(Untitled)

[favorsthebrave]

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.

Comments

[fourleafwords]

For the moment, Clover had the advantage. It was true that her appearance and dress were about as subtle as an erupting volcano-she had a head of voluminous, cotton candy hair with bubblegum streaks tied up in pigtails, for starters. Her baggy coat - at least four sizes too large for her frame - hung down nearly as far down as the lower hem of her skirt, which was not far at all. The latter could have been mistaken for a large belt. Her thighs practically stretched down to Georgia. Despite just how unforgettable she looked however, Clover was not the one of the two of them that had broadcast oneself with video; at his first glance her way, she recognized this man.

【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?"

[favorsthebrave]

Luck regarded Clover steadily as she approached... or at least, he did until he noticed how short her skirt was. Ahem. Then he turned his attention back to the washer, giving it an aggrieved look. It hadn't seemed that complicated.

"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."

[fourleafwords]

"You couldn't pay someone enough to be in charge of this dump."

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?"

[favorsthebrave]

"I have no idea," Luck replied heavily. "We don't have these where I'm from."

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.

[fourleafwords]

Clover frowned, tapping her foot one-two-three times against the floor. Light would-Snake, she corrected herself mentally; they were still using code names. Anyway, Snake would probably know right away what was wrong with it, just judging by the sound.

"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.

[favorsthebrave]

Luck slanted a sharp sidelong look towards Clover at her remark, quickly evaluating. He definitely hadn't met her before; he'd have remembered that hair, to start with. He must have spoken to her through the network.

"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."

[fourleafwords]

She giggled. "It's working now at least."

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?"

[favorsthebrave]

Luck inclined his head in resignation. "Whatever the reason, there's no point complaining about it." He turned away from the machine to face Clover directly, clearing the irritation from his expression and schooling it into sober politeness. "Thank you for your help."

At least he'd managed to place her voice... "Miss Clover, isn't it?"

[fourleafwords]

The name was met with a bright smile. "Yep! You remembered."

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?"

[favorsthebrave]

Luck nodded in reply. "As well as can be expected," he said. "There are a lot of things about this situation I'm not used to." Foremost among them being so completely cut off from his family. Luck couldn't remember ever being out of contact with his brothers for this long... and not just his brothers, but the family's entire organization, the men he normally would have had at his disposal. It left him feeling uncomfortably vulnerable.

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."

[fourleafwords]

Thoguh Clover too knew the pain of being separated from a sibling, she assumed first that he was referring to the time travel aspect of their shared kidnapping. She didn't know much about the 1930's (or history, or America in general; if she wanted to know, she could just ask Snake, since he knew everything), but if Luck wasn't used to something as basic as a washing machine...

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.

[favorsthebrave]

"Probably a good idea," Luck commented, a little bit thoughtfully. "Aside from the crowds, it's hard to tell what strings could be attached to this kind of charity. I'll be following your example once I'm able... although I really don't know yet just when that will be."

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.

[fourleafwords]

Even for as long as they'd been stuck here already, the electronic locks on the doors made Clover feel uneasy. It wouldn't be so bad if this were still their own world, and their own time, but a kidnapping was still a kidnapping.

"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?"

[favorsthebrave]

Luck hesitated in answering her question, but only very briefly. "I've never worked under anyone else's authority, except for my brothers'," he said. "It doesn't seem like jobs are too scarce, but finding one that suits me might be another story."

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."

[fourleafwords]

She shook her head, and like a coming storm her expression began to darken, soft gaze hardening to something like flecks of glass. "There are, but it's harder for us because people here are really stupid. My brother's way too smart to be stuck doing a monkey's job, and I wouldn't wanna work anywhere that didn't want to hire him too." Of course, they were hardly qualified for the same forms of work-she spoke more of the principle of the matter.

[favorsthebrave]

Rather than being put off by the hardening of Clover's expression, Luck only looked thoughtful, and a little bit curious. He knew nothing about her brother, but listening to her talk made him think of Keith, and wonder how well Keith might fare in this strange city, away from the support of the people who were used to his methods.

"What will you do, if you can't find suitable work?" he wondered, in a tone of mild curiosity.