Room 222 | Saturday Night

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was as exciting as it sounded. He figured he should stay in this weekend since he was still healing up from his adventures last weekend. His face was still bruised but it looked much better than it had. He didn't look like a stupid raccoon anymore.

His torso and neck were still marked with fading yellow bruises but he could deal. He'd had worse. Despite all that, he still wasn't going to be moving much. It was a night for quiet contemplation and introspection.

...

Goddamn, Jim was bored.

[Open door/post, sure]

Comments

[justbeingbay]

"Scootch over and I'll stare at it with you?" Bay offered, with a grin to show she wasn't all that serious about the offer. "And we can ponder the cruel fate that led us here tonight."

[pursuedthestars]

"Welcome to the bed," Jim said, making some room for her. "I'm pretty sure I've figured out the meaning of life just by staring up at this ceiling."

[justbeingbay]

"Yeah?" Bay asked, laying down beside him. She was trying not to crowd him, but dorm beds were never exactly going to be capacious. "What is it? And I am so impressed you got it from the ceiling. All I see when I look at mine is a water spot."

[pursuedthestars]

"Hey, why would I share something as deep as the meaning of life with someone?" Jim teased, glancing over at her. "Wouldn't you keep that information and use it to your advantage? Like if you knew the location of some fountain of youth or something. It's a sacred secret."

[justbeingbay]

"You're right," Bay said, teasing right back. "I'd probably keep it secret at least until I had a book deal. You don't want to give the secret away free and, like, dilute the value."

[pursuedthestars]

"Exactly." Jim was glad they agreed on this! "Gotta be smart about having such a big secret. I'd take the secret to my grave..."

Though really, that didn't sound all that enticing. "Maybe not that extreme. I'd tell someone on my deathbed if I was able to."

[justbeingbay]

"I think I'd want people to know," Bay said, taking it halfway seriously for a minute. "I mean, why should I know the whole secret to life and nobody else? I'm not that special."

[pursuedthestars]

"I think you'd have to be careful about who you tell," Jim said, thinking about it seriously now. "Like, you'd have to really trust that person because what's stopping them from going around and using that to their advantage? Or selling you out? Stealing your credit? You'd have to really trust them not to fuck you over."

[justbeingbay]

"See, I was thinking you could write a book or put it online," Bay said, propping herself up a bit to get a better look at Jim. "But if it wasn't something that would work if everybody did it -- yeah. You tell the wrong person, and you could seriously mess things up."

[pursuedthestars]

"And then everyone would know the meaning of life and then it wouldn't be some huge, sought after secret anymore," Jim said, nodding. "It'd lose it's allure quick."

[Apologies! I passed out hardcore last night.]

[justbeingbay]

"Right, it'd just be like -- flossing," Bay said. "Everybody would know it was a good idea, nobody except truly boring people would want to talk about it."

[pursuedthestars]

"If I ever really find out the meaning of life, I'll share it with you if you promise to keep it between us," Jim decided with a small smile. "You can be my confidante."

[justbeingbay]

"Aww, that's about the sweetest thing anybody's ever said to me," Bay returned, smiling. "And if I find it out, I'll tell you so we can go around solving everything. We'd be like superheroes."

[pursuedthestars]

"But much better looking than any other superhero out there," Jim decided with a firm nod. "Much better."

[justbeingbay]

"I dunno," Bay mused with a little laugh, propping herself up on one elbow. "Did you look at the last guy who played Really Strong Guy Who Can Fly? And Christian Bale is up there, too."

[pursuedthestars]

Jim looked mock offended. "Better looking than me? For shame, Bay. For shame."

[justbeingbay]

"Maybe not, but I can't let you go too far with the arrogance," Bay joked. "Your head might actually explode. But you're the best-looking guy in the dorms, how's that?"

[pursuedthestars]

"I'll take it," Jim decided with a nod. "And I'm secure enough to admit that that's a pretty damn high honor. Lots of good looking guys around here."

[justbeingbay]

"This is a ridiculously hot school," Bay agreed. "Like, distractingly so. I wonder if they filter applications for who's prettiest."

[pursuedthestars]

The thought made Jim laugh. "Think they're doing that to win some weird island beauty pageant?"

[justbeingbay]

"Maybe. We'll know for sure if they start asking us to rehearse for the talent portion," Bay deadpanned.

[pursuedthestars]

"My talent would be being spectacularly beautiful," Jim decide with a laugh.

[justbeingbay]

"Oh, c'mon," Bay scoffed. "That's a wussy way to play it. At least sing or dance or something."

Not that she had any intention of singing or dancing in public even in an absurd hypothesis.

[pursuedthestars]

"What would you do, Miss Smarty Pants?" Jim asked her. "Juggle?"

[justbeingbay]

"While riding a unicycle," Bay declared airily. "I have excellent balance."

Her smirk might have suggested this was not strictly true.