fandomhighdorms | Second Floor Common Room; Monday Afternoon

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Second Floor Common Room; Monday Afternoon

It wasn't Shira's common room, but that wasn't stopping her from plopping herself down on a couch and flipping through the TV channels.

People could make her leave if they didn't want her there. The second floor was just more interesting today.

Even if what was on the television was even more boring, if possible, than anything she'd watched before.

[Open as common rooms are!]

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Karla glanced at the clock on the microwave. "I'm going to have to head into work soon," she said, estimating times and distances and the speed of travel. It was like doing a word problem for her mathematics tutor. "I wouldn't have time to come back if we decided to go to Luke's, but I wouldn't mind heading down early for lunch."

"Now there's an idea!" Ariel said in a complimentary tone. "I was thinking of going out and exploring the junkyard a bit, anyway, so maybe we'll just need to take a pit stop if we both head out around the same time! Where do you work?"

"Dite's Decadent Delights," Karla said, smiling a bit. "It's, umm, not a candy store."

Nope. Not in the least. Though they did stock some!

"What're you heading to the junkyard for?"

Ariel's brow quirked with her smirk as Karla added the epithet about the store, and thankfully had Dean's class in the summer to know what kind of store it was.

"It has got to be interesting working there," she said with a little bit of admiration. Sure, she loved the clothes at Pixie Dust, but, knowing how fascinating most human devices were for even the most mundane, she'd never get any work done in that place if it was her behind the counter.

"And I'm just going to look around. See if there's anything new and interesting. It's like hunting for treasure; spend enough time there, and you can find some really neat stuff! I'm hoping for a carburetor, since I had to give the one from the shuttle bus back."

"We get some weird shipments and bizarre requests, it's true," Karla said with a grin. "But I adore 'Dite and it's fun to watch people come into the store and babble a bit about why they're there. Plus, I have the added adventure of forcing my friends to come see me at work and watching them try not to blush themselves into a coma."

Karla was a bad friend sometimes. Or a lot of the time.

She thought Ariel's idea for a treasure hunt in the junkyard sounded like a lot of fun, actually. "A car bureator?" she asked, since modern technology wasn't where her interests lay. "I know what a car is, but what's a bureator?"

Ariel had to admit, Karla's idea of a good workday was something she could agree with being fun, too. Almost as fun as trying to push pink shirts on boys.

"Oh, no, it's a carbueator, one word, but it is a part in a car! Or a motorized vehicle, since William and I got our first one from the shuttle. It's just this giant piece of machinery that helps the engine work; it's what combines the air with fuel in an internal combustion engine, which makes the vehicle move! I think. We saw a program about it on TV, and they're fascinating, all these little different parts and pieces and...things."

Things said, of course, with a wistful, appreciative sigh.

It was like trying to talk to Ben when he went off on one of his tangents about his flying ship and why it was astral, though not as astral as Tahiri's and something something technobabble.

But thinking of Ben reminded her of something else. "Wait--you took one from the school shuttle?" Karla asked. "How did Professor Skywalker not kill you guys?"

He got a little possessive about machinery, Karla noticed.

"Yeah," Ariel had the decency to be a little sheepish with her smile. "He wasn't too happy about that, but we just had to serve detention by watching his and Mister Deadpool's kids, which, really, was hardly a detention at all. Have you seen those kids? They're adorable. I think it probably helped that we returned it and there was nothing wrong with it and it wasn't as if they needed it, so no harm, no foul, right?"

"Professor Skywalker's not really all that reasonable when it comes to some things," Karla said. "At least, so I've heard."

From his own grandson. But details.

"Oooh, you should probably avoid any of the flying ships you see in there," she added quickly, trying to remember if Ben and Tahiri's ships were hidden or not. "Talk about touchy..."

Ben would probably cry if Ariel began dismantling his ship. Or possibly go Dark Side. Maybe both.

Then again, it was likely he was less reasonable because he was his own grandson. King Triton was probably much harsher on his daughters than his subjects, because they were family and all that good stuff.

Ariel's brows lifted slightly. "Really?" she asked, wondering if she'd even know the difference between a flying vehicle and one that didn't fly, but, thankfully, she had Bruce's jet to thank for the belief that she could. "You mean in the junkyard? Why would people keep things in a junkyard if they weren't junk? But, I mean, I guess...I don't find it junk, but that's why I usually take it with me and put it in my collection."

"I think it's just a convenient place to store them?" Karla suggested. She didn't really understand it, either. "Plus, if they need to make repairs, they're already surrounded by things that might come in handy?" The longer they talked about such things, the more out of her depth Karla got. Which was why she decided to throw Ben under the metaphoric shuttle without a qualm. "You could always ask Ben Skywalker--do you know him? He works at Stark's on Fridays."

Someone had missed last night's radio.

"He's got a ship there. He might even tell you how it works! It...probably has a carbureator. Or maybe a spaceshipbureator, instead."

"I don't...think I do," Ariel admitted after a moment of scrutinizing her brain and trying to figure it out, but Karla's suggestion got her to grin. "But that would be kind of great if he could! I don't understand half that stuff, but it's still so interesting how it does work. Hum--People are so clever! But if anything, I'll just look for stuff that isn't already attached to bigger stuff. That should be safe, right?"

"That's probably the safest idea," Karla said, nodding a lot. Really, no one wanted Ben to become Darth Bureator or something. Nobody. "Plus, Stark's has a lot of crazy, complicated parts and stuff in it, too! I don't know whatall you're collecting, but if you like mechanical bits, you'll probably love Stark's."

Ben was going to murder Karla.

So, really, when you got down to it, there'd be no one to blame for Darth Bureator except Karla.

"Friday, you said?" Ariel asked, just to make sure and smiling because it definitely did sound like something she should check out. "I'll have to swing by! I really kind of collect everything, but mechanical bits are among the most interesting. They do so much!"

And Karla would be standing alone amidst the ruin and devastation. shaking her head and wailing, 'I was just trying to help!'

Though 'Darth Bureator' was still a better name than 'Darth Caedus,' so that was some comfort.

"He just started," Karla said, chuckling at Ariel's enthusiasm. Unlike the narrative, she was firmly convinced she was being the Best Friend Ever. "He might even be able to give you a tour of the store or something!"

Before their conversation ended, Karla might be promising Ariel that Ben would do her homework for her, make her ice cream, and read her a bedtime story. Lucky Ben!

"Oh, that could be neat!" said Ariel, her excitement really only getting worse the more Karla said. "He sounds like a really nice guy!"

"He's one of the best," Karla assured her. "He was one of the first friends I made here at school. And he'll just love talking to another machinery enthusiast."

Because Ender and Tahiri apparently weren't enough or something.

"Bring him the stuff you find! He can probably explain anything." And do a better job than Ariel's seagull friend.

And because Ariel absolutely fit under that category, too. She did blush a little, not wanting Karla to have the wrong impression of her, but not really feeling compelled to correct that detail, either.

She nodded. "I bet he could," she said. "It would be interesting to see what he had to say."

Although no one could do better than Scuttle.

"Well, great! Now I've got another reason on why Monday needs to be over!"

"What are your other reasons?" Karla asked. "In a hurry for Parents' Weekend?"

Karla wasn't. But only because the males of her extended family like to show up and growl at everything in existence. Well, except for Morton, who added 'make calf's eyes at Emma' to his growling.

"Oh, gosh, no," Ariel shook her head with a laugh. "Not that. Besides, none of my family can really come."

Well, they could, but she'd be shocked like mad if Triton would allow something like that. Which meant he was most likely sending Sebastian to check up on her. Joy.

"But clubs are starting this week! And tomorrow we should find out about casting for the play! I'm so excited, especially for Glee Club! So many people signed up; I can't wait to see what everyone picks to sing. Or play, for the non-singers, there's a few of those, which I think is just wonderful, how, even if they can't sing, they still want to share a love of music with everyone. That's incredibly admirable, don't you think?"

"You tried out for the play?" Karla asked, grinning. "I did, too! Though I didn't sign up for Glee Club." Her grin turned a little sheepish. "I got pissy at Zack because he wouldn't let me sign up for his frat."

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Second Floor Common Room; Monday Afternoon

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