5th Floor Common Room, Sunday Morning

[flickofthewrist]

Jude hadn't visited last night. And waking up with that knowledge left Flick shaken and worried that his brother wasn't going to be able to find him in this new place. It wasn't like he'd had a chance to tell his dead brother that he hallucinated that he was leaving Mandel Academy. But, his brother had found him in different places before so he was going to give it a few days and hope for the best.

Other than that, his first night hadn't been awful. He'd slept off and on and woken up tired and hungry and still in the same clothes he'd worn yesterday. He was really going to have to do something about that quick. Getting a job would be the honest way to go about it but Flick wasn't honest and he didn't want to wait. Later on, after he found food, he'd go out, find a sucker or two and lift a fancy phone, a wallet or, if he was lucky, a laptop or two. Anything like that would suit him for awhile.

He'd found some fruit in the common room and yeah, it wasn't his, but he was going to take it anyway. He could pay the person back once he got himself a little more settled. Flick took a seat on one of the couches and ate the apple silently. He left the television off. Probably should have turned it on because now he was just going to think and he didn't want to do that.

So, he reached for the remote and turned it on. Mindless distraction time.

[Open]

Comments

[shippedtomaine]

Emma (also in yesterday's clothes because she might as well save the clean change for classes tomorrow) had been in the fourth floor common room, which did have the good cereal as promised but no milk, so she'd headed upstairs, bowl in hand.

She made a non-committal noise in Flick's direction as she made a beeline for the fridge. If the people who actually lived on this floor wanted milk, they should have woken up already.

[flickofthewrist]

It looked like someone else was in search of food. He watched her head for the refrigerator and kept his eyes on her while she rooted around in said fridge.

He hadn't even thought of cereal for breakfast and now he kind of wanted something more than apple. But, he just kept glancing over quietly to see what she'd come up with.

Stealing food was going to be a thing this morning, apparently.

[shippedtomaine]

If people were stupid enough to leave their food in a communal area without putting their names on it, it wasn't stealing, it was natural selection in action. Survival of the smartest.

She checked the date on the milk before opening it, then sniffed it to be sure. Still good.

After she finished pouring, she held up the bottle. "You want some?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Read my mind," Flick said, giving her a nod. "Does a body good and all. I guess I should start my day off with a well balanced meal."

Because that's what this was, yeah.

"Yeah, I'd like some. Thanks for the offer."

[shippedtomaine]

Having breakfast at all was a step up from yesterday, so Emma was hardly going to judge.

"Knock yourself out," she said, passing him the bottle as she went to sit on a different couch, pulling her feet up and balancing her bowl on her knees. "I saw juice in there as well." But that would have been too many containers to juggle right that moment.

[flickofthewrist]

"Cheers," he said, saluting her with the bottle before taking a few long gulps of milk. Hadn't had that in awhile and he found he'd kind of missed the taste.

So, for no reason other than he could, he finished the bottle. He wasn't all that sorry. Actually, he wasn't sorry at all.

"Was this yours?" Flick thought to ask once the bottle was empty. Did he have to apologize and offer to get her a new one now?

[shippedtomaine]

"Nope," Emma replied through a mouthful of delicious sugary cereal. She knew better than to hand over food if she actually wanted any of it back.

Though if he randomly wanted to get her more, she wasn't going to object. She wasn't exactly flush with cash here.

[flickofthewrist]

"Good, then I don't have to fake apologize to you," he said, leaning forward to put the bottle on the table.

They could be broke together. He wasn't rolling in the greenbacks either. And probably never would be.

"And I wouldn't wanna start off the morning with a lie, sympathetic as it might be. I'm better than that."

He wasn't.

[shippedtomaine]

They'd be poor but pretty. Which people were less suspicious of then poor and not pretty.

Emma gave him a properly sceptical eyeroll. "If you wanted me to believe that, you wouldn't have mentioned the fake apology first." Not that she was going to hold it against him.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Jessica was making her way back to her room after her radio broadcast when she heard the distinctive sound of people in the common room. So she stopped in.

"Good morning," she said. "What're we watching today?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Considering I pretty much just turned on the TV?"

Flick shrugged and slid a glance her way. He was still wary of everyone here but he was trying to keep that mostly hidden.

"Haven't actually decided yet. Doesn't seem to be a huge selection."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"It's Sunday morning. I think there's tennis and there's political talk shows," Jessica said. "I think you may have picked the wrong time to turn on the TV, really."

[flickofthewrist]

It was better than the alternative.

He'd almost missed bad TV since it wasn't like Mandel Academy had a cable hookup. Almost. He didn't think he'd missed it bad enough to watch tennis or political talk shows.

Flick flipped through a few more channels, eventually stopping on some movie that looked old enough to be his grandmother. But, it wasn't politics or religion or sports.

"Probably did," he eventually said, glancing over at her again. "But, sitting in silence would look a little crazy, wouldn't it?"

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, I sit in silence now and then without anyone being too weirded out. It might help if you at least have a book, though," Jessica noted.

[flickofthewrist]

"Well, I was eating," he said, holding up the half eaten apple he'd stopped eating when he'd turned on the television. "Maybe that's what I should have done instead of trying to multitask."

The movie he'd landed on wasn't getting any better. He didn't even recognize any of the actors and actresses he was seeing.

"And I don't have any books on me. Didn't think to pack them."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"There's nothing wrong with trying to do two, maybe even three things at once," Jessica said. "Like right now, I'm talking to you, watching this, and trying to remember to mark down what days I have classes on the planner in my phone. I'm probably going to fail with that last one, but I'm giving it a shot."

[flickofthewrist]

"You're very talented," he said dryly. "I don't even know your name and I'm already in awe of your ability to multitask. Teach me your ways."

He wasn't serious.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'm Jessica," she said. "And you start by doing something. And then you do something else. And then you keep adding to it until you fail at everything and that's the line you stay behind. Lesson over, that'll be five bucks for my expert instruction."

[shippedtomaine]

Emma shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Just enjoying the fact that it's on? Or are you just completely ignoring it?" Jessica asked.

[shippedtomaine]

"Don't watch it that much," Emma said with another shrug. "Besides, there's food."

You couldn't eat television.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"That's the real magic of Fandom. Every common room stocked with food," Jessica noted. "I'm Jessica, by the way."

[shippedtomaine]

Emma could get used to that. Very quickly. "Emma. I'm new." Thus unaware Jessica may not have been speaking metaphorically.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"I figured it was either that, or I'm less social than I thought and still had some people from the start of the summer to meet," Jessica said.

[shippedtomaine]

"I could've been hidden in my room. Not much for socialising either." Emma had talked to more people in the last two days than she usually did in two weeks.