InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Blaze This!"

Ned (bakersman) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-04-19 22:23:00

Entry tags:

complete, day seven, ned the piemaker, olive snook

Who: Ned and Olive
What: Discussing 'the future' (probably not as fearful as it sounds)
When: Day 7
Where: Starting off in their dorms
Rating: Highly unlikely anything more than PG
Status: All done!

The Piemaker no longer had any genuine idea what age he would be at that moment. Everything seemed to last longer here in this place where he had no real sense of purpose. There wasn't much to do to pass the time, despite having a Renaissance Faire right outside. He still hated dressing up, he wasn't a big fan of learning to weave baskets or joust or make tools, and even his own dog had found a new playmate. Of course, he was used to Digby being a bigger fan of Olive than himself, what with her actually being able to pet him. But a pig? That he wasn't a big fan of.

So time dragged a bit more for Ned than usual. Having Olive around was still taking a great deal of getting used to. Especially without Chuck. He still missed her desperately, but the ache was getting a bit easier to deal with. Maybe she was better off back home without him. Maybe she'd find some man who she could actually touch. Without dying, that was. And who hadn't killed her father.

That thought alone was enough to drag him out of bed. He peeked out the window and noticed it was still drizzling, which was getting a bit unbearable. Dressing in the most casual thing he could find, he stepped out the door, trying not to let his eyes wander across the hall where Olive was likely still fast asleep. It was relatively early, after all. He waved Digby out behind him, even less worried about him being off leash than he'd been at home. Not only was Digby a good dog, but he was a smart one, too. He'd be just fine on his own.

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ittybitty
2009-04-19 10:33 pm UTC (link)

Contrary to what Ned thought, Olive Snook was not still in bed. She was on a chair behind her door, looking out the peep hole. To her credit, she hadn't been watching the door across from hers for more than fifteen minutes, but she wanted to catch Ned first thing.

It was day four of this crazy dream. But, she was starting to think that this was not a dream after all. She couldn't think of any other dream where she'd gone to bed and woken up three times and still remained in a singular dream. It was a little frightening to think that this place was real and not something from her imagination. It was even more strange to find that the world outside her window had completely changed overnight, too. It was this that she wanted to talk to Ned about. She could see amusement park rides from sticking her head out the window and she wanted to investigate. But she also wanted Ned's company.

When she saw his door open, she hopped off the chair and pulled it back, smoothing down the miniskirt and low cut blouse she'd chosen to wear that day. She yanked her door open and sprang out into the hall. "Oh! Hi!" She put on the face of innocence, acting as if this was all some sort of coincidence. She shut the door behind her. Eventually she'd figured out how to grease it so the lock opened without any trouble and she no longer worried about being locked out of her room.

"Have you seen the changes outside yet?" With all too much familiarity she threaded her arm through his and joined him in walking down the hall.

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bakersman
2009-04-19 10:51 pm UTC (link)

At the first glance at her, Ned took a slightly surprised step back, bumping into his own door, the knob jabbing him in the back. He winced, and forced his eyes up to her face. Did she always dress so...so... Well, there wasn't much there, was there? Swallowing hard, he didn't even get a chance to reply to her greeting when her arm linked through his and he found himself walking towards the door of their building. She would never have been bold enough to try this back home, but then, they weren't back home, were they? They weren't even on the planet Earth, he was pretty sure.

"Changes?" he questioned. He hadn't exactly paid any attention to his surroundings when checking the weather. He'd only discovered that it was still gross outside and that he wasn't going to wear a nice outfit when it was likely to get muddy. Dirt was just another one of those things Ned wasn't very fond of. "What sorts of changes? And good morning to you, too."

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ittybitty
2009-04-19 11:53 pm UTC (link)

Olive felt a little stab of defeat when Ned stiffened next to her. It was like walking with a statue. She disengaged her arm, but turned so that it wasn't entirely obvious what she was doing. She walked backward in front of him and nodded. "Yeah, it looks like we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto." She giggled. "But seriously, it looks like our dorm got picked up and dumped right in the middle of an amusement park." She gave him a nod, pursing her lips slightly. "Crazy, huh?"

She pushed the door open to the outside when she came to it and threw her arm out to show him. Everywhere they looked colored tracks lifted and turned over their heads. Some rattled with cars that whooshed past them. It looked like a combination of all the amusement parks she'd ever seen pictures of. It even looked like a carnival or county fair got thrown in for good measure. "Whadda ya think?" She folded her arms over her chest and looked up as a car careened on the track directly above their heads, though much higher than was strictly necessary.

"I think we should try a few of these rides. They look fun!" She directed her gaze from straight up to just what she was used to when looking up at Ned. She grinned and jerked her head toward one. "You probably shouldn't eat just before we go on, though. Fun now, food later." She giggled again and turned to lead the way.

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bakersman
2009-04-20 10:53 pm UTC (link)

He'd always hated The Wizard of Oz. More magic. Witches and shoes and munchkins and all sorts of things that had magic to them. He'd never understand what the world's obsession with magic was. And, since being dropped into this peculiar dream that he was starting to have to admit wasn't a dream at all, his hatred for magic was growing by the day.

So when she swung the door open and he caught sight of an entirely different landscape than he'd seen before, Ned almost threw up. "Are..you...kidding me?" It was like his worst nightmare realized. Not only was it a giant theme park (and theme parks were magic of the purest sort, really), but it had changed completely over night without any of them waking up. If that wasn't a sign of magic, nothing was. A fantasy world come to life? Ned had no idea how he could deal.

"Fun? Fun?" he yelped. She wanted to have fun. In this version of Ned's personal hell. "I... Well..." He didn't think he could stay in his room all day. And he knew he couldn't for multiple days. "Sure, I guess," he replied reluctantly, following along behind.

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ittybitty
2009-04-21 09:50 am UTC (link)

It had always made Olive sad that Ned had such a special hatred for some things. Like Halloween and Magic. They were such fun and she was sure that something traumatic had to have happened in order for him to have developed such a dislike for them. She saw the way his face fell when she quipped the infamous line from the Wizard of Oz and she frowned herself. Really, she should just quit trying.

But that just wasn't how Olive rolled. You couldn't keep Olive Snook down for long, no siree! The look on his face when he saw the amusement park that now surrounded him kind of made her giggle, but she clapped a hand over her mouth before it got too out of control. "Oh, come on! This is a dream, remember? Dreams change. Giant strawberries? Digby getting married? Okay? So take a deep breath and dream that this is going to be fun."

"Do you hate amusement parks as much as you hate Halloween?" She turned a look up at him as they walked toward the ferris wheel. She figured they should start out tame lest she freak him out on one of the worst rides and be left without a riding partner for the rest of the time the city remained in this state. She stepped up to the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" sign and found that she cleared it just barely. Triumphant, she rushed through the gate that the faceless ride worker held open for them and climbed into one of the cars.

She slid all the way over on the bench and patted the seat next to her. "C'mon, Ned! It'll be fun."

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bakersman
2009-04-21 12:56 pm UTC (link)

"Not exactly," Ned replied to her question of amusement park nature. Halloween had a whole different meaning where young Ned had been concerned. That? That had been a traumatic experience. That and it always reminded him of younger, more carefree days with Chuck. Amusement parks, fantasy though they might be, weren't quite on the same level of awful. They just weren't practical. At all.

But she looked happy. Really happy. It was a look he wasn't entirely sure he'd seen on her, or else he'd been too busy with other things to notice. It was a nice look on her, and he didn't exactly want to upset her. Olive was a friend of the most loyal sort, even when she was driving Ned completely insane. And as crazy as this dream was, he didn't want to hurt her. He'd be racked with guilt when he woke up if he did.

So he slid into the ride's hard plastic bench and gave a weak, half-smile. "Right." He, of course, had no trouble at all getting past the 'you must be this tall' sign and had pretty much breezed right past it. "Fun. Sure it will." He wasn't exactly afraid of heights, it was the getting up there part that bothered him. As the ride began moving, he casually commented, "you've seen those television shows, right? The ones where they focus on carnivals where the ride's aren't sturdy and everyone on board goes crashing to the ground?" And there was no way he was using 'the finger' here. No way at all. Especially not with a crowd of people.

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ittybitty
2009-04-22 07:03 pm UTC (link)

If she seemed a little closer than she had been when he first slid onto the bench, he could attribute it to his imagination, or to the fact that given half a chance Olive would take every opportunity to get closer to Ned. When she first met Ned, she knew that there was something off about him. Not only did he not touch his dog (which he later attributed to allergies) but he didn't touch other people either. When she hugged him, he didn't do the thing normal people did and hug back even if you weren't all that happy to be hugging the person in the first place. He stood there stiff as a board until she let go. It was very strange, but Olive had hopes that if she hugged him enough maybe he would end up acting like a normal person at some point.

The lap bar came down on their laps as the ride began to move. She scrunched her nose as Ned began to speak of unsturdy rides and people crashing to their deaths. "Ned, this is a dream. And as such we are not going to fall to our deaths. And even if we do, we'll wake up alive. And if it isn't a dream and we really have been brought to this strange city to live and that Jareth guy really is our king, then why would he enact some law about not killing just so he could kill us on a ride?" She tilted her gaze up at him as they crested the top of the ferris wheel. As they were currently the only ones on the ride, the attendant slowed it down and let them have a good look around the city.

It was an incredible view. Olive could see little people scurrying through the maze of the labyrinth, other little people moving around on the ground below them, hovering around concession stands or waiting for rides, or wandering aimlessly. Olive felt like she was on top of the world, and she kind of was. She clutched at Ned's arm, turning a gleeful expression up at him. "Isn't this great?!" Her squeaky little girl's voice was even more so in her excitement.

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bakersman
2009-04-23 02:49 am UTC (link)

It was something all right, but Ned wasn't sure great was the word he would choose. Nice, maybe. High, definitely. Still, it really was interesting to see the city they were living in from so high up. He could see what was likely the very edges of the city they couldn't escape, and he wasn't entirely sure he liked that. But it was curious to see the labyrinth thing from a bird's eye view.

"Well, he did say the maze thingie was dangerous, so he could probably get you killed in there. Who's to say you couldn't get killed on some amusement park ride?" Ned had a reputation for being a giant killjoy for a reason. It wasn't even intentional, most of the time. Just very, very logical.

But a moment later he was distracted by something. And he couldn't put his, pardon the pun, finger on what, exactly. He bit his lower lip and first glanced around from the top of the ride. A moment later, he realized it wasn't something off of the ride, it was something in it. Or rather, someone. She was clutching his arm with those tiny little hands of hers. Blushing a little, Ned had to glance away. He wasn't aware of how nice a warm touch could feel, particularly from her, until right that moment. "I, uh..." He coughed, glancing at her. "I just wanted to say... You know, if we have to be stuck here in this apparently never ending dream and all... Well, you know, it's been nice not having to be alone for it." It was as close to emotional as Ned was willing to get, especially on a creaky amusement park ride likely to crash down on him at any moment.

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ittybitty
2009-05-03 09:08 pm UTC (link)

"Dangerous isn't the same as deadly, Ned. It just makes it more exciting!" She had the biggest grin on her face. While the ride was humongously high and her heart was beating a million miles an hour, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. She was essentially alone with the man she loved. In her opinion, it didn't get much better than that.

When he coughed she looked away from the view to glance up at him. Her eyebrows lifted attentively and if it were possible, her smile grew even more. "Awww, thank Ned. It's really great having you here, too. I'm not sure what I would do without a decent piece of pie when I wanted it." She would have said more, would have professed her undying love for him, but she knew how uncomfortable it made him. Settling for something neutral and unoffensive seemed to be the best way to go. At least with Ned. She was just grateful he wasn't pulling his arm out of her grasp.

The ride was over after several rotations and when the car stopped and their gate opened, she waited for Ned to climb out before following him. She skipped along behind him toward the exit and laughed to herself, recalling the nervousness on his face as they rose into the air over and over. "You can pick the next ride. Or we can get breakfast. I'm easy." She grinned again, clasping her hands behind her back and walking along beside him.

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bakersman
2009-05-03 09:47 pm UTC (link)

Some men might've commented on the words 'I'm easy', but Ned just couldn't bring himself to do that. "Something on the ground might be nice," Ned admitted with a shaky smile. "I wonder if there's anything...non fair food for breakfast. You know what I mean? Candied apples and kettle corn and all that are well and good, but not really breakfast foods." And from what he remembered of the previous day's layout and matching food, this wasn't likely to be any different.

He began leading the way over to the area the food had been offered the day before, and began keeping his eyes open for something that looked...well, not like sausages and peppers. In the evening, perhaps, but at ten in the morning? No, not really his favorite.

Ned's hands, too, were clasped behind his back, but then, his always were. He paused in front of an ice cream stand and sighed. "Think enough waffle cones could be considered waffles?" he questioned, but there was a slight grin in his eyes. In some ways, it was every kid's dream come true. And how often had he made himself pie as a breakfast treat? "You know what? Why not. We'll only be able to do this here, right? In dreamland?"

Ned? Impulsive? Chuck would positively faint if she could see him.

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ittybitty
2009-05-14 12:45 pm UTC (link)

Screw Chuck, even Olive was close to fainting at his impulsive words. She always knew that he had it in him, but for him to actually voice it and act on it? Completely un-Ned-like. Still, it tickled her to pieces and she grinned, a little skip in her step as she followed him toward the ice cream. She wasn't feeling like sweets for breakfast would really go over so well, but she wasn't about to break up this little impulsefest that he had going on.

"Right! Only in dreamland. And as long as you get a fruit flavored ice cream in your waffle cone, I think it qualifies as breakfast." She put her hands on the edge of the ice cream cart and peered into the glass case that housed all the different flavors. Her blue eyes scanned the tubs and fell on the bright blue ice cream dotted with other brightly colored balls. Bubblegum ice cream. Possibly one of her favorites.

"I'll have that kind. Single scoop, please." She knew that she could get regular food in the restaurant, and after a little fun with the rides, she probably would go get some. She was afraid that if she took Ned away from the rides now, though, that she'd never get him back out, much less on one. She took her cone from the faceless vendor and gave it a tentative lick.

Delicious! She took another lick, standing back and waiting for Ned to make his selection. She grabbed some napkins and wound them around the end of her cone so she wouldn't drip all over the place when it started to melt. She grinned at him when he was done and walked toward a small, round, red table with benches attached. She sat down and leaned on the table with both elbows as she licked at her blue ice cream.

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bakersman
2009-05-14 07:40 pm UTC (link)

For a place that had such great food and entertainment, the people who worked and served them certainly were strange. One minute it seemed like they had a face, but the next... Well, Ned wasn't fond of not being able to remember who he'd just looked at. It seemed like something most people would want, to remember who they were talking to.

He shook the thought off, however, as he grinned sideways at Olive. "I don't think bubblegum counts as a fruit," he told her, then peered back into the case. If he were going to be truly impulsive, he'd get something exotic and strange, like coconut or mango. But it was Ned, after all, and he could only handle so much new in one day. "Strawberry," he finally chose, pointing at his choice in case the faceless being spoke some other language. Which was doubtful, but he didn't want to press his luck, either.

Accepting the treat, he took a tentative nibble at the edge of the cone, making sure there was a fair bit of ice cream as well. "Not bad," he admitted, proud of himself for the tiny crack in his otherwise no-nonsense nature. "Not bad at all, I have to say. What next, do you think?" After all, if he was already out there, may as well make an attempt to enjoy himself.

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ittybitty
2009-05-20 10:06 am UTC (link)

Olive, too, was a little unnerved by the faceless employees. Even the goblins didn't bother her as much as the ones she could so easily forget. Oftentimes she tried focusing on their face, cementing it in her mind, only to have it gone once her gaze fell elsewhere. It was really the biggest thing that bothered her about this place. She didn't mind not being at home. She was here with the man that she loved and had her pets with her. She didn't really need anything more. She knew that Ned did, but she was content. It was even exciting to have the environment around them change every so often.

"Hey, I never said I needed fruit. Besides, if I wanted some fruit, I'd go have some leftover pie. Guess you've been making yourself pretty comfy in that big ol' kitchen, huh?" She licked at her ice cream and shrugged at his question. "We could go on more rides, but considering how you reacted to the babiest of them all, I'm not sure about that." She grinned, teasing him.

"It does look like there might be some fair games, though. Maybe you want to try winning me a giant stuffed panda?" She grinned again. She had spent a lot of time with Ned in the past, but very rarely were they alone. She relished the time she had with him and wished with every ounce of her tiny frame that Chuck would never enter the picture and ruin it for her. Once had been enough for Olive, thank you very much!

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bakersman
2009-05-22 11:13 pm UTC (link)

She was hands down right about one thing. Ned had settled into that kitchen as if he were born to it. It was so much bigger than The Pie Hole's, and he could bake so many more pies at once. And he seemed to have an appreciative audience around him, too. Besides which, it was nice to make his pies for others and not have to charge for them. It was no longer about making a living, but about simply enjoying the hold a kitchen had over him.

"The Ferris Wheel is not a baby ride!" Ned protested, attempting to sound offended. "It's huge. And tall. And it shakes while you're up there. Even you've got to admit that's a little scary." When she didn't, though, he only laughed.

It didn't feel as strange as he might've once thought, laughing with Olive over something silly like the Ferris Wheel. Or offering to attempt to win her a stuffed panda bear. He'd always liked her, but he had never been brave enough to spend a long period of time with her. But as the days went on, he was actually growing to like spending time with her.

"Stuffed panda, hmm?" he questioned, eyeing the Midway. Well... It couldn't hurt, could it? "I'm warning you, I'm no athlete. And if you end up taking home some space-aged goldfish instead of a panda bear, it's not entirely my fault." Sports hadn't exactly been a focus of Ned's childhood. But then, what did anyone expect from a man who'd rather bake?

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ittybitty
2009-05-27 11:18 pm UTC (link)

Olive was enjoying herself way too much, and whenever doubts that this was real or fears that Chuck would one day appear out of nowhere the way she and Ned had started to creep in, she pushed them away. She tried to keep her spirits up and enjoy the time she had alone with Ned. They'd been here for five or six days, she was losing count, together and still no signs of Chuck. Or anyone else for that matter. In all honesty, she wouldn't have minded if Emerson or the Aunts dropped in. But she was perfectly content to have the company of Ned and the animals all to herself.

She'd seen Ned make use of his journal, and while she hadn't commented, she'd secretly fumed over what she saw as some flirty on Ned's part. If she was truthful with herself, she knew deep down that Ned wasn't really the type to flirt, and if he did, he didn't know he was doing it. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little twinge of jealousy when he was able to so easily joke and talk to other women. It had taken a long time for him to get that way with her.

She had to shake the negative thoughts from her mind and focus on the here and now. She only giggled when Ned told her that a space-aged goldfish might end up being her prize instead of a giant stuffed panda. She didn't care what she got, the idea of Ned, of all people, trying to win her anything was far beyond anything she might have been able to imagine before landing in this strange city.

"I don't mind." She took another long lick of her ice cream and turned her eyes down to look at her outstretched tongue. It was blue with the color of her ice cream and she broke into a smile. "What do you think, does the color suit me?" She stuck her tongue back out for him to inspect and waggled her brows.

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bakersman
2009-05-28 10:19 am UTC (link)

It was automatic; the reaction was something Ned couldn't have stopped if he'd wanted to. His cheeks turned pink and he glanced away briefly as Olive presented him with the presence of her tongue, blue though it might have been. "Um... I don't... Pink suited you just fine, I think."

What in God's name was wrong with him? She was being playful and he was acting like a thirteen year-old with a first crush. He was acting like he first did with Chuck.

The thought jolted him so much he almost ran into a display of giant purple lizards hanging from one of the many games. "I...sorry!" he protested, then looked back at Olive sheepishly. "You're going to attract unwanted attention going around doing that, you know." It was meant to sound scolding, but he was still flustered and it came out a bit more teasingly than he'd have liked. It was true, though. Two passers-by had most definitely looked Olive over. And it was everything Ned could do not to look as well to figure out why.

"Right. So. Panda?"

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ittybitty
2009-05-29 08:59 am UTC (link)

Olive watched him closely. Was he... was he blushing?! She was shocked, but her shock soon gave way to amusement. She pulled her tongue back into her mouth and a slow grin stole across her lips. She shrugged small shoulders and went back to eating her ice cream. She was nearly done with it anyway.

She sidestepped when he ran into the purple lizard display and bit down on her lips to keep from laughing. She didn't realize she'd embarrassed him so much. But his next statement had her laughing. "What attention, there's no one..." She trailed off as she caught two people watching her. She smiled sheepishly and then tossed the rest of her ice cream in a bin they passed.

Chewing on bits of the gum she'd fished out of her ice cream she nodded and gestured toward one of the games. "Yes, or space-aged goldfish, whichever." She giggled as they came to a stop and she clasped her hands in front of her, rocking slightly on her heels. She was still reeling from the idea that something as innocent as showing Ned her tongue had drawn such a reaction from him.

This place was definitely changing him. And she rather thought she liked the change. She grinned up at him and waggled her brows.

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bakersman
2009-05-29 02:15 pm UTC (link)

He might not have noticed her little gesture had he not been glancing in her direction at the moment. And when he did, he flushed again, though this time he could at least smile. Olive ought to have been used to catching him in bashful moments by that time. Not quite the way Chuck was, but close enough to it. "And just what're you making faces for?" he attempted to tease, trying to recover from his incredibly flustered moment.

Ned popped the tip of his own cone into his mouth, still quite proud of himself for doing ice cream as breakfast. If he could do that, surely he could knock down some milk bottles with a baseball. Or a... "What is that thing, a coconut?" he blurted as the mostly-faceless being handed him the projectile. Lovely. He was supposed to be knocking down bottles and his mind had wandered off to a pie using fresh coconut and maybe berries, too. Something tropical.

"Duck," he warned her, though his voice was mostly teasing. Mostly. Ned never had good aim, not even on a good day. And he was so baffled and flustered that it was likely not a very good day at all. But he tossed the ball...looking thing with as careful precision as he could manage. And promptly missed. Completely. "Told you."

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ittybitty
2009-06-02 09:23 am UTC (link)

"No faces being made here." She grinned again and rocked on her heels. She was used to seeing him in bashful situations, but he had been starting to come around, and be more confident before they left their world. Well, at least the time she came from. She supposed she could attribute that change to Chuck although she did it regretfully. She didn't like giving Chuck credit for anything.

She watched as Ned was handed the coconut and she almost snorted when she saw the faraway look in his eye as he stared at it. He was thinking of how he could make a pie out of it! He was hopeless. She shook her head lightly and made to duck when he ordered her to, but she was so much shorter than him it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference.

She shrugged. "Try again, it isn't as if you have to pay to play the game." She handed him another coconut and leaned against the side of the booth, watching. "Practice makes perfect, right?" Olive was only a little more athletic than Ned, if one could count jockeying, that is. More than likely her aim was no better than his and at this point, she was not going to show him up. It had been an exercise just getting him here in the first place.

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bakersman
2009-06-02 12:45 pm UTC (link)

Maybe they didn't have to pay, but Ned was relatively certain his arm would give out sooner or later. Oh, well. If they didn't master this one, he'd try his hand at tossing coins into bowls to win her that space-aged goldfish. Though those required feeding and who knew what goldish in this place ate?

His second throw took out two of the bottles. His third knocked down half. Once he'd figured out the trick to it, though, he was actually not too terrible. By the fourth throw, he was handed a large, if not exactly giant panda bear for his efforts. Which he promptly turned and handed to Olive. His masculinity suffered enough from baking for a living, he didn't need to be seen carrying around a panda. Chuck wouldn't judge, but she wasn't there. Dozens of strangers, however, were.

"You have to name him," he advised her, smiling down as he passed over the toy. "And nothing ridiculous like...Pandaby, either." Panda didn't exactly fit with Pigby and Digby anyway. "Or no pie for you!" he added, attempting a stern and scolding look, but the smile tugged at the corners of his lips anyway. Good thing he hadn't gotten the even larger bear. As it was, the one in her arms took up most of her torso.

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ittybitty
2009-06-04 11:45 am UTC (link)

Her grin widened as he got better with each throw. She had known he could do it and she squealed in delight when he handed her the stuffed panda bear. By her standards it was giant enough and she nuzzled it while simultaneously giving him a grin of epic porportions. "Thank you, I love him!"

"Names..." Her gaze narrowed as he ruled out Pandaby. "But it's cute." Her lips formed a small pout, but she was teasing. She thought of other names, like Ned or Piemaker or Pieby. And she giggled at herself. She ruled out the first one because she was sure Ned would find it incredibly creepy. But she assured herself she would call him that when she was alone.

"Well, what do you think of Cod?" She could name him after Emerson. She missed him terribly and wished that she could see him again. She wasn't sure how long she would be stuck in this place and it pained her to think she might never see him again. "I know it's not very creative, but he's a giant panda and Emerson was a giant man." She grinned and hugged the Panda to her again.

"Hey, Ned?" She glanced at the Labyrinth that always seemed to be in view, even when it shouldn't have been possible. "Do you think you'll ever try that thing?" She gestured toward it with the Panda's paw and then looked up at him with wide blue eyes. It kind of scared her, but she'd do it if he did. She was just as content to stay here, though.

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bakersman
2009-06-05 09:43 pm UTC (link)

Ned had been there so long he'd almost forgotten what it was like to make a woman smile that brightly. His cheeks flushed pink yet again and he ducked his head and gave a small smile of his own. Shrugging, he looked back up, but not right at her. Rather, his eyes glanced over the panda bear. "Cod works," he agreed, secretly amused at the thought of Emerson's face if he knew Olive had named a stuffed bear after him. Maybe they'd developed some sort of romance in the world Ned hadn't been a part of. He wondered if he'd ever get the nerve to ask. "We'll let them meet. If... When we get back."

Which led him to her question. His eyes followed Olive's to the entrance to the Labryinth. A giant maze, apparently filled with terrifying things, like the ones in scary movies. And she was thinking he'd ever be brave enough to go through it?

Ned gulped before shrugging his shoulders. "Doubt it. Got everything I need over here, right? And from what I hear, it's not like you get to go home if you make it through it." The chance to see Chuck again might make it worth facing said terrifying things. But if he was going to be stuck there, why put his life on the line? Or someone else's. "You're not, are you?" he asked suddenly, looking at Olive in alarm.

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ittybitty
2009-06-10 08:56 am UTC (link)

"Yes." Olive agreed that Cod and Emerson should meet. She held the panda at arms length and studied it for a moment before bringing it back to her chest and wrapping both arms around it. He face fell slightly and she looked up at Ned wistfully. "I miss Emerson. It was really starting to get good there for a while. He was calling me Itty-Bitty and letting me help with cases." She smiled fondly. "I even helped solve one with that girlfriend of his, uh, Simone."

She looked at the Labyrinth with Ned before looking up at him. She nodded her agreement. "Yeah, sure. I guess the only reason we'd go through it is to get home, but there's no guarantee we'd even get to do that. It's probably best, safer, to stay on this side of it." She shook her head at his question. "No, I don't have a death wish. I've come too close to dying before to risk it now. This place might be magical but I highly doubt there's anyone that could bring me back to life." She smiled at him and then began to walk again.

They spent a good portion of the day in the amusement park at Olive's insistence. And Olive had fun and from what she could tell Ned mostly had a good time, too. But finally they both tired of it and went to find something to eat for lunch that wasn't junk food.

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