fandomhighdorms | Third Floor Common Room, Monday Morning

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Third Floor Common Room, Monday Morning

"Goooooooooood mooooooooooooooo---------------------"

Her usual greeting died as she realized that, like, no one was there. Nina leaned back outside of the common room to see if, like, maybe he was coming, but there was no one there. She thought about going and knocking on his door but that seemed, she didn't know, kind of rude? And, really, what if he was sick?

She wouldn't want to rouse him if that was the case!

So, well.

There really was just one thing to do!

And that was steal breakfast! And, with her reasoning down pat, she could even feel virtuous about it!

Nina wriggled her hands into her black gloves (her pink ones, after all, were too nice for cooking) and got to work making eggs and sausages and pancakes and French toast (just because she knew Wayne thought French toast was sort of a waste). Fruit, too, of course. And coffee, though she didn't drink it, since a few of the people who did show up sometimes did drink it…

[Stolen breakfast is open! And stolen with permission from

howareyanow! Mwahaha!]

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And Wayne was definitely one of those people who would be needing that coffee just about now, if his delayed arrival to the common room for traditional breakfast was anything to go off of. He didn't particularleh want to talk about it, the whole thing had been a bit fruity-loops, but unavoidable, and it put him in a bit of a cranky mood because he didn't like being late for things, even if it would be completely understandable for the situation. And he realized, a second later after stepping through the door and seeing Nina already there, busy with the food, that he shouldn't be surprised that she'd take up the task if she got there before him, it'd happened before, after all, but, for a moment, out of the habit of it all, it was a little disorienting.

But Monday Morning Breakfast was bigger than him, after all, and it would go on with or without him, and there was a weird sort of comfort in that.

Even if it meant they'll all be eating Nina's weird spare parts cooking.

"Nina," he nodded, moving into the room, a silent acknowledgement of appreciation for her taking up the task in the meantime. "How are ya now?"

Her weird spare parts cooking tasted just fine, Wayne! Even if it all did come from a wok and a pot with no regard as to how it, like, was actually meant to be cooked in most worlds.

She grinned at him, unrepentant at her blatant thievery and also glad to see that he wasn't sick, just running behind or something.

"I'm good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she chirped. "How are you??????????????? Did you want coffee????????????"

There was a little grumble, a debating one, that was balancing the benefit of being honest with the solid footing that came with tradition, before he answered with his usual drawling, "Oh...not so bad," trailed by a polite, "Please and thank you," even as he was making a reach for his trusted puppy mug to go and pour the coffee fer himself, considering Nina'd already taken up breakfast, so he could at least do that himself.

"An' thanks fer gettin' things going," he added, with another appreciative nod, and then looked off somewhere else in the common room to sip his coffee, because, really, Nina's cooking wasn't all that bad so long as he didn't have to actually see her doing it.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Nina said, though rather than sounding offended by it, she was giggling.

"But, like, you're welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's kind of soothing, isn't it, cooking a whole bunch?????????????????"

Wayne would have to claim he didn't know what Nina was talking about with that first one, despite the fact that his eyes were now studiously squinting with unwavering dedication toward the couch between sips of his coffee, leaning back a little on the counter, so he just didn't say anything at all about it.

"Can confirm," he just said instead. "Wouldn't keep doing it all this time if I didn't enjoy it."

Well, he might, because tradition, but it didn't really matter, now, did it, since he enjoyed it anyway.

"It's kind of, I don't know, like, homey," she mused, even as she filled a plate for him and set it on the counter beside him so he could keep pretending that her cooking wasn't what it was. "Maybe it's the set-up, but it's a lot different from how the dining hall back home felt……………"

The set-up here wasn't much different from cooking back in the kitchen at the farmhouse, just a bit bigger with a lot more people, which was why Wayne took to it, because he liked the familiarity of it. So he tilted his head slightly over his mug, took another drink, and then set aside the mug so he could pick up the plate, giving Nina another nod of appreciation.

"That right?" he asked. "How so?"

He could take a few guesses, of course, but it just seemed polite to ask after it if she was bringing it up.

"I like it there," she said, a bit defensively, because it was true. She loved Greenhill fiercely even if she loved the island and the fact that she'd gotten a family out of it possibly even more. "But it's, like, a bit more…………….. cafeteria?????????? Not as, like, cold and clinical as the one here," which Nina avoided like the plague, "but it's still not like this???????????"

"Y'wanna know what?" said Wayne, after thoughtfully chewing on a piece of pancake and swallowing before speaking. "I always ferget we've even got a cafeteria..."

Not that he'd likely take advantage of it even if he did remember, because Wayne was definitely one of those brown bag lunch sorts of kids, most of which he'd made himself, once he was tall enough to actually reach the counter. And what was the point when there were kitchettes on each floor and more restaurants than would ever make sense for an economy this size with literally no tourist industry on the island?

Look, Wayne, sense and the island rarely met!

"It's not a very good one," she shared. "I had to know, but it's just… brr…………."

Which was something Wayne did not exactly appreciate about this island! And he had no qualms about letting those thoughts known on multiple occasions.

For the fuck all good it did...

Wayne nodded. "Then I'll likeleh just keep on fergettin' about it, if it's not much worth the time."

But then he got to wondering what exactly happened to all the food from a cafeteria that no one ever at from...

That was an easy one, Wayne! It was how the gremlins kept themselves fed!

"It really isn't," she said, tossing what looked like rice in her wok. "And it's really lonely, too, because no one is ever there…………"

Nina had hated it. Hated it.

Which might also explain why they seemed slightly less inclined to be running around, biting students as often these days...

"Well, that could be fixed easily enough, though, couldn't it?" asked Wayne, who was ignoring that rice in favor of some eggs on his plate. "Jus' bring someone with you. But, I s'pose, at that point, might as well jus' as well drag 'em to a common room anywhey. Yer probably used to it bein' more crowded than that back home, though, I'm guessin'."

"Yeah," she said, her smile going a bit wistful. "Like, enrollment's been down a bit due to the war, though with the peace talks going on it's been coming back but even at its slowest, it's busier than here……….."

Nina considered that.

"I, like, don't know if it makes sense but, like, the quiet is so loud here sometimes, it drives me mad………….."

Nina was not someone who appreciated rattling along in her own space for very long. A breather, a few snatched minutes here and there, that was fine, but…

And she was talking to someone right then who could literally just stand there with a dart in one hand and a beer in the other and just squint off into the distance with his own thoughts for hours and be content with it.

"Not sure I can relate to you on that one, little shoots," he admitted after a moment. "I kinda like the quiet...jus' wish there were more to do...but I'm pretty used to it. I can see why you might not be to keen on it if yer used to something a little rowdier..."

And here he figured talkin' to Nina when he did and having Okuyasu as a roommate was plenty rowdy enough fer him.

Edited 2019-11-25 17:15 (UTC)

"There's always something going on in Greenhill," Nina said, happy to talk about her favourite place. "Like, it's the capital city of the state, but it's still mostly a student city, so there's tons to do, whether you want to party or you want to learn or you just want to hang out and soak in the atmosphere and there's people everywhere and their dramas too……………"

And now she was feeling a bit homesick.

That last bit was earning Nina a bit of a look, yes, a very particular sort of squint.

"And we all know how you feel about people an' their dramas," he noted.

Unnecessarily, he thought, since the face pretty much was already saying just that.

"I mean, like, people living their lives is really the best sort of drama," Nina said earnestly. "It's the very best thing to see a story unfold in real time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Also she was just nosy.

Wayne mostly just made a face like someone'd suggested he'd pour the milk in the bowl first, before the cereal. Or that Mrs. Buttersworth would 'do in a pinch'.

He shook his head, and decided that that thought required reaching back for his mug of coffee again.

"Got no room fer drama in my own life," he noted. "So why the fuck's anyone gonna go lookin' fer it in other people's?"

She raised her eyes to the heavens as if begging for patience even as she gave that rice one last toss and… plated up a perfect couple of slices of French toast, the rice gone like it had never existed. (And she hadn't been cooking with it to begin with!)

"Drama doesn't just mean the big, exciting things," she explained patiently. "Drama is just, like, the story of life, no matter how dramatic or not it actually is……….. "

Nina was definitely the sort of nerd that loved people-watching.

Wayne slid a skeptical sort of look over at Nina--and regretted it, because fuck all was she even doing?--not very convinced that she wouldn't just go and make the little, less-exciting things a whole lot bigger so's they could be more dramatic.

"I just think," he said, setting the coffee mug back down and focusing on his sausages now, "some people spend too much time tendin' to other people's business, and not enough time jus' tending to their own."

Nina shrugged a little.

"Some of us only have other peoples' businesses to be concerned with," she said, rather mildly.

"Unlikeleh," said Wayne, fully convinced that this was true, as he took a bite of his sausage, chewed, then swallowed.

And went to spear the next bite with his fork, as he added, much more mildly, "Not that I'd know anything about that, what with it bein' none of my business."

"Hi," Shuri said, beaming at him.

"Shuri."

Now, how could he be met with a beam like that and not beam back? Well, just...in a very Wayne way, which meant that there was the suggestion of an actual discernible smile on his face as he also gave the requisite nod.

"How are ya now?"

It felt a bit weird, not being the one cooking that morning, but it did have its benefits, which now included getting a chance to talk to her without having to keep an eye out fer any pancakes or eggs burning.

"Very well, thank you," Shuri replied. "Why don't we have classes at the end of the week?"

"American Thanksgiving, more'n likely," said Wayne.

Y'know. Considerin' they were in America. Technicalleh.

Then, after a moment, he added, "So I hope you've got more of those traditional hats fer all yer American friends, too, Shuri."

"There's a huge box under my bed," Shuri said, giggling. "They'll be so happy!"

Probably not.

Tisarwat may have been slightly thrown when she came into the common room for breakfast as usual to see that Nina and Wayne seemed to have switched duties and, for a brief moment, she wondered if perhaps the island had done something that caused them to switch bodies, which wasn't really that far-fetched of an idea if you really though about it, but the fact that she'd thought about it at all was...

...well, no, it wasn't a sign that maybe she'd been here too long, it was just a sign of the fact that, subconsciously, it was a perfectly reasonable thought for someone whose brain actually had been highjacked by someone with multiple bodies, and it was just a matter of fact that it was slightly more possible for something like that to happen here than it was back home, but she was proof that it could happen back home, too.

Which was a bit too much thinking for a Monday morning, and, to stave off any hint of a headache that might encroach on her because of it, she shook her head and just stuck with the usual greeting and decided it didn't really matter much, did it?

"Good morning," she smiled, holding up her flask. "Anyone for tea?"

Oh, Tisarwat, if Nina had been body-switched with anyone there would be a full-blown meltdown going on, impossible to miss.

"Tisarwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina said happily. "Good morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd love tea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And that reaction just made Tisarwat grin a little, thinking that, honestly, with their personalities, Nina-in-Wayne's-body and Wayne-in-Nina's-body would be a monumental brainfuck, and she liked to think she could be a pretty good authority when it came to monumental brainfucks.

So hearing that chirping, excited voice coming out of the proper body was a relief, because coming out of Wayne's would be too much not even for a Monday, but for the whole month.

"I figured you'd say that," she said, already getting a cup ready for Nina. "Looks like you could use a break, anyway. You and Wayne decided to switch today?"

She may have spared a slight, worried glance toward Wayne, who was ~~being shamelessly modded~~ finishing up the last of his coffee, it looked like, so that he could get his mug filled up with tea next, as usual. He seemed fine, so she didn't suspect something was wrong, but that stuff wasn't always so obvious on the surface.

"He was late," Nina said quickly, wanting to spare Tisarwat the worry. "He hasn't said why but, like, when I got here and no one else was here, well, I saw no reason to not take over???????????????????"

It made for a nice change, really, even if Wayne refused to look at her cooking area.

"Did you want a plate????????????"

"I'd love one," Tisarwat said, faintly amused at Nina's take-charge take-over. "It'll be like a trade. I'll take a plate, and you'll take a cup. Looks like mostly a lot of the usual stuff..."

Except the French toast, which Tisarwat didn't really recognize, so she was curious about it, especially since it seemed ot her there would be at least some variation in what Nina might cook for breakfast compared to Wayne.

"I mean, like, I tried to keep it to what Wayne makes," Nina admitted, as she put together a plate for Tisarwat. "Like, it seemed rude to change up the whole menu when there's people who show up expecting certain things, you know???????????????"

Though Tisarwat was definitely getting French toast on her plate.

"Variety and something different can be kind of exciting, too, though," said Tisarwat, who almost regretted it when she realized that Wayne's current ~~totally modded~~ squint was now being directed toward her.

"...but," she ventured, a moment later, "there's nothing wrong with the usual, either, it's all very good, and it sure beats what I'd be having back home, no doubt about that."

There. Good. That seemed to loosen the squint a little bit, at least.

Nina laughed.

"But now, like, I'm tempted to completely change things up next time I'm in control of breakfast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And she was going to totally ignore any looks she might get from Wayne at that as she offered Tisarwat her plate.

The soft huff from any particular usual breakfast providers at the moment made it clear that he was going to try to do his best to ignore any whispering going on between the two of them right now, too.

Try being the opperative word.

Just like Tisarwat was going to try not to smirk too much, but she wasn't doing a very good job of that, either.

"I would be interested to see what you might have to offer," she said, leaning in with a whisper that she was pretty sure Wayne could still hear, as she took the plate and offered up the tea in exchange. "Just seems like a shame to have so many people from so many different places and wind up eating the same thing every week."

A faint grunt told her that, yeah, the whispering did nothing, but she didn't exactly seem bothered by it.

Nina was going to roll her eyes, amused, at Wayne's oh-so-subtle commentary on their plans.

"I'll change it up a bit more next time then," she promised, not even bothering to whisper, as she took that tea with a smiled thanks. "Just, like, because now there's an official request to do so……………"

"I will gladly shoulder the blame for that request, too," Tisarwat said with a faint chuckle, and then moved away just enough to have a seat so she could eat her food with a modicum of respect instead of just standing and eating it like some certain usual cooks at the moment. "And this looks excellent, Nina, thank you. And I'm glad to see you're in a much better mood this week, too."

"I'm in a much better mood this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said blissfully. "Why, last week seems so far away already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Had she been grumpy?

Why, Nina could barely remember!

"It really does, doesn't it?" asked Tisarwat, amused, knowing full well that she hadn't had anything particularly eventful happen to shake off a bad week, but Nina....

"Did something happen to help turn it around for you?"

Tisarwat had no shame in prompting for potential gushing, none.

How scandalous! How shameless! How perfectly marvelous!

"Oh," Nina said, blushing like her life depended on it. "Maybe………………."

Well, it definitely did help that Nina was so incredibly receptive to the prodding, as well.

"That," Tisarwat declared, having to laugh a little over it, "was the least convincing 'maybe' I think I've ever heard."

Plus, Tisarwat did listen to radio.

"Good morn--you are not Wayne," Shuri pointed out correctly.

"I'd be offended," Nina said, laughing, "but I really can't be because I never want to be mistaken for Wayne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Do you even own anything plaid?" Shuri teased.

"I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina insisted, though she giggled. "I've got a lovely dress in plaid, I'll have you know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Should I go change????????????"

"Oh, definitely," Shuri said.

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Third Floor Common Room, Monday Morning

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