Fifth floor common room [afternoon]

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla was rapidly learning that the fifth floor common room wasn't nearly as childproof as she remembered.

"Jims, don't pull that wire!"

"Jims, don't open those drawers, please!"
"Jims, off of the countertop."

She finally got him distracted with some fingerpaints (which, for the time being at least, were staying on paper and not on Rilla's dress, the sofa, or the coffee table) and got herself a soothing cup of tea and got back to knitting a sock.

It had been so much easier when Jims had slept all the time.

[OOC: Open, naturally!]

Comments

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

A week in, Maddie was learning that when you were bored, the easiest way to fix that was to go looking for people. So today meant exploring common rooms besides the one on her floor because it wasn't like she had anything else to do.

"Uh, there's a kid in here," Maddie said, just in case no one had noticed, or he was a student that had been transformed and that was how these things worked.

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

There was a kid in the room. Kate vaguely wondered that if this Common Room just came with a kid. Which was a very stupid thought. She moved on to a better one.

"Is that your brother visiting?"

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"Do you think this is like people turning into animals?" Kate asked. She'd heard vague stories and had vaguely accepted them. Trips through lockers did that apparently.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla nodded. "That's Jims," she said helpfully. "He's eighteen months old."

And covering his face in blue fingerpaint. It was a look.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla shook her head. "Oh, he's not my brother. He's Jims. I'm watching him while his father's at the front."

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

"I heard it happens..." Maddie admitted.

She just didn't know it happened en masse, which to be honest, was probably a good thing.

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

"Oh." So he was supposed to be here, then. That actually made her feel better. "Is he your little brother?"

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

Oh. Babysitting. That made more sense.

"That's nice of you. Is The Front on the island?" Clearly it was a store of some kind. Possibly a business office.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla shook her head. "I'm just watching him while his father's in the army. It's been eighteen months now."

And they'd heard from Mr. Anderson once. He was quite the devoted father.

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to avoid that one," Kate decided. "Because ending up finger painting sounds..."

Okay, kind of fun maybe in the right circumstance.

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

Maddie would totally join this kid in fingerpainting if she didn't have to ask to do it.

"Do we get to avoid stuff like that? It kind of sounded like we didn't get a choice?" Was there a form they had to fill out?

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

"Afghanistan?" Maddie guessed, looking sympathetic.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"France," Rilla replied. "I'm from 1915."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"No," Rilla said, then paused. "How much have you heard about how this island works?"

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"There's different worlds and timelines and all that?" Kate said. "One of my best friends at home looks like he did over a year ago here."

She paused.

"The front like...in a war?"

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

Maddie frowned as she realized that she had heard that right, and then her mouth opened and closed a couple times while figuring out what to say.

It ended in her blurting, "I didn't see that one coming."

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"...okay, I'm still working on that part," she admitted. And by working, Kate meant hoping that frowning a lot and possibly shooting things would work.

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

Maddie sighed. "I was hoping you'd heard something the pony didn't tell me."

Her life was weird enough, she would much rather avoid getting turned into things.

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"Wow. I - totally missed the talking pony," Kate said. "I thought home was weird enough, but how does this place keep getting weirder?"

She made a face. "I'm Kate Bishop by the way. I think we had class together the other day."

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we did," Maddie said with a little smile. "Maddie Berry. Glad to have people around who're as new to this as I am."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry!" Rilla apologised (because she was Canadian). "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"The Great War," Rilla said, nodding. "I'm from 1915."

[mummyspromdate.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no, it's okay!" Maddie said, sorry she'd made Rilla sorry. "No one warned me that 1915 was a thing here, that's all. But that's, you know, really cool. Surprising, but really cool."

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

Whoa. "Okay then." Kate went with it. "So that means the kid's dad is in - France? Poor thing. That sucks."

[hawkeye-too.livejournal.com]

"Seriously. Someone else to agree that 'no, really, some of this is strange,'" Kate said. "Did you hear about gremlins yet? Apparently they have hallucinogens on their teeth and like biting people."