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He'd spent most of the afternoon lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. There was nothing particularly interesting about his ceiling, really. It was just a plain, white ceiling that would have had an almost sterile feeling about it had it not been a ceiling in a Hillworth dorm room. Being what it was, it was just a plain, boring, white ceiling that he was staring at... Sighing.

The last of his classes had ended with a test that he hadn't been prepared for, too many nights lately spent worrying too much over this or thinking too hard on that. It had gotten to the point where he'd even gone as far as to drown out the sound of the snow globe's song (still echoing in his head even after he'd boxed the remainder of his own up) by putting on headphones with music loud enough that it could still be heard without them.

It hadn't made a difference. It hadn't changed his mood any. He was still lying there, sighing from time to time, at the thought that soon, very soon, he was going to be alone again... As soon as Lucien came back to pack his bags to go home for the holidays.

Right before the door had opened he'd rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. Anyone else might wonder whether or not he was trying to suffocate himself, given just how little he'd moved since flopping onto the bed in general. Lucien? Lucien would probably just be glad that he was being quiet for once.

Beyond that, all of his things were still in place. He hadn't done any packing; no suit cases, no duffel bags... Not even a backpack with the usual things that he took along with him on the rare occasion he managed to sneak out of the dormitories. He wasn't going anywhere and the tacky post card he'd received from his parents, now lying on the floor not far from the door, was proof that he wouldn't have had anywhere to go anyways even if he'd wanted to.

Wish you were here! Hawaii~

Whereas he hadn't reacted to the sound of the dorm room door opening, he did react to the other boy's assessment of the card he'd received from his parents. He pushed his head up just enough to keep the pillow from muffling his voice, eventually just pushing himself the rest of the way over onto his back so that he could stare at the ceiling again.

"It is for the Colby's... Well, for the elder Colby's, at the very least. For their dear, clearly beloved son, Rikard, Christmas is this." He lifted his arms to gesture to the room once, letting them fall back to his sides with another sigh. "Do me a favor before you go, Luc? Be a pal and put me out of my misery? I'm not sure I can take one more day staring at this ceiling..."

His brow furrowed at the other boy's words, eyes still focused on the ceiling as he pondered them long and hard before propping himself up on his elbow so that he could stare at Lucien. "... You don't really mean that, do you?" Of course he didn't. Why would Lucien want to spend his Christmas, the time he had to spend free of him actually... With him?

And had he forgotten about the brief 'history' he'd mentioned having with his cousin?

"No, it's ok..." He shook his head, flopping back down against the mattress. "I'm sure you're looking forward to getting away... And I wouldn't want to impose anyways..."

He heard what might have almost been disappointment in the other boy's voice (what could have also easily been him hearing things, fool that he was). His brow furrowed and he worried on his lip for a moment, sighing softly before rolling onto his side so that Lucien was within his line of sight once more. "It's not really that I don't want to, Luc. I'd love to spend the holiday somewhere other than this... This hell. But..." He pushed himself up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so that he was now sitting, eyes usually bright with life dark as they settled on the drab throw rug in the center of their hard wood floor.

"Every holiday I've been invited along on one of my parent's vacations it's been clear that they didn't want me there, even though they brought me along. I don't want to say 'yes' and have this holiday wind up being just another one of those. If you don't really want me tagging along... Don't give me that false hope that you do."

"I don't know if it woudl be one of -those- holidays. I don't really know how this holiday is going to be at all." He wasn't sure he really wanted to do anything and be reminded that he wouldn't get his mothers cookies or get to sit down and go through that years photo album with his parents of their trips or anything else they usually did. "I thought you'd like to do something other than sit here alone. I vaguely remember fun holiadys with my aunt and uncle from when i was a kid

He figured they would try hard for him too but he wasn't sure it would make much of a difference. "I don't know if i want anyone around but my parents ... and i wont have that" His voice was muffled inside the closet before he put his coat away and stepped back out. "If you don't want to go that's fine but if you do want to come spend Christmas with me and Cordy you should pack."

He remained where he was for a moment, eyes down for just a bit longer before they lifted to gaze at the closet door hanging open, that same gaze shifting then to Lucien as he came out of it. He couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't have been an apology; something he was certain Lucien didn't want, right along with pity. And here he'd been envying that the other boy had a place to go home to...

Sighing softly, he stood, running his fingers back through his hair before making his way over to the closet so that he could snag his duffel. "So... Christmas at the Cardens'?" His brow lofted as he glanced at the other boy, tone of voice a bit odd compared to usual, and at least a little quieter. "I should try and pack something presentable, then... Your cousin can be pretty high strung."

"I doubt she thinks most of my clothes are presentable." At least he didn't think Cordy really approved of the rather off-beat slant to his usual clothing. "Just bring whatever you think would be comfortable."

He'd already packed most of his things. All he had left was his shampoo, soap, and stuff. "Cordy's not all that bad anyway. You just have to know how to ignore her or just let her do what she wants and you'll get away faster." Though he -still- wasn't going to go with her to the mall ever again.


He threw some of his regular things into his bag; a few pairs of jeans and some of his 'nicer' t-shirts along with a button down or two and even a sweater that might be considered 'presentable' with a pair of slacks for Christmas if the Cardens were the sort to do nice things and dress-up. There was always the mall, hell that it might be, for the last minute pick-up of anything in particular he might be missing otherwise, and...

"You're her family, though... I'm the jerk she knows from when she wasn't Ms. Fancy and I attend Hillworth." He smirked softly, fingers running through his hair once more before he tugged it back, slipping a black band around his ponytail to keep it out of his face as he finished packing. "Lucien... Thanks."

"I attend Hilworth too." Though hopefully not for much longer. He just needed everything to be official and make sure he ahd all the credit he needed so he could transfer to Sovrighen Heights. At least that would be something good to come out of the holidays and the end of the year.

"You don't need to thank me."

"Only on a technicality of some sort, I'm sure." He paused for a moment to look around for his cards, tucking them into his bag last before zipping it up, eyes drifting back to Lucien once more. "Too bad. I'm thanking you anyways... It's something that happens when someone does something nice."

"Yeah, but I thought you had to be a proven miscreant before they would let you into this place. Some sort of smudge on your otherwise pristine permanent record or something like that..." He checked around the room for anything else he didn't particularly want to leave behind just in case cleaning staff came through, not trusting them any more than he trusted most of the other trouble-makers in the school. He finally stuffed a few more things into his 'escape' backpack before flopping back on the bed to wait for Lucien.

"At least you're getting out soon, though, right?"

"With how thorough you've been? I'm sure you haven't missed anything, Luc... You've got a lot of determination and you're working hard towards your goal." He nodded slowly, keeping to himself that he sometimes thought the other boy worked so hard just to get away from him faster.

"I'm still here until summer, at the very least."

"You mean you'd actually want me to come visit?" His brow lofted and he tried to keep the sound of laughter out of his voice, not trusting it to be actual amusement, a part of his mind still trying to make things bitter for all that they were starting to look up a bit. "Not that I wouldn't want to. It'd be nice to know I had somewhere other than here to be..."