Outside Rm 308, Monday afternoon

[dude_its_jude]

Rikku didn't have class on Monday so once Jude was out, he made a quick stop at J,GoB and was soon standing in front of Rikku's door with a pastry box in his hands and knocking nervously.

[[For the residents of 308, but the box is just for one of them.]]

Comments

[the_merriest]

Rikku hopped up when she heard the knock, and pulled the door open.

"Hiya!" Hooray, boyfriend! She grinned. And then noticed, and bounced. "Ooooh! What's in the box?"

[dude_its_jude]

"Hey," Jude greeted her mellowly, smiling. "It's a surprise." He moved the box to one hand, conveniently out of the way for hello smoochies.

[the_merriest]

Rikku clapped her hands. "Oooh, really?! I love surprises!"

And she bounced forward and threw her arms around his neck for hello smoochies, being careful not to bump the box.

[dude_its_jude]

Yay for hello smoochies! Jude's free arm slipped around her waist as he kissed her hello. For a while.

[the_merriest]

If you're going to say hello, you should really say it properly. With "how are you?" and "I missed you" thrown in for good measure.

So after that scintillating conversation, Rikku pressed a quick kiss on the tip of Jude's nose and grinned at him. "Surprise?"

[dude_its_jude]

"Surprise," he agreed with a grave nod. He held out the box to her and opened the lid to reveal a very large slice of double chocolate cake with increasingly smaller icing letters that read 'We survived the totally lame storms, yay!'. "Surprise!"

[the_merriest]

She had to squint for a moment to read the rest of the letters, but that somehow only made it cuter. She put a hand over her mouth. "For me? Really? You did this?"

And then she moved the box out of the way to say "thank you for being such a rockin' boyfriend, dude," which would take a minute.

[dude_its_jude]

"Just for you, 'cause -"

Whoa. Nevermind. She could take as long as she wanted. Jude wasn't complaining. Thoroughness was always appreciated.

[the_merriest]

Rikku leaned back, smiling, still with a tight hold on the box. And then blushed. "Uh, sorry. You were saying?"

[dude_its_jude]

Jude blinked, looking a little dazed. "Uh . . . can't remember . . ."

[the_merriest]

Rikku giggled and stepped back into the room, carrying the box carefully. "Come in! If you're not allergic to cats. You aren't, are you?"

[dude_its_jude]

"Uh, no?" Jude said. "Oh yeah, Hermione's got a cat, doesn't she?"

[the_merriest]

She nodded, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Yup. Crookshanks. He rocks. Although he got a little weird when Hermione was all lichened-out. He's better now."

[dude_its_jude]

"That's good. Cats are cool little dudes. But I like birds better. We just kinda . . . click." Jude sat next to her, his arm tentatively slipping around her waist.

[the_merriest]

"Birds are nifty. But they don't purr. I'm getting kinda hooked on the purring." She picked up the cake and started munching on it, settling back against his arm. She gestured with the cake towards him. "Want some?"

[dude_its_jude]

"You made me purr the other day," Jude said innocently, kissing her cheek. "Y' sure? I got it for you . . ."