Room 422, Thursday Evening

[nobloodymessiah]

So, Eleanor needed to come up with a project. One that she'd give as a presentation in front of the entire student body. Next time, she would think before signing up for a class with a vague name like "independent studies

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[pasunereveuse]

Celia desperately owed Eleanor a visit, for several reasons -- her good mood being only one of them.

It had been an eventful break, apparently.

She leaned in her friend's doorway, waving two spoons at her. "Good evening, Miss Holloway," she said with a smile. "Can I interest you in some ice cream?"

See what she did there, Eleanor?

[nobloodymessiah]

"I would love some, Miss Bowen," Eleanor said, setting aside her book with a grin. "Or have you changed names since we last chatted, as well?"

They had rather a lot to catch up on. And that wasn't even counting whatever news Celia had of her own break.

[pasunereveuse]

"No, no, that's all yours," Celia assured her, wandering in with a gallon of chocolate-chip cookie dough floating neatly behind her. "I remain utterly the same, at least in name. Tell me it's legal, and on all your paperwork now."

[nobloodymessiah]

"It is," Eleanor beamed. "Grace is now my legal guardian, and I've taken her name. I have a room at their house, in St. Louis. You ought to see it."

She scooped up Soleil, who gave only the lightest of protesting mrowls, and tucked her feet under herself, thus leaving plenty of bedspace for her friend to sit.

"But I'm more interested in what you just said. The same in name, but not other ways? I hope there's a story there."

There ought to be, the way Celia's eyes were twinkling.

[pasunereveuse]

Celia flicked her fingers at the door, shutting it behind her as she sat down on Eleanor's bed with a grin. "There is," she admitted, her pink cheeks and the shutting of the door probably indicating what sort of story, "but first -- I am so happy for you, Eleanor."

And now Eleanor was going to be on the receiving end of one of Celia's rare hugs. It felt appropriate, and Celia had wanted to do it since Ethics.

"When did this happen? Christmas?"

[nobloodymessiah]

It was nice being hugged. Eleanor was getting better with intimacy all of the time, and hugs from Celia never went amiss. She was going to squeeze and felt safe and content, here.

"Christmas," she agreed. "I think the papers were finalized a little earlier, but she gave them to me on Christmas. It was a surprise. I didn't know she was even thinking of it."

[pasunereveuse]

Celia pulled back, beaming at her friend. "What a wonderful present," she sighed, sitting back on her skirts. "Of course she was thinking of it. Does this make Louise your sister, legally, as well?"

Not that legally meant anything -- legally, she was her father's property, but Celia didn't really believe in that -- but it added a weight to it that she liked. A security for Eleanor.

[nobloodymessiah]

"Legally, yes," Eleanor said, flushing a little to think of it. "We're an odd little family, but it's so wonderful. I've never really had a family, before."

Grace had loved her, and Father had loved her, but those had been individual people, for short bursts of time. It wasn't the same thing.

"But that's not the only reason you brought me ice cream," she said, reaching for one of the spoons with an eager grin. "What's new with you?"

[pasunereveuse]

"I mean, can't it be the best reason I brought ice cream?" Celia hedged, her cheeks heating a little. "I've never had a family, either."

Yes, there was Mama, and yes, Papa was...himself. But to have a little unit of people to call one's own.... She was almost jealous of Eleanor, but that was uncharitable. It was more a sort of envy that was coupled with happiness for her friend.

"But you're right. I need to tell you something." She darted a glance at Eleanor over the carton of ice cream, unsure of herself for a moment. "And I've waited a while, actually, but I hope you'll forgive me."

[nobloodymessiah]

"There's nothing to forgive," Eleanor said quickly. "Sometimes, momentous events make for happy news, like being a Holloway. Others ... are ... more personal, though no less happy for it. You want to hold them close before you whisper them about, lest you make it seem less than it is."

Okay, maybe she was holding back some news of her own. Celia could probably guess that, by now.

"But I haven't heard whether I need to threaten Ichabod," she added, "so I'm presuming that I don't. Is his fiancee no more?"

[pasunereveuse]

Eleanor was going to get a curious look for that, yes, because it certainly sounded like she had news. Not to mention how she had hit it so squarely on the mark -- she had kept her new knowledge bundled up inside herself for weeks, protecting it, treasuring it.

"You don't," she said with an easy smile. "It's an engagement that their fathers put forth when they were children. Ichabod's breaking it off as soon as he goes home. He doesn't, um, seem overly fond of his intended -- even if I weren't around, I don't think he'd marry her." She blushed, the tips of her ears turning pink. "We reconciled."

A few times.

[nobloodymessiah]

"I knew it!" Eleanor laughed. "I didn't know the specifics, but I knew he wasn't a cad. All right, I hoped he wasn't a cad. That's very nearly the same thing, isn't it?"

She was clapping her hands together with glee. "How enthusiastically did you reconcile?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. "Is that a thoroughly improper question?"

[pasunereveuse]

Celia wound a curl around her finger, blushing furiously as she considered her answer. She could continue to be coy about it, or she could tell Eleanor, and relive all the thrill of it over again by sharing what had happened.

"As enthusiastically as two people could, I'd imagine," she finally settled on, looking up at Eleanor with a slightly bashful smile.

[nobloodymessiah]

"You didn't," Eleanor laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth and giggling harder. "You did! Did you?"

Eleanor had never felt more like a normal teenage girl than at this moment, giggling madly and speculating about her friend's love life. And possible sex life.

[pasunereveuse]

It took a moment longer for Celia to nod, a little uncertainly. "We did," she said softly, shyly fiddling with her hair. "The day after Christmas. It kind of just -- happened. I mean, I don't think either of us were...planning that."

And really, Celia was grateful for that -- she could only imagine her nerves if it was some sort of grand event that they'd planned for weeks at a time. She'd broken a window; if they'd prepared something romantic and scenic by candlelight, she might've burned the dorms down.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," she added quickly. "I've just been -- mulling it all over, still, and it's been...hard to talk about?" And plus they'd been busy perfecting their form, you know. Celia had been roommate-free for several days.

[nobloodymessiah]

"It's not really something you can plan, I think," Eleanor said. "I imagine setting aside a time is just asking for trouble. A random invasion of leprechauns, or a flash flood, or even an attack of nerves. Better to let things happen as they do."

She was smiling, again, in a thoughtful sort of way. "I understand," she said. "The words -- make it sound wrong. Almost vulgar, and not -- like a joining of two souls."

She did not mean to be blushing.