(no subject)
Apple Pie #21. Roommate with Whipped Cream and Hot Fudge
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : G
Timeframe : 1244
Word Count : 407
“So,” said Kairn, eyeing the knapsack that had just been unceremoniously deposited beside him on the bed, “you’re a keeper, then.” That didn’t come out right, but then he wasn’t really sure what he’d meant to say anyway. Of course the boy was a keeper; he knew the forms before Berwyk finished showing them. Kairn still wondered what exactly made him a keeper.
And now the boy was staring at him with those sharp blue eyes of his, and Kairn just wanted to squirm right out of his skin. But there it was again, that gaping silence, and he couldn’t bear not to open his mouth. He thought to opt, this time, for something safer. “W-what’s your name?”
The new boy’s brow arched even higher. “It’s Sethan,” he said, as if that were as obvious as the notion that Berwyk would decide to keep him.
“Oh,” said Kairn. Smiling, he extended a small hand the way grown-ups did when they met someone. “I’m Kairn.”
Rather than take his hand, Sethan tossed his cloak up onto the top bunk, picked his bag back up, and slung it over his shoulder. As he started climbing the rail and Kairn stuffed the unwanted hand back into his lap, he simply said, “I know.”
Another void settled in, the only sound the rustling of sheets and pillows overhead, and Kairn couldn’t help himself again. “You’re, uh, you’re really good at forms.” There was no answer from above, not that he really expected one. He slumped against the pillows, nervously picking at a wrinkle in the sheets. “I never seem to get them right. The lines just don’t want to, I don’t know, line up. You know? I mean, I’m still trying to figure out letters and numbers.”
The bed gave a creak and a lurch and Kairn went stiff. Sethan’s head, with its frame of wild black curls, dipped over the side of the top bunk to frown at him. “You like to talk a lot.”
This time it was Kairn that didn’t have an answer. Sethan hung over the bed for a moment, studying him. “I’ll show you that water form again tomorrow,” he said, “if you let me sleep. Deal?”
Kairn gave an emphatic and silent nod and, with another groan from the bed, Sethan disappeared into his bunk.
“Night,” Kairn ventured, only to hear a sigh of exaspiration and more jostling of the covers from his new bunkmate.
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : G
Timeframe : 1244
Word Count : 407
“So,” said Kairn, eyeing the knapsack that had just been unceremoniously deposited beside him on the bed, “you’re a keeper, then.” That didn’t come out right, but then he wasn’t really sure what he’d meant to say anyway. Of course the boy was a keeper; he knew the forms before Berwyk finished showing them. Kairn still wondered what exactly made him a keeper.
And now the boy was staring at him with those sharp blue eyes of his, and Kairn just wanted to squirm right out of his skin. But there it was again, that gaping silence, and he couldn’t bear not to open his mouth. He thought to opt, this time, for something safer. “W-what’s your name?”
The new boy’s brow arched even higher. “It’s Sethan,” he said, as if that were as obvious as the notion that Berwyk would decide to keep him.
“Oh,” said Kairn. Smiling, he extended a small hand the way grown-ups did when they met someone. “I’m Kairn.”
Rather than take his hand, Sethan tossed his cloak up onto the top bunk, picked his bag back up, and slung it over his shoulder. As he started climbing the rail and Kairn stuffed the unwanted hand back into his lap, he simply said, “I know.”
Another void settled in, the only sound the rustling of sheets and pillows overhead, and Kairn couldn’t help himself again. “You’re, uh, you’re really good at forms.” There was no answer from above, not that he really expected one. He slumped against the pillows, nervously picking at a wrinkle in the sheets. “I never seem to get them right. The lines just don’t want to, I don’t know, line up. You know? I mean, I’m still trying to figure out letters and numbers.”
The bed gave a creak and a lurch and Kairn went stiff. Sethan’s head, with its frame of wild black curls, dipped over the side of the top bunk to frown at him. “You like to talk a lot.”
This time it was Kairn that didn’t have an answer. Sethan hung over the bed for a moment, studying him. “I’ll show you that water form again tomorrow,” he said, “if you let me sleep. Deal?”
Kairn gave an emphatic and silent nod and, with another groan from the bed, Sethan disappeared into his bunk.
“Night,” Kairn ventured, only to hear a sigh of exaspiration and more jostling of the covers from his new bunkmate.