The Perk, Saturday Afternoon

[bookbeltof_love]

Okay, so like, the weird globe overhead was hardly an auspicious start to the day but radio had said it was a snow globe and after enduring the weird shaking and then sugar-snow flying everywhere for a few cycles, Nina was willing to kind of sort of believe that it was maybe just a snow globe.

Also, it was a weekend, which logically went it was probably something silly and not something horrible.

Besides, she needed to catch up on, like, the billion radio podcasts she'd missed and, also, if she stayed in her hotel room for too much longer she was going to go completely spare.

Nina meandered off to the Perk. She did tell Prompto that was where she was going, swore she'd be careful, and took her phone with her, though even with all of that she knew he didn't like it... but...

Well, she was at the Perk, she had banana bread and apple cider and a billion podcasts to catch up on.

She'd be here a good while.

[Open, yes!]

Comments

[nicedragonsfinishlast]

Julius was just kind of meandering around the island, confused by the sugar snow and for once glad he couldn't fly because he's end up bonking his snout on the edges of the dome or something. He'd almost made up his mind to head back to the dorms to shower when he spotted a familiar face in JGOB and had to rush in to say hello.

"Nina!" he said, opening the door and offering a huge grin.

[bookbeltof_love]

Really, like, the Alluka girl hadn't done a terrible job on her radio days but, every time she started talking Nina felt a little sulky about it even though she hadn't been around and obviously someone had needed to do it and--

"Ohmygosh!!!!!!!!!!! Julius, hi!!!!!!!!"

She was still not feeling one hundred percent but old coping methods were hard ones to break and that meant: she was nothing but cheerful.

It helped that it was actually great to see him.

"Come in!!!!!! Sit with me!!!!!!!!!"

[nicedragonsfinishlast]

"Great, okay!" Julius said, coming in to sit, not even thinking about grabbing something to eat or drink. "So good to see you again! I've been looking for you the week to let you know that I was...I guess me again?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I've been off-island," she said vaguely, far more interested in what he was saying. "You weren't... you?????????"

Though it was sweet to hear that he'd been looking for her.

[nicedragonsfinishlast]

It didn't matter how many times he gave this explanation, he still felt silly every time. "I kinda turned into a lizard at some point this summer?" he said. "And then, uh, turned back just in time for the new semester to start. So, yeah. That was an adjustment."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Ooooooooooh," she said knowingly. "Like, yeah, that happens sometimes?????? I've turned into a pink flying snake before??????????"

Which was as cheerfully complicated as she was. Also deeply nonsensical.

[nicedragonsfinishlast]

"For a whole summer, though?" Julius asked, a but ruefully. "That's the part I keep getting stuck on. I feel like I missed everything."

[bookbeltof_love]

"That is a pretty long time," she conceded thoughtfully. "If it makes you feel any better, I left the island in June and got back just two days ago??????? We can be Missed Everything Buddies??????????"

[nicedragonsfinishlast]

Julius offered her a smile. "Well, from this Missing Everything Buddy to you, I'm glad we're both back," he said earnestly. And then peered a little closer at her. "Did everything go okay, wherever you were? You look a bit pale. I mean, still pretty!" He wasn't critiquing your looks, Nina, honest! "But a bit..."

He flailed a little, trying to put 'like new skin over burns' into words, since he had absolutely no idea what had happened.

But it was, uh, a fairly common sight when humans lived among bitchy dragons.

[seriesofbaddecisions]

Sabine had her helmet with her, because she was repainting her armor this weekend anyway and it was easier to clear that off than getting sugar glitter out of her hair when all she wanted was to go out for a bit.

And then she saw Nina through the window and immediately went in. "Look who's back."

Had she been lowkey worried all summer? Yes.

[bookbeltof_love]

The sugar glitter was never going to be completely gone. Never.

And there was only one way to answer that.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaabiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiineeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[seriesofbaddecisions]

"I actually missed that," Sabine admitted, grinning. "How are you?"

She wanted to ask 'where the hell were you' but first things first.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Tired," Nina admitted. "But, like, okay other than that????? Prompto's visiting, so I'm staying at the hotel with him!!!!!!!!!!"

That... that was not exactly how that had come about, Nina.

"How are you??????"

[seriesofbaddecisions]

"Good! Not much to talk about," Sabine said.

"...So where were you?"

Yeah, she had to get to that.

[bookbeltof_love]

Saaaaaaaabiiiiiiineeeee.

"I was in my world," she said, nibbling on a piece of her banana bread. "Portalocity wouldn't let me contact anyone or leave??????????"

[seriesofbaddecisions]

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Sabine said wryly. Not that she was trying much these days herself. "But you're back at school and everything?"

Say yes.

[bookbeltof_love]

"I think so??????" she offered. "I mean, like, Julius is going to check with the moose to see if I'm enrolled for classes this semester?????????????"

Yes. Julius was doing it for her.

[howareyanow]

Wayne didn't really care to think too much about another round of some sort of typical island tom fuckery going on right now, and he'd had probably have preferred to just avoid it, but then he thought there'd be some points in his favor if he were to brave the sugar-glitter storm to fetch some coffee and bring it back fer Shuri.

Needless to say, after he tried to brush some of the snow off his shoulders once he walked into the door, he did a bit of a double-take.

"Nina," he gave her a nod, and put some actual curious inflection into the next part, "how are ya now?"

[bookbeltof_love]

Ah, but Nina knew this tradition!

"I'm good and you?????????"

And then she grinned at him.

[howareyanow]

"Ohhh," Wayne drawled, "not so bad..."

It was kind of nice that she'd went and got it right, though.

"You bring this 10-ply weather back with you, too?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She was totally going to claim it was all on her, Wayne. Totally.

"Isn't it pretty?????????? Do you like it??????????""

[howareyanow]

That was a little to eager and on the nose to be completely believable; usually, when Wayne tried to peg something she'd actually done on Nina, it came with at least a little bit of complaint. So he squinted his eyes at her a little, and couldn't deny that it did still seem like the sort of thing she'd probably be behind.

"It's...something, alright," he allowed.

[bookbeltof_love]

Maybe she was playing a long con, Wayne. A long con!

Though now she was trying to decide if she could actually replicate this whole thing some day. Even if just on a smaller scale...

"You're very glittery," she noted. "So it's working as intended!!!!!!!"

[howareyanow]

Wayne had been trying very hard to ignore the glitter, thank you, Nina.

"Small price to pay," he said firmly, squaring his shoulders in defiance to the voice in his head that was now making it impossible to ignore the glitter, "fer a good deed. In the meantime," since he wasn't one to dwell on his own good deeds, and he felt Nina had some 'splaining to do, "you've been gone for a hot minute."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Yes," she agreed, and left it at that. "What good deed are you doing????????????"