Room 422, Friday Afternoon

[nobloodymessiah]

Eleanor didn't have class today, so there were all sorts of things she could be doing. Shopping, in town, or reading a book, or visiting with her friends

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[pasunereveuse]

Celia, who did have class today (and subsequently a lot of new feelings about Texas), hadn't been...avoiding Eleanor, exactly. That wasn't the right term. 'Avoiding' made it sound like she was going out of her way not to see her friend because she didn't want to, but the truth of the matter was that she just felt like Eleanor needed...room from all of them. Room away from Rapture, and what they'd seen and done down there.

But that being said, Friday afternoon rolled around and it felt like more than enough time had passed. Celia was moving on with her life, in small ways, even if there were now persistent nightmares where there hadn't been before.

So Celia had ducked into town, and now was rapping lightly on the doorframe to 422 with her knuckles. If Eleanor wasn't ready to see her, she'd leave, of course. For the moment she was only going to push as much as to call a soft, "Eleanor?" through the open doorway.

[nobloodymessiah]

Eleanor scrambled off her bed, glancing towards the doorway. "I'm here," she called out. "I mean, who is it?"

That was dumb. It sounded like Celia, so it probably was Celia.

[pasunereveuse]

"It's the Shah of Persia, but I've shrunk several inches and grown breasts."

Look, Eleanor, Celia was just going to try to make you laugh, if she could. She ducked her head in with a small smile, pushing the door open with the hand that wasn't clutching the bag she'd brought with her. "How are you?"

[nobloodymessiah]

"You look lovely this evening, Your Excellence," Eleanor grinned. "The breasts rather suit you."

Why had she been avoiding Celia? She'd missed Celia. Terribly.

"Please, come in," she said. "Not that I have to say that. You know what I mean."

[not_every_mage]

It had been several days since they left Rapture, and Anders had barely seen a glimpse of Eleanor since he'd healed Joker's hand.It seemed like the kind of thing where more time apart would only make talking again more embarrassing; besides, he felt an almost visceral need to see how she was.

So here he was, tapping at her door. "Eleanor? It's Anders. Are you free just now?"

[nobloodymessiah]

Easy enough to scoop the cat onto her lap. "I am," she called back. "That is, come in. Hi."

Less easy to face her little sib, after the ... somewhat humiliating experience the other night.

[not_every_mage]

"Hi," Anders returned, letting himself into the room. He brightened when he saw what Eleanor was doing. "Oh, you have a cat! What's her name?"

Somehow, kitties were a far superior topic of conversation than Rapture.

[nobloodymessiah]

"Soleil," Eleanor said brightly. The cat was a much better conversational topic, by far. "It's French for sunlight. I baby-sat Elsa when she was a polar bear and decided I liked having a pet."

Soleil, for her part, was going to hop down from Eleanor's lap so she could approach Anders and sniff his shoes. Shoes were fascinating.

[fly_so_serious]

It was a parade of people!

Joker stopped by her door and knocked on it. "Hey there. Sooo... are you avoiding me? I think at this point it's safe to say you're avoiding me. That's not really a good idea, for either of us."

[nobloodymessiah]

"I've been busy," Eleanor lied. "Besides, I could accuse you of avoiding me. You know where my room is just like I know where yours is. You haven't wanted to talk, either."

Yes. That was totally a valid suggestion.

[fly_so_serious]

"You've been running away," Joker countered. "I didn't know whether or not to give you space. And... I'm worried. Look, seriously, let's not even deal with my hand right now, okay? This weekend was rough."

[nobloodymessiah]

"Yes, it was," Eleanor said. "And I was bloody selfish about it. I dragged you lot into Hell, and then I threw myself at you to feel better about it, and I bloody broke you. What exactly am I supposed to say now!?"