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rainbowfic2013-10-30 12:23 am
greenling) wrote in rainbowfic2013-10-30 12:23 am
Dirt Brown #6 /Harvest Gold #6
Name: Greenling
Story: Asking for Roses
Colors: Dirt Brown #6 (From the earth)/Harvest Gold #6 (asters)
Supplies and Styles: Paint by Numbers (a promise lives inside you now), Watercolor ("I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights." Tell a story in which a character has to deal with one, two, or even all three of these scenarios. How does (s)he respond?)
Word Count: 743
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: The watercolor pretty much covers it. Small character bits with Jaymie, Alex, and Wendy.
Comments, criticism, and questions are all appreciated.
It was a rainy, miserable late afternoon, just like the rest of the day had been. Alex had driven back to his hotel some few minutes after noon, and the day had gotten worse since.
The smaller of his two bags had gone missing- thank god he was smart enough to put the files and his laptop in his carry-on- and as the airport still hadn't called him back, he had decided to call them. He would have given up on the clothes and miscellany by now, but he'd stuffed his Christmas present in it, hoping to snack on the peppermint bark. It wasn't anything that important, or expensive, or even hard to replace, but it was the principle of the thing.
His voice was much lighter than his mood; he wrung out a manager, a set of emails, and a solid idea of exactly how unliable they were for this before getting sick of it.
He wasn't done trying, but he was done for the day. It was clear he wouldn't be getting his things back, and he might be around a while, so he would have to replace a few things- toiletries, possibly warm socks. The hotel couldn't provide everything, and what they did provide all smelled like flowers- the soap and shampoo were flowery, the wallpaper was covered in flowers, the paintings in the hall were mostly of flowers. Whoever managed the place must have been a gardener. Anyhow, he needed to get out of the place for a while before he started imagining a little man inside the wallpaper trying to kill him.
He bundled up for the trip, making a mental note to grab an umbrella while he was out. He hadn't expected there to be this much rain.
--
The porch was chilly, more from the rain clattering down onto the huge, curved windows than the actual temperature. Wendy lay half-asleep on a couch pushed up underneath them, staring out into the open air at the clouds and the palm in the backyard, both swaying in the wind.
She heard a dull clank that startled her out of her daydream. She sat up; at some point while she wasn't looking Jaymie had slipped in and grabbed a box from the garage.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He frowned.
"I wasn't asleep." She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands and sat up.
"Could've fooled me." He picked up the box again with a huff and moved it over to a chair, pulling it open.
"What's in there?"
"Lights. Mom wants me to get them ready to put up." He looked up at her. "If you're not asleep, do you want to help?"
"Sure." Wendy padded over to sit in the floor, the better to paw through the box. The stone-tile floor was cold under her toesocks. There was a clump of lights that looked half as big as she was, and buried under them were a glass with Disney characters on it and a half a dozen little Christmas tree candles that smelled strongly of pine. "Wow. This looks like at least a three-person job."
"Yeah..." Jaymie picked out the little tree candles and sat them down beside the chair. "The trick is to find the end that isn't a plug and go from there. She makes me do this every year."
"I... kinda remember that." She smiled. "When I was five, the last time you were here. Grandma chased you around with a roll of wrapping paper."
Jaymie got a weird, bemused smile on his face, picking through the lights. "Heh. Yeah."
"It was a long time ago." There were two plugs, so she started looking through for a second end.
They were both quiet for a moment, trying to sort things out. Over some minutes, they at least got one of the lines unravelled from the other, though there were still several knots in it.
In the still air, Jaymie mumbled something. Wendy looked up. "Hmm?"
"I said, I'm sorry." He spoke quietly, looking down at the lights. "For not being around."
"It's..." She had no idea what to say to that, or even if it was a good idea to say anything. "It's cool. It wasn't your fault." Her voice was unsteady.
"It's not cool." He sighed. "But I'm going to try to make it cool."
She had even less idea what to say to that, so she just nodded.
Story: Asking for Roses
Colors: Dirt Brown #6 (From the earth)/Harvest Gold #6 (asters)
Supplies and Styles: Paint by Numbers (a promise lives inside you now), Watercolor ("I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights." Tell a story in which a character has to deal with one, two, or even all three of these scenarios. How does (s)he respond?)
Word Count: 743
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: The watercolor pretty much covers it. Small character bits with Jaymie, Alex, and Wendy.
Comments, criticism, and questions are all appreciated.
It was a rainy, miserable late afternoon, just like the rest of the day had been. Alex had driven back to his hotel some few minutes after noon, and the day had gotten worse since.
The smaller of his two bags had gone missing- thank god he was smart enough to put the files and his laptop in his carry-on- and as the airport still hadn't called him back, he had decided to call them. He would have given up on the clothes and miscellany by now, but he'd stuffed his Christmas present in it, hoping to snack on the peppermint bark. It wasn't anything that important, or expensive, or even hard to replace, but it was the principle of the thing.
His voice was much lighter than his mood; he wrung out a manager, a set of emails, and a solid idea of exactly how unliable they were for this before getting sick of it.
He wasn't done trying, but he was done for the day. It was clear he wouldn't be getting his things back, and he might be around a while, so he would have to replace a few things- toiletries, possibly warm socks. The hotel couldn't provide everything, and what they did provide all smelled like flowers- the soap and shampoo were flowery, the wallpaper was covered in flowers, the paintings in the hall were mostly of flowers. Whoever managed the place must have been a gardener. Anyhow, he needed to get out of the place for a while before he started imagining a little man inside the wallpaper trying to kill him.
He bundled up for the trip, making a mental note to grab an umbrella while he was out. He hadn't expected there to be this much rain.
--
The porch was chilly, more from the rain clattering down onto the huge, curved windows than the actual temperature. Wendy lay half-asleep on a couch pushed up underneath them, staring out into the open air at the clouds and the palm in the backyard, both swaying in the wind.
She heard a dull clank that startled her out of her daydream. She sat up; at some point while she wasn't looking Jaymie had slipped in and grabbed a box from the garage.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He frowned.
"I wasn't asleep." She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands and sat up.
"Could've fooled me." He picked up the box again with a huff and moved it over to a chair, pulling it open.
"What's in there?"
"Lights. Mom wants me to get them ready to put up." He looked up at her. "If you're not asleep, do you want to help?"
"Sure." Wendy padded over to sit in the floor, the better to paw through the box. The stone-tile floor was cold under her toesocks. There was a clump of lights that looked half as big as she was, and buried under them were a glass with Disney characters on it and a half a dozen little Christmas tree candles that smelled strongly of pine. "Wow. This looks like at least a three-person job."
"Yeah..." Jaymie picked out the little tree candles and sat them down beside the chair. "The trick is to find the end that isn't a plug and go from there. She makes me do this every year."
"I... kinda remember that." She smiled. "When I was five, the last time you were here. Grandma chased you around with a roll of wrapping paper."
Jaymie got a weird, bemused smile on his face, picking through the lights. "Heh. Yeah."
"It was a long time ago." There were two plugs, so she started looking through for a second end.
They were both quiet for a moment, trying to sort things out. Over some minutes, they at least got one of the lines unravelled from the other, though there were still several knots in it.
In the still air, Jaymie mumbled something. Wendy looked up. "Hmm?"
"I said, I'm sorry." He spoke quietly, looking down at the lights. "For not being around."
"It's..." She had no idea what to say to that, or even if it was a good idea to say anything. "It's cool. It wasn't your fault." Her voice was unsteady.
"It's not cool." He sighed. "But I'm going to try to make it cool."
She had even less idea what to say to that, so she just nodded.