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turtle dove


He just smiled at her because award for smugest a** 2k15 was currently being split between the two of them. Then his attention was drawn back to the starfish in its box, strangely fascinated with the way that the tiny edges of its limbs flitted upwards when it moved.

"Oh, so the two of you went on a date without me, I'm hurt," Chance deadpanned, but he laughed at the idea. "Well, at any rate, I think it's a pretty awesome starfish, I wholeheartedly approve.

"Of both the name and the gifts," he added, as Claude began to unload her things. He stretched out a hand towards the chips, wincing slightly at the smallest movement. "You are a lifesaver. Can you hand me those, please? I'll eat the pasta in a minute."

earning respect

The knowledge that she had lost someone's respect, even over a trivial matter, was difficult to cope with. Mimsy sat and stared at the tweet that informed her of the loss for ten long, silent minutes, grappling with the inarguable evidence presented here. No one had ever told her this. She was used to people saying how much they did respect her.

When she registered that this was not a good state to be alone with, she resolved that she'd just fix it for the moment by haunting the infirmary for the comfort of Robert's physical presence. She gathered her paperwork and a meal for him to eat on his break--then thoughtfully paused, retrieved her phone again, and asked Chance his opinion of confections.

He made it consistently clear that he respected and admired her, even when she used image emotions. That was behavior worth rewarding.

She was heavily burdened by food and paper when she arrived in the infirmary, and sought out her husband first, to reassure him of her affections and priorities - and to get rid of the majority of the food she was carrying. When she finally located Chance, she held only a small blueberry cake in one hand, and a folder of otherworldly star charts in the other.

"If you would not mind my company..." she 'greeted' him, extending both offerings at once with a hesitant smile.

turtle dove

"Yeah. Oliver knows how to treat and talk to a woman."

She watched him try to reach out for the chips, and though he couldn't reach far, she still grabbed the corner of the rolling table and pulled it further out of his reach. "Ah." She wagged a finger at him, and then pointed at the bag of potato chips. "Those are for C.J."

Not for you.

Yes, the starfish ate potato chips.

Now that that was clear, Claude rolled the table back up towards him, and then pushed it even closer to him, so that he'd have easier access to the items on it this time. That done, Claude settled onto the edge of the chair that was at the side of the bed, leaning to rest her elbows on her knees.

"Glad you're alright." For the most part.

artemis and ptolemy


Chance was in the middle of attempting to count the cracks in the infirmary ceiling for the third time, his notebook in his lap. The drawing had become a little too much for him, and he was taking a break, his eyes tracing lines over every imperfection, every splintered part. If he tried hard enough, and squinted a little, they almost looked like the stars he kept on his ceiling.

Almost.

He heard the voice before the footsteps, Chance lowering his gaze to find a petite girl with blonde hair standing beside his bed, a tray in her hands. It took him a second to place her, but the hairpin did help, and he let out a small laugh, eyes twinkling.

"Astrid, right?" he said lightly and smiled. "Nice to meet you. And thanks for that, I definitely feel special now. I think I might just have both, since you were kind enough to help me out here."

artemis and ptolemy

"My food-smuggling services don't come cheap. Tell me this Artemis story," she said, hopping up onto the chair beside the bed and swinging her feet, childish. "I've wondered for a long time why Ursa Minor had a tail and I've always been too lazy to look it up."

Brownie Bites

"Pretty?" It caught her off guard, made her smile as a touch of color made her freckles stand out along he cheeks. She didn't know Chance that well, and really, the compliment was probably habit, but it was a nice change of pace from the way things had been working out lately. "Charmer."

The plate was laid on the blankets over his lap before she grabbed a chair and slid it closer so she could have a seat. "Shameful huh? Wanna talk about it?" If he didn't she wouldn't press, but if he felt like sharing Peyton was always up for a good story.

"It looks like you're healing up well, at least." He was bruised, very obviously sore, but the injuries she could see were progressing along in the normal way bruises do. Dark and yellowish around the corners.

artemis and ptolemy


"Ah, yes, that's right," said Chance with a laugh as Astrid made herself comfortable. "I was going to tell you the story. Well..."

He tugged open the lid of the pudding and took a bite to get himself some sustenance before continuing, settling back and taking a moment to try and get himself comfortable beforehand.

"Ursa Minor is technically related to two separate myths," Chance said, tapping the plastic spoon against the cup thoughtfully. "In one of them, the constellations are supposed to represent the nurse and the nymph who took care of Zeus as a child. There's a lot of weird s**t in that one, and I like the second myth better. In the second myth, the constellation represents Arcas, who's the son of Zeus and his mistress, Callisto, since Zeus could never keep it in his pants. Callisto had told Artemis that she wasn't going to bang anyone, but sadly Zeus' wiles got to her, and she fell into bed with him. Which, of course, pissed off a certain wife of Zeus."

Chance took another bite of pudding. "Hera turned Callisto into a bear when she found out, and Callisto spent the next fifteen years wandering in the woods and avoiding hunters. One day, though, when she was in the woods, she ran into Arcas, her son. Arcas was a little s**t and got scared, readying his spear to kill his own mother (though granted, he didn't know it was her). Zeus, however, saw what was happening and sent a whirlwind that scooped the mother and son up to the heavens, where Callisto became Ursa Major and Arcas, Ursa Minor."

He gave a small shrug, eyes alight with curiosity and the passion that only existed when he was speaking of a subject he found fascinating - namely space. "Arcas, is sometimes associated more with the constellation Boötes, the herdsman, and Ursa Minor represents a dog, not a bear."

Chance took a breath and looked sideways at Astrid. "Basically," he said, "There is no real explanation as to why a constellation that looks like a ladle is called a bear except that the ancient Greeks were probably stoned when they looked up in the sky at night."