Second Floor Common Room, Tuesday Evening

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

As opposed to last time she had claimed the common room, Ramona was not, in fact, in her pajamas tonight. However, she was still eating cereal, because as far as she was concerned, cereal was an anytime kind of food, especially if you didn't feel like making anything more complicated than tea. Which, for Ramona, was quite often the case.

On the couch, with a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea in front of her, Ramona started her usual channel-surfing until she came across a little fast-paced, brightly-colored movie.

"Steve Quaker versus the Earth?" she read when the titles came up. "Oooh, Canada."

Apparently, she would be able to stay on one channel for at least a little while.

[That meta -- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, yes -- is all nosefullofsnot's genius.]

Comments

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Is that Canada?" Bruce asked as he stopped into the common room. Yes, he recognized it despite not having been north of the border. He studied, okay? "Good evening, Ramona."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Toronto, apparently," Ramona said, waving with her spoon. "Hi! It looks really, really cold there. They're not kidding with the whole Great White North thing, are they?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"From what I understand, it's nothing but moose and snow up there. My sources might be wrong, though," Bruce joked.

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Policemen on horses and bacon that's really ham, too," Ramona offered. "Or so I learned from cartoons."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I want to take a trip up there sometime just to check my suspicions," Bruce said. "And also see the sights or whatever. But that's secondary."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"I think it's important that you figure out which part of Canada, too," Ramona said wisely. "Vancouver seems like it's just America's Pacific Northwest, and Quebec is all French and that's totally not going to confirm anything except that they probably wear berets there. So if you want a real Canadian experience, probably Toronto or Windsor or Alberta or something."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it all the way," Bruce said. "Quebec, Toronto, rural areas. Might as well make a real tour of it."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Okay but if you're going to do that, you better come back with a hell of a Canadian accent, too," Ramona said, raising a brow. "For the whole experience."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'll probably practice one before I go," Bruce said. "That way I won't stick out as a tourist quite so much. It's a nice trick if you can pull it off."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Make sure you also develop immunity to cold, and get extra polite. I mean, you're nice now, but not Canada-nice," Ramona said solemnly.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'll get a warmer coat and make my fake smile more convincing," Bruce said. "Have any other tips? You sound like the Canada expert around here."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

Ramona pretended to think for a moment. "You should probably learn the words to 'O Canada,' too. Just to be safe."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Done," Bruce said. "I already knew them, though."

And because he was too used to girls who would expect such a thing, he immediately added, "And don't think I'm going to serenade you with it out of some kind of misguided Canadian nationalism. It's probably not going to happen."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Please don't ever sing to me in public," Ramona requested, looking mildly alarmed. "I'm okay with that just not ever happening at all."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Really?" Bruce asked. "Sorry, a lot of the girls around here would expect it. I wanted to cut that off at the pass. It's good to know that I didn't have to do that here."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

Ramona quirked a little smile at him. "What can I say, I'm not like a lot of girls. Though now I wonder about their taste, since the Canadian national anthem isn't exactly serenade material."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"It depends on how you sing it and whether or not they understand the French version," Bruce said. "It's easy to convince yourself it's romantic if you don't know better."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Ah, that should be on your list. If you don't know French, learn it. Also very important part of being Canadian," Ramona added, eyes wide.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"That one's already checked off," Bruce said. "So I won't get hassled too much in Quebec. Hopefully."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"Juste un petit peu, peut-être," Ramona offered, smiling. "And there, that's the extent of what two years of French class has done for me. Clearly I'll need to brush up on my skills if I ever go north. Or else I can just smoke and wear a beret. Do French stereotypes work in Quebec?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Oui," Bruce said, looking just a touch surprised as he returned the smile. "/Or if not, I'll find out the hard way./ Was that just to cover a language requirement at your last school?"

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

She shrugged with a nod. "Fill up the hours, get out of high school sooner, et cetera. It seemed more appropriate, given New York's proximity to Canada, than Spanish. Similar case with you, or are languages like, a hobby?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Something like that," Bruce said. "They keep me from getting bored, and they could be useful someday. Who knows?"

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"So now of course I have to ask how many languages you know," Ramona prompted.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce's eyes drifted upward slightly as he started working out the list. "Eight, if you count Esperanto. But I'm not fluent in all of them." Just nearly fluent.

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"When do you sleep?" Ramona wondered after a minute.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Usually sometime during the night," Bruce said, not even bothering to hide his smirk. "What can I say? I'm organized."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"And possibly a robot," she added, smirking right back at him. "Or else very impressive with the devotion to learning. How old are you? Can't be more than a year or two older than me, and I've barely got English perfected."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Sixteen. And still no robot parts as of the last time I checked," Bruce said. "To be fair, I don't check for that very often."

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"You should check for those things," Ramona said, nodding. "Robot parts can sneak up on you -- one day you're just a guy, the next you're bionic."

...sadly something that could probably happen in Ramona's world.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"First Canada, now becoming a cyborg. You're an expert in a lot of random subjects, Ramona," Bruce said.

Like he could talk, even if he was kidding.