Fifth Floor Common Room, Tuesday Morning

[stars_and_money]

Last night, something peculiar had happened for the very first time: Jeremy Darling had gone grocery shopping.

And as was the case with most things involving money and a member of the Darling family, he had maybe gone a little overboard. He'd ended up having to lug three bags of foodstuffs back to the dorms, on his own, and dearly wishing Clark could have moved to Fandom with the twins to help with this stuff.

Still, the good thing was that he had three different kinds of cereal to choose from this morning when he wandered on down to the common room, wearing his glasses and his pajama bottoms with the planet print, his red silk dressing gown hanging open. After making his daunting breakfast food choice, he flopped down onto a couch with his bowl of cereal (two kinds at the same time) and turned the television on to start channel surfing.

It wasn't long before he was considering buying the common room a nice new TV set.

[ooc: It's an open common room!]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley wandered sleepily into the common room, holding a textbook (of course), and went right to the counter to make himself some tea. Then he headed over to the couch, and oh wow. Planet-print pajama bottoms? Kind of the best thing he'd ever seen.

"Hello," he said, settling down on the couch.

[stars_and_money]

The cosmos in an easily portable, nighttime attire form! What wasn't there to love, really?

Jeremy gave him a lazy smile, stopping his search for a good channel for the moment. the TV landed on some random morning talk show. "Hey." Then his eyes flicked down to the text book. "Dude, are you studying this early in the day?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well... not studying so much as reading for pleasure. That was kind of his thing.

"Actually, no," he admitted a little abashedly. "Just reading."

Combat Techniques of the 15th Century was a really interesting book, okay?!

[stars_and_money]

"Oh yeah? What about?"

Jeremy could sort of understand reading for pleasure. To him, the book just looked more like something to be read for class.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley turned the book over so Jeremy could see the cover. "It's a historical account of combat techniques," he explained. Because yes, he believed that he was the only one in the world who could read.

Hopefully this guy wasn't going to be like Nathan, who, discovering one of Wes' demonology texts, publicly announced that it was porn.

[stars_and_money]

Jeremy wasn't quite as likely to jump into unlikely conclusions like that, but he did sort of squint at the book upon reading the title. "... Why would you read that?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh, a new kid. Gotcha.

"I -- well, I'm interested in it, I suppose," he said, a little taken a back. "My old school was rather focused on combat and weaponry and that sort of thing, and I've developed something of a fascination with the subject."

Long story short: He liked it. Yes, Wesley enjoyed using unnecessary words.

[stars_and_money]

"That's cool," Jeremy said after a pause, in the idle fashion of someone who wasn't really sure it was cool, but didn't want to be rude. "But dude, what kind of a school did you go to before? Was it like a military school?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"No, it was, ah..." Hmm. He wasn't usually the guy who explained things to the newbies, especially since he was still pretty much a newbie himself, having been here less than a year and all. But that had never stopped him from bragging about himself, so.

"No, I attended the Watchers' Academy in Southern Hampshire," he explained, though he'd long since given up on expecting people to be familiar with it. "It's a prestigious boarding school that focuses on training people for... er, positions of leadership, I suppose one might say? I was trained to help supervise a... well, a soldier, I suppose would be the best way of putting it."

He wasn't so good at speaking, no. Sorry, Jeremy.

[therewaslife]

Bod was fairly certain he hadn't met Wesley yet so when he arrived, he'd given the other boy a wave too. The face was familiar, at least, so Bod knew he wasn't a new student.

"Good morning," he greeted. "How are things with you this morning?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Quite well, thank you," Wesley replied, looking up from his book. He'd seen Bod around too, so it was nice to get a chance to finally meet him. "And yourself?"

[therewaslife]

"I haven't a reason to complain," he said as he sat down. That was a slight lie because he could have found reasons but he was feeling better today. "I'm Nobody Owens. I don't think we've met yet though I've seen you around."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," he said, extending a hand for Bod to shake. "I've seen you around as well. It's nice to meet you."

[therewaslife]

"And you as well," he said, shaking the offered hand firmly. "I go by Bod, though, if that's easier. Nobody sometimes confuses people or makes them wonder if my parents hated me for some reason."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley chuckled a little at that. "I'm accustomed to odd names," he said, smiling. "But yes, yours is rather unusual. Bod, then."

He tried to reign in his curiosity for all of ten seconds, and then: "Would it be rude to ask why your parents chose, er, Nobody?"

[therewaslife]

"It wouldn't, no," Bod assured him, shaking his head. "When my parents adopted me, I was just a baby and they had no knowledge of my name because of some unusual circumstances. After several suggestions, my mum said I didn't look like nobody but myself. And that's where it came from."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Wesley said, thoughtfully tapping his chin. "That's actually quite interesting."

Mostly the "unusual circumstances" part, but the name part too, he guessed. Really, Wes was just nosy and curious and thought everything was interesting. Whatever.

[therewaslife]

Bod didn't really have to be up early since his class wasn't until later but he was anyway. He'd gotten up, gotten dressed and half decided to go into town for breakfast when he spotted someone unfamiliar in the common room.

Breakfast could wait while he wandered in and gave the other boy a wave. "Good morning. I think a welcome to the fifth floor is also in order unless I've just really been bad about remembering faces."

[stars_and_money]

"No, I'm still pretty new," Jeremy replied with one of those easy smiles of his, waving his spoon a bit in greeting. "Jeremy Darling."

He'd pretty much given up on expecting anyone to really react to the name, at this point.

[therewaslife]

"Nobody Owens," he said, nodding at Jeremy while he wandered over to retrieve a bottle of water he hoped he had in the refrigerator. "Pleasure, Jeremy. Welcome to the island."

That always sounded ominous and he didn't know why.

[stars_and_money]

It just sounded polite to Jeremy. Oh, he'd learn eventually.

"Thanks," he beamed, right before frowning some after processing what else the boy had said. "Wait, sorry, what was your name?"

Because he couldn't have heard that right.

[therewaslife]

"Nobody," he repeated, chuckling under his breath. He was able to find a bottle of water easily and came back to take a seat in an empty spot. "I go by Bod for short, if that helps."

[stars_and_money]

"Huh." Well, Jeremy's own last name was an adjective overused by diva-like people and certain British comediennes in their finest work, so he really shouldn't have judged, but he was still mildly taken aback. "Bod. Okay."

Really, he wasn't sure that was much better.

[therewaslife]

"It's unusual, I know," Bod said, still amused by Jeremy's reaction to his name. "You can call me Owens, if that would help. My parents were a bit unusual so I received an unusual name. I've grown into it but some people are still taken aback."

[stars_and_money]

"I'm sure I'll get used to it," Jeremy decided. He was easy like that. "So, have you been here long, Bod?"

See? Used to it. Or just equipped with adequate social skills.