Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Québec [Monday, October 20, 2024 ]

[heroic_jawline]

It was a sunny, perfect day today. You might not even need your trapper hats! As a bonus, the school had rented a double-decker Hop On Hop Off bus so you could accidentally leave them there! Do not throw them from the bus. People would yell at you in French and English.

Rise and shine, Fandom! Or hide in your ridiculous rooms throughout the castle! Anakin doesn't care enough to find you all.

Comments

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden frowned. "That sounds like quiet stuff for sure, but I don't think any of it sounded boring," she said. "The museum sounds pretty cool - I bet Belle will be in for sure - and the aquarium was already on my list of things to check out this week. And we definitely need to get some pool time in."

She reached an arm around Eleanor, intending a friendly squeeze of her shoulder. "I think we can fit those things in, too. I wanna make sure everybody does fun stuff this trip, you know? I mean, if you don't mind a bunch of us tagging along. If you need alone time, or want you-and-Kams time, we'll buzz off.*

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[what_big_teeth]

That arm around her shoulder was all the invitation Eleanor needed to lean a little bit against Arden in response, her own arm lifting a bit more awkwardly across her back, but there was something grateful in both it and the soft smile on her face. "You don't need to worry about me," she said. "I'm used to mostly doing things by myself."

And as she said it, she realized that what she might be saying was really more along the lines of not knowing how to do things except by herself, and she let out a small, self-derisive sort of laugh.

"I'm more likely the one to be tagging along," she pointed out. "Which I don't mind, if you guys don't mind. Everything sounds like it'll be a pretty new experience, so everything sounds pretty appealing."

Her eyes traveled up toward the treetops, though, and her grin went a little wry as she looked back toward Arden.

"Unless it involves me being suspended up in the air on thin cables and robes, anyway."

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You're part of the group," Arden said simply, in a very 'and that is that' tone of voice. "We don't mind at all. You're supposed to be here with us."

Wait, no, that sounded bad.

"Not like, you've got no choice about it or anything," she added hastily. "I mean, you're free to do whatever, whenever, with whoever! But like...you're our friend. Which means you belong pretty much wherever we are, you know?"

Beat.

"Even if you're wrong about being suspended up in the air on thin cables and ropes," she added with a tease, which hopefully would make up for the awkward in the middle.

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[what_big_teeth]

And she was still having trouble with that, too, knowing how to belong, especially when her whole life had been about knowing how to cope with being rejected from belonging. Something that she knew that Arden knew all about, too, now, so maybe that arm slung around her back got a little tighter for a moment.

But that was hardly anything to bring up now, when there was all this adventure and excitement and belonging to be had, so she just laughed and shook her head.

"I am not wrong," she insisted. "You all can go right ahead. Some of us are made for the air," and a small meaningful glance accompanied that, "and some of us are made for something much closer to the ground."

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more on-the-ground activities," Arden said with a grin. "And let you get all your reading in when the air calls to me again."

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor grinned back, and there was a slight moment that felt like she was making a quick decision on something before saying anything else.

"And not necessarily just on the ground," she threw in there, just in case. "I like the water a lot, too. I'm not sure where everyone is on that, and it's a little chilly for most people to be swimming, but we've got this great river right there, I'm sure there's all sorts of things there, too."

Re: Arbraska Chauveau

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I wonder if a river would bother Lydia the same way the ocean does," Arden murmured, thinking. "But yeah, we can definitely check out river stuff."

She eyed Eleanor. "Are you going swimming?" she asked.

Not suspiciously, though. She knew Ellie had grown up in Maine, which to her Southern self, meant that she'd probably been swimming in weather like this for her whole life. Did it get warmer than this that far north? Who knew!