it's an infestation of cute

[dgaf]

Who: Effy and Spike
What: fulfilling all your fantasies... and pandas
When: Feb. 14
Where: Room 227
Rating: PG-13

Effy even found a panda suit laid over her blanket when she woke up, groggy from drinking too much the night before. The room is blinding to her eyes, bright yellow unlike her dark blue walls. She fancies herself a creature of the night. But misery does love company. Any word of complaint rising from her throat dies as soon as she spots the familiar man lying on the next bed, his hair distinctive despite all else. The multitude of bandages for one.

Maybe they could share sob stories over how they got theirs, or bond over pandas. That would work too.

Moving as quietly as she can, Effy moves to strip to her underwear so she can slip into that panda suit and wake him up in not the most pleasant way. He's been rude to her anyway. Totally deserves it. Besides, in a castle so keen on mindfucking its residents, she might get points for contributing to the cause. Once done, she crawls up his bed on all fours, still trying to keep from waking him so she can bump her panda nose against his forehead with a low-pitched "Boo!"

Comments

[dgaf]

Effy clears her throat to draw his attention and pats the space on the bed beside her. Don't be shy.

"Totally. With a bus?"

[gottaknockhard]

He tilts his head back to her and what she's doing. This is his fault for saying they should get a room; the castle is always listening.

"Yeah, a bus. It was on fire, and I had to rescue the kids." Seriously though, he's not getting in bed with her again. "Maybe that's who this room was supposed to be for."

[dgaf]

Rude. She's being the nicest bed-mate too. Look, she would even straighten out the sheets on the side she's still trying to beckon him to. You know you want to lie back on a nice soft bed again, Spike.

"Alright. A disagreement. What about?" She grins widely. "How much hair someone can keep on their head?"

[gottaknockhard]

"That's the more believable one, huh?" What he wants is a smoke. It occurs to him that she can work a lighter, so maybe if he keeps talking he can slip that into the conversation. As long as she doesn't light her other hand on fire.

"If I got a better story out of it, I would have put it in the journal for you."

[dgaf]

All he really needs to do is ask. She won't even make it difficult for him when it's such a small favor, unless he gives her reason to, which would also not be difficult.

"What? Are we best friends now?"

[gottaknockhard]

If he can manage it not to sound like a favor and still not highlight how clumsy he is with his hands right now, that's the trick. Always has to make a game out of everything.

"The castle seems to think so."

[dgaf]

"Aww." Too contrived.

"What if I tell you how much I need a hug?"

[gottaknockhard]

There's a chance that the pill she just took is stronger than he thought, so he only gives her a dull stare.

"Dressed like that, you shouldn't have a problem outside of here."

[dgaf]

That has her grinning, perfect rows of teeth displayed like a wolf sneering at her prey. He walked right into it, after all.

"How should I dress to get a hug in here? --Or not dress?"

[gottaknockhard]

She's teasing him because of his arm, he knows, and so he should at least smile. That approach always worked for him in the past; laugh off everything and you're left alone, and yet... His smile muscles must be sore.

"I thought I wasn't your type."

[dgaf]

And she's trying so hard, feigning utter shock and surprise at his reply.

"Who said that? Well, I never--"

[gottaknockhard]

This girl. He still hasn't figured out why she's still here, on his bed, other than being that desperate for company. He knows how hard it is to find anyone remotely normal in a castle like this.

"In that case, I'm flattered but not interested."

As if to demonstrate the obvious, he lifts his more severely bandaged arm, but regrets it a second later as he tries not to let a wince show on his face. There's a reason he's been confining himself to this -- well, formerly dank room. It doesn't look suitably depressing at the moment, which is annoying in itself.

[dgaf]

That would imply that Spike is normal, which even Effy can hazard is not true. There has to be something off with someone who would choose to walk away and placate after so many times she has tried provoking it. Maybe it's wisdom. Maybe it's something else.

"You could ask me for help, you know."

[gottaknockhard]

That's his problem. He's so laid back, that everyone constantly feels the need to test him. Like decorating his room in pandas, for example.

The fact that she's offering to help only makes him more suspicious. But he could just get over it and remember that he can handle one teenage girl, no matter what shape he's in. -- And some sentences are better to run through his head before he says them it out loud, wow.

Sinking back into the panda chair, he stares long enough to demonstrate how hard it is for him to say that he doesn't need help. Which he doesn't. "You could hand me that bottle."

[dgaf]

But then Effy does live to annoy others. This is probably a match made in somewhere very special indeed. The longer he stares, the sharper her smirk grows. A passerby might think she's getting ready to eat him alive, and he's not putting a fight.

She spares a beat before tossing the bottle in the air once, then catching it, before throwing it his way as fast as she can. "Catch!"

Someone should tell her not to be so mean to someone with his arm in a sling.

[gottaknockhard]

While he does see it coming, and maybe expected to get a similar kind of reaction, his reaction time is restricted by the bandages on his arms and his previous round of pain killers.

So of course, he lifts the badly sprained hand as opposed to the one with a hole in the middle, and of course it hits him right in the most tender area of his palm, causing him to drop it before his fingers even close.

He'll get to yelling at her once he's done swearing and trying to shake out the shock of pain in his hand. That's the exact opposite of what he wanted, thanks.