Mary-Anne Prewett is a precious unicorn (bonnebonne) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-11-05 21:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: mary-anne prewett, character: patrick chambers, location: hogsmeade |
WHO: Mary-Anne Prewett and Patrick Chambers
WHEN: backdated Thursday afternoon, 13th October
WHERE: Panquake House
WHAT: Time for the Chickens' Dress Rehearsal... oh, and Mary meets a boy.
RATING: low. cutesy.
STATUS: Completed in Docs
It had been a few weeks since Mary-Anne had offered to make Ken some halloween decorations and costumes for the dogs. She had actually finished the decorations though she still needed to add some charms to them so that they were suitably spooky. Right now though she was trying to catch at least one of the dogs to test the now completed viking helmet costume. Except both dogs thought that rather than work Mary-Anne was wanting to play chase and kept running from her each time she'd managed to get close. They had treats stashed somewhere that she could bribe them with, except she couldn't quite remember where they were hidden. She almost had them just then but with her next step her shoe caught the edge of something and she started to fall forward already closing her eyes so she didn't have to watch through the pain that would come, even if the floor was carpeted nicely. Except nothing seemed to hurt at all. That was weird. Opening one eye at a time she looked up only to see… a rather cute guy and her cheeks started to redden as she thought of how she must look like a complete idiot. "I… uh… thank you?" she said rather dumbly. -- Patrick had been at the house intending to visit with his brother when he heard the commotion the dogs were causing as the scampered down the hallway. Following the sounds of them, he made his way in that direction figuring Ken was playing with them only to find Mary-Anne about the time that she tripped. Acting quickly and mostly out of instinct, he reached out to stop her fall, catching her somewhere before she hit the ground. When she opened her eyes and started to blush, he just smiled at her. "No worries," he told her, carefully lifting her back to her feet. "Glad I could be there to stop that meeting between your face and the floor," he said. "I'm sure it wouldn't have been very fun, nor would it have felt very good." He smiled again and offered his hand out to her. "I'm Patrick," he said. "Ken's brother. You must be Mary-Anne." -- "Uh… no, probably not," she added, after finally getting upright again. She wasn't trying to be rude by staring at him; she was just stuck somewhere between thinking she was an idiot for tripping up and the embarrassment at being rescued from falling over completely by a cute guy. So it took Mary-Anne a moment to realise he was actually holding out his hand to her and, so she didn't appear completely devoid of manners, shook it. "Hi," she said, somehow managing to do so without stuttering. Mary-Anne knew or had some vague recollection about hearing about Ken's siblings but until now hadn't met either of them. "You know my name…" At that point in time it honestly didn't occur to her that a) Ken might've mentioned her, or b) that she might only see herself as the keyboardist but with Quake getting more popular that people were bound to learn of her name. -- "Well, yes," he said, nodding. "I know the rest of the band," he explained. At least by name. Being Ken's brother had allowed him that much knowledge at the very least. He also knew they had a newer bandmate and that her name was Mary-Anne. It was fairly easy to put two and two together. She was running around the house chasing the dogs so it was clear that she probably lived there. Maybe he shouldn't have made that assumption, but it had been right so he was pleased by that. "And you're not someone I know yet. Well, I do now," he grinned. "Mary-Anne is a lovely name, by the way," he added. "It's good to meet you." Looking down as the dogs ran past again, he laughed. "Did I catch you in the middle of something besides a fall?" -- "Oh, thank you," she replied. Because it seemed like the polite thing to say rather than waiting for her brain to actually catch up and say something other than 'um'. "Yes, it is… I mean, it's nice to meet you too that is…" Well, at least she hadn't dug herself into a hole by continuing to babble and feeling more like a fool. Mary-Anne was fairly certain her friends likely didn't have this trouble or maybe they did and didn't mention it so much; it was entirely possible. It was also clear she was babbling just as much in her mind about everything which really probably wasn't the best thing at the moment. "I uh… I was trying to catch one of the dogs because I needed to see if the um… costume fitted," she answered. "I don't think either of them is particularly keen or they probably just think I'm actually wanting to play a game, which I'm not. Not that I wouldn't want to play with them but I'm trying to finish the costumes for Ken for Halloween, even though Halloween isn't until next month…" -- Listening to Mary-Anne as she rambled was really quite adorable. The babbling wasn't a bad thing as far as Patrick was concerned. He liked listening to people. Most of the time everyone thought he was shy because he was so quiet, but that wasn't really the case. It was merely that he liked to people watch and to listen and learn about people. He was learning quite a lot about Mary-Anne as she babbled and that was reason enough to stand there listening to her. "I can help you catch them," he offered. "Even if they'll probably think that I'm playing a game too." Which was quite likely. The dogs did love to rush around doing as they pleased. -- Mary-Anne blinked when Patrick offered to help her catch the dogs. It wasn't that that in itself was unusual; what was unusual was not hearing anything like a complaint about her babbling. The amount of people she knew who didn't really mind her babbling could probably be counted on one hand; provided she counted her whole family as one else she'd actually run out of hands. "Oh, um… you don't have to if you don't want to," she replied. She was sure he likely had better things to do than helping her in trying to catch his brother's dogs. -- "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to," he told her with a smile. "I don't mind, truly," he assured her. He didn't have anything better to do than spend a little time with a pretty girl. He had come over to see Ken, but he could do that too once he'd helped her out. "You made them costumes?," he asked her. He was curious now as to what the costumes were. "Sounds like you're pretty crafty." -- Mary-Anne couldn't help but smile brightly when it turned out his offer really was genuine. "Okay, well, thank you then," she said. It would certainly help in having another pair of hands in trying to catch at least one, if not both, of the dogs. It didn't hurt none that he was a cute guy; though she was trying not to think on that too much for worry of getting too distracted and possibly starting to daydream. Mary-Anne nodded silently, before smiling shyly at the compliment. "I can show you the costumes if you want to see them," she suggested shyly, before frowning slightly. "If we can catch one of the dogs first." -- Patrick grinned in response and nodded, then glanced around to see if he could figure out exactly where the rambunctious dogs had gotten off to. He heard some skittering across the floor coming from down the hallway, so he started walking in that direction. "I think they're down here," he told her. "At least it sounds like they might be. Maybe if I distract them, you can snag one," he offered up as a means of capturing at least one of the dogs. Maybe both if they played their cards right. "I don't know how they manage to be so quick." -- "It does sound like it," she said, before following after Patrick. "Well, they're a lot smaller than we are." And as evident by her earlier attempt she was not supposed to run after them. Mary-Anne chewed her lip as she tried to think of other ways to catch the dogs. Distraction would probably work, as long as the dogs didn't consider it art of the game they seemed to be playing. "Or we could um… well, since they seem to keep running, I - or you - could stay here and the other chases them this way?" -- He smiled at her idea. "That's actually a pretty good plan," he told her. "I'll stay," he offered. He didn't want her to get bowled over by the dogs, after all. He stopped in the hallway and bent down so he was more on the dogs' level. It would make it easier when it came to catching them. Maybe he'd get lucky and snag the pair of them. He waited as Mary-Anne went to chase them in his direction and once they barreled towards him, they didn't really have much of a chance to keep him from snagging them. He laughed, catching them around their collars. "Hey, what do you know, we make a pretty good dog catching team." -- "I guess we do," she said, her cheeks reddening even as she smiled. "Well, if you keep a hold of Chicken so he can't escape, I can carry Chicken IIoo, and then um… I can show you the costumes and finally see if they fit them both." Mary-Anne bent down to carefully pick Chicken IIoo up, and gave him a scratch behind the ears as she stood back up. She quietly murmured to the dog that he couldn't run away again until he'd at least tried the costume on once. "I've got everything in the living room at the moment," she mentioned, before heading in the direction of the living room. Feeling just a bit grateful she hadn't been knitting in her bedroom; because innocent or not she would've been utterly nervous in showing Patrick to her room. -- "Sounds like a plan," Patrick agreed, watching her pick up Chicken IIoo and listening to the murmuring she whispered to the dog. When she headed towards the living room, he corralled Chicken towards the living room. "You've got a costume to try on too, buddy," he told the animal. He doubted he was as excited about the prospect of a costume as Patrick was, but he would just have to learn to accept it. "Is this the first time you've made dog costumes?," he questioned, curious. -- Mary-Anne nodded. "Although I've knitted clothing for people before. So I'm kind of hoping the principle is the same?" The trick had been in trying to ensure the costumes were tight enough to stay on but loose enough that it wouldn't cause too great a discomfort to either dog. "Well… they're not really costumes, strictly speaking, more like… really fancy hats." Mary-Anne placed Chicken IIoo on the couch and, while still keeping hold of his collar, grabbed the costume intended for him and put it on before securing it. That had been another slight issue and in the end she'd decided using velcro rather than a large button would be better; a button could end up being chewed off and swallowed, and she didn't want to be the cause of any consequences from that. So far it didn't seem to be bothering Chicken IIoo too much, though like any dog he did seem mildly irritated by it. "Um… well, what do you think?" she asked nervously, having turned back around once she'd picked the dog back up. In a way it was just a little silly to be worried about what Patrick's opinion might be, since given the dogs belonged to Ken it was his opinion that determined whether the dogs would continue wearing them for the holiday. Not to mention she'd only just met Patrick and certainly didn't know him very well at all, and already hoping to be thought of favourably. Not that she expected him to like her but… well, it was always good to be thought of nicely. -- Patrick suspected that costumes for dogs would probably be a little more difficult than clothing for humans if only because of the shape difference. He found, though, that Mary-Anne had done a really remarkable job with what she'd made for Chicken IIoo, though. When he glanced over at it, he was a little taken aback by how both hilarious and adorable it was. "Oh, that's just fabulous," he said. "Ken'll love it." He was sure that he would, of course. How could someone not like a unicorn dog hat, especially one that had obviously taken a great deal of time, effort, and talent to create in the first place. "Now I'm dying to see what you've got up your sleeve for this one," he said, bringing Chicken over so he could get his hat. -- Mary-Anne, all thoughts of being nervous momentarily forgotten, couldn't help but smile brightly at the praise. "Thank you. Oh, I hope so." She set Chicken IIoo down after taking the hat off as she didn't want Ken to see just yet and she couldn't be sure that the small dog would scarper first chance he got. "Well, it's not as bright as a rainbow but I think it'll stand out," she explained. Twisting to the side she reached over to grab Chicken's hat and put it on Chicken; velcro had been used again but she'd had to set it further back because of the braids and hoped it wouldn't prove uncomfortable for Chicken. "Do you think Ken'll like it?" she asked. -- He watched as she put the hat on Chicken and couldn't help but laugh at the way the dog looked. It was adorable and hilarious all at the same time. "I think he will," Patrick told her, nodding. "If he doesn't, I think I like it enough for the both of us." Part of him was almost jealous of Chicken and Chicken IIoo because they were getting such fabulous hats. "Did Ken come up with the idea or was that all you?," he asked. "The viking and the unicorn part, I mean." He might have asked for costumes, but that didn't mean that he'd specified what he wanted those costumes to be. -- "Oh, um… I think it was both? I mean, I offered to make some decorations and then offered to make the costumes," she replied. "They won't really be much of a surprise since he picked the costumes after I showed some pictures I'd managed to find thanks to my boss at the store I sometimes work at. Though I think seeing a picture is kind of different to actually seeing them wear the hats. So I hope he does still like them." Mary-Anne's cheeks tinged slightly pink and she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't mean to ramble…" -- Patrick nodded. "I think that they'll still be pretty cool to see," he told her. "Even if he knows what to expect, you're right about a picture being different than actually seeing it on the dog." He was sure that Ken would find it amusing and would be pleased with the work that Mary-Anne had put into the creations. No doubt they hadn't been something she'd just whipped up. It was obvious that she'd gone to a lot of trouble to make them. "No, don't be sorry," he said. "I like it." -- "Hopefully he'll like the decorations too. Although I haven't finished any of them yet," she said. Mary-Anne soon got the hat off of Chicken, who padded out of the room soon after, before he could start pawing at the braids and getting his claws tangled up in them. "You like my rambling?" she asked confusedly. -- Again he nodded. "Yes," he said. Even if it sounded strange, there was no point in pretending he didn't. "It's nice. Makes me feel like your thoughts are always moving around," he told her, shrugging his shoulder. It made him think of at least three paintings he could do about ramblings in her brain. Thoughts with no real connection moving about on colorful streams of the wind. He refocused his attention on her so as not to let his mind wander too much. "My brain sounds like that most of the time," he went on. "I guess I just keep it in and that makes me admire when a person just lets it out." -- "I don't think I've ever had anyone say my rambling is nice before," she said. "Though sometimes my thoughts do feel like that; I'll be thinking and talking about one thing and all a sudden my brain thinks of another," she commented. Or sometimes she might not say anything at all and simply be distracted with thoughts just rambling through her mind. "I don't even do it on purpose though. It just sort of happens and I just can't seem to stop myself before I've gone on and on... um... kind of like now.," she finished, blushing yet again. -- Patrick smiled. "Well, they should," he told her. "Because it is very nice." Rambling was a lovely way to learn about a person, he'd found. When someone talked a lot, it was usually because there was a lot going on in their head and they were unable to sort it all out. Their brains were a fascinating place and he found rambling very intriguing because of that. He nodded at her description of how her brain felt. "I can be like that too," he told her. "Especially when I'm painting. I can be fixated on painting something like, I don't know, a landscape of a beach and then my brain will be running off wanting to do something completely different and absolutely unrelated." He shook his head, still smiling. "Well, I think it's lovely, so don't worry about rambling around me." His attention went to the costumes briefly, then back up to Mary-Anne. "So what are you going to do now that you've tested the costumes?" -- "You paint? … of course, you paint because you've just told me that," she said with a slight shake of her head, and rather than being embarrassed by her slip was instead almost smiling. "Is it just landscapes you paint or do you paint other things too?" "I'll try not to," she said smiling shyly. It probably wasn't going to be easy not worrying about her rambling, or at the very least trying not to be embarrassed by it, though it was nice that Patrick didn't seem to mind. "Well, they didn't need any adjustments so I'll probably put them away, and try and finish off the decorations… unless you meant what I'm doing for the rest of the day?" -- "Yes," he said, even if she deduced that on her own. The question that followed got a little shake of his head. "No, not just landscapes. People, places, things. Anything that catches my fancy, really. Inspiration can strike anywhere and I've found that I just paint whatever feels right to me at the time." Patrick smiled. "I was wondering about the rest of the day," he told her. "Though I am curious about what you're making as decorations," he admitted. "If the unicorns and vikings are any indication, I'm sure that Halloween is going to be pretty amazing here. I might have to stop by." He probably would, of course, to see Ken and do brotherly things for Halloween, but he wanted to see the decorations too. And Mary-Anne. -- "Oh, nice. Do you have just one or two styles you like using or do you like trying a variety of them?" she asked. Given that they were both creative types it was easy to focus on that part of the whole situation and not the fact she was talking to a guy like Patrick. Any other cute or handsome guy, aside from Cedric, and she was sure she would've made more a fool of herself or possibly gotten so closed-lipped she would've made some mumbled excuse and left before she could do so. "Well, I was thinking of maybe practicing some of the band's song? I didn't really make any plans for today," she answered. She already had a good start on the decorations and so she wasn't worried that she was going to suddenly fall behind on finishing them off. Particularly given she had since discovered the spell for magical knitting and the charms she likes to use to make the pieces animated didn't actually conflict with each other - well, provided the latter charms weren't of a particularly complex nature. "It's possibly a bit more traditionally Halloween-like than unicorns and vikings; well, there's maybe ghosts, pumpkins, and that sort of thing," she explained. There was also the small surprise for Ken of a miniature zombie army, which she had managed to finish the knitting of and only needed to charm them now. "If Ken's enthusiasm for the holiday is anything to go by it should be fun, and I'm pretty sure you'd be welcome," she said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. -- Patrick shrugged his shoulder. "I think it depends on my mood," he told her honestly. "Every time I think that I've formed my own special style I draw or paint something that is completely on the other side of the spectrum and wonder what I'm doing," he laughed. "So, I guess I would have to say that I like a variety of different styles. I like to do whatever the piece tells me to. Whether that's moving in one direction or another." It depended a lot on the subject of the painting or the drawing, he thought. "Yeah, me either," he admitted. "I came to see Ken for a little while, of course, but other than that I'm just a leaf on the wind, really. At least today." The mention of more traditional Halloween decorations had him curious about what she would come up with. "I'm sure it will be awesome," he said. "I'll look forward to seeing it." He could certainly respect her art form. Knitting wasn't his medium, but he could definitely find a respect for the fact that it was, indeed, art. "Well, I'd like to hope that I'd be welcome," he said with a laugh. "If not, I'd probably still crash it," he teased. -- "That must be good. Having a variety of styles to work with, I mean; you wouldn't uh get stuck in a particular style and then end up stuck for inspiration or what to do next," she commented. Knitting was sometimes kind of particular in a way but Mary-Anne had since learnt different knitting methods and using different wools from what she had known when her Aunt had first taught her the basics. "I'd like to see something you've painted sometime… if that's okay…" she shyly added. Mary-Anne was genuinely interested in seeing what he'd done but knew that sometimes people weren't comfortable showing off their work. Also it was far easier thing for her to say rather than work up the nerve to actually say she wouldn't mind seeing him again. "Hopefully. It's actually a bit more of a surprise than the costumes since the only input I got from Ken was what he'd like to see," she explained. She was also hoping the idea she'd had for the charms she wanted to use wouldn't backfire or end up out of control. Obviously with everyone being magical a simple Finite Incantatem would fix the problem; however, it was unlikely to fix the embarrassment she'd suffer for the problem happening happening. Admittedly she was a little nervous now, even if she needn't be, about things going well with the knitting and charms if Patrick was going to be there. Mary-Anne smiled. "I think that'll only work as long as people don't assume you were invited by your brother anyway." -- "Exactly," Patrick agreed. Mary-Anne totally got it. He didn't like to paint himself — pun obviously intended — into a corner. Leaving his style wide open gave him the opportunity to explore. He supposed it would probably be better if he focused on and tried to perfect a particular style, but it just wasn't the way he felt things should be done. The mention of seeing something he painted made Patrick smile. "I'd like that," he told her. "I could take you to my studio sometime," he offered, worrying his lower lip briefly and hoping that she wouldn't think the offer was too forward. "I think he'll enjoy the surprise," Patrick said. "The whole band probably will, actually." He was sure that Mary-Anne's Halloween knitting projects would be adorable and he was looking forward to seeing what she created and how she managed to work them all together towards the central theme. He laughed. "You're probably right," he agreed. "Unless you want to invite me just to be safe." -- "Yes," she blurted out excitedly. It was a split second after that she realised how that sounded, and clapped her hands over her mouth as her cheeks started to redden considerably. Now she really felt like an idiot. "I… I mean… I'd like to, if that's okay," she shakily added after a moment. Mary-Anne made a mental note to ask Caitlin or Prim, or both, over for commiseration over ice cream and maybe not feel so bad about having embarrassed herself like that. Mary-Anne giggled nervously, after her outburst she almost didn't trust herself in responding to that at all calmly. "I suppose I should probably ask you then… just to be safe," she said nervously. "W-would you like to come with me… uh… as my guest?" -- The excitement in her voice and the way she clamped her hands over her mouth so quickly was probably one of the most adorable things that Patrick had ever seen in his life. That was saying something, of course, being that he'd just seen two very cute dogs with Halloween costume hats on. Mary-Anne was definitely more adorable than the Chickens. "I'd like to bring you," he said, grinning at her. "So it's definitely okay. When would a good time for you?" She was probably more busy than he was. "My work schedule isn't overly demanding, so I can find time whenever." "Definitely," he responded, the smile still lingering on his lips. "I think I'm looking forward to it more now." -- Mary-Anne wasn't sure why Patrick wasn't put off by her quirks, and if she knew it was because he found it adorable not only would she definitely be resembling a tomato but she still wouldn't get why he didn't seem to mind at all. The small part of her mind that could be considered rational was trying to let her know she really didn't need to worry so much; however the part that was currently stressing kept pointing out that Patrick was a really cute guy, and cute guys didn't go for awkward giraffes. "Oh… um… would next Tuesday be okay?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. "Oh," she mumbled quietly, still blushing. -- Patrick found Mary-Anne's quirks adorable. The color one her cheeks was of particular note and he was having a hard time keeping himself from wanting to capture that color on paper. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to end up doing so at least in his sketchpad. He wasn't planning on admitting that, though. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off hanging out before he'd even gotten the chance. "Next Tuesday sounds perfect," he told her. "If you've got a pen handy somewhere I can write my address down and we can figure out a good time and we can meet there. My studio is room in my flat, by the way. If that makes you uncomfortable, I want you to be aware before you just show up at it and think I've invited you nefariously. I promise, my intentions are good and entirely for showing off a little," he smiled. -- "It's alright, I think I'll be okay," she responded. Even though in her head she was panicking just a little at the thought of it all. She didn't go to guys' places. Ever. At least not to any places where she didn't happen to be related to the guy in question. This was definitely calling for some girl talk time, if only so she could feel less nervous-excited at the prospect Fortunately Mary-Anne knew she had a pen in her knitting bag for when she needed to keep better track of the stitch she was on. "Here," she said, handing Patrick the pen after she'd grabbed it from the bag. "Although I uh don't have any spare paper on me…" -- He smiled at her, glad she seemed to agree even if it was his flat that she'd be going to. He took the pen when she retrieved it and when she mentioned not having any spare paper, he smiled again. Reaching out, he gently took her hand and turned it palm up. He wrote his name and his address there on her skin and looked up at her once he'd finished. "You can always copy it over later," he told her, offering her pen back to her. -- As Patrick wrote his name and address across her hand Mary-Anne had to keep telling herself not to shake, because if her nerves got the better of her right at that moment then it'd possibly make his address indecipherable. Never mind that she had another hand that he could write on; rational thinking was not a priority right now. "Right," she said, staring at her hand momentarily. Mary-Anne was disappointedly realising she had probably kept Patrick long enough. "I suppose I should probably let you go so you can actually visit your brother." -- Patrick nodded. "Yeah, I probably should at least make an attempt to look for him," he laughed. "I'll see you again soon, Mary-Anne. Tuesday," he added. It seemed so close and yet far away at the same time. The following week had certainly gotten considerably brighter. |