[PRP] clean slate [ renose + rizdax

[Hattaki]

Calm settled over him as fire shot through his veins, Rizdax held onto his anger and bolstered his silence with it, wrapping the ringing silence that filled the hall after the words 'You done?' were spat out at him. Eyelids sliding down over his golden eyes so that he looked just as flat and exasperated as he felt, the teen stopped pulling off the jacket and moved to walk past him without so much as one word passing through his lips. Slowly he wrapped the anger about himself until he didn't feel it anymore so much as wore it, muscles tight and thoughts blank as he walked past Renose and bent at his knees to lift the broom he'd thrown haphazardly away from himself. With it in his hand he could feel the age and smooth texture, used for years by many a Candidate long before them to do just what they were doing, or had been doing, now. Had they thrown it away from themselves too? It was like throwing away their entire Candidacy by disrespecting the place that had given them the opportunity to meet their possible partners.

The shorter teen took a deep breath and summoned up his little sister's laughter to remind himself why he was living. A flash of wings behind his closed eyes helped to bolster his purpose, the reason why he was doing this in the cold and working himself just as hard as he had when he had been a starving orphan raising his little siblings. That was why he was here doing this, why was Renose here doing this?

"Self sacrificing or not, sometimes people just care about others and find it hard to accept things. But... thank you for the fact that you thought of someone else and not yourself for a moment." Riz walked back to pick up his own broom as well and leaned both of them over his right shoulder.

He certainly wouldn't be the one that was called lazy or looked down on by his disappointing peers that were already working. Shar would hunt him down and skin him verbally for so much as thinking about not following the others to try and calm down another person, maybe he'd tell her about this interaction, he was still certain that she might know Renose. But for now, Rizdax wandered over towards the hall entrance and glanced back over his shoulder at the taller teenager.

"You coming Ronase?" a mischievous grin crossed over his pale features and he offered a wink to show that he wasn't serious, people had told him many a time before that he was just a bit too serious for them to know when he was joking.

houllow

 

[houllow]

He did that on purpose. "You did that on purpose." Renose could take jokes, oh yes he could, but to have someone actively push one on him in the same vein of what he'd been doing was a bit different. "Did you....just try and make a joke? Was that a joke attempt?" He couldn't leave it alone, not now that he'd heard it and finally started to think that the ice between the two of them was melting. Renose wanted to be his friend, or at least have this kid like him well enough to be a conversation buddy, so jokes were good.

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

Screwing up his face a bit he felt a laugh below his ribs and couldn't help himself as it burst forth at last, coming up in a deep bubble that bent him over a bit as he held onto the brooms and his thin frame shook. It had been a long time since he'd last had a good laugh, or laughed at all even. Maybe it had been a matter of time, maybe it was just that Renose cracked through his prickly exterior at last after his outburst and his flabbergasted response to his joke. Whatever it was Rizdax laughed and twisted away as he ran a hand over his face to try and wipe off the expression that had taken it over. He was supposed to be keeping up the facade that he wasn't nice, that he was standoffish. Well... that wasn't working so well right now was it?

"Yes." Riz heaved air back into his lungs and turned to face Renose again with a smile on his pale face, the scar under his right eye pulling a bit from how wide his grin was. "Yes, it was a joke attempt. My little brother used to tell me I was awful at them."

Of course that was because he had to be one hundred percent about work and focused on pulling in food and marks so that his brother and sister could eat back then. Maybe he developed a lack of humor from the work he was forced into so young? For all that Renose could be a bit annoying Riz felt a bit of his icy demeanor melt in his presence all the same, maybe there was a chance he could loosen up around this guy. Just maybe.

"Sorry it was terrible, but I couldn't let you get away with it without dishing it back." He nodded to him and tilted his head towards the exterior, towards the cold and the rest of their fellow Candidates.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"It wasn't terrible." Renose tried to offer a small smile, but it quickly turned into a smirk. "It was horrible and yes there is a difference. You need to work on your timing a bit more, and maybe your routine?" The teen raised his hand up, as if he could show how to properly tell a joke with motions. It was impossible, of course, but Renose knew best and he would never be wrong. "Also if you consider that dishing it back, you...have a very low bar. Maybe like, push it harder?"

It wasn't exactly a good thing to encourage someone to step up their level of joking "dishes" or whatever, but neither was letting someone think such a weak retort was even close to the level he'd been dealing out. It was basically insulting.

As the pair moved out and into the cold, the hot-blooded and hot-headed teen shivered against the sudden temperature change. He didn't feel bad, like he needed a jacket, but it certainly it was different. "Breezy, but not too bad."

Hattaki

I AM SO SORRY

 

[Hattaki]

Out in the cold he was even more grateful for the jacket, even if it was grudgingly and silent, for his thin frame would have started to shake even harder and Rizdax was absolutely certain that Renose would catch onto that in a heartbeat and never let go of it. He wasn't letting go of his horrible joke attempt either but that simply made the smaller teen smile again as it was swiftly becoming obvious to him that his fellow candidate was just always going to be like this. Riz already accepted it and some part of him as actually looking forward to getting to know the depths to which this particular personality type could reach, having always been interested in what made people tick. That habit was simply to survive in the world though and not out of actual interest, it helped in dealing with certain people that tended towards violence and others that were easier going.

Renose seemed to walk right down the middle road of easy going and just... him. He was certainly an interestingly unique individual to Riz and he was always drawn to that type. Maybe he could actually learn from the other boy if they ended up with similar cleaning assignments often.

"Lucky for me I won't be doing much of it. I plan on leaving that to you." Rizdax elbowed him lightly and handed his broom back to him, "Anytime you want your jacket back all you have to do is yell. It's a little more than breezy out here after all. We could take turns with it... or something."

Having someone else be cold to ease his own issues made him feel like he was terrible, but it was what Renose wanted so who was he to argue with him anymore? Certainly not someone that wanted to insult him by demanding he take it back after he had only had one little shiver and he had already shown that he was prone to taking offense if someone turn down a gift or gesture.

Somewhere deep inside he respected that in the taller teen, but he would never ever tell him that.

houllow

Oh my GOSH Phil how COULD you!? *Snorts* <3 You're totally cool, really.

 

[houllow]

"Probably for the best." Renose ignored the pimples that started rising on his flesh, the cold actually getting to him faster than he wanted to admit. This winter seemed particularly brutal when compared to ones in the past, not that he cared to remember that far back, but it wasn't entirely unbearable. Plus he wasn't going to say anything, not after it took so long for Ripdrip to even accept his coat without trying to toss it back at him. The kid needed it more than he did, he told himself as a chill went up his spine, and therefore he was awesome for giving it to him while he went towards frostbite.

Okay it wasn't that serious but it was still cold outside. "And no, you keep the coat. I'm plenty fine, this chill isn't anything I haven't felt before." He was lying through his teeth. "I'm bigger than you anyway, it takes much more than this to even get me shivering. You seemed to be suffering when we were inside, so why would I want it back when we're out?"

It was a nice jacket though.

Hattaki

THIS IS HOW IS STARTS

 

[Hattaki]

Casting a glare over at Renose for what was clearly a lie, the shorter boy gave a sigh and shook his head. Years of watching two little siblings had him noticing even the smallest of things like the hair standing up all along the taller teen's arms. Little kids couldn't get a lie past him and now it appeared that neither could teenagers or adults either since he could see right through the boy's words without even trying.

Who was he to call him out on it though, clearly it was a matter of pride to him and Rizdax actually understood that sort of thing. His entire life he'd had so little dignity that any amount of it or even pride he could hold onto was important to him. It was infrequent enough that he'd nearly stitched the moments into his mind and kept them forever. Some of them were of his siblings and some of them were from back in his years as an apprentice. He wouldn't take that away from Renose if he was much the same.

Although...

"Just because you're taller than me doesn't mean you're all that bigger. You're just as skinny as I am." He couldn't keep the amusement from his voice, even if he wasn't laughing as he swept his way towards the huddled group of Candidates. They seemed to not be doing much other than shivering and looking around, given their chances of being scolded if the right person wandered by he came up short and just cleaned where he was rather than approach them.

"Plus it's colder out here. I guess we could work back to back so you can soak up a little bit of warmth then?"

houllow

 

[houllow]

Renose sneezed, and he quickly moved his arm up to rub at his face. "Just a sneeze, don't get all huffy at me." It was getting colder no matter what he was telling himself, and Rizdax was making excellent point with everything he was saying. Admitting that, even to himself, would mean knowing he was wrong and Renose absolutely refused to be wrong. Even in his head, where no one else would hear it.

"If we go back in, I'm done for the day. I'm pretty sure we've cleaned up enough of that mess and even if we haven't, I'm done. Done." The word done had to be repeated, and so Renose made sure to emphasize that he really, really was not going to be cleaning anymore. He didn't even attend to party that lead to all the cleaning and so! So!! He was done.

Renose was also hungry, and therefore he allowed the simple nature of an early morning brain take over. Food before everything else, and no more work before he snapped and ran off to take a warm bath. "I want to get something to eat."

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

There was still so much cleaning to be done, so much work and he wanted to call it quits and go back for the day? He was sneezing so at least it wasn't completely out of the realm of reason that he could get sick and be unable to work the next day. Especially if Rizdax was the one wearing his jacket rather than him. Casting a glance down at the rolled up cuffs of the jacket as if he were debating once more throwing it back in Renose's face a look of resolve fell over the redhead's face and he looked at the taller teen through half lidded eyes of slight annoyance. He wouldn't be the one that would be responsible for another getting sick, he'd have to answer for quite a bit if a fellow Candidate fell ill thanks to his own selfishness.

"I suppose we should head back inside then. I can go clean down some of the hallways and you can go get some food instead of trying to get a cold." Lifting his left hand up in the air he whistled quietly and a little blue fire lizard popped from between onto his arm. "Phin, can you make sure that this stubborn guy gets some food please? We'll have to split up from here."

Turquoise colored spines twitched on the little blue lizard's head as it bobbed back up and down as if in agreement and then leapt up to fly over towards Renose calmly. Riz had been working on training the little thing for the past few months and slowly Phin had come around and was far more intelligent than the boy had believed when he'd first met the screaming hatchling that broke the shell of an errant egg. It was nice to have a companion to sleep with as well, the extra weight of the lizard sleeping on his chest had him conking out much faster at night now than he had before and for some reason the nightmares were lessened as well.

But then physical contact had always been his way to rid himself of those and when he began having them he found that anyone near him became fair game. It used to be his younger siblings, now it was Phin that helped ease him back from the edge of terror each night. To his credit no one told him if he screamed in his sleep and Riz was certain that if he did they would complain. So he was good there!

Shaking his head to clear it of the random thoughts that had begun filtering through it, Rizdax cast a wave towards Renose and Phin as if dismissing them to go away and he began to sweep once more. Now that he was warm he felt a lot better and with the other boy taken care of he could focus on the task at hand.

houllow

 

[houllow]

The appearance of the flit was taken as a dismassal from Ripants towards Renose, and the taller teen sighed and accepted it. There was no use arguing when he really was freezing and not wanting to work any more, and thus he followed the chirping flitter off into the distance.

This was not the last time he'd see Rizbits, oh no.

....the boy still had his jacket.

Hattaki

and we'll consider this one done! yaaaay!