Not Good at Nice

Once the wedding was over, the Sun-Crichton party was ushered back indoors to the reception inside the Charles Hotel. The room was done up very nicely in red and black (for no reason, really), lit with candles and Christmas lights, several large tables set up around the room in front of the very long head table.

The hotel workers were busy getting food ready, and the doors were open, allowing the wedding party and guests to take their seats and enjoy the party.

If pressed, Aeryn would say that the reason that she didn't sleep well last night was that she wasn't used to the bed after spending the weekend in the hotel, even though being transferred from place to place and sleeping in different places depending on assignment was practically ingrained into her genetic code. She hadn't slept well all weekend, actually, and it wasn't that she hadn't had a good time over homecoming. She really had. She liked being able to see her friends and catch up and be able to see them when she talked to them instead of using the phone. This was all while ignoring the Luxan, of course. And Lee.

There was just one little thing that just kept nagging at her.

Giving up early, Aeryn got up and dressed, and headed out, returning a while later with a bag in hand to lock herself in the bathroom. She'd wanted to do this earlier, just to have some sort of proof, but she didn't want to risk it ending up on the radio. Privacy was one plus Cambridge had over Fandom.

She read the directions about five times before taking the test, and about ten times after seeing the result, just in case she could blame this on not being a native English-reader. She knew better, though. She'd done it right, and she didn't think Aly would lie to her. She did consider making another trip out, though. Maybe a different brand would be wrong. Best out of three, even.

When Aeryn gets back to the alcove after saying goodbye to Parker, the first thing she sees is the binder Isabel gave her yesterday. Which is of course not at all because she spent a very good part of yesterday ignoring it, then picking it up to look through it, then ignoring it, then deciding she should at least get an idea from it, ad nauseum.

"Maybe we should figure out when to do this," she says.

After spending time in the common room, mostly talking to and playing with weetiny teachers, Aeryn has decided she should probably just go back to the room. It's safer there.

She notices she left her phone on the table, so she picks it up and is surprised to see a message on there. She listens to it, and is left staring at it, both facepalming and repeating, "Ryn?"

[Open. Why not?]

It's only been a day, but Aeryn's discovered that things get really quiet without John around. He hasn't been home since school started last year. He's always been in this room. And now it's weird, even if he's only a state or two or however many it is (ask her where Svalbard is and she knows it; North Carolina, not so much).

She's gone for the walk/run that she's tended to make habit, she's fed the animals, and she's got a book out to study, though she's not really looking at it.

Finally tiring of the silence, she looks around, and sees Bertram skittering around on the carpet. "You can make some noise, can't you?" she asks.

He stops, the eyestalks turn towards her, and he begins making random beeping noises as he moves.


[Door's closed, post is open.]

From a distance, the commerce planet just looked like any other ordinary world. It wasn't until anyone got closer that they would notice just how busy it was. It didn't look too out of the ordinary, just a marketplace, except it was bigger than any old marketplace.

There were outdoor and indoor areas, lined with carts and shops, people shopping and selling and sometimes stealing. The people didn't look human, either, ranging widely in size and species, and a good deal of them weren't even bothering to hide the weapons they were carrying.

Anyone walking in from the landing area would suddenly be right in the middle of it.


[Locked to whitedeathpod, tatooine_doofus, peter__parker, carter_i_am and izzyalienqueen. Up early for SP and NFB due to distance.]

All in all, Aeryn hasn't had the worst week. She discovered bowling, which is more fun when Anakin has to act like a bird, her classes have been going well, visiting people, and... other stuff. She's even been able to deal with random forts and their aftermath and accidental propositioning-but-not. Part of her blames that Massachusetts thing. She's just comfortable right now. In general. In a manner of speaking.

And then earlier she made a phone call she thinks she had to, and just kind of stays in the room for a while.

[Door's closed, post is open if you want to come by. Might be slow pinging at times, but my breaks are becoming more and more frequent, so that might not even make a difference, ha.]

Aeryn didn't mind the cabins this time around. Still, for a couple reasons that involve having to find somewhere with locking doors and the subsequent embarrassment, she needs to be back in the dorms. So yes, fine, she's moving early- even if she's not supposed to- as soon as she's done at the Meerkat campfire. And yes, her stuff is going straight back to 238.

She's barely in the door when she sees something run across the room and into the kitchen. It's not Bertram, there are no pets left in the room right now, and that makes Aeryn suspicious. Careful not to make too much noise, she follows it, and there she sees the gremlin. It hasn't grabbed anything yet, and Aeryn's not going to let it. Grabbing a pan left on the counter, she goes to hit it-

Which is when the gremlin startles, and takes a bite into her hand before trying to scurry off. Aeryn's reaction is to kick it, sending the thing flying. She walks over, prods it, and satisfied that it's dead, she notices Bertram on one of the walls. "Clean that up, will you?" she asks.

And then she looks at her hand. After a lot of cursing, she goes to the door and locks it.

Of course, that doesn't help, since unless the venom makes her hallucinate that she's stupid, she'll still be able to unlock a door. As it is, she does unlock the locker. And gets her outfit from Halloween, which she had planned to burn, once upon a time. This would include a long white dress and a blonde wig that she wouldn't have even remembered she had. When she's finally done primping- yes, primping- Aeryn decides she's ready for an audience. It'll be good to get out of this stuffy place.

[Gremlin modded with permission.]

Aeryn doesn't think much about shopping unless she needs it. Thanks to Wilderness Survival, she needed shoes. Now she has them. One day you're refusing to kill a girl (no matter how dumb they were), the next you're kind of temped to go through with it if it'll keep you from hearing the word 'cheerleading' ever again.

After last week's mummies and kittens and Rory not being crazy, along with her own issues, it's nice to have a smaller drama that really isn't a drama. Especially since the alternative is thinking way too hard on a certain conversation she doesn't remember. Even if things have been going scarily well lately. Even when she's having trouble, they're going well.

She'll stick to fighting cheerleading, and buying things to replace the things she's going to have to give up.


[Door's closed. Feel free to knock.]

Aeryn's been bad at sleeping tonight. She's actually had a lot of good conversations lately (and some weird ones, and leaves, yes), but she's also been really honest and that way leads to thinking.

She gets out of bed, gets her phone, and makes a quick call before trying to get to sleep. Or back to sleep. Whatever.

She is completely oblivious to any pranks that will get certain boys' asses kicked.


[I have no idea what my alcove is. Fellow Meerkats?]