Room 324, Tuesday Late Morning

[vanillajello]

Despite plans to the contrary, Kate had never made it to the slumber party. It was probably for the best, since after that one big bit of news and stupid hurt, all she really remembered of the evening was a whole lot of booze, and making big declarations on something about giraffes and how they would recognize Nathan as their king. She couldn't

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[nimeni]

After not seeing her in class, Bod couldn't really bottle up all of his concern about her whereabouts. He'd taken to putting every single emotion, thought and feeling having to do with her behind a locked door in his mind but sometimes, things slipped out.

So, he was staring at her door, hands tucked deep into his pockets and hat pulled low to keep his ears warm. He didn't know if he wanted to knock or not.

No, he knew that he wanted to knock but it was a matter of going through it. Eventually, he did by rapping his knuckles on the door a few times.

[vanillajello]

Someone was knocking at her door? Ugh, why was someone knocking at her door? Kate considered yelling in response, but she didn't even get as far as choosing what to call out (though Who is it? and Fuck off! were the two main contenders) before realizing that was going to hurt her head.

So, grumbling under her breath, she got up again, wrapping a blanket around herself. She had fingerless gloves on her hands and her monkey winter hat on her head, and she tugged on the strings of the latter with one hand as she made her way to the door and unlocked and opened it.

She... hadn't expected to see him, and though the surprise was mild because of the overwhelming hangover, it was still there.

And she failed to say anything.

[nimeni]

"You weren't in class," he said, keeping his tone mild and mostly emotionless. He didn't really know how to act around her anymore after some of their recent conversations. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

[vanillajello]

Kate had the same kind of problem with him right now. And it wasn't just the conversations they'd had, either: it was knowing what she knew and still having him show up because she hadn't come to class. Those things didn't match up in her mind, and combine that with her pounding headache and it made for a trippy experience.

"I'm not," she said, about as evenly. Maybe she didn't elaborate on that out of spite, or maybe she was just being factual. She wasn't all right.

[nimeni]

Bod kept his hands in his pockets and looked away, knowing she'd only be able to see his hat and not his eyes or anything else. He hadn't yet heard the radio to know that she knew so he thought she felt bad for other reasons.

"All right," he said, looking back up at her after a moment. It was hard to see her in the darkness but he'd spent so much time looking at her face that he knew it by heart. "What's happened?"

[vanillajello]

"Got spectacularly shitfaced last night," Kate volunteered, hand coming up to rub at one of her temples, even as her tone stayed deliberately blank. "Up in four thirteen."

That combined both her reasons for not being all right in one neat package.

[nimeni]

"Four thirt -- " Oh, he remembered that room. He hadn't been drunk the morning after so he clearly remembered the room number as he'd made his way back to his own room.

He wasn't ashamed of what he'd done. And he wouldn't apologize. "I can go. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. That nothing had happened to you."

[vanillajello]

Kate didn't even want him to apologize. Hell, she was perfectly willing to pretend she didn't know and that he didn't know she did. That would save them from a lot, she thought.

"Didn't even fall down the stairs," she said almost idly, wrapping the blanket around herself more. "Is it just the dorms or is the power out everywhere?"

Well, he was there, he could make himself useful since he'd been out and she wasn't planning to leave her room or talk to anyone else.

[nimeni]

"It appears to be island wide," he told her, glancing down the hall and then back at her. "The power was out at school but there were generators running so we watched a movie. You didn't miss anything important."

[vanillajello]

"Good," she said, not sounding like she meant it much. She wanted to sigh or say something about the stupid fucking island, but both felt just... Too friendly, when there was a distance and a wall here.

She breathed in, then let the breath out, watching him, or whatever she could see of him in the dark. Her mind could fill in what her eyes couldn't make out. "So... Thanks for your concern, I guess."

[nimeni]

He knew she added modifiers like that to almost all her statements to protect herself but because of that distance and because of the walls he'd started putting up to keep her out, it made him a little more prickly and less understanding.

"Would you rather I just ignore my concerns from now on?" Bod asked her quietly, curiously. He'd schooled himself on keeping his tone blank. She'd rejected previous attempts at an emotional reconnection and his heart wasn't that strong.

[vanillajello]

It probably showed just how automatic her little protective tags of uncertainty were that she didn't even understand where this sudden question of his was coming from.

"What?"

Her headache seemed to get a little sharper just then, and she winced.

[nimeni]

"Would you rather I keep my concerns to myself from now on?" he repeated, still quiet and still devoid of any real emotion. "You don't sound very thankful and I don't want to waste your time."

[vanillajello]

"I'm hung over, Bod," Kate replied evenly, but glancing down at her feet all the same. "That's all I can sound like."

[nimeni]

To Bod, her lack of protest at the thought of him wasting her time meant she thought he was. Hungover or not, he still saw it that way.

He took a step back, making it even harder for her to see him due to the lack of power. "I apologize for wasting your time. It won't happen again."

That probably wasn't true but he lied anyway.

[vanillajello]

"Okay stop saying that," Kate said, and it would've been a snap if she hadn't been so subdued in every way. "It was... very nice of you and I wasn't expecting it."

She found it easier to say when she could barely see whether he was even there anymore.