Third floor common room [afternoon]

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat had nothing to do on Wednesdays, which meant that he slept in until it was borderline criminal (and the yellow paint on the walls of his room gave him a headache), then poked around looking for something to entertain him.

Today he had settled on tossing dice in the third floor common room and hoping someone would come along who could cook for him. The burnt remains of what had been a package of bacon in the trash can--and the smoke in the room--would let people know how Mat's first attempt at fending for himself had worked out.

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[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Following her literature class, Alex wandered on down to the common room in an attempt to do something productive with the rest of her afternoon. Plus, she was in the mood for some soup.

The smoke in the room caught her off guard, just a little. "Something not go according to plan?" She'd had her cooking mishaps too.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"There was something wrong with the bacon," Mat complained.

Namely, that it had been wrapped in plastic. Mat's world hadn't come up with that yet.

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex frowned slightly at that.

"Is there another package? Could attempt it one more time," she suggested. "If not, I was going to make some soup. You're welcome to some if you want." Alex could be generous when she wanted.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat flashed her one of his brightest smiles. "I think soup sounds like a better idea. I'm bloody useless when it comes to cooking anything that isn't stuck on a stick and toasted over an open flame."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy was just intending to grab a mug of hot chocolate or something on the way back to her room after class. She hesitated as she got into the common room on her way to the kitchen area, and wrinkled her nose.

"What is that smell?" she asked, quite matter of fact. Effy knew burnt things, and that one was definitely not just food.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Bacon," Mat admitted, pulling a face. "It turns out that I'm a bloody terrible cook."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"So am I." Effy was perfectly happy to admit that one. She really was. Never going to be fifties housewife material. Hot chocolate and cereal was about her limit.

"Can't find a common room with someone giving something away?" Around here, that usually seemed to be the case.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Well, that involved getting up and moving, and the couch here was quite comfortable," Mat replied. "So I decided instead to wait for someone to come in and save me from a life of bread and water."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy gave a bit of a laugh, and shook her head. "Don't think I'm the best person to help with that," she said. While she probably could, there were bound to be others better suited to all that.

"Tend to do the same thing." People around here were so helpful when it came to that sort of thing. "Lot more relaxing."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Mat agreed, grinning at her. "Let the people who enjoy cooking cook. I enjoy eating and laying around. We should all stick to our strengths."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Effy repeated, snagging a mug from the side, which she didn't actually fill before winding her way closer. Good sort of philosophy, in her opinion.

"You new?" New-ish, at least. Hadn't seen him around much, so that was her assumption.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I was part of the last crop," he confirmed with a nod. "I'm Mat Cauthon. It's very nice to meet you."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Effy," she offered in return, shooting him a grin. "Very nice to meet you too." Oh yes, she could do polite when the occasion called for it.

"Guessing you're a neighbor I've managed not to meet." Because if he was lazy enough not to go looking for food, he probably hadn't gone futher than his own floor.

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I live with Zayne," Mat said, pointing in the general direction of his room, "in the room that some insane girl painting yellow. How have you been keeping yourself busy, Effy?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen had followed her nose to the room, hoping the room itself wasn't actually on fire. "Whatever happened here?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Of course he'd had gotten a bloody stream of women coming into the room to wonder what he'd done wrong, Mat thought sourly. Women would walk a thousand miles to tell a man it was his fault.

"I can't bloody cook," Mat replied with a smile. "Can you?"

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she was pretty sure she'd caught sight of that one. Difficult to miss a room that colour, even if you were just passing the open door.

Effy shrugged. "I have my ways," she replied vaguely. Had her mysterious fun, too. "Even small towns have a little something."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen blinked at him. "Yes, actually. Did you want some help?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"I'm still looking for the fun," Mat admitted. "Any suggestions?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

Mat wanted someone to cook for him, really. "Please," he said, beaming. "The bacon was a complete disaster."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I can see that," Helen said dryly. "Was there something in particular you were trying to cook or was it just the bacon?"

She was already looking through the shelves to see what there might be available.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"There's always the bar," she said. "Hear some people do karaoke there. Clubs on the mainland," she said, leaning against the side of the couch.

"Pool hall." That had been fun mostly because it'd been... strongly suggested she and Alex leave before they did anything dirty on a pool table. "Some kind of hot tub."

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Pool hall?" Mat asked, looking interested. "What's pool? Can you wager on it?"

[bloody-luck.livejournal.com]

"Bacon I recognized, so I tried to cook bacon," Mat replied.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"It's a game," she answered, nodding slightly. "And yes, you can wager on it."

"Go so far as to say it's more fun when you do."