Room 511, Wednesday evening

[thatsamilkshake]

Hiding out in the safety of her room after yesterday's traumatizing events (among others)? Francine? Of course not.

God, it was so nice to be able to lie again.

Though at the moment most of her lying was happening on the bed with the window cracked open, a softly scented and unseasonably warm breeze wafting in from the direction of the park, and a book on adult literacy spread out before her as she sprawled. She really didn't have a clue how to help somebody learn to read, no matter how many picture books she checked out of the library, so she figured she might as well try to find out.

[OOC: Open as open is, though expecting one with ears the size of small saucers at worst, whose thread be chronoschmoogically last! ...Also it always said evening.]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Steeling his nerves to make his way up to Francine's floor and then once again to knock on her door, Merlin poked his head slightly in to make sure it wasn't her roommate and he hadn't just made a fool of himself.

More so than usual.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine looked up from her book at the sound, and scrambled upright when she saw him in the doorway. "Hi!" she said brightly, hoping to God Emmett hadn't told him.... anything, really.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

She was lucky that Merlin was no longer going to take seriously much of what Emmett said.

"Hullo, Francine!" He was there for a reason. A purpose. There was a plan to this. "Did you happen to need any defending against sweets?"

Smoooooth.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Always," she said, both seriously and honestly. "Those mini-doughnuts on the desk rolled out of the vending machine and tried to jump into my mouth!

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin looked shocked by the audacity of those things. "Of course, this is why we don't have vending machines in Camelot," He said airily.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine eyed him, lips quirking. "Or doughnuts. Or chips, or marshmallows, or ice cream. So pretty much nothing to put in the vending machines."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Although I wouldn't object to that fizzy drink being back home." Even if he did feel like running about after drinking it...

[thatsamilkshake]

"Mmmm, caffeine." Granted if she had to pick only one, she'd go with sugar, but hey, there was pepsi and mochas, so she didn't! "I guess you could put, I dunno, roast pheasant and gruel in them? What do you have to eat in oldeny days?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't say gruel," Merlin replied with a grin. "More like a porridge. My mum made it quite a bit. You just add to the grain with whatever you have on hand and it's really not bad."

[thatsamilkshake]

"All I know about porridge is it comes with peas, bears like to eat it, and I wouldn't want it after it's been sitting around in a pot for nine days," she admitted.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...nor do I."

[thatsamilkshake]

"It's a nursery rhyme," Francine explained. "Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I think it would be like glue at that point," Merlin replied, making a face.

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

Chuck pushed open Francine's door and tapped lightly on the door frame.

"Busy?" he asked. Who was he kidding? Everyone could make time for him, busy or not. He was Chuck Bass.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine lifted her head and smiled. Look, someone she hadn't spilled embarrassing truths to yesterday! "Hi! Not really. Just doing some reading."

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Oh, good. I'd hate to interrupt anything important," Chuck said, taking a couple steps into the room. "I see you've managed to survive yesterday. Good work."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine ducked her head, face coloring reflexively at the thought. "Barely, yeah. I owe Meaniehead some cookies or something, for not talking about me on the radio."

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Meanieface was a bit distracted by torturing me, I think," Chuck replied. He smiled at the mention of cookies. "You can bake?"

He had suspected that she could but it was a nice in to what he wanted from her.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Sure!" she said, head bobbing. "I mean, I'm not Ned or anything, but I like to cook stuff."

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Really? I'm jealous," Chuck said. No he wasn't. "I can't cook at all. You can bake anything?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"Well, not anything," she answered. "You probably don't want me baking you a souffle or a wedding cake."

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"Brownies?" he asked.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh, sure!" Francine waved a hand. "Brownies are easy. I've been making those since I was little." Well, before about ten or eleven it was more like 'helping' to make them, where help = lick the bowl, but anyway.

[rocksthescarf.livejournal.com]

"I see. Well, Francine, I was wondering, if you had the time..." Of course she had the time. "...if you'd like to make me and a friend some brownies? We both are awful cooks and don't want to risk burning down the common room."

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine shrugged. "Sure. I bet you wouldn't, though. Like I said, brownies are easy."