Lorna Dane loves rocks and math (compassrose) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-18 14:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lorna dane (polaris), rapunzel |
Who: Lorna Summers and Rapunzel
Where: en route to a petting zoo, mostly
What: petting animals, adorbs
When: recently
Warnings/Rating: intense adorbs
Status complete
After having years worth of crappy dreams, Lorna was eager to get out and do something life affirming. So she decided the best idea was to invite Rapunzel out to go to a petting zoo. They were both a little old for it, but she didn’t think the girl would mind and she sure didn’t. Part of her wanted to get a herd of angora goats, take her crazy family, and escape for Orange County while they still had their sanity.
She pulled up to Rapunzel’s house in Alex’s truck, which was both nice and had a working heater, unlike her scooter. She got out and bounced up to the door, her brilliant purple scarf flapping behind her.
It was sort of a strange invitation, yes, but the luck in inviting Rapunzel out to things most people experienced as a child? Well, she’d been locked in her house for the last fifteen years. She had never been to a petting zoo before, and she loved animals, so she was far past the acceptable level of excited for the endeavor. It was hard to believe the girl was seventeen occasionally, the way she bounced off the walls when she was happy.
Rapunzel had been waiting near the door, knitting (a good skill for a girl that didn’t leave often) and spotted Lorna before she even made it to the door. She jumped up and opened the door before she could even knock. “You’re here! Good. I’m ready to go, if you are.” She was more than ready, she’d put on a cardigan and had her bag hanging off her elbow as she worked. Oops.
Lorna grinned at her, and brightened when she saw Rapunzel was knitting. “Oh man, you can knit? I can’t get the hang of it.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a snowflake she was crocheting. “I think we’re going to have fun today.” She stepped back so Rapunzel could get out of the house, grinning widely.
“It took a lot of practice, but once you get the hang of it, easy.” Rapunzel assured her. Then again, the blonde girl had way too much free time on her hands. She’d learned to knit because it burned time quickly. “Crochet is fun, too. I like to make little animals.” That was harder with knitting! Still, she left her knitting behind and joined Lorna outside. “We will! Definitely. I always have fun.” Sometimes it was about the state of mind!
“Good, because I always have fun too.” Lorna said with a grin. She playfully offered her arm to Rapunzel, tucking the snowflake back into her bag. “How’s everything going? Are you excited for Christmas?”
Rapunzel took her arm happily, as she always enjoyed to be close to people. “Definitely! I love Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday, mostly because of how much stuff there is to do.” She could bake, make presents, decorate… so many possibilities! “What about you, are you ready for it yet? Even when I start in January I never seem to be ready in time.”
Lorna laughed. “No. I do crochet projects on the side for a little extra money, and I’ve been so caught up in them I haven’t done any kind of baking or stuff like that. I’m such a slacker.” She shook her head. “It’s not even stuff that travels easily.” She opened the passenger side door for Rapunzel and helped her get into the truck. It was pretty high off the ground. Alex was really tall, and he’d bought it when he was single.
It was quite the monstrous truck, wasn’t it? It didn’t help that Rapunzel was a slight little thing, five foot nothing and never getting any taller. “Thanks!” she said with a bright smile when she made it into the cab. “I’ve never ridden in a truck before!” Only Rapunzel could be excited just about riding in a truck. Once Lorna had joined her, Rapunzel asked, “You have a business selling crochet work? That’s so interesting! If you ever need help, I know how to crochet, too.” Rapunzel had a lot of hobbies. “It’s not slacking though, so don’t worry. You’ll get to it in time.”
Lorna smiled warmly at her. “Thank you. I hope so.” She started the car and headed off toward the petting zoo. “I don’t want to spend Christmas Eve frantically crocheting. I’m half afraid that’s how it’ll end up.” Now that she was thinking of opening another business it was even more imperative that she save up money. She was going to take all the odd jobs she could once the holiday was over.
“There are worse ways to spend time,” Rapunzel said thoughtfully. She liked yarnwork, but she probably wouldn’t want to crochet all the time. “Just be careful you don’t hurt your hands! I always get cramps when I spend too long knitting.” Though Rapunzel always buried herself in projects, not stopping until she finished something, which meant she could be at work for a pretty long time.
“I have a secret.” Lorna said with a wink. Magnetic powers made crochetting easier, she just had to keep good tension. “I wonder what animals they’ll have out at the zoo?” She wondered aloud. She’d never been to this zoo before.
Rapunzel had never been to any zoo, ever, but blurting this sort of thing out usually made people uncomfortable. “I don’t know, but I can’t wait. I’m glad you invited me, so thank you.” A zoo in and of itself was exciting, but being able to pet the animals? She could nearly melt into the floor of the truck. “I love animals, I’ve always wanted a pet, but my mother doesn’t like them.” That was a very nice way of saying her mother was afraid of the germs that came along with them.
Lorna smiled at the younger girl. “I like animals too. We have two dogs and a teenager at my place.” She chuckled at her joke. Darius was a good kid, but he had his teenage moments, like anyone else his age. “I didn’t have many pets as a kid, either. I think I’m trying to make up for it now.” Maybe if she had enough animals she’d forget that she couldn’t have children. It was worth a shot.
Rapunzel was a teenager, but she giggled anyway. She was the kind of girl that would laugh at pretty much any joke, but she was so genuine nobody could be offended. "We can be more work than three pets in one," she said sympathetically. Her mother often complained that she was as dirty as an animal. "What sort of animals are usually at petting zoos?" Maybe giving her inexperience with them away but she was curious.
Lorna laughed. "I'm as bad as he is, usually." She admitted. Worse, sometimes. "The last one I went to has sheep, goats, and chickens you could feed. I don't know what this one will have." She was excited to find out.
So was Rapunzel, though she didn’t want to admit exactly how much. She’d told Lorna about her mother’s agoraphobia, but not that Rapunzel herself had been stuck inside for most of her life. Now that she was out, she tried to focus on the positive. “And you can really pet them? They don’t get scared? I would think it’d be overwhelming to have so many people want to come and touch them.”
“They don’t get a lot of people, and sheep at least are pretty tame. They feel so nice, too.” Lorna said with a giggle. “The goats can get feisty sometimes, but you’re taller than them so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. They’re used to the attention, I’m sure they’d miss it if they didn’t get it.”
Rapunzel had worked with wool yarn, but it went without saying that it wasn’t the same as a actual sheep. She gave a happy little sigh, far too excited by the prospect. “I can’t wait, are we almost there?” Seventeen was too old for are we there yet but she couldn’t help it! She wanted to pet a sheep, and feisty goats, and anything else that would sit still long enough for adoration.
“We are.” Lorna promised her, before turning her full attention to the road. This time of year the streets were insane, and it took all her skill (and a little use of her powers), to get them to the zoo safely. She paid for them both and parked as close as she could. The zoo was decorated with Christmas lights, which made her smile. She’d have to come here with Alex and Darius later in the week. “Here we are.” She said to Rapunzel with a bright smile.
Rapunzel was happy to match the grin with one of her own, though she did take the time to admire the Christmas lights. It was quaint, nothing too fancy, but it was charming. She was the definition of bright eyed and bushy tailed. "What do we do first?" she asked, with not a clue as to how all this worked. Sometimes her inexperience was more obvious than others. Seventeen years old and she didn't know what to do at a petting zoo.
“Well, we’ll look around at the animals, buy some of the special food for them, and then make friends.” Lorna said. If Rapunzel struck her as strange she hid it well enough. Like the kids at the Ranch she’d want to be accepted more than she wanted to be understood. Lorna was fine with that, she could accept Rapunzel easily. She slid out of the truck and went around to make sure Rapunzel made it out okay. Someday she’d figure out how to lower the thing a bit, but not today.
Rapunzel at least kept her manners up. She offered Lorna a smile and a word of thanks for the hand. The truck was giant! The smell of the zoo wasn't particularly pleasant but by the time the tiny blonde spotted a lamb she completely forgot about it. Giving a pleased exclaimation, she begged, "Can we start with the lambs? Please please please? Oh, do you think they have ducks here?" Rapunzel liked ducklings. Always had!
Lorna giggled at her enthusiasm. She also had connections at the zoo, due to volunteering there the previous spring. “I’ll ask at the hatchery, maybe they’d let us feed them? It looks pretty slow, and I know a guy.” She led Rapunzel over to the lambs first, buying a handful of food for them both. “See if he’s hungry.” She said with a smile.
That wasn’t a squeal, was it? Okay, maybe it was, but she really liked ducks! “I would love that,” the blonde said honestly, a bright grin on her face. Why had she not thought to try this before? She’d gone to a zoo right after she was allowed out of the house, but never a petting zoo. She should have done this sooner! Rapunzel accepted the feed before dropping low to offer it to a sheep. Apparently he was hungry, as he trundled over to munch the feed out of her palm. “That feels funny,” Rapunzel gasped with a slight laugh, but she used her free hand to pet the sheep anyway.
Lorna grinned brightly, so happy that Rapunzel was pleased. “I think he likes you.” Lorna said with a laugh. “We’ll check for ducks afterward.” She watched Rapunzel enjoy herself. This was the thing she liked best about taking care of kids. They could feel joy in a way that an adult just couldn’t.
“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Rapunzel said, the epitome of manners even with sheep. The sheep was clearly very impressed, or very hungry, it was hard to tell for sure. “Wouldn’t it be great to run something like this? You could pet the animals every day!” Rapunzel loved animals, and it was a safe bet she wasn’t considering a bunch of dirty work that came along with it. Oh well. Once the feet was gone and the sheep was thoroughly appreciated, the blonde bonded back. “I’d love to see the ducks,” she said sincerely, waiting for Lorna to lead the way.
Lorna giggled and leaned on the fence while the sheep ate. “They’re pretty nice, but I can tell you that horses poop everywhere.” She laughed at Rapunzel’s enthusiasm about the ducks and offered the teenger her hand. “Let’s go check, then.” She whipped out her cell phone and texted Carlos to see if he was on shift.
Rapunzel grinned, moving to join her. “Oh, I love horses! When I was a kid, I used to draw them all over the place. My mother complained that I could go through a forest all on my own, I used so much paper.” Her mother had convinced her to burn her old sketchbooks and it had been hard to see them go, but her mother was right.They took up too much room. “I wouldn’t care how much they pooped. They’re just bigger than humans, is all. So you know a guy that works here?” Presumably he was a friend, that was as much as Rapunzel could guess.
Lorna chuckled. “Well, I could take you to see those, too. I work for a ranch, and there’s horses there.” She knew Deni had already gone riding with someone else, and Lorna was technically doing it to help a kid out, so she thought it would be fine.
She texted back and forth with Carlos, and led Rapunzel to the back door of the hatchery. It opened from the inside and a man stuck his head out, smiling at them both. “So you want to see some ducks, I hear.”
“Could you really? I’ve never seen one in person before, that would be amazing!” Rapunzel had always wanted to ride a horse, it was on her bucket list. Something she had to try before she died. Yes, maybe she was a little young for a bucket list but living trapped in one place made her dream surprisingly big. “You’re so nice to me, Lorna, thank you.” Rapunzel was a hugger, she couldn't help it; and Lorna seemed to deserve one. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind.
Rapunzel met the stranger with a bright smile. “I would adore to feed some ducks,” she agreed, jumping over to join him. She really had limitless enthusiasm.