outofthequiver | Room 232; Late Sunday Afternoon [01/01/23].

It had been a long, strange break week (and some change) for Libby; honestly, it had been a long, strange month, when you really got right down to it. And even though she was still a little tired from staying up until midnight with Zo and Claire at their little party, she was back at the school, back in her room, tossing her suitcase on the bed and taking to unpacking and getting settled back in. Reflecting a little, as she put away thigs both new and old (lots of new books, mostly), and thinking on some of the odd, strange, awkward things that had happened while she was away.

Especially everything with Just's friend from church, confirming Libby's dreaded suspicion by making it crystal-clear that he was intending to court her. And her having to make it crystal-clear that she had no intention of courting anyone.

(But that wasn't exactly true, was it?)

It wouldn't be so bad, either, if he'd have gotten mad about it, or upset, or even belligerent like she imagined her father would have done. But he had been nice and kind and understanding, expressing that he knew God had given her a different path than most girls, and that he actually found that admirable, and that he could wait. What was just a few more years, anyway, in the great big grand scheme of things?

Libby sighed a little, but the fact that she was already feeling how good it was to be back here told her exactly what she already knew.

[[ door and post are open! ]]

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Libby honestly was a little surprised to see Vi, but it was definitely a good surprise.

"Hey, Vi," she said, smiling over at her. "It was, thank you. It was nice to see everyone again."

Even Just and Patience, although Libby felt that she was being a little generous with that.

"It'a good to be back, though. How were things here?"

Vi might have tried to argue she only spent most of her free time with Steph, but, well, at least Libby was never going to get sexiled?

"Good," Vi said. "Family can be complicated, so that's good."

She shrugged. "Pretty quiet, apart from some holiday stuff, but it's kinda weird when it's not something you're used to celebrating."

The huff of a laugh and slight dodge of Libby's eyes at that first part seemed to indicate that Vi had no idea just how complicated family had been, this last year and change, and she tried to push past that constant twist of guilt in her stomach over the fact that it wouldn't have been that way if not for her.

But also, she couldn't bring herself to ever believe that it was actually better this way, anyway.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "This was actually my first time really celebrating Christmas, too. And New Years, actually, but I bet that one's a little easier for people from different places to relate to."

Vi noticed that eye dodge, but given that Libby and Steph were the only people who had any idea just how complicated Vi's situation was, she wasn't gonna push Libby if she didn't want to talk about it.

"Something like that." Another shrug. "When I asked Steph about it, she said even people who do celebrate it can have mixed feelings, so we mostly just did gifts."

"What did you guys get for eachother?" Libby asked, not even from just a curious standpoint, but almost an educational one, because she didn't really know what people typically got for each other, especially for people they cared about, with a few exceptions, so she'd appreciate a perspective that might give her a better understanding when it came to her own gifts to give. "If you don't mind me, asking."

She'd definitely respect if they were a bit more private and personal. Or, well, given the nature of their relationship...Libby felt her face going red even thinking about thinking about it!

"Nothing huge." Because everything else aside, Vi still wasn't quite used to the idea of having the money to buy people gifts. "She got me these dice with different exercises on them and this massage gun for my shoulder. For, uh, actual massages not 'massages'."

Because, yes, Vi's mind had gone there when she'd opened the box.

"And I found this place that makes these little custom minis, really detailed ones, and got one done of us."

"What other massages would there be?" asked Libby, as a confused look flit across her face and she didn't even know to think that she might regret asking that question. But try as she might, she couldn't even fathom why that might need a clarification. Maybe sort of a medical versus recreational? Like needing one just because it felt nice and not because of actual muscle tension in a physical therapy kind of way?

But she also figured it didn't matter, so she shook her head a little and considered the parts of the gifts she did understand.

"Those sound nice, though," she said, with a nod of approval. "Very 'you.'"

Well, it wasn't like Libby's narrative was entirely wrong...

"The kind that two people might give each other," was Vi's attempt at delicately leading Libby towards an answer, because ignorance was no one's friend.

"Yeah," Vi said with a small smile, before turning to rummage through her desk. "Oh, the mini place actually lets you pay for someone else to do a mini," Also known as gift cards, Vi. "-so I figured you and the rest of the group might like those."

Libby still felt like she might have been missing something there, especially since, well, most massages were more effective if someone else was giving them; it was just really difficult to give yourself an actually effective massage, but she figured it wasn't really that important, maybe something to just ask the nurses about later that week...

Besides, she was far more interested in all this mini stuff. "Really?" she asked, another tilt of her head as Vi went rummaging. "You mean, for like our characters, or something?"

"Yeah," Vi said, pulling out an envelope with Libby's name on it in neat writing and a pink Tabaxi mini. "Like, the store stocks some great ones, but you're still relying on what other people come up with, and I mean, this isn't perfect, but it's still closer to Wind than anything else I've seen."

Libby drifted over so she could take a closer look, and was almost instantly delighted, even without all that close of a look.

"Oh!" she gushed out. "There's even a little drum!"

Vi nodded with a grin. "I figured everyone else might enjoy making their characters too."

Room 232; Late Sunday Afternoon [01/01/23].

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