[DRP] Magic House (Preacher/Chester)

[The Semblance of Unity]

make like a tree

Wrinkling her nose again, she placed the glasses back in his hand. Preacher was about to point out that she got as ********' lost as anymore when he sighed.

She scooted even closer. "What's a shame?"

smerdlle

 

[Smerdle]

a rat's nest

He smiled to himself while she couldn't see him, pressing back against the sink so she could get by once the towel was out of the way.

"No problem. Glad to be of assistance."  

[Smerdle]

wind me up

After a considering pause, he stood and joined her near the dresser.

"I made a music box with a bunch of things Oliver Beaumont and I found on the other side. That's probably the most elaborate piece I've ever finished. But he has it now." Which was fine, it'd been a gift. "Besides that..." He passed a hand over everything a couple of times before choosing a small blue dome that looked like half of a plastic easter egg. Chester pushed something on its flat side, set it down again, and waited.

A few seconds later, the egg pushed itself off of the surface it rested on as three sinuous metallic legs jerkily extended from its underside. At the same time, a neck swiveled out from the same place, leaving a cross between a tripod dinosaur and a turtle standing in front of them.

"It was the first time I made smooth movement on my own. It doesn't look particularly smooth now, but at the time I was only making things move that could already move, if that makes any sense." Every part of this creature had come from something else. There were no premade joints or gears in sight.

"You really can touch it. It won't break."  

[Smerdle]

make like a tree

"It's a shame you don't need them because they look cute on you."

He continued to look at the ceiling instead of at Preacher, and he held his glasses against his chest rather than putting them back on. Chester wasn't moving at all now, in fact, like a prey animal hiding from a t-rex.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

a rat's nest

She wondered why he didn't just leave the bathroom first, opened her mouth to comment on it... and decided against it. Preacher could cut him some slack; her hair felt better - no, she felt better than she had in ages.

So instead, she just patted him absently on his chest as she passed, the motion too light to make her hands hurt.  

[The Semblance of Unity]

wind me up

"Oliver?" Oh dear. "I punched 'im once." And never did apologize, oops. Preacher discarded the thought and focused on the dome-like thing. She was unaware of it, but her mouth popped open a bit as she watched it. It was a fancy piece of... techno-magic or whatever the ******** it was called.

Reaching out a finger, she stroked the, uh, shell. "Like fixin' stuff versus makin' new stuff? Little turtle dude is neat - d'ya name it?"  

[The Semblance of Unity]

make like a tree

Preacher made a weird choking noise. If Chester had been looking, he might have seen that she turned an odd shade, making her freckles stand out. No one ever, ever called her cute, unless it was meant as an insult. And he didn't sound like it was an insult.

She didn't know what it was, frankly. There were scars on her hands, around her neck... "I think..." she said, voice weirdly uncertain. "Ya really are blind."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

wind me up

He snickered. "Did you?" Oliver had seemed fairly mild mannered to him, but he supposed he was capable of a punchable offense.

"Kind of, yes. I was still taking things apart, I was just using larger pieces of those original things to get my end result. Like if an action figure had elbow joints that moved, I would use the whole arm in a different way instead of making my own elbow. I built all of this one's parts, so I had to figure out a couple of things on my own. Fixing things is easier than starting from scratch now, but the magic never really made a distinction at first."

He paused again, shaking his head. "I've never named any of them."  

[Smerdle]

make like a tree

The sound she made was like an alarm. It jolted Chester back into action, and as he slid on his glasses and folded his hands so hard his knuckles went white, he told himself he was stupid with every panicked beat of his heart.

"I... maybe. If you say so." This was how friendships were ruined. One 'you're pretty' at the end of an innocent... floor tackling and sniffing adventure... following a handful of weeks of chest photoshoots and taco sharing and purple bikinis and... conceivably he wasn't that far off base for mentioning it, but still.

"It was rude to say no matter what I think. We could still forget it, right? That's a thing we could do?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

wind me up

"Yeah... it's a were thing. Well, It's a me were thing." At least she hadn't punched Jamie, although she'd thrown up.

"However ya do it, I think it's real cool. Can we call it Hickory?" She poked at the little robot again. "Names'r important."  

[The Semblance of Unity]

make like a tree

'It... it wasn't rude 'less ya meant it ta be rude. Did you mean it that way?" Despite the fact that she was feeling strange about it all, she stared at him. Chester had put his glasses back on, but his hands were all stiff and uncomfortable. Preacher scowled. He'd gone and said a thing n' now he wouldn't even look at her!

"Nope," she said, abruptly rolling over onto her stomach. She'd been close enough that this meant her shoulder now rested on top of his, her arm at a weird angle, her neck at a weirder angle, though she didn't stop looking at him. "No forgettin'. Spit it out. The glasses look cuter on you, anyway," Preacher muttered.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

wind me up

A were thing that had caused her to punch someone? A topic to learn more about someday, for sure. Probably not now, since he wasn't going to pry, but someday.

"All right." He couldn't guarantee that he'd name any of the others himself, but maybe Preacher would in time. Chester retrieved a little book of transparent post-it flags from his desk, wrote 'Hickory' on one of them, and stuck it in front of the creature. "There."

As if Hickory liked its name, it folded its legs back under itself and returned to its mostly featureless half egg state. In actuality, it was on a timer of sorts, but it felt appropriate anyway.  

[Smerdle]

make like a tree

"They do not." Chester’s quiet, indignant reply slipped out before he could think, and once he had considered it, he reluctantly realized how unfair he was being.

"I didn’t mean it to be rude, no, but it was. I shouldn’t have blurted something like that out. It’s just... sometimes you go all scrunchy and thoughtful and it’s more cute than pretty." His cheeks were hot when he finally turned to her again. At least she didn’t seem angry. She looked a little like she had the other times he had inadvertently complimented her, but he never had been able to tell whether that was embarrassment or flattery. He did no better now.

"I don’t want you to have to worry that I’m being creepy or anything. I just notice sometimes. I should have kept it to myself."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

wind me up

She grinned at Chester. "Show me more! Oh, unless ya busy n' stuff." He probably, most definitely was.  

[The Semblance of Unity]

make like a tree

"Scrunchy?" What a compliment - it made her snort. "Y'ain't creepy n' I never thought ya were. Still don't." Chester was flushed and she couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or what.

Her hand crawled upwards and she pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Ya don't gotta worry I'm gonna like... get mad at you for sayin' stuff. But yer still blind 'cause I'm not cute or pretty n' that's tha damn truth." She chuckled. Somehow, his discomfort had alleviated hers just a bit. Her cheeks probably matched his, thought.

smerdle