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 Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:39 pm
Quinn yawned. It was an early morning of twelve-thirty in the afternoon, and he was ready for some breakfast. Having shambled around aimlessly in pursuit of food in his house and finding nothing, he decided to head for the most logical second choice; Vale's.
It wouldn't do to go over there while he was dirty, of course. He took a shower, ate a few espresso beans (his equivalent of popping some pills) and headed outside. It was just a short walk across the street.
He was still out of it, and had to dodge an old lady walking along the sidewalk, but he made it across the street in one piece nonetheless.
He beat his hand against the door three times, then leaned took a step back and hooked his fingers in his belt.
If Vale answered, he could just tell him he was there for food, and Vale would roll his eyes but let him in. Eventually.
If Sydni answered, he'd convince her to let him inside, tell Vale he was there for food, and Vale would roll his eyes but give him some. Eventually.
He couldn't help but think he was forgetting someone.
Oh, well.
He knocked again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:18 pm
She groaned, grabbing at the pot that she was simmering and working her way towards the door. Her expression looked tired, her hair in a messy and spiky bun, and her body covered with Valeriu’s old clothes. Today was the day that she planned on making dinner-- a surprise for Valeriu-- and it wasn’t going so well.
For some reason, even though she was cooking them in water, the eggs never seemed to solidify properly. Either that, or they became hard and rubbery-- completely and utterly unappetizing either way.
Adding Quinn to her failure was like lighting a fuse. Slowly but surely, her patience would run out. Except for, unlike before, she actually had some fire power now.
She glared at him, hip holding the door open as the pot was held at waist level.
She was tempted to throw her egg-water at him.
She opted to close the door with her hip instead.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:27 pm
Quinn blinked. Tepin? So that was who he had forgotten.
And then, as soon as it had opened, it was closing.
"Wait!" He yelped, reaching forward and putting his hand against the door, pressing against her hip. "Tepin? Hey. Is Vale here?" Then he saw the pot in her hand. "Guess not. He'd be cooking, wouldn't he?" He bit his lower lip. "Uhm. Well, I was just looking for him. Mind if I come in?"
He gave his best big smile, trying his best to insinuate 'Don't ask questions, just let me in, please?'
He doubted it would work.
"I'll help you cook!" He chirped, cheerily.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:40 pm
“God, you’re a pain in the butt.” Still, the door opened with a groan as the pot swung precariously away, followed by the curvy girl as she turned back to the kitchen. Setting the pot back onto the stovetop, she carefully covered it before fidgeting with the dials momentarily.
That complete, she whirled around, facing him as she leaned against the counter.
“Vale’s not here because he has a job. Some people have things called responsibilities.”
Today was not the day, and Tepin was not in the mood. She had about three eggs left before she had gone through an entire carton, and she’d need to run to the store and replace them so Vale would never know about her failed attempts. Knowing Quinn (And particularly their last encounter), he would distract her until the last moment, and then go and ruin everything ever.
“Why would you wanna see Vale anyway---OH: and you can’t cook any better than I can, so stuff it-- In case you can‘t tell from the last time you barged in, he still hates you.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:47 pm
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard about those. Looks like you're one to talk, with your hanging around all day ruining eggs. And I can cook just fine, as long as it's noodles or grilled cheese." He followed her inside and shut the door quietly behind him, trotting along behind her.
The house was nice, but the kitchen seemed like it was in a bit of disarray. He noticed the nearly-empty egg carton and severe lack of completed eggs, and smirked at her.
"Are you trying to make hard-boiled eggs, or what?" He looked around, then looked particularly smug at her last comment.
"Mm, not quite," he muttered, biting his tongue, mostly. At least, for now.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:56 pm
“Oh, yeah~. I forgot taking care of the family and cooking for toddlers was irresponsible.”
His glances around the house was not lost on her. It felt oddly satisfying.
“Yea, yea-- Hey-- half of that is my doing. I’m a mom too, now.”
The little butt. Of course Tepin helped around the house. There was no way that Vale could hold down his normal work, his internship, and taking care of his sister without a major amount of help around the home.
“And I’m making devilled eggs. It’s different.” Entirely different! You had to let the eggs sit overnight (Which she had neglected), add vinegar (Which she had forgotten), and make sure that they do not cook so long that they get too rubbery to cut properly (Which, to her dismay, was harder than it looked). “Completely different.”
Some people liked to eat things other than noodles and grilled cheese. Valeriu was one of those people. Sydni was not. However, Sydni was not the one who went shopping every few days.
“Oh, yea. He only avoided you-- I forgot he didn’t go for your throat then and there.”
Idiot. Quinn was lucky that there were innocent people there. If there hadn’t been, naturally Vale would have gone for the kill. They were mortal enemies after all.
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:31 am
He laughed. "Yes. Horribly irresponsible. Even I cower in the awesome might of your lack of responsiblity." He was obviously joking, and smiled at her.
"Well, I'm a damn good uncle. So there." He narrowed his eyes at the eggs. "Well, hypothetically, let's assume you're making these entirely wrong, and you need to make something else before the world runs out of chickens. What do we do?" He pulled an egg out, and flourished it in front of her.
"We make something else. Omelettes? Boiled? It doesn't matter, as long as it's...something else. Because this isn't working for you." He laughed. Just as long as she knew how to make omelettes, because he didn't. Boiled eggs he could do. He thought. You just...boiled them. Right?
Almost as a side note, like he was trying to keep it away but couldn't stop himself, he muttered, "Well, that wasn't really our most recent encounter."
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:53 pm
The world wasn’t going to run out of chickens and they both knew it. She scowled at him, before clicking the stovetop off with an overdramatic flair.
He could have it his way.
She bustled to the fridge, regretting her decision to let this strange man into her house in the first place. He was giving her nothing but trouble. A block of cheese later, she was digging in the cupboards beside the oven. A bowl in hand, she balanced the two objects on her hips before pulling open the drawer near the sink and removing the cheese grater.
Her small pile complete, the mess of egg shells were swept into the trash with her arm.
Mission complete. It was time for her to mutilate the cheese. As she grated it, she sent another look his way-- it was clear that she did not believe him.
“Well, he’s not here, and he won’t be back until much later tonight.”
The cheese grated effortlessly in her hand. She had motivation.
“And you aren’t sticking around until he gets here.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:37 pm
Quinn did his best to stay out of her way as she tossed cheese and eggs around. He nudged her and held out his hands, offering to grate while she gathered other ingredients.
"I disagree. I think I'll be here until he gets back. Dinner sounds great." He smiled at her. "And I haven't seen Sydni in a few days. She probably misses me."
Holding his tongue was hard. He didn't really want to start a fight, but the idea of it excited him. It sounded entertaining, and he was a bit smug about it.
"He wouldn't mind," He didn't make eye contact, and tried not to grin. "Like he didn't mind pushing me down onto the couch at my house."
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:10 pm
She jabbed back at him with her elbow, retreating to the far side of the kitchen with ingredients in hand.
“Yea, well, you still got a good six or so hours until he gets back and the family can eat. If you’re hungry--” Her elbow now jabbed towards the trash, “There’s about nine eggs in there you can eat.”
Sydni had been napping that day after several hours of harassment to her babysitter (It was those times that she hated Valeriu for waking her up to say goodbye before he went to work). The peace and quiet of the sleeping toddler was something that Tepin would, so help her God, defend with tooth and nail.
He was definitely not staying.
His words stopped her dead in her tracks.
That idiot.
That idiot!!
“My GOD--” Waking Sydni up had fluttered far from her mind as she slammed down the bowl on the counter, “…You slimy piece of crap--”
She didn’t even think to put the cheese down, her flurry of hand movements making it all too clear that words were not enough to convey the emotions she was experiencing.
“You just can’t get enough, can you? How many times-- How many times do you have to hurt that boy before you are satisfied!?” The cheese repeatedly slammed against the countertop with each emphasis of her words, and her glare was one of pure hatred. “You know that all he wants is to be accepted--- you know that!”
She was storming out of the kitchen now, her steps pounding against the home that Valeriu’s father had built-- and yet her voice still rang true and full of rage as she made her way to the library.
“You can’t just leave him alone-- You can’t just let him be happy! NO! Not you! You have to go and--” The sound of something slamming hard on a wooden table could be heard from the room, “Get his damn hopes up, and then tear him apart-- Don’t you, Quinn!?”
She didn’t care who would hear it-- and she didn’t care what the consequences would be. This was just something she had to do.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:19 am
Quinn, when he was done jumping like the coward that he was backwards away from from the cheese slams, crossed his arms and stepped back, allowing her to stomp through the door.
"For your information, Tepin, he came to me. He was all hyped up on--" he froze. "Power, and was being kind of a douche. He made me a ton of pancakes and then tried to offer me sex." He stared blankly at Tepin. "I said no."
"And besides," he continued, refusing to yell back at her regardless of how much she screamed, "If you want to have a talk about getting someone's hopes up, maybe you should look in the mirror, Dumpsy Mc Turnyadownalot." He raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, he doesn't remember proposing to you, like you said he did. But, I wonder, if you had said yes," he looked up at the ceiling, like he was daydreaming, "I wonder if it wouldn't have been blocked out. If the good feelings he would have gotten from that would still be remembered." He shrugged.
"Oh, well. I guess we'll never know."
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:59 am
His excuses did not phase her in the slightest.
“And you, being the genius that you are, couldn’t figure out that something was wrong with him?!”
Tepin knew, even without Quinn telling her. She knew that she had turned him down. But he would have remembered if it was important. If she had forced her will onto him… Then that was just taking advantage of Valeriu’s weakness, which made her no better than Quinn.
She was doing it for his sake.
Still, she didn’t remove herself from the library, her eyes staring down at the case in her hands-- fingers tight against the lock.
“It doesn’t matter who it is. Vale just needs someone to accept him.” It didn’t matter if it was her. She knew that.
“But for that person to accept him, they have to accept all of him.” She didn’t know if she could do that, “And still love what the see, even the bad parts. Even those parts…”
Quinn would get it, right? Tepin really didn’t want to say those words aloud. That dirty word.
Cannibal.
“You ran away, Quinn. He’s never going to be able to trust you-- not honestly. If you genuinely cared of Vale, you’d stop dangling a relationship in front of him.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:44 pm
"Of course I knew something was wrong. That was why I turned him down! Are you even listening to me?" Quinn threw his arms up into the air.
"And I do accept him. And so do you. And Sydni, and Seamus, and Murphy. I may be ******** scared of him sometimes, and I'm not going to sit here and hear you say you aren't, because you are, but that doesn't mean I don't accept him." He glared at her. "I don't know who died and made you Queen of All That Is Good, but you're not perfect either. You may think you are, but you aren't. And if you're so perfect," He took a step towards her, still glaring, "If you're so perfect, why did he have to come to me? Regardless of how high he was."
"If you really gave him everything he needed, then I wouldn't be necessary. If you knew, exactly, how to make his life good and right, then he wouldn't need me. If you loved him, you would have pulled your head out of your a** and accepted his proposal. But you didn't, so let it go. I'm not dangling anything. I'm just giving him what you won't."
She didn't make sense to him. If she wanted him so bad, why didn't she just take the chance she was given?
She's obviously completely in love with him. I don't understand.
Sometimes things are more complicated than that, Quinn.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:31 pm
“Fine--!!” If that was what he wanted, so be it. Tepin would be the one at home left to pick the pieces up when Valeriu fell apart over this.
Again and again. It didn’t matter how many times.
It… It made no sense. Quinn wasn’t listening at all. Of course she couldn’t accept Vale for everything that he was, of course she was terrified. Hadn’t she made that clear enough? Even if she wanted to love him and accept that, she couldn’t be what Vale needed either. At least not now. Not while he was still sneaking out to hunt at night.
“If that’s what makes him happy, fine. Good.” It wasn’t fine at all.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:15 pm
Quinn stood there for a mouth agape, poised and ready to continue arguing. "Yeah, but you--" His brow furrowed. "Fine? Good?" He seemed completely bewildered. "Uh--"
This was new territory.
He had won?
"Yeah." I think. "If that's what makes him happy. Good, uh, philosophy. Er, idea. There." Right? Where am I? "Maybe...Maybe, uhm, we should go...eggs. Eggs?"
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