Room 502, Tuesday Night

[withoutverona]

Romeo was done putting together his bag for his trip to Verona, and now he was sitting on his bed, frowning at the rest of his room a bit.

He was seeing it clearly, now; the room was all but brimming with sixteen months worth of books and papers and clothes and the odd bit of rubbish that had never quite made it into a bin. When Teyla lived there, he'd been neater about his things, but now that she didn't he only had to be tidy enough that Dojima wouldn't flee screaming when she visited.

And, soon enough, it would all need to be boxed up and discarded, sent home to Verona, or shipped off to Tokyo.

He thought about doing some of the organizing tonight, but, ultimately, settled in with his journal. There were things on his mind.

[OOC: Open door -- I just felt like posting him]

Comments

[withoutverona]

"You've been here some time, I thought," Romeo mused, leaning against his headboard. "What do you mean by 'easy here'?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"Almost a year now," Helen admitted. "But... I don't find it easy to make friends or interact with others. I can be very abrasive."

"I do better with horses," she offered.

[withoutverona]

"I'm not much for horses," Romeo shrugged. "But why are you abrasive? Is it hard to be gentler?"

Making friends had never been hard for Romeo, once he got past a few language hurdles in Fandom, so he had a hard time identifying despite his sympathy.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. "It seems so. I try, but when I relax and try to be myself... Well, I'm rather harsh. and I don't seem able to quite stop myself from saying things I shouldn't."

[withoutverona]

"Helen," Romeo asked with an edge to his mild tone, "do you often start conversations by explaining how you aren't good with people?"

It seemed less than productive.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"No," she said with a slight quirk to her lips. "Sometimes I start by insulting them."

"Usually," she corrected herself. "Usually I seem to start by insulting them."

[withoutverona]

"Well, you haven't insulted me in the last two minutes," Romeo offered. "We could build on that and talk abut something else. How go your finals?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "They're going quite well. The requirements were much harsher back home. Here... it's quite enjoyable. And you?"

[withoutverona]

"The maddest one is down, two more to go," Romeo said. "I'm glad to be done with Yzma, the bat. I don't much enjoy the thought of being turned into things. Though I'm sure Captain Hammer will find a way to top her -- he sometimes does."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I know. The two of them..." Helen shook her head. "They're most, well... insane, I believe."

[withoutverona]

"Insane or conducting experiments on us to see what we'll do without breaking," Romeo suggested. "I haven't decided."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"No," Helen said thoughtfully. "If you give them what they want, they seem not to realize any insincerity."

[withoutverona]

"So it's just a matter of feeding back what they've said," Romeo echoed. "Well. We're almost done with them now, at least."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen nodded. "Yes. And we'll no longer be in danger from the crazy lever ride."

[withoutverona]

I wrestled a turtle once," Romeo reminisced. "Their beaks are sharp, did you know that?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"Really?" Helen shook her head. "They seem such peaceful creatures."

[withoutverona]

"Would you be peaceful if a six-foot creature was suddenly in your tank, failing about?" Romeo asked dubiously. "It probably thought it was protecting its nest."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I'm rarely in a peaceful mood when disturbed," Helen admitted. "I suppose we can't be upset by the poor thing."

[withoutverona]

Romeo shook his head. "The question, really, is where she got them and how they found their way to the classroom."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid to even speculate on that too much," Helen said with a smile.

[withoutverona]

"A mystery that will live beyond our years," Romeo suggested nicely. "You asked of my summer plans -- what are yours? Will you be here?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "Yes."

She had nowhere else to go.

"I'll be here at least until I graduate."