To Kali Jade, With Love - Merry Christmas Baby

[Stasis Kiss]

"She's here."

That was Aeon, hypersensitive hearing way ahead of the rest. Everyone swiveled their heads and sure enough there was a couple of thumps at the door.

Stasis reacted first, throwing herself across the room in four long strides.

"About time. Heyla, girlywhirl!" Stasis yanked the door open. "Since when did you get so formal?"

Kalista Jade giggled. Or at least Stasi assumed it was Kali behind the armload of brightly wrapped packages. "I couldn't reach the doorknob! I had to kick the door." Kali tried to demonstrate and nearly nailed Stas in the shins.

"Hey, easy on!" Stasi got out of range fast. "I'm still using those. Woah, what didja bring us anyways, half the world on a stick? Looks like you bought out Macy's or something." The blonde edged back into kick range and snagged the top couple of packages. She turned and tossed the first one across the room. "Think fast!"

Erika fielded it easily. "Thanks, Snowflake." The brunette inspected the tag. "This one's for Angel though."

"For me? Wow, thanks Kali!" Angelique bounced over to Erika and grabbed the present. "What is it?" She shook it experimentally.

Stasis unloaded a few more pieces and the pair of girls managed to get the haul more or less safely onto a desk. "Hey, you can't ask, Ang. It's seven years bad luck or something."

"Do you mangle everything deliberately Stasis, or are you just really that dumb?"

Stasi shot a look at Erika and opened her mouth but Kali interrupted. "I got everybody something and you can't open them ‘til Christmas. But don't shake it, Angel!" Angelique looked guilty, caught in mid-curiosity. "I think that one's got, um, pointy things that break. Or maybe that was the one for Violet, I don't remember." Divested of the boxes finally, Kali hugged Stasis. "Oh, it’s so good to see you guys!"

Stasis grinned, happy enough to be distracted. She'd been looking forward to this visit for days. She hugged her friend tightly, lifting her up by the waist. "Oh, it's so awesome to see you too! God, you weigh a ton! What's Jack been feeding you anyways?"

"Pizza!" Kali giggled. "I had to give up on chips after the last time."

"The... last time?" Aeon replied quizzically.

"Oh, don't ask, it was horrible! I had to spend all night cleaning up. I don't even want to think about it." Kali wiggled impatiently. "Stas, you're squishing me."

"Woah, sorry whirlygirl. Got excited there." The tanker put her friend down and made a big production of brushing her off, including blowing on her hair. "I found your movie by the way."

"You did?"

Angelique piped up from where she'd sat down on Erika's bed. "Oh yeah. Me and Stasis went to five video stores before we found one that had it so it's a good thing we bought day passes for the trains. Why didn't you pick something easy like a Vin Diesel movie? They always have lots of those in stock."

"Because Vin Diesel isn't in my favorite movie silly, that's why."

Angel sighed and clutched her present as if it was a pillow. "He's in mine."

Over her shoulder, Erika made a gagging face. Kali giggled and even Aeon looked amused. Stasis cocked a hip and laughed. "Ayuh, you and the Diesel man. You're gonna get married and have a hundred little tattooed kids?"

"Oh, at least." Angelique rolled her eyes. "Come on you guys, he's really cute."

"That's usually enough for most of us," Erika drawled. She stood up and Kali bounced over to give her a hug too. The fire tanker's expression softened. "Hi, Kali. It's great to see you."

"You guys have no idea how much I missed you! And St. Joe's and my quad even though it's empty and don't tell anybody but I even miss the cafeteria."

"No way!"

Kali nodded, nearly cracking Erika's chin with the top of her head. "Oh yeah! Free food and I don't have to cook it myself! I miss it like crazy!"

Stasis sat down, tucking one foot under her thigh. "Oh jeez. I have no idea how you manage not to be a thousand pounds with the stuff you eat. Why don't you make Jack cook?"

Kali rolled her eyes. "Jack? He can't even figure out noodles. He’s like, a stupid boy."

Stas snickered at the rallying cry. Kali brightened and pointed peremptorily at a box wrapped in a glittery red christmas tree pattern. "Oh, you know when I said you can't open your presents ‘til Christmas? Well, we have to open that one now. I got it specially for you Stas and I wanna give it a try."

"Ah yeh?" Stas winced and then looked at the gift with suspicion. "What's in it? Should I get out the hazmat gear?"

"It's not going to explode or anything! I know you're just going to love it," Kali said. "As soon as I saw it, I knew it was just so you."

"Don't look like that, Stasis. You have your med badge on, right?" Aeon offered. "Well then, there's nothing to worry about."

"Thanks." She leaned over and snagged the box in question. "If I go up in a fireball, I'm blaming society." She shook the box. "Do I even get a hint?"

"You can't eat it!" crowed Kali, but then she thought about it. "Well, maybe you could but I bet it tastes awful. Like lima beans or broccoli or maybe even that cod liver oil stuff."

Every girl in the quad groaned. Stasis suddenly looked worried and stopped shaking the present, in fact holding it at arm's length. "Kali?" she croaked.

"Yeah, Stas?"

"Is whatever is in this box related to Mr. Nibbles?"

Erika edged back. Aeon and Angelique just traded quizzical glances, having no idea what that meant. Kali stuck her hands on her hips. "Stas, as if I'd stuff Mr. Nibbles into a box without air holes."

"Right. Being that Mr. Nibbles so totally needed air." The blonde blew the hair out of her eyes.

"Who's Mr. Nibbles?" asked Aeon.

"You don't want to know," replied Erika who was still maintaining a safe maneuvering distance. "Some things are just better left as unexplained mysteries."

"You guys are so mean. Mr. Nibbles was the best pet ever! Or at least he was until Barrier ate him," Kali sulked.

Aeon blinked. "What? Barrier ate your pet?"

Kali nodded. "Oh, it was horrible! Worse than the chips. He got loose and he somehow got into her room and he never came back out." Kali nodded her head emphatically. "She ate him."

Stasis rolled her eyes. "She so did not, Kali. Barrier said she opened the window and he flew away." Privately Stasis thought the eyeball had gotten off lucky. More than lucky. If that thing had gotten into her quad, being eaten would have been the least of its worries.

"That's just what she wants you to think but I know better. But never mind, go on. Open it!" Kali made a motion with her hands and bounced. "You're going to love it, I just know you are."

Stasis shrugged and dug her fingers into the paper. Opening presents, even ones that might explode or try to eat your face off was the best part of Christmas. She shredded happily for a minute and then opened the plain brown box. Crumpled up newspaper, used for packing, flew over her shoulder. Stasis stopped then, staring into the cavity with a dumbfounded look. "Um, Kali?"

"Yeah?"

Stasis pulled the gift out, pale brows trying to twitch into an expression somewhere between confusion and horror. Erika leaned in, trying to decipher what she was seeing. The box showed a woman with a turban or a towel on her head and some sort of weird looking rash on her face. She couldn't make out the name though or the brand of whatever it was.

"What is it?"

Kali clapped her hands. "I told you! It's so you! I got three boxes!"

________

"Is this stuff supposed to actually do something?" Stas inspected herself in the little hand mirror. Who knew she could be even more unattractive? She made a monster face at herself over Aeon's shoulder.

"Silly, it's supposed to make you.. uh... " Kali grabbed the packaging again and put a finger on the back. "Okay. It says it's supposed to remove impurities and soften the skin’s texture, leaving a fresh, healthy glow. Don't you want to be healthy and glowing, Stas?"

"She gets mad, all sorts of things glow. Hell, you can use her as a nightlight."

Kali giggled as the blonde tried to glare at Erika. It was hard to look frightening with your face covered in green goo though. It was even harder to look at somebody else wearing the same goo and hold a straight face.

"Your mother wears army boots, Raeder," she finally managed to figure out.

Angelic burst out from the corner, distracting everyone. "Hey, guess who I am!" The girl jumped up on her bed and posed, flexing her arms in front of her like a muscle man. The beauty mud on her face creased with the effort.

"Oh, I got it!" Kali squealed. "Spiderman!"

Stas groaned. "That is so wrong, Kali Jade. Who let you in this quad anyways?"

Angel bounced a few times. "Guess! C'mon you guys, it’s not that hard." She posed again, scrunching up her face, thin shoulders set.

"Hemorrhoid Man?" That was Erika's contribution.

Aeon laughed. "Has to be the Hulk."

"You got it! Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Angelique squeaked as two pillows and teddy bear launched themselves across the room. "Don't hurt me!"

"So how long do we need to keep this stuff on then anyways, heyla? For uh, maximum healthy glow effect?"

"About an hour," said Kali brightly. Stasis blanched.

"No way. I have to look like the Swamp Thing for an hour?"

"So what makes today any different? Think of it this way, Snowflake - for an hour you can be one of the Hulk Sisters. I'm pretty sure I heard Rocco say that green is the new black."

Stasis look around for something to chuck, but she'd run out of pillows after bombarding Angelique. "The Fashion Nazi doesn't know anything about anything and I don't care who he hangs out with. At least Jase knew how to look good without having to announce it every four seconds. You can't trust anybody that has to tell you over and over again how wonderful they are. Um, Angel, can I have my pillow back?"

"Oh, like you're such a fashion diva. I remember those candy cane overalls, remember." Erika smirked and Stasis wrinkled her nose. She could feel the mud mask cracking with the motion and found herself feeling defensive.

"Hey, those were great. Comfortable as anything f'sure." Angel tossed a pillow back across the room and the blonde eyed the fire queen. It wasn't worth it - she'd save the ammunition for later. Besides if she tossed it now, it would probably stick to Erika's face and get green gunk all over it.

"You looked great in those, Stas!" piped up the ever supportive Kali, popping her head out of the tiny bathroom where she'd been applying more of the green concealer. "I wished I had a pair like that." Stasis smiled gratefully even as Aeon choked on something. Everybody looked over but the cyborg didn't seem to want to share what was so funny.

"You know what? We have a whole hour to kill and we need something to drink." Erika flopped on her bed, fingers laced into her hair to stare at the ceiling. Stasis decided spitefully that if she'd been given the job, she'd have titled it "Gorgon At Rest".

"You want cola or ginger ale?" Aeon was already reaching for the pop bottles.

"No, I mean we need something to drink. Alcohol. Tequila. Something so that Kali has a hangover in the morning and remembers us for the rest of her life."

"But I already love you guys, honest!" Kali replied, walking back into the main room. Erika smirked again.

"Not like you're gonna love us tomorrow." She looked around. "C'mon, who's been saving some for a rainy day?"

"Not me," Stasi said. "Maybe half the school has illegal IDs for Pocket D but I don't have an 'in' with the computer nerds."

"Nobody look at me either," said Aeon. The prosethetic eye winked.

"Well, we're just going to have to get some. I'm not sitting through some movie called Smoke Signals without insulation."

"Erika, it’s a great movie!" Kali put on a pout. "It's the best movie ever and you're gonna cry, I just know you are."

"Yeah, and there's Finding Nemo for afterwards."

"Should have known you'd be into a sappy fish movie, Stasis."

"I thought The Little Mermaid was your favorite?" Kali looked over at her best friend.

Stasis hesitated, barely perceptible. "No. And heyla, what's wrong with sappy fish movies? Fish need love too."

"Tell that to Jaws. Look. If we're going to sit through two movies picked out by the Terrible Twins, we need booze. I guess I could call somebody I know for a favor..."

Stasis hesitated and then opened her mouth. Closed it and then opened it again. "I know where we can get something," she heard herself saying.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

A couple of heartbeats of time went by. "Feel like sharing?" Erika said sweetly.

Stasis glanced at the clock and went to rub her face, remembering about the green gunk barely in time. "Just how much trouble do we feel like getting into?"

________

"We're so doomed."

"Shhh. We can so do this. Everybody's mostly at dinner still. Just look natural, we're just out for a walk, no worries."

"Through the boys' dorm? Looking like candidates for the Darwin Awards?" Aeon grumbled, tugging her baseball cap farther down. "Oh, that'll fly."

Kali was nearly piggyback with Stasis, she was crowding so close. "I didn't know Jai drank."

"He doesn't. Sort of." Stas rubbed the back of her neck. "It's for talking to the loa. And for spells." Kali squeaked.

"Jai does spells?!"

"Like I said, sort of. Look, would you shush? You're totally gonna get us in trouble. Act natural."

Erika snorted from the front. "You really want us to act natural? Because I can do that." The fire tanker put both fists to her hip and started to draw an imaginary sword. An imaginary sword that wasn't going to be all that imaginary in about four seconds.

"Er-ika! Holy!"

"Just kidding." She grinned over her shoulder and then sighed. "Break it up, people. You look like illegal aliens from Mexico crossing the border."

A door opened ahead of them, forestalling any reply. A couple of boys stepped into the hallway. Erika, leader of a thousand forays against the various gang factions of Paragon City, kept walking. That meant everybody else had to keep walking too. Kali swallowed a tiny squeak.

Stasis didn't know either of them, although they were kind of familiar. Then again, the whole school was kind of familiar. Aeon muttered, "That's Jammer and Chili Pepper." The boys didn't seem to notice the girls right away, talking as the taller one locked the door. Then they turned and fell silent as the invading contingent bore down on them.

"What are you looking at?" Erika growled.

"Nothing?"

"Good. Keep looking at nothing. Got it?" With a green beauty mask and a tasselled sombrero, the fire tanker definitely resembled some sort of vengeful Mayan goddess. The shorter one flattened himself against the wall. The taller red head looked like he might contest the right of way but opted for discretion over valor at the last minute. Stasis couldn't help it - she touched her fingers to the plastic cowboy hat and nodded as she went by. "Thank you, ma'am," she intoned gravely. Kali gave a little queen wave, tiara askew and Angel giggled as her fuzzy antennae bobbed with the motion. Aeon just sighed.

Erika counted doors and stopped. "This is it. Quad five."

"What? They're in the same quad as us?"

Stasis put her hand to the door in an impulsive gesture. The wood was older here, the boys' dorms not all the way refurbished. "Ayuh. That used t'allus make me laugh. Quad five for the win," she whispered. She looked over her shoulder. "Ready on? Everybody remember the plan? Angel, you okay with your part?"

The other girl nodded. "On it, Stasis! He'll never know what hit him!" Privately Stas doubted it and from the look on Erika's face, she wasn't all that confident either. Then again, maybe Mis wouldn't be in there. Maybe the backup plan wouldn't be required. Maybe they'd all get out of this alive.

Everybody nodded. Stasis took a deep breath, refusing to check over her shoulder for onlookers. This was it. They had no idea if anybody was in there or not. "Go!" she said, pushing the door, banking on it being unlocked because if it wasn't, they were stumped.

It was open.

The five girls spilled into secret territory, the undiscovered country, the secret garden of mysteries. Boys' Dorm, Quad Five. It was amazingly, thankfully empty.

"What is that smell?!" Angel had her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk, obviously trying to hold her breath. Stasis sniffed cautiously and even Erika seemed a little taken aback. It was Kali who offered up the answer.

"That's Atlas Shrugged, you guys. It's like the most expensive cologne anywhere." The dark haired brunette sniffed appreciatively. "Jack wears it all the time."

Erika coughed. "Does somebody really think they have to marinade in it though?"

"It's probably Rocco."

"Holy, yeah. Drix probably told him it was the in thing and now I bet he showers with the stuff." Stasis grinned, stalking farther into the room. "I swear that guy thinks everything Drixie-poo does is the.. uh, cat's meow."

"That's bad, Stas," groaned Aeon.

Angel finally realized it was breathe or die and exhaled. "Can we hurry this up, guys? I'm going to faint, I swear. I don't care if it's a hundred dollars a shot, it stinks."

"Okay, spread out, people. Lock and load!" Erika pointed to the four beds in the quad. "Everybody to their assigned stations and let's do this."

Erika had already lost the coin toss back in their room and took Mis' corner, gingerly checking for traps or moldy sandwiches. Not all of the smell could be explained by cologne. A delicate search of the shelf above the bed gave up a photo album and a shoebox. Erika cautiously lifted the lid but it was only pictures and you couldn't eat those. Rifling the dresser drawers yielded only a stash of protein bar wrappers and a half a bag of marshmallows. She left both alone, getting down on her hands and knees to peer under the bed.

"Careful down there, Raeder. That's where Mis hides the porn."

"Oh yeah? Boxes of it?" Erika saw only dust bunnies but there was no fun in mentioning that.

Stasis grinned over her shoulder. "Mon ami has no sense of proportion?"

Erika snorted and then sneezed as the dust kicked up. "Well, unless you guys are into melting edible oil in the alcohol, it’s a bust over here.

Angel had gotten Rocco's side and was happily messing up the immaculately ordered desk drawers. "I got some trail mix over here," she said, "and a half a box of cookies." She picked up a helmet sitting on top of the dresser, flipping it over. "Erika?"

"Yeah?"

"What's this?" Angel tossed it over to the other girl, who caught it by the strap. She turned it over in her lean hands and then a smile tugged on her lips.

"This is Rocco being an ape." She tossed it back.

"What did you sign his helmet for?" Angel inspected it curiously again before plomping it back on the desk. Erika sighed, getting back to her feet.

"Long story. I'll tell you sometime."

Aeon looked over from Timothy's bed. "You think Rocco is sweet on you?" That corner was immaculate, everything tucked away, nothing left out to view. It was almost Home And Garden clean which Stasis personally found sort of suspicious. Clover did not strike her as the impressively tidy type but there was no disguising it. She knew where Mis and Jai bunked, and the other bed with the sixteen pairs of boots lined up was Rocco's, absolutely no question.

Erika looked horrified at the thought. Aeon looked around and said thoughtfully, "Hey, guys?"

"What?"

"Let's play Sesame Street. One of these things is not like the others."

Kali put her hands on her hips. "I'm good at that game! Um.... " She scanned the room but it was Angel who picked it up first.

"Jai's the only messy one."

Stasis crowed. "Yeah! Check it out! That's like, hospital corners on Mis' bed. Makes you wonder if he's afraid he's gonna fall out at night or something. Clover's obviously repressing to beat the band even if his pillows are pink and Rocco... holy, let's not even mention Rocco."

Angel laughed, not all that nicely. "He's even got his underwear sorted by color!"

"No way, really?"

"Oh yeah! Wanna come check?" The girl hauled open a dresser drawer as if inviting inspection but was interrupted as Kali squealed. The spotted girl closed the door of the little bar fridge and held up her find.

"Score! Check this out, guys!"

"Nice!" was the chorus. Everyone drifted over to look, distracted from the fashionista's weird organisational urges. Erika looked up and couldn't help herself.

"If you want it, you could just take it, you know."

Stasis guiltily dropped the red and black shirt that she'd been holding to her face. She turned away but not fast enough. The blonde reached behind the headboard, unerring going for something. When she turned back with the bottle in her fist, the expression was all but gone but Raeder wasn't fooled in the slightest. She knew Jai's favorite sweater when she saw it.

"Okay! Operation We're Doomed is successful!" The tanker shoved the bulky bottle under her shirt, tucking it into the waistband of her jeans. "Let's get out of here before we really do get doomed. Back into the sunset, guys, hup hup!" Stasis didn't wait for answer, striding for the door with the plastic cowboy hat bobbing incongruously on top of her head. Erika sighed and started to follow.

After a second she swerved and yanked open the drawer, grabbing the half bag of marshmallows. Maybe they wouldn't taste too horrible with rum.

_______

Back at the quad they spread everything out on Aeon's bed. Well, almost everything. Erika had taken charge of the raid objective and was currently at her study desk, carefully pouring fingers of the amber liquid into plastic cups. She looked oddly different without the green mask, fresh scrubbed and a little pink. Stasis' own face felt sort of raw. If the stuff was supposed to give you a healthy glow, the platinum haired girl personally figured they ought to tell you it was because it was going to remove the top five layers of skin.

"You sure they're not going to know it was us?"

"C'mon. I wouldn’t have recognized us and I knew who we were." Stasis swiped a handful of peanuts and grimaced at the taste. "Holy, how long were they hanging onto these? They taste like socks."

"Considering where we found them, I'm not surprised."

"Heyla, what's this?" Stasis leaned over the pile of goodies and flipped a black rectangle with a fingernail. "This doesn't look like food."

Angelique snatched it up. "It's just .. uh, something I found. It looked interesting!" She hid it behind her back. Kali promptly grabbed it out of her hands and tossed it to Aeon. Angel looked mutinous but didn't try to retrieve it.

"What is it?" Aeon asked and then answered herself. "It’s somebody's PDA."

"PD what?" was Stasi's contribution.

"You really would lose your head if it wasn't bolted down, wouldn't you? PDA. Personal Dental Assistant." Erika said it with such a straight face that Stasis was taken in. She looked at the thing with a surprised expression.

"Somebody has problems with their teeth?"

Kali giggled and came around to look at it too. "Silly, it doesn't have anything to do with teeth. It’s like a scheduler or a planner. You put things into it, like a mini computer."

"Where'd you find it, Angel?" Aeon asked. The other girl tossed her head.

"It was under the helmet, the one with Erika's name on it. It looked interesting and it's not like he's going to miss it for awhile."

Stasis rubbed the back of her head. "You stole Rocco’s Dental Assistant? Jeez. Well, we can return it later." She plucked it out of Aeon's fingers and tossed it on a desk, promptly forgetting about it. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

"Oh, let me make the popcorn first!" Angel went and got the illegal hot plate out from its hiding place. "Jiffy for the win!"

Stasis looked around at the room with a critical eye. "This isn't going to cut it. Aeon, let's push our beds together and then we don't have to hurt ourselves trying to get a good angle on the screen."

"You know, I always meant to ask but where did you get that thing anyways?"

"What, the tv?" Stasis glanced at it.

"Yeah. Not to pry or anything but it's not like you have a lot of money. Where'd you get something like that?" Aeon nodded at the 42" plasma screen that took up a serious chunk of wall between the other two beds.

"Jai gave it to her," Erika said. She’d finished pouring the third waxed paper cup and was starting on the fourth. "Apparently she needed a hobby."

Aeon blinked. "He gave her a televison for a hobby?"

Erika looked over, a sly grin on her face. "Yup. You have to admit, it's definitely more useful than what Angelcakes gave her for Christmas."

"What? Who's Angelcakes?" That was Kali. She squealed and shook a finger at her friend. "You got another guy?! Stas, why didn't you tell me?"

Stasis groaned and shot a look at Erika that meant I'll deal with you later. "I do not have another guy. Sort of."

Aeon was still looking speculatively at the black screen. "That's a pretty interesting purchase just for a hobby. You have any idea if Jai's interested in funding res... uh, never mind."

"C'mon Stas, give! Who's Angelcakes?"

She mumbled something. "It's a guy named Nova, he's real nice and if you don't bug me about it, maybe I'll let you meet him later. And for the love of everything do not ask for a feather! He's losing all his pinions to kids and pretty soon he won't be able to fly if he keeps it up."

"Feathers? Fly?! Oh wow Stas, you're dating a real life angel?!"

"I'm not dating anybody, holy! Can we move onto something else now? He's a guy, I like him a lot, we hang out. That's it." Stasis ran a hand through her hair, spiking it up. "Sort of."

Kali giggled and relented. "You can tell Auntie Kali all about it later, girly," she said. Stasis sighed and turned to wrestle with the furniture. It was easier.

After shoving all the gear around and rearranging the crap from under the beds, they managed to get a workable solution. A few more minutes of searching turned up the rest of the pillows from various corners of the room and Angelique solved the problem of what to do with four bags of jumbo Jiffypop by dumping all her books out of her carry bag and using that as an impromptu bowl. Kali stuck the movie in and bounced back to the bed-seat, immediately bouncing back up again to help Erika with the now full dixie cups.

Stasis accepted hers without comment. The last time she'd had anything to drink had been with the same rum, with a movie she couldn't watch anymore. Still, things change and always would. She grinned as Kali wiggled her way back into prime position on her stomach, a pillow clutched to her chest. Stasis retaliated by throwing a leg over her friend's waist but the effect was lost as Kali only squirmed. Angelique and Aeon had already taken over the other bed along with the popcorn.

"Shove over, Snowflake."

What? Stasis blinked but obliged, making room at the edge. That meant that Kali had to move into the middle and there was a bunch of sorting out again, pillows reshuffled for maximum comfort levels. Stasis used the opportunity to lean over and grab the popcorn bag with one hand.

"I sure hope this isn't the buttered kind, Angel," she warned. "Otherwise your math text is gonna smell something weird in class for the next few weeks." Angelique tossed a kernel at her head. Stasis let everybody on her side of the makeshift double grab a handful of white fluffiness before handing it back.

"Everybody strapped in now? Ready on?" she quipped.

"Born ready," came from Erika while Kali only giggled.

"What's the name of the movie again?" asked Angel.

"Smoke Signals."

"What's it about?"

Kali turned on her side. "It's about these two boys... "

"... who have a forbidden love affair and end up dating other girls only it doesn't really work out and they end up playing kissy face all the time when they think nobody is looking. Sort of like Eric'n'Alex, only without the not-working-out part."

Aeon groaned. "That's another movie, Stas. Look, we are not going to read the back of the movie jacket to find out what's going on. We can do it the regular way by watching it just like everybody else does."

"You are such a spoilsport, Aeon."

"I think what she's trying to say is that you're supposed to hit the Play button now, Stasis."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Your lips to God's ears, Raeder."

Kali harumphed. "Would you guys just stop pretending you don't like each other? You're not fooling anybody so just turn it on already!"

"Yeah, I wanna watch some kissy face stuff," chirruped Angel.

"Gawd, they don't kiss, it's not that kind of movie!" Kali actually sounded horrified, at least before she giggled. Stasis carefully didn't look at Erika as she thumbed the button on the remote control. As the previews started to roll up on the screen and the speakers thrummed to ominous life, she took a cautious sip of the rum.

_________

The trail mix lasted about twenty minutes, the marshmallows a little longer. The cookies almost made it to end of the movie but that was mostly because Kali ended up sitting on one and nobody knew it was there until she had to get up to go to the bathroom. Stasis had had two cups of rum and was pretty sure her nose was tingling. It had gotten dark outside when nobody was looking. She hoped to God nobody had seen her get teary-eyed in the middle but Erika had ended up using her as a leaning post and might have figured it out.

There was a knock at the door. Aeon was closest, not to mention not in the least affected by the alcohol. Angel made a grab for the popcorn as it threatened to spill out of the bag.

"Oh! Hi, B. What's up?"

"Can somebody please tell me what's going on in here? I've had the entire floor complaining as soon as I got in from my run."

Aeon edged out of the door as the larger girl moved into the common area. Dressed in a faded pair of gray shorts and a tank top, Barrier looked impressively green and annoyed.

Stasis blinked owlishly as the room light came on. "We weren't doing nothing, officer?"

"Sorry, B. Did we have the sound up too loud?" That was Erika.

"Loud enough to have everybody else on this floor pounding on my door because they're all too chickenshit to come and say something. Curfew's in an hour you guys, start breaking it up."

"C'mon Ranger, have a heart! Kali's over and we're watching movies. We still got Nemo to go."

"What, Kalibear is here?"

"Hi, Barrier, I sure am!" Kali wiggled her way out of the tangle of legs and went to give the RA a hug. "It's great to see you! Merry Christmas!"

"Well, holy shit. Good to see you too! How's the Tower treating you?" Barrier's voice was still doing an impressive job of sounding like gravel, but at least it sounded like suddenly happy gravel.

"Great! He doesn't make me eat his cooking and I don't have to complain about it. I'm really sorry if we were loud. That was Stasis, she keeps yelling at the screen."

"Heyla, he was gonna mess it up! I had to tell him what to do."

"Yeah, figured it would have to be Mother." Stasis tried to look hurt. "Alright, if you can keep it down, Kali can stay past curfew."

"Thanks Barrier, you're the best!"

"Three conditions," said the resident advisor for the floor. "One, I'll take a shot of what's in the bottle. Two, no more complaints, got it? You're all quiet as church mice on Sunday." Everybody nodded vigorously. "Three, I'm going to go take a shower. When I get back, I expect somebody to make room for me so I can catch up with the Kali."

"Aw c'mon Ranger, you'll smell like wet troll!"

Barrier looked over. "Better hope I don't sit next to you then." Erika was the one to serve the shot in a dixie cup. Barrier smacked her lips. "Now that's what I'm talking about." With a wave the field hockey captain was gone. Stasis looked around and ran a hand up the back of her neck.

"We're gonna have to rethink the seating arrangements, guys. I wasn't kidding about the wet troll smell."

"Stas! That's mean."

"Hey, you thought that the Eau de Guy in the other quad was bad? Trust me on this." She concentrated on getting to her feet. "Let's figure it out now."

_____________

When the fish movie finally wound down, it was late. After a round of sleepy, happy goodbyes, including Kali and Stasis bumping noggins together, Barrier left to walk Kali to the bus, the one supporting the slightly tipsy other. Stasis helped Aeon pull the beds back apart again.

"Oh, that was wonderful," said Angelique, yawning. "But I totally gotta crash now. Kali is so great."

"Yeh, she's awesome." Stasis scooped up the discarded dixie cups and managed to peg most of them in the wastebasket. The fact that it was less than two feet away might have helped with her aim. "I'm glad she came over, she's been talking about it forever."

"Yeah, it was fun but I have something I need to do something for awhile." Aeon was surprisingly shrugging on her coat. Erika looked at Stasis who just looked back, clueless. "Cover for me?"

"Uh, sure?" But Aeon was already halfway out into the hallway, obviously trying to take advantage of Barrier's distraction to sneak out. Stasis jerked her finger at the closing door. "Any idea what that was about?"

Erika shrugged. "No idea. If anybody asks me, I never know where any of you guys are."

"Well, I'm going to be sleeping. That stuff in the bottle is making me all woozy. Goodnight you guys, we really need to do this again." Angel managed to get out of her pants after a couple of attempts, climbing into bed in her tshirt and underwear. About four seconds later, she was a lump in the semi-darkness.

"You crashing too, Snowflake?"

She thought about it and realized with a small sense of surprise that she didn't really feel like it. She shook her head and then asked. "No. Why?"

"Feel like watching another movie?"

There was fifteen minutes of amicable arguing over the small selection possible but they eventually settled on something they could both live with. Stas thumbed the volume to barely hearable in deference to the mumbling roomie, automatically making room as Erika came back from slipping the disc in. The other girl hesitated imperceptibly but then took the seat, propping herself up by the headboard. Stasis went for the stomach down position, snagging a pillow.

When she fell sleep she couldn't have said. Somewhere after the kiss but before the final fight anyways. When Stasis woke up again, it was later than it had been and the movie was stuck on the final music and line of credit. She peered blearily at the screen. "Oh, man," she mumbled. "I missed the best part." She rolled over.

Erika was half lighted by the screen, her eyes unreadable. The now empty bottle was cradled in her arms.

"I'm leaving school," she said simply.