RP: A house with heart (and potential)
Date: 24 January 2006
Characters: Mandy Brocklehurst and Zacharias Smith
Location: House on A Street, the loop south of Albus Avenue.
Status: Private
Summary: Zach and Mandy have been house-hunting, and arrive at a conclusion.
Completion: Complete
***
"It's too large," Mandy said, letting out a wistful sigh. She had said it three times already, and that was just counting these last five minutes standing outside looking in, and not the two times they'd been here before and walked through the house.
Zach had his hand on the ramshackle wooden gate, carefully testing it as he emitted a non-committal "hmmm." It had also been his response the previous three times. His lips were curved up slightly in something that might have been a smile.
"I mean, who needs four bedrooms, a library, and a big conservatory? We're only two people. The little house southwest of the river is much more sensible. Or the one up close to the school." She flipped back the strands of hair that the wind was blowing in her face. "Just think of the hassle of heating all this space all winter. If there's another cold snap like the one we had, again."
She got nothing more from Zach than another minute smile and a nod, and Mandy sighed again, her hand distractedly messing up her hair worse than the wind was doing.
"It's kind of sad, isn't it? Someone must have loved this place. It's got heart. And potential. But it's too large. And wow, look at that garden. Who knew there was a primeval forest right here in Stoats?" She studied it, shaking her head in dismay. The house must have stood uninhabited for three years, three lush, warm summers, and the grounds were overgrown with leafless shrubs and trees, and dried, wilted straw and grass that must have reached waist high in the autumn before the winter rains beat them down. Snow lay around in melting, drab patches, and many inches of dried leaves lay rotting on the ground. The walls were so overgrown with vines one could barely glimpse the warm honey hue of the stone.
"And the conservatory? It would need half the glass panes replaced before we could even use it. And that little hedgehog living under the table would probably have to go. Although I don't really mind if she stays. But the mice and the sparrows definitely would have to go. And then there's the damp patch in the library roof, I wonder what that means."
Zach was quiet, hearing her out, and she sighed a third time, more deeply. "It's too large," she said firmly. She looked at him, vexed, and found him already looking at her, amused.
"You love it, don't you?" she said, a hint of a whine in her voice. Reluctantly, she grinned, and felt excitement do a strange bright dart in her stomach, like a silver trout flashing into the air from the surface of a lake. "I love it, too. Drat."
Characters: Mandy Brocklehurst and Zacharias Smith
Location: House on A Street, the loop south of Albus Avenue.
Status: Private
Summary: Zach and Mandy have been house-hunting, and arrive at a conclusion.
Completion: Complete
***
"It's too large," Mandy said, letting out a wistful sigh. She had said it three times already, and that was just counting these last five minutes standing outside looking in, and not the two times they'd been here before and walked through the house.
Zach had his hand on the ramshackle wooden gate, carefully testing it as he emitted a non-committal "hmmm." It had also been his response the previous three times. His lips were curved up slightly in something that might have been a smile.
"I mean, who needs four bedrooms, a library, and a big conservatory? We're only two people. The little house southwest of the river is much more sensible. Or the one up close to the school." She flipped back the strands of hair that the wind was blowing in her face. "Just think of the hassle of heating all this space all winter. If there's another cold snap like the one we had, again."
She got nothing more from Zach than another minute smile and a nod, and Mandy sighed again, her hand distractedly messing up her hair worse than the wind was doing.
"It's kind of sad, isn't it? Someone must have loved this place. It's got heart. And potential. But it's too large. And wow, look at that garden. Who knew there was a primeval forest right here in Stoats?" She studied it, shaking her head in dismay. The house must have stood uninhabited for three years, three lush, warm summers, and the grounds were overgrown with leafless shrubs and trees, and dried, wilted straw and grass that must have reached waist high in the autumn before the winter rains beat them down. Snow lay around in melting, drab patches, and many inches of dried leaves lay rotting on the ground. The walls were so overgrown with vines one could barely glimpse the warm honey hue of the stone.
"And the conservatory? It would need half the glass panes replaced before we could even use it. And that little hedgehog living under the table would probably have to go. Although I don't really mind if she stays. But the mice and the sparrows definitely would have to go. And then there's the damp patch in the library roof, I wonder what that means."
Zach was quiet, hearing her out, and she sighed a third time, more deeply. "It's too large," she said firmly. She looked at him, vexed, and found him already looking at her, amused.
"You love it, don't you?" she said, a hint of a whine in her voice. Reluctantly, she grinned, and felt excitement do a strange bright dart in her stomach, like a silver trout flashing into the air from the surface of a lake. "I love it, too. Drat."