Room 505, Saturday Evening

[thatsamilkshake]

What better way to spend the first day of Christmas Break and no more finals than helping your ex-boyfriend test his swan-creating powers? Sort of. Except for the lack of swan.

Look, it was this or watch A Chuck Umber Christmas for the third time this week.

[OOC: For the Ears, but open after!]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

It wasn't creating a swan. It was just... turning a swan doll into a real swan.

For eating. Completely different, Francine.

"Hello?" He asked, poking his head on into the room as he knocked.

[thatsamilkshake]

"It's open," Francine called, just in case he couldn't tell that by the fact that she was sitting cross-legged on her bed and looking at him when she said it.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

That did helped, though. A bit.

"Are we going to bother Katchoo doing this here?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Considering that she wasn't here at the moment... "Not unless we do it on her bed."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...let's not," Merlin decided quickly. "Did you pick something you wouldn't mind losing if this works?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"I figured we might want to go a little bigger than the inch-high pink kitty idea," Francine said. "A stuffed animal?" She jerked her thumb up at the net above the bed. "Anything in there is fair game except Snoopy."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin nodded as though he knew who Snoopy was. If he picked the wrong one, he could just try to pass it off as a joke.

Foolproof plan, that.

"How about--" He snagged one at random. "This one?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Present from my Aunt Libby," Francine said, studying the stuffed owl chick. "...If I told her it disappeared because it got turned into a real one and flew away, she'd believe me."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...really?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Remind me to tell you about my Uncle Jed sometime." Like never.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I will try my best to remember that," He lied through his teeth. So, really. It all worked out.

[thatsamilkshake]

For both of them. Though if either of them thought they were getting out of the torment of meeting Francine's crazy relatives sometime or other, the universe was laughing at them right now.

Then again when didn't it. "It's a barn owl," she said because she was an expert on the taxonomy of stuffed animals. Or because she read the label. "No eating it, if this works."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"You don't eat owls," Merlin replied, sidling with the doll for a moment. "You train them to hunt."

A beat.

"If you're Arthur."

[thatsamilkshake]

"I was just making sure! I'd have said you don't eat swans too, so what do I know."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Swans are like pretty geese," Merlin pointed out. "Why else would anyone want to keep them but for food?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"To look pretty," Francine replied. "That's what most people who have swans do keep them for."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Well you also have grocery stores and can get all sorts of food here." It was wonderful.

[thatsamilkshake]

"True. ...You should make Arthur try Spam." She could be mean sometimes, if she tried really really hard. You know, fluffy bunny mean.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"What's that?" Merlin asked, holding the toy up and squinting at it for a moment.

[thatsamilkshake]

"A delicacy you can only get in the supermarket," Francine answered. "Though it would be funny to watch him go out hunting for it."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Maybe the next time he's unbearable," Merlin replied with a grin. He took a breath and flopped down on Francine's bed to try the spell. It had been a while, after all.

[thatsamilkshake]

"How does it work?" Francine asked, scooting over to give him space to work in.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

He placed the doll carefully on the bed, crouching to hit eye level with it. "It's supposed to animate objects. Took me all night to get it to work the first time."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine tilted her head and then mirrored his action, and the balance of clusterfuckery breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't wearing a low-cut shirt. "Why were you trying to animate snakes? Or was that the dog?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"The dog was to make sure it worked. The snakes--" Merlin made a face. "A knight was using an enchanted shield to kill his opponents in a tourney. I couldn't prove it without having them come to life in full view of the king."