neverendingbas (neverendingbas) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2011-08-08 22:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | bas, bastian, estrella |
Monday January 5th
Who: Bastian and Estrella
When: Morning, after breakfast
Where: Outside the kitchens
What: Random run in with lost people!
Estrella knew she should have grabbed the map that came in her welcome packet before she had headed out of her dorm this morning, but she thought she had it covered. And now she was wandering around some dark, dank hallway trying to find her way BACK to her dorm room and she had no idea how to get there from here. As a bonus, there wasn't anyone around right now for her to ask. So she was just wandering, hoping to see something vaguely familiar to light her way or, at the very least, to bump into someone she could ask. She was just about to pull out her cellphone and call the main office when a nearby door opened and she managed to catch sight of the backside of a person as they started up the hallway quite a ways up from where she stood. "Hello!" She called out, taking off in the direction where she had seen the person emerge. "Hey, you there!"
Bastian had just finished up the breakfast shift and was about to take the two hours he had before he needed to be back into the kitchen as a break. He fully planned on heading back to his apartment, grabbing a gym bag with sweats, shower stuff, extra lock and a change of clothes along with the campus map to finally figure out where the rec center was. Since it was ridiculously cold outside, he didn't want to have to run on the outdoor track for exercise. The indoor track or treadmills would work fine. Throwing on his jacket over jeans and his t-shirt, he pulled the ipod out of the pocket, tucking on of the buds into his ears. Lady Antebellum blasted through the miniature speakers as he walked down the hallway.
It took a moment, but he finally realized someone was calling his name. Stopping suddenly, he spun around, catching a young woman as she practically ran into him. "Hi there," he grinned, helping her to steady her feet.
The last thing Estrella had intended to do was practically run him down. But it had appeared that he wasn't hearing her, and then he had stopped so suddenly that it was impossible for her to account for that in the cute little heels that she wore. With the momentum she had going, she hit him relatively hard and this winded her slightly. It took her a moment to speak, but finally she managed a smile and a soft, "Sorry about that." She chuckled, then straightened herself. "I am very lost," she said once she was finally able to explain. "And I was hoping you could help me out with that."
Bastian reached into his pocket, shutting off the music and tugging the bud out of his ear to lay across his shoulder. "Lost? Um. Sure. I can try. Where are you headed?" Of course he was hoping she was just going to say the dorms since he knew where that was. He really doubted she wanted to go to the staff apartments or the parking lot, the only other two places he could find easily. "I'm Bastian, by the way." He held out his hand with a smile. May as well know her name before getting her more lost.
Headphones. That made sense as to why it took him so long to actually hear her. "Dormitories?" Of course if it took her too much longer to find them, there'd be little point as she did have another class coming up relatively soon. But if she could at least go grab her map, that would make things easier for her throughout the rest of the day. "I know they're around here.. somewhere." She exhaled a small laugh and then took the proffered hand. "Estrella James." And now that the shock had worn off, she couldn't help but notice that Bastian was quite attractive. He had nice teeth.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss James." After they shook hands, he smoothly tucked it back into his pocket and frowned, thinking. "Dorms," he muttered, turning around in the hallway in an attempt to orient himself. He'd come out of the back door for the kitchen, but did that run parallel to the front for the students or was it perpendicular? "They're um," he frowned, faltering. "Around here somewhere."
Miss James. She appreciated that. It was nice to meet a man with some manners. She had already encountered a few around here who had no idea what manners even were. But of course she had found the one person who had no idea where they were either. "Let me guess, you're new too?" Estrella exhaled a small laugh as she moved a hand up to run fingers through her dark hair in thought. "Well what places do you know how to get to from here? I may know how to get back to the dorms from one of those places." Or, perhaps, she could find someone once they got somewhere else who knew which direction to point her in.
Bastian ducked his head, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah. I've been here about a month, but I've been working hardcore with trying to get things up to my standard. Sorry," Raising his head he rasied the corner of his mouth in an embarrassed smile, warm hazel eyes adding to the apologetic look. "I know how to get to the kitchen, the parking lot and the staff apartments." He raised his fingers, ticking them off as he named them. "Oh! And the infirmary." That was always a good place to know. He'd made it a point to know just where it was the day he'd realized Syn was on campus. Just in case.
"Oh, so you work here? It's hard to tell the difference between the staff and the students. Everyone seems so.. varied in age and, really, it's not so easy to tell how old anyone is half the time anyway." Even she could live a much longer life if she so desired. Witchcraft had the ability to extend one's life though she was young enough still that she'd not exactly looked into how all that worked just yet. She was sure she would learn at some point while here though.
The places that he named off that he knew how to find made it rather easy to deduct what it was he did here at TJS. "So either you're a chef or a healer..." She pursed her lips in thought then quickly said, "Wait, don't tell me." She reached out a hand to take hold of his own so that she could study it for a moment, more interested in him now than her original destination. "Chef," she determined after a moment, a smile forming upon her full lips as she released his hand.
Wow, did he look that young? Bastian nodded at her question. "Yeah, I work here. Just startted not long before the break and I've been getting things-" He cut off when she wanted to guess what he did. Well, this would be interesting. Quite a few chefs had rough hands from fights with knives, hot pans or from constantly washing dishes, but Bastian's hands were smooth. There were calluses sure, but not all of them were from kitchen work.
"Yeah, how'd you guess?" He glanced at his palm, trying to determine what her clue was. He didn't smell of garlic or onions since he knew he'd washed his hands well. "Nice trick," he smiled.
Estrella smirked at him, a brow quirked narrowly as she replied, "Don't you know that it's never a good idea to ask a girl to reveal her tricks?" She laughed softly and then shook her head to show that she was joking. "I was in charge of everything that left my family's kitchen from the age of six until I went away to boarding school, and a chef can always tell another chef by their hands." And then she back-peddled just slightly by stating, "Not that I consider myself a chef, really, in the slightest. I just know a thing or two about making some four-star ramen." That, and she hosted weekly dinners for her floormates back at Wayne State. She was definitely going to miss that.
Laughing, Bastian nodded. "This is true. All our hands look alike. Torn all to hell though we try to cover it up with healing of some form." Most of the ones he knew used a lot of lotion. Bastian was able to work spells to keep his hands from cracking and looking rough.
Hearing her claim, he raised his brows in interest. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet someone who can appreciate decent food then. Most people around here would eat cardboard if you covered it in pizza sauce." He shuddered visibly. "So then maybe I can expect honest feedback from you about what I should change." The wheels in his head started turning. He knew some students worked in order to cover part of tuition costs. Maybe he could take on a couple in the kitchen, either as servers, busers or something else. "I think there's common rooms in the dorms with kitchens available if you'd want to make something of your own."
"It's always the thumbs that give it away," Estrella said in a whisper, then punctuated it with a wink as though she was cluing him in on some great secret.
"Well, when you grow up on the wrong side of the tracks in Detroit, you tend to look for ways to make your days a little bit brighter. Making something out of nothing was mine." She gave a small shrug of her shoulders and then laughed. "Oh honey, you will never get anything short of brutal honesty from me, I can tell you that much right now. And if you don't believe it, you can ask just about anyone that knew me back in my old hood. They will straight out tell you that I'm a bitch." She smirked as she added, "That just means they don't like the truth." Nodding her head, she replied, "I may do that, if I ever find my way back to the dorms."
Bastian glanced at his thumbs then nodded, joining in on that great secret, even though he had little clue what she was talking about.
"Yeah, there's some good places in Detriot for food. As for the tracks," he shrugged. "It's not what side you grow up on that matters. It's what you do about it." He grinned when she continued on, grateful that he'd be getting honest feedback from someone that wouldn't be colored by some sort of opinion. "You? A bitch? Couldn't be."
Chuckling, he glanced around the hallway and pointed. "Alright. I don't know much, but I know this door leads outside and on the other side of this building is the dorms. Ready for a walk in the cold, Miss James?"
Thumbs had a tendency to show the most wear and tear from the knives. It was as simple as that.
"Probably none as good as my Aunt Ruthie's. She wasn't really my aunt, just a friend of my mom's. She taught me everything she knew before she passed." She had been an older woman, had lived a good and full life unlike Estrella's own mother. Ruthie had been more of a parent to her and her brother's growing up then her mom ever had been. She smirked and then gave him a look as she teased, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."
The thought of going out into the cold led her to take a deep breath before she nodded her head. "May as well get it over with. And call me Estrella. Miss James was my mother."
"Nobody cooks as well as family." Bastian could agree that though his tribe often made meals over campfires for that rustic feel, they were still simply amazing. Even with his training, he couldn't quite copy the same taste and feel that came with those meals.
"I'll consider myself warned and ignoring said warnings." Smiling, he led the way to the door. "Estrella, then. Call me Bastian." He held open the door, allowing her to lead the way out. Damn, but it was cold! He moved quickly, sticking to the side of the building for shelter from the slight wind as he walked towards the front. "Stop me when you see something familiar."
"It's your funeral," Estrella teased, then followed him out of the door and into the cold. At least she was used to it, being from Detroit, though she wasn't lying before when she had observed that it was a good ten degrees colder here. "Feels like snow, Bastian," she remarked as they walked. She nodded her head as they kept the pace brisk and then she finally saw something she knew up ahead. "There! I know exactly where I am now." She laughed and glanced back over her shoulder. "How the hell did I...? Nevermind." She gestured her hand dismissively. "Thanks for the escort."
Bastian had shoved his hands into his pockets, burrowing his ears into his jacket and silently cursing himself for not grabbing a hat. Sure he'd been in Boston and the Northeast for several years, but he much preferred the heat that came with home. This? Cold enough to freeze his jewels off, and he was rather attached to the boys. "You're welcome. Feel free to look me up online. My contact info should be in the directory." He bounced from foot to foot as they walked, trying to warm up a bit. "Damn, it's cold."
Laughing a little, she glanced over at him and smirked, "Man up, boy." Her smile brightened. "I'm used to the cold. I hate it, but I'm used to it." She gave a small shrug of her shoulders and then added, "And I will. Look you up, that is." As they neared the front of the building, a thought crossed her mind and she had to ask, "Did you make the soup yesterday? I couldn't quite pick out all the spices that were in it but it had a great taste."
"Pft, I'm man enough," Bastian grumbled playfully."I've got a few years on you." Shaking his head, he caught up with her. "I grew up in Montana. Cold nights, but beautiful throughout the year." Of course their definition of beautiful varied more than likely.
Raising his head with a soft, "Hmm?" Bastian nodded. "Yeah, I did. It was a trial run of some new seasonsings I got from a friend of mine for Christmas. There's still some of it left." Of course, the leftovers were currently in his fridge, but he could be persuaded to share. Maybe.
Estrella glanced over at him, allowing her gaze to travel down his form and then back up before she replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders and a repressed grin, "Maybe." She smiled. "I've never been outside of Detroit until now. Boston's beautiful. I liked the harbour. And I can't wait until I can take a trip to the aquarium." She casually added, "Have you been yet?"
"Some new seasonings," Estrella repeated with a smirk. "I take it that means you aren't going to tell me what they were?" Taking that as a bit of a challenge, she added, "If I had those leftovers, I bet I could figure it out."
Maybe? Maybe! Oh that girl was such a tease and Bastian couldn't help but respond to it. Healthy male ego and all. "Hey hey! There's no maybe about that Miss Estrelle. I'd verify if I wasn't worried I'd lose my job." Welcoming the change of topic, he perked up. "I haven't been in a couple years. I've been meaning to go again." To explain, he added, "I used to work in Boston at a couple restaurants before I came here."
Grinning back, Bastian shook his head. "Nope. Not at all. Those leftovers aren't in the school's kitchen anymore. They're in mine. You've gotta be rather nice to me to get some." He laughed. "But I might be convinced."
"According to the school's rules, you'd only have to worry about your job if I were underage or you were one of my professors." She fixed him with a look as she added, "And I'm not and you aren't." She smirked slightly, teasing him further. "Sounds like a cop out on your part to me." She refrained from commented on the aquarium further at the moment.
"Nice?" Estrella arched a brow slightly and then laughed. "Well that ship has certainly sailed." She sighed dejectedly and then asked, "Are you sure I can't just bat my lashes and get my way?" She pursed her lips into a slight pout and added, "I can pout too, if that helps my cause any."
Bastian shrugged. "So I like my job and want to be careful. Can't blame me for that." He arched a brow in her direction. "Besides, you seem like an up-front sort of person, so I figured if you decided you were interested, you'd say so. Otherwise..." He trailed off, ending with another shrug. Seeing the pout, though, made him chuckle.
"Now that's a real cute look there, and I'd bet it's worked on quite a few people before. But I don't fall for a pretty face as easily as a boy." He grinned, totally teasing, but completely enjoying himself "Sounds like you'll have to do something else to convince me." They'd reached the front of the building, so Bastian reached out, grabbing the door handle and tugging it open for her. "Here you go."
"You may be onto something there," Estrella replied and left it at precisely that.
The chuckle made it slightly difficult for her to keep her pout on and his response made it impossible. She shrugged slightly and added, "Can't blame a girl for trying. It almost always works on my big bro." She exhaled a soft laugh. Of course when he opened the door for her, she decided to close it back, positioning herself between it and him. "I'm assuming you get days off now and then. When's your next one?"
Estrella was an interesting person. She didn't give him the typical reactions and she was fun to talk to. Though now he was curious whether or not she was interested. He'd be willing to wait and see.
"Yeah well, I'm not your brother, so you can't get to me that way," he teased, stopping short when she closed the door. At the question, Bastian rolled his eyes up, mentally going over his calendar to figure out when his next day off would be. "Saturday, I think. Why? Got something in mind?"
Estrella patiently waited for him to figure out his next day off and then smiled. "Sounds like the perfect day for a trip to the aquarium." She paused to let that statement hang in the air for a moment before she added, "You can meet me here at noon. You'll have to drive. I don't have a car here yet. But after, I'll take care of dinner." At that, she moved to open the door once more so she could slip inside. "Better bundle up though, Bastian. They're calling for snow."
Bastian laughed. "Sure thing. I'll take care of the tickets and meet you here at noon on Saturday." The aquarium opened at nine or something, but getting there after lunchtime would mean a decent crowd and shows, if he could get the tickets. Grinning, he crinkled up his nose, wanting to stick his tongue out, but knowing he should act his age. "Yeah yeah. I'll be fine. There's heat in the car and in the building." Giving a wave, he stepped back to head towards his apartment. The gym still beckoned.