Fifth Floor Common Room, Monday After Classes

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

Shira still wasn't entirely sure about this place, but her Queen had wanted her to go here, so she hadn't argued. And she was even willing to give it a try, as strange as the place seemed.

She was sitting in the common room at the moment, having dug around in the cold box -- refrigerator, she thought it was called -- and come up with a can of something that called itself Pepsi. She'd tried it cautiously, found it sweet and sugary, and figured it wasn't so bad.

And now she was on the couch, watching the TV in fascination and horror.

[Open as common rooms are!]

Comments

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf had planned to just sit in front of the television and let the English wash over him, today; it certainly couldn't hurt.

He flinched a little as he came in -- he'd have to get used to the loud noises again. He plowed on bravely anyway, because he wasn't about to change his plans, and he'd need to get used to it no matter what happened.

He paused, and gave his roommate a quiet nod before actually sitting down. He'd been a little too shellshocked to talk to her, before.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda had a stash of Jolt in the fridge that she was jonesing for, so she came in search of it.

"Hi." she smiled at the girl she hadn't met yet. As she rooted around behind the health food (rarely did anything hidden there get stolen) she called back over her shoulder;

"What's on?"

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Shira said, giving him a wave. "Anything you want to... watch?" It came out uncertainly, since she still wasn't entirely certain of the terminology in regards to television. "I don't mind. I'm just kind of seeing what there is."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"I have no idea," Shira confessed. "They call it... reality television, I think. If that's reality, it's horrid."

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf gave her a little shrug with one shoulder. "Anything," he said, because that was an easy enough word. "Helps with my English," he explained.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Anything it is, then," she said with a smile. "Right now it's... reality television, whatever that means. I don't even get television in the first place."

She'd been cautioned to keep information about herself to a minimum, at least until she had a sense of what the people here were like. (Because it might be a good place for her to be, but it wouldn't do to trust just anybody.) But he was her roommate and seemed like a decent enough guy.

And really, not getting television seemed pretty ordinary for Fandom.

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"Play in a box," said Dolf, who still remembered an ordeal with the children back in 1212 and his iPod well enough to have some sympathy -- both for the people of Fandom, and for Shira.

He was also a little happy to find he was managing to follow Shira without having to ask her to slow down. "That is all it is."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Huh." Shira tilted her head, looking at the TV thoughtfully. "That's kind of interesting, actually."

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"I think so," Dolf agreed. He leaned back over the couch, exhaling as he forced his eyes to readjust to the television. "It was been-- a long time since I see it." No, not see. Past tense-- "Um-- Saw? Saw it."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Well, you're still one up on me," Shira said. "I've never seen it."

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Is been? Was it is been? "Enjoy it," Dolf said, sincerely. "It's good." (Look, he was happy he could manage that much to another person, now. Don't take it away from him)

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I will," Shira said with a nod. "At least, other programming. I'm not sure I like this reality television."

Shira was just happy another person was talking to her and seemed happy to be talking to her. Of course she wouldn't correct him on anything. (Now, if he ever asked her to, that'd be a different story and she'd be happy to. But when they barely knew each other, that wouldn't be nice of her.)

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf nodded in understanding, and only then did he really frown at the television. "Is it Big Brother?" he asked. He remembered Big Brother: his mom had always liked to watch it, although he'd never found it very interesting, and he'd always preferred the Discovery Channel.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"No, it's... I think it's something called Jersey Shore, maybe?" She thought that was it, anyway.

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"I don't know it," Dolf replied, and sagged a little. Another unfamiliar thing in a familiar setting; it still made him feel a little ill at ease.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda winced. "I'm not sure it's possible for it to be truly reality if there's cameras on."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"I don't, either," Shira said with a shrug, taking a sip of her Pepsi. "And honestly, I don't think I want to know it anymore. I want to slap some of these people, I swear."

She reached for the remote. "Your turn to find something," she said reasonably, holding it out to him.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"That's confusing," Shira grumbled. "It's stupid, anyway."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"No argument here. I just hope none of the folks back home see any of that. It'd just reinforce some of their opinions about humans."

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

He blinked at the remote for a few seconds. She had no idea what she was giving him, really; Dolf hadn't held one of these in months.

But staring at it made him look silly, he realised, and so he took it, and tried not to swallow. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I will find Discovery." His thumb slid across the remote until it hit next channel.

Which was Disney. The sudden shifting burst of sound and video made him sit up a little.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"These people are.... disgusting," was Shira's opinion.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

Shira had a feeling this wasn't what he was looking for.

But it was still better than Jersey Shore, so hey, already a win!

"That's... cheerful," she said, gesturing to the show that was now on the screen.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"The worst is Jerry Springer I think."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"I haven't seen that yet. I think I should be considering myself fortunate," Shira said, moving to take a sip of her Pepsi and finding the can empty. "Well, damn."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Want some Jolt?" Leda offered.

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"What's that?" Shira had seen the Jolt in the refrigerator while looking for something, but she'd known it belonged to someone -- it'd been all the way at the back. So she hadn't checked it out.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"It's like Pepsi, only it's got more sugar and caffeine."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Ooh." Shira thought about it for a second. "In that case, I'd definitely like to try it. If you wouldn't mind." She was assuming the stash she'd seen belonged to this girl.

"I'm Shira, by the way," she added belatedly.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"If I minded I wouldn't have offered." Leda smiled, getting her a can.

"Pleased to meet ya Shira." She hadn't meant to fall back on her old rhyming habit, but it felt natural just then. "I'm Leda."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

"Where I'm from, there's not a lot to share," Shira explained. "We share what we can, but it's... well, it's hard."

How could it be anything else, when the Shalador reserves had been steadily chipped away at by Queen after Queen after Queen?

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda nodded. "I've lived through tough times myself, I know how that can be." When Castle Pup was just starting out, they'd gone hungry on more than one occasion.