Third Floor Common Room; Monday Morning [08/19].

[howareyanow]

Yesterday had been completely spend appreciating the fact that Wayne had hands again that weren't C-sucking C-shaped, celebrating the fact that he could smoke and drink and shoot rifles again (though not necessarily in that order), as well as crossing his arms and nodding. He'd spent whole hours just standing there with his arms crossed and a dart hanging from his lips, and it was just about some of the best hours he'd had in what felt like too long a time.

He was a simple man, really; it didn't take much to make him happy, but at the very top of that list was Things Working as They're 'Exposed To, and he hadn't had nearly enough of that this summer.

And this morning? Breakfast. As it's exposed to be, with hands to make it with and internal organs to digest it with.

It didn't seem like the sort of thing that a person should be feeling so thankful for, but, sure as God's got sandals, this place made you really sorta appreciate the little things in life that most people just go and take for granted.

Like being able to cross your arms over your chest. Fuck, did that feel good.

[[ open common room is open! ]]

Comments

[bookbeltof_love]

Yeah. So. So, like, Nina was still not super up to the whole being up and about but there was something incredibly comforting about the idea of tradition, on Monday mornings, and she knew Prompto wasn't around so that meant she didn't have to worry about running into the person she most didn't want to see right now…

"Moooooorning!!!!!!" she said, meandering in, feeling small and looking tired, despite her very carefully chosen outfit (which was even more modest than usual because Nina was still deeply resentful of the fact she'd spent a week running around in a painted-on body suit) and perfect hair.

There was no good to that greeting but, hey, it was an attempt, look at her go.

[howareyanow]

Tradition was especially important on days like today, where all's anyone should want to do is just lean as hard as possible into things being nice and normal and exactly how they should be again. At least, that's the way Wayne saw it, and he was definitely sticking to it like glue.

And the fact that Nina'd made the effort and managed to get it as good as she did went a long way in Wayne's book, who, determined to take a grip on Normal and just hold on tight, offered up his usual, "Nina! How are ya now?" with maybe even a little extra chirp of brightness.

Wayne-brightness. But still. After all, everything was back to normal, as far as he could tell, and he'd much rather focus on all that than think even a second on all that last week.

[bookbeltof_love]

That extra chirp of brightness made her pause before she decided that, no, it was just Wayne's way of ignoring the trauma and not more... fake... brightness or else into the Toybox with you.

"I'm, like, staaaarving," she said, which was not exactly the truth but it was much better than 'well, I'd rather still be hiding under blankets and not coping due to everything'. And it was true enough. Sure, she'd had pasta and ice cream yesterday, but that had been yesterday. "How are you, Wayne??????"

[howareyanow]

"Ohhhh," Wayne drawled easily enough, "not so bad."

Which was pretty understated. He could cross his arms and smoke darts again. Things were actually pretty fucking great.

And he was fixing up Nina's plate just like that, throwing on a little extra today since she seemed to be particularly hungry and all.

"Just don't mind that I think things got a little extra burn on 'em today," he said with a note of apology as he handed the loaded plate over.

He may have been a little slow on some things today, what with all the standing there and just crossing his arms between flips.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Thank you," she said automatically, taking her plate with a smile for him. And, hey, it wasn't pretend plastic food this week! That was great.

"Extra burn???????" And things did look a bit overcooked, in comparison to his usual, but it all still looked good, so... "Were you distracted about something????????????"

[howareyanow]

"Mebbe a bit," Wayne admitted, after frowning slightly and squinting as he thought about if there was a way to spin an explanation that didn't wind up talking about last week, but, really, there wasn't, and he figured it might be okay to talk about last week a little bit, in the event that the talking was mostly about how completely irritating it all was.

"S'just I can cross my arms again," he explained, and demonstrated, because, fuck, if he wasn't going to take another opportunity to do it, and he threw in a nod for good measure because he'd missed doing that, too. "And yeah. I kept gettin' distracted."

By his arms. And crossing them.

It was a big fucking deal, alright? Those arms are what got him out of that brainwashing mess in the first place!

[bookbeltof_love]

And, really, of all the ways to talk about last week, this was... was... one she was okay with.

"I was really excited by clothes this morning," she shared, taking a prim seat on the couch to dig in before her food got cold. "And, like, being able to sit down properly!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

"And they're very nice clothes, too," Wayne offered, with a nod of approval (Katy could take some lessons on how to put on some fucking clothes from Nina, he could tell you that fucking much). If she'd have been excited about them, then it just seemed polite to go ahead and take notice of them.

"Big fan of bendin' knees again!" he offered out, taking a second to hike one knee up in a stiff motion, then the other. "And also of not being a fucking lumberjack!"

Not that there was anything wrong with lumberjacks; it was good, honest work. But Wayne believed firmly in proper classifications and distinctions.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Why were you even a lumberjack in the first place?????????????" she wondered, with a smile for the compliment on her clothes.

Since, like, Wayne was... not very lumberjacky, from what she understood.

[howareyanow]

Wayne actually had been giving that a lot of thought, and he'd felt he'd come up with a reasonable solution. Reasonable in that it was just stupid enough that it was probably true.

"If I'd have to guess," he said, "I'd guess it'd be because of all the plaid."

Think about it. When had anyone ever seen him not wearing a plaid shirt? Fashion had clearly outweighed function, in this instance.

[bookbeltof_love]

"You do wear a lot of it," she said, almost apologetically.

But it was true.

[howareyanow]

"TIt's comfortable," even in the summer, apparently, "sturdy, and practical." Wayne nodded, firm in his convictions. "What more could a guy want out of his wardrobe, anyway?"

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina had never in her life worn plaid, so she had no idea how comfortable it was, but Wayne was definitely the sort of guy that put sturdy and practical over things like… being fashionable. Which wasn't a bad thing, exactly, though it did leave her a little wishful at wondering what he'd look like, all spruced up, dressed to the nines.

… Probably, she had to admit, giggling into her pancakes, was that he'd look uncomfortable.

"I think there's, like, a lot of guys who'd argue with you on that one?????????"

[howareyanow]

Nina was, one day, going to find herself incredibly (but hopefully pleasantly) surprised.

Might as well call him Windex, because boy could clean up.

But Wayne just shrugged and decided to take to fixing up another pancake. "And they'd be welcome to," he said, because Nina especially should know that Wayne didn't have any issue with getting into petty arguments over stupid things. "Jus' seems like a whole lot of unnecessary fuss, though."

[bookbeltof_love]

She was still baffled about the vehemence he'd had about her cooking, though! Most of the time, Nina took his ranting in stride, but that one had been weird.

One day, one week, she was going to sneak in here before he made it in and surprise him with breakfast.

"I like unnecessary fuss," Nina admitted but, then, she was a girl and maybe it was different for guys? She didn't know? Some of the guys she knew were just as fussy as she was. "And changing up a style!!!!!!!! When's the last time you did that?????????"

[scoffs_at_tradition]

"I have thumbs again!"

Sorry, it was going to take a bit of time for her to stop being excited about that.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Congratulations on your thumbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina said since, hey, that was a pretty great thing to have back again.

[howareyanow]

Wayne's side-eye came with that low rumbling growl in this back of his throat that was usually a good indication of his discomfort or disapproval of something. He had a sister. He felt he could sense the possibility of make-over suggestion when he heard one.

"If it ain't broke," he declared, "don't fix it!"

He had been wearing plaid shirts and perfectly fitting jeans since he was able to dress himself, Nina, and had no intention of changing that up any time soon.

He'd be buried in a plaid shirt and perfectly fitting jeans, if he had any say in the matter!

[howareyanow]

It was a good thing to be excited about! And, since Wayne could certainly relate, he figured the best response to that was simple putting his own returned thumbs to good use by lifting a hand and giving Shuri a stout thumbs-up in response.

Followed, of course, by the usual greeting, because tradition.

"Shuri! How are ya now? Besides the thumbs, anywhey?"

[scoffs_at_tradition]

"Thank you!" Shuri said, beaming. "It's nice to see you all human again as well."

[scoffs_at_tradition]

"Well, I wasn't publicly executed on Saturday," Shuri said, "so today is super."

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina shivered a little, at Shuri saying it so openly.

"I'm just glad everything's back to normal," she said, since that was honestly true. "And that, like, everyone's mostly okay???????????"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I was just asking!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina protested, all big-eyed innocence and giggles, which made the innocence bit rather dubious. "You look good the way you are!!!!!!!!!! I was just wondering…………."

[scoffs_at_tradition]

Shuri nodded emphatically. "And that we can eat breakfast instead of just pushing it around."

[bookbeltof_love]

"I, like, had pasta yesterday????????????" Nina said. "And it was the best thing ever and, like, I'm pretty sure part of that was just oh thank goodness, real food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"