InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "one day there came a letter,"

fallen_star (fallen_star) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-10-31 16:48:00

Entry tags:

andy gallagher, ayla, complete, day 21, group activity, severus snape, yvaine

Day Twenty-One ; Group Activity
Who: Yvaine, Andy Gallagher, Ayla, and Severus Snape ((Posting Order))
When: Day 21 ; Early Morning
What: Group Activity ; Picking and Stomping Grapes
Where: First to the Winery, then to the grape fields, then back to the winery
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete

Yvaine had been trying to ease herself into a schedule that consisted of wakefulness in the day and sleeping at night because of her fear of that horrid vampire coming to claim her in the night once he healed. She had no idea how quickly vampires healed or how slowly, so she decided it would be best not to take her chances. She had gone to bed a little before sunset, and she had awoken a few hours before that time.

Afraid to leave her room, she simply waited until she thought the sun would rise, peeping out her door every so often to verify that the darkness had or had not lifted. The stars twinkled down from her ceiling almost mockingly. Yvaine knew it was all in her imagination, but she also knew that fear was driving her to purposefulness. What good was a star if not for twinkling in the evening? Her only comfort in this was that a star should be twinkling in the sky. While one was upon the earth, they were to survive as best they could.

A scuffling outside her door sent her heart to beat rapidly beneath her breast. Of course, she knew no one could come into her room unless she wanted them there, but the idea that Lestat might be scratching at her door, waiting for her to come out so he could exact his revenge remained unnerving.

When at last the sounds seemed to grow fainter, she calmed herself, and slowly cracked open the door. Clear blue eyes scanned over one side of the hall, then the other. She thought she saw the back of a golem moving down the stairs. A soft grey glow had begun to light the hallway. Daylight was coming soon. Her gaze was drawn toward a white envelope that had been stuck to her door. Written in an interesting hand was her name “Yvaine” on the front. Curiosity won over her, and peeled it from her door, taking it inside to read.

Instructions:
Go to the winery. You will be picking and stomping grapes. This is mandatory. If you do not go, a golem will find you and take you there. Do not leave until the activities are finished, or a golem will take you back.

It also told her the time she would need to be there, and it informed her that she would be among others. That time was quite soon. Yvaine was excited. She had seen this sort of thing before, and she had thought it looked like a lot of fun. A dress like hers wasn’t so great for stomping grapes, though, so she closed her eyes and asked aloud, “Um… I need clothing that would be acceptable for a day like this?” She waited a moment before opening her eyes, and there on the floor, folded neatly, were a pair of pants and a shirt. The pants only came to just below her knees where they tightened with the help of strings sewn into them. They were the colour of dry earth. The shirt was a dark blue-grey like a stormy sky, short sleeved and almost conforming to her figure. They were the sort of clothing items one wouldn’t mind soiling in grape juices.

She peaked out her door again. The sun was rising at a quick rate. She waited only a little longer in her room before the time arrived for her to go, and the sun was bright enough that she wasn’t afraid of vampires coming to hurt her.

Yvaine left her starry night sky room, soon leaving the building and heading toward the winery. When she entered the building, she saw a few steps leading up to a platform where what looked like large vats sat. At ground level sat four baskets with a large notice beside them where it could not be missed. “You will take these to the hills to pick the grapes for half an hour.” They were good sized baskets, and she chose one for herself, but the evening star thought she should wait for the company of others before setting out to collect the grapes.

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brain_ninja
2008-10-31 06:24 pm UTC (link)

When Andy had made his way to his room for the first night in this new place, he had been greeted by a note on the door. "Group activity, huh?" he had asked aloud as he took the note off the door and let himself inside. At least he'd get to meet some people. He'd thought it might actually be kind of nice, save the part where he would have to actually wake up in the morning...

It had been a really restful night, though, so when morning had rolled around, he was only a little tired. All right, a lot tired, but Andy had a sinking suspicion that that had a lot more to do with his jetlag (if it could be called that) than lack of sleep.

Stretching his legs and scratching his belly as his shirt rode up with the movement, Andy looked over at the rickety dresser across the room. "Hope you've got some shorts in there..." he yawned before crossing the room and pulling the top drawer open. Sure enough, there was an outfit neatly folded - long, baggy jean shorts at the bottom, a grubby tie-dyed t-shirt beneath that, a pair of boxer shorts on top and a pair of old sneakers beside them. Andy grinned. "This is kinda better than the mind thing," he laughed to himself as he got dressed.

The sun was shining brightly and the breeze was crisp and refreshing. In fact, Andy thought the only thing that could make his day any better would be a pair of sunglasses and a cup of coffee. He'd deal without them, but the fact remained that, quite honestly, this place wasn't too bad at all...

As he trudged somewhat sleepily toward the vineyards, he wondered if he'd see Sam there. Might actually be nice to make friends with the guy. After all, they'd been through enough together, they might as well be actual friends. Then again, on the other hand...if there were cute chicks around, he'd be too distracted to bother paying Sam any attention, anyway, so it might be just as well if he wasn't.

There was a girl there; he could see her in the short distance between the vineyard itself and where he currently was standing back to survey the scene. Her long blond hair was blowing behind her in a rather transfixing way until she disappeared into the winery. It didn't take long for Andy to decide to go ahead and follow her in. The golems would force him in, anyway, so he might as well go of his own accord rather than be dragged in after standing around outside like an idiot for no particular reason other than he didn't much feel like walking any further. So, he made his way toward the building and, yawning, headed inside.

"Hello?" he called out tentatively as he closed the door behind himself. The girl's back was to him as she seemed to be stooped over something; he didn't want to startle her. That was when he noticed the baskets. He figured she was choosing one of her own. "Hi, uh...I'm in the right place, right?" he asked her. "For the, uh, grape...wine...whatever...thing? I'm Andy, by the way."

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_ayla_
2008-11-03 10:17 am UTC (link)

Ayla was familiar with this sort of thing. It had happened once before, and she'd been required to go fishing with three men. It had been enjoyable enough, and she'd been able to dry the fish and store it in the caches in her room/cave. So when she heard the rustling of paper outside her door and a gentle 'shhiick' of tape against the wood she walked to the door and opened it to find that an envelope was taped there and a golem was walking away down the corridor.

She removed the envelope and opened it up, reading over the contents intently. She knew about making wine, but not from grapes. She usually made it from berries or roots. She didn't much care for alcohol, though, so she didn't make it often. She was sure she would be doing this with other people and she was excited at the prospect of meeting them. She hoped they were people she'd never met before.

Deciding that it was going to be a little labor intensive, she plaited her hair and pulled it back from her face with a leather tie. Then bound her breasts with the thick leather band and pulled a sleeveless tunic and some leather shorts from her shelves where she kept her clothing. She pulled them on and went to get something to eat before she had to go to the activity.

When she'd finished her breakfast, she hurried toward the grapes where she'd walked with Kadaj several days before. She slowed to a normal pace when she saw Yvaine and someone else she didn't know in the distance. She approached them with a smile on her face. "Hello, Yvaine." She smiled at the star woman and stood near her as she turned to the other man. She had heard him give his name to Yvaine as she approached. "Greetings, Andy. I am Ayla." She held her hand out to shake, remembering the strange custom of this futuristic people.

After the greeting, she leaned down and picked up her own basket. She noted the sign and looked toward the grapes that were heavy on the vine. It had been difficult to simply break the clusters from the vine, and she'd had to use her flint knife, but she didn't have but the one. She hoped there were knives for the others. She looked around for them and spotted a few stuck into the ground. She pulled two out of the ground and handed one to Yvaine and one to Andy.

"This activity seems as if it will be fun." She commented, to nobody in particular, as she cast her glance back toward the grape vines.

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severelyseverus
2008-11-05 11:43 pm UTC (link)

Severus Snape was already awake and performing his usual morning rituals and exercises when he heard a sound outside his rooms like someone vandalising his door. Irritated, his concentration broken, he extricated himself from a particularly intense pose, and strode swiftly to the door. What fool would knowingly disturb the activities of an accomplished wizard such as he? What fool was making an audible fuss this early in the morning?

Opening the door clad only in an unwashed black loincloth, Snape scowled for the benefit of anyone on the other side, then scowled more darkly when he saw no one there. What he did see, of course, was a note taped to his door. He tore it off easily and read it quickly. His pained expression grew until he reached the note's end. What kind of ridiculous rubbish was this? With an excruciating roll of his eyes, Snape tore the note in two, threw it to the floor, and stormed back into his apartments.

Precisely fifteen minutes before the grape harvesting was to begin, there was a loud knocking at the Potions Master's door. When it went unanswered, the door was opened and two golems entered the wizard's private chambers. Snape was dressed now, but was in the middle of a delicate distillation, and was far from amused at the disturbance.

Despite Snape's commands that they depart, however, the golems instead came nearer. Despite his efforts to repel their approach with scathing magics, the golems ignored his efforts and laid their stone-strong hands on him. Despite the futile beating of his fists and loud protestations, the golems carried him out of the residential block and across the lawns to the vineyard. Depositing him in a rumpled heap among the grape-vines and his fellow harvesters, the golems turned silently and left.

Getting to his feet and brushing the dusty soil from his black robes, Snape scowled at everything around him, his face flush with anger and embarrassment. "Oh, isn't this darling? So, now I have no choice but to endure a day of hard labour, is that it? Of whose sadistic plot is this a part? I must remember to send him a very special concoction." Snape's eyes took in the other three people assembled as he warily bent down to pick up the last knife.

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fallen_star
2008-11-06 08:20 pm UTC (link)

Yvaine straightened with her basket when she heard a tentative voice. She turned toward him, and smiled when she saw that he was not a pallid fiend with pointed teeth. “Hello.” The evening star said pleasantly, her glow not quite so obvious from the sun pouring in from the windows. “I’m assuming so. This is the winery. I am Yvaine.” She extended her hand toward him. She had seen a great many customs, but she recognized his language as English, and this was their custom as she remembered. That and curtseying, but she did not have a dress with which to properly curtsey, for she was wearing trousers like a man’s might be, though they fit her feminine figure well.

When another woman approached, the star woman beamed in both smile and shine. “Hello, Ayla. It is wonderful to see you again.” Yvaine had not seen the cave woman since she had come to her room after Tonks had completely healed her broken leg with magick. It was always a pleasure to see this woman, for she had been infinitely kind and patient, and she had even trusted the star woman enough to divulge some of what her life had been like before arriving here.

Yvaine had not thought to look for knives with which to cut the vines. They looked so heavy with fruit that they might simply fall into her basket. That was silly, of course, but it didn’t seem entirely implausible. “Thank you. I had not yet seen these.” The evening star said kindly to Ayla, for it was only the truth, and she took the knife from the younger woman.

Before she could voice concurrence with Ayla’s statement, the star woman’s eyes grew wide when she saw the crumpled heap the golems had drug forth to their party. This must be the final addition, or the golems would have brought more than just this slightly greasy looking man who looked to be in ill temper. Yvaine could not blame him, for she would not wish to be so rudely hauled here. She did not appreciate anyone forcing her to do anything that was not her own wish. Of course, the Planet’s wish was for them to gather together to pick grapes and squish them beneath their feet, but it had become desirable to the star woman. She enjoyed the company of others, and she loved to hear what they had to say and to view how they interacted with one another and their environments. So long as none were pasty blood-drinkers, she was content. Vampires no longer held a desirable interest in her mind.

The star woman’s glow faltered only slightly as she watched the man grab a knife, and it occurred to her it almost punctuated his words. “Well, it was no plot of ours, so whatever it is you wish to concoct would be best set again this rock upon which we stand rather than against any living upon it. A day of labour might do you well, anyway. It might do all of us well. We had best get to work. There are many grapes and limited basket space.” With that, she lifted the last basket and thrust it into the somber man’s arms before taking the lead and heading toward the vines, abundant with grapes.

As she had seen many a time in her life, she took the blade to a vine, and smiled as it easily sliced cleanly through the plant. She allowed the grapes to take their place in her basket. She was unused to the feeling of the sun shining down his warmth on her, for she was usually a nocturnal creature. It was not an altogether unpleasant feeling, but it was still morning. There was much of the day left to go, and the sun had only begun to heat the day.

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brain_ninja
2008-11-06 09:11 pm UTC (link)

Andy raised his eyebrows in approval and gave the woman a lopsided grin when she turned toward him. Oh yeah, Sam would be a lost thought in present company, for sure. Her voice was pleasant as she greeted him and she extended a hand to him and told him he was in the right place. Taking her hand, Andy’s grin fell lazily. “Yvaine. That’s pretty...” he muttered stupidly as he shook her hand.

Another voice interrupted their introduction and Andy looked back and forth between the women. They seemed to know one another and...was Yvaine...glowing? Nah, trick of the eyes; had to be.

“Nice to meet you, too, Ayla,” he said, taking her hand next and shaking it. The grin seemed glued to his face. “God, I love this place...” he murmured to himself when the second woman leaned down to pick up her basket.

Oh, yeah, he should probably get one of his own, huh? He picked up one of the baskets and looked back at Ayla and Yvaine in time to see Ayla handing the two of them knives. “Hey, thanks,” he replied as he took one.

Andy’s attention was taken by a commotion and when he looked over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised again, this time with curious amusement. “So that’s what they look like, huh?” he asked, taking in the creatures as they dragged in a dark- and greasy-haired man who seemed to be worse for the wear. He wondered if the note had been sugar-coating about the golems taking disagreeing parties to the winery. Maybe what it had meant to say was that it would drag the disagreeing parties.

As the man spoke, he looked over Andy and the two women standing with him. “Hey, man, why you saying ‘him?’” he asked, eyes wide and raising his hands defensively. “Chill out. It’s not like it’s actually hard labor, dude.”

But then Yvaine was speaking and sounding far more intelligent and loquacious than Andy could’ve hoped to sound. So, he nodded dumbly in agreement. She ended her monologue by picking up the last basket and shoving it into the man’s arms before heading out toward the grapes.

Andy looked back at the man. “Relax and have a little fun, why don’t you?” he asked, focusing his mind on the man. He was a little rusty with the mind thing, but maybe he wasn’t so out of touch that he couldn’t at least get a smile out of the guy. Besides, how could anybody be so crabby when surrounded by beautiful ladies? Andy gave the man a smile and then headed off to follow Yvaine, jogging to catch up.

He watched as she took out the knife and separated one of the clusters of grapes from the vine. “You look like you know what you’re doing,” he said, sounding impressed. Standing beside her, Andy decided to give his own skill a try. It took a second to get through the vine as he’d ended up grabbing a cluster of grapes which was connected to the lot by a particularly thick vine. “All right, hey, I think I can get the hang of this...” he said more to himself than to Yvaine before smiling up at her reflexively anyway as if to say ‘look what I did!’

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_ayla_
2008-11-07 10:55 am UTC (link)

Ayla was slightly startled by the heap that had been dropped near them by the stony golems. The black greasy mass wriggled and, much to her surprise, a man appeared. Ayla visibly flinched from the look on his face and took a step back. She was a master at reading body language, and it was clear from the look on his face that he was angry. The look reminded her of one Broud might have had. He was the most volatile of all the Clan men, and she had taken the brunt of his anger on many ocassions. She did not want to be on the recieving end of this black clad man's anger, she decided promptly.

Better to become invisible and stay out of his way. She said nothing and mutely followed after Yvaine as she headed for the vines. She had picked some grapes a few days before with Kadaj, so she was familiar with the way the vines grew. Crouching below the dense canopy of grape leaves, Ayla took hold of a large cluster and pulling her flint knife from a pouch at her waist, quickly sliced through the vine and deposited the bunch in her basket. She made short work of the other clusters that surrounded her before she picked up the basket and moved down the line.

She looked back to see that Yvaine was having success as well as Andy. He seemed rather pleased with himself, showing Yvaine his clusters of grapes each time he pulled one from the vine. It made Ayla smile slightly before she went back to work. She was very familiar with this type of work, picking, harvesting, storing different fruits, vegetables, plants and herbs, so it did not take her long to get her basket full to overflowing. It was quite heavy, but years of hard labor made her strong and she lifted it with ease.

She avoided looking at the greasy haired man and tried to scuttle around him so as to stay out of the line of his sight. She carried her basket to the platform that appeared to be set up for the stomping of grapes. Two large half barrels with holes in the bottom that drained into a trench sat atop the platform. The containers looked like they would hold four or five people easily. The trench drained into a pipe and set up at the bottom of the pipe was a large container for collecting the juice.

Ayla carried her basket up to the first barrel and dumped her grapes into it. She descended the steps and returned to the vines to gather more grapes. Again she filled her basket to overflowing and took it to the platform to deposit them. She stood atop it for a time, observing the others to see where they were in their work.

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severelyseverus
2008-11-11 12:36 pm UTC (link)

Snape stood up straight, glaring at the assembled company, and assessed his situation. They were, indeed, in the vineyard, as promised. Rows of grape-laden vines stretched to the middle distance. Nearby, a platform stood with a large basin for stomping. Snape gritted his teeth at the inevitable, pointless work ahead of him. He hated heavy lifting, he hated the heat of the sun, and he hated the company of the excessively cheerful. The entire situation made him incredibly angry.

Snape narrowed his eyes at Andy's defensive comments, feeling slightly defensive himself. Internally, he acknowledged that the cruel villain behind this ridiculous enslavement might be a woman -- after all, hadn't he himself been abducted by an insane, costumed woman less than a week before this? -- but the embarrassment of being caught in the mistake only made him more resolved to stick to his original statement.

He was about to make his retort in the young man's direction, when Yvaine approached him, lecturing, and thrust a large basket into his hands. He was extremely skeptical that a day of hard labour was what anyone needed. She was probably correct that he should be blaming the planet rather than his fellow make-shift peasants, but it was difficult to take his anger out on an exceedingly large, inanimate object. He glared at her sullenly, holding the basket to his chest, as she went to work.

Snape was beginning to consider the various ways he could escape this miserable situation, or at least register a protest against his treatment, when Andy spoke to him again. Unaware of the man's special abilities, he found himself relaxing immediately. This wasn't really so bad, after all. As laborious servitude to an inhuman puppetmaster went, it could get much worse. Snape frequently made special trips to exotic locations, in order to use highly specialized equipment to harvest rare and delicate potions ingredients. Cutting these grapes was going to be a piece of honeycake. It might even be... fun.

Snape gave a sigh of resignation and took his basket and knife to a nearby vine. He stayed away from the others as he worked, preferring to get lost in his own efforts at increasing his precision and efficiency. He was careful not to drop or bruise any of the fruit, and his basket filled rapidly.

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fallen_star
2008-11-12 12:34 pm UTC (link)

Yvaine smiled as the man named Andy complimented her name. “I thank you. It was given to me by my sisters.” When he greeted Ayla, the star stood by and watched. She caught the muttered words, for her hearing was better than mere mortals, but she couldn’t have decided why he had said them.

The evening star shot Andy a look, one brow raised, when he implied the doing was that of a woman. “I was under the impression that Planet did not have a distinguishable gender, and, even if they did, who is to say it is not the doing of a man?” Yvaine’s voice had a slight edge to it. After all, she had only ever grown up around women. She had never even met her father, the sun. It was understandable that she was a bit defensive.

She could see that Ayla was hesitant to speak to the grumpiest of their party, and she wondered if it was something that had happened to her in her life that made her want to make herself scarce and unnoticeable. The cavewoman had admitted to being an outcast her entire life when they had spoken on a previous occasion. Perhaps that was the majority of the reason, or perhaps this man reminded her of that awful man about whom she had told the star.

When she saw the dark robed man begin to cut the grapes from the vine, she noticed he seemed a little less irate about the entire ordeal, and she found herself wondering what had changed his mind. Yvaine also noted that Ayla was having a good deal of success. She was quick and efficient at this, far more so than any of the rest, and the star woman watched her technique for a couple moments before resuming to her own section of grapes.

The star woman smiled at Andy’s comment. “I have been watching things like this being done for a couple dozen millennia, and, though it is my first time attempting this, my observations have served me well.” With each bundle of grapes, she placed them gently in her basket so as not to burst or bruise the fruit. She could smell their fresh scent, and she found herself wondering how they would taste. Stars only needed darkness and light for nourishment, and she knew from Ayla’s tea that human foods and medicines would not do her harm.

Her silver-sapphire gaze passed over Andy’s hands as he removed the grapes from the vine. “You are doing wonderfully. Your blade is sharp, but your technique is effective as well.”

Long before Yvaine’s basket was filled, she noticed Ayla leaving the vines to deposit her harvest into the vats. Ayla must have been doing things like this for many years. Even thirty million years of watching did not make a star an expert when it came to the act of picking grapes.

Eventually, her basket did fill. In all honesty, it had not taken so long, for the grapes were large and the vines fruitful. Her basket had become quite heavy, though, and it was a small struggle to carry it over to the platform and up the stairs. She was much relieved when her burden had been dumped into on of the barrels. She returned to the vines to pick more grapes.

Each time she had to carry her full, heavy basket up those stairs, she felt more and more tired. She was almost too tired to even want to stomp the grapes… almost. In truth, she wished to stomp them more than anything. The mortals had made such things look like a true joy, and she knew she would feel very satisfied with herself if she did a good job of it.

Soon enough, the vats were as full as they should be with the contributions from the two women and the two men, and a golem arrived to wait for them to return to the platform. With him, he carried a small device she had learned was a television which he set upon a stand he had also brought. It was obvious that they would be made to watch the moving pictures.

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fallen_star
2008-11-12 12:35 pm UTC (link)

When they had all gathered, the wooden golem pressed a button and the television came to life. There were two distinctly Italian women standing in separate vats filled with grapes, and they stepped upon them lightly. Another man addressed the viewers as the women stomped the grapes. “When stomping the grapes, it is important that you do not try to pulverize the grapes. You should think of it as a gentle way to manage to crush of the grapes. Try to gently press upon the grapes by gently breaking it open so the juices can flow without tearing the grape skins themselves.” The camera zoomed in to show the techniques of each woman, how they did not actually stomp but they stepped lightly with a firmness that would do what needed to be done. “Once you have gotten used to doing this properly, there will be a contest at the end in which you will partner up. Whichever team has produced the highest weight of juice within three minutes will be declared the winners.”

There was a place where they should set their socks and shoes, and a hose lay nearby where they were to rinse their feet before mounting the steps and slipping their feet into the vats. Yvaine promptly stripped away her boots, and she discovered how to turn on the hose before rinsing her feet. She encouraged the others to do the same. Once that was accomplished, she gladly ascended the stairs onto the platform and, using the edge of the barrel for support, stepped into the mass of grapes. It felt slimy and strange, but she found the sensation was not all bad, and she decided, after walking around in the vat that she quite enjoyed this.

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brain_ninja
2008-11-15 03:28 pm UTC (link)

Andy frowned. "That's not what I meant," he insisted. He looked back at the other man warily before looking back at Yvaine and lowering his voice so that only she could hear. "C'mon, though, he's a little creepy, right? And when he said 'he,' he was looking at us. I'm the only other 'he' here, you know? Sounded like he meant me and no thank you, y'know?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

Having filled his first basket, Andy set it down and wiggled his fingers. It was getting heavy. Like, really heavy. Ayla and Yvaine didn't seem to be having problems with the weight of the baskets which was, admittedly, a little embarrassing for Andy, but whatever. Maybe they wouldn't notice. He picked the basket up again and sneaked a look at the other man. He seemed to be much less grouchy. Maybe Andy's mind thing was still in working order, then. "Hey, man..." he called out. "Don't think we ever got your name..." he pointed out gently. Well, if they were going to be out here together, they might as well all know each other at least a little, right?

"A couple dozen millenia?" Andy asked, eyes widening slightly as he raised his eyebrows curiously at Yvaine once he'd processed what she'd said. "Whatever, you can't be a day over twenty-six." He smirked at her. It wasn't a line. ...okay, it was, but he did mean it. She didn't look a whole lot older than him, as far as he was concerned. He smiled a little, bashfully so, when she complimented him. Yeah, maybe she hadn't seen him have to set the basket down for a minute.

Hefting the basket up a little higher, he followed Ayla's path to the vats. A wooden golem turned on the television there and an instructional video started. "Oh, man, the acting in these things is always awesomely bad," he said, grinning as he watched.

When it was over, he watched as Yvaine took off her boots and used the hose to rinse her feet. With a facial shrug, he crouched to untie his sneakers before dropping down onto his bottom and taking them off, shoving his socks into them before placing them beside her boots. He waited his turn and then hosed off his own feet as well. "Shit that's cold," he grumped quietly, shivering. When he was finished, he stood and moved aside to let the next person have their turn.

Yvaine had lowered herself into one of the vats. Looking over his shoulder briefly to gauge the others' progress, Andy followed her in. The grapes were warm and a few of them broke under his weight. It was probably one of the weirdest sensations Andy had ever experienced. "This would be so awesome if I had a bowl, right now," he thought aloud before stepping away from the side to make room for the others to come in after him. He looked over at Yvaine. The woman seemed to be rather thoroughly enjoying herself already. Andy, on the other hand was a little skeptical. It was a strange and not entirely comfortable feeling, having the grapes burst beneath his feet. He furrowed his brow and shuddered a little. "This is so freakin' weird..." he laughed in spite of himself.

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_ayla_
2008-11-18 12:55 pm UTC (link)

Ayla rinsed her own feet with the hose just before she stepped into the vacant vat. She wasn't pleased that she was going to have to share her barrel with Snape. He seemed to have changed his attitude a little, but his appearance still frightened her a little. She would much rather have been put with Yvaine, but Andy had taken that liberty.

She couldn't fault him, it seemed no one wanted to be put with the grumy older man. In many ways, Ayla was very mature for her seventeen years. She'd already had a child and had been a woman according to clan traditions for at least six years. But in the ways of people and new customs with which she was unfamiliar, she was quite shy and reserved.

She kept her head down as she stepped into the barrel and felt the grapes give way under her weight. It made her smile slightly, but not for long. Juice ran between her toes and over the top of her feet as they sank into the multitudes of ripe fruit. She held on to the edge and lifted her feet, pressing down gently as the television had instructed them.

Luckily, she had made a few trips to the entertainment room and was now a little more familiar with the two dimensional people who moved around on the screens, or she might have been a little unnerved by the instructions. As it was, she was able to listen and follow the directions very well. She had a knack for hearing and remembering after being told only once.

She kept to the side so that Snape would have enough room to get in with her, but continued to step lightly on the grapes, squishing them beneath her feet, extracting the juice. She could see it running out of the hole in the bottom of the barrel, down the trench and into their bottle. She was not necessarily the competitive sort, but she was a little excited to see who would be able to make the most juice.

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severelyseverus
2008-11-22 01:39 am UTC (link)

Snape performed his work quickly and efficiently, keen on getting this ridiculous activity over with as soon as possible. Despite his improved mood, he had not forgotten that he was here against his original will. He had not come out to make friends. When Andy appeared interested in doing that very thing, Snape answered simply, "Snape." He hoped the other man would drop his feeble attempts at huggy-feely inclusion. It was obvious enough to the wizard that the other man was much more interested in the friendship of the sociable, smiling, blonde woman. Snape sneered to see such transparent obsequity.

Once his basket was full of ripe fruit, Snape lifted it in both his arms and bore it before him to the stomping platform. He was somewhat dismayed to see that, despite what he had thought to be efficient speed on his part, he was the last of the quartet to make his way to the next stage. With his burden poured into the vat, he bent over awkwardly to remove the black stockings in which he had been conducting his morning business at the time of his undignified removal from his quarters. The socks, which had likely not been laundered in some time, now had the soil of the vineyard ground into them. Snape pulled them off his grimy feet one at a time and threw them spitefully at the nearest golem overseer. After rinsing his feet thoroughly, Snape climbed the stairs to the stomping platform.

After watching the instructional video for as little time as it took for his considerable intellect to grasp its puerilely simple concepts, he tucked the hem of his black robe into his belt in the fashion of the women in the film and climbed carefully into the stomping vat. A space had been left for him by the quieter, younger woman -- he hadn't caught her name -- who, clearly, was going to be his partner. He attempted to offer her a perfunctory smile, but came out looking twisted and sarcastic. She seemed hard-working and quiet. Snape was glad he had not ended up with one of the more sociable participants.

Accustomed to doing unpleasant but necessary tasks, Snape sucked up his desire to complain, and began stepping on the grapes. He made a serious attempt to use the technique exhibited on the electric screens. He was a proud man, and was not ready to be defeated by an activity as seemingly mindless as this. He was good with ingredient preparation, too, however, and took to this sort of thing quickly.

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fallen_star
2008-12-03 10:43 am UTC (link)

Yvaine smiled with amusement as Andy attempted to defend himself. “Right.” She said, purposely making the tone of her voice indiscernible from sincerity or from sarcasm. It was too much fun to gently tease this man while he floundered a bit.

The evening star wasn’t sure that she perceived the darker, greasy man as “creepy” per say. In her opinion, he seemed more like a regular man who was probably intelligent, but he also seemed bitter, though, over what, she could not decide. Perhaps life in general had led him in a downward spiral in which nothing ever seemed to go right? Perhaps he had never found someone to love him? She found herself wondering if perhaps that was the very thing he needed in order to bring happiness to his life. A kind lover who would care for him despite his obvious flaws. Perhaps some of those flaws- such as that constant scowl- would evaporate in the face of love.

Yvaine could see the strain in Andy’s face as he carried his basket. If he had looked closer, he would have seen that the star’s basket was a bit smaller- better suited to her size and strength- and, though she filled it well, it was never quite full to the brim. This was probably why she seemed to carry her basket with ease while he struggled so.

The star woman’s brows cinched together at his comment, and she wondered that he hadn’t realized what she was. Then again, the mass majority of people she had met had no indication of her species. “Well, more like thirty millenia if we’re trying to be a bit more precise. Of course I look no older than twenty-six. That is because the bodies of stars do not age. I was born looking exactly this way, and I will never grow older.” A smile touched her lips as she spoke, and she wondered if he would look at her skeptically after this the way others like that man she had greeted and taken to the plaque had.

Yvaine gazed at Andy curiously when he commented on the acting in presentations like these. She wouldn’t know, of course, for she had never seen instructional videos before. They had yet to be invented in the era from which she had been taken.

There truly was no describing the sensation of her feet touching the cool, juicy grapes. Feeling them burst beneath her soles was just as strange. Despite this, it felt… invigorating. She was a bit tired from having taken the grapes from their vines, but she felt as if she could do this part for a while. It was quite fun. She knew she must be careful. It would be no fun at all if she was to slip, to fall out of the vat, to fall off the platform, and to break her face- especially now that she knew just how a broken bone felt.

Yvaine shot Ayla a sympathetic look when she realized the kind cave woman was to be paired with the grouchy man who had called himself Snape. No one would have wanted to be in the same vat as that man, but such was life. It was not always fair. At least Ayla didn’t cringe or make a face when he entered the barrel.

What had Andy meant by his comment? “A bowl? What would you do with a bowl if you had one?” She could not fathom how a dish would make something like this more exciting. Then again, she felt this was exciting enough in its own right.

“It is rather strange, but I find it quite enjoyable!” Yvaine exclaimed. They stomped the grapes for a few minutes. The evening star had lost track of time, so she could not be certain how many moments had passed. This activity was fun, and she was glad for her mandatory invitation to participate in this. Eventually, it seemed as though the many of the grapes had been broken open. Her feet were sticky with the juices, but she felt her mood had elevated, and her glow was brighter- though the sun made it difficult to note her shine.

After a time, a sound startled her. Someone yelled, “Stop!” and it took a moment for Yvaine to realize that it had been the man on the television. The star woman climbed out of her vat very carefully, and she returned to the hose to rinse her feet. She noticed that two golems each removed a container that held the juice of their efforts. The man on the television informed them that the juice would be weighed to determined who had managed to create the most juice.

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