Room 324, Friday Afternoon

[vanillajello]

Kate was just getting around to emailing photos of Fandom to her brother when her phone buzzed, signaling the arrival of a message.

haven’t seen you at school, where r u?

Kate blinked a few times after she read the message. Oh-kay. Not entirely unexpected, but still pretty surprising. She wasn’t going to reply to it, though. He didn’t deserve it. She couldn’t really bring herself to delete the message right away, but went back to picking sendable pictures on the computer.

About five minutes later the phone buzzed again.

i miss you katie-chan

...He was making it really hard not to reply. Kate sat on her bed, looking at her phone.


[Open door, open post!]

Comments

[future_sandworm]

"As far as I know, people tend to have birthday parties in the common room and invite everyone, or in places like Chilly Boulder," he said.

[vanillajello]

"I'd feel weird inviting everyone," Kate said. "It's good for parties in general, but with my birthday... I don't know."

[future_sandworm]

"It seems to be the tradition here," Leto replied, then shrugged. "But how would you like to celebrate your birthday?"

[vanillajello]

"I don't know," Kate began, and then paused and laughed. "Apparently that's my catch phrase of the day. Anyway. I'd just want it to be special, somehow."

[future_sandworm]

He laughed. "And what would be special? Going somewhere else?"

[vanillajello]

"Maybe. Doing anything out of the ordinary, I guess," she replied, thoughtful. "But good out of the ordinary. for example, going to jail would be pretty special too, but not exactly what I'm looking for."

[future_sandworm]

"I can go somewhere with you," he offered.

[vanillajello]

"That could be fun," she smiled. "And special. Yeah, I could go for that."

[future_sandworm]

"I could surprise you, or you could decide where to go," Leto said, looking pleased with this idea.

[vanillajello]

"I think I could trust you enough to let you surprise me," she said, grinning lightly. "Especially since I don't have any ideas."

[future_sandworm]

"Think of it as my birthday present to you," he grinned, poking her shoulder.

[vanillajello]

"Thank you in advance, then, I guess," she smirked.

[future_sandworm]

"I might disappoint you," he teased.

[vanillajello]

She laughed. "I can try to keep my expectations low."

[future_sandworm]

"That's very generous of you," he replied.

[vanillajello]

"So maybe that answers your question."

[future_sandworm]

"Which question?"

[vanillajello]

"On what kind of generousity you should expect from me," she smirked.

[future_sandworm]

"Ah, good point." He paused. "Keeping your expectations low. It's not really that flattering, I have to admit."

[vanillajello]

"Well, I hope you can now see why I avoided answering in the first place."

Yes, because that was exactly the reason. Only not.

[future_sandworm]

"It pains me to hear how low your expectations of me are," he teased her.

[vanillajello]

"I'm sure you're absolutely crushed," she said mock-solemnly, going to pat him on the shoulder. "Poor Leto."

[future_sandworm]

"And is there nothing I can do to make you think more highly of me?" he asked with a smirk, placing his hand on hers on his shoulder.

[bedtime!]

[vanillajello]

"Nothing at all," she declared cheerfully. "Of course, you're welcome to try anyway. I might be wrong."

[future_sandworm]

"I have to consider that," Leto smirked. "I'm afraid I can't make muffins."