Oh Dame Maggie Smith Who: Ren and Libby When: November 6th, around six o'clock Where: One of the TV lounges in the Rec Hall What: Shhh. Downton Abbey Time Rating: Low Status: complete; Closed
Ren did have to agree with what someone had written on the intranet; this week was going at a snail's pace. He couldn't believe it has been 14 months since he first arrived here and he did feel a little stir-crazy but at the same time, when he actually thought about going into a crowded city, he felt a twinge of anxiety. He remembered the boat incident in which he just got numerous amount of signals at once. He felt like a knight trying to bat off arrows coming from all directions. So there definitely were massive conflicting feelings. He wanted to go out and see NYC in person, if anything to get away from campus. But that was not for another year. He did hope this year his mother would be able to have saved enough money for a roundtrip plane ticket to come and visit.
Still, time went by slowly lately, perhaps because he got used to the routine and that is what it was, a routine. He still had loads of challenges and sometimes he would overcome and forcing himself to go out more and more in public rather than avoiding people was a huge stride for him to overcome. He had kind of forgotten that he could miss out on good people too. Even so, he knew how much he could take before he began to feel a little tired and drained which is why he liked to go to dinner early and watch TV while everyone else was at dinner. DirectTV is an amazing invention, he decided. He and his mother did not have cable and they had a tiny 12-inch. They did have internet and Ren did become an internet pirate, mostly for subbed versions of his favorite British TV shows (and after a while he didn't even need the subs!). Every time a download would finish, he would always do his best pirate impression.
But now, he was not pirating. He was watching one of his favorite shows legitimately and on a big screen. This show was Downton Abbey. There was so much about it that Ren liked. Even though he hated most rich people because the ones he knew in real life tended to be awful and spoiled, he always felt intrigued by the noble nobility. The type that would go off to war for instance despite status because it was the Right Thing To Do. He liked those rich people. And then, he loved how the servants had their own storylines and lives outside the family they served. Lastly, Ren really liked the costumes. He always liked period pieces in both western and eastern. You would likely find Victorian style dressed ladies in his sketchbook as much as ladies in kimonos. He tended to like warm, flowing, and curvy lines than angular ones and dresses you can easily do that. Dresses and coattails.
He sat on the couch his back against the armrest and his sneakers off but on the ground at the foot. One of his socks did have a hole in it but no one was in the room at this time so he didn't think much about it. His knees are bent slightly as his sketchpad laid in his lap. The episode of Downton Abbey he had on TV was one he saw before so he could free up some of his focus to draw what looked like the start of a manga style Lady Grantham that he drew in watercolor pencils, the container was precariously balanced on the back of the couch. Yep, he would paint it later, have it dry, scan it, then post it on tumblr.
Just as he was about to place the purple pencil back in its container, a rather tense moment happened on the TV which caused him to pause mid-task to stare at the screen. He knew what would happen but still, he felt on the edge of his seat again like maybe it will happen differently this time. Of course, that was silly. The moment past so placing the purple pencile down could now commence. The only thing was he forgot just how close he was and ended up placing the pencil in too hard, which caused the case to lose balance sending pencils rolling everywhere.
His eyes wide as he scrambled to grab a couple but out of the twenty-four, he managed only rescue two in a spectacular display that should have caught at least ten. "Tch," his mouth twitched. Now, some rolled under a nearby table. Some in the couch. Some just on the floor. He made a reach for those ones first.
He began to put them in rainbow color order. He wasn't entirely organized but with that he was. He looked under the couch, "Ah! Sokodearu!" He reached as far as his arm could go.