The Causeway, Tuesday Morning

[bitchprince]

It was ridiculously early when Arthur made it down to the causeway. He'd stayed here yesterday to recuperate, but he couldn't afford to waste any more time. He needed to get back to Camelot, to see if his father remembered anything, and if so, to salvage the situation as best he could.

He had his new sword sitting on his belt; he was almost inspired to draw it at least twice when the strange bears came wandering in, but they seemed oddly friendly. Even if he had absolutely no interest in the beverages they were offering.

He would leave soon - he just had to say goodbye to one or two more people, and then he and Merlin could make it down the causeway and go home again.

And not a moment too soon, either.

[[ open, though sp later today! ]]

Comments

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"--ke your FRIKKIN' SODA AND SHOVE IT!"

Could you tell it was Katchoo coming down toward the causeway? Probably.

[bitchprince]

Arthur's eyebrows slid up towards his hair. "Katina?" he called.

No one else cursed like that.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

There was also the part where she was glaring at the bottle of Coke in her hand like she was trying to melt it with her eyes, as became evident when she got close enough.

"Did you think you were gonna sneak off?"

[bitchprince]

Arthur ran that question through his head and attempted to determine whether there was a correct answer to it. He decided that no, there wasn't.

"Just getting the packing done," Arthur said.

Not that they had much.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"That'll take you the next ten days," Katchoo drawled sarcastically. You know, she had that damn soda in her hand, she might as well --

Of course they'd give her the kind without a screw cap, and her without a bottle opener. And it was too cold for her to use her teeth on the damn thing. Damn bears.

"Gotta get home, huh?"

Insert inner monologue here about blockheaded princes and their sense of duty. But a very affectionate one.

Thus being the inner monologue.

[bitchprince]

"I don't know how much my father remembers of what happend," Arthur admitted. "If he remembers anything, he'll blame it on evil wizards again. I'd be spending the next two months convincing him not to murder anyone who's ever touched a poultice."

Welcome to the sad reality of his life.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Arthur Pendragon, this is your life," Katchoo added to helpfully supplement the narrative.

Still, she winced; that whole situation with Gaius wasn't really the kind of thing she forgot.

"And a hell of an exhausting one it is."

[bitchprince]

"No point in complaining about it," Arthur said, sounding a touch uncomfortable. "How are your studies faring?"

Such a subtle change of topic.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Y'know, it had been tempting to remember those going a little more easily, but she hadn't done that.

"Little rough around this time of year," Katchoo answered instead, honestly. "But, eh. I'll take finals stress over the crap we just got dragged through."

[bitchprince]

Arthur shot her a concerned look. "Have you had enough time to prepare?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo gave him a wry half-grin. "This is why the gods invented dorms across the street from all-night coffee shops. College is just a giant racket to support the coffee industry."

[bitchprince]

Skeptical, thy name was Arthur. "If you say so," he said, nonplussed. "All's been well otherwise?"

Post-crisis pleasantries: it was all the rage.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Oh, just peachy. Let's breeze right past the part on Sunday where I had a moment of thinking I'd actually miss Margie McCoy and her boobs. It was a moment of weakness." Post-crisis pleasantries were more fun when they were sardonic. That was Katchoo's story and she was sticking to it.

. . . she would have missed that. A little regular irritation in your day was good for you!

". . . it's been good." There was a brief pause before she said that, because she never did stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, so -- optimism was a very cautious go.

[bitchprince]

Arthur nodded once, almost tentatively.

Even after all these years, he still sort of had trouble with the idea of friendships like this. "Glad to hear it," he said. "I know college is supposed to be a pressuring environment..."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Pfft." Katchoo waved a hand. "Half of it they bring on themselves."

Shut up, art major.

"'course if you ever came to visit and wandered into a frat party by accident you might change your mind."

Did it make her a terrible person to imagine Arthur at a frat party? Did she care if it did?

[bitchprince]

"I remember the frat being a very productive organisation," said Arthur, who had, of course, run his own at Fandom for at least a year.

Sigh, Arthur.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Mental image: 110% more hilarious now.

"Arthur. When has anything in Fandom remotely resembled the outside world?"

[bitchprince]

"We've been attacked by magical creatures, it's a town with a castle, we've got horses and a salle and several useful classes--"

Thank you, Arthur.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo walked into that. You could say the way she smacked her hand into her forehead was a comedic Foley effect meant to underscore said verbal pratfall.

". . . in my time. Teach me never to be specific with you, geez . . ."

[bitchprince]

Arthur gave it an idle shrug. "Don't make generalizations," he suggested. "It's hardly my fault."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

If Katchoo were a more conscientious person she might apologize for just assuming everyone would understand her perspective. But, sad to say, Katchoo was more likely to roll her eyes at people who might be so inclined.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, you're not gonna keel over from lingering concussion symptoms as soon as you get back to Camelot, are you?"

Don't think she wasn't aware of your track record, Arthur.

[bitchprince]

"I didn't get concussed," Arthur pointed out immediately. "Nor do I intend to get concussed."

He'd get bonked over the head again first time out of the gates once he was back. That was just the way he worked.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

See? Track record.

Katchoo coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like "This time."

[bitchprince]

"What was that?" Arthur asked.

Her track record meant that he was rightly suspicious.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

It all worked out nicely that way?

"Aw, nothin'," Katchoo said cheerily. "Just got a little choked up at the thought of you leaving again."

Well, okay, that part actually was true. Just not literally.

[bitchprince]

"Right," Arthur said, still squinting at her. "Well. I'm sure the school will give us some opportunity to return sooner rather than later."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"For a reason that's 110% less fleeing for our lives?" Oooh, deadpan expression.

[bitchprince]

Arthur shot her a wry look. "Well..."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Just being clear." Katchoo quirked an eyebrow at him. "Wouldn't want to make generalizations again."

[bitchprince]

"It's Fandom," Arthur pointed out. "What can go wrong, will go wrong."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"And we keep comin' back." Katchoo turned the glass soda bottle around in her hands, idly tracing the contours. "Try and stick to that habit, will ya?"

[bitchprince]

"I'll try," Arthur said, "But you know I can't make any promises about when father can spare me."

He looked at the water for a moment. It'd all seemed a lot less threatening since the day the island had finally let him go.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I know." It could be hard to think of the island as a safe haven after the last couple of weeks; the newly-rearranged geography was ample evidence of that. But she still did, somehow; all of Fandom's dangers were of such a different breed than the ones Katchoo had known before, and she knew -- provided Fandom's whims never took Francine away from her again -- which ones she feared.

"But . . . when you can."

[bitchprince]

Arthur gave her a tiny nod. "I will," he said. "You have my word."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo's smile was restrained, but genuine, as she held her hand out. "Holding you to that, Pendragon."

Somehow she managed to sneak an undertone of respect into the habitually flippant way she said his name. Almost like a title, if you knew her. And squinted.

[bitchprince]

"Just do well at school," Arthur instructed, after a short uncomfortable moment because that was strange and a bit heartwarming and he had no idea what to do with that kind of thing. "I intend to see you so happy you - how would you put it? 'Crap rainbows'?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

She grunted in amusement. "Might not be as tall an order as you'd think, but I swear to god, if that happens literally sometime when we're all back here again I'm holding you responsible for it."

A moment to clear her throat.

"Say the same for you, but you'd have to unclench a little more."

And then she wouldn't know what to do with him.