Moon:Extra Cafe:Washing Dishes

[tribal_moon]

Moon had been stood here at the sink for a while now after leaving the Breakfast Room, scrubbing down plates and forks and rinsing out cups, washing the empty dishes that dinner had been cooked in. Obviously the Tribe had enjoyed the meal, it was all gone, nothing to even put away. Now, however, her back was beginning to ache, and she was starting

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[tribal_moon]

As Trudy began her frantic cleaning of the surrounding area, Moon shifted on her feet nervously, was it Trudy's turn to wash dishes? Was Moon in her way? She watched as she walked away, gathering the big pots, but Moon continued to wash, uncomfortable by the silence and the fact that no one was talking about what had happened. It's not your business Moon, keep to yourself and your business, if they want you to know, they shall tell you, she reminded, frowning at the plate in her hand as she wiped it down and rinsed it clean.

Trudy continued to rinse out her sponge and move around Moon as if she simply wasn't there. It was unnerving, but the busy work and warm water running over her hands kept her from fleeing to her room. Picking up one of the pots, Moon began working on cleaning those out, washing them with the sponge and adding a bit more soap, though only as much as she needed. She was glad to help, but honestly, whoever was due to do the dishes tonight owed her, and she'd be sure to find them tomorrow to make a trade. Probably, ok, more than likely not, but the thought of doing that compelled her to continue to move forward with the dish washing.

[tribal_kerry]

The conversation with Sammy at dinner had been light, Kerry had a lot on his mind, most of all Ryan and where he was, but also on Patsy and what he'd done to make her look the way she had earlier. It was as if he couldn't stop focusing on this obsession, and he couldn't stop wondering about their future here in the Mall. If what he'd heard his siblings say was true, that they all wanted to leave because Lottie was here, would it really matter if Kerry liked Patsy or not? She'd stay here, he'd leave, and it would just be more heartache, so why start?

He hadn't even been listening to what Sammy had said, if he'd said anything at all, and as he pulled himself out of his bubble he realized someone was washing the dishes. Wasn't that my chore for the day? I have one chore and I let someone else do it? What is wrong with me? "Well, it was nice chatting with you, sorry I was a million miles away, um, have a good night," he told the younger boy before standing up, taking both their plates and silver and walking in towards the sink.

"Um," he said softly to Moon, "Sorry, about making you do the dishes," though, he hadn't asked her to, so why was she? "It's my chore, tonight, see, I, well I'll finish," he offered, moving to stand next to her and picking up an extra sponge and cleaning off his own plate.

[_patsy_]

Leaving her table, Patsy noticed Kerry washing dishes in the extra cafe with Trudy and Moon. Looking towards her room, where Gel was probably already asleep, Patsy decided to go in and help with the dishes for a little bit. It wasn't her job today, but she had nothing else to do...she hadn't seen Cloe in ages.

Patsy smiled as she walked in. "Hi Trudy, hi Moon, hi Kerry. Is there anything I can help with?"

[tribe_dee]

Dee stepped into the kitchen shortly after Patsy did, moving to stand to the left of the girl. She had come from the now empty Extra Café thinking that mabey one or two people would be in here, not four...well, now five, counting herself.

She bit her lip and asked, "Need any help with anything?" It wasn't Dee's job to help with the dishes, but she felt like busying herself with something other than breaking up fights and disputes for once.

[mother_trudy]

Trudy had been wandering around to the various Cafe's, for the most part they were all clean, but there were random dishes strewn here and there, dropped and forgotten napkins, silverware, glasses with a tiny bit of liquid left in them. This, of course, was her greatest pet peeve, she felt as if some of the Tribe members had gotten really relaxed about conservation and rationing. She could remember when things were hard, when you had to watch just how much you poured because it took a lot of energy to lug back the huge jugs of water, why couldn't anyone else? It wasn't that long ago, but now that the Technos had invaded and turned city water supplies back on, well it was just like the electricity, everyone just used as much as they pleased because, after all, there was a supposed never ending supply.

Maybe Trudy was already an Eco at heart, all of this made her stop and realize she was thinking as the Gaian's do, they lived off of the land, only taking what they needed, and giving back what they could. Maybe she really did belong there and not here, and this thought put the tiniest of steps in her bounce. She was still worried about Tai-San, about what had happened, what was going on, but that nervous ball of energy that had been propelling her earlier was now petering out and making her feel a bit tired.

As she came through the main cafe into the kitchen, Trudy walked with an arm full of cups and linen napkins, setting the cups down gently on the counter where she'd previously placed the pans that were now gone. She saw Kerry was there to help with the dishes, finally, and Patsy had appeared to help out too, but just as Trudy set the cups down, she heard that all to familiar accent. Coming around the counter and setting the linens on the pile on the floor that she was making, Trudy smiled, "Hey Dee, they look like they've got the dishes covered, would you mind helping me wipe down the tables and neaten up the Cafes? I'd really just like the company," her tone was exhausted, beat, and a little needy. She liked Dee well enough, they could keep each other company and keep their minds off of what was going on down there until their guys could come back and let them know, right?

[tribe_dee]

Dee turned to face Trudy as she spoke to her, glad that someone had took notice of her prescence. It probably caught the others off-guard to see the Deputy Sheriff offering to help clean up, rather than just leaving to attend to her normal duties. While she didn't really know Trudy, she found her to be very sweet, kind, and loving. She had always wanted to get to know her better, but never had the opportunity to really do so.

She glanced over at Kerry and Moon with the dishes, then back to Trudy. "Yeah, it seems the dishes have enough washers scrub them down. I'd love to help," she said with a smile. "To the Café, then?"

She was somewhat curious about what had gone to cause all the commotion from before, but didn't want to directly ask. Probing for information seemed rude to her, and aside from her sheriffly duties, she wasn't normally one to do so.

[tribal_moon]

Moon's mouth hung open slightly as Kerry seemed to kind of just dismiss her from washing dishes, and though he had apologized, he didn't seem very thankful that Moon had done the great brunt of the work, including the pots and pans. She would have been annoyed, but it wasn't her nature to actually say it, and the moment she felt the nerve begin to work up inside of her, Patsy arrived, greeting them and offering to help, shortly followed by Dee. "Uhh," her mouth replied, making her own eyes grow wide, what was she to tell them to do? What should she say, why were they asking her what to do? Didn't they have eyes? Couldn't they see things that needed doing?

Luckily for her, Trudy walked in and saved the day, asking Dee to help her clean, and Moon felt relief, almost silently wishing that Trudy would tell Patsy what to do. It didn't happen, instead she and Dee seemed to be going off into their own cleaning world, and soon Moon would be left standing here with her hands in lukewarm soapy water wondering, uncomfortably, what to do now.

It dawned on her that this was not her chore for the night, and though she had done most of it, there was no reason for her to finish. Taking a deep breath and drawing on that feeling she'd had earlier when she'd agreed to eat with Luke and Ellie at dinner, Moon gave Patsy a nervously gentle smile. "Sure, why don't you help Kerry finish the dishes, I've done most of it, and you owe me," she felt a blush rise in her cheeks at even having said it. Moon never felt that she was owed anything, they were giving her a home here, food in her stomach, and though she sometimes had to cook that food, well things were even. Helping out here and there was just a nice thing to do, and he hadn't asked her to do it.

Darting her eyes down to the water, she let out a painful half fake laugh, trying to play it off as a joke, wiping her hands on a dishrag and turning quickly before heading out. She needed fresh air, her stomach was so twisted into knots right now over how she'd behaved all night, over what had happened, she felt sick. Going to the little garden on the balcony seemed as if she was taking refuge, and her feet couldn't get her there fast enough.

[tribal_kerry]

Kerry let his hands get lathered up a bit before moving from his plate to the small pile by the sink. He felt Moon's eyes on him for a short while and knew he'd upset her, but he didn't look up. His cheeks turned red and he scrubbed the plates more vigorously, not even noticing Patsy come over by the sinks. When he heard her voice, though, he froze for a second and his cheeks grew even redder, if that was at all possible.

He'd been trying to stay away from her since the awkward "hand holding incident". Yes, he'd named it. He was obsessing over it, no matter how many times yelled at himself. How could he fall for someone so hard only a day after meeting them? Well, actually, it was quite possible. His parents did it and they loved each other very much... He realized he had been holding a plate and sponge midair as he drifted and resumed cleaning before anyone noticed. He hated drifting off in memories of his parents. It made him sad and DEFINITELY upset Flower.

His mind bothered him sometimes. All he did was think. Just once he wanted to act on impulse. Just once he wanted to take a break from thinking and just live. But he couldn't. He had a family to take care of. He didn't technically have a life anymore.

[_patsy_]

Patsy was a bit confused as everyone suddenly cleared out, except for Kerry. Oh well. Patsy felt a little uncomfortable - Kerry was being so weird, and she didn't understand why. He was absolutely beat red, and looked even more uncomfortable than Patsy felt. She went over to where Moon had been standing, doing dishes, and started washing those that Moon had left behind. She thought that she should say something to him - had she done something wrong? Patsy had no idea. But what to say? Patsy yawned slightly and continued washing the dishes, glancing occaisonally towards Kerry, wondering if he would talk to her, or if she should talk to him.

[tribal_kerry]

Kerry could feel her eyes on him and that made him scrub even faster, his arm accidentally grazing her's. He froze for a moment but began scrubbing again, hoping she hadn't noticed. "Sorry," he muttered under his breath. Yeah, this ignoring thing wasn't going to be easy with her so close to him. Without trying to make it noticeable, he shifted a bit away from her and handed her a plate.

He needed to say something. ANYTHING. It would seem rude if he didn't and he wasn't a rude person. Biting his lower lip, he glanced at her through his peripheral vision and his crooked smile tried to form on his face, possibly making him look like a constipated cow. "Um.... thank you. For helping me," was what he forced out. That would do. At least he'd spoken to her.