Cracks in the Ceiling [Jasper]

[Noisette Todd]

Oh, how she wished Mark would leave her snares alone.

Noisette would have thought he’d figured out to do so, considering the way she’d chewed him out the first couple of times. But no, the prat had flounced right up to her and told her very plainly that the rabbit he was carrying was from the traps she’d set. Apparently, that was okay because he’d been out that way on patrol, and he thought he’d save her the oh-so-arduous trip.

First off, he’d stolen the fun of finding a snare with a catch in it. That didn’t happen very often, since she had to set them within or fairly close to Fulsi territory. If she set them outside the city limits, she risked catching something that was rotten by the time she could come over and find it.

Second, as she’d looked the carcass over to make sure he hadn’t damaged it, the idiot had casually remarked that it had taken a couple of tries to break the neck. What could have been a very quick, painless death had gotten drawn out by his incompetence.

Third, he’d offered to skin and clean them for her. At least he’d been so confident at that point, but somehow he still didn’t realize that she would prefer to do things herself. Knowing him, she suspected he thought the blood and guts would bother her. The thought ticked her off even more.

But she’d managed to leave calmly, after confiscating the carcass…and Mark’s skinning knife. It wasn’t hard to coerce him into lending it, and Noisy didn’t have one. But there was no way she was letting him fix up the dead lapine. It wasn’t just a matter of not rewarding him for his annoying behavior. He’d probably burst something inside and get it all over the meat, or miss some sign of the rabbit being diseased.

Making away with all this proved a bit difficult; her hands were each occupied with a full bucket from the water run she’d just returned from. The knife fit in her pocket, but the rabbit wound up draped over her shoulder, which was tilted awkwardly to keep it from falling.

By the time she reached her destination, however, it had slid off only once, and balancing it gave her a distraction. As she entered one of the storerooms, her thoughts about certain idiots were more resigned than violent. As long as she didn't think about people who assumed she was a wuss, or wouldn't leave her crap alone or ignored what she told them, she would be fine. In fact, she was calm enough that she didn't roll her eyes when she realized someone else was in the room. She only glanced long enough to identify the person and mutter an absent-minded greeting. “Hullo, Jasper.”

[Jasper]

He'd been on a short patrol that morning already, and by short he accompanied a scout and two hunters out only to have to escort one of the hunters back before the end of the shift because of a torn ACL. He sighed as he walked out from the medical wing of the building, running a hand through his hair and arbitrarily sending it in all different directions to smooth it back forward out of habit... habit, habit ... habit. He had always liked things in even numbers.

Making he way back to the stocking area he decided to help out and go through organizing the stock. It always was at least a little screwed up and out of sync, that was for sure, and he always liked tasks that didn't take /so/ much thought. Walking into the stock room he glanced around, taking off his satchel to put on the top of a low bookshelf he crouched down, eying the contents that were shuffled around in front of him before studying the rest around it. Types of food, then divided by name ... or so he figured as he got to work.

It's not that Jasper disliked the whole patrol and possible/usual fighting thing ... it was the fact that he wasn't very good at it. Granted, he was much better than he was when he got here, that was for sure, and he had had help along the way.

Now he didn't notice the other come in, nor did he even decide if it was someone from his own Ring at that particular moment, since the fact that his heart suddenly jumped into his throat as a voice came from somewhere behind him. His muscles tensed and his grip on a few canned goods fumbled, sending them tumbling to the ground in a small ruckus as he grabbed at the shelving unit to steady himself on the balls of his feet. As his mind wrapped around the fact that he wasn't about to be ambushed, even though his overactive imagination liked to freak him out even in his own Ring's territory it seemed, he breathed and glanced over.

Noisette, one of the few people he had come to know in this hellish place, had casually walked past him, a rabbit gripped in her hands. She was a good hunter, that was for sure, as she had shown him a few of her snares before and even let him watch as she set one up once prior. Truth be told, he had a small crush on the girl, although he couldn't see things working out. Not that he didn't like her enough, oh no, the butterflies in his stomach told him otherwise. The fact that she probably didn't like him that way was one reason .. also that she tended to like guys that were a lot different than he.

"Noisette," he managed without a tremor in his voice like he thought, moving to pick up the few cans and move back to sorting. Turning cans so the labels faced out, silently counting the ABC's in his head when he paused on certain letters. "I see you've caught another one, you're pretty good at though snares, you know," he said giving a sideways glance to watch her briefly. Only turning his attention back forward as she turned to look back at him.

[Noisette Todd]

Noisette had expected a simple variation of ‘hello’ in response, not a crash.

For about three seconds the plan was to smash someone’s brains in. The rabbit dropped from her shoulder as she whirled around, the left bucket in particular hefted for swinging. But no, it wasn’t some pathetically clumsy ambusher; it was just Jasper being Jasper. The fact left more irritation than relief.

It was hard to know what to make of the little medic. Okay, fine, that was true of everyone, in one way or another. In his case, he didn’t give her much to work with, which left a lot of assuming to be done, and Noisy’s assumptions about people tended to gravitate to the negative. He was far from the worst of her tribemates; he tended to be less annoying, because he was quiet. He also tended to be annoying…because he was quiet.

On the one hand, he was her medic of choice for her frequent trips to the medical wing. Anyone else would ask what she’d done this time, and make a huge fuss over it. Noisette knew she did a lot of stupid things, which meant she didn’t need other people to tell her that. Jasper seemed to realize that. Or maybe he just knew how she’d chew him out if he did speak up.

Which was the whole problem with the bloke. He seemed incapable of sticking up for himself, and the Menagerie was not the place for that. Everything was out to get him, and what was he going to do if he wasn’t even brave enough to stop people from walking over him?

At least he didn’t inundate her with useless apologies over small things. With the greeting returned, she nearly walked away, before she noticed what he was doing. “Hold up, did you check those?” she set the buckets to the side and scooted the carcass between them with a foot. As she wandered over to him, she rubbed at the imprints the handles had left in her hands. “If you’ve busted them they’ll go bad, and then probably make a mess while they’re at it.” Leaning past him, she picked up one of the cans and carefully examined it for any breaks. She replaced it with considerably less care, oblivious to his little sorting pattern. Or any pattern, really.

His compliment did nothing to mollify her typical moodiness. There was no reason to feel self-satisfied over a comment that had no real merit. Maybe he was honestly impressed, maybe he was trying to soften her up. The mere possibility of the latter irked her. Either way, he shouldn’t be impressed. “It’s not that hard. As long as you don’t make certain stupid mistakes, the snare does all the work for you.” She was intentionally vague, since she was now wondering if he would know what she was talking about. “You do remember what to do, right? I know I’ve shown you before, but there’s plenty of numbskulls around to confuse you with their techniques.”

She replaced another can, not even bothering to set it right side up.

[Jasper]

Jasper didn't really expect the other to suddenly come over. Though as she questioned him about her checking them, and he turned to answer her, he found her already there. Reaching past him as he felt heat rise to his neck as he watched her unblinkingly for a moment.

At this distance he could note her hair, the same bright purple it had been when he first met her, and yet the roots that had begun to show were now covered and the color that had faded, was now vivid once more. He let his eyes trail down to her face and watch her eyes, her brows furrowed a she turned the can over in her hands to scrutinize the small cylinder of preserved food. She always did have a knack for nosing her way into someones business if she felt like it. That was just her way. Not that he minded at all really.

Though as she began to place the cans back haphazardly, randomly, and without notice of his current organizing; the vein in his temple pulsed a bit as he grit his teeth. No Jasper, you were not going to say anything to her lest she rip your head off. He looked away then, staring at the faces of the cans as he breathed slowly, his eyes not really seeing anything as his mind whirled. The tick in his brain begged him to stop her but the other part, the side that liked her and found himself even less for words around her, argued.

As she spoke, dodging the compliment as always, his mouth pulled to one side in a un-amused frown. Still looking forward, a couple cans forgotten in his hands for the moment, he listened as his eyes dropped to the labels of the food in his hands. "I remember," he said as he glanced to her with a smile, trying not to focus on what she was doing. "I've got a really good memory," he said as he glanced, caving to his need to organize, to the cans she had just put up. Sighing heavily, he reached out and flipped them right side up and slid them to the right place where he had them before. Glancing to the cans in his hands before placing them on the shelf.

"I appreciate the help Noisette ... but could you ... put them right side up?" he asked the shelf, slowly giving a sidelong glance to her. The mental argument in his head stopped, also seeming to wait. That wasn't too pushy was it? No ... no, not really.

[Noisette Todd]

So he said he remembered. That could mean he really had kept the instructions straight. That could also mean he was lying to keep her from snapping at him; in her opinion, his dodgy answer suggested the latter. Too bad for him, if that was true. She wouldn’t get mad at him for…okay, fine, she would be quite frustrated if he had forgotten. But she would be far more put off if he was lying just to avoid that. Mostly because that would remind her that her short temper made people feel like they couldn’t be honest with her about their mistakes. Not that she would admit that, if she even realized it. She’d just get irritated and think it was his fault.

Noisette fully intended to make him recite the process until she was satisfied, but she was cut off. Maybe it was just her, but he seemed a little bolder today. The feeling was very much increased when he finished what he was saying.

She let a long breath out her nose, given that her lower lip was currently gripped between her teeth.

It’s true, Noisette had her own tendencies towards perfectionism. But it was perfectionism, not obsessive-compulsiveness. She got stuck on doing things correctly, and sometimes things took longer than they should. But that was on things that mattered. It was about making sure you didn’t cut any corners, not about getting out a microscope to make sure everything matched perfectly. No, any fussiness on Noisy’s part was perfectly justified, while other people just tended to be silly about it. Naturally.

After a moment she opened her eyes again, trying to get rid of the rest of her exasperated expression. She mustn’t snap at him. He was making a big deal out of trifles, but she would have to be the bigger human and continue to treat it as trifles. One the bright side, there was always the fact that he had even said anything. It was annoying, yes. It also was a small movement towards his not being an utter doormat. She had to admit, this was a good step for him.

Okay, fine. He could have his way, provided he stuck by his stance when challenged. She just wasn’t letting him off easy on it, either. No pat on the back and cessation of cranky behavior over one tiny steps forward.

The woman didn’t really know what all bothered him, other than the cans being wrong side up. So she just tried to make it as disorganized as she could. Noisette left the previous cans alone, but the next one she put away was upside down, label to the back, and staggered so that it sat across the tops of two cans. “Jasper, what does it really matter in the long run, hm?” She could have made him try to support his argument with a question that was less likely to highlight the inevitable pettiness of his reasons. Oh well, she wasn’t trying t be nice here. Not directly, anyway.



o.o.c. – Meddlesome little Toddses, yessss.

[Jasper]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 496px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i45.tinypic.com/5yvm8x.jpg)] For being as socially awkward as he was he could read people pretty easily. It was points for him even though he didn't know it. Really though, it was better to cue in on un-spoken clues - body language and expressions and the like - than to be totally unaware and be out of the loop. Though it did always make for amusing moments of unaware curiosity and thick atmosphere. With that note, he heard the long breath through her nasal cavity - and the slight furrow of her brow as he rose his ring finger of his hand to adjust the place of his glasses on his nose. A habit more than anything considering that the frames would be back down the bridge of his nose not too long afterwards. He let his eyes slide along the labels before him, making sure they all faced out. Exactly an even number across the shelf like he liked before Noisette was at it again; his eyes flickering to the can that was haphazardly turned and obnoxiously done, or so he presumed, on purpose. It was his time to sigh as he looked to the can, his mouth set in an unamused line as he slowly turned on the balls of his feet to drop one knee to steady himself. As she questioned him about his need to have things in order - or well - the reason he cared, it seemed; he found his dark gaze sliding away from her for a moment. Seemingly it was to collect his thoughts, though this was far from the truth as Jasper usually had a multitude of things prepared to say for different circumstances and possibilities of what the they would say. The reason was mostly, in fact, that his heart hammered unsteadily not only because she was not someone whom was an imaginary friend he had when he was younger, was in fact someone of the opposite gender, and lastly was the girl he had had a crush on since they first met. Why? his brain had yelled at him. She was opinionated, loud and totally his opposite it seemed. But what was it that many said? Opposites attract. Whoever made this up obviously had not tried to combine oil and water. Though, however many times he tried to convince himself otherwise, she talked to him or looked his way and his heart succumbed to beating so obnoxiously it was a surprise to him not everyone that was ever around him could hear it. "It matters because there is a need to do things in a way that helps others. Imagine if nothing was in order and you were looking for something in particular. It would take you twice as long, if not more, to locate what you wanted just because...," he paused as he plucked the can she had thrown up there. "Just because someone didn't take a moment to simply turn a can and make it so it was legible. It's not life changing - it's just convenience. That and I like to work smart .. not hard, ya know?" He said this all with a momentary bought of confidence, even though his heart felt the need to travel into his throat as he tried to swallow the lump. He rested with his arm on the shelf next to them, still holding onto the can that he had just fixed as he looked at her. The box of cans he was putting up sitting to the other side of them that he hand a light grip on with his other hand. God, he hoped she wouldn't smack him or something. He felt like he said something wrong right after he was finished. Though he blamed it on the fact that he didn't want her to hate him. Mildly dislike would maybe be okay, but hopefully not hate.

[Noisette Todd]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width:483px;height:613px; background-image:url(http://i48.tinypic.com/acbi9u.png)] Well blast, he’d given a very good answer. Stupid, but supportable. And also not stupid, since that was just her irritation speaking. Noisette supposed she should be supportive. That had been the plan, after all. Jasper had done as he should have. It was just that certain expectations had made her issue the challenge in the first place, and having those expectations flouted stung. It would be so easy to get back at him; she was by far them more assertive, and could have silenced him with the most blatantly wrong argument as long as she was loud about it. Possibly the only thing that stopped her from doing so was the fact that she wasn’t going to save her pride either way. If she shut him up, she was a bullying, unreasonable idiot; if she conceded, she was an idiot who didn’t think things through. This was the problem with people. Noisy never could figure out what she wanted out of them. “Alright, fine. Go for it. Personally, I think it would be just as easy for them to turn it themselves.” It wasn’t really an angry tone, more of a verbal shrug. The ensuing silence was heavy. Why, though? Noisette was so often immune to that which was often considered awkward. In fact she prided herself in not being affected by such paltry things. Must be the guilt. With no chatter to replace it, the awkward little showdown just sort of hung around. After all this time, being responsible was still such a complicated and unenjoyable process. “Here, you figure out optimal viewing angle, I need to take care of what I came down here for.” Noisette didn’t really know if she was excusing herself because she was uncomfortable, or so she wouldn’t yell at him again. She couldn’t really be mad at Jasper, except that that only meant she could be frustrated with herself, which then made her mad at Jasper. Or maybe she could blame some of this on Mark. After all, he’d fouled her mood before she’d gotten down here, doing things she’d already asked him not to do. Yes, that was better. That still left the fact, though, that she really ought to apologize. The silence was hardly helped at all by the crunch of her breaking the film on the water, nor the splash as she transferred it from bucket to barrel. If anything, it was emphasized. Well, she still wasn’t going to apologize, and she wasn’t going to think about why. If they just moved on, it would be one of those little things that was never important in the end, something that only insecure people remembered because it piled up with all the other little instances and okay brain, shut up. “So, Jasper, found yourself any more books lately? Er, I guess it would be more like scraps of them, anyway.” That was the best he was getting out of the purple-haired woman. Inquiries about things she knew he cared about, not direct attempts to owe up to her hurting him.

[Jasper]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 496px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i45.tinypic.com/5yvm8x.jpg)] The response she gave was a bit off-handed, if anything a signal to that conversations end; he obliged easily enough as he found a small smile crossing his face. As she moved away from him he followed her form briefly before his mind kicked at him to not be caught staring, and moved to grab some more cans as he began stacking them on the shelf once more with a quick 'mmk' uttered from him. The splosh of water, the eerie silence around them, broken only slightly by the wind that pushed against the walls of the Gospel; it all set his muscles and mind on edge, the latter more-so. He swallowed against a dry mouth, his tongue barely brushing his bottom lip in concentration as he grabbed two .. three more cans. Maybe she wasn't as mad as he thought her to be? Maybe he'd have decent conversation with her like he'd been trying to work up to for the past few months? Hell, meeting someone first through healing them served as a hard ice-breaker friendship when the female was all business to get herself stitched up and then be on her way. Besides that, he learned really quick not to question why she was always getting hurt. "..more like scraps of them, anyway" He blinked, almost missing what she had said before his brain caught back up as he turned. Almost loosing his balance he gripped the shelf, steadying himself before shaking his head; then he reminded himself she had her back turned to him before he flushed in embarrassment. He grabbed the last of the cans as he began stacking them into the shelves, glancing over to her. "Nah, I haven't. It'd be nice, ya know? I can only read the same things so many times. Even a notebook would be good. I can start doing research of my own even," he said with a smile that reached his eyes. He shifted back to look at his handy-work then, nodding in satisfaction he pushed up using his hands on his knees, a small groan coming from his throat as he did so. Grabbing the crate he moved to stack it on some others against the wall towards the corner of the room. Dusting himself off he made his way over to where Noisette was at, peering over at what she was doing .... what was she doing? "What're you up to?" he asked with a curious glance, his eyes flickering to her face as he let a ghost of a smile grace his lips in a honest trying-to-start-a-converstion-with-a-pretty-girl-without-embarassing-yourself kinda way.

[Noisette Todd]

Funny, the way certain innocent words could give you the creeps in the Snowglobe of Doom. Research was not always bad, something she told herself twice before the slight tension in her muscles left. Research, though. Yet another way he wasn’t helping stereotypes on people with glasses. She might have asked what he wanted to study; there were any number of answers. But that would encourage him, and Noise was hoping shyness would keep him quiet. She figured she’d feigned enough polite interest to make up for snapping at him. It was enough for her conscience, anyway. And she definitely would have asked if she’d known he would try to break the silence with weird crap instead. With a small pause, she looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow. “I’m…filling a water barrel…?” The dude was relentless, and she hoped it wasn’t for the same reason a lot of dudes would be. “Dunno, I’m skinning a rabbit up once I’m done down here.” He seemed like the kind of guy who might very well be scared off by the prospect of blood and guts. Or if nothing else, it wasn’t likely he’d want to hang around for such a messy and mundane chore. It wasn’t exactly something everyone was clamoring for a chance at it. Unless he didn’t know how to skin a rabbit and wanted to learn. Crap.