3rd Floor CR, Monday Morning

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

The first weird thing was that Claire woke up early during her week off.

The second weird thing was that she didn't just want to hang out in her room all day. So she took her sketchbook and a set of pastels and went to the common room to curl up on a couch and draw ... she wasn't sure yet. It might just be her coffee mug. Maybe her coffee mug in spaaaaaaace.

The TV was on and tuned to some soap opera, but Claire wasn't paying enough attention to say what it was about.

[OOC: Open like a CR.]

Comments

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Decent," he said, still surprised by that. "I was here so no jet lag for me. Surprising since I haven't put flying out of this island's skill set. Did you go home?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"It used to move around, didn't it?" Claire asked. "And yeah, I was in L.A. for a week. Not too bad for family time, but I'm glad to be back here."

There were no Russians whining about their broken legs in Fandom.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Moved but I don't think it flew." Though, really, he'd never asked or thought about it. "Nothing much happened here. There were tiny carolers and it rained gold coins but that's getting to be typical."

Pause.

"Which is scary."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Tiny carolers?" It might be getting typical, but it still surprised Claire. "What, like midgets?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"About like that, yeah," he said and laughed. "I don't...think they were children but they were definitely small. And singing. They sang a lot. I haven't heard that much Christmas music since a radio back home broke while it was on the Christmas station."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Sounds ... festive." Claire gave Ned a quick glance out of reflex to see if he was kidding, even though she really didn't think he was. "Okay, I went to this weird Yule celebration and my mom's boyfriend broke both his legs, but there's no way home can be as bizarre as this place."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"...both?" Ned winced in sympathy. "How did that happen?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

Claire shook her head. "He just said there was a fight. It made like no sense, but I didn't want to ask a lot of questions."

"He's very Russian." Spoken as if that should explain something, which Claire thought it did -- she just wasn't sure what.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Well, unlucky him," Ned said and rubbed one of his knees in sympathy. "I've never broken a bone before. Knock on...wood and all. I don't know what I'd do if I broke something important like my legs."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"He's zonked out of his mind on painkillers," Claire said. "But yeah, it sucks. I've never broken anything either, knock ... whatever."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Lucky us both," he said. "Do you have plans for this break week?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Nah, not really. I'll probably go to work tomorrow," Claire decided. Ben had technically given her the time off, but she would rather have the money. "What about you?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Bake, maybe," Ned said and shrugged again. "Try to get out of my room more than once a month. So far, I'm doing good on that last part. I go through phases of being anti-social."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"I don't really think of it as being anti-social when I do it," Claire commented. "Sometimes I just can't deal with people in general."

"So is this your time out for December?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I think so," he said, taking a moment to recall if he'd been out and social. "I mean, besides classes. I talk to people there. And sometimes I'll visit other rooms. Sometimes crowds just...get to me. I dunno."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"It's easier to watch," Claire said sympathetically. "I don't know, sometimes I like parties but sometimes it's just .... easier to stay in my room. Plus most people, not you, are kind of depressing to talk to."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I've kept most of the depressing stuff behind closed doors," he said which was truthful but he tried to make it a joke. "Who wants to listen to some tall guy talk about how bad his life is during the holidays, right?"

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

Claire gave a tiny smile. She actually got more depressed when people were all chipper, but it seemed too complicated to explain. "Hey, if you want to whine or whatever, I can listen," she said instead. "I don't care if you depress me."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I don't have that much to whine about, actually." Though, he knew he could find things. "I wish it snowed. I dislike all this warm weather. I'm used to bitter cold and not feeling my face when I walk outside. I do miss snow."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"It's weird, I was all ready for there to actually be snow here, but the East Coast is a lot warmer than people told me it was," Claire said, a little disappointment in her voice. "Where are you from where it's freezing?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"A place called Coeur d'Coeurs," he said with some fondness in his voice. "Um, it's a really small town. It's probably not even on the map. They had a sunflower field and...that's about it. Well, besides the snow."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Pretty name, anyhow," Claire said. "It sounds ... really peaceful."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It was," he replied with a slight nod. "In retrospect, I think it'd be called boring these days. But, it was nice. It was a good place to grow up."

For the little bit of time he'd lived there.

"Unless you were allergic to sunflowers."

[swipedthatfoot.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, if you were allergic you'd pretty much have to stay inside all the time," Claire said, wrinkling her nose a little. "But boring's not that bad, when you're a kid. Plus, I grew up in the city and it's not like I was partying in Hollywood every night."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"What sort of things could a kid do in Hollywood?" Ned asked. "I've never been in a really huge city."