Fifth Floor Common Room, Tuesday evening

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce could be out of his room without feeling the need to find a more private place with the first person he saw. It was a good feeling. A good enough feeling that Bruce was willing to actually risk messing with the television in the common room again. But first? Threats.

"If you act up on me, I will end you," Bruce whispered while kneeling in front of the set. "There's a window right there. I will throw you out of it. You will be destroyed. And then I'll buy a new TV for the floor. I can afford something that will make you look like you're a black and white set. Nobody will miss you. So behave, or you'll force me to prove that I'm serious."

Bruce settled into a seat on the sofa and turned on PBS. It worked just fine. "I'm glad we could come to this arrangement," Bruce said with a bit of a smirk.

Good job badgering the inanimate object into working, Bruce.

[OOC: Much like the writing utensil I use exclusively for writing the third vowel, this post is open.]

Comments

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"He has a darling princess awaiting his rescue," Elphaba said. "At least, I think she is. I actually rather hope she isn't. Not that I don't wish them well, just I wouldn't wish needing rescue upon anyone."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"But that is rather romantic, isn't it?" Ariel really couldn't help gushing a little. "Though I do see your point, too. I'd much rather be the rescuer than the rescuee."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"Or for everyone to live sensibly enough that no one needs rescuing at all," Elphaba said. "But that's probably the fantasy version of life."

Or... the opposite.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Weeeeelll," Ariel sounded a little amused in her doubtfulness, "how about not in serious need of rescuing? Because it'd be a shame to lose that adventure, and a little bit of danger can be exciting."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"A little excitement, perhaps," Elphaba allowed. "But perhaps... mutual danger. Fighting side by side. Equals."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Oooh, I like that!" Ariel admitted, but she wrinkled her nose slightly. "Though I'm not very good at fighting; I'd have to rely on my wits."

Which was better than it may have seemed, really!

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"There is more than one way to skin a gump," Elphaba said, then frowned. "That's an awful phrase, actually. I shouldn't use it. It's cruel to gumps."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"What's a gump?"

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"They're animals, in Oz," Elphaba said. "Big, like elk or moose. But they have such expressive faces. I've only ever seen one, though."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"That's still one more than I've ever seen," Ariel pointed out. "But I would like to see one; they sound interesting, and I can definitely see where you're coming from about the expression..."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"I'd offer to take you with me to my home," Elphaba said. "But I'd be a poor guide. I've not seen much outside Munchkinland, and not even all of that."

And there was the whole part where most people reviled Elphaba, or at the very least treated her poorly.

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Then, clearly," said Ariel, eyes sparkling with her smile, "if we did visit, we'd have to go exploring the other parts together, making it an adventure for both of us."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"I normally would say my father wouldn't allow it," Elphaba said. "But recently I'm thinking my father can stuff what he thinks and I can do what I like."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

And that was just the sort of sentiment Ariel couldn't help but agree with. "Atta girl!" she said. "I've been doing that for years. In fact, the whole reason I came here to begin with was out of defiance to Daddy. He would have never allowed me to come...and almost didn't once he found out. Boy, was he mad..."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

Elphaba smiled. "Sadly my reasons for coming were quite the opposite," she said. "But I'm making the best of it. Even if he finds me insufferable when I return."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"I'm pretty sure Daddy's going to find me insufferable, too, so that must be pretty multiversal," Ariel noted with a faint grin. "But you do like it here, right? I think it'd be wonderful, even if I didn't want to come..."

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"I do, yes," Elphaba said. "There are things I don't like, of course. Some things I really don't like, in fact. But there's a lot about this world and place that I find so... warm, really."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"What don't you like?" Eyebrows lifted, Ariel couldn't help asking and being curious, since she couldn't think of anything she didn't like. Not even the whole turning into a mermaid on Halloween thing. She probably kind of deserved that.

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"It's not pleasant to talk about, really," Elphaba said. "I think most people prefer to ignore it, or pretend it doesn't happen. I'll continue unless you want me to stop."

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Elphaba was doing nothing to curb Ariel's curiosity, only increasing it.

"I don't mind," she said, "if you don't, but if you don't want to talk about it..."

She'd probably still try digging it out of her.

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I have no qualms," Elphaba said. "There is a reason I only eat fruits and vegetables here, not even anything with milk or eggs. While I know the dairy farms in Munchkinland are kind to the animals and Animals, and that in this world there are no Animals, I've seen pictures that turned my stomach as to how farms treat the animals."