Room 511, Friday

[thatsamilkshake]

If you think there were any Snickerdoodles left after yesterday, you obviously haven't met Francine Peters.

There were other cookies, of course. She'd have made them anyway, since she'd be a Big Sister to a new student starting tomorrow and she wanted to bring something to make them feel welcome, and ease them into the whole crazy experience of life in Fandom. There'd just be more cookies in the tin and less on Francine's bed, and she'd be a lot bouncier about the whole thing, if she wasn't worried sick.

As it was, even the baked goods were failing, and she'd actually dared to drag out The Book in the hope that the time she spent facepalming and hiding from even the most harmless-seeming pages -- gyaaaaah, the illustration at the beginning of the chapter on compatibility -- would serve to distract her.

It sort of worked, except for how it just made her worry in between the blushing that she might not ever get to try any of the things she was peeking at from between her fingers.

She meant to get up and shut the door fully, but well. Distracted.

[OOC: Open! But OMFG there will be book-hidey. Or at least attempts at book-hidey.]

Comments

[bitchprince]

The door may have wavered open on a gust of wind. Arthur still took the courtesy of knocking-- on the edge of the doorframe, that is, as he glanced inside. "Francine, I've spoken to Lady Zoe--"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Agyackgyahh!" Or syllables to that effect, as The Book went flying out of Francine's hands and onto the floor. And then there was diving. With much grace and dexterity. Or not.

[bitchprince]

There were times when Arthur wondered if Merlin and Francine's little tryst wasn't made altogether more sordid by the fact that they were clearly seperated at birth.

This was one of those moments. "Nevermind," he told the room, as the door had now fully opened, "I can come back at another time."

And then his eyes fell on The Book.

[thatsamilkshake]

Which was immediately clutched to Francine's chest. She was hoping with the cover side in, but she didn't dare look. "What, no, hi what um?"

[bitchprince]

Had he just seen on that cover what he thought he'd seen--?

Arthur wasn't actually sure he wanted to know, not unless he could figure out some way to mock the piss out of M--.

He didn't rub his forehead, but it was a near thing. Barely a few seconds in, and he was having to make a valiant attempt to survive this already. "Francine," he tried again, "I've spoken to the Lady Zoe about the causeway and Merlin's disappearing act."

[thatsamilkshake]

That loosened her clutch a little, sadly for anyone who'd been trying to avoid reading the title. "What did she say?" Francine asked hopefully.

[bitchprince]

Absolutely jack squat. But she had said something that had been meant to reassure him, so the first thing Arthur did say as he politely stared over the edge of Francine's book was, "She says that no one has ever been harmed by the causeway's magic."

Yes, The Book was what he thought that it was.

Certain parties, should they choose to stop their idiotic behaviour and return to him, were going to be mocked so very thoroughly.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh good!" Francine heaved a sigh of relief, but it turned into a sigh of disappointment fairly quickly. "Is that all she said?" Safe was good, safe was wonderful, but it wasn't back.

[bitchprince]

"She will be sending out a search party if he's not back before the weekend's end," Arthur said, authoritatively. Well, she'd promised him she would if Merlin didn't return soon, and after the weekend would be right around when Arthur visited her again. "I'm... sure it won't come to that."

Sometimes, Arthur, you kind of sucked at inspirational.

[thatsamilkshake]

It was no we few, we merry few, we band of buggered or however that speech went, no. The search party thing was actually a little alarming, associated as it was in Francine's mind with people missing in swamps and forests and snowstorms.

"Oh," she said again, without the good this time. And sat down on the bed, still clutching the book. "Nothing about why you can't get across the causeway to find him?"

[bitchprince]

"She says it's a matter of faith," Arthur said, and only years of training kept him from adding, which is total nonsense to the lot. "So I'll keep trying."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Faith?" Francine repeated. "Like you have to believe it'll work? That's weird, for here. Most of the time this place convinces you whether you want to believe it or not."

[bitchprince]

"I'm not sure, it's what the Lady Zoe told me." Apparently Arthur still had a reservoir of snappishness left underneath all the chivalry. "If I don't have enough faith to make this work..."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine winced at the tone, but understood the frustration. "Sorry; I'm from here and now, so I only ever used the causeway the regular way, to go across to the mainland or whatever we ended up next to last summer. I don't understand how it works either."

[bitchprince]

Yeah, I could tell, he thought, then shook that off. "I'm still looking into it," Arthur repeated, aloud, in some attempt to keep whatever morale he could muster, "There must be some logic to it." Yes, your mun was an evil bastard.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine was not unaware of the book still cutched to her bosom; she just didn't know how to hide it -- or possibly burn it -- in anything like a casual manner, so she tried very hard to pretend it wasn't there.

Also, to be helpful. The operative word might be tried, though. "Maybe you have to really want to go home for it to work? I mean I know you want to, but maybe you don't really? Because some things about home sound... not so great." Mmm, tasty, tasty foot.

[bitchprince]

Arthur was putting in a ginormous amount of effort not to eye the book, but his natural inclinations towards mockery were putting on a real battle with any sense of chivalry he might have had tucked away somewhere.

Her answer just about did it for him, though. "You think I'd rather be here and hiding than at home defending my people?" he asked, offended.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine shrank back a little and ducked her head. "No! That's not what I mean. You're all about being knighty defender guy." Just... not from cookies, which kind of really made her want to hear Merlin offering his fork in her service again. A lot. "I meant the part where people like Merlin aren't allowed to..." She darted a look up at him. "Well, even be. That not so great part."

[bitchprince]

He looked at her. Then, he looked at the window. Finally, he shook his head. "That is none of your business," Arthur said, although it wasn't particularly harsh. "Of course I want to go home." It wasn't even an argument, what she was serving up.

[thatsamilkshake]

It wasn't meant to be. It was just Francine trying her damnedest to make sense of things. She'd say it wasn't her strong suit if you asked her, but the truth was that it just took her forever to do it. Which looked a lot like failure on any given day. "I'm sorry. I'm just...I don't even know. Just saying things even if I don't know what I'm talking about so I can try to believe it'll help and forget I'm scared. It's not working real well."

[bitchprince]

Oh, now that helped. He sighed a sigh he couldn't quite repress. "It's all right to be scared, Francine," he said, at last. "I'll do the best I can to get him back to you."

Oh, hell. He'd been doing so good at swallowing that one, too.

[thatsamilkshake]

She might not have picked up on how much that sentence was the result of reverse peristalsis for him, but it meant enough to Francine to saddle Arthur with yet another heartfelt, "Thank you."

[bitchprince]

He nodded, noting that at least she was appropriately grateful. "I'll come back once I know more," he said, and spun on his heel.

Arthur found that their conversations were far more pleasant if he left before they could go beyond the necessities.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine found that her fingers now had the ISBN number of The Book imprinted on them from clutching the spine so tightly.

And also that the cover had been facing out.

Luckily, there were snickerdoodles and denial.