Second Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

[puppy_fair]

Now that Zack was officially done with classes for the summer, it was time for a little getting out and about and being social. It was also, Zack decided, the perfect time to get the gerbil that Deadpool had given him out for some exercise.

And that was why, armed with a hamster ball and a bunch of notebooks, Zack was hard at work constructing the most epic gerbil floor-maze the second floor common room had ever seen!

Poor, poor Mr. Winkles.

[Open, as common rooms tend to be!]

Comments

[badassfullback.livejournal.com]

Riggins was looking to get a soda (soda, not beer) out of the fridge when he saw his roommate doing...something.

"What are you up to, Zack?"

[puppy_fair]

"Exercise time for the gerbil," Zack replied, grinning as he attempted to get one notebook to stand up on end.

It would have worked better, perhaps, if it was hardcover. It flopped over magnificently.

"More or less. How's your day going?"

[badassfullback.livejournal.com]

"Can't complain. No class until Friday," he said with an easy shrug. He eyed the notebooks warily. "How much exercise do gerbils even need?"

He hadn't exactly seen fat ones scurrying about.

[puppy_fair]

"Honestly, I don't even know." Zack picked up the hamster ball and squinted at the rodent inside. "I didn't even know what these guys ate until Deadpool gave him to me, so I'm kinda winging it. But more exercise never hurt anybody, right?"

[badassfullback.livejournal.com]

"Can't argue with that," Riggins said, in no way depressed that he was missing the start of football season right now. "A fat gerbil would be a sad thing to see."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

This wasn't Hannibal's floor but it was where he found the first signs of life so he stopped in there.

"Hey Zack," he said, recalling the other guy's name from meeting him once before. "How's it going?"

[puppy_fair]

"Can't complain," Zack decided, looking up and waving his hello. "I'm done with my classes for the summer, and just taking it easy. Hannibal, right?"

He wasn't going to follow that up with 'wow, you look a lot like Deadpool.' That would be in bad form.

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"That's me," he said, having heard the Deadpool line a few times already. He was much better looking! "I think we met at a campfire a few months back. I don't get down to this floor too often."

[puppy_fair]

"And there was the ice-cream run in class last week," Zack added, grinning. "But class assignments hardly count, right? How's your girlfriend doing? Is she still a..."

Red panda, Zack.

"Fuzzy thing?"

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah!" Hannibal said as the mun smacked her face for being that forgetful. "I guess the ice cream warped my brain. Angela's back to normal! Two legs, two arms, no fur."

[OH MY GOD I APOLOGIZE SO MUCH! BRAIN FAIL!!!]

[bitten_notshy]

Jack came to the door of the common room and hesitated with his eyes on the maze.

"What's the best way to the icebox that won't knock over any of this?"

[puppy_fair]

Zack blinked up at Jack, and then smiled sheepishly.

"About two steps to the left, and a jump forward. Maybe a step to the right with your hands on your hips, pull your knees in tight," Zack replied, scratching his head. "Or I can move some of it out of the way for you. Half the fun is in putting it back together again, after all."

[bitten_notshy]

"I can step to the left and jump -- I just didn't want to ruin your work," Jack said, as he did just that. "What is it for, anyhow?"

[puppy_fair]

"Gerbil exercise," Zack reported, almost proudly. "Well, that, and boredom. I have no more classes for the rest of the week, the reserves meeting was yesterday. I kinda have a lot of spare time ahead of me until the next semester starts."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

When Kaylee wandered down a set of stairs to the common room on the second floor, she had to stand there and stare in wonder for a moment.

"...oooooooh! What've you made?"

[puppy_fair]

"A maze for my gerbil," Zack replied, grinning up at the girl and waving hello.

He did a lot of grinning and waving. It was a Zack thing.

"There are some parts here and there that are kinda floppy, though. Not the right kind of books for stuff like this, I guess."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Y'might just need some kinda support system," Kaylee offered, crouching to look at the maze better. "Y'could use some of the silverware t'help prop it all up, y'know?"

After a pause to think, she added, "An' what's a gerbil?"

[puppy_fair]

"Oooooh." Zack glanced toward the cupboards, and then grinned up at Kaylee. "That's actually a really good idea!"

A pause.

"And a gerbil is..." He looked around for a moment, and then finally located the errant Mr. Winkles, attempting to make a break for it in his hamster ball. His plans were horribly thwarted as Zack scooped up the ball and held it toward her. "This guy!"

[momslilassassin]

Ben beamed at her. "Hi, stranger who I haven't seen in far too long because I keep forgetting to leave my room!"

That was possibly the longest sentence Ben had strung together in quite a while.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"S'okay, I forget t'leave mine, too," she assured him, smiling at him. "Is your room real interestin'?"

[momslilassassin]

"It has a half-finished droid," he said eagerly.

[momslilassassin]

Ben paused at the door, grinning. "This looks astral."

[puppy_fair]

"I'm surprised nobody did something like this before," Zack laughed, waving hello.

Mr. Winkles did not wave hello. Mr. Winkles wished death and destruction upon all of humanity for the creation of the hamster ball.

Adorably.

"How are you doing, Ben?"

[momslilassassin]

"Good," Ben said, taking a careful step into the room. "I didn't know animals came in balls."

[puppy_fair]

"It's more a fashion accessory," Zack decided. That was close enough. "It's stylish, I think. If you're a gerbil."

No, it really wasn't.

"That, and it keeps him from getting into the couch or the walls or my roomie's sock drawer."