Remember, Remember, the Sixth of November

[wildkate]

Katelyn was not one to celebrate 'special days' as often as her roommate. Liz made such a big deal out of each and every birthday, baking cookies and drawing pictures and looking for the perfect present for each of her classmates. Katelyn was more laid-back, celebrating alongside her classmates but doing so more calmly, more likely to congratulate

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[ralph_ashton]

Ralph had been working on some plans for her new classes when Katelyn knocked on the door. It was one of the good things about being at a magical school. Combining magic with technology let her keep up with things that would've caused her a lot of trouble usually. She could still 'write' her essays for the needed subjects, and it had been arranged in such way that the computer could read text to her out loud when she was gathering information. It was still a bit cumbersome and it still took some getting used to. But she was getting there.

Ralph looked up, so to speak, when she heard the knock. Out of safety - before every word she said would be recorded on the computer and mess up her lesson plans, she saved the file and closed it. "Katelyn," the woman said when she recognized the voice. "You can always come in, you know that. Door should be open, unless someone accidentally locked it."

[wildkate]

Kate smiled as she opened the door. "I know," she said as she stepped inside. "But! I thought...it might be scary, you know? If I just came in and didn't say who I was first."

The visitor walked past where Ralph sat. "I hope, you're not too busy," she casually mentioned as she noticed Ralph hard at work at more classes and lectures and other such things on her special computer. While she spoke, she was fiddling with some of the other electronics in the room. "But! I thought, you probably could use some cheering up and might want to do something fun." Her friend of course couldn't see her smile, but the friendly cheer in her voice made up for this fact. "It's been a while, since we watched any pirate movies together." Looking over her shoulder, Kate glanced back at the girl still sitting down. "Maybe, you'd want to do something like that? Instead of studying?"

[ralph_ashton]

"I am rather busy," Ralph admitted. Although she still had some help from Soi, most of the lessons had to come now from her, and that next to all her normal schoolwork...

But then the woman smiled a bit. "But doing something else for a change would be nice. So if you want, I am all yours for today. I'm afraid I don't really have much around at the moment, though. I wasn't really expecting any visitors or friends who wanted to watch a movie with me."

[wildkate]

"That's okay," Kate said in a casual, friendly tone. Though she knew how much effort it took to be a good hostess, always seeing Liz serve everyone cookies and drinks whenever someone came to visit, Katelyn was far more relaxed about such things. She wasn't overly concerned about how clean Ralph's room might have been, or anything else that one might do before receiving company. To her, spending time with those you care about was what mattered. The rest escaped her notice entirely

[ralph_ashton]

Ralph listened to Kate's explanation about how it was not a movie, but stories that were told. It reminded her of when she was younger. There was no tv around when she was young, and the one they finally got had a really bad reception. Maybe that, too, had been a cause for Ralph's desire to see movies and slip into cinemas when she was young. But they had a radio instead, and every Friday afternoon was time for listening stories. Every Sunday as well, but those stories were a bit more biblical and were not as excited as the Friday stories in Ralph's opinion.

Her hands moved over the box. Not that it said much to her, it just felt like a box. But she did it more for Katelyn, even though she could only judge how good the gift was once she heard of those many stories.

"We could do that," Ralph then agreed. She held the box up, though upside-down and backwards. "Why don't you choose a nice story for us to listen to?" she suggested with a smile.

[wildkate]

Kate returned that smile, though she began to worry that maybe it was kind of a dumb idea to get for a present. "Okay," she said as she carefully took the box back from Ralph to look at the contents on the back. The first disk was full of soap operas; the second, film noir tales of gumshoe detectives. A third disk had some dramas about people with superheroic powers - fitting for students of this particular school - but it was the final disk that had tales of swashbuckling and adventure on the high seas.

The brunette clicked 'play' on the remote control, and the old time radio drama began to play. "This one's called, Sinbad of the Seven Seas," Kate explained. "I...don't know if it's any good yet, either," she confessed, "but, it'll be fun listening to it with you?"

[ralph_ashton]

"I'm sure it'll be fun." Ralph stood up from her chair and turned towards her bed. She knelt down beside it to make up the bed. It would serve well enough for a sofa.

Sinbad of the Seven Seas, now that was an old one. There was a small smile on Ralph's face. It had been a while since she'd listened to that one. "I think I may have some hot chocolate around. I can make us some hot chocolate if you want?"

[cruisin_gal]

"It's okay," Kate said reassuringly. "You don't need to do that. Not for me, I mean." Her voice then picked up slightly as she hoped to be more helpful. "But if you want, I can go make some? For the two of us?"

"So that's when I tell 'em all to just fuck off, an' I took the damned monkey, and I

[lenihanfighter]

OOC: Don't wanna change log-ins, but... Didn't Ralph have her own teacher room by now? =P So we had space for someone else among Seven and Jessie and Roxy?

I could remember something like that....

[sailornash]

OOC: Sorry, no time for a real post, but thought I'd at least hop on here to check mail real quick from my parents' house and saw this.

Last I heard you had moved Vanya out cause she had graduated, but I thought Ralph was still trying to take classes as well as teaching? Your char so your call either way, but I hadn't heard if you did. Let me know and I'll delete the comment if she's in a single now.

[ralph_ashton]

Ralph had to chuckle a little, both at the teasing as well as the 'Me an' Silent Bob'. "I won't, promise," she said, even though she could of course see nothing no matter what they did. She pulled Kate a bit against her. "And I'm sure Kate won't spoil the surprise either, would you, Kate?"

She then gestured vaguely to the nothingness. "That's Kate's present. So I can still 'watch' movies. Kind of reminds me of old times, when that was like the only thing we had for entertainment." Ralph grimaced a bit. "Does that make me sound very old?"

[seven_delta]

"Oof!" Kate made a small little sound as Ralph pulled her close, chuckling a bit as well after that unexpected move. "I wouldn't, I won't say nothing," she insisted. "That would be mean?"

"That would make no difference," Seven quietly stated, adding her thoughts on the matter. "Wrapping such gifts would provide no additional benefit and only make things needlessly complicated."

A rustling sound could be heard as she withdrew a gift from the bag that she held. "Akiko informed me last year that if you receive nothing, it means that you are a terrible person." Her voice remained calm and flat as she handed Ralph something practical - a book and audio tape meant to help someone learn Braille. Though she was often quiet, Seven did not wish for her silence to be misunderstood. "I hope this is adequate?"

[ralph_ashton]

"I thought that was only with Santa Claus and Christmas," Ralph said. "Didn't know it could apply for birthdays as well." Her hands met with something hard and square; if she had to guess, she'd go for a book. And something else as well. A tape, perhaps?

"I don't know," she then replied to Seven's question. With a bit of a smile, she continued, "I mean, I'm happy for the gifts, but I think someone needs to tell me what I actually received? Hard to tell by just you know... the touch of it."

[cruisin_gal]

"Something entirely too practical to be much fun a'tall," another voice butted in, answering the question for their much quieter mutual roommate. The roll of Jessie's eyes was almost able to be heard in her voice alone. "That much goes without sayin'."

"What then determines the suitability of a gift," came a much more distant voice, quiet and seemingly far away though she stood alongside them both. "It is certain to be used and to be needed..."

"Is more than that, sweetheart," the blonde again interrupted, this time drowning out Seven entirely. "You got a textbook on how to learn Braille. A book. That ain't no kind of fun, cause nobody wants ta be studyin' on their birthday." Eyes cast downward, the blue-haired Mage said nothing as that was exactly how she had spent her birthday just a few days prior. Had anyone have known, none would have been surprised.

"Now this is more like it," the biker said as she pulled a new outfit out of a couple of shopping bags for Ralph to reach out and touch. It might be just slightly more edgy than

[ralph_ashton]

Although she could no longer see, she could sense that Seven felt a little down at the way Jessie brushed the gift aside. And while Jessie's present sounded much more attractive than a book on how to learn Braille, it wasn't such a bad idea from Seven.

"Thanks, Jessie," Ralph said with a little laugh as her hand trailed over the bags. "It's a bit too late for Halloween, but... you never know. Whenever we have another chance to dress up again? I'll try it on."

She then leaned half forward and with an unexpected well-aimed grab Ralph pulled Seven on her lap, which was then immediately followed by a sound kiss on the cheek. "Thank you as well for the gift. It may not be as fun as Jessie's, but something useful is also always welcome. It was a good gift."