| Title: Better to shovel manure than actually work. Time: Monday, April 12, 2004 The Thespians: Toby Darling and Pascal Curio Location: Mundainger Biology - Stables |
+---[ Mundainger Biology - Stables ]------------------------------------------+ | | | A rather large barn-like building, seemingly rather cozy. Large bales and | | piles of hay align the stables, and many large stalls run down the building | | in four neat rows, each row fitting to, about twenty some-odd animals, a | | water trough and a functioning gate at each stall. Some of the stalls in | | the stables are relatively larger than others, fitting different sizes of | | magical creatures and other animals. A tall ceiling graces the stables, | | stretching up, up, and up into the sky, and a loft can be see when one | | looks above, more bales of soft, comfortable looking hay resting on the | | loft. A small shed in the back of the stables, which holds all sorts of | | different tools and things used for taking care of animals. A larger shed | | stands next to it, full of food and other nutritious things for the animals | | to feed on. A rather old looking water pump stands next to the sheds, with | | a large water trough that stretches around the entire barn. Pitchforks for | | hay are scattered about the barn, hanging on old rusted nails. As can be | | expected, cobwebs are strung all above the rafters of the stables, a | | perfect place for owls or other birds to perch peacefully. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| It's time for a study break for Toby Darling and the stables is as good a place as any. Maybe Lien has been rubbing off on him more than he realizes- he has been studying almost nonstop since the day before yesterday and his eyes are starting to go crossed. He's even been managing to stay awake while reading! He strolls quietly through the stables, probably looking for shiny stuff to play with. |
| The minute that Pascal Curio woke up this morning, she wasn't in a very good mood. The cut on her cheek throbbed and her entire body was sore from being thrown all around the AMC entrance hall. She managed to get herself up to the loft though, especially after reading a particularly infuriating letter left upon her windowsill. A loud and miserable groan escapes her lips as she climbs back down the ladder to the stables and she rests her forehead on a rung as her feet touch the ground. She hasn't realized that Toby is in the stables. |
| Toby hasn't seen Pascal yet, either and at this rate he's not going to. He's found himself a nice little corner with a nice little hay bale on which to sit upon. -plop- He doesn't really have anything /else/ to do right now. Perhaps a nap is in order. |
| Pascal takes a deep breath with her forehead pressed against the rung of the ladder, and then she slowly turns to walk out of the stables. On any other day she would pause to take a careful look around, but today she seems more focused on leaving. And so she would, except that she's not paying attention to where she's going and she stubs her toe on a milk pail. "Fuck!" And in response to that a cow moos very slowly. |
| Okay, so no nap for Toby today. He now realizes all too well that Pascal is in the room and he's almost afraid to greet her when she's in this state. He pokes his head out of the shelter of the empty stall he currently resides in and looks around for where that familiar, vulgar voice came from. He winces a bit as he realizes that Pascal yelled because she hurt herself and then sucks it up to say "Hello, Pascal." |
| "Hello, Toby," comes the sullen reply from the girl. She looks over at him and manages a very tight-lipped smile. "Sleeping?" But Pascal doesn't wait for an answer as she continues to shuffle out of the stables slowly. Just keep on putting on foot in front of the other. She doesn't particularly look too much in pain, just rather chagrinned. "Sorry about that," she says to him and keeps on padding, not quite realizing what she's said. |
| "It's a good place to sleep," Pascal comments, stopping now to take a closer look at the boy in his little 'hiding' spot. She shrugs lightly, her hand rising instinctively to rub at the cut on her cheek and she winces. With a sigh she drops her hand and makes a vague gesture towards the loft. "Not much. Just doing some reading. Got a letter from a -- someone." She was going to say friend there, oops. She tilts her head to the side and suddenly asks, "Hey, have you seen Elijah around your dorms at all?" As soon as those words come out of her mouth, however, her face grows dark and somber. "Actually, nevermind. Don't answer that." |
| Toby looks a little bit confused. Something isn't quite right here. Pascal is too... quiet to be okay. Not that he'd mention something to her, though. If it were Lien he would, but not Pascal. No no no no. "Yeah, nice napping spot. Uh... no, I haven't seen Elijah." Not thay Toby would care for any reason but to stay out of his way... |
| With another shrug, Pascal sighs and offers a cool, "Yeah, didn't think so." Another pause. "I've heard people say he hasn't been around for the past day or so," she muses quietly, looking down to trace her boot in the hay shavings all around the stables. She clears her throat and shoves her hands into her pockets. "Didn't figure I ought to listen to all that gossip bullshit from the girls, huh?" She forces a chuckle out, but even swearing can't mask that she's clearly thinking about something. "Anyway, just thought I'd ask you, since you actually live in the same building he does, is all." |
| Okay, yeah, /something/ is definitely wrong with this picture. Pascal is quiet, calm, and is willingly asking Toby for info that, apparently, she wouldn't just write off as being BS. "Oh, yeah. I hardly ever seen him, though." He shifts on his hay bale uncomfortably. "I haven't heard anything about him, either." More shifting. He looks up now, a look almost one resemblant of concern on his face... maybe Pascal won't notice. "Are you okay?" A query that has gotten him into trouble with Lien on many occasions... will it get him into trouble with Pascal on this occasion? |
| Yikes. Fragile ground. The ice is slowly cracking. Pascal's eyes flash and her hands, inside her robe, ball into white fists. The blood slightly drains from her face, which is never really a good sign. Her jaw completely tightenes and she narrows her eyes so slightly that it's barely noticeable. "Why wouldn't I be fine?" She asks Toby calmly, questioningly. "Unless you know something I don't?" She hasn't quite yet learned to be thankful, but that look on Toby's face is enough to set her off into her defensive mode. |
| Woah. This could get bad pretty easily. Toby backpaddles a bit. "Um... just asking. You just look a little bit... not yourself." -heh- "Uh, no. No I don't know anything you don't. I've been studying all day for the past few days." More shifting on the hay. Why can't somebody invent a decent, comfortable hay bale? |
| "Of course I'm not myself," Pascal growls, pointing at the cut on her face and the bruises all over the other side of her face. "Look at me, Toby. I look like I've been run over by a fucking dump truck." She narrows her eyes and balls her hands up into fists once more. Anything to avoid the real topic at hand. She falls silent, calms down, and begins again with a silky voice. "You wouldn't be yourself either if you went through what I did." She means the duel. The DUEL. |
| Toby is oblivious to details, as usual and didn't even notice that Pascal is a bit beat up. Since he hasn't been doing much socializing for the past couple of days he hasn't even heard about the duel. He was nowhere to be seen when it all went down. So, he just pretends he understands and nods. "Oh, right. Sorry." |
| "I showed him though," Pascal mutters darkly, though she doesn't sound very convincing. She's not convincing herself anyway. She crosses her arms in front of her chest with a slight wince and then gives Toby a shrug. She doesn't mention any more about the duel though, but she hasn't actually said anything about it either, nor will she; not to give herself away at least. Trying to be sarcastic now, so that Toby doesn't 'worry' about her, she forces out, "So how come very time I see you you're... /not/ studying?" |
| "I was studying in the library the other day." Yeah, when Toby fell asleep on his book and was awakened with the realization that one of his favorite bands, Weezer, was made up of wizards- courtsey of Pascal's book slamming escapade. "I was studying all last night, too. But You weren't in my dorm so you didn't see me. My roommate yelled at me at about 2:00 to turn off the light already." -grin/shrug- "You just catch me at the wrong times, I guess." |
| "Maybe," Pascal shrugs, and actually decides, with much effort, to raise her foot and rest it on an upturned pail. Not the one she tripped over and swore at; that one's a few feet away. "So that's why you're here in the stables, trying to catch up on your sleep," she mulls quietly. Again, the sarcasm is gone and is simply replaced with... Captain Obvious! But soon he's gone too. "You know, you should work on your time management skills. Not going to get far in life if you do that all the time." |
| Ah, there's the Pascal that Toby has come to know and... tolerate! "Yup. Came out here just to sleep. I'm trying to avoid getting anywhere in life, actually, so I'm actually thinking of quitting school and just living out here. Maybe when they feed the horses they can toss some grain my way, too." Sarcasm isn't Toby's strong suit, but he's trying. |
| Pascal's never one to seriously nag about futures in life, and trying to get somewhere through school, and she's not going to start now. She rests an arm on her raised knee and just shakes her head at Toby, another tight lipped smirk spreading over her face. "Right. With /your/ luck, they'll mistake you for a stablehand and make you shovel cow shit the whole day." A pause and her eyes glimmer at Toby's own 'sarcasm.' |
| Laughter- the best medicine. Too bad nobody's laughing. "No, with my luck they'll try to shovel /me/!" Yes, that's about how Toby's luck goes. He'd get shoveled with the poo. He's not joking. He's serious about that one. "Um... maybe living here wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe I could try the kitchen." |
| "Because you know, being around food all the time would make it /that/ much better." Pascal's already given Toby a hard time about the fluff around his midsection, and so she eyes it very pointedly, and the tight lipped smirk relaxes somewhat into a more open smirk. "That'll just mean you'll have to start exercising between all your snacks." |
| Speaking of exercising, Toby is going to go for a walk. "You're right. I should go exercise now, even. Maybe I'll take a lap around the lake." Toby is /really/ doing his best to be patronizing. Is it working? "I'll see you later!" He stands from his fluffy seat of hay and heads toward the door. |
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