Fourth Floor Common Room, Evening

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

Dru had been off island most of Saturday thanks to an unexpected phone call. She knew she'd missed the picnic and if the paperwork she'd gotten was correct, she'd also missed meeting the little sibling she'd somehow been assigned. For the moment though, Dru didn't care. She was tired, cranky, and hungry.

Tired would be dealt with later when she finally crashed.

Cranky...that was going to take a few days, if not longer.

Hungry, that was what the pot of spaghetti was for.

There was even enough to share if anyone happened to wander through.

Comments

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi had been having a good day -- until she got back to her room, checked her email, and found short message from her boyfriend. She looked a bit shell-shocked when she got to the common room and crashed on the couch.

"I think I just got dumped," she said to Dru. Yes, it was a hell of a way to start a conversation.

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

Dru blinked and for a moment actually stopped thinking about what was in the vacuum cleaner bag in the firebox she'd brought back to her room. "Well that sucks. Sorry."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"He said he was in some sort of accident and that he's not coming back," said Hoshi. "I tried calling, but I couldn't get through, and Portalocity had absolutely nothing available to go to his time period."

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"That blows," Dru replied. "Nothing available at the moment? Or nothing available ever? Maybe something will open up in a week or two?"

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"There wasn't anything available now," said Hoshi. "I'll keep trying, though. I told Hurley I'd kidnap him if his mother wouldn't let him come back, and I keep my promises."

She glanced over at the counter. "Is that noodles?" she asked.

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"Then his mom better watch out."

Looking down at the pot where she was mixing the sauce and the pasta Dru shrugged. "It's spaghetti with a jar of sauce. I guess that kind of counts as noodles if you squint."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"It seems Hurley and I have the world's worst timing. We've known each other for ages but only started going out right after the prom," said Hoshi. "And noodles and spaghetti are pretty much made the same way. I think I'll have some, if there's any without sauce."

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

Fortunately careful use of the spaghetti spoon managed to get a mostly sauce-free bowl of spaghetti for Hoshi. "Okay, that doubly sucks then. I hope it works out for you."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"I had been prepared somewhat for things to go wrong after we both left Fandom, which is why I wanted to stay for the whole summer," said Hoshi, pulling a bottle soy sauce out of the cabinet. "I just didn't think something would happen that fast! We've only just had the picnic today."

She added a few drops of soy sauce on her noodles. Usually, cold soba noodles with soy sauce and green onion were her comfort food, and this was close enough.

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

Sara had changed out of her traveling clothes into the sort of dress she was more likely to wear around the farm on Carlisle, well aware already that it stuck out somewhat; she'd been certain the States weren't that foreign.

And she'd certainly never been in a building this size before; exploration must perforce take place, only to be thwarted a floor up when the smell of food drew her into the common room.

"Hello," she announced to the room at large, waving one hand. "I haven't interrupted anyone's dinner, have I? Only I'm not sure how exactly we're to keep ourselves fed in this place just yet."

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"Forage and mooch food when and where you can find it," Dru said. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she took in the new girl's outfit. Someone was definitely not in Kansas any longer.

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"You make it sound as if we're to scavenge for berries in the woods," Sara remarked with a laugh. "I don't mind doing that when I have to, but on a regular basis it would get awfully dull, don't you think?"

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"No berries, no wood," she shrugged. "More like wandering from common room to common room until you find one where someone's got extra food. Unless you like to cook yourself. In which case, you'll find out pretty quickly that's how you draw a crowd."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"That," Sara admitted with as much dignity as she could muster, "is the one thing I'm afraid I'm not good at at all."

She would not be very likely to confess to all and sundry her humiliation with the pudding and the sawdust on her very first day in a strange new school, truth be told, though she might laugh about it with her cousins now.

"I suppose you can tell by now that I'm new, can't you?"

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"I was leaning towards it," Dru admitted. "Then again, I'm not the most sociable and I've only been here a few months. It's not completely impossible that our paths just never crossed if you had been here."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"I haven't even been here a day, and I'm certain I've seen more people in one place than I ever saw in the last place I lived," Sara confided. "It's a bit daunting, I have to admit."

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"Where was that?" she asked, fixing herself a bowl of spaghetti. "And if you're hungry, I've got more then enough here. Help yourself."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Carlisle, on Prince Edward Island in Canada," Sara told her, already drifting over to take a bowl. "I know this must be a strange question, but if you don't mind, what year is it?"

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Even if Hoshi was still a bit shaken, she still had her manners.

"You're not interrupting at all," she said with a weak smile. "The common rooms are open to everyone."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"With a name like 'common rooms,' I'd hope that would be the case," Sara mused, wandering over to peer curiously at the television. "And the food? Am I welcome to some of that too? It was a long, long trip."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"Help yourself! Usually when you put out food in the common room, you plan for people dropping by," said Hoshi. "I didn't make it this time, but I usually cook up enough for the whole floor."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Do you cook often?" asked Sara, curiously. "I was afraid I'd have to cook for myself, and well, that would likely mean I'd starve. I'm absolutely dreadful at it."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"I do a lot of cooking since I enjoy it so much," said Hoshi, giving the other girl a reassuring smile. "And I will be here all summer, so you won't have to worry about starving. Plus the school has a cafeteria and there are plenty of restaurants in town. My name is Hoshi, by the way. I just graduated last week but will be sticking around a while longer."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Hoshi," Sara repeated, once and then several more times, trying out the way the name sounded. "I've never heard that name before, but it's quite lovely. My name is Sara, Sara Stanley, though you can call me the Story Girl if you'd rather; I'd rather, personally, as I'm not fond of my name. I've only just arrived today, as I'm afraid I've made it painfully clear."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"It's nice to meet you, Story Girl," said Hoshi, smiling. "My name is the Japanese word for star. It's not a very common name, but my parents thought it was fitting. And you are doing quite well for your first day. On my first day in Fandom, I was a nervous wreck."