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| Roomies! [Arc] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 13 2018, 06:35 PM (69 Views) | |
| AtlasHyperion | Jun 13 2018, 06:35 PM Post #1 |
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Why was it always flour? Vox sat on the edge of his bed, brushing off the flour from his hair onto the floor. It made his hair a massive mess, both the flour and the constant fluffing. If he didn't get it all out, his hair would get all weirdly-textured after he slept on it. But, now there was a mess of white powder on the floor and his roommate was sure to be there soon. What would she say? He needed to make a good impression, he needed to make sure that they wouldn't fight. Having fights with the person you might get stuck with until you both age out? Terrible, horrible, Vox wouldn't dare think about that. He supposed that he would have to clean. Now, he was his hands and knees with a little wet rag, trying to mop up the powder. It was getting tedious at this point, he couldn't believe how much he had gotten on the floor. What would he do to pass the time? Of course! With the corners of his lips pulled up into a smile, he began to whistle away the time. |
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| Arcane | Jun 13 2018, 08:25 PM Post #2 |
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So this was the weyr. High curving walls loomed over it, blocking out any sight of the outside world. And the dragons were everywhere. Quinn don't know what she had imagined them doing. Hunting maybe and breathing fire. She hadn't been expecting so many just...sitting there. It was a little creepy, actually. As if the walls themselves had eyes. The candidate barracks, thankfully, were sized for humans only. Here at least, she could be alone, at least a little. She turned over the key in her hand as she walked towards the room she'd been assigned. Apparently one of the candidate boys had an empty cot that would suit her. Quinn didn't much care. She'd shared a room most of her life with her three sisters and brother. It was a bed, a place to sleep and wait until she Impressed. She knocked before she cracked open the door to find...a scene that was so utterly, heartbreakingly familiar it made her smile. A boy cleaning flour. She didn't know how she'd imagined her fellow candidates either. But this...this was...human. "Hi. I'm Quinn. Mind I come in? I think I'll be staying here. I can help you with that flour. There's a trick to it." |
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| AtlasHyperion | Jun 14 2018, 01:23 PM Post #3 |
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If someone asked what Vox's first interaction with his roommate was in the future, he would make sure that no one knew was him jumping with fright from her sudden entrance. When he hit the ground, he rolled over onto his back, slapping a hand over his chest and laughing. A knock might have helped, but the past is past, he supposed. Vox looked over at her with a smile. "You scared me!" Standing himself back up, he walked over to the woman. This was his roommate? Good! She seemed kind enough already, he just hoped his little stunt there wouldn't turn her off from being friends. "But, that's okay! I always jump at stuff like that... sudden noises! Not- not new people. Come on, let's see what we can do with this mess." "I... I got into baking a few years back. It's addicting, you know? Since we're roommates and all, expect to find me getting you to try out a pastry or two. They won't be bad, I promise, maybe a little weird if it's a new recipe, but overall good." He plopped himself back down onto the floor next to the flour. "I was going to take a nap, but if I had a mess of flour in my hair and... well, you shouldn't leave that stuff in there. Thank goodness it's just powder, you know? Little ruffle, little fluffle, and it's out." He sighed. "And then there's the mess." |
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| Arcane | Jun 15 2018, 12:25 AM Post #4 |
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Quinn blinked, taken aback despite herself. How was this boy a candidate? He was easily surprised and reacted to said surprise with panic and then laughter. He didn't seem like much of a soldier at all. He must be new too. She was going to have to take care of him, she could already tell. The riders didn't strike her as a people who were kind to those who showed weakness. And thread certainly knew nothing of compassion. She gave him a small smile as she put her satchel on the empty cot that was now hers. This would suit her just fine, "I'm sorry I scared you. You okay? I'll knock next time." She didn't want him to hit his head or something. Quinn's eyes softened slightly at his easy babble. She didn't know a lot of soft people. Their cothold had always been a rugged place where people worked hard and didn't bake things like cakes. But it was just so...soothing that there were still people like this. Why had the riders taken him? This boy was no soldier. "Well I haven't had enough cakes to know what's normal. But I'd never turn down free sweets. We can clean after your nap if you're tired. The tunnelsnakes won't sniff it out that fast." |
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| AtlasHyperion | Jun 17 2018, 12:31 PM Post #5 |
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"I'm fine, yeah! I'm good, I just didn't expect you until a little bit later. That, and I was focused on trying to clean up this mess before you got here. First impressions, right? Good ones are what I aim for." He chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, per the norm. "But, yes, knocking would help out a little bit next time. Totally, one hundred and ten percent on board for knocking next time. I'll do the same." Vox put his hand down near the flour and drew a little square into what remained, may not help him clean it, but it was fun. Baking was his passion, when you got down to it. He might not be suited for any of... this, fighting thread, fighting people, having and caring for a dragon. Vox wanted companionship, he wanted a friend to talk away the hours with, someone to joke around with and be able to tell all his insecurities and secrets. Baking suited him better, cooking too. He was soft at his core, but he was prepared to be rigid if that's what all this required. But, not too rigid, that might impair his baking. "You haven't tried- you haven't tried enough cakes?" He bounced back up, standing straight. "Okay, no, that's it. What's your favorite flavor? Come on, tell me, spit it out. You'll have a cake by tomorrow at the latest, maybe even tonight. It won't be... huge, small if anything, but, it will be good. Cleaning schmeaning. Cake time, Quinn." He paused and smiled. "Oh yeah! I'm Vox." |
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| Arcane | Jun 17 2018, 11:30 PM Post #6 |
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"It's fine," Quinn said reflexively. Had the dragonriders terrified this poor, sweet child into submission? Or was he just...the kind of soft boy who baked cakes and thought being a rider was like a harper's song? She smiled at him anyway as she assured him, "You don't need to impress me." They were going to be living together and Quinn knew well enough nobody looked so impressive asleep. There was drool and snoring and weird inarticulate mumblings. Standing on ceremony seemed like a good way to make things awkward. "But I'll knock next time," she promised. For the sake of keeping him comfortable and not sending him jumping out of his skin. Quinn blinked at the sudden, out of the blue offer. She shifted as she said, "I don't know." They hadn't had a lot of sugar back home. Cakes were a treat reserved for Gathers. Vox was probably weyrborn or for somewhere like Fort Hold where they had all the sweets a child could wish for. At least he wasn't cowering anymore. And...she did like cake, "That sounds...nice. It's good to meet you, Vox. And not just because of the cake. I'll get the flour if you're busy baking for me." Because SHE wasn't going to take advantage of someone else's genuine kindness. Especially not someone like Vox. |
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| AtlasHyperion | Jun 21 2018, 10:06 AM Post #7 |
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"Don't need to- well, at the very least, I need to make friends with you, which I want to! We're roommates! I don't want to spend every waking moment of my life fighting with you. That's something my brother would do." Vox chuckled softly. "I just... I like being nice, you know? Nice to people. You only get one shot sometimes and I'd rather them have a lasting impression of someone who actually cared about them rather than someone who just there in the background. Everyone needs a friend, you know? I'm willing to be that friend." That was enough of being himself, now he needed to be the eccentric baker that was just a little too over the top sometimes. "You don't- Okay, okay that's not fair. Not for me but for you. Tsk. You know what that means, don't you, Quinn?" He crossed his arms, trying to do his best to have a serious expression, but he failed miserably. He was snickering the whole time. "You're gonna have to try a whole lot of cake batter." "And don't even worry about the flour, I'll... I'll get that. You don't need to clean it. My mess, I have to clean." Vox hoped he didn't seem like he was trying too hard, that happened a lot. |
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| Arcane | Jun 23 2018, 04:02 PM Post #8 |
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Yep someone had done something to make Vox think he had to be this way. Because NOBODY was naturally this accommodating. Even in Quinn's hold where getting along and helping out was all but required and nobody wanted to shirk their duties, people still argued over chores and how to hang the socks and which crops grew best in a wet summer, "I'd like to be friends too. But you don't have to do everything. That doesn't sound much like friendship to me." It sounded like taking advantage of a good person. And Quinn wasn't going to do that. The riders and their children might have found it acceptable but she didn't. At all, "I should be a friend to you too. It's not fair for it to go both ways. If you're making the cakes...which sounds lovely...I should clean. That's fair." Fairness was important. It wasn't only the right thing to do. It was also practical. It stopped resentments from simmering under the surface waiting to explode. Even nice people wanted fairness, somewhere deep down. "I've never had cake batter before. Is it safe to eat?" Quinn asked with a smile that was small but genuine. She could easily be friends with this Vox. He was just so...sweet. And while she didn't want to be sick on her first day of candidacy...she did want to play along with this quest to find the perfect cake. Both because cake seemed a decadent and exotic luxury and because she didn't want to disappoint him when Vox was so clearly trying. |
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| AtlasHyperion | Jun 24 2018, 01:24 PM Post #9 |
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If you dug deep into Vox, you could find out why he piled and piled work upon his shoulders. Yes, he cared about others. Yes, he desperately craved to help anyone who needed it. But, he also wanted to distract himself from himself. It was easier to indulge himself in heavy workloads and helping others and pastry-based pastimes rather than to treat himself with respect. "But- Aw, Quinn. I... It's nothing for me to pick up the work around here, I'm used to it! Really, I am." Was being a good friend letting others do work that they didn't need to do? Wouldn't someone rather some free time to go out and enjoy the scenery every so often? It was simple, it was fair to him to do the work. She didn't need to do this. "I... I don't know. I think it's fair enough for me to clean. Plus, the cake is a gift. It's..." Vox paused before chuckling softly. "I wanted no arguments and here we are, arguing over how to be fair friends. Kind of funny." He sighed. Even if it was a friendly argument, it was an argument nonetheless. "If you want to clean, I won't stop you. But, if I finish the cake before you finish cleaning, well... there's no rule against me helping you clean up the flour, is there?" "Now that, that is a good question. It's like this: since it's raw, there's a small, I mean small, chance of getting very mild salmonella. But, if you limit yourself to maybe... a drop or two per batter? You'll be fine. I'm usually fine. It's like cookie dough but liquid." He smiled. "It's worth it though, if you do get it. But you won't, I'll make sure. It's worth it to do the testing as well. Then you know what your favorite type of cake is, which means I can make it on your birthday and for any other special occasion that pops up!" |
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| Arcane | Jun 27 2018, 11:59 AM Post #10 |
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"Well I'm used to it too. But I'm also used to sharing. Does nobody ever offer off YOU a hand?" Quinn asked. How selfish WERE these weyr people? Even other candidates didn't offer to help and simply took and took and took? He SHOULDN'T be used to living like that. And Quinn was going to make sure he wasn't. If she found out which other candidates weren't pulling their weight...she'd talk to them for Vox. Just because he was nice didn't mean he deserved to be walked over. Quinn tilted her head as Vox declared their conversation an argument. Maybe it had been a SLIGHTLY pushy offer to help...but it rubbed her the wrong way that he expected so little, "I don't want to argue either. I just want to help. How about we make a chores rotation from now on? This way we can both pull our weight and there's no need for arguing." That was how they'd done it at home when they were all young enough to argue over who did what. Organization always made things better. "And not at all. We can do cake first and then clean it up together," she offered. She could show him her tricks for getting it cleaned more quickly so it would all be fair, "But for now...let's do cake. It sounds fun enough to be worth a bit of a food poisoning." She'd never actually had cookie dough either but if she brought that up, he'd probably only insist on making COOKIES on top of everything else. She already hated whoever'd made Vox feel like he had to do all this just to have friends. |
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