Third Floor Common Room; Monday Morning [06/17].

[howareyanow]

It would just stand to reason that today was different, wouldn't it, what with how every Monday seemed to bring something new to this weird little place that left Wayne wondering a bit if something was just constantly being slipped into his morning coffee? So, just like nearly every Monday before this one, Wayne wasn't about to fuss too much about the bigger details quite yet, and he was mostly going to be glad that, when he went to the common room to get started on breakfast and opened the fridge, the food was back and, in general, he felt like that meant it was going to be a pretty good week overall.

This whole Monday morning breakfast tradition he'd gotten going, he realized, was not just about getting a good start to your day with making the most out of the most important meal of it. It almost seemed as if getting a good start on Monday morning breakfast was like getting a good start on whatever the week as a whole had in store for them.

And he liked that thought. A little bit of pondering and reflection was a pretty solid accompaniment to bacon'n'eggs.

And pancakes, too, of course.


[[ open breakfast is open! *obnoxiously rings triangle*]]

Comments

[unusual_sith]

This morning was much better than last - there was sky above them rather than a leaky dome, and that counted for a lot.

Lana smiled as she showed up for this traditional breakfast. "Good morning, Wayne. How are you today?"

[howareyanow]

"Good," said Wayne, already reaching for a plate to fill for Lana, "n'you?"

And, sure, that was what he pretty much always said, but, so far this morning, it was true. He just hoped it didn't go flipping toward untrue the moment he stepped outside of these dorms.

[unusual_sith]

"Quite well, thank you," Lana answered. "Glad to be back above water."

[howareyanow]

Wayne hummed a bit of an agreement to that, finishing up with loading up a plate with a little bit of everything for Lana before handing it over.

"Good to hear that's done," said Wayne, who so far had definitely found it easier to deal with whatever weirdness was going on outside second-hand from the breakfast crew than actually going and looking himself; it made it just a little bit easier to ignore it if he needed to. "The structural integrity of that dome was....questionable."

[unusual_sith]

"Definitely," Lana agreed. "Thank you; this smells delicious as always. That leaky dome will give me nightmares."

[howareyanow]

Wayne had to give a faint grunt of disapproval at that idea, picking up his mug of coffee (the one he'd brought from home with the dog on it, of course) for a sip. "Yeeaaaaaahhhhhh," he drawled out, moving some of that disapproval into the tone of it. "Weren't nothing good going to come out of that thing. If humans were meant to live underwater, we'd have come with gills."

[unusual_sith]

"I'm not against underwater habitats," Lana said, "or at least I wasn't before last week, but leaky ones are another thing. I'm just glad to have the sky again."

[howareyanow]

"Can confirm," said Wayne in agreement. "Nothin' quite like poor craftsmanship," Wayne noted, "to put you off your week..."

And he knew that it could have just been, as Nina had said, old, but having worked on it a bit for class, it wasn't exactly great work, either, but it didn't really matter in the long run, now, did it, since it was all gone anyway.

"...and wide open skies to put it right again. Might have to get out and enjoy it while we can, realleh."

[unusual_sith]

Lana nodded. "My phone says were near a place called Massachusetts, which is where Norman is from, so I'm going to ask him to show me around the place."

[howareyanow]

It wasn't that Wayne doubted Lana; he didn't, not rrallej, but he was thorough, so he pulled his own phone out of his pocket to check.

"Huh," he said. "Look at that. Massachusetts. "

That confirmed on his own GPS, he tucked the phone away again, picking up his mug.

"Never been to Massachusetts before."

[unusual_sith]

"Neither have I," Lana said. "But Norman was telling me about it last week, so I thought he might be able to show me around."

[howareyanow]

"Norman?" Wayne squinted a little bit at his own memory. "Not sure I've met him..."

Which wasn't surprising, really. He didn't really get out much, and when he did socialize, it was sort of with the same handful of people.

Which was...typical. Expected, almost.

[unusual_sith]

"He doesn't get out much," Lana said. "He's in a few of my classes, though. Dark hair that stands up, quiet."

[howareyanow]

Wayne considered that he might have noticed someone of that description here and there, but, beyond that, didn't really have anything, so he sort of dismissed it for now. Didn't really matter, realleh.

"Well," he stated, conclusively, "I hope you and Norman have a good time with your sightseeing, Lana. You let me know if you find anything particularleh interestin'."

[unusual_sith]

"I will," Lana agreed.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Incoming hug, Lana, unless you dodged!

"Are you coming to the party later?????????????"

[unusual_sith]

Lana was going to dodge just enough to not get smothered, hopefully.

"Good morning, Nina. Actually, I don't think I'll make it; I have plans." Which the other party didn't know about yet, but pfft. "But I hope it goes well."

[bookbeltof_love]

Rude! But, like, fine, Lana, fine!

Nina was grinning anyway.

"Oh my gosh, plaaaaaans???????? Are they, like, date plans????????????????"

[unusual_sith]

Lana frowned. "Not in a romantic sense, no," she said. "I was talking with Norman about where he's from a while ago, and according to the locator on my phone, that's where we are, so I plan on getting him to show me around. It sounded interesting."

[bookbeltof_love]

On one hand, Lana could do so much better than Norman.

On the other hand, that meant Norman wasn't coming to her party either.

"Well, like, oh my gosh, I hope you guys enjoy your date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Congrats, Lana, you were now dating Norman as far as Nina was concerned.

[unusual_sith]

"I told you, it's not really a date," Lana said patiently. "I'm pretty sure neither of us is interested in that. But anyway, enjoy your party."

[bookbeltof_love]

Given that Vette had also insisted that she wasn't dating Sidon when she so obviously had been... that wasn't going to make a dent in Nina's belief.

But, like, maybe Lana was romantically shy?

"I will, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said sunnily. "And, like, if you guys have the time or whatever, feel free to stop by, even for just a few minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[unusual_sith]

If there was one thing Lana wasn't, it was definitely shy.

"We will," she said. They probably wouldn't have time, but you never knew.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Good moooooooooooorniiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina chirped, bouncing in and looking up from her phone to flash a brilliant smile at Wayne as she did so.

[howareyanow]

Annnnnd there it was. And despite the flinch that he really couldn't help at that piercing Nina Morning Siren, Wayne would have to admit that he'd feel a little put out in the occassion that he didn't get to hear it. The wince was even constricted to just his face at this point, though he suspected it would never fully go away.

Nor should it. Wayne was definitely a morning person, but fuck, Nina.

"Nina!" he offered back, nodding, already reaching for a plate. "How are ya now?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I'm great!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she bubbled, not even vaguely sorry for any pain she might inflict on people due to her cheerfulness. "Like, oh my gosh, it's perfect outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Onsen party later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A beat.

"How are you??????????????"

[howareyanow]

"Oh," Wayne drawled, surprising no one, and handing over a plate all loaded and ready to go with all the usual The-Island-Didn't-Take-Away-My-Groceries-This-Time breakfast fare that the breakfast crew would be coming to expect on days like this, "not so bad. You still going in for that party today, then, are ya?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"Thank you for breakfast," she said sincerely, as she accepted that plate. "And, yes, I think so???????????? I'm going to have to see if, like, the island tries to kill me when I set foot outside the dorms?????????????? But if it doesn't, then the party is definitely going to happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

"Well, then," Wayne said, looking squintingly thoughtful as he nodded, "then I hope nothing tries to kill you when you set food outsiiiide, and that's not just for the sake of the party, 'though I was thinking of stopping in. Hard to say no to a good party."

[bookbeltof_love]

She grinned at him.

"You are, like, so totally welcome at the party!!!!!!!!!! It's hard to, like, go wrong with a hot spring, right?????????????? Though, like, it's nice that it's not just about the party you don't want me eaten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

Well, of course he wouldn't want Nina to get eaten; who else would test his eardrums to their absolute limit every Monday so he could make sure they were working properly?

"Never actually been to a hot springs before," Wayne admitted. "We got a few of 'em in Canada, but they're all over in the Rockies, on the other side of the country, and we don't usually make it that much further past Sasky, realleh. Bit like a hot tub, though, isn't it? Just less....bubbly? Or chlorinated?"

Which...the whole thought of just sitting around in a big pool of hot water with people didn't really sound like Wayne's idea of a good time. But he'd been invited. And it was impolite to turn down an invitation, unless you had a real good reason, and he didn't have anything going on at all, so he was shit out of luck for excuses, realleh.

[bookbeltof_love]

"It's very relaxing," Nina said though she'd never, like, tried a hot tub the way he mentioned it. She found herself a seat and began digging into her breakfast.

"And, like, there will be food and drinks too—though we're super not allowed to eat in the water—so it's not just, like, hang out in the water the whole time, though people are free to do that, of course, if they want to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

"Shouldn't eat and then get in the water right away, anyway," said Wayne, in that dry encyclopedic fact-dropping way of his, squinting at nothing in particular. "It'll make you cramp up. I mean, usually....that's with swimmin', but it's probably a good rule of thumb either wayyyy."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Does it really?????????????" Nina asked. "Like, I've never really noticed???????????? There's not a lot of water right around Greenhill............"

[howareyanow]

"Never really tried it myself," Wayne admitted. "But it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that's worth the risk, if you ask me."

[bookbeltof_love]

"What sort of thing does sound like it is worth risk????????????" she wondered, since he had no problems going out beating things up with her, but now balked at eating before going in the water...

[howareyanow]

But that was different. That was fighting.

"All I'm saying," said Wayne, "is that if I have a choice to potentially cramp up in the water on account of the fact that I ate something before hand or to completely avoid cramping up in the water simply because I didn't eat anything, well, then, I'm going for the definitely not-cramping option. Food tastes better afterwards, anyway, 'cause then you've worked up an appetite for it."

[following_my_fishie]

Delirium staggered in with her arms wrapped firmly around her stomach, shoulders hunched. Her hair was flat and stringy, her eyes had so many bags they almost needed a luggage cart. Lips pale and chapped looked almost bloodless against her face.

Del wasn't feeling well. Barnabas was pressed to her leg as she walked, helping to balance her while throwing concerned looks up at her face. She stumbled her way toward the food and asked in a small whisper, pointing at the pancakes, "Can I have one of these please?"

[howareyanow]

Well, Wayne was going to greet Delirium and Barnabas with the customary how are ya now, but it was plain to see the answer just by looking at Delirium, so it seemed a little unnecessary at that point, especially with her question. It was hard not to be a bit concerned, seeing her like that, especially when he hadn't really seen her much lately.

And the look of her that morning definitely wasn't doing much to sway him on the whole methhead skid theory.

But a man asked for help, you helped him, even if it was just with pancakes.

"Can have more'n one, if you like," he assured her, though he wasted no time in placing one on a plate for her and handing it over. "Just the pancakes for you, though, Delirium? Barnabas? Some bacon?"

[following_my_fishie]

"Thank you," Del whispered. She used a fork wrapped in a paper towel to slide a pancake onto her plate, making very careful sure that her plate didn't touch the plate the other pancakes were on. No toppings. Just the one pancake. She didn't need to eat. She thought maybe the pancake might help the feeling in her stomach.

Barnabas watched her worriedly. He answered Wayne without looking at him. "I would like some bacon, yes, please. And if there is a bottle of water around, she should have one of those too."

Del made a small retching noise at the mention of water and darted away to a table with a firm shake of her head.

[howareyanow]

Well, that just about put more furrows in Wayne's brow than a field during planting season. He nodded to Barnabas, before going to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, figuring Delirium needed water much more than Barnabas needed bacon at that moment.

"Better keep hydrated," he suggested as he handed the bottle over while...keeping as much distance as he could without making it too awkward, and planning to down a full carton of OJ for the day, just in case whatever Delirium had was catching.

Then he went to tend to that plate of bacon for Barnabas.

"And plenty of rest, too!" he added, as Big Brother mode officially kicked on, and hard. "You need anything else, though, you just let me know."

[following_my_fishie]

Delirium stared at the water and pulled back, frightened. "Nonononononono.. " The small steady chanting trailed off and she looked at the bottle. "It's not..Barnabas? Is it glowing? I don't think it's glowing. Maybe.. maybe it's ok?"

"It's not glowing," Barnabas assured her, "It's a bottle of water from the refrigerator." He hesitated and, considering her other fears this day, "It was never outside." Poking her with his nose, he added gently, "You don't need to drink but you should. It might help you feel better."

She slouched into her chair. Remembering manners, she gave Wayne a little woebegone smile and said, "Thank you." She popped the top of the bottle and stared down into it fearfully for a long minute, first with one eye and then the other. To make sure it wasn't glowing. She took a small and polite sip. Waited. Deflated a little more into the chair. "It's ok. It's not sick," she mumbled.

[howareyanow]

Wayne did quite a bit of squinting at Delirium's odd reaction, but he wound up turning his frown questioningly toward Barnabas. Granted, he would have trusted Barnabas' opinions on any given matter over Delirium's any old time, but with her in her current state, he was especially going to be turning to the dog for answers.

[following_my_fishie]

Barnabas gave the skin twitch that served as a doggy shrug. "The water outside is glowing," he explained, "It's very faint for human eyes but I can see it even when it isn't dark out and of course Delirium can see it. She's insisting that 'everything is sick'." His doggy mouth turned down in a frown. "Which she didn't do when the water outside was radioactive sludge, so this worries me."

Del had pretty much ignored the dangers of Fallout World.

"She is plainly ill and that also worries me. It should be impossible but.." He looked at her and nosed her leg.

Del reached a small hand down to wearily pat him.

[howareyanow]

The water was...glowing? Wayne might have chalked that up to something like Delirium just being...well, Delirium, but it had been coming straight from the dog's mouth, and he couldn't help trust Barnabas almost implicitly just due to his canine nature. This kept sounding a bit worse and worse the more Barnabas went on, now, didn't it? Somehow, he managed to find room for his frown to deep a little more, which had been no small feat, really, it was pretty far down there in the trenches already as it was.

"Well," he said, after a moment, nodding faintly, but firmly, as he set down that plate of bacon finally and went to squinting at some random spot on the wall that helped him put glowing water that makes people sick a bit further out of his mind, "if anything, at least, just keep rested, take care of yerself, and it'll likeleh be over in a week, with the way things'll be going around here. Come next Monday, you'll be right as rain again, I'll bet."