Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

[wantstodirect]

Tony had a can of pop, a bag of beef jerky and a can of spray cheese. He settled in the second floor common room to watch this week's episode of Darkest Night. Tonight Raymond Dark and James Taylor Grant investigated crop circles. Aliens? Fakes? Or... something else?

[Open!]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Yay!" The Sadface melted into the Gleeface with disturbing ease, and Dinah took a cookie with a relieved smile. "I am glad you haven't had your immunosuppressive shots against Sadface for SAT's, I really am. MMPhhhH." Not an SAT word, but a very happy expressive word for COOKIE.

[thatsamilkshake]

"I guess I have to take those sometime soon," Francine said, grabbing a cookie for herself. "Ugh."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"They are the designated self-image destroyers in the academic world. Heavy hitters. Megaton bombs," Dinah slumped and nibbled, exuding gloom. "Barbara tutored me within an inch of my life on Sunday, so I don't think I tanked them? But. I couldn't tell you how I actually did now even with a gun to my head."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine sounded entirely too knowledgeable when she said, "Pretty much the only thing I can say with a gun to my head is abuibudbudubdibibibil...."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah gave her a very dubious look. "When did this happen?" She nibbled some more on her cookie. "Or is this a recurring nightmare we need to feed you ice cream for?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Not that I haven't had a few nightmares about it or that I'd turn down ice cream, but it happened," Francine said, plucking out a mostly-intact chip. "Back when Merlin and I started the Tied To A Chair Club."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Whaaaat? Wait, where was I during this?" Dinah asked, perturbed. "Okay, so getting you ice cream. Because there should have been untying before there had to be a club for you guys."

[thatsamilkshake]

"At the end of September, when we came back all beat up and Raven healed us," Francine reminded her. "You asked if we were in Fight Club and I said we'd started our own?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"... this is happening way too often to you guys when you're out of my sight," Dinah decided. She shook her head, remembering that incident now. "You get sick, you get beat up, you don't get to leave any more. It's a rule. That I just made up. Sheesh."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine snorted. "Are you gonna follow us around for the rest of our lives? You might have to clone yourself, since Merlin'll be in Camelot, and I'll be..." Francine paused and pursed her lips. "Wherever I am, I guess."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I can try," Dinah insisted. "Or! I can make sure I can dream when you guys are in trouble, next time. Somehow. I can get good enough to come find you!" She sighed, then gave Francine a curious look. "Are you going to go back to Tennessee, maybe? Where your mom is? Or college somewhere else?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"I don't know," Francine admitted straight-up. Though she did know that going back to live with her mom was so not an option. After a moment spent not thinking of what to say but only of whether she should say it, she added a bit more quietly, "Wherever Katchoo is."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah blinked at that, and how it sounded, then said slowly, "'Cause she's your best friend. You guys are going to live together, maybe?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"...I guess. Probably. Yes." Way to sound sure there, Peters. Except it wasn't that she was unsure of, it was whether she should take the easy out sitting right there in front of her, or...not. Because it was Dinah, and if she couldn't say it to Dinah, what did that say about her?

"Not..." She dropped her face along with her voice, studying her fingers and the chocolate smear just along the ridge of her thumb. "Not just my best friend."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah's mouth made a soundless O, followed by a lot of blinking. She gulped, then thought, because this seemed like one of those times to really think before speaking. Several things went through her mind at once: May and the Beltane festival and Francine's reaction after; the break-up with Merlin; the way Francine had looked after Katchoo in 'Dite's shop when she was sick after the trip to pretend-Briarwood, being BFF's and how Francine worried about Katchoo, and hey, she'd wondered if Katchoo's feeling weren't strictly platonic once or twice and... "Ohhhhhhh."

Hunh. The only surprise was how much sense that made, when she thought about it. "Oh," she repeated more softly. "This is. Um. New, hunh?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb - yes, the one with chocolate on it - and curled her mouth up a bit on one side. "That kind of depends who you ask."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah blinked at her, then grinned and pulled her legs up to her chest. "What, like Rashomon? You have chocolate on your nose," she teased lightly, happy to be distracted by that while she continued to think it over. "What's your opinion?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Rasho-what?" Francine swiped at her nose, which gave her another chance to look down, yay. "I meant it's, yeah. New. Really really new. For me. Not so new for Katchoo."

She couldn't resist the tiny bit of petulance in thinking Or Merlin and Arthur. Everybody knew but me.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Well, and Dinah. Take comfort in that, Francine.

"I wondered," Dinah said tentatively. "After the zombies. She was pretty... wrecked." She licked her lips, and asked the most important question. "You're happy?"

[thatsamilkshake]

It wasn't just her who'd seen Katchoo dead. Sometimes Francine had to be reminded of it. Because she obviously didn't feel guilty enough.

"I'm..." Not happy about breaking up with Merlin. Relieved not to be hurting Katchoo and Arthur anymore. And the rest of it... "Sometimes. Mostly I'm just clueless."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah gave her a sympathetic look and scooted closer, thinking of what Francine had told her about the lily brand, and Katchoo's tattoo, and wondering how long this had been developing for Francine, too. "You don't have to figure it out right away, do you?"



[it helps to hit POST, grr.]

[thatsamilkshake]

"God, I hope not, or we're totally screwed." Francine, Queen of Blurt. See conversation with Jack for arguments of royal qualification.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah snickered, then elbowed Francine, and took another cookie, smiling at the chocolate still smeared on the other girl's face. "I think if Katchoo's hung in this long, she can hang in a while longer. If I'm understanding right, and this started for her earlier than for you." She took a nibble of her cookie, and then said lightly, "I'm glad you told me. And I hope it does go okay." Keep it mild. No pressure.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francince swiped again for the chocolate, and got... most of it, this time. "You're the only person I have told. It's kind of--" Terrifying? "--new, like you said."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah didn't want to go all Afterschool Special with this, so she nodded, wondering what else to say. But still. It was nice to be included in on this, not kept out. There were questions not to ask, she was guessing, about Merlin; and stuff that wasn't her business too, about Beltane, and other stuff. "When did you guys... I dunno. Get together? Change?"