FTEC, Wednesday, Evening Shift [Jan 2]

[not_in_the_book]

After his Christmas break with the Callahans, Ronan was more than happy to be back in Fandom. Not that he didn't love Nita and Dairine, but he'd come to appreciate not being called in errantry every second day. No matter how 'minor' the errantry. (Before the break, Ronan hadn't even realised that people could be called to errantry to fix holes in the concrete, even if the holes had been caused by aliens who took a wrong turn at Pluto.)

Still, he'd been so caught up helping out that he was late coming back to Fandom, and so he ended up jumping right back to the clinic instead of going by his room first. He was there on time, though, if barely so.

Comments

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel wasn't certain exactly when Ronan was going to be back, but she decided to take a chance and stop by the clinic to see if he was there for his shift. Shivering from the cold, she came through the door and smiled. "You're back!"

[not_in_the_book]

"I'm back!" Ronan replied, grinning. "I didn't even have time to go back to my room first, but I'm back, yeah."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Having too much of a good time?" Isabel asked, holding out Ronan's customary hot chocolate. "Happy New Year by the way."

[not_in_the_book]

"Something like," Ronan said, as he took the hot chocolate. He took a drink before continuing. "I spent half my time after Christmas helping Nita, Kit, and Dairine when they were on errantry. It was busy. Really, really busy." His smile went a little distracted. "And, uh, I spent some time with Peter."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Erranty? Wizard stuff? Sounds interesting," she said as she pulled off her hat and gloves and took a seat. "But I bet you had more fun with Peter."

[not_in_the_book]

"It was," Ronan said. "And, uh. ... Yeah. Kinda." He was blushing pretty furiously at this point.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel's spent enough time in Fandom that she's gotten fluent in blush. "Kinda huh?"

[not_in_the_book]

"... Yeaaaaaah." Ronan grinned. "We met up for a date in his New York, and I kinda ended up spending the night."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Congratulations," she grinned. "What'd you do for the date part of the night? I'll pass on details for the end of the evening." Because there was that TMI factor...

[not_in_the_book]

"Well, we met up for the afternoon," Ronan said. "Got some pizza -- I taunted him with Sbarro's first, you should be proud -- and then he showed me around New York." He grinned. "Are you sure you don't want the rest of the details?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Did he twitch? Because that's fun when that happens," Isabel laughed. "As for the rest of the details, I'll pass." Her brain could provide pleasing mental images all on its own thank you very much. "Did you get to meet his family?"

[not_in_the_book]

"There was definitely twitching," Ronan said, laughing. "And no, they were in... Westchester? at the time. Although, uh, his brother called in the morning and woke us up."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure that was one hell of a wake-up call," she snickered. "Nathan's such a cheerful sort."

[not_in_the_book]

"Something like that," Ronan said, nodding. "And... yeah. Cheerful. That's certainly one word for him."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Uptight and possibly retentive being others?" Isabel suggested. "Peter had to have been left on the doorstep by gypsies."

[not_in_the_book]

"Wouldn't surprise me," Ronan said. "There's no Parents Weekend in the second semester, is there?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Nope, you're safe," she promised. "Unless you go back to New York. Then you might be in trouble."

[not_in_the_book]

"... Yeah. ... Okay, I'm a little frightened now," Ronan replied. "Surely I can avoid meeting his family, right?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"For a little while at least," Isabel shrugged. "But eventually you're going to have to. Just smile and be very polite. You'll do fine."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan smiled. "Yeah, I'm not really worried... But I'm not sure he has the best opinion of me to start with. I hate feeling like I'm working uphill."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"All that matters is what Peter thinks," she pointed out. "And I think he's pretty happy. So just relax."

[not_in_the_book]

"Yeah?" Ronan asked, smiling a bit silly. "Has he said something, then?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I haven't seen him since just before Christmas and that was completely handwavey but even before that he's seemed happy," Isabel grinned. "I mean asking me to give up my usual visit to you so he could come down instead? That's usually a good sign."

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan grinned. "That was fun, too," he said. "So... yeah. Good. Yay. Things seem to be going well, then." His grin widened a bit. "This is... I think this might be the first really properly serious thing I've had."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Good. I'm glad for you," she told him. "Just be careful okay? I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

[not_in_the_book]

"I... Yeah. I'll be careful," Ronan said. "I... I gave him a shield spell for Christmas. Something he can activate on his own. It won't last long, but... I thought it would be good for him to have."

Yeah, Ronan knew that wasn't the kind of careful -- or the kind of hurt -- that Isabel was talking about.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Considering his willingness to jump into danger? That's probably a good idea," Isabel replied, glad that Ronan had understood what she was really saying without saying. "Especially around here."