We're property.

Ada had decided that this Valentine Day was okay, since it meant bright, pretty flowers in their room in the middle of a dull winter day.

"Aren't they pretty?" she called over her shoulder, waving a rose at her roommate before snipping the tip and returning it the fresh water she'd put in the vase. "Almost makes up for the lack of sunshine around here."

Cosima Niehaus	”Almost,” Cosima agreed, from where she laid on her stomach on the bed. “I still need spring, though. Flowers aren’t gonna cut it for long.”
Ada Miller	"I know, right?" she said over her shoulder. "People keep tellin' me this is totally normal and spring and summer will show up sometime in April or May, but that just doesn't seem right. You know what it's like in Arizona right now? Eight-five and sunny. I'd kill for some dry heat and sun right about now." She glanced back over at Cosima as she fiddled with the flowers, considering. "...you're really into science, right?" she said finally, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of her head telling her this was a terrible idea, that she shouldn't be trusting Townies with this. Or how pretty Cosima looked in the sunlight. As distracting as it was. "Like...super-smart with it all?"
Cosima Niehaus	”I’m pretty good with it,” Cosima admitted, looking up at her roomie and twirling a braid. (Ada was extra-nice to look at today, she realized.) “Why, is there a science fair coming up? Wanna make a volcano?”
Ada Miller	"Well I always want to make a volcano, especially if we can make it flood the boy's bathroom with fake-lava," Ada laughed. "But, um, not quite science-fair material." She'd been trying to talk herself into this for weeks. Ada took a deep breath, and undid the top few buttons of her blouse until she could pull it to the side enough for Cosima to see the scales along her collarbone that she normally camouflaged with the copious amounts of body-glitter. "They're spreading. They haven't spread in years but they're spreading and getting bigger and I don't know how to make 'em stop."
Cosima Niehaus	Cosima swallowed hard. With Ada’s blouse like that, it was hard to keep her mind on the collarbone instead of on what lay a few inches below. “Psoriasis,” she said, stuttering a bit over the word. “It’s, uh, a skin condition, right? You … probably just need cream.” Mmm. Cream. Cosima needed to stop that train of thought in its tracks.
Ada Miller	Ada snorted in amusement. Was Cosima blushing? "Ain't no psoriasis," she said dryly, shaking her head. "I know you noticed my hands, you ain't stupid, Cosima, though you are really good at not staring and that means a lot." Ada let go of her collar and turned around to lift her ponytail out of the way. At the nape of her neck was a small patch of shimmery gold scales, each one the size of a thumbprint. "Marti...my mama. She ain't exactly a human girl." "Not all the Biological Impossibilities on the carnival midway are fake. We just pretend they are because it's safer."
Cosima Niehaus	Cosima was actually grateful Ada was being confusing. It got her mind to swerve away from its gutter-ward drift. “I don’t know what you mean,” she admitted, leaning in to get a better look at the scales. “So you’re half not-human? Like, what, your mom was a chupacabra?”
Ada Miller	"Chupacabras don't look like people no more than jackalopes do!" she laughed, dropping her hair and shaking it back out to expertly hide the scales. Which, yes, implied she'd seen both of them. "No, Marti's a mermaid. So am I, but I don't want to change. I want to stay me, in my skin, and not end up in the water with a tail. B'fore, not eatin' meat and stayin' dry kept 'em in check. But now it's like they're makin' up for lost time. An' as cute as I'd look in a little seashell bra, I like havin' legs more."
Cosima Niehaus	”Legs are awesome,” Cosima said, sounding the tiniest bit distracted as she did. What Ada had just said both seemed utterly impossible, and felt like something she’d always known. “Okay. You’re a mermaid. And you want, like -- an antidote? Something that’ll make you not a mermaid?” A pause. “That’s a lot of science even for me, Roomie.”
Ada Miller	"Christopher was human," she said with a shrug. "So that means I'm at least a little bit human, right? And they'd stop spreading for a good long while before I-- I got good and dunked in a lake." Beat. "For a few weeks." "So if they stopped once, they can stop again!"
Cosima Niehaus	”Theoretically, sure,” Cosima acknowledged. “If we can figure out what used to make them stop, and get that to happen again.” She delicately traced a fingertip over a scale. “How’d you end up spending weeks in a lake?”
Ada Miller, Queen of Evasion	"Jumped in, forgot to get out again," she said, playing it off as a joke. "Time passes differently when you're down in the deep, I'll say that! It seemed like only a few hours to me."
Cosima Niehaus	”Freaky,” Cosima contributed, and then didn’t seem to have much else to say for a long moment. “I don’t know what to tell you,” she admitted at last. “I can research it and everything, but … they don’t exactly teach ‘stop someone from being a mermaid’ in AP bio. The power suppressor at the jail only works when you’re at the jail.”
Ada Miller	"And I don't got powers," she said simply. "Not unless you count breathing underwater or never remembering where I left my keys, and I sure don't." "Besides, I'm gettin' real tired of needing to clean the bits of broken scale out of my bed and into the trash can outside before you wake up an' see them. At the very least, I'd like to quit havin' parts of me splinter off when I sleep!"
Cosima Niehaus	”We all have that,” Cosima pointed out. “Do you know how many hairs I lose when I take my braids out?” Not the point, Cosima. “I’ll try,” she said again. “But I promise, the bits of you wouldn’t bug me. They’re, well … they’re you. I like you.” And today she liked Ada even more than usual.
Ada Miller	And Ada very much liked Cosima today, which was probably the only reason she'd managed to actually say anything. "Yeah, well, you an' Dante are the only ones who know," she said, blushing slightly. "I just... I don't feel comfortable enough 'round most people. It's too personal."
Cosima Niehaus	”You can tell me anything and it won’t leave the room,” Cosima said, very sincerely and with her eyes locking in on Ada’s. “I swear. Roommate’s honor.”
Ada Miller	Wow, had Cosima's eyes always been so pretty? Ada couldn't remember. She couldn't quite bring herself to look away. "Pinky-swear?" she said, holding up her hand. "Isn't that the one they do on the television shows?"
Cosima Niehaus	”Pinky swear,” Cosima agreed with a nod, and then she took Ada’s hand and just didn’t let go.
Ada Miller	Ada was... not exactly letting go either. Because Cosima's hand was nice and warm, and Ada always felt so cold with this 'winter' nonsense. Yes. That was why. "I appreciate it," she said, biting her lower lip unconsciously. "I really do." Oh, now it was warm in here. Wasn't it?
Cosima Niehaus	”It’s nothing,” Cosima said. “You’re pretty much my best friend here, so helping you … how can I not?” The room was warm, and the scales on Ada’s collarbone were shimmering at Cosima in a most inviting way.
Ada Miller	Well, there was a reason body-glitter worked so well to cover them up, they were the shiniest. And gold was a flattering color on Ada. She could tell that they were catching Cosima's attention. "You can touch 'em, if you want," she said, giving a half-smile. "It doesn't hurt me or nothin'."
Cosima Niehaus	”You don’t mind?” Cosima asked, but her fingers were already tracing along the delicate edges of the scales. And then -- as if she were in a trance -- she dipped her head, stopping just short of kissing Ada’s flesh.
Ada Miller	Cosima was probably close enough to notice Ada's sharp intake of breath. "You're gonna need to check them out sooner or later," she managed. "Might as well be sooner."
Cosima Niehaus	”It’ll be a thorough examination,” Cosima managed to say, before giving in to temptation and kissing the hollow of Ada’s throat. “Very thorough.”
Ada Miller	Okay, newsflash, Ada had not actually been aware her scales, and the skin around them, were sensative to touch. It wasn't like anyone had ever actually inspected them after Marti had-- changed. Especially not in that way. "That's, um..." One second, Cosima, you shorted out her brain. "I think that's a pretty good idea," Ada managed. "You know. For Science."
Cosima Niehaus	Cosima raised her head slightly, body and brain buzzing with new energy. “Science is awesome,” she said, smiling up at Ada. “Want to sit down so I can … get a better look?”
Ada Miller	Ada grinned. "Well, if you insist," she drawled, grabbing Cosima by the wrist and tugging her towards the closest bed. "I think I can manage that." Besides, there were a lot worse ways to spend the day than this.

[OOC: Preplayed with & coded by the awesomesauce boneyard_girl! That Ada & Cosima talked & got kissy is for broadcast, actual topic of conversation NFB.]

Cosima hadn't even been sure she was going to go to the Homecoming dance. It wasn't like she had a date, and she was confused about what Homecoming even was at a school with no sports teams.

But she'd been browsing Etsy in her hotel room one night during the trip to Jurassic Park, and she found the most perfect dress ever. So now she felt kind of obligated to go to the dance just so she could show it off properly.

The box with the dress had arrived that morning. Cosima posed in it in front of her dresser mirror, trying to decide what jewelry to wear and whether the frock looked better with her braids twisted up or down around her shoulders. She took her time about it, not wanting to put her regular clothes back on. "I wonder whether anybody would notice if I just never took this off," she asked her reflection. "I'd be like a cartoon character."

[OOC: Open post, cracked door. Dress link from boneyard_girl.]

Cosima groped under the blankets as she woke up, confused Delphine wasn't there for a morning snuggle. She foggily half-wondered if her wife had already gone to the lab before it came to her: This was Fandom, and she was here for her reunion. Work had kept Delphine in Paris, which was too bad -- she'd hoped to show her off.

She didn't remember having agreed to stay in her old dorm room, but she must have. Ada's humidifiers still hummed away, and her Triassic World poster hung over her bed. "Nice of them to amp up the nostalgia," she mused aloud, and then reached to fumble in the back of her nightstand drawer to see exactly how far they'd gone with the recreation. As a student, she'd kept something there that made Fandom's quirks a lot funnier.

Her hand came away empty. No wake-and-bake today. Cosima decided to dress and see who else might be around.

[OOC: CLosed door, open post!]

Fair warning: This is probably going to have WAY too many gifs in it, because Tatiana Maslany is pretty when she's all geeked out. Sorry not sorry.

( In which I ramble a lot )

The others (Alana, Anders and Jack) are all pretty much as they were back in January, so they don't get a fresh post.