Room 421, Tuesday

[mathletenomore]

Lindsay was doing some last minute packing. She was going home tomorrow for break, though she kind of wished she could stay here and hide. There was the slight risk that she could run into Barry Schweiber, and she really did not want to deal with that mess. Staying here would ensure it would be avoided.

Of course, her mother would be upset if she didn't go home for the holidays. The guilt trip would have been epic. She disappointed her parents so much already. She didn't want to end the year that way, too.


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[angelo_wings]

Rinoa wasn't packed, yet -- she wasn't leaving until Thursday. But she was lounging on her bed, wrapping gifts. Many of which were bath and body related, from a neat store on the mainland that had handmade stuff that smelled amazing.

And so Rinoa's half of the room might also smell pretty strongly. She'd turn on a fan, if it got overwhelming.

"So are you excited?" she asked. "For the holiday-thing?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay shrugged. "Guess I'm glad for the break. I think everyone can use one."

[angelo_wings]

"Especially after the past few weeks," Rinoa said with a shudder. Not the most pleasant December she'd ever had. "Do you not celebrate it either, then?"

She wasn't even from this world, so she'd never heard of it before coming here.

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"My family does, so I do," Lindsay admitted. "I'm not as into the religious aspect of it, but I can appreciate the whole spirit of giving thing. And getting to spend time with my family and friends for a little while."

She smiled a bit at that. "So what about you? You going home for awhile?"

[angelo_wings]

"It seems like the whole world shuts down for a bit, to celebrate," Rinoa said, shaking her head with amusement. "I wish we had something that big, back home."

She finished wrapping one of the smaller boxes and grabbed a label, so she could mark it quickly before she forgot whose box was whose. The perils of having multiple gifts of similar sizes.

"Sookie invited me to go home with her," Rinoa said. "Do you know her? We're going to Louisiana" -- she had to hope she pronounced that right -- "for Christmas. Otherwise I think we'd just be staying here. Going home is ... complicated, right now."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I now who she is, but I don't know her well," Lindsay replied. "That sounds fun, though. I'm glad you'll get a chance to celebrate, especially if going home is not an option. You'll at least get to be with friends."

[angelo_wings]

"It's apparently going to be like a big party," Rinoa said, smiling. "I'm glad she invited me. Oh, and don't let me forget, I have your present. If I can find it, in all this mess."

There were going to be lots of people, going to Louisiana. Rinoa had no idea who she was supposed to shop for, so she had erred on the side of getting something for everyone. Hence the current state of the gift-pile.

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Lindsay told her, glancing at the gift pile. Grinning, she added, "Looks like you're playing the role of Santa. Though I have something around here for you, too."

[angelo_wings]

"I'd never crowd his turf," Rinoa laughed. "I'm just trying to be polite."

And, well, someone hadn't told her that Santa wasn't real. She'd figure it out sooner or later.

She found the two packages that were marked 'Lindsay,' and handed them over with a smile. The rounder one was a bath bomb that had smelled yummy in the store. The flat one was a necklace -- something eclectic and interesting that she thought her roommate might like.

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay's eyes lit up when she opened the gifts. "Thank you so much! I definitely could use this," she said, indicating the bath bomb. "And the necklace is pretty cool. Thank you."

She smiled appreciatively before reaching into the drawer beside her bed, producing two items. One was a bracelet she spotted in a store recently. "I saw this and thought of you."

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa opened the package carefully, gasping slightly when she saw the bracelet.

"Oh, it's beautiful," she said, holding the little butterflies up to the light. She couldn't help watching the way the light played off the translucent wings for a few moments.

She beamed at her roommate. "Thank you so much," she said. "I love it."

And she was, in fact, already pushing up her sleeve so she could slip it onto her wrist.

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay beamed as well, glad Rinoa liked it. "I also promised to make you a Christmas CD."

She handed it over. The song choices mostly fit Lindsay's music tastes as was evident by all the classic rock, but she thought they were songs her roommate might like. "There's even some stuff on there that doesn't exist yet where I'm from."

[angelo_wings]

"Seriously?" Rinoa asked, amused by that idea. "That's so crazy to think about. You know, I think that puts you a step up from liking them when they were underground."

Talk about indie street cred: liking a band before it was ever formed.

"I can't wait to hear what's on this," she said. "I'll take it to Louisiana, too. Just in case nobody's in the proper holiday spirit yet."

Forcing people to listen to Christmas music was totally part of the holiday. Wasn't it?

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Well, this should get people into the holiday spirit." Well, it got Lindsay into the spirit a little. If it could do that, it could get anyone into the holidays.

[angelo_wings]

"Hey, I'm in the holiday spirit, and it's not even my holiday," Rinoa joked, sitting back down on her bed. Carefully. There was a pile of presents she didn't want to upset. "So when will you be back?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Next week sometime," Lindsay replied. "Definitely before New Year's Eve. How about you?"

[angelo_wings]

"Early next week," she said. "We should do something for New Year's. Do you think there will be a party of some kind?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"If there is, we should go," Lindsay suggested.

[angelo_wings]

"Absolutely," Rinoa agreed. "And if there isn't? We should throw one. Pajamas and movies and snacks."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Maybe we could have that party anyway," Lindsay said. "Sometime after New Year's."