Lil, Nick, and Vance - January 27

[ax_diamondlil]

Lil makes good on her invite to Vance and she, Nick and Vance settle in for some Star Wars.

Okay, Movie stuff was set up in Nick's room, junk food was piled on the spare desk, beds had been positioned for best viewing... all that was left was for Lil and Nick to meet the guest at the front door which, the guest being a Brotherhood dude, was probably a good idea. Vance may have been in the school before, but this time he'd be walking in without any familiar faces around and Lil imagined that might be a bit challenging. So the two of them waited, ready to escort him past any nasty stares.

"You're sure you're okay with this, right?" Of course he was or else they wouldn't have gotten this far, but Lil couldn't stop asking. She had turned into an absolute mother hen the last few weeks and it was going to take some time to get back to normal.

"Yeah," Nick said, as confidently as he could. He wasn't sure about the Brotherhood, but Nick knew well enough that people were best judged as individuals, not groups, and he trusted Lil's judgment. He felt better with her around. He'd been back to as normal as normal could be, to where it didn't hurt in his chest too much as long as he could keep his mind from focusing on things too much. His parents, he knew, would want him to live. He blinked back tears, thinking about that. Time to think of something else.

"You sure that you're okay watching the movies again?" he asked, quietly. "It wasn't long ago that you saw them." He loved them, though. He could watch them practically every week and not get bored.

"Pffft. I could watch 'em all again a hundred times. Except for Attack of the Clones. I'll never understand why Padme fell for a creepy man-baby." She could probably be less brutal, but they'd talked about it before. Star Wars was becoming shared ground for them, even if they had some seriously different opinions at times.

"But it's got the big, epic battle in the arena with all the Jedi! And you get to see Windu be all awesome and stuff!" Nick replied, as he felt like he'd done before. And he probably had.

Vance stood near the front door, rocking on his heels with his hands in his jeans pockets. He wasn't exactly sure why they'd have to wait outside - his teammates were still students here - but he didn't mind following Lil's instructions.

Lil wondered what was taking Vance and opened the door to take a peek out. "Hey! You're here!" She waved him in. "Sorry, I should have been watching for you out there I guess."

"Sorry," Vance apologized, smiling self-deprecatingly. "Guess I was confused."

He looked over at her friend, and offered him a handshake. "You must be Nick. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, h-hi," Nick said, just a bit anxious in meeting someone 'new.' He was careful with his claws about the handshake; he'd gone back to filing them down whenever he thought about it, but they grew back sharp so damn quick, so he figured it was just best to be mindful. "It's nice to meet you."

"There we go - introductions!" Oops, not quite... "This is Vance, Nick." There. Names officially traded, Lil bounced back and eagerly waved them both on towards the stairs. "C'mon. I know you've been here lots before, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to wander in without some friends. Nobody's gonna say boo to you, but there's the odd jerk."

"No problem, I can handle a jerk or two" Vance said congenially, smiling. "That's real nice of you guys, though. Appreciate it."

Nick wasn't so sure about Lil's opinion, but he didn't say much about it. "Well, we'll lead the way then," Nick said, smiling. "Lil made sure my room wasn't too messy," he added, chuckling just a bit.

"Yup, I turned into Mom. 'People are coming over and your room looks like this." She gave Nick a gentle elbow before starting up the stairs. "Well, except Nick's room wasnt' really that bad. I just needed to clear some space for food."

Vance chuckled. "I'm sure your room is fine. I mean, I live with a bunch of teenagers, so I've seen it all."

"I mean, true," Nick said, though he was wondering just how the setup was wherever the Brotherhood lived. He was too polite to really ask, though. "So have you seen any of the Star Wars movies before?" Nick asked, curiously, and also just trying to make conversation.

"Oh, yeah, all of them! But it's not something you can ever watch too many times, right?" Vance posited. "I mean, Star Wars is a classic."

"I totally agree," Nick said, grinning his typical lupine grin. Even with the sharp teeth, he made it look amiable with his eyes. At least, that's how he hoped it came across. "They're amazing. And I love all of them so much," he said. "Even Attack of the Clones," he said, pointedly to Lil.

"Oh my gaaaawd," said Lil, rolling her eyes. " 'Obi Wan is overly critical! He's mean to me! He's smells bad!' And then Padme is all like, 'Oh Anny, I love it when you sulk like a baby.'" Lil grinned and turned to Vance as she topped the stairs and headed for the boys' dorm. "Nick and me sorta part ways on that movie."

Vance grinned. "Gotta be honest...I don't have a strong opinion either way."

Nick gestured to Vance. "The chosen one, it seems," he said, grinning at Lil. "Bringing balance to the Force."

Lil snorted, then covered her mouth because she couldn't manage to stop the laughter. "Jesus, Nick." They got to his door, and she stepped out of the way so Nick could open the door. She may have practically lived in the room for a few weeks, but it was still his. "I didn't know hardly anything about Star Wars when I got here, but Nick's turned me into a fuckin' nerd over the whole thing."

"Doing Hashem's work," Vance said, nodding solemnly before grinning widely.

Nick opened up the door to his room and led the way inside. "C'mon in," he said to both of them, grinning. He was quite happy with how everything had been set up, and he was excited to have someone new over. "Make yourself comfy," he invited, as he stepped through his nicely cleaned room. The snacks and such were clearly available and he didn't feel the need to explain any of that. He plopped down on his bed, figuring he'd let Lil and Vance have a stab at the snacks before he started to plate up or anything.

Lil grabbed a bag of chips, a bottle of water and pulled a desk chair over between the beds. Nick had his bed, the guest got the other, so that put Lil in the middle for now. Picking one or the other to sit with felt a little weird. "You get what you want, Vance and pick a place to sit. The other bed doesn't belong to anyone so take that and then it's movie time! Course, I don't know which one we're watching."

Vance went over and picked up a plate. "You guys go all out, huh? This is pretty awesome. And," he added, voice just a touch teasing, "does it matter which? They're all awesome."

"I figured we'd let you pick," Nick said, frankly, looking at Vance. "Or, if you want, we can take a vote," he offered.

"If you two pick Attack of Clones I promise I will not shut up during the whole movie. I mean, I'll have fun, but I'm not sure you guys will!" Lil tore open her bag of chips, giving both boys a stern warning look before grabbing a handful.

Vance laughed. "See, now I'm torn? Because that could be hilarious. But, uuuuuuuh.....Revenge of the Sith?" Since it sounded like they'd seen Attack of the Clones fairly recently and all.

"That works for me," Nick said, nodding and bringing it up on his TV. He hopped up and grabbed some snacks for himself. Some beef jerky and some popcorn sounded good to him. Plus a Coke.

"Yup!" said Lil cheerfully. "Watching Obi Wan hand Anakin his ass always makes me happy. I'll take a pop while you're up Nick."

Nick grabbed her one, and he glanced to Vance since he was grabbing things for others. "Need anything, Vance?" he asked, cheerfully.

"I'm good," Vance assured him, smiling gratefully but waving his hand reassuringly.

"I wish I'd run into you while you were here, Vance. We've been doing this since before Christmas. Might have made your stay a little better anyway." The only weird thing was that she felt she couldn't take her usual spot beside Nick.

"It was a little awkward," Vance had to admit. "But, I mean, it wasn't bad. And I had my team here, so it was fine."

"That's good though," Nick said, settling himself down on his bed after passing Lil her soda. "Having, y'know, your friends around." The members of his team were probably his friends, too, right?

"Yeah, and now you got us. So anytime you're here, you got friends around again." Lil smiled and waved a hand at Nick. "Now, we should get this movie going dude. I need some roasted Anakin in my life."

"Yeah, you're welcome over anytime," Nick assured Vance, smiling as he started up the movie. He squished himself back into his bed more, getting nice and cozy. This was going to be a good night, he could tell already.