WHO: Luck (
favorsthebrave) and Clover (
fourleafwords)
WHERE: The MAC's laundry room.
WHEN: Friday afternoon.
WARNINGS: Probably none.
SUMMARY: Twenty-first-century technology: 2. Luck Gandor: 0.
FORMAT: Para at least to start with.
(
We won't discuss what happened during his first encounter with the microwave. )
【Luck】, he called himself.
Had she been ill-at-ease to start (like an ordinary person should, considering the circumstances), that quick flash of familiarity wiped away any lingering traces of hesitation. Her attention slid from the man to the machine, and the sound of heels clacking against linoleum heralded her slow approach.
Clover looked at the washing machine with something like disdain. "Well, it is. Or it was." The note of accusation was hardly subtle, though it fell far short of cruelty. "What'd you do?"
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"It seems my first mistake was trying to wash my own clothes," he said, with a bit of a sigh. "A problem that could have been avoided if they'd bothered to leave anyone in charge of this laundry."
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Clover placed her hands on the rim of the washing machine, peering curiously inside. It was mostly water, of course, but she couldn't determine much more than that. Her fingernails rapped against the lip of tub.
"So, what's wrong with it?"
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As a matter of fact, he hadn't done very badly - after all, there were basic instructions printed on the inside of the washer's lid. The biggest problem - although hard to see at the moment with the tub full of soapy water - was that all the wet fabric was unbalanced in the tub, making it knock against the casing as it spun. Easily avoided, for someone who knew the first thing about washing machines.
Luck, meanwhile, wondered darkly how much a machine like this might cost, and if he was going to be expected to pay for repairs.
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"That's right, you're from the stone age," she added blithely. There was almost a full century separating them, despite their similar physical ages. "Was it acting like this the whole time...?"
As she spoke, she reached for the lid, intent to close the machine again.
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"No," he answered, a little gloomily, while he tried to place her voice. "It was running for a while before that started."
With the lid closed, the interrupted cycle resumed... but perhaps thanks to some lucky settling of the contents as the tub rumbled back into motion again, this time there was no banging sound. Luck gave the machine a sour look.
"...I can't help but feel that I'm being mocked."
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With the washer 'fixed,' the girl turned to give him her direct attention. She leaned against the lid of the machine, and her hand was nearly swallowed up in the fabric of her baggy sleeves. Her expression was open and friendly; perhaps overly so. If there were a danger inherent to this situation, Clover seemed ignorant to it, or perhaps felt herself immune. When she spoke, her voice was as bubbly and sweet as strawberry pop. "Maybe it needed a break?"
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At least he'd managed to place her voice... "Miss Clover, isn't it?"
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It shouldn't have been so surprising to find out that they lived in the same building-everyone who came through that kidnapping machine was, as far as Clover understood, was sent to live here. Despite that, running into Luck was a pleasant surprise, and Clover was quite pleased by the chance encounter. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and especially in a situation like this, it was better to trust new people and to make friends than to whole up away from everyone. (Which was also a great deal of what she was doing these days, but whatever.)
"How've you been?" The last time they'd spoken directly was when Luck had been stalked by shadows of people who weren't there; since her (and Snake's) shadows had dissipated, she assumed his had as well; she hadn't seen it lingering around him here. "All right?"
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But there wasn't much to be done about it. Not in the immediate future, anyway.
"And yourself?" He couldn't help feeling like he probably shouldn't be standing here making polite conversation with this girl. She seemed too nice to associate with someone like him... even if she was completely comfortable going around with her legs mostly bare.
On the other hand, Clover was pleasant and friendly, and it wasn't as though Luck meant her any harm. There was something a bit liberating about being able to have a casual conversation like a normal person. "It didn't occur to me that you'd be living in this building too."
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The topic moved on quickly without her input. "Yeah, I'm staying with my brother. We're gonna move out as soon as we have the money to, 'cuz this place is so cramped." She spoke with ease, disregarding just how much information she was sharing; whether it was because she trusted Luck, or simply felt there was no need to hide anything, was unclear.
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He still hadn't quite resigned himself to working for somebody else, unconnected to his family. He'd have to before long, he knew, but the idea wasn't a very appealing prospect.
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"Getting the money's the hard part," she agreed, letting her hand fall from the washing machine. "Neither of us can get hired anywhere." It wasn't that they were simply unlucky, mind: Clover and Snake both were too picky and too stubborn by half. Snake wouldn't take a job that was beneath him, and Clover wouldn't take one if it meant being far away from Snake.
She shrugged. "We'd have better 【luck】 playing the lottery. How 'bout you?"
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He had a couple of ideas for how to supplement his income in the meantime... but that wasn't something he was prepared to discuss. Especially with a nice girl like Clover. Instead he added, after a momentary pause, "Then again, if neither you nor your brother have been able to find work, it might be that jobs aren't as plentiful as I'd assumed."
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"What will you do, if you can't find suitable work?" he wondered, in a tone of mild curiosity.
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