towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Anyone and everyone
Setting: Cafeteria, Noon, Nov 7th
Format: Anything
Summary: A party/discussion mingle after calling a meeting of the residents.
Warnings: tba

The anonymous post on the network was an invitation to gather, discuss and share information. Maybe they would get incredibly lucky and get to the bottom of things, such as who was behind the bombings or the strange things that went on during Quarantine.

Someone has been at work down here in the dining hall, moving the tables around to create a space in the middle in case people felt like dancing. Most of the chairs are around the outside and facing the middle, for everyone to see each other better. There was another space and some chairs for musicians, and a couple of the larger tables were set up with a large buffet of normal cafeteria food (because Zo wasn't likely to poison them) and resident prepared dishes, both clearly marked.

Of course, there was always the oatmeal.

[ooc: Feel free to make your own threads and subthreads!]

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[When Rick arrives, he'll find that Elena is a blur of activity in the kitchen. Sleeves of her Academy uniform are pushed up past her elbows, hair pinned back to stay out of her eyes while she works. There are spots of flour on hands and lower arms, a touch on her cheek and several spots on the front of her blouse, hands working at a giant wad of dough that she works and kneads.

Just to the left are two racks of various cookies that are cooling and even further down are small muffins. Behind her, the buzzer goes off and she's spinning first to look at the offending sound, then to the newest occupant in the kitchen.]

....Ah..its you! [Blink.] Could you get that? cookies are about to burn.

[Oh my! Rick knows this state when he sees it, and therefore wastes no time in answering.]

Uh--yeah! Y-Yes.

[The pudgy blonde man moves surprisingly quick, snatching the cookies from the oven with impromptu towel oven mitts and setting them by the other cooling batch, which he decides probably need to be put on a tray and brought to the front at this point. He starts looking around the cupboards for one while he's thinking about it.]

A-Anything else I c-can do?

Edited 2013-11-08 16:56 (UTC)

[Oh thank Gaia, because if she had anything burn she was not going to hear the end of it from Reno. Ever.]

Thank you, you're a life saver.

[While hands continue to work the dough for small pastries, she's carefully listening to his movements behind her, to the speed that lay hidden beneath the exterior. A corner of her mouth quirks up into something of a grin.]

Plenty, if you don't mind the work. [And she pauses for just a second, turning her head in his direction.] All the cookies but that last batch you brought out are ready to go out. Would you plate them and take them out? Oh, and if you see a tall guy with red-hair and red tattoos, would you make sure he gets a chocolate-chip one?

[Plates, plates, plates...ah, there's a good-sized one. Rick nabs it and starts arranging the cooled cookies in evenly intervals before Elena asks him to.]

--O-Oh i-it's--I m-mean, I w-w-was p-planning on s-s-staying here a-anyways. [The man still babbles and stammers, but he seems a lot more comfortable in this environment, even to someone that he doesn't know as well. Of course, when she describes someone else he's recently seen in sufficient detail, that's enough to convince him that he should probably get to know her better.]

...R-Reno? [He raises a quizzical eyebrow.] Uh--y-yeah, I c-c-can do that. He, um...he w-was just h-here.

[He had initiative, that was a good thing. It meant that odds were that, in this environment, he would know next steps without being told. If anything, he might have to even instruct her if he had any particular thing to cook or prepare.

Elena can't help but smile a little at his stammering. He had done the same with her last time when they'd met in the sewing floor which lead her to believe that he was either easily made nervous by girls or it was a sort of tick he'd had he whole life.]

..Yeah Re- [Hold on a second. Sorry, Rick, but she's now totally turning to face him, shoulders squared and expression carefully neutral.] How do you know Reno?

[Rick's expression is at first surprised, but quickly falls into worry. She's being oddly stern about this--should he not know Reno? Has he said something else wrong? Why is she being so intense about someone she wants to give a cookie to?]

--A-A-Ah--w-w-well--uh-- [More incomprehensible noises escape as he continues to wildly speculate about her reaction and become increasingly anxious about it.] --I-I j-just--I-I've m-met him, b-b-before? I-I-I-I m-mean--a-a-ah--l-last m-m-month.

[Posturing was everything for a Turk and, given her smaller stature, it was all the more important that she make herself look all the more intimidating. Which was made only harder by the school uniform. Nevertheless, it seemed to be working given the way his stammering became worse.]

Easy there...Rick, right? [Flour covered hands are kept outward and away from her body to prevent herself from getting more of the stuff on her shirt even as arms cross loosely over her chest.] You say you met him last month? When? Where?

[Rick nods numbly, lowering his head with nervous eyes flickering between Elena's sturdy gaze and the much more welcoming tile by her feet. Never has there been a more submissive fellow in this Tower.]

U-Uh...the m-m-morgue. [Realizing how weird that probably sounds: ] --I-I--I w-w-work there. The T-Tower, um...yeah.

[That is to say, his current occupation wasn't by choice. It's enough of a distracting correction to make that Rick nearly continues, about to go into detail about finding Reno in--]

[His mouth opens, freezes, and then abruptly clamps shut while his face runs crimson with blush.]

The morgue?!

[Elena remembered meeting Reno for training. His raw throat. His comment about an incident at the morgue but that it was nothing to worry about. She hadn't pressed and he never followed up. It had been a dropped issue, but she had never forgotten. And now. Now she had somebody who could tell her what happened.

She's quick to close the space between them, hands on his shoulders. Her expression is pleading.]

Tell me! What happened? How did you meet him?

Y-Yeah--a-ah!

[Elena is in his bubble! Elena is in his bubble! Rick freezes in place, stock-still with shoulders held stiffly in her hands, blue eyes wide in bewilderment.]

--I--I-I--I d-d-don't--a-a-ah--I--!

[Oh. Oh shit. He wasn't talking and she's pretty sure its because of her presence. Her closeness. Elena instantly lets go and shuffles backwards, hands coming up parallel to her shoulders as if he had a gun pointed at her. Which, in a sense, he did. He had information she wanted, that she needed.]

Sorry! Sorry... I just... [She doesn't change her positioning, wanting him to understand she meant him no harm.] Reno is my partner and my husband. He said there was an incident at the morgue, but nothing more. So....please...I need to know what happened.

[Rick's terrified stammering gradually subsides, although this in no way means that his anxiety is subsiding with it. As soon as Elena lets go he ends up holding himself, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest while he regains his bearings. She's riled him up pretty badly; it'll be some time before he's comfortable enough to answer coherently again.]

[That said, he's not without comprehension. His startled expression shifts oddly into one of confusion.]

--Y-You're his--? [He blinks, runs a quick hand through his hair.] --I-I'm s-s-sorry, I--I d-didn't r-r-realize...

[Rick mulls over that for a while.]

...H-He was...s-s-scared, I...I think. I, ah...w-w-would've r-r-reacted the s-same way.

[Her attention is focused solely on the man in front of her, forgetting her her duties in providing food for the upcoming party. Not once had she suspected that physical touch would have set the man off and she's regretting getting him so worked up.

At his question, she nods in silences, hands moving to grip at the kitchen counter, her back pressed against the edge behind her. She doesn't speak, forcing the urgency to settle to ensure she didn't upset the man any further. Which was hard, given the information she was getting.]

Scared of what? He's seen plenty of bodies before - what would have scared him there?

[Rick is rather hesitant to respond. Something tells him he shouldn't be giving away this information; Reno seemed pretty shaken by the whole thing, and might be horribly embarrassed if someone else brought it up at an inopportune time. But this wasn't just anyone asking--this was his wife, and if Rick's experience with his own lady is worth anything, it is her job to know. Even if he was tasked with keeping a secret, he couldn't honestly be expected to keep this information from her in good conscience, could he?]

[He worries his lip for a few moments before making up his mind.]

...He, ah...w-w-well I f-found him...in one of the, um...the l-lockers. [Rick shakes his head.] They--th--they h-have a h-h-habit of c-closing on p-people, and--I'm n-not s-sure why he--o--or h-how long, e-e-even...

[Breathe. Patience. Calm. Its a mantra she had up and decided to use. Anything to keep her focused. Calm. Reno had given her some information about what happened. But the note had left a good deal out. Like how bad he had freaked out.]

...Well, that would explain his voice. [The hoarseness spoke to easily ten to fifteen minutes of constant screaming. She gives a little frown, rocking slightly on her heels.] Thanks for pulling him out of that, Rick. He's not a big fan of tight spaces.

[Rick nods, still anxious but, ultimately, relieved that he's apparently been helpful. He honestly would've screamed as much as Reno did if he were in the same position, but Rick isn't claustrophobic. He's glad he managed to get there before Reno hurt himself in his panic, or worse.]

[That said, he doesn't have to be able to read Elena to know that she's still worried.]

...I-I'm s-s-sorry I c-couldn't g-get there s-s-sooner--I w-was s-s-supposed to be w-working, but--the g-game--a-ah--d-distracted, c-c-couldn't-- [He frowns deeply and hides his face.] --I c-c-c-could've p-prevented all of this, I--I'm s-so sorry.

There's no need to apologize, Rick. What matters is that you did show up. If you hadn't, I wouldn't want to think -

[Hands come up again, giving a little panic motion. How the guy felt guilty for saving Reno from himself was beyond her. Endearing, yes. But still a little confusing.]

Rick, Rick. Please... You helped him escape from that prison. That is what matters most. The fact of the matter is that, had you not shown up when you did, he could have been in there for hours. So please, no more apologies. You're a hero.

[Rick thinks to argue--if he hadn't been so easily manipulated into searching for candy the whole day, he would've been working in the morgue when Reno arrived, and could've stopped him from poking around the lockers in the first place--but Elena is praising him far too much, giving him more attention than he ever deserves, and that discomfort takes priority. The blonde man flushes deep red and hides further.]

...I-I j-j-just...h-happened to b-be there...a-anyone w-would've done the s-same...

[So he is smiling a little bit, because--a hero? Now that's the first time he's been called that in a long while, and it's never been to him, specifically. The Shifter was a hero. Patrick Dawn was an accountant.]

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