Room 322, Monday Midday

[not_every_mage]

Kathy had no way of knowing this, but her Valentine's Gift couldn't have come at a better time -- although probably not for the reasons she intended. Nathan had gone home over the weekend, and he hadn't been sure how long he'd need to stay. The important thing to Anders was that, romantically speaking, it had been goodbye.

Anders knew from the start that they'd almost certainly need to split up to go back to their respective worlds someday, and Nathan's growing distraction had made that unpleasant fact ever more clear of late. But Anders still held on to a stupid romantic hope that somehow, the break wouldn't come until the hazy future.

With that hope dashed, he was going to drain the bottle of champagne from the gift basket, eat the strawberry tarts, and write maudlin poetry in the journal. He knew he'd recover, but he deserved a good wallow first.

[OOC: Door closed but knockable.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante'd been out and about, but around noon he showed up back at the room, nudging the door open with his foot and planting his shoulder against the doorway.

"You look like you need the special stash," he commented.

[not_every_mage]

"Is it that obvious?" Anders asked drowsily. "I was just ... living my best life."

With crumbs all over his chest and the dregs of a champagne bottle at his side, yes.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Usually it takes me until eight before I can even think about downing a whole bottle of the pretentious crap," Dante said, shrugging.

He wasn't gonna judge, mind you, if simply because he was in no place to. He was going to step into the room, though. "What's up?"

[not_every_mage]

"It's not my first choice either, but Kathy gave it to me and I like the taste," Anders explained with a shrug. "It's nothing. Just ... Nathan went home."

Which wasn't 'nothing' to him at all,to go by his tone of voice.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Huh."

Dante sat down on his bed and eyed him. "Sucks." He tilted his head. "Guess I'm dragging you to the bar tonight for some real booze."

[not_every_mage]

Anders thought about trying to come up with something slightly more eloquent than "sucks," but got stuck. It did suck.

"Thanks," he said. "You don't have to, but the champagne buzz won't last forever."

[rebelseekspizza]

"And if all else fails, we'll go to the mainland and get you laid," said Dante, king of the fantastic break-up woes cures. "You'll be fine. Fuck it." Beat. "Why'd he go?"

[not_every_mage]

"Getting laid," Anders said, and frowned, "... Shouldn't sound as good as it does right now."

Weird. Well, at least his libido was healthy.

"He had family stuff," he added vaguely. "It's a long story. He's not sure he'll never come back, but he's not sure he will, either."

[rebelseekspizza]

"So he's basically like, what do you call it-- that cat they locked in a box that died but didn't die or something?"

... Dante paid attention during classes. Sometimes. Very sometimes.

"Whatever," he decided.

[not_every_mage]

"What maniac is locking cats in boxes?" Anders asked with undisguised horror. (He had missed *that* class, and Dante's point.) "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm not locking your cat in anything," Dante said, fast. "Even if he tries to eat stupid shit."

[not_every_mage]

"He's exploring his environment," Anders said, and scooped up a surprised Lachlan protectively. "He's curious. That doesn't mean he should be locked in a box."

Lachlan, it should be noted, tended to explore his environment by eating a lot of stupid shit.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm just saying, at some point some teacher couldn't stop talking about a cat who was dead and not dead at the same time, as long as you didn't open a box to check," Dante said. "... Which is actually pretty stupid. Science sucks."

[not_every_mage]

"That's why magic is better," Anders said sulkily. "Magic almost never asks you to lock cats in boxes."

He sighed, and stroked Lachlan again. "Anyhow, you aren't wrong. He's not absolutely gone forever and he's not here. But either way he's not my boyfriend anymore. Too much else going on for him."

[rebelseekspizza]

"That fucking sucks too," Dante said, which was probably about as sympathetic as he ever got. He tilted his head, adding in a teasing, sing-songy voice, "But hey, you get a free card to fuck whoever you like for the next couple of months."

It was entirely possible he didn't fully grasp the pitfalls of romantic entanglements.

[not_every_mage]

"Great, I can replace somebody I loved with a dozen random bodies," Anders said -- though he didn't sound entirely repelled by the prospect. He knew Dante was only trying to be nice. "Fantastic. Don't know why I bothered with him to start with."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Well, not random," Dante said, "I was going to go with 'hot'."

... yeah, he was trying.

"You can have some of my scotch if you want to?"

[not_every_mage]

"Hot might be different," Anders conceded. "But today I'm only taking Scotch to bed. Thank you."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Scotch it is," Dante said, leaning over to start rooting around under his bed until he found the cheapest bottle. (Look, he wasn't a saint.)

He held it up. "That should get you through."

[not_every_mage]

"You know, Dante," Anders said gratefully as he took the bottle, "Rapunzel may have had fewer overnight guests, but she never gave me Scotch. You're winning as favorite roommate right now."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Half my overnight guests are overafternoon guests anyway," Dante said, sitting back down on his bed. "But hey, I try."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would be thrilled to know that her Valentine's basket was so timely--but not to discover the reasons why that was so.

"Knock knock!" she called, rapping her knuckles on the door to the room. She was filled with jittery, too-familiar energy again, but was determined to ignore it. She was a goddamn adult, not a slave to her overactive hormones.

[not_every_mage]

Anders hadn't registered the jittery energy quite yet, but once he did it was bound to make the week even more interesting.

"C'mon in," he called. "I have ... fancy cider and two tarts!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had been planning on trying to convince Anders to go for a run with her or have another magic-versus-speed spar or pretty much anything that would let them bleed off some of the general antsiness in a clothed, G-rated way. (For am unclothed, higher rating, she'd be bothering his roommate). But when she opened the door and saw the state Anders was in, ideas of wholesome exercise fell away.

"Hey," she said, crossing over to him, setting the empty champagne bottle aside. "You okay?"

[not_every_mage]

"Fine," Anders lied, "or I will be, anyhow. Why do you ask?"

Besides the empty champagne bottle and tart crumbs scattered on his bed, yes.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Because it's barely noon and you've already drunk an entire bottle of champagne," Kathy pointed out. "And eaten most of the tarts."

She started trying to sweep the crumbs off his chest and into the palm of her hand. "You may sometimes rock the 'hotly disheveled' look--" she hadn't meant to add the 'hot' part, thanks Fandom "--but this is taking it a little further than normal."

[not_every_mage]

"I'm trying to look like the tortured genius I am," Anders said, joking weakly, then turned his head to watch her sweep up the crumbs. "Wait, are you cleaning up after me?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Even tortured geniuses don't want to be itchy," Kathy said serenely, dusting her hands off in the wastebasket. "And even if you do, I don't, but you look like you need a hug."

[not_every_mage]

"It wouldn't hurt," Anders mused, sitting up straighter and brushing the last of the crumbs off his shirt. "'Snothing. Nathan had to go home and I'm feeling sorry for myself."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, Anders," Kathy said, turning around to wrap him in a tight hug. "That's not nothing and we both know it. You're allowed to be upset. Hell, If I'd known, I would have gotten you something much stronger than champagne. Hon, I'm so sorry."

Still with her arms around him, Kathy sat down on the bed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Want to talk about it?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders thought about it a moment, sighed, and rested his chin in her hair.

"No," he admitted. "Nothing against you. If I wanted to talk it would be to you. It's just too raw. I'd rather drink."

[spin_kick_snap]

She gave him another squeeze. "I get it," she assured him. "And you don't have to talk until and unless you want to. I've got a bottle of--vodka, maybe?--upstairs in my room I can fetch for you."

Odds were Dante had something in the room itself, but she wasn't about to go sneaking into his stash. She doubted Dante liked her enough to let that go. In fairness, she doubted Dante liked anyone enough to let that go.

"We can just drink and talk about other things. Or drink in silence. Or I can just drop it off and give you some time to yourself."

She wasn't as keen on that last idea, but if it was what Anders wanted...

[not_every_mage]

"I love vodka," Anders informed her. "I think I even have some juice to mix it with."

Not that he seemed inclined to let her up so she could get it.

"I was stupid," he added, mulishly. "Why would I get something nice that lasted? People like me never do."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's not true," Kathy chided, not really trying to get up, either. "You deserve good things, good people. It's not your fault that Nathan had to go home."

It wasn't about him, either, but that had no place here, in Full Comfort Mode.

"Ah, hon, come here." She hugged him again. "What you are doesn't matter. And who you are is someone who deserves everything good in the world. I promise."

[not_every_mage]

"That's sweet, Kath," Anders told her doubtfully. "Too bad neither of us get a say. Maybe all I'm going to get is moments. Bits of sweetness and then everything goes to shit again."

It wasn't about him, really, but if she'd said that he would have been entirely confused. Who else would it be about?

[spin_kick_snap]

See, that was why that could be for later. If it needed to be said at all. But Kathy was firmly convinced that Anders did not have some dire fate that was going to damn him to be alone and unhappy for all of his life. Whatever happened with Nathan was more about Nathan than Anders.

She reached for his hands and held them tightly. "No, we don't get a say. And this sucks." On the brink of giving him a bright, 'but not everything is shit!' speech, she looked at his face and dropped that. Again, for another time.

Sorry, Anders. She'd never coaxed anyone through heartbreak before. She wasn't entirely good at it. "But I don't believe that it's all you get. I just can't believe it. You're worth far more than that."

[not_every_mage]

"Do you think what I'm 'worth' really matters?" Anders asked. "It never seems to from what I've seen."

He appreciated Kathy's effort, but he wasn't ready to be consoled. Not really.

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, she was going to keep trying!

...Until she gave up and proceeded to get him drunk and full of ice cream. That was what the movies said worked for heartbreak. Bubblebaths by candlelight, too, but she was willing to guess Anders would be okay with skipping that tradition.

Hmm, maybe the onsen?

Wait, no, that was not a train of thought to follow today. Or this week. Back to comforting.

"I do," Kathy told him. "Maybe it's just growing up with the idea of karma, but yeah, I think it does matter. But maybe...maybe not today. Or for the next little while. Maybe today just sucks entirely, and you just got to get through it."

[not_every_mage]

"I'll drink to that," Anders said, finally cracking a smile. "Maybe you're even right. Maybe it's all uphill from here."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You'd drink to it if we had something to drink," Kathy pointed out, ready to commit to a Monday afternoon of drinking with Anders if that was going to help. Maybe she'd finally understand Dante's Tuesday hangovers. "I don't know if the cider's going to work for this, sorry."

[not_every_mage]

"What is that?" Anders asked, nodding to the bottle. "I read the label and it's just juice?"

He sounded properly horrified by this.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I thought--" Yeah, you know what, she wasn't going to go into her train of thought there. "I grabbed the wrong bottle, sorry," she said, ducking her head. "I thought it was a bottle of hard cider. Should I run up and snag that vodka? It might make for a good mixer?"

[not_every_mage]

"No, it's all right," Anders told her. "I want to have you here more than I want vodka right now. Is that horribly sappy?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's heart hurt at that. Giving him a soft smile, she shook her head. "No, it's not," she told him, leaning in to give him another hug. "I'm here for you whenever you want me. I promise."

[not_every_mage]

"For three more months, anyhow," Anders said, still deep in self-pity even as he hugged her back. "Then you'll be gone no matter what."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey now," Kathy said, nudging his shoulder. "There's the whole summer, too. And if you even think that you're getting out of visiting me at college, you're crazy. And I'll be back for Homecoming and will probably portal in for random visits, too." She shook her head at him. "It'll take a lot more than a little graduation for you to lose me, okay?"

[not_every_mage]

"Okay," Anders said, but dubiously. "I believe you. It's just -- people who leave me don't have a great record of coming back."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah, well, maybe you need to make friends with more superheroes," Kathy said, giving him a victory sign. "We always keep our promises. It's part of the superhero code we have to sign when we first put on our masks."