Nova blinked uncertainly and her smile wavered a bit as she watched Claw look at her and then pour over something in his journal before confirming her identity. Upon that moment she realized that her hand was now just sort of hanging in the air, so she quickly brought it back to clutch her hair and laughed nervously. "I guess you don't handshake where you come from..."
Looking at the young man who was looking back at her with such an open expression while carrying a sack in each hand expectantly made Nova lose all her apprehension at meeting a stranger. Her smile firmly back on, she turned to the matter at hand. "It's really nice to meet you, Claw," she said brightly, nodding at the sacks, "and those bags are so big! You've gone to so much trouble, so I'm going to make this as delicious as possible!" She turned back towards the dorms, motioning him to follow. "I guess we'll head in?"
Just then--since she really hadn't eaten for quite a number of hours--Nova's stomach gave a very large and noticeable growl. Nova squeaked, blushed furiously, and grinned sheepishly at Claw. "U-um...I hope you're hungry too," she mustered weakly.
Handshake? What did 'handshake' mean? He would ask later, Claw decided. He nodded, more to confirm his own thoughts than as to reply, but whether she misunderstood or not was something he didn't think about. Briefly, he wondered if there were any star flowers in Edensphere--if there were any flowers at all. He really wanted some to press in his journal.
"Many apple, many potato. Delicious, good," Claw said. He was as terse in person as he was in the journals. He followed her quietly, still balancing the sacks carefully.
If he heard her stomach growling, he made no indication--he was often described as spacey or daydreamy, and it was certainly accurate. When she blushed and smiled, he merely nodded in response, saying, "Claw hungry, yes. Where cooking food?"
If he recalled properly, there wasn't really a cooking area in the temporary dorm he had lived in. For the most part, he ate fruits and vegetables raw from the farms or else made a bonfire for himself. Where they were going to get dinner started was definitely on his mind.
Still trying to keep up with his quick responses, Nova warmed to his declaration that the food combination was going to be delicious. "Yes! Apples, potatoes," she ticked off a finger as she listed each ingredient, "peanut butter and ice cream! Perfection."
Nova stopped, however, as they reached the doors. Frowning a little, she turned to Claw apologetically and said, "Except...I don't think that there's really anything to cook with inside. I looked all over earlier, and really this place is mostly just bathrooms and bedrooms...no kitchen or even a living room in sight. Do you remember seeing anything like that while you lived here? Or..." she looked around and shrugged happily, "or we can do some outdoor cooking!"
There was plenty of dry wood lying around for a small fire anyway, and Nova was sure that once that was going, they would get along fine. "Either way, at least we can start peeling some potatoes?"
So she had observed the same as he had. Well, no matter. Outdoor cooking was nice; campfires were nice; eating under the sky was nice. Walking to a small clearing a short distance away, Claw placed the sacks down beside a tree trunk.
And paused, silent, for a good few seconds.
Should he gather the fire wood first? Or peel potatoes? If they gathered the firewood and started it up already, and then peeled potatoes, the fire would undoubtedly go out before they had finished peeling. But if they gathered the fire wood, then one could peel potatoes while the other was gathering, and that seemed to be more efficient. But then, shouldn't he be the one to gather the firewood? It would only be right, as he would feel guilty asking her to do it. So, she could peel the potatoes... but he liked peeling potatoes...
He decided to gather up the firewood, but do it quickly so that he could still have time to peel potatoes before the cooking got underway.
By the fact that Claw had responded by simply walking to the nearest clearing, Nova figured that he must've agreed to outdoor cooking. Well, it was fairly warm for late afternoon here--did Edensphere even have weather, she wondered--and she followed him at a brisk pace.
She started at his question, so enraptured by the scenery and the thoughts of how they were going to about this, and so it took her a while to nod in reply. "Y-yes, sure!" Nova walked to where Claw had left his bags, peered into one of them and saw a bunch of fresh, brown, ripe potatoes. She grabbed one happily, but then blinked and turned around.
"Um...Claw? Do you have something to peel the potatoes with?" She held up the potato. "Or...would you rather exchange jobs?"
Claw had already gathered an armful of sticks and other useful wood when Nova posed her question. He paused in the middle of bending down to snatch up another stick. Straightening up, he considered the question--did he have something to peel potatoes with? Well...
Reaching into one of his pockets, he retrieved a small switchblade he had bought in the marketplace. It was pretty clean, though the blade was on the dull side. He placed the pile of wood down before heading over to Nova's side, the switchblade closed and in his outstretched hand.
"Knife work okay?"
Inwardly, he knew this meant one thing. There was only one implement to peel potatoes with.
Nova accepted the switchblade with a nod. "Thank you! This is just what I need." The knife was simply-made and the blade not sharp enough to cut her; Nova knew that even though she was a little clumsy, she could handle this.
For some reason, cooking wasn't alien to her at all. She definitely felt like she'd been born knowing how and wondered if that was a coincidence or..or something else entirely.
With a happy plunk! she sat on the floor and started peeling potato after potato in a circular fashion, keeping the blade between her thumb and forefinger. "Claw," she called out to him, "if you can find two thinner sticks then we could sharpen them quickly and stick the potatoes onto them for the fire." Yes, she thought to herself happily, that way we could have baked potato!
"So, Claw," she continued, getting used to his name and trying for some light conversation as she peeled and he gathered. "How long have you been here? You seem pretty settled in!"
He perked up when she called for him, and after listening to her request, he nodded firmly before going back to the gathering task at hand. Two thinner sticks... probably ones that were more straight and less knobby. He would keep his eyes open.
Hearing her questions, Claw thought about it a little. He hadn't really been keeping track of how long he'd spent in Edensphere, but if he had to give an amount of time...
"Two weeks. Little more. Now job in potato peeling, more settle," he replied, nodding confirmation. If they were going for small talk, then he knew exactly what he wanted to ask. "Nova? What 'handshake'?"
The truth was that they did, in fact, shake hands as a greeting back in his world. The catch was that he never had. Claw had his own method of greeting and recognition--if a person were associated with a flower and that flower was in his journal, then he would remember that person without fail.
Those who had flowers to their names were important to him. His friends.
Still peeling, Nova thought about what Claw was saying. So he'd been here two weeks or more now. Half a month. Not really that much time, yet. It seemed more than a little daunting to Nova that in that short period of time, Claw had moved out and gotten a job.
And he seemed relaxed, comfortable. Happy. The thought comforted Nova and she quietly exhaled out a bit more of the tension that had been with her since being born here.
Nova had started the random humming again when she started at Claw's question. "A handshake? Oh..." her brow knotted in thought as she looked at him. "Well," she waved about the knife and the potato in front of her, gesturing in explanation, "when two people meet for the first time, and want to become friends or know each other, they each take the other's hand, and sort of..." She wiggled a potato. "Move together up and down a little."
She smiled. "And then they aren't strangers anymore."
Nova paused, tilting her head. "I never really thought about it before, but it really is kind of nice. Does...does that make any sense at all?"
Claw had continued gathering while she was explaining, looking up occasionally to see her gestures. When she started wiggling the potato, he began to understand why she had offered him her hand earlier. In order for people to not be strangers, they had to shake each other's hands. It was like how he had to assign flowers to people so he could remember them. It made sense.
Placing the sticks and wood in pile in a relatively clear spot, he walked over to Nova, this time offering her his hand. "Nice handshake. Make friends. Make sense. Claw like handshake."
At the sound of the approaching footsteps, Nova looked up from her potatoes to see Claw standing before her with a determined look and an outstretched hand that reached down at her to the level of her head.
She laughed warmly in half-surprise at the sight, put down the potato she was holding, wiped her hand on her thigh and reached out with it to take Claw's hand. Which she then shook firmly. "Friends then!" A warm feeling rose in her stomach as Nova basked a while in the start of what she hoped would really grow. Like flowers. "Friends sounds great." she said happily.
"Now! Let's get this fire going!" She reached out for one of the thinner sticks that Claw had found, grinned, and then promptly stuck a large, peeled potato onto its tip.
Handshakes were good. Claw had decided, so it had to be true. Besides, Nova seemed obviously pleased with the handshake. Yes, handshakes were good. He nodded to himself again, possibly agreeing with Nova's suggestion to start the fire at the same time.
Finding two good stones to work as flint, Claw started preparing the fire area by kicking some dried leaves on top and clearing the nearby area. Once the fire started, he turned to Nova, saying, "Fire good. More wood, keep big."
So saying, he started gathering more wood, just to make sure they had enough to feed it with. He was looking forward to dinner.
sorry it took so long!novagravitationJune 5 2008, 05:10:34 UTC
"More wood?" Nova asked. "Sounds fantastic." While she half-watched Claw return to his gathering, she slowly turned the potato on the stick. It was getting nice a golden-brown on the outside, which made Nova feel all warm inside.
Still...she didn't really know what to do about those apples. Absent-mindedly taking one out of the other sack, she started thinking outloud. "Do you think apples melt? I'm trying to mix them somehow...maybe if I finish baking the potato and then mash everything up? That might work..!"
She also took out her tub of peanut butter, spooned someout and began covering the baking potato. "Yummmy! Claw come back when you're done and see if this looks good!"
It's okay--stuff happens. 8DbearheartedJune 6 2008, 13:27:09 UTC
Claw placed another armful of wood in an easily accessible place beside the bonfire before walking a short distance away to gather up some more. Did apples melt? Well, he couldn't imagine them setting on fire very well, so they probably did... imagining an apple melting was a little strange.
"Mashing apple maybe work. Apple sauce," he commented. He hadn't thought of an answer for the melting apples thing, so he just skipped answering it entirely.
He had gathered up one last armful--yes, it seemed like a good amount now--before taking a peek at what Nova was preparing. And well, honestly,... whatever she was fixing up wasn't the most appetizing thing he'd ever seen in his life. But he was giving her the benefit of the doubt; after all, some foods that looked unappealing turned out to be the most delicious things in the world--or at least, he felt like this principle should hold true.
Looking at the young man who was looking back at her with such an open expression while carrying a sack in each hand expectantly made Nova lose all her apprehension at meeting a stranger. Her smile firmly back on, she turned to the matter at hand. "It's really nice to meet you, Claw," she said brightly, nodding at the sacks, "and those bags are so big! You've gone to so much trouble, so I'm going to make this as delicious as possible!" She turned back towards the dorms, motioning him to follow. "I guess we'll head in?"
Just then--since she really hadn't eaten for quite a number of hours--Nova's stomach gave a very large and noticeable growl. Nova squeaked, blushed furiously, and grinned sheepishly at Claw. "U-um...I hope you're hungry too," she mustered weakly.
Reply
"Many apple, many potato. Delicious, good," Claw said. He was as terse in person as he was in the journals. He followed her quietly, still balancing the sacks carefully.
If he heard her stomach growling, he made no indication--he was often described as spacey or daydreamy, and it was certainly accurate. When she blushed and smiled, he merely nodded in response, saying, "Claw hungry, yes. Where cooking food?"
If he recalled properly, there wasn't really a cooking area in the temporary dorm he had lived in. For the most part, he ate fruits and vegetables raw from the farms or else made a bonfire for himself. Where they were going to get dinner started was definitely on his mind.
Reply
Nova stopped, however, as they reached the doors. Frowning a little, she turned to Claw apologetically and said, "Except...I don't think that there's really anything to cook with inside. I looked all over earlier, and really this place is mostly just bathrooms and bedrooms...no kitchen or even a living room in sight. Do you remember seeing anything like that while you lived here? Or..." she looked around and shrugged happily, "or we can do some outdoor cooking!"
There was plenty of dry wood lying around for a small fire anyway, and Nova was sure that once that was going, they would get along fine. "Either way, at least we can start peeling some potatoes?"
Reply
And paused, silent, for a good few seconds.
Should he gather the fire wood first? Or peel potatoes? If they gathered the firewood and started it up already, and then peeled potatoes, the fire would undoubtedly go out before they had finished peeling. But if they gathered the fire wood, then one could peel potatoes while the other was gathering, and that seemed to be more efficient. But then, shouldn't he be the one to gather the firewood? It would only be right, as he would feel guilty asking her to do it. So, she could peel the potatoes... but he liked peeling potatoes...
He decided to gather up the firewood, but do it quickly so that he could still have time to peel potatoes before the cooking got underway.
"Claw gather wood. Nova start peel potato?"
Reply
She started at his question, so enraptured by the scenery and the thoughts of how they were going to about this, and so it took her a while to nod in reply. "Y-yes, sure!" Nova walked to where Claw had left his bags, peered into one of them and saw a bunch of fresh, brown, ripe potatoes. She grabbed one happily, but then blinked and turned around.
"Um...Claw? Do you have something to peel the potatoes with?" She held up the potato. "Or...would you rather exchange jobs?"
Reply
Reaching into one of his pockets, he retrieved a small switchblade he had bought in the marketplace. It was pretty clean, though the blade was on the dull side. He placed the pile of wood down before heading over to Nova's side, the switchblade closed and in his outstretched hand.
"Knife work okay?"
Inwardly, he knew this meant one thing. There was only one implement to peel potatoes with.
Only one of them could peel at a time.
It was disappointing, but he would endure.
Reply
For some reason, cooking wasn't alien to her at all. She definitely felt like she'd been born knowing how and wondered if that was a coincidence or..or something else entirely.
With a happy plunk! she sat on the floor and started peeling potato after potato in a circular fashion, keeping the blade between her thumb and forefinger. "Claw," she called out to him, "if you can find two thinner sticks then we could sharpen them quickly and stick the potatoes onto them for the fire." Yes, she thought to herself happily, that way we could have baked potato!
"So, Claw," she continued, getting used to his name and trying for some light conversation as she peeled and he gathered. "How long have you been here? You seem pretty settled in!"
Reply
Hearing her questions, Claw thought about it a little. He hadn't really been keeping track of how long he'd spent in Edensphere, but if he had to give an amount of time...
"Two weeks. Little more. Now job in potato peeling, more settle," he replied, nodding confirmation. If they were going for small talk, then he knew exactly what he wanted to ask. "Nova? What 'handshake'?"
The truth was that they did, in fact, shake hands as a greeting back in his world. The catch was that he never had. Claw had his own method of greeting and recognition--if a person were associated with a flower and that flower was in his journal, then he would remember that person without fail.
Those who had flowers to their names were important to him. His friends.
Reply
And he seemed relaxed, comfortable. Happy. The thought comforted Nova and she quietly exhaled out a bit more of the tension that had been with her since being born here.
Nova had started the random humming again when she started at Claw's question. "A handshake? Oh..." her brow knotted in thought as she looked at him. "Well," she waved about the knife and the potato in front of her, gesturing in explanation, "when two people meet for the first time, and want to become friends or know each other, they each take the other's hand, and sort of..." She wiggled a potato. "Move together up and down a little."
She smiled. "And then they aren't strangers anymore."
Nova paused, tilting her head. "I never really thought about it before, but it really is kind of nice. Does...does that make any sense at all?"
Reply
Placing the sticks and wood in pile in a relatively clear spot, he walked over to Nova, this time offering her his hand. "Nice handshake. Make friends. Make sense. Claw like handshake."
Reply
She laughed warmly in half-surprise at the sight, put down the potato she was holding, wiped her hand on her thigh and reached out with it to take Claw's hand. Which she then shook firmly. "Friends then!" A warm feeling rose in her stomach as Nova basked a while in the start of what she hoped would really grow. Like flowers. "Friends sounds great." she said happily.
"Now! Let's get this fire going!" She reached out for one of the thinner sticks that Claw had found, grinned, and then promptly stuck a large, peeled potato onto its tip.
Reply
Finding two good stones to work as flint, Claw started preparing the fire area by kicking some dried leaves on top and clearing the nearby area. Once the fire started, he turned to Nova, saying, "Fire good. More wood, keep big."
So saying, he started gathering more wood, just to make sure they had enough to feed it with. He was looking forward to dinner.
Reply
Still...she didn't really know what to do about those apples. Absent-mindedly taking one out of the other sack, she started thinking outloud. "Do you think apples melt? I'm trying to mix them somehow...maybe if I finish baking the potato and then mash everything up? That might work..!"
She also took out her tub of peanut butter, spooned someout and began covering the baking potato. "Yummmy! Claw come back when you're done and see if this looks good!"
Reply
"Mashing apple maybe work. Apple sauce," he commented. He hadn't thought of an answer for the melting apples thing, so he just skipped answering it entirely.
He had gathered up one last armful--yes, it seemed like a good amount now--before taking a peek at what Nova was preparing. And well, honestly,... whatever she was fixing up wasn't the most appetizing thing he'd ever seen in his life. But he was giving her the benefit of the doubt; after all, some foods that looked unappealing turned out to be the most delicious things in the world--or at least, he felt like this principle should hold true.
...or at least, he hoped it would.
Reply
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