Francine Peters

( The Construction Guy )
( The Girl Next Door - a wee new note in this one )
( The De-frocked Elder God ) -- I'mma be extra lazy with the Blue Meanie, yes I am.
( The Queen of the Mississippi ) -- So much for those two minutes of stealth.

You know, four hours after radio? Long enough for the CD to replay three times before she turned it off, the candles to burn down, the chicken to get cold, the phone to be picked up and then put down about five times because it was supposed to be a surprise, and the girl to fall asleep on top of the covers with the back of her dress still unfastened.

( As you do. )

[OOC: For the roomie. BFF. Person. Other girl. SP? Ahahahaha.]

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!]

The pile of stuff in the middle of the room was not some mess that had accumulated during the week while the inhabitant more likely to clean had been busy either being insane or dealing with somebody else in that condition.

No, it was a radio, a CD player, a knock-off iPod and a Soothing Ocean Sounds Sleep Machine, all of which had been unplugged or de-batteried when simply turning them off wouldn't stop them from playing Feliz Navidad. In chorus. With harmonies and a descant. And the whales from the Ocean Sounds machine on bass.

And yet despite the pile of silent machines on the floor, the song could still be heard tinkling out the open door, as Francine chased something small and whirring around the room.

Beep BEEP beep beep beeeeeeeeep...

"Et tu, Clocky?!"

__
[OOC: Door and post are open!]

The first thing Francine did when she woke up, as she did every morning, was bounce out of bed... to kneel on the floor next to it and fold her hands. "Dear God, thank you for letting me wake up this morning, and please bless Momma and Benjamin and Daddy wherever he is, and all the little kitties and puppies in the world, and please make the evil whoring secretary find it in her heart to give Daddy back, and shine your light on my roommate so she'll change her unnatural ways and stop smoking and not go to Hell, or maybe like just the nice Hell where you send unbaptized babies and stuff, and help me to make this a better day for everyone. Amen!"

Then she bounced right back up, made her bed, put on the skirt, blouse and sweater she'd carefully laid out the night before, brushed her hair exactly a hundred strokes, kissed the picture of her family on her dresser, called home and left a verse and a chorus of I just called to say I love you! on her mom's answering machine, and headed off to the kitchen to make herself a perfectly balanced breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange juice, milk, cereal, biscuits and gravy and love, like a perfectly innocent girl who'd never touched alcohol in her life, and certainly hadn't run naked and screaming through town last year. Or at least, thanks to a certain encounter with a drunken hypnotist in the park when she was thirteen, was very, very good at repressing all of the above.

[Estaaaablishy! Francine is... Francine, just dialed up to twelve, in Perfect Daughter mode. She's also the same Francine she was last SOW, so tasting alcohol will trigger a post-hypnotic suggestion that will turn her into someone else entirely.]

And then she went off into the world to do...um...good.

Father Ned is in J,GoB!
But not in church! Father Merlin is there!
He's also in Caritas! With sinners! ...And Arthur.
And then there were four! ...Uh. And then there were two!

Revenge of Sprawling On The Bed: Still Don't Have Any Classes Tomorrow.

Though this time, Francine had a book, not a pile of laundry she was ignoring.

She'd almost rather be doing laundry; the book managed to be both uncomfortable and frustrating, since it wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know, so far.

Then again, she hadn't got to the bits with pictures, yet.

[OOC: Door, girl, and player are cracked! Open like open.]

Francine, celebrating a mostly non-traumatic week and a no-Monday-or-Tuesday-classes long weekend by... hanging out on the bed with her Ethics homework and a book, singing slightly off-key lullabies not so much because Wee Baby Merlin was being cranky and she wanted him to go to sleep but just because she was having a little too much fun pretending?

...Of course not.

"And I hear her voice a hummin’ to me as in days of yore, when she used to rock me fast asleep outside the cabin door. Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, too-ra-loo-ra-li, too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral..."

[OOC: Door, she is open, girl, she is...mostly sane. Just not as creeped out by the fake babies as everybody else is.]

Thoroughly showered and de-veggie-gutted, Francine, wet hair draped over her shoulder, was picking at way too much take-out from the diner and eying the tray of lemon squares like she might just skip dinner entirely and go straight to dessert.

Any resemblance to the picking she was doing at events of this week in general or last night in particular was purely coincidental. In some universe.

[OOC: For various members of the clustre du fucque.]

A certain bunny might have spent Sunday night in a top hat, but after reassurance that the sudden fascination with Raven's tonsils had worn off and been none of said bunny's doing in the first place, Francine felt a little too guilty, and maybe a little too clingy, for that. So. Francine had fallen asleep last night with a wee baby bunny onna pillow. As you do.

Within reach for easy cuddling because she was SOFT AND CUTE AND FLUFFY.

[OOC: For the bunny! Up super early for slow 'I have to teach tomorrow morning sajdghsjdgh' play.]

Halloween (Bobby, Katchoo)
Samhain (Arthur, Merlin, Firekeeper, Katchoo, Katchoo and Raven)

Adventures in Lit
DADA for Muggles (Dinah)
Magic Reserves (Karla, Merlin, Tara)
Ethics (Katchoo, 1, 2)
Church (Arthur)
Support Services (Karla)
Shopping for a Halloween Costume

Homecoming
Arrival (Merlin)
Food (Leto, Dinah)
Morgana
Dancefloor (Merlin, Katchoo, Ino)
Katchoo in the Shadows

Carnival
Pie (Arthur)

Brunch
Under the Trees (Hurley, Dinah)

The Tereille In Karla's Head
Briarwood is the pretty poison. (Aphrodite, Karla, Katchoo, Ender, Ben, Dinah, Max, Emma, Raven, disturbing as frak, not remotely pretty. FALSE ADVERTISING.)

In which Chuck is not a Bass-tard. ...Maybe.
In which we are Jedi (Ethics, Katchoo)

In Which We Are...Uh...Supportive (Claire, Karla, Robin, Layla)
In Which Chuck Offers Advice...Sort Of (Chuck)

Fall Break
In Which There Is A Massage (Merlin)
In Which There Is Discussion Of Painting (Katchoo)
In Which There Is Geese (Merlin)
In Which There Is Bubbles And Boys (Katchoo, Merlin, Arthur)
In Which There Is Foosball (Arthur)
In Which There Is A Lunatic (Katchoo)
In Which There Is Hay (Merlin, Tara)
In Which There Is Bubbles But No Boys (Katchoo)
In Which There Is Geese...Again (Merlin)
In Which There Is Kissings And Fleeings (Katchoo)
In Which There Is Spazzings (Merlin and Arthur)

Aftermaaaaath
In Which There Is Something Resembling Truth (Katchoo)
In Which There Shouldn't Be Turkey (Lit)
In Which DADA Continues to Be Surreal (Merlin)
In Which Francine Does Not Demonstrate Magical Talents

Adventures in Lit (Haley)
DADA - Simon Says (Firekeeper, Professor Black)
Strokes of Genius (Katchoo)
Ethics

Right. Francine could do this. After a weekend of letting her mom in on what Fandom was really like (with a few spare moments for meeting other people's families), she was absolutely ready to bring up the other little tiny thing that might have escaped her mother's attention for the last year.

Or the last few months, depending on whether you were counting how long that little tiny thing had been in Fandom, or how long she'd been living with it.

Francine gave a couple warning knocks before pushing the door open. "So I know I promised I'd introduce you to my roommate before you leave, Mom," she said fairly loudly, just in case that wasn't warning enough.

[OOC: This is going to go so well. For her and her and so much SP omg.]

Hey guys -

Support Services meeting called on account of Picnic, but remember those cell-phone contact lists? If you need to be rescued from your parents or a distraction so your mom doesn't notice the conga-line of gremlin streakers or something, use them. We're all here to help each other out!

See you next week!

-Francine

P.S. There's a whole bunch of free cupcakes in the lobby. I bake when I'm nervous. Or bored. Or hungry Or awake.

I don't know why, but I do dream of you. Losing you, I still dream of you.

For the confused, the curious, the incurably OCD, and anybody who might have wanted to follow it but didn't know where the hell to start.

( Look, it's a sensical overview of the plot! )

So many freaking thanks to bigdamndestiny, bitch_prince, blonde_canary, famous_gut and my partner-in-crime thismaskiwear

"I'm gonna kill her," a pacing Francine announced. No, no, she wasn't. She'd have to be able to get her hands on Katchoo to kill her, and if she managed that, she'd... probably be doing other things. NOT DIRTY. Probably.

"I'll be fine, sit tight, I'll call, my ass. It's been a day."

( Room 505: In which 'stay where you are' does not compute, and are we surprised? )
( A little while later, on the causeway... )
( Darcy Parker's Penthouse Suite, a Baltimore Hotel, Later Tuesday Night )

[OOC: Pre-played with the amazing and amazingly patient thismaskiwear, bigdamndestiny, and blonde_canary. That Francine and Merlin got a call and left the island is fine for broadcast; everything else is out of squirrel range. OOC is made of love.]

Milk: check. Cookies: check. Day that was at least less awful than yesterday: check. Dinah: Pending.

[OOC: For the Tweetybird!]

There might be a black chemise with purple fringe and a pair of scallop-top stockings somewhere on the floor of Merlin's room. Good luck finding them.

That is all that shall be spoken of last night.

Well, that and "No, Cal wasn't in the room then, nor was he now," and "neither were any of Francine's other purchases from Dite's Decadent Delights." (Mostly because the bag containing those was currently living at the bottom of her sock drawer.)

As to this morning, there were two sleepy people in one relatively narrow bed.

( You just know this is going to the kind of place that makes Gaius say 'Oh dear.'  )

[OOC: TBC in comments, preplayed with the Adorable Ears, vaguely NWS if you squint, lack of Crazybits modded with permission.]

It wasn't that Francine had stayed up all night wondering just where the hell Katchoo was aside from 'out.'

She'd actually managed to get some sleep between three a.m. and the time she heard the door opening.

[OOC: For one, possibly two, first, but open later in the morning!]

Okay, so the thing about ( certain items of apparel ) was that they were all very nice for wearing, but they had to be washed by hand and hung up to dry. Which, if you were Francine "Oh God Oh God I Hope No One I Know Saw Me Buying This" Peters, meant frequent forays back to the bathroom to see if they were still damp and if possibly a hairdryer would help.

She'd finally decided to bring it just in case this time, when she heard the voices through the bathroom door.

"What d'ye want that fuir, then?"

"The fabric, ye daft goolie! Could make an 'undred kilts of it easy!"

"Who'd wear a kilt oot of that great black filmy thing!"

"...Have ye not heard about Our John, Hamish?"

"...Och, right. Give us a boost, then!"

And then the door burst open.

And that's how Francine Peters came to be running down the dorm hallway after a gaggle of little blue men, black lace, and pink satin, pointing a hairdryer at them and yelling, "Stop! Give me those back! NOT SMURFY, GUYS! NOT SMURFY!"

In case anyone wondered.

[Estaaaaablishy!]