Second Floor Common Room; Late Tuesday Morning [08/30].

[outofthequiver]

Yesterday had been a lot for Libby, but it had also reminded her that she had a lot of friends and a lot of support here, and, even with all the things she struggled to push past all spelled out as clear as day for nearly everyone to see, they were still there for her. And she was there for them, too, because even though yesterday reminded Libby that she'd been through a lot, it also reminded her that, well....so had most people, here. They'd all had their baggage, but it didn't matter, because they also had each other, and that was...incredibly, necessarily heartening.

And it was her conversation with Charlie in particular that had her swinging by the store after her morning class, with the whole rest of her day free and clear, and set to work at putting together some breakfast. Or probably brunch, at this point, but she liked cooking, and she especially liked cooking for other people, and she really hadn't done it nearly enough lately, and clearly set out to do just that.

So it wouldn't be long at all before the telltale aromas of a good old breakfast casserole started to fill the room, while Libby took to making some fresh squeezed orange juice to go with it while it was baking and, even though she didn't drink it herself, she got some coffee going in the coffee maker, too.

And it just felt nice. It felt good. And she certainly felt a lot lighter than she had yesterday, and she was determined to keep it that way.

[[ might be slow due to work, but open common room is open! ]]

Comments

[napking]

Gray perked up a bit at that. "Juice?" he asked as he scrambled to his feet. "Coffee's gross unless you put a lot of syrup and stuff in it." But it had caffeine, so it was a tradeoff.

[outofthequiver]

"I don't really drink it either," Libby admitted, as she went to go find a nice big glass for Gray, "but I noticed a lot of people around here do, so I figured they'd still appreciate it."

[napking]

Gray knew he should get his own darn juice, but, well. Lazy AF. He finished picking himself up off the floor and said, "I'm not that nice. TJ had to make her own coffee the other day."

[outofthequiver]

The idea of Gray getting his own darn juice hadn't even crossed Libby's mind, especially in light of yesterday. Why should he have to get it himself, when she was there to do it?

"It doesn't take that long, she reasoned even further, as she poured, "especially when, once the casserole's in, all you have to do is wait. Unless you're grinding the beans I guess."

She smirked a little, going over to the couch to hand Gray the juice. "Or growing them first."

[napking]

"Thank you," Gray said as he took the juice. "So what have you been up to lately? Not yesterday," he added quickly. They absolutely did not need to discuss that fiasco.

[outofthequiver]

Libby had to let out a small breath of a laugh (almost of relief) at his quick little caveat there. And she was about to say that she hadn't been up to much, until she realized...

"Oh!" It was almost perfectly timed with the oven alarm going off to let her know to remove the casserole, so she went hurrying back over to it as she quickly asked, "Did I tell you yet that I went to space, actually?"

[napking]

"No!" Gray exclaimed. "You went to space? That's so cool!"

[outofthequiver]

Libby laughed a little more at a response like that, grabbing a couple oven mitts before grinning over at Gray. "It really was cool," she admitted. "A part of me still kind of feel like it was a dream, though. I mean, outer space! But that's really where I spent my break, Ms. Beniko invited a few of us from her class and Ms. Smith, and I got to meet all sorts of interesting people and learn more about some of their wars and help with the relief effort and see the ancient texts we were talking about in class, and it was just incredible! No NASA required or anything!"

[napking]

"I might be a little jealous," Gray admitted. "I've never been to space!" The underworld, yes. Space, no. "Unless--wait. Is it cold there?"

[outofthequiver]

Despite herself, Libby felt a small flush of pride at that. Who'd have ever thought that she'd have had the chance to have been somewhere that someone else hadn't been to before?

(Church, obviously, didn't count!)

"Not where we were," Libby said, "but we were on another planet the whole time, not actually in space itself. It was beautiful, and it looked a lot like Earth, actually, if not for all the space-y buildings and all the aliens. They were so interesting to talk to! You should really go sometime, if you have the chance."

[napking]

Gray sighed. "I'd probably just sleep the whole time."

At least he'd get to try out new napping locales?

[outofthequiver]

"Oh, come on," Libby said encouragingly, and finally getting around to take that casserole out and turning off the oven. "Surely not the whole time. You tend to wake up for a lot of the good stuff." A gesture, toward the casserole. "Case in point."

[napking]

"It smells really good," Gray told her.

[outofthequiver]

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells, too," Libby said, although usually, those two did go pretty hand-in-hand together. She waved one of the oven mitts over the casserole for a moment as if that would help cool it down quicker, and then went to dig out a pretty significant portion onto a plate for Gray.

"I think you'll like it," she informed him as she handed it over. "It's actually got waffles in it."

There was a possibility that he would actually find such a thing an absolute abomination to wafflekind, but that was clearly a risk Libby had been willing to take.

[napking]

"Waffles...in it?" Sounded fake, Libby. Gray poked suspiciously at the casserole with his fork a few times before he picked off a small bite in the spirit of, 'Just try it, Gray,' as said in Alastair's most longsuffering tones.

He'd eaten the stuff in Summer's class without complaint, but now he wasn't sure about waffle casserole. Go figure.

"...it's good!"

[outofthequiver]

Libby let out a sigh of relief, releasing the breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding that whole time.

"Definitely a departure from how they're usually served," she admitted, and then took a moment to just look pleased as punch that he still liked it, "but this one was a favorite of the Littles when we made it, which was usually just whenever waffles were on sale. There was one time we got a whole bunch of them in bulk for a really good price, and we were eating so many of them that the casserole became necessary just to give us some other way to eat them!"

[napking]

"Frozen waffles?" Gray checked. He might be judging the frozen waffles a little. Don't get him wrong, he was still eating the casserole, but, "Sorry, I think I've been spoiled by Ray's waffles."

[outofthequiver]

"It's okay," Libby assured him, with a small shake of her head. "But, yeah, frozen waffles. Sometimes, you just had to make due with what's available, cheap, and easy..."

Now she almost had to wonder what Gray might make of something like squirrel and dumplings...

[napking]

Well, Raiden made amazing chicken and dumplings, and Gray had definitely eaten squirrel at some point in his life, so...probably tentatively positive.

"I guess little kids aren't as patient as my brothers about waiting for the next waffle to come off the iron, huh?" He paused, then amended that to, "Most of my brothers. On a good morning." Daman could turn having to wait his turn into a slight at the drop of a hat.

[outofthequiver]

"Or maybe just not from your perspective, anyway," Libby offered with a faint grin. "You probably just sleep through most of the wait, anyway! But you better believe, we have one of those big toasters, with way more than just the two slots in it. We do tend to make most things from scratch, though, especially bread. It's just cheaper, and it's much better for you, anyway. But sometimes, well...when you're offered a bounty, it'd be unwise to turn it down."

[napking]

Gray gasped in mock offense. "Libby! I would never--" He subsided with a grin. "No, I have totally slept through waffles. All the way through waffles...but then I just beg Ray to make me more later," he admitted cheekily.

"We never had to worry about money," he admitted. "Or...not in a long time. Castor spent all of it a few times before he figured out he had to make more than he blew on something shiny or we'd end up going hungry." He made this sound funny, but it had not been funny at the time.

[outofthequiver]

"We just have Daddy's extermination business," Libby said, "so sometimes it can be pretty hit and miss."

Much more miss than hit, truth be told, but Libby was starting to feel just a little self-conscious about it.

"But we also have the garden, and the chickens, and the boys are pretty good at hunting, especially with our dogs."

[napking]

Gray could not relate, but he could admit, "Chickens kind of creep me out. Their eyes are so beady."

[outofthequiver]

"Oh!" Now it was Libby's turn to act all offended, although, admittedly, there was more than a bit of sincerity in it. "Now, you take that back, they do not! Chickens can be very sweet, you know!"

[napking]

"Okay," Gray laughed, "okay! I'm sure your chickens are very nice!" Just hers, though. The rest of them were suspicious.