Room 327- Monday morning

[notconflicted]

Sia usually had no problem at all with focusing, no matter what she was trying to focus on. Today is was really, really a problem.

It had started with a message from home that she'd had to pause and put aside for later because she found herself concentrating more on the Imperial Knight sending it rather than the message he was sending. That just struck her as inappropriate. And when she'd decided that she didn't like the feeling of being this keyed up for no reason, she'd spent longer than she wanted to admit in the salle, only for it to not make any real difference.

At that point (and after a shower that was a bit colder than she was used to) she'd become determined to at least get through her homework, because this was officially ridiculous and surely she could keep her focus for more than five minutes.


[She should not be able to do that, no. Door/post open!]

Comments

[notconflicted]

"I'm sixteen." A month from tomorrow, anyway. "And I can handle myself better than you apparently know."

[suitably_heroic]

"Not in the places I'm planning on going, princess," said Atton, where by 'places' he meant 'between somebody's--' ahem.

[notconflicted]

Sia stood, folding her arms. Under her chest, of course, because this was the week to accidentally emphasize things. "I see. So I'm to just keep you busy for now."

And now she hated her brain a little.

[suitably_heroic]

"Are you angry again?" Atton checked. "Because if I want to talk to someone who's angry, I can just talk to Cade - he's less pretty."

Uh.

[notconflicted]

Uh, indeed.

"Is thinking I'm pretty a problem?" Ordinarily she'd think it was. Today, however...

[suitably_heroic]

"Sixteen," Atton reminded her.

[notconflicted]

"So what?" Sia asked.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm not explaining that one to you in front of the squirrels," Atton said firmly, "...and why is this an issue all of a sudden anyway?"

[notconflicted]

"I didn't think it was an issue," she said. "And you're the one saying I'm pretty."

[suitably_heroic]

"Why can't you just take a compliment like a normal person?" Atton asked.

[notconflicted]

"Because I didn't know you thought that." She'd honestly thought his tastes had just changed since he was seventeen and that first came up.

[suitably_heroic]

"Look, any fool can see you're pretty," Atton said, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't mean anything."

[notconflicted]

Just like it wouldn't mean anything if I said you're attractive?"

Wasn't she supposed to be mad?

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, exactly!" ...Actually Atton wasn't going to think about that one too hard, because actually this was a really weird exchange to be having right now. "So nothing going on, can we please not spend the entire time arguing? Just once?"

[notconflicted]

"I'm not arguing," Sia said. She wasn't sure what she was doing, actually, or why she was doing it.

[suitably_heroic]

"...Okay, good. Yeah, let's settle on that one," Atton said. He stretched out the silence for a few seconds to find his equilibrium, then added casually, "So how are you?"

Smooth.

[notconflicted]

This was a case where honesty would probably not help matters.

"I don't think I've ever been so tense. And yourself?"

[suitably_heroic]

"...The same," Atton admitted. Look, she was being honest, he could be honest. "That's why I'm getting out of here." Beat. "And why you can't follow along."

That was euphemistic enough, right?

[notconflicted]

"Yes, we covered that," she said dryly. "I still don't agree."

[suitably_heroic]

... So apparently not.

"You have a lot of homework to catch up on," he said.

[notconflicted]

"You've convinced me otherwise," she said. "I suppose I'll just have to find something else to do."

[suitably_heroic]

"You could spend some time with Olive," Atton suggested. "You know, braid each other's hair all night, or whatever it is you two do."

[notconflicted]

"I haven't even seen her in months," Sia pointed out. "Come up with something better."

Apparently this was his job now.

[suitably_heroic]

"All the more reason to catch up!"

Yeah, apparently this was his job now.

[notconflicted]

"I said come up with somwthing better," she repeated.