining this. "Look, just... I went home for Parents Weekend to help track down an artifact that was stolen. I got caught sideways, in a world where wizardry isn't quite as effective, and it took me a year to find another way home. That's all. It just means I've caught up, timeline-wise. Did I never mention before that I was from a year in the past?"

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

He shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe; I can't remember." Johnny could tell by his attitude that he wasn't much up for talking about it. "Whatever. As long as you're all right."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan nodded. "I'm okay," he said. "Mostly, anyway. Everything else'll heal."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

"There's more than just the scar?" he asked, not really pushing for answers as he was just being concerned.

[not_in_the_book]

"... Not physically." Ronan shrugged again. "It's just... really weird, being back," he added. "'Cause everything's the same, but I'm not, so it's like nothing's the same. Or it doesn't fit right, or something."

[fantastic-torch.livejournal.com]

Johnny nodded, trying to get that together in his head. "You want to go have lunch sometime, maybe talk about it?"