22) --- Turkey Daze --------------------------------------------------- "Were you, this last Thanksgiving, A discriminate food taster? Or, rather, did you apply Eggnog to your mouth with a turkey baster?" -- Rev. Xmos Aerianne sat in her room, deep in thought. She looked at the schedule again, and at the two days on the calendar, one right after the other, that said 'SCHOOL CLOSED'. She couldn't comprehend, for the life of her, why the college would be closed for those two days and _only_ those two days. There were plenty of other elegible days on the calendar. It seemed to her that there was no reason why they couldn't be held then (or held at all, for that matter). Besides, the way the two days were placed, they'd only give about two and a half weeks for studying for finals. She looked once more at the calendar, and looked at the word in one box. She had seen that word on the net, but it didn't seem to be relevant to her current situation. But maybe it was? In any case, she didn't know. With a shrug, Aerianne decided to go over to Philip's room to ask his opinion. He'd probably have an idea of what this was all about. Philip was in his room getting ready for the four-day weekend when Aerianne entered. He was laying stuff out on his bed, and didn't notice Aerianne's concerned expression. "Philip, can I ask you something?" "Sure, come on in!" he called out. "Ok," he continued to himself, "now I'll need the gif folder, and all my puppet stuff is coming with me..." "Philip, I've been wondering..." "What?" he asked distractedly, continuing to fill his backpack. "What is 'Thanksgiving'?" "Huh?" He turned to look at her. he asked himself. he answered. "Well,.. it's... Thanksgiving. You know, the pilgrims, first harvests, turkeys, Miles Standish, football, Macy's Parade, food, food, and more food--" Aerianne looked back in confusion. "I don't get it... those things make no sense together." "Ah.... well, it's more of an experience..." he tried to explain. "Talking about it doesn't ususally help, you need to actually particiate in it for it to have any personal meaning..." Aerianne took that in, and made a decision. "Well then, I'll just have to experience it for myself," she said matter-of-factly. "Mind if I come home with you for Break?" "Bwa?" Philip blinked. "Excuse me? Mind repeating that?" "I said, 'Can I come home with you for break?'" She seemed peeved that he would even consider questioning her question. "What's wrong with that?" "Well...." he stalled. "Well what?" "Well, for one, don't _you_ have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving?" "No." "Ah..." This was a surprise for Philip, but he ignored it for the moment, and pressed on. "For second, couldn't you stay here for break?" "Why should I? It's _boring_ here during break, you know that. And besides, Gordo and Rufus spend all their time in the lab." "You've got _that_ right." He nodded in acquiesence to Aerianne. "Ok, you win. It wouldn't be fair. But if that's settled, then that leads up to the 2000-dollar question-- how do I tell my parents?!" "Tell them a friend wants to come home with you for break. It's the truth, isn't it?" "Er, yeah, that's true..." he admitted. "But still, you aren't exactly like my other friends..." "So? Should that cause a problem?" "Depends on how you _define_ problem..." Eventually, his mother finally arrived to take Philip home for the weekend. His stuff was piled on the bed, a remarkably _small_ pile, considering his tendencies (it was actually all in his backpack). Philip shouldered the backpack, but kept glancing towards the door for some inexplicable reason. "So, are you ready to go?" asked his mom. Philip seemed nervous about something, and she asked, "Or have you forgotten something?" "Well, not exactly... but there is something..." "Hmm?" "Mommy, I have a question....Would it be ok if a friend of mine stayed with us during Thanksgiving? It's only for a few days," he hastily added. "Well, that should be ok, as long as his parents know about this," his mother said. "Other than that, I don't see a problem.. What's his name?" she asked. "_Her_ name," he quickly muttered as a correction, "is Aerianne." "_Her_ name?" his mother asked. Her son had not mentioned this in any of his phone calls. "Someone I should know?" she asked bemusedly. "Perhaps...Um,...Mommy, _this_ is Aerianne." Philip said as an introduction as Aerianne entered the room. "Hello, Mrs. Moyer!" Aeri beamed. His mom just stood there for a few seconds, staring... "Mommy?" He waved his hand in front of his mother's face. "Huh..what?" she said, come back to the here and now. Her son had _definitely_ not mentioned _this_ in any of his phone calls! "_This_ is who you're inviting for Thanksgiving?" Philip just nodded nervously. His mom grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to one side. "Does your father know about this?" "Trust me, he has _no_ idea," he assured her emphatically. "In fact, _I_ didn't have any idea!" "Right..." his mother said doubtfully as she glanced back at Aerianne. Aerianne smiled back, and waved. "And she has nowhere else to go?" "That's what she said-- _Please_, don't ask me why, I don't know myself," he replied, cutting off his mom's protests. "Well, ok..." she answered, looking back at Aerianne once again, who once again smiled. "I suppose it _couldn't_ hurt for her to stay with us..." The drive back to Garrett Park was... interesting, to say the least. His mother asked questions that poked and pryed into his relationship with Aerianne, to which Philip's usual response was that he didn't _have_ a relationship! They were just friends! Really! Of course, his mother didn't believe him. The trip back home actually wasn't that long; just a jaunt around the Beltway, for which Philip was _eternally_ grateful. If it had been any longer, he probably would have died due to the intense nervousness he felt. Strangely enough, Aerianne wasn't uncomfortable at all. She spent most of the trip watching the trees pass by as they travelled. But finally, the Sable left the Beltway, drove through Kensington and Rock Creek Park, and turned left onto Kenilworth Avenue and into Garrett Park. They took the left fork, and passed several houses of varying achectectual styles until they reached a tan house hidden behind two large trees. "Well, here we are," Philip said as they drove into the driveway. It wasn't much of a house, and it was dwarfed by the blue Victorian next door, but it was _home_, and Philip was glad to be out of the dorm. "Oh, by the way, I think I should warn you..." "Huh? About what--Whoa! Hey!" exclaimed Aerianne as she was "assaulted" by a large black Labrador with a fogged-over eye. "Down, Shadow, down!" Philip commanded with a laugh as he kneeled to pet the dog. "It's only Aerianne, she's company." "Hey, this is nice," said Aerianne as she made her way past Shadow and looked around. "Well, it's not much, but it's home," Philip replied with a wan smile. He _still_ wasn't sure about this, but Aerianne was dealing just fine. She just looked around the house with an interested eye, taking in everything. She put down her backpack and duffel in a nearby chair, and continued to look around the house. "No, I mean it, this is _really_ nice," Aerianne commented with a smiled as she walked around to the new living room. Philip was about to reply, when his mom spoke. They turned to face her. "Well, I've got to get over to school...I believe I can trust you two?" she asked. They both nodded. Mommy looked at them doubtfully (Philip was feeling doubt himself, but for different reasons), sighed once, and closed the door. Philip released the breath he was holding, and plopped himself into a nearby chair. "What's wrong, Philip?" asked Aerianne as she moved over to him. "Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing at all," he said with a sigh. "Just tired, I supposed." "But nothing's happened." Philip glanced at her with a how-could-anyone-be-more-socially- blind-than-me look. "'Nothing's happened'? Yeah, _right_. This has just got to be one of the stranger days of my life," he sighed once again, shaking his head. "Well, whatever. We can putz around for a bit until Christopher comes home..." he continued as he pulled himself out of his chair. "Who?" "Tell you later," he said, changing the subject. Aerianne shrugged, and followed him. For about the next two hours, Philip gave Aerianne the introductory tour of the Moyer household. She saw the old and new living rooms, the kitchen and the dining room, and his room (what little of it she saw). They went downstairs to the basement as well, and Philip introduced her to his Macintosh by the laundry room. They went back upstairs; and since they had more time to kill, Philip slotted in his copy of _The Muppet Movie_ and popped some popcorn for them both. When Philip returned, he saw her sitting on the sofa; and since it would be rude to keep the popcorn away from her, he sat next to her. Every so often Aerianne would reach over Philip to get at the popcorn, at which point Philip would get a _very_ panicked expression, not because he was afraid of Aerianne, but because he was afraid of what _could_ happen if anyone saw them together. But fortunately there was no one around, and Philip gradually calmed down. And then his nine year old brother came home. Christopher. Paul. Moyer. The boy who made Calvin look like an angel. Philip heard the door open and slam closed, but he wasn't paying attention to it, as he and Aerianne were too caught up in the movie to take notice (The sound was being routed to the living-room speakers, which could have contributed to their obliviousness). So of course neither of them had noticed that Christopher had entered when Aerianne reached for the popcorn. "Ewwwwww!" Christopher said with his trademark mischevous grin. Philip's head snapped up in shock. "C-C-christopher!" "Philip's got a girl-friend! Philip's got a girl-friend!" he exclaimed with glee. "It's not like that!" Philip retorted to no avail. "Come on, Philip, it's cute when he does that," Aerianne commented. "Cute??" Philip turned and looked at Aerianne in shock. She was _smiling_! At his _brother_!! Philip held his head in his hands. "I was afraid you'd like my brother." Paul Moyer pulled into the driveway with the Suburban. It had been a _long_ day at work at DOE, and he was glad to be home now with his family. But this day, which had already been very bizzare (well, as bizzare as it gets for building managers, which is pretty damn _very_), was only going to get weirder still. "Good evening, family," he announced as he opened the front door. "Paul, I need to talk with you about something," Philip's mom announced as she came in from the living room. "What is it?" he started to ask, but his question was cut off as Philip entered the room with Aerianne in tow. "Nevermind..." A quick conference was held right then, to decide Aerianne's fate. Paul wasn't truly opposed to the idea of her staying there, but neither was he in favor, either. However, Philip was allowed to present his arguments, which he did in short order. "Daddy, she doesn't have anywhere else to go." "Where will she sleep?" "Living room." "Gretel and Larry will be sleeping there." "Frick, I forgot. Downstairs, I guess." "With your Grandmother?" Philip slapped his head and groaned. "Good point...Actually," he continued as a thought occured to him, "She _could_ sleep in the basement. We could pull out the camping pads and the sleeping bags, and she'd be fine." His father thought for a moment, and then nodded his head. Philip let out the breath he had been holding and smiled. He looked at Aerianne, who smiled back, and they went downstairs to logon. Paul looked at his wife and smiled. Mary smiled back. Their son had finally gotten a girlfriend. (The fact that Philip didn't seem to realize it didn't bother them one bit.) THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25 THANKSGIVING DAY Thanksgiving Day. The Moyer household was abuzz as Philip's mom and dad prepared for that afternoon's meal. Aerianne, not being an "official" part of the family, spent most of the morning watching the Macy's Parade with Christopher. They actually seemed to get along quite well, once Christopher got past the fact that Aerianne was a "Girl". Philip, for his part, just shook his head and continued to help his mom with setting the table. Eventually, a car pulled into the driveway, and Philip's Great- Uncle Larry and Great-Aunt Gretel arrived. Needless to say, their initial reactions to Aerianne were "interesting", and Philip's face flushed red from embarrasment. Aerianne, as usual, didn't seem to understand why he was embarrased, and she attempted to calm him down, which only made the situation worse. About a half-hour later, Philip's father left to pick up his Great-Aunt Frances from her nursing home, and Philip was spared his little additions to his "torture". Of course, once he returned, it started again, this time with his Aunt Frances being overjoyed that Philip now had a relationship. Before Philip could do anything drastic, like imbedding his head in a half-inch of Drywall, his mother announced that the food was ready, and the meal began. Once everyone found thir seats, the food began cirulating around the table. Philip, true to form, didn't eat anything that he hadn't tried before, which pretty much limited himself to turkey, a baked potato, and a salad. Aerianne, on the other hand, took at least one of everything. Philip's mom and dad exchanged glances, and then looked at Aerianne, who was already asking for seconds on the stuffing. "Wow, this is really good, Philip! Why aren't you trying any?" asked Aerianne as she spooned another helping onto her plate. "Well, er, mmm...." he tried to stall, but his mom cut him off by putting a helping of stuffing on his plate. "Here you go," she said with a smile. "I _know_ you like it." "And while you're at it, try some of Aunt Gretel's cranberry preserves," added his dad as he passed the aforementioned item down. Philip just shot him an 'Et tu, Daddy?' look before grudgingly consuming what was on his plate. The rest of the meal continued pretty much the same way, but eventually it ended. The family members returned to their original tasks, and Aunt Frances went back to the nursing home, after receiving hugs from Philip, Christopher, and surprisingly, Aerianne. The next morning, Philip and Aerianne watched the Bubblegum Crisis tape he had rented for the first time. Fortunately, his parents and brother were out, so he and Aerianne had the house to themselves. "Oh Gods, I've been _waiting_ for this," he smiled as he slotted the tape. Aerianne smiled back. "Oh you have?" she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Ah...er.. I mean the _tape_." "Oh, of course," she said as she sat on the sofa. "Care to join me?" She patted the spot on the sofa next to her. Philip blushed, and quickly glanced around to make _sure_ no-one was there, just in case. "Um, no thanks... I'll sit in the beanbag chair." "Suit yourself," she shrugged as he sat down. He didn't notice her slightly miffed expression. The OAV began, and since the sound was being routed to the house speakers, it was _very_ exciting. Philip repeated Priss's opening sequence at least three times before Aerianne "convinced" him to go on. They watched for a little while longer, and then Philip looked at Aeri askance during a 'slow' part. "You know," he muttered, "Strangely enough, you look sort of like Priss...." "Huh?" "I mean," he hastily added, "In this light, and at this angle, you resemble her. It's not like you actually _look_ like her, you don't have red eyes or anything like that..." he babbled. "Oh." She shrugged, and they returned to watching the OAV. 23) --- Rude Awakening ------------------------------------------------ "Uhm...morning..." -- Gryphon That afternoon, while Philip was out comparative shopping for sketchbooks, Aerianne watched BGC1 a few more times. she had to admit as she looked in the living room mirror, There was something of Priss in her nose and hair, but other than that, they were two entirely different people. For one, her eyes weren't red, but more of a medium brown. Her face was a little bit narrower, and her hair was _much_ longer. she chuckled to herself, Turning down the hall to go to the bathroom, she noticed that Philip's door was open. Sure, she had been there earlier, but she had never gotten the chance to _really_ look at his room. Intrigued, she went in. To call his room a disaster area would be an understatement. Every horizontal surface was covered with kipple, including the floor. There _was_ enough space to walk, but the choices on direction were limited at best. "Gods, and I thought my single in Charles was small," she mentioned to herself as she looked around. In front of her was a tall bookcase, laden with yearbooks, Star Trek books, and other assorted books. It was accompanied by lower bookshelves on one side, and a chest of drawers in the corner. To her left was a bulliten board laden with posters and papers, underneath which there was another small bookshelf holding the McKinney novels, and various LEGO constructions. To her right was a double bed, next to which there was a file cabnet and desk nestled into an alcove. Seeing as there was really nowhere else to go in the room, she plopped herself down onto Philip's bed. It was covered with quilts and blankets, although strangely enough, there were no sheets. Aeri sighed, and leaned her head on the pillows. She looked up at the ceiling, the ceiling fan turing lazily in circles. she mused to herself. She yawned. She turned on her side to look over at his bookshelves, but not seeing anything of interest there, she turned the other way and saw a kipple-strewn desk. She began to sit up, but then something under a blanket caught her eye, and she pulled it out. Aerianne pondered as she held the stuffed bear in front of her. She laid back down, and studied the bear more closely. There really wasn't much to say about the bear. His fur was matted and discolored from years of use and lack of washing; his eyebrows were almost gone. His mouth already _was_ gone, long replaced with a stiched-on one. His stuffing had shifted as well, leaving him in a permanant sitting-up position. Even so, he was comfortable to hold and to hug; and Aerianne did so, thinking of her life, herself, and Philip. And before long, she had fallen fast asleep. Philip returned from his shopping expedition, exhausted and tired. It had started raining while he was out, and it had quickly upgraded itself to something a little short of monsoon before he had gotten home. The fact that the car had been overheating all day, and the fact that he had almost spun out once, didn't help his mood any. He just made his way from the dining room to his room, dropped his stuff on the floor, and plopped into bed. In his exhasuted condition, he didn't notice anything amiss, and he slowly began to fall asleep. A sudden shifting in the bed caught his attention, and he opened his eyes. He blinked, and looked downward. His eyes followed the arm, across his chest, up towards his left shoulder, and over to... Gentlemen, start panicking. Philip's mind raced as he clamped his mouth shut, desparate not to make a sound. Attempting to ignore the fact that she looked quite cute there, snuggled next to him and holding Pooh close , and the case of extreme literary deja-vu he was experiencing, he tried to think of his options (what few there were). Screaming? No, _that_ was out of the question... Trying to sneak out? No, that wouldn't work either, Aeri was close. Any closer and she'd be on top of hi--... Whimpering? Philip thought. Prayer? Seeing as this was the one option left, he started praying fervently. Tick. Tick. Tick. The old analog clock on the wall ticked away the seconds as Philip prayed to every god ever known to man, plus some that were kind of borderline. Philip felt as if he had spent an eternity lying there, in his bed, next to the most beautiful girl he had ever -- He glanced up at his clock, wondering exactly how many hours he had spent contemplating a sudden change in religion. It had been exactly... two minutes. "Mmmm..." Aerianne moaned as she slowly stirred out of sleep. She looked over to Philip, lying there in something close to a fetal position, and, after a moment of surprise, smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Good mor -- " "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Philip almost hit the ceiling. As it was, he was quickly getting dizzy from swinging around and around on the ceiling fan. Thank the Gods the door was closed... Aerianne's smile only broadened. "Sleep well?" she asked innocently. There was a loud "Thump" sound as Philip's body hit the bed. He was finally asleep. Well, okay, he was unconscious, but you get the idea... 24) --- Examination Blues --------------------------------------------- "Ganbatte kudasai, ne!" "Hai! Ganbarimasu!" -- Kyoko and Godaii, MAISON IKKOKU Once Thanksgiving Break was over, it was time to return to Maryland and finish the semester. However, since it was nearing the end, this meant that exams were coming up; and since there was only two weeks until they started, this meant that there was not much time to study for them. The fact that this time of the year was also the time for all those papers and projects that hadn't been done to be finished and turned in only added to the complications. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16 Philip woke up at the sound of the alarm. Six Thirty. He went through his morning startup routine, then left his suite and waited in the hallway for Aerianne. "You ready?" he asked her as she closed and locked her door. She nodded, and they turned to leave for breakfast. The Bagel Place was uncrowded that morning. It was still dark out, though, which could have had something to do with it. Philip and Aerianne bought their bagels, and adjourned to a nearby booth to eat them. Philip looked at his watch and groaned. "Whoever thought of holding exams at 8 am in the morning should be drug out into the street and shot. No, strike that. He should have to _take_ the exam first, _then_ be shot." Aerianne attempted to giggle, but that giggle quickly changed into a yawn. "Don't do that!" he admonished her. Aerianne smiled, and yawned again. "I _told_ you , don't do that!" By now, Aerianne was giggling uncontrollably, and it was threatening to overwhelm Philip as well. Eventually, they calmed down, and Philip sighed. Aerianne sighed as well, which threatened to start the cycle up again. "So, how do you think you'll do on the exam?" Aerianne asked as they were finishing up. "Haven't a clue. Remember, I didn't do so well on the midterm, so I'm not too sanguine about my chances." Aerianne nodded at this, remembering. Philip looked at his watch, and sighed again. "Well, we'd better get over there. The exam starts in less than an hour." "You go on ahead, Philip," announced Aerianne. "I just remembered, I left my notes in the dorm. Don't worry, I'll join you there!" she said to Philip's pouty expression. She got up with a smile, and left The Bagel Place. Philip sat there for a while longer, then sighed and got up as well. He dumped their trays, slotted a tape, and left for the Classroom Building. When Aerianne arrived at the exam site, she was surprised to see Philip sitting at his seat with an _extremely_ dour expression on his face. She tried to talk to him, but he didn't reply, and eventually she was forced to give up, since the examiner was passing out the exam booklets. Even so, she slid a copy of her exam notes to him (each student was allowed a 3x5 card worth of them) in hopes of a response. But none was forthcoming. However, as the booklets came down the line, she did hear him mutter something. "Make a note, Moyer," he mumbled to himself. "_Never_ listen to 'Country Feedback' before an exam. Never." But it was too late now, the damage was done. Philip squared his shoulders, and started his exam. Philip's next exam was two days later, on Saturday (joy and rapture). He studied hard, but there were still some things on Statistics that he didn't understand. By the time the exam had rolled around, he still didn't understand them, but he continued to study when he reached the classroom and waited outside it before the exam began. He looked at his notes one more time, and sighed. "I might as well put them down now. If I don't know it, then I don't know it, and that's all there is to it." And on that note, he entered the classroom. That afternoon, Philip started studying for his other Computer Science exam. Seeing as his roomate wasn't there, he played some music out loud, and tried to catch up on the things he had slept through in class. Unfortunately, his door was open, and Aeri heard the music as she entered the dorm; curious, she went over to his suite. "What are you listening to?" Aerianne asked as she entered, startling Philip. "OH! Oh, hi, Aeri," he said as he turned towards her. "Just some PDQ Bach." "Who?" she asked, as the singer on the tape began to sing about how tarragon was virtuous. "Let me put it this way: I'd love to explain him to you, but it would take _way_ too long for me to do so, and I really do need to study." Aeri thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. Could I borrow some of your tapes, though? They sound really interesting..." Philip responded with an offhand "sure", which Aerianne seized upon as a "Sure!", and proceeded to relieve Philip of his entire PDQ Bach collection. Philip stared, flabbergasted, as Aeri carried the tapes back to her room. "Thanks!" she said with an earnest smile. "You're welcome," was the only thing he had to say. For the next two hours, Philip continued to study, but he began to have difficulty as he found it harder and harder to concentrate. He tried playing some of his other tapes, but they didn't give him the background quality he needed. Only the PDQ Bach tapes would be able to let him study. Philip got up from his desk, exited his dorm, and went over to the door of Aeri's suite. He knocked, and a chorus of "I'll get it!" "No, I'll get it!" "No, _I'll_ get it!" came from inside. Philip exchanged a puzzled glance with himself, who returned it, and waited. Finally, the door opened. "Aeri, could I have my-urk!" he urked. In front of him, two eyes stared back at him questioningly. This would have been alright, _if_ the eyes staring back at him weren't Velociraptor eyes. "Whyfore you 'urk'?" asked the brown-scaled raptor with what Philip supposed was a smile (He wasn't really sure-- there was a lot of teeth in the way). Behind her, the black-patched raptor was consoling the red-headed one who was muttering, "I never get to get it!" Philip was still standing there in utter, stark, terror when the brown-scaled raptor turned and yelled, "Hey, Aeri! Your boyfriend's here!" with a grin. This snapped Philip out of his trauma enough that he was able to snap out "We're just _friends_, ok!" before he realized who he was talking to again. "Hi, Philip!" Aerianne said as she entered the suite's living room. "Oh, I see you've met Charley." "Ch-Ch-charley?" Philip managed to stutter out. "Is he always like this?" asked Charley, looking at Philip. "No, usually he's a lot more verbose," Aeri said with a shrug. Charley looked at Philip one more time, shrugged (or what passed for one with a raptor), and then turned and returned to her room. By this time, the other two raptors had retreated to their own double room at the beginning of the hall. Philip finally recovered enough sense to speak again. "Who, or _what_, were THEY?!" "They're the raptors we freed before Thanksgiving, don't you remember?" Aeri asked with a smile as she came over to the still frozen Philip. "Well, they needed a place to stay, and we had three rooms open, so we decided 'what the heck?', and let them in." Philip just nodded dumbly. "So, what did you come over to ask?" "I forgot." On Monday, Philip made his way to the Computer-Space Science building where his CMSC 330 class was held. He made his way up to the the second floor, where several students were already waiting in the hall for their exam. Gordo and Rufus were already there and waiting, and they cleared a place next to them along the wall for Philip "This your last exam, Gordo?" Philip asked as he sat down. "No, Unfortunately," he replied. "I still have my history exam tomorrow, but after that, I shall have time to reflect, relax, and read." Philip chuckled at this. "Sounds like something _I'd_ like to do. So you're going home tomorrow?" "Actually, no," Gordo replied a little cagily, which surprised Philip. But before he could ask further, Rufus cut in and answered for him. "Actually, we're planning to stay here and finish those mods you wanted for the Citation. And after, we're going to experiment with the Cyclones, and there's some stuff I want to try with the cyberware, and then---" "Rufus, Rufus! You're babbling!" Philip cut him off. "Don't worry about that now... worry about the _exam_ instead." The three friends broke off their conversation as the classroom doors opened, and they got up to take their exam.