2nd Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

[that_oldsaying]

It had happened by accident.

Alluka had bounced into the common room in search of chocolate candy food and had tossed Mr. Bubbles at the couch as she'd gone by so that he could save her a seat despite the fact that no one else had been in the room and when she'd gotten back from peering at the fridge and cupboards (and had discovered chocolate chip cookies, which she'd promptly decreed was better than anything else to eat) (sorry Kathy), Alluka discovered that Mr. Bubbles had fallen off the couch.

This could have been a disaster, but Mr. Bubbles was a clever giraffe and had knocked a cushion down with him and it lay half over him, sheltering him from the pain (never mind that the floor was under him, the details were not important) and Alluka had surveyed this with big eyes before squealing.

"A fort! You're the smartest, Mr. Bubbles!"

And that was how the second floor common room had been turned into a fort. Every chair and couch in the room had been either turned on its side or stripped of cushions (or both) to make this fort. Extra blankets had been spread across the chairs to make rooftops and maze-like little passageways and in the center of it all Alluka had her toys, and her cookies, and it was amazing.

Her bunny and panda were probably wondering where she was. Shh, don't tell them!

[Open!]

Comments

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo hadn't been planning to stop on the second floor on her way out of the dorm for an evening ride, but as she was walking down the stairs she spotted the common room and her eyes went wide.

"What in the world happened here?" she wondered aloud, wondering if people could even get to the fridge without some sort of epic adventure.

[that_oldsaying]

No, no they couldn't.

... Unless they were able to fly or something. Jump over half the room?

Alluka giggled, still hiding in the middle of her fort.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Huh. That giggle sounded awfully familiar, even muffled by blankets and cushions.

"I wonder," Ringo mused, raising her voice, "if someone might be trapped in the middle, and need rescuing."

[that_oldsaying]

There was silence for a moment.

Then Alluka giggled more.

"No breaking it!" she commanded. A rescue was one thing (not that she needed it!) but Alluka didn't want all her hard work to go to waste.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Who could be making such demands?" Ringo continued her loud musings. "Probably only a villain, who has captured someone and is holding them prisoner inside this massive fortress."

That had to be it.

[that_oldsaying]

Absolutely!

More of Alluka's laughter followed that statement. "Maaaaybe!" she chirped, glancing at Mr. Bubbles.

Was Mr. Bubbles the villain of this piece or the one that needed rescuing?

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, that villain should come out and taste justice!"

Ringo struck a pose.

Then, after a moment, she realized that no one inside the fort could see her. "I'm striking a really heroic pose," she announced. For their benefit.

[that_oldsaying]

There was some more muffled laughter and rustling as Alluka peered around at her fort to see if she had any useful spy holes.

She did not.

"A villain never leaves safety when a hero is around!" she announced instead.

Mr. Bubbles nodded seriously.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"You're missing a pretty heroing pose," Ringo pointed out, trying to sound tempting.

[that_oldsaying]

"I knoooow," Alluka wailed (well, as best she could while being in such a ridiculous mood), "but I can't leave!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, you'll probably never get another chance to see something like this," Ringo sighed. "But if you can't, you can't. It's just a tragedy."

[that_oldsaying]

"That's so mean!" Alluka protested! "What if I really am the captive in here?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I think you might be crying 'save me, save me'," Ringo pointed out with a giggle of her own.

[that_oldsaying]

"Oh."

There was a moment of contemplation between her and Mr. Bubbles before Alluka muttered 'but no breaking the fort, Ringo!' as Mr. Bubbles nodded fiercely.

Then she said, in a terrible approximation of a damsel in distress, "Save me! Save me!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo couldn't help it. Her giggles dissolved into outright laughter, doubling her over as she tried to catch her breath.

[that_oldsaying]

"You are the worst hero, Ringo!"

The very worst!

But Alluka was laughing too, so it was okay.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Okay, okay," Ringo gasped. "I'll come save you now!"

After she finished another bout of laughter real quick, anyway.

[that_oldsaying]

"I'm waaaiting!"

Also, she had chocolate chip cookies. She was a well prepared damsel in distress!

[soniaroadsqueen]

Finally catching her breath, Ringo got down on her hands and knees so that she could crawl under a blanket and into the maze of furniture. "I'm coming, princess!"

[that_oldsaying]

"Yay!"

Alluka wriggled happily before realizing that as captive, she might want to try and sound... caught.

...

... Nah.

[soniaroadsqueen]

It's not like it would fool anyone, anyway.

Unlike this maze. "Hey, who designed this thing, anyway?" Ringo asked after a moment, having ended up in the opposite corner of the room from where she'd started.

[that_oldsaying]

There was awkward quiet for a second as Alluka finished her latest cookie and looked at Mr. Bubbles for confirmation.

Yes, yes he was totally the villain of this game.

"Mr. Bubbles!"

There you go, Ringo. You were lost in a fort designed by a stuffed giraffe.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Well, fortunately Ringo had literally inhuman spatial senses, so once she got turned back around she managed to work her way in a mostly consistent manner back toward Alluka's voice.

"He's very devious," Ringo called as she got closer.

[that_oldsaying]

Mr. Bubbles was!

"The most deviouses!"

Alluka, that wasn't wasn't a word.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, I don't know if I'd say the most," Ringo grinned, rounding a sofa and finally spotting Alluka. "Because someone seems to have eaten all the cookies."