Catching Up on Time

[Karina Fuchs]

Lexi Ford

Karina had managed to keep the jet lag at bay as she'd visited with Cas, grooming him and giving him some turn out time, but she hadn't really felt up to riding, and had instead come back to the common room, hoping to hide from the heat, and do something that didn't require too much attention.

TV was a wonderful choice for both of those things - The common room had air conditioning, and Americans weren't all that fond of quiz shows, so she was able to find a movie to just put on and halfheartedly watch, instead of becoming invested in what the correct answers were. She grabbed a soda from the stocked fridge and then pushed off her shoes, sitting in one of the armchairs with her feet tucked up under her. The movie was one she'd seen previously, a classic, although of course this one was in English.

[Lexi Ford]

Lexi walked into the common room, to the area where the TV was. Maybe she could get her favourite show -
But there was someone already in the room. Determined not to be a snot queen - at least, not to goof up this time - she walked in. And awkwardly sat down on one of the chairs. For a few minutes, she pretended to be invested in the movie. Though, classics weren't really her thing.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the girl for several minutes. Finally, she let the words spill out.
"Hi, I'm Lexi," she said. Then she took a deep breath, and wished she hadn't said anything at all.

[Karina Fuchs]

Karina looked up as another girl walked into the room, but didn't say anything as the girl picked a seat and sat down quietly. It wasn't her style to make small talk, another one of those things the Amis liked so much, so she was glad to forgo it for once.

However, after a few minutes, the girl had apparently decided to break the ice, and Karina glanced over, "It's nice to meet you, Lexi. I'm Karina."

[Lexi Ford]

Lexi managed a weak, "Nice", but she didn't know what else to say. Back home she'd never thought of making friends. She never felt lonely, but that's because she knew everybody. They spoke to her, sometimes, but she'd never felt the need to actually... chat.
She stared straight ahead at the monitor again, blank as ever. No words could possibly express... wait, express what? She wasn't going to tell a stranger anything like that.
Trying to somewhat focus on the screen, she forced a smile. No, she tried to convince herself, she didn't have anything she had to tell anyone.
And her secret was not one she was dying to tell to anyone.

[Karina Fuchs]

Kari shrugged at the girl's apathetic attitude and turned her attention back to the movie that was running. It was getting to the climax of the plot, and while she knew it, the cinematography was always worth the rewatch, even if it wasn't nearly as high-tech as some of today's films. The computer generated illustrations were quite impressive, of course, but that was so commonplace nowadays, of course it was possible. Back then, they had to make do with actual special effects and stunt doubles, editing and all sorts of things.