(Untitled)

[chasinghumanity]

Mitchell felt exhausted. He liked it

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[tearsthrulife]

"Ye must be new," Rahne observes, standing at the doorway to the kitchen with her arms folded over her chest, the corners of her mouth hitched up in a slight smirk. After so long here, just someone who looks unfamiliar is telling enough, but it's the look on his face that really says it all, pleased rather than unbelievably frustrated. A small part of her is even jealous for it. She's certainly never had any reason to smile when facing the bookshelf. Crossing in his direction, she shakes her head a little. "Over eight months I've been here, and I swear ye're the first person I've seen who seems to like this thing."

[chasinghumanity]

The girl got a bright, affirming smile for her guess. Compared to where he had been, what he had been, Mitchell figured he would be a fool not to appreciate the setup here. Until the suspicion set in or the bottom dropped out anyway. It was bliss to be simple-minded just for a little bit.

"How can you not?" he asked in a laughing challenge. He swept his hand across a row of reels. "Every single work of Laurel and Hardy. That's amazing."

[tearsthrulife]

"For this place? Aye, it is," Rahne laughs in return, unable to help her smile widening a little. She and the bookshelf have never been on good terms, but it's almost infectious, how much he seems to be enjoying it. It's enough that she can't bring herself to warn him about how awful the shelf usually is, too. Best to let it last while it still can. "Ye should hold on to them. This thing changes all the time, but if ye take them, they'll keep."

[chasinghumanity]

"That's not.. like stealing, is it?" he asked uncertainly. Mitchell didn't have much of a problem with stealing; he'd done it too often to be morally outraged at the thought. But this was Laurel and Hardy and a very public place. "What if someone else wanted to watch them? Or does it.. restock, too?"

[tearsthrulife]

"No, it isn't, and yes, it does," Rahne answers, her smile unfaltering. It's a nice change, both this kind of earnestness and getting to explain these things without having to give the 'Welcome to the Island' speech, the latter too awkward to be at all enjoyable. "Ye never know what it will restock with, which is all the more reason to hold on to anything good ye can get, but it does, and it's hard to consider anything stealing when there's no money in the first place."

[chasinghumanity]

"Aw, but..." He trailed off looking at the reels longingly. "What if I take them and no one else gets to see?" Then again, if he didn't take them now, he might never see them again.

"I should check with my roommates first," he decided. "I don't even know: do huts around here come with three bedrooms and a bath or just one size fits all? I can't start hoarding now."

[tearsthrulife]

"Go ahead and start now," Rahne laughs, waving one hand dismissively in front of her. "I'm sure ye can ask for three bedrooms, if that's what ye need. Mine has two. I doubt it'd be too much for the builders." Realizing that, if he hadn't known about the lack of economy, then he might not know about much else, she adds quickly, "There's a whole crew of people who build huts, ye put in requests, it's all very... relaxed. Nothing to worry about at all."

[chasinghumanity]

He did blink, a little confused by reference to "the builders", but she explained herself rather well. "Just.. because? Do we have to pay them back in favors or something?"

Three bedrooms sounded like an awful lot of favors.

[tearsthrulife]

"No, nothing at all," Rahne assures him, unsurprised by the question, given all that preceded it. "They do it because they want to, don't need anything in return. It's one of the things this place has going for it." Which, as far as she's concerned, aren't many, but it's hard to focus on that now.

Remembering herself, she holds out a hand, the grin on her face crooked. "I'm Rahne, by the way."

[chasinghumanity]

One of the many things, Mitchell thought, but he could tell the girl didn't think quite the same. Yeah, the shine probably would wear off in time, but he would work it for all that it was worth now, while he still could. You never knew what might happen tomorrow.

"Well I guess if I could work because I wanted to, I'd be happy to do it too," he decided with an easy shrug. It was still a foreign concept to him, having a career or a calling. Maybe he'd find one here, out of sheer boredom.

Mitchell smiled warmly as he took her hand. "Pretty name, Rahne. I'm Mitchell. Brand new to your island, like you guessed."

[tearsthrulife]

"It's a pleasure to meet ye, Mitchell," Rahne replies, not realizing until the name has already left her mouth that it sounds familiar. For all she knows, it could be a coincidence - it isn't like she's been told much, anyway - but still, she has to wonder. The part about needing a hut with three bedrooms would certainly make sense if this were the same person.

Not letting her expression shift much, though noticeably curious, she raises her eyebrows. "This might sound completely mad, but ye wouldn't happen to be friends with George, would ye?"

[chasinghumanity]

His smile grew a touch, amused, before he pressed his lips together and nodded, looking like a man forced to confess. "Yeah, you're right, it does sound mad. A person would have to be half-crazed to be friends with George, but I just can't help myself. Lost my senses a while ago and never got them back."

[tearsthrulife]

Rahne can't help laughing just a little at that, pleased both that she hadn't mistaken his identity or sounded ridiculous for asking. "I only ask because I've heard the name," she explains, just the slightest bit apologetic, since it still isn't like this is any kind of normal situation. "I met him back when he first showed up here, and have yet to get mine back, as well."

[chasinghumanity]

"George's talked about me?" he asked, not the least bit surprised but definitely amused. Mitchell remembered the offended look on George's face when he'd mentioned previous roommates, as though he and George were forever destined to live together. Come to think, they sort of were, as Mitchell hadn't even stopped to consider living with someone else or by himself on this mysterious island out of time.

"He's a funny little charmer, isn't he?" Mitchell looked at Rahne with a little more consideration now. How long had George been away from Nina here? Had he been getting up to something, or just making friends? "Good man though. Maybe one of the best I've ever met."

[tearsthrulife]

"Aye, he really is," Rahne agrees, a little more serious now. Even having not known George as long or as well as Mitchell, she wouldn't hesitate to say the same thing, their circumstances alone enough to ensure her of the truth in it. Not just anyone would've helped her bury the half-eaten corpse of her father, after all, a detail she has no intention of sharing. "And not too much. Just enough for me to know who ye are. I've met Annie now, too, just a few days after she showed up, but George has been one of my closest friends here for months now."

[chasinghumanity]

"Oh yeah?" he asked slowly, now crossing his arms over his chest. It might have been intimidating on anyone else, or even Mitchell if he weren't smiling in an almost knowing, playful way. "Should I be jealous of George's affections now?"