Fifth Floor Common Room, Thursday evening

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce had developed a sore throat randomly. He didn't want to admit that he had a cold, so he went to the common room to make some tea. Random tea. Not tea to make him feel better. Tea to have and perhaps share if any other tea drinkers were around.

"If I were sick, it would be much tougher to make this tea," Bruce grumbled to himself. His voice sounded like hell. He was pretending it didn't.

[OOC: I'm bored and it's cold. And Elaine gave me this idea. HUZZAH! CR is open. With tea. And Bale Batman voice. Just... pretend that everything I write is in that voice, okay?

ETA: Sorry, landlord is here doing some stuff. Sloooow because of it.]

Comments

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Ariel never really needed a reason to bounce into the common room; she did it because sometimes there were just interesting things going on in common rooms.

Case in point.

"Hi, Bruce! You have tea!"

Call her Princess Obvious.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I do," Bruce said in a ludicrously raspy voice. "You're free to have some. I made plenty." For himself, true, but there was more than enough to share.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"What kind i--" And then she caught up with what she heard. "Bruce! What's wrong with your voice?"

At least she knew he wasn't losing it from singing too much...

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'm blaming allergies," Bruce said. "I have tea. I'll be fine shortly."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Allergies to what?"

Gosh, she hoped it wasn't fish.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure yet. But it should blow over before it's any real concern," Bruce said. "And I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"I know a really good home remedy," Ariel continued to offer in her attempt to make sure Bruce knew how super-helpful she could be. "You get that, being raised in a family full of singers. It's really easy, too; I'll just need some salt water, some seaweed, a touch of coral and the needle of a sea urchin."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce gave Ariel an odd look. "Do you have any idea where to get coral or a sea urchin needle around here?"

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

And that, with the combination of the question, the look, and the voice, just made Ariel giggle.

"Bruce, we're surrounded by an ocean. Of course I do."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Do you have diving equipment or something?" he asked.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Probably somewhere in my room, sure," Ariel shrugged a little. Because she didn't know what diving equipment would have to do with anything.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"You're not going to use that for getting the coral or assaulting a sea urchin?" Bruce asked. He had more questions, but he wasn't quite feeling up to a full interrogation.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

You didn't have to assault the sea urchin; you could usually just ask it nicely, and, if that didn't work, remind the sea urchin of who you were. But Ariel couldn't really say any of that, so she just shrugged again and said, mysteriously, "I have my ways."

She was like AQUAMAN.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"What ways are those?" Bruce asked. Okay, maybe a low-effort interrogation.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"I couldn't tell you that!" Ariel laughed a little. "Then what sort of secret would I have to impress you with?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'm not impressed by secrets. I'm impressed by amazing truths," Bruce countered.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

The arch of Ariel's eyebrow was incredibly skeptical. And quite a bit worried, too.

"Really?"

Because if that was true, she was playing this all wrong, but she was pretty sure that her incredible truth was probably going to be way, way too incredible, no matter what Bruce said.

Also, despite that very serious though, Ariel snorted, coughing to put down a laugh. Because Bruce's words in that voice was just....you couldn't take it too seriously, really.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Mystery only lasts so long. Truth is more or less eternal. Until somebody finds the best way to hide it, at least," Bruce theorized. And then coughed.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Ariel also had to clear her throat a little again, too.

Which worked nicely for a segue into something that didn't center around the fact that she had a big fat secret.

"I hope you're not sick," she said, giving a faint cough that she felt worked well with the attempt not to laugh. "I could be coming down with it, too."

Cough. Not not-laughing. Cough.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'm not," Bruce said with confidence. "I fully expect to be up and about tomorrow morning for all my classes."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Good," said Ariel, gaining a smile. "But I'm still going to have to check up on you, in case you're wrong and you might need someone to help make you feel better."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"You can if you want, but I'll be fine," Bruce said.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"I hope so," Ariel said with an encouraging smile, as if that in itself could help things along. "Especially for this weekend! Were you planning on doing anything for Halloween?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Not really. I've never been a big fan of the holiday," Bruce said. "Or of dressing in costumes."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"But it's so much fun!" Ariel said. "You get to pretend to be something you're not, even if just for a day."

Which she totally just said because of what she planned for her costume to be.