Third Floor Common Room; Monday Morning [06/24].

[howareyanow]

Breakfast might have been a little later that Monday, on account of the fact that Wayne hadn't exactly woken up in his bed that morning but, oh, y'know, somewhere out in the wilderness where he'd been taking down larger-than-usual human-faced rodents with his bare hands and teeth for the better part of the weekend, but there would still be breakfast. Heck, there'd still likeleh be breakfast even if Wayne had gotten up that morning and still had all those teeth and claws and horns and whatnot, because it was tradition.

And you don't fuck with tradition. Not even as a terrifying mutant monster version of yourself.

But it didn't really matter now, now, did it? Because Wayne wasn't a terrifying mutant monster version of himself, Wayne was just his usual version of himself now, only in black-and-white, it seemed, like the rest of the world, which he wasn't sure if was some side-effect to his brain being all bad all weekend, or if it was just a thing the island was doing, and he was really wondering how he could actually test all of that, because it was going to bother him until he knew fer shure.

Food in the fridge, though, that was a good sign for the week, and it gave him the chance to whip up his usual breakfast stuff, with maybe a bit more and bit stronger coffee than usual, and he was really hoping people were hungry this morning because he just really wanted to sort of rub it in a little.

Because he said it was just a bug. And from where he was standing, he'd been right.

One hell of a bug, sure, yeah, okay, he'd give you that. But just a bug, all the same.


[[*allows boyos to take over third floor public spaces, innocent whistles* open breakfast is open as always! ]]

Comments

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina had, like, spent the better part of a week as a… a thing and, okay, like, whatever, though, she'd been right, it had been an island thing and now it was gone and the world was all black and white and grey, which was weird but it was also an island thing, which meant that Nina was…

Nina was doing pretty okay with the fact she'd been a weird monster thing that had wanted blood and had probably, like, eaten more than a few usually teal deer (but then, like, deer was pretty tasty even when she wasn't a monster, so, like…) and had woken up nicely confused on a roof in town.

A hot shower, clean clothes, and some time spent making sure her hair was absolutely flawless and… yeah, okay, Nina? Nina was pretty cool with what had happened. It wasn't her fault, she hadn't hurt anyone, and it was over now.

She was sort of, like, vaguely sulky that she didn't have wings any longer though. She, like, hers hadn't been pretty but she'd been able to use them and that, she remembered, had been totally great.

"Good moooooooorning!!!!!!!!" she chirped, wandering in for breakfast and glancing up from her phone. It wasn't, like, quite as enthusiastic as some weeks, but hey, it was still a pretty good attempt.

[howareyanow]

And, honestly, to Wayne, nearly any amount of Nina-esque enthusiasm was about the same, existing in some higher plane of cheerfulness that his stoicism could only comprehend as a general concept of too much, though he supposed he could make a good guess at percentages, and he'd admit he'd only figured she'd need to take it down about 5 to 10 percent, rather than, say, about a 15 to 20.

Or the occasional 20 to 25.

But he was set pretty firm on normal this morning, as he flipped a pert'near perfect pancake (despite the greyness) straight onto a plate for Nina and went to go fill up the rest of it, too. "Nina!" he said, of course. "How are ya now?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I'm alright, I think?????????????????" she said, since it did seem like maybe she shouldn't be so okay with everything, but she was, and that... that was probably better than not being okay with everything? "How are you doing?????????????"

[howareyanow]

"Oh," Wayne replied easily, "not so bad."

A moment later, he added a somewhat emphatic, "Better," though it seemed a little unnecessary, obviously, he was better, but he did feel it was necessary to point it out for anyone who wanted to make a fuss about him being sick. Not that Nina had, of course, but just to, y'know, put it out there.

Just as he was puttin' out a plate that would have been impressively colorful with a variety of breakfast foods if everything hadn't been feeling so washed out that morning.

"Breakfast?" he asked, although probably also unnecessarily, as he already knew the answer.

[unusual_sith]

Lana finally ventured out from her room this morning, grateful to feel the usual students around her and not those things. She was dressed in her "home" clothes - armored boots, gloves, and tunic in grey and..well, darker grey, apparently; she couldn't remember if this set was green or red.

She smiled at Wayne. "Good morning. How are you today?"

[howareyanow]

"Good!" Wayne replied, with perhaps a bit more emphasis than usual, feeling the need to really drive that point home a little more this morning. "N'you?"

And he was, of course, already getting started on a plate for Lana, too.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Yes, please," she said primly, since honestly, that sort of routine was really great right about now.

A beat.

"I'm, like, so glad that nasty cold that was going around is over and done with," she added, since, no matter what Mae said, it had totally been, like, the Fandom version of a cold.

[unusual_sith]

"Very grey, apparently," Lana said wryly. "But otherwise well. Glad the last few weeks have passed." Even with the Dark energies around, she preferred her classmates being themselves.

[howareyanow]

Totally a cold! That Wayne could whole-heartedly and determinedly and stubbornly agree with!

"S'just a bug," he nodded. "Nothin' a little rest, relaxation, and," tearing through the woods on a raving bend of ripping and tearing to shreds nearly anything that decided it might want to get in his way, "time couldn't just fix right up. Glad it's over, though, but, no offense, I think I might be skippin' out on any more hot tub parties in the near future."

Even if he still wasn't sure if it was Delirium or Sidon who might have been agent zero in this case, with a big lean toward the big fish fellow on account of all the scales, but it was over now, so he supposed it didn't matter too much, just so long as maybe Sidon thought a little better about it before he went and got all canoodly in an onsen with a bunch of other people in it. S'just polite, even without brinin' potential shark STDs into the mix.

[howareyanow]

"Can confirm," said Wayne, perhaps with a slight sigh as he cast a glance to his very dull and grey flannel, to the common room as a whole, to the particular monocromatic nature of the breakfast arranged on the plate that he was now handing over to Lana. "Onto the next few, I s'pose. Breakfast?"

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina made a face at the very mention of the hot tub party.

"I," she said, "I'm never going near the onsen ever again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Because, like, who knew what had caused it, but her money was on the onsen and… no thank you, that was not happening again.

"Definitely not throwing a party there again," she said, with a decisive sort of nod. "I haven't, like, thought of my next party," there was totally going to be another party, "but, like, it's going to be something totally different!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

Wayne looked a little thoughtful for a moment, turning down the heat on some eggs while he went to reach for his mug of coffee (yes, of course, the one with the adorable dog on it) and have a sip.

"Been thinkin' about throwin' another bush party out by the old campground," he said. You know, one where he might actually invite people to. "...the weather," yeah, sure, he'll call it that, "s'not been very...cooperative fer bush parties, though..."

[bookbeltof_love]

Parties were generally more fun if people were invited to them!

Nina looked curious, though, at the idea of a bush party.

"Like, a bonfire and drinks and just hanging out??????????????????" She'd be down for that. It sounded almost like the sort of parties they'd have at home, really, more than her hot spring one had been. "That sounds like it'd be a nice sort of time if… if the weather works with us this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nina was not counting on anything this week, though, not after last week had started so wonderfully and wound up with… massive colds.

[howareyanow]

"Like a bonfire and drinks and just hanging out," Wayne confirmed with a nod. "Hard to get into too much trouble with a bush party."

Although even Wayne had to admit, those sounded ominously like famous last words.

"I'm down if yer down, though, Nina," he added. "I'll bring the Puppers."

And he figured she'd be...significantly better about getting word around than he was.

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina considered asking him what a 'Puppers' was, because her brain immediately went to 'puppies!' and, like, if he wanted to bring puppies to a party… she… she was definitely okay with that. How cute!

But she got sidetracked by—

"Me???????" Nina would usually be all for it, but, like… "I mean, I don't know if people would want to come if I invited them????????????? What if they blame me for their................ colds???????????"

Which had so totally not been her fault!

[howareyanow]

Considering that Wayne hadn't even had Nina anywhere near the blame radar (he'd been far too focused on a giant red Zora herring instead), his brow knitted and furrowed as he turned his head firmly her way.

"What would they blame you fer?" he asked, a bit of an accusation leaking into the confusion. But if she was just going to be standing there, making him wonder if he'd been focusing all his ire about the whole thing in the wrong direction...

[bookbeltof_love]

"I don't know!!!!!!!!!!" Nina protested, automatically, feeling defensive about that sort of tone of voice from him. "Like, Mae was saying about how it was everyone at the onsen and that I organized the party, but I had nothing to do with.......... with the colds!!!!!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

"Well, you just hosted the party," Wayne said, and, though his words seemed to be intended as a sort of consolation, his tone still held tight onto that accusation that he was still far too polite to just come right out and mention...about her, anyways. "Mebbe you just didn't know, Nina, but....things," again, far too polite to mention to her what kind of things, "can stay alive in hot tubs, I heard. Or hot water, I s'pose. And I'm not one to go around pointing fingers," he was totally pointing fingers, "'specially since bad gas travels fast in a small town, and I don't know about you, but I'm sure at least a coupla people can confirm to feeling a bit..." He gave a disapproving grunt, "scaly o'er the weekend...."

[bookbeltof_love]

"I had wings," she volunteered, since she had, and that had probably been the best part of it all, really, getting to fly, "but… but I don't… I mean, if there was anything in the water, I didn't know about it………. I thought it was going to be one of the normal weeks……………"

And his not-quite-accusation was just going to make her feel bad, since, like, it had been her party. Which did make everyone's trauma about the past week… like… her fault.

She looked down and toyed with her breakfast a bit.

[howareyanow]

Wayne's frown deepened, but his intention really was to try to take some of the blame off Nina's shoulders, even if it didnt sound like it, but that was definitely not something...unusual, when talking to Wayne. But it clearly wasn't working like he'd intended.

"If there was something in the water," he tried again, "and you didn't know about, weren't nothin' you could have done about it."

'Cept maybe tell the shark dude to take it down about 25, 30 percent there.

"S'just a bug, anyway, Nina," he reminded her. "Ain't no reason to get excited."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Okay," she said, mostly to her plate. "Okay, then, right, it was just a bug and I didn't know and…………"

And she was still going to feel pretty terrible about, well, everything.

Even if, like, she was pretty sure it was just the island's thing. This summer had been, like, a lot. She hadn't done anything, really, except think that they were going to have a nice, easy week.

Nina took another moment, then nodded to herself. Okay. Okay, she'd… think about it later.

"Right," she said, "then…………… then when were you thinking of having your party, Wayne????????????????"

[howareyanow]

Wayne gave a firm nod to Nina's reluctant agreement, no matter how unconvincing it was, turning a bit toward the stove to get started on another helping of eggs. Grey, grey eggs...

After all, if all it took was just thinking they'd all have a nice, easy week, then pert'near everyone was likely as guilty as the next.

His money was definitely firmly still on Sidon, though.

Wayne thought a little about Nina's question, though, before his shoulders shifted in the slightest of shrugs.

"Dunno," he admitted. "No workshops this week, though, right? So that pert'near makes just about any day a good day, though I s'pose Friday's a bit more traditional."

And he did like him some good ol' tradition.

[unusual_sith]

"Thank you." Lana eyed the grey food. "I can't say it looks terribly appetizing, but that's not at all due to your cooking. It still smells wonderful."

[bookbeltof_love]

Unconvincing or not, Nina was still hitting it out of the park as 'most functional diamond' today.

"Friday is pretty traditional," she admitted, since who didn't prefer to have their parties on the weekend? "And, like, that gives people the whole week to feel better about their colds—which means they'll likely want to do a little bit of partying by Friday, right????????????"

[howareyanow]

"Well, then," said Wayne, "at least I can say with confidence that it tastes better than it looks..."

Although if it was looking just as bleak to Lana as it was to him, then, perhaps...

"Yous having trouble seeing things in color, too, then?" he ventured, even if he wasn't sure he'd feel better or worse knowing it wasn't just him and some strange after-effect of his recent...cold.