practicality

Tseng looked up from the screen at the intruder. He forced himself to not glare or roll his eyes - either would probably set her off again. "Opinions change when you have to deal with someone all the time, I suppose." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"..Do whatever you want, I meant it when I said I'm done. I'm moving back to the apartment." Her voice was quiet. "You obviously never even considered me a friend."

Sheska arrived clutching a box containing two dozen chocolate chip cookies and a dozen peanut butter ones as well as a tote bag which might have been mistaken for being full of bricks, had anyone tried to steal it from her. It contained two large volumes of Earth fairy tales (fairly new additions to her collection), a volume of strictly Xingese fairy tales (a long time member but well cared for) and a book or box shaped object wrapped in brown paper with "For Tseng from Sheska" written across one corner in her precise hand.

The cookies went to Aeris with a well-meant but breathless and anxious thank you for letting her stay the night the other evening, and she dashed upstairs as soon as the other woman told her which room was Tseng's. Once there, however, she hesitated, straightened her work clothes since she hadn't bothered to change, and knocked lightly on the door.

Tseng looked up from the laptop in front of him at the knock. "Come in, the door's unlocked." He had gotten changed when he had arrived home from the hospital that morning, and a plain white cotton t-shirt was visible above the the blankets tucked in around his waist. His right leg was elevated slightly on pillows underneath the covers, and he had opted to rebraid his hair quickly - not a style he usually wore, but it had less potential for getting disarrayed if he chose to nap.

Sheska opened the door carefully, peeking in to make sure she wasn't really intruding, and blinked in surprise. She tried to remember a time when she'd ever seen him this casual and failed. But that was quickly overwhelmed by her concern and she entered, leaving the door ajar. Goodness knows what the rest of the house would have thought if they were closeted in there together. "Um, I brought you the books..." she said, holding the tote out as evidence as she gingerly approached the bed. He'd never made a cheerful invalid, and this time was worse, in some ways, she understood. In order to forestall questions, she pulled out the wrapped package. "I thought I'd leave this for you, if you were sleeping, but... This is for you." She held it out, hoping she wasn't quite as pink as she felt.

Elena smiled faintly before she shook her head. "I'll get back to you on that one."

"I have no problems with Reno being shot under normal circumstances. You know I've done it once or twice.." dryly. "I just..."