Room 508, Sunday afternoon

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo had started the day by grabbing a box of donuts right as JGOB opened and taking them out to the causeway. She'd sat there for hours, slowly eating her way through the box, some tiny part of her hoping that two particular people would come walking up and share the pastries with her. No one had, though. Besides, even if one or both of them did eventually make it back, the chances that it would happen to be today as opposed to any other day were pretty slim. An hour after she finished the last donut, Ringo admitted to herself that she was just putting off the task she'd assigned herself, so she headed back to the dorm.

After stopping by her room for a stack of unassembled boxes, a couple of rolls of packing tape, and some markers, she finally opened the door to room 508. An few hours later, Ringo was pretty sure that the two boxes on Raven's bed represented everything the girl had had in the room. Only a few clothes, and what seemed like some antique knickknacks. It wasn't much to leave behind, and somehow that seemed sad. Ringo snorted at that thought. As if Raven's lack of stuff was somehow sadder than Raven never coming back.

There were quite a few more boxes on Kathy's bed, and it had taken here even longer to pack those than it probably would have if so many of those things hadn't sucked Ringo into memories of their owner. A couple of dresses that Letty had insisted Kathy buy in Baltimore. A set of lockpicks. A well-read, but cared-for acceptance letter to Stanford. A sticker-covered iPod (which was such a Kathy thing to own because who even had iPods anymore?).

A pair of well-worn ATs, which she spent a couple of minutes examining, running her fingers lightly along the worn down spots. You could tell a lot about someone from their ATs. What their stance looked like, what kind of tricks they enjoyed the most, the kind of terrain they rode on. To Ringo's practiced eye it was like a montage of every ride Kathy had ever done. She had to swallow around a lump in her throat before she could return to her task.

Most of those things, those memories, went into boxes. After some maudlin staring at a few of them, perhaps, but into boxes. But not everything. Ringo had found a heavy envelope with "Dante" written on it in Kathy's hand, and a couple of paper-wrapped packages addressed to Anders. Once she'd found those, Ringo had looked more carefully, half-hoping that there would be something with her own name on it, but there hadn't been anything. She knew that that didn't mean anything, but somehow it still hurt. She'd taken a couple of minutes to think about that, then Ringo had set the iPod aside next to the other things that needed to be delivered. Kathy probably would have preferred to know that someone would get something out of her music collection, right?

Now Ringo was doing one last pass through the room, looking in corners of closets and under beds to make sure she hadn't missed anything important. If this was the last thing she was going to get to do for her friends, she wanted to do it right.

[ooc: Room and belongings modded with permission. Door and post open.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

Anders wasn't sure what he was even looking for, wandering up to Kathy and Raven's room like this. Some kind of message from her, maybe, or even the comfort of smelling her clothes.

Seeing Ringo there snapped him out of that particular reverie.

"You're already clearing it out," he observed, sounding dismayed. He understood someone would have to sometime, but it had barely been a week since the last message. "What's your hurry?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, hey." Ringo turned, half-surprised to see Anders, even though she really shouldn't have been.

"I just," she paused, looking around awkwardly. "I just didn't want the school to do it, with the new term coming up. I, um, I didn't know what they'd do with it all." And she didn't want anything getting thrown away.

[not_every_mage]

"I guess that makes sense," Anders said grudgingly. "You'd think the school has enough empty rooms without stealing this one right away, but still. It's better to be safe."

He circled closer to the pile of boxes, brushing one with his fingertips. "Where will you put it all?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Some of it is--" Ringo paused, glancing over at Anders and taking a deep breath. "Some of it is for people. Presents and stuff, I guess. The rest?" She looked over the boxes. "Mister Spencer said that we could put them in his attic."

So they'd be there. Ready and waiting. If anyone ever came looking for them.

[not_every_mage]

Anders let out a breath. "That's good," he said, approving. "So if she ever makes it back, or somebody from her family comes looking for her things, it'll all be safe."

Not that he was expecting that in the slightest, but he still felt better knowing Kathy's things weren't going straight into the trash.

He wasn't going to ask whether Kathy had left anything for him. It would hurt too much of the answer was no.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah." Ringo nodded. "It'll be waiting if--" Well. If.

She took another breath and blew it out. "There're, um, some things addressed to you. If you want them." If not, well, she could pack those away, too.

She didn't quite look at Anders as she told him that, though. Not sure she wanted to intrude on whatever expression he might make. She knew that if someone had told her that there was something left behind for her, she would have needed a moment or two to process that.

[not_every_mage]

"Oh, Kathy," Anders sighed, hands to his face. The idea she'd squirreled away gifts for some happy future day was almost too much to bear. "I -- yes. All right."

He couldn't imagine what it was or why, but he wasn't about to turn down a last connection.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo walked over to the bed where she'd laid things aside. She could have just waved at them, but these were wrapped like gifts, and those should be handed over properly.

She offered Anders an expression that might charitably have been called a smile and picked the wrapped box to hand over first.

Given the matching paper, he could probably figure out the other gift was his, too, even without reading the tag.

"There's a card, too," Ringo added softly.

[not_every_mage]

"This is weird," Anders said, frowning as he accepted the smaller box and began to tease its wrapping apart. He didn't want to tear the paper, not when Kathy had touched it. "Did I miss a holiday? Are you supposed to give gifts to your prom date?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Maybe the prom thing?" Ringo shook her head helplessly. "I don't know anything about prom, but I also don't know of any holidays?"

She shrugged. "Maybe there's an obscure American one? Or a Korean one?"

Except Ringo hadn't gotten anything, so she hoped not.

[not_every_mage]

"There must be," Anders shrugged, and held the rebel mage t-shirt up to his chest as he smiled. "Whatever it is, she thinks I need t-shirts for it."

He eyed the large box and the envelope. "I think I'll read the card next. Just so I know what I have to thank for this besides Kathy being ridiculously generous."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo snorted. "Yeah. I mean, this is kinda extravagant even for her, right?"

[not_every_mage]

"You noticed that too?" Anders asked lightly, already slitting the envelope open with his nails.

He sat down on the edge of the bed he still thought of as Kathy's as soon as he read Happy birthday, Anders!. His brow furrowed and he glanced at the taller box when he got to the mention of a staff, but by ovaried up and told you already the tears were in his eyes. He blinked hard, sniffled and wiped his eyes before turning to Ringo.

"It's for my birthday," he said, sounding strangled. "She bought presents two months early, and wrote a love note to go with them, and did everything I would have wanted except come home when she should have."

He was both incredibly touched and unbelievably angry. (Why couldn't Kathy be brave about love, and a coward about things that could actually get her killed? That way around was a lot more use.)

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo blinked, her own eyes starting to glisten just a bit.

"That's a very Kathy thing to have done," she said softly. She hesitated for a moment, then reached out, seeking to gently brush her fingers across his shoulder. Just a reminder that even if they didn't know each other all that well, they shared this, at least.

She wanted to offer something else, but wasn't sure what to say. If she knew how to comfort someone feeling that sort of pain, she would have used it on herself.

[not_every_mage]

"It is," Anders acknowledged, not pulling back from the touch. "Completely heartbreaking, slightly insane, and quite wonderful."

He wiped his eyes again, steadying himself, and looked back at the staff box.

"I think I'll save that," he said. "Open it closer to my real birthday, so I have a little bit of her waiting."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo smiled. "Not a bad idea." She tried not to feel jealous.

"I know it doesn't, doesn't really make anything better." Not even close. "But I'm glad you got something."

[not_every_mage]

"Do you want one of the shirts she got me?" Anders asked, trying to console Ringo. "I know you aren't a mage, but maybe just having something she chose will help a little."

[soniaroadsqueen]

That surprised a soft little laugh out of her. "That's a really nice offer, Anders. Thanks. But," she gestured down at herself, "I don't know if anything your size would fit me."

[not_every_mage]

"I hadn't quite thought that part through," Anders said, looking Ringo up and down. (Mostly down.) "You could still take one to sleep in, if you wanted. Not that I'll complain if they're all mine."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Thank you," Ringo repeated, but then she shook her head. "But they're yours." It was what Kathy had wanted, after all.

[not_every_mage]

"All right," Anders said, and swallowed hard as he glanced around the room for a distraction. "Do you need any help finishing up?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo followed his gaze, her own eyes sweeping across a room that felt oddly bare with just about everything in boxes. "I, um," she swallowed, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a breath. "I think it's mostly done. Though if you wanted to help me carry some boxes downstairs, I wouldn't object."

She tried for a smile. "But I'm fine if you need to be somewhere else."

The company was welcome, but Anders also reminded her of Kathy, which made things a bit harder than they might have been if she were on her own.

[not_every_mage]

"I can help carry stuff," Anders offered. "It won't take long, and then I can -- It'll be good for me to feel like I helped."

That was the bottom line, really.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah." Ringo offered him a somewhat awkward grin. "I know that feeling."

There was a reason she was doing this, after all.

"I just need help getting them downstairs, anyway. The rest should pretty much take care of itself." A couple of rickshaws to transport, and then Mister Spencer would help her unload.

[not_every_mage]

Anders smiled back, just as awkward. "I thought you'd understand," he said, and picked up two of the larger boxes. His motions were almost abrupt; this wasn't easy for him, much as he wanted to play it cool. "Let's go."