Room 324, Friday Evening

[vanillajello]

After everything that had happened over the last week, and what little had happened today, Kate was just so very glad to have a completely unrelated thing to focus on.

And right now, that thing was the thought of getting a new fake little sibling tomorrow. So, she'd been putting together a little welcome kit with some useful items. It felt a little dorky, but it was pretty fun, actually, doing that. And distracting, which was the important thing.

She'd even considered baking a batch of cookies, but then decided against it both because there'd be enough food at the welcome picnic, and she wasn't really feeling the idea of standing in the common room baking right now. She'd just offer to bake the kid something at a later date.

So now, Kate was just sprawled on her bed, making a refresher list of all the things a newbie to fair Fandom island should be told on their first day.

And she was eating chocolate. Chocolate was a good thing.

[ooc: Open door, open post!]

Comments

[vanillajello]

Kate raised a brow at him for that, but let it be the only nod to the fact that Fandom sometimes had other ideas than he did.

"You might sleepwalk," she said instead. "Or something."

[therewaslife]

"I don't, though," he pointed out, rubbing his thumb idly against her hand. "I sleep rather peacefully, I think. I don't snore. I don't move a lot. I don't get up to use the bathroom. I'm a pleasant sleeper."

[vanillajello]

"You're a pleasant pillow," she corrected. "And mattress, and occasionally a blanket. And I don't want any of those wandering around when I'm trying to sleep, so it's good that you are."

[therewaslife]

"How do you sleep without me?" he asked, amused once again. "I seem to provide every facet of a bed for you."

[vanillajello]

"I don't," she replied. "Can't you tell I haven't slept at all since we got back from Kansas?"

She'd slept a lot since they'd returned. Though she still looked a little worn out.

[therewaslife]

"Hmm. You still look slightly tired," he said, having leaned back to get a better look at her face. "Having any trouble re-adjusting?"

[vanillajello]

"I don't even know what I'm re-adjusting to," she said, shaking her head. "So yeah."

She'd probably feel back to normal... sometime halfway through next week. Maybe.

[therewaslife]

"It was a long few days," he said and kept rubbing his thumb against her skin now, back and forth since that's where they were touching for the moment.

"Perhaps you're re-adjusting to the change of pace?" he suggested.

[vanillajello]

"And what change of pace is that?" she wondered, eyes flicking down to their joined hands. "I don't even know if I'm so much re-adjusting as just... adjusting."

[therewaslife]

"You don't think time seems to move...differently here than it does in Kansas?" Bod wondered quietly. "What are you adjusting to, if I can ask?"

[vanillajello]

"Well, we had a few extra long days, but not generally, no," she shrugged. "And, I'm... Just adjusting to everything. It's just that time of year, you know? Stuff changes."

She paused and pursed her lips, looking down again. "People leave."

[therewaslife]

"I know," he said soberly, nodding. "I had to say goodbye to someone too. Yesterday. And it's more or less permanent. She's gone. It's hard to realize that you won't see someone again when you're so used to seeing them almost everyday."

[vanillajello]

Something about that sounded a little worse than her own goodbyes with Hannibal, and Kate looked... sort of carefully curious.

"Oh?" she asked. "Who was it?"

[therewaslife]

"Did you know Didi?" he asked, looking a little sad about the subject but also somewhat peaceful. Accepting. "It was her. She's gone now."

[vanillajello]

"She lived next door," Kate nodded, looking a little sad herself, but mostly compassionate. She knew Didi was Death, so... She could guess without asking. "That sucks."

[therewaslife]

"It does," he said and nodded. "I knew her as something different. Where I'm from, she was called The Lady on the Grey. I'd met her before. I'd even danced with her once."

That memory made him smile though his eyes were still downcast.

"She gave me her fish."

[vanillajello]

"I know, you've told me," she replied quietly. She was pretty sure she'd been crying at the time, actually. Or about to, or something.

"Her fish, really? You'll have pets?"

[therewaslife]

"Two of them," he answered with a nod. "I've never had any pets before but I've found that fish aren't too difficult. I suppose it's the least I can do, though."

[vanillajello]

"Hmh. Taking care of Death's fish." She glanced at her screen again, idly wondering whether death should somehow be incorporated into her notes. Probably not.

As useful as it would be in determining whether this was a place the new kid wanted to stay.

"Well, they should be easy. Not as easy as my plants, but anyway."

[therewaslife]

"They should be, yes," he agreed with a nod. "They're called Slim and Wadsworth. Are those good names for fish?"

Poor Bod didn't even know that.

[vanillajello]

That made Kate smile a little again. "They're great names for fish. Though my pothos is called Patrick, so I'm not sure how good a judge I am."

[therewaslife]

Bod smiled again and brought her hand up to kiss the top of it. "It made the fact that I won't see Didi again a little easier. I will someday when it's my time but that's a far into the future."

[vanillajello]

"It better be," Kate said under her breath, and meant it. So very much.

After a pause and properly aloud, she said, "So, I made the new kid a kind of a little welcome package, too."

[therewaslife]

"Oh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Do I get to see even if I'm not new?"

[vanillajello]

"There's not a whole lot of it, I'm still kinda trying to think of stuff to add," she said, amused. "If I come up anything, I'll ahve to run by Turtle & Canary in the morning."

She nodded towards her desk. There was a little basket on it. "It's over there."