"Have you seen Lumpy?!" Rogue asked, popping up to question Stress, the girl who shared her bunk.
Stress jumped a little, startled into wakefulness, "Have I seen what?" She asked, shooting Rogue a look that clearly said 'are you insane?'
"Lumpy!" Rogue repeated, as if Stress should know full well what she was talking about. "I had him last night, and this morning he was gone!"
Stress blinked, her brain still fuzzy from sleep, "What the heck is a lumpy?"
"Not what, who-" she paused to consider that, "Or, maybe he is a what, I don't know," She waved her hands in front of her, as if brushing the thought away, "It doesn't matter, the point is, he's missing." Rogue was actually starting to feel a little frantic, which was odd for her. Usually she was pretty level headed.
Stress yawned, kicking her blanket off, and hopping down to the floor. "You're going to have to tell me what a lumpy is, or I can't help you."
"Lumpy," Rogue said, sighing, "Is my stuffed bear." She cringed as she said it, waiting to be made fun of for having a stuffed toy at seventeen. The fact was, even she knew she was acting a little weird about it, but she'd had Lumpy since she was three, her father had given him to her.
Stress raised an eyebrow, "Oh." She said, running a hand over her brown curls in an attempt to calm then from their mussed state, "Well, then no, I haven't seen him. Maybe he fell under the bed?"
Rogue shook her head, "I checked there. It's alright," she said, sighing, "I'm sure I'll find him."
Stress nodded, too groggy to offer any more assistance at the moment, she turned towards the washroom, "Well, good luck."
"What are you looking for?" Aki questioned, pushing her own covers off, and getting out of bed, she brushed her bangs away from her forehead, waiting for Rogue to answer.
"Lumpy."
"Lumpy?" Aki asked.
"Yeah, Lumpy. He's a stuffed bear." Rogue really didn't want to go through the whole explanation again, "You seen him?'
"No, sorry," Aki nodded towards the window, where Morning Glory was climbing in off the fire escape, "You seen a stuffed bear, Glory?"
"You mean ever? Yeah. I saw a stuffed bear once. I think it was part of a circus," Morning Glory answered sarcastically, blinking as her blue eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the room.
Aki fought a smile at that, turning back to Rogue, "Ah, that would be a no."
"Yeah, I got that," Rogue replied. She turned back to her bottom bunk, yanking the blanket off, hoping that maybe he'd just missed him, and he was tangled up somewhere within the sheets.
Corner was the next girl to rise, and she too raised her eyebrows at Rogue's odd behavior. "Everything okay, Rogue?"
"Yeah," Rogue's voice was muffled, because now she was laying across the bed on her stomach, trying to jam her head into the small space between the wall and the bunk, to see if maybe Lumpy had fallen and been wedged there. All she managed to do was squish her face against the wall, one eye closed as she peered down. "Drat. Nothing."
Corner couldn't help but laugh out loud at the scene, but quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Once she had herself under control again, she repeated her question, "Are you sure you're ok? Did you loose something?"
Rogue flipped over and sat up, blowing a curl out of her face, "Yeah, I lost my stuffed bear. I know it sounds silly, but my father gave it to me." She leaned over suddenly, pulling open the drawer to the small nightstand, "See, his ear fell off yesterday, and I was going to sew it back on this morning. But now I can't find him." Rogue's brow furrowed as she talked, pulling things out of the drawer, she stood, pulling the whole drawer out of the stand, and dumping it's contents on the bed, rifling through them.
Bottle Cap had been watching the exchange from her bunk, "Problems?" she asked drily, as she watched Rogue frantically search through the drawers contents.
"His ear is gone!"
"You had an ear in your drawer?!" Peri exclaimed, looking shocked as she walked into the bunkroom, her auburn hair still dripping from it's recent washing. "That's disgusting!"
"Not a real ear." Bottle Cap said, rolling her eyes, "Wait, it wasn't a real ear, was it?"
"No, of course not! That's just gross. It was my bear's ear. Now Lumpy and his ear are missing! What is going on around here?!"
"Maybe Lumpy wanted to escape, and he took his ear with him," Mischief commented from her bunk, enjoying the little show. "I haven't seen him since yesterday."
Rogue sat down on her bed, frustrated, almost to the point of tears. She hated to be so upset over a stupid bear, but it wasn't so much the actual toy as it was the fact that her father had given it to her.
"Don't worry, Rogue, I'm sure you'll find him." Corner said, squeezing Rogue's shoulder.
"Good Morning, girls!" Locket exclaimed as she entered the bunkroom, already dressed and ready for the day, "Hey Rogue, I hope you don't mind, but I sewed your bear's ear back on. I got up early, and couldn't sleep." Locket held out Lumpy, a bedraggled little bear, his fur ratty, and one eye missing. His right ear was sewn on a little crooked, but at least it was attached to his head.
"Lumpy!" Rogue exclaimed, jumping up so fast she almost hit her head on the bottom of the top bunk. She glanced around sheepishly, only now noticing that the entire bunk room was watching her, "Uh, thanks, Locket." She said to the other girl, before holding Lumpy aloft, a small grin on her face "Found him, guys."