Re: Difficult Company

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was trying so hard. She was trying to be nice and happy and exactly what she didn’t feel, because Astra was nice. Suddenly she was being yelled at now. Ren visible shrunk. Her shoulders rose up, her head shrunk down, her arms were tight against her sides. Her eyes glued themselves to the floor, and she could feel her heart pounding. Conflict, argument, loud voices, being snapped at. She wanted to just run away. Had it not been for the shock of it all, she would have run. She would then have felt awful, realized she couldn’t go back, and tried to maybe watch Astra from afar to keep her out of trouble, or slunk back to the guild to tell them how she failed. She already wondered how anyone could have put faith in her.

Astra had continued to talk. To snap, to falter, didn’t care, Ren was fun, the girl said, incorrectly, then she just stopped talking. Ren kept staring at the ground. She wasn’t sure why, but Astra was talking…. To herself? They could go to the park, something Ren no longer wanted to do. Astra also called Ren nice, but Ren disagreed, quietly, not saying a word. Ren felt the temporary hope that she could fix things wash away in a wave of anxiety, and it was cold again. She wanted her hoodie. “’Kay…” Ren said meekly, simply so that Astra would know she wasn’t just running away. Ren was meant to be followed, to find the park. Ren left the bakery and walked down the road, keeping so close to the walls of buildings that she scraped against them sometimes, though it was gentle. Her fingers were invisible in her sleeves, and she didn’t say a word, didn’t really even look at Astra until she saw some playground equipment on the sandy beach. She found a swings set and sat down on it awkwardly, “We’re here…” she said, still quietly.

[Astra Creed]

Astra kept looking at Ren even though she wouldn't look at Astra. Maybe she should just leave the poor girl alone and tell her they could both go back to the guild. Ren wouldn't get in trouble then. Astra wasn't sure this was a good day to be out doing things anyway. It had started off fun... but maybe she was too much of a handful. Maybe she really did need people looking after her so she didn't cause trouble with people accidentally while she relearned things.

Astra's gaze swept off to the side as Ren weakly said they were at the park. Astra didn't care. The first person she'd actively tried to flirt with beyond just telling them they were pretty or handsome and she had probably made the person never want to talk to her again. She'd realized she was a natural flirt when she was around Kaz... but this time she'd actually tried.

"...I'm so sorry," Astra told Ren, sitting down in a swing. "I keep screwing everything up and all I wanted to do was cheer you up because I didn't want you to think so badly of yourself..." She sighed, wishing she could have just skipped today. Learning wasn't always pleasant. She just wanted to hit a reset button and get to talk to Ren again properly or something. She wouldn't even call her pretty even though she thought she was. "We can go back to Lamia Scale... so you don't get in trouble or have to follow me..." She got up and stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets, not exactly starting the walk back. She felt like crying. It wasn't Ren's fault Astra kept doing things wrong. She just wanted to stop hurting the girl now, since she couldn't say anything right.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren wanted to fix things. She wanted to take back the whole day and maybe try again, maybe make an excuse. The fact that Astra was actively trying to flirt with Ren was sincerely terrifying. She didn’t know why anyone would want to do that. She’d been flirted with before, and she’d been taken home and kept like a possession for a long time. Still, even being a possession was tiresome after a while because Ren was just so…. Unlikeable. Even if she was likeable, she did not want to be flirted with…. Flirted at, it was really being flirted at by this point.

Astra apologized, sitting on a swing. Unfortunately she kept going. Why did she always keep going? Ren tried, she fixed it a little, then Astra started yelling. Why did she keep…. Going? Ren bit her lip. I know myself. You don’t know me. You don’t know what’s true and what’s opinion. You don’t know Anything about me, she thought, upset. Astra didn’t get to know Ren, but she was sure she knew better than Ren. Ren wasn’t going to say anything though, Astra was allowed to think what she wanted to think.

Astra offered to go home, so Ren wouldn’t get in trouble. Well, it was an offer Ren appreciated, but it was Astra’s day trip…. “I don’t know, we can do whatever you want,” Ren told her. She didn’t want to hurt Astra, and she didn’t want to be here. She was awful. Awful. She made Astra feel bad for being nice, and then, even when Ren was trying to push everything down, she still managed to hurt Astra’s feelings. I’m so broken… she thought, waiting to see what Astra would do.

[Astra Creed]

Astra thought for a long moment, not moving. She wanted to fix this. Even if Ren never spoke to her again she wanted to fix making her so uncomfortable. Being sad about it wouldn't help, and going home wouldn't either. It would only make Ren dislike her and avoid her. So what was the best course of action, she wondered, trying not to obviously look at Ren as she thought about the slightly taller, yet somehow skinnier girl.

“What do I want to do?” she asked herself in a near-whisper as she thought. At least as she went her ‘brain fog’ was less obtrusive so she could be more serious when she needed to be. She gave Ren a gentle grin. “Well, Ren,” she started as she turned to face her, sticking her hands in her pockets. “You know what would make me happy? Doing something that you would like to do. Even if that’s going back,” she told her as sudden inspiration hit her. No, she wasn’t sure that it would work, but she was sure that it would at least be the right thing to do. “Or… if you don’t want to go home or choose, just tell me a few things you like and I’ll help you.” She brushed her long bangs out of her face, only the slightest amount of the old Astra poking through, though not enough for the new one to notice. If she was even capable of noticing these things.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren didn’t really go out of her way to be with people. Even if sometimes she wanted to be with them, her fear of them overpowered them. She acted like the last thing she wanted was to be around people. Some people in the guild left her completely alone because they were sure she disliked people. Sure she was rude and weird. They’d give her a chance if she tried, she supposed, but until then, they left her be. That was probably best. Some people didn’t give her that luxury, they kept it up, kept interacting with her and trying to make friends. Mostly that was just Kade, and he was probably the person Ren avoided most in the guild. He was also the person she got along with best, pseudo-trusted most. It was a confusing situation for the girl. She avoided the people she liked, she avoided the people she didn’t like.

Ren posed the option to Astra, they could do what she wanted. Soon Astra was smiling, and it made Ren more uncomfortable. It would make Astra happy to do something Ren liked. Ren didn’t….. think about things she liked. She certainly didn’t do them with other people. She also felt anxious with Astra saying it would make her happy, it reminded Ren of the flirting. Ren shrugged finally, looking down, her face seeming sad and confused, “I don’t know.” She left it at that. She didn’t want to say more. If she said how she felt, or what she normally did, or why, Astra would react badly. It felt so unfair. When Ren shut down, Astra was upset, when Ren opened up, Astra attacked her. Still she didn’t want to hurt Astra, “I like helping people…. As long as I don’t need to be near them,” she admitted quietly, unsure how this would go.

[Astra Creed]

All this time Astra had thought she was just doing everything Ren hated. Well, that turned out to be true, but not for the reasons Astra had started to fear. She tilted her head, looking thoughtful for a moment. Then it clicked. Ren was afraid of people, not just Astra. And Astra was being way too friendly of a people. Her face lit up for a moment as she realized this. She couldn’t have done it without Ren’s help. She would have thanked her but that might be too friendly again.

“I see,” Astra said, obviously restraining herself from getting excited. She put her hands behind her back, trying to look less threatening. Maybe now she could fix it. She really hoped she could. She looked off to the side at some people nearby. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Ren,” she told her, sounding sincere. Her long bangs fell back into her face when she looked down at the ground and kicked a toe against it idly. “I’m just trying to be friendly and stuff.” She didn’t sound sad so much as she sounded subdued, like that energy she’d been displaying earlier was being purposefully reigned in.

“Well… you like helping people… how about we do something nice for Kade? He seems to appreciate things you do for him, right?” She reasoned if she came up with something, it might distract Ren and she would jump on that instead of just worrying about Astra. Maybe then they could be friends.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren felt so much like a child when she was sad. Worse than other times. Not worse than usual because sad was probably one of her more common emotions. Less so lately, but in the course of her life, fear and sadness took a front row seat, heckling the stage and making Ren trip up constantly. It surprised her when Astra seemed calm. She hadn’t been that sure Astra actually could be calm. Disappointed or excited seemed to be her go to states of being. It was cool and all, but still so confusing.

Astra said that she didn’t mean to scare Ren, “I know,” Ren mumbled. That also applied to Astra just trying to be friendly. Ren knew. Well, except the being scary thing, but… well that wasn’t a big deal, even if Ren couldn’t forget it. Ren’s eyes cautiously moved over toward Astra. Helping Kade? “Uhm… okay. Um, did he mention anything he needed? He sometimes asks me to do errands for him…” she offered carefully, still unsure if Astra was going to start running around a lot in a few seconds. That wouldn’t be good. She nearly suggested something about gardening tools. New ones, he might like those. She was sure he had some, since he was out gardening all the time. She didn’t want to suggest it though, it would probably mean purchasing things. Besides, despite her fear of crying soon seeming to fade, Ren still wasn’t exactly calmed down.

[Astra Creed]

Astra couldn’t help but grin when Ren agreed to her idea. Good. Maybe today wasn’t ruined after all! She had no idea what Ren was going to suggest, but she seemed to not want to suggest whatever she might be thinking. Astra didn’t know her nearly well enough to have any ideas, despite what she’d learned about the cute blond girl. “Well… he’s always talking to people or outside and things, isn’t he?” Astra hadn’t talked to Kade much, though she wouldn’t have minded doing so, really.

Kade was always talking to people, and Astra liked people, but she liked learning things more. She had a lot of incomplete knowledge to fill, after all, so she was usually around the guild hall discovering things and asking questions, to the point that a lot of her fellow guild mates avoided her. Between that and her overly competitive nature, there were a fair few guild members at Lamia Scale that often found things to do when she was around, despite her being a generally nice person.

“How abooooout….” Astra put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. It seemed to be becoming a habit. “Ah! We can either get him something nice he would enjoy… or we could try and make him something… like… food or something.” Not that Astra could cook. No, that was not knowledge she had retained in her brain. But how hard could it be, really? It wasn’t like she’d ever tried, but now seemed as good a time as any.

[Ren Caverly]

Kade was always outside talking to people, or it seemed that way to Ren. One of his favorite things was being in the sunlight, and one of Ren’s least favorite things was being in any sort of light. It made for some awkward encounters, but Kade always managed to find his way into Ren’s life. She wasn’t ever sure how she felt about that. Besides intimidated.

“Uh…. yes….” Ren said when Astra pointed out Kade’s affinity for being outside and talking. That didn’t really help anything. Maybe they could build him a bench. Ren was bad at building. Ren was bad at basically everything. Luckily Astra started suggesting things. Ren was able to mostly forget about the anxiety, since their focus was different.

Astra suggested cooking. Ren tilted her head from side to side. Her argument was that Kade liked to cook, so why would they cook for him if he enjoyed it? She didn’t voice this. Suddenly it seemed like a close encounter with Astra, which made her anxious, but that was okay. Ren would be good. She had to be. Astra was so sad otherwise. “Um, okay…. We can cook. Do, uh, we need to buy things?” she asked. She really, did not like buying things. Oh well, she would deal with it if that was what it came down to…

[Astra Creed]

“Ummm… I think I have some stuff I got someone to help me buy before I realized I didn’t know what I was doing…” Astra chuckled. “We’d just have to travel back to the guild hall to cook it.” Astra shrugged. She didn’t mind going back if it meant Ren agreeing to do stuff with her. “Don’t worry! There’s a cook book in the guild hall I found. I’ll borrow that so we can have a better idea of what to do,” she grinned slightly. She was going to try cooking her first meal… for someone else who actually knew how to cook. Oh well, Kade seemed like he would appreciate it, and Ren would be fun to cook with, she was sure.

“C’mon,” Astra told Ren as she started walking at a casual pace. She made sure it was easy for Ren to keep up. She liked walking fast, but she liked trying to make friends with Ren more. “What kind of thing do you think we should make?” She asked after a few moments. “I thiiink the lady said I could make cake, for one thing. Everybody likes cake, right?” Astra wasn’t sure what else she could make. She had a decent haul of groceries from last week. None of them had gone bad yet based on what the lady had said either.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was relieved to hear it sounded like they didn’t need to buy anything. However she was confused by Astra’s comment. Had Astra gone and grabbed food them someone else had to pay for it? That would be mortifying. Ren didn’t like any exchange of money. She didn’t want it near her, she didn’t want anyone else having to pay for her. Sure, it was better than her doing the exchange, but to suddenly need someone to pay for her, that would be so inconsiderate. She would feel like the worst bother, she’d probably just cry.

Apparently they was a cook book. Not surprising. Ren didn’t do any cooking, but she had cooked a small amount when she was younger. Then she’d cooked a large amount when she was with her… well…. Whatever he’d been to her. Her keeper maybe. She’d done all the cooking back then, but she wasn’t exactly going to explain any of this to Astra right now. “Sounds good,” Ren said quietly. It wasn’t really that hard for Ren to keep up with Astra. Astra walked quickly, but she was a few inches shorter than Ren, so Ren just walked along at a slightly brisker pace than usual.

“… What lady was this exactly?” Ren asked, confused about the whole exchange right now. “But, um, yeah, a cake… that would be fine. I’m sure he’ll like it,” Ren said, her words there to replace a nod. She wasn’t feeling super expressive right now.

[Astra Creed]

“You know Gail at the guild hall?” Astra asked, walking quickly now but at the same time casually. “The one that works the bar on Tuesdays?” Astra knew a fair few people at the guild hall by now, even the less active members who spent most of their time either at the guild hall or doing their own thing in town. “She offered to take me when I expressed an interest in being able to make something without depending on other people. It almost worked,” she chuckled good-naturedly. “Except I forgot to mention that I also don’t know how to cook. Anymore anyway.”

Astra was starting to have a good time again. Ren seemed distracted, and as long as Astra didn’t slip up again, maybe her time with the cute girl wouldn’t be such a disaster after all. The return to the guild hall took less time than their initial walk there – Astra was walking faster than she had on the way here when she’d been distracted, herself. As they walked through the doors, Astra hoped Ren wouldn’t remember that technically she didn’t have to babysit her anymore and run off. “I’ll go get the stuff. Meet me in the kitchen?” she asked hopefully.

[Ren Caverly]

Astra started talking about someone named Gail. Ren didn’t know anything about it. She’d lived at the guild for a while now, but she didn’t socialize, and she didn’t drink. There’s a bar? she thought. Actually, it was more surprising to her that Astra knew that. Just how out of the loop was Ren? She bit her lip a bit harder now. Ren just nodded slightly as Astra kept talking. She seemed to get on with people fairly well, unlike Ren, who was as avoidant as she was afraid, and neither of those things helped her make friends.

Ren was distracted, slightly, just because she always needed to be. If she wasn’t, she’d overthink things and get upset. It hadn’t been that way with one person, but otherwise she was the same. Timid and awkward and distracted. They made it back to the guild hall without any more incidents and Astra told Ren to go to the kitchen. She wanted to get her hoodie, she wanted to hide. She did make a quick run to get her hoodie. It was nice and dry now. She pulled it over her head, her hands even more invisible, and her body much more hidden. She felt safer and warmer. Good… she thought. Once she reached the kitchen she stood there, fidgeting as per usual.

[Astra Creed]

Astra returned to the kitchen with everything she’d needed to grab. She stopped only for a second, noticing Ren had changed. She was adorable in that hoodie, but she was determined not to say anything, and quickly stopped staring, hopefully before Ren had time to notice. It hadn’t been for long anyway. She held out something in her free hand – the other arm was holding way too many things she intended to set down soon. “Want one?” she asked. The item in her hand was a roll of candies she’d apparently found while she had been searching for her ingredients she’d been told were good for cake. In retrospect she should have probably gotten the cookbook first. Hopefully she remembered everything. Though obviously, memory was not her strongsuit.

Whether Ren accepted the candy or not, she started setting things down pretty quickly, spreading everything out on the nearby table. She needed to see what all she had, and found a cook book she could open and check. She scrutinized the food in far more detail than the average person ever seemed to, like she had to triple check that things were the things she thought they were. “Am I missing anything?” she asked Ren, getting her involved and having her help at the same time.

[Ren Caverly]

Astra returned. Ren felt more ill at ease, because being around people was hard for her. At least she had her hoodie. It was warm and cuddly, so it helped the situation. Astra randomly offered Ren candy. Well, Ren liked candy, but she didn’t know if she should be taking things from Astra. Wouldn’t that only make things more complicated? Ren didn’t want things to be more complicated, “N-No thanks, I’m fine,” she said awkwardly. Her parents probably would have said she should accept things when they were offered to her. Or they would have said she shouldn’t take everything from people. She was starting to get fuzzy on what she was supposed to do at various moments.

Astra spread everything out. It all felt quite chaotic. Ren bit her lip and watched Astra. She seemed like a frantic chipmunk checking everything over a few times, then finally asking Ren, who seemed startled at the renewal of attention, if she was missing anything. “U-uh, I d-don’t know…” she admitted. She’d been busy watching Astra run about and hadn’t looked at the ingredients, “Uh, what recipe are we making, for starters?” Until she knew that much she wouldn’t know if Astra actually had all the ingredients or not.

[Astra Creed]

Astra raised an eyebrow as she looked at the messy table with various ingredients on it. She put her hands on her hips, making a “hmm” noise as she shrugged when Ren asked what recipe they were making. “Recipe?...” Astra had just gotten everything she thought she remembered being told was for cake. There was more than one kind of cake? Duh! Of course there was, Astra remembered that. Stupid fuzzy brain….

“Oh! Right!” Astra stated, not too excitedly because of Ren, but still moreso than she had a moment ago. A hand smacked against her forehead as she realized she hadn’t even looked at a cook book. “Let me see…” she picked up the book full of baking recipes and shuffled around in it. Some of the recipes she stopped on weren’t even cake, nor could they be made with the ingredients she had picked out. Fortunately, after several minutes of her concentrating entirely too hard on a recipe book, she grinned happily. “Aha!” she pointed at a simple chocolate cake recipe.

Was it luck, or simply simple tastes that had caused her to choose something they definitely had ingredients for? Even Astra couldn’t say. She picked up the book and held it up for Ren to see, completely oblivious to whether or not Ren had seen what she was looking at over her shoulder. “This one! Let’s make this one.” Astra said with a slight chuckle. “Even I can’t mess this recipe up! “ she declared happily, setting the book down. “I hope.”

[Ren Caverly]

It should have concerned Ren more when Astra seemed to be asking what a recipe was. Ren’s eyes didn’t even widen, she just stood there. It was confusing when Astra didn’t know how to interact with people, but then again a lot of people didn’t know how to interact with Ren, and she avoided interacting with most of them. When Astra didn’t know things like a what a recipe was, that definitely threw off the small blond girl.

Suddenly Astra was back in the game and seemed to know what was happening. Ren winced when Astra smacked herself in the forehead. It meant nothing to most people, but even that tiny hint of violence was enough to make Ren cringe. She flinched at being greeted though, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone. Astra didn’t seem to notice. She was staring intensely at a cook book. Ren had memorized most of the recipes she’d ever made with any consistency, but she still couldn’t imagine not remembering cook books. It seemed sad. Then again…. Ren would probably be less sad if she didn’t remember certain things.

“Um, y-yeah, that looks fine,” Ren said, nodding her head slightly at Astra’s enthusiasm, “Well, we could, so we just have to be careful,” Ren warned. She shuffled around the kitchen to find a bowl and then set it down, “Alright, what does it say first?”

[Astra Creed]

Ren reminded Astra that they could, in fact, mess up a chocolate cake. Astra knew that, and she made a slight face at the ingredients when she said it. She just didn’t think it would be that hard to be careful with… eggs… and… she looked at the ingredients again. Well there was a lot more than eggs. But it was mostly a lot of mixing and waiting right? How hard could that be? “We’ll be fiiiine,” Astra told Ren confidently, grinning to herself. “Let’s see…” Astra pointed out the first ingredient on the list at Ren’s request. “It says… wow it gives a lot of instructions at once… stir sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together… and then…” Astra paused to read some more. “Then eggs and milk and oil and vanilla and mix it again."

She’d actually given the entire recipe other than preheating the oven. It was a pretty short recipe. Had she gone too fast? She would probably have to reread it aloud. Even she’d already forgotten what they were supposed to be mixing. “Sorry, I guess I read the whole thing. Do I need to reread anything?” she asked, turning to Ren and brushing her hair out of her face again.

[Ren Caverly]

Astra seemed to be having a conversation, or some sort of standoff, with the ingredients. It was cute in its own way, but the woman was simply too intimidating for Ren to want to spend much time with her. Intimidating… like Amie. Maybe more than Amie. Ren did not spend time with him. She could imagine him picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder and running around. It was terrifying and she fidgeted just imagining that.

Astra went on about the recipe and Ren just listened. Okay, simple. Really Ren could probably guess all the measurements, the oven temperature, and the cook time all on her own. She found a measuring cup and put it beside the bowl. Ren guessed an oven temperature, turned it to that, and asked Astra for the actual temp, before making sure it was correct. “No, you don’t need to re-read, I’ll be fine. You can, uh…” she faltered, realizing she was acting suddenly casual. Working mechanically through a recipe was old hat to Ren. Being social was not. She blushed, “Uh, I mean… You can measure things out if you want, I’ll just stir…. I guess….” Awkwardness was almost Ren’s first language. It wasn’t her first language, honestly, but it came more naturally, so it might as well have been.

[Astra Creed]

Ren assured Astra that she didn’t need to say what she’d said before, which was fine with the shorter girl. She didn’t have the patience to keep rereading things for very long. “Okay, I’ll just measure then,” she said, missing Ren’s confidence surge followed by becoming awkward again. She picked up measuring cups and the ingredients, appearing to concentrate hard on what she was doing. Despite this, however, she wasn’t exactly neat with how she poured things. She managed to make quite the mess that she would obviously try to clean up later. Before long, she had as much sugar and things on the table as she did in the cups.

“Here you go,” she told Ren, having gotten enough measuring cups to have everything measured out and just hand them to Ren, despite the inefficiency. Cleaning things would just give her something to do once they were waiting on the cake anyway, right? That was her logic, anyway. “I’m having fun,” she informed Ren casually as Ren stirred everything she’d measured out. She stuck her finger in a pile of the sugar on the table and then licked it. She then moved over quickly to the shelves and started making yet another mess as she tried to find the right size and shape of pan for what the picture showed. She eventually did find it, popping up and handing it to Ren triumphantly. She then paused, blinked a couple of times, and turned around to view the ‘damage’ she had caused. “Um…oops.” She stated, her own sleeve falling over her hand as she raised it to her mouth. “I’ll just… clean this up, okay?”

[Ren Caverly]

Astra was being agreeable, and not extremely intimidating, which Ren appreciated greatly. However she was making a mess. Ren tried not to, especially with her majority of cooking experience coming from a rather unhealthy relationship. She wasn’t supposed to make a mess, and she cringed slightly at it. It wasn’t a big deal. As soon as things were in the oven Ren was going to clean. If Astra beat her to it, that was fine. If Astra tried to help, also fine, but either way, Ren was going to make sure this got cleaned up soon. She could be messy in her own space, but she felt responsible for other people’s areas.

Ren nearly wanted to make a shadow funnel for Astra, which actually, suddenly sounded like a good idea, just not her doing it, “Um, if… you…. Er… so what’s your magic? I mean, could you, uh… make a funnel from it? It might help not getting things on the counter. I j-just mean, you wouldn’t run out of ingredients as quickly,” she said awkwardly, feeling bad for even suggesting anything.

Ren was given the measuring cups of ingredients and Ren poured them in, stirring them. Ren didn’t even react to Astra eating some of the sugar. She would have, but she didn’t want Astra to notice, so she held back. Unruly, that was a good word for Astra. “Uh, okay, I can help,” Ren offered, while pouring the ingredients into the pan once they were ready.

[Astra Creed]

Astra was busy commenting about her mess and how she didn’t realize just how messy she was when Ren suggested she could use her magic to make some sort of funnel. Abruptly, Astra paused for a short moment as another head-smacking moment occurred to her. She didn’t though, instead turning around and grinning. “That… is… brilliant!” she told Ren in a quiet yet excited voice. She held out her hands and formed a funnel-like shape out of her red aura, which she held onto so it wouldn’t shatter when it lost contact with her for too long. “I mean… it’s a little late now I guess… but you thought of it so much faster than I would have, Heh…” She sounded amused and happy. Hopefully she wasn’t scaring Ren, but she was relaxing a bit again and just having fun.

She went back to cleaning, and by now Ren was likely helping. She started using her magic to make the work go a little bit faster, making a dust bin like shape to scrape things into. In retrospect she should have probably picked up the pans first. But she didn’t, and as she stepped towards the trash she slipped on one of the pans and tumbled backwards, landing safely on her rear. She did manage to flail and catch the mess she’d thrown, at least. She looked stunned for a moment after it was over, then smiled again. “Well that was exciting.”

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was nervous enough suggesting anything to Astra, and she was met with a wave of enthusiasm. Ren’s eyes widened, but in a moment they closed some and she blinked, not saying a word. Apparently… no, supposedly, Ren was brilliant. Ren was pretty positive she was not brilliant. Maybe if she’d stayed in school and been told she was doing well. Instead she had to leave because she didn’t matter. Because she was a bad person. She never felt brilliant. She looked down awkwardly, but her eyes flicked up just a little to see the magic. “Well, for next time,” she said quietly. She wasn’t sure there would be a next time, at least not together, but it was a new idea of Astra to use. Ren used her magic, when she was alone, for a lot of little things like this.

Ren finished with the cake batter and put it in the oven. She made note of the time and got a wash cloth to start cleaning. She didn’t get too close to Astra. Astra was actually using her magic to make mundane cleaning supplies, so that was definitely good. Ren smiled a little, seeing that something she’d said would help. When Astra feel though, Ren gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “A-are you alright?” she asked, not sure how it was exciting. Ren fell a lot, but she’d been surprised by the fall, and startled by the noise of the pans, so she reacted more to this than her own spills.

[Astra Creed]

Astra chuckled again, obviously not hurt as she got up. “I’m great,” Astra told Ren happily, thankful nothing bad had happened. She fidgeted a bit, smoothing out her shirt and pants. The shirt might have been a little short, but she was far more covered than some of her outfits made her. At least she was wearing proper jeans, mostly because it had been chilly outside. Once again as she looked at her clothing to make sure she didn’t get anything on them, she failed to appreciate the irony of wearing black when her personality was so sunny.

“Um, where were we?” she asked, before reminding herself and picking up what she had to throw away. She also put up the pans so no one would trip on them again. She was quieter, mostly humming happily to herself, though she occasionally glanced at Ren to see if she needed help. Work had a way of distracting Astra, it seemed. At least once she finally got into it properly, instead of spazzing at it like she had the ingredients. Finally, enough time passed while they were cleaning Astras’s mess that the cake was about done, and Astra spoke up again. “Thank you for helping me clean. You didn’t have to, you know,” she told Ren. “It was kind of all my mess…”

[Ren Caverly]

Ren still felt anxious, even as Astra got up and insisted she was great. She was just so… happy, and fidgety, and strange. Ren just nodded, “W-well that’s good…” she told Astra awkwardly. The intense girl was nice, but so strange. Astra asked where they were, as far as cooking, and Ren explained, “It is in the oven. We just have to wait for it to bake, and clean up.”

Ren helped Astra clean, but was told that she hadn’t needed to. Ren wasn’t really sure how she should respond. She knew it wasn’t her mess, but she couldn’t just make someone else do all that work. She also didn’t want to say much. Bad things happened the more she talked it seemed. “Uh, I know… b-but we were working together… and why would I just… stand there doing nothing while you cleaned?” She fidgeted a bit as everything was all done now. “I’m used to it, anyway.” she was used to cleaning up for herself and for other people. Ren was actually a fair deal self-sufficient with all the things she got from others. They gave her things, she… appreciated said things. She wasn’t wasteful, and she really wasn’t lazy. “So… erm…. Do… you know Kade very well?” she asked, trying to say something while the cake baked, since it was for him.

[Astra Creed]

Ren insisted she shouldn’t just stand there while Astra cleaned up her mess… which she supposed was probably right. “I guess,” she said, giving her ‘friend’ a grin. “Thanks a lot though. It was really nice of you,” she admitted to Ren sincerely and calmly as she glanced at the time. She hadn’t looked originally so it didn’t really help. Then she asked if Astra knew Kade very well. Astra could only shake her head at that question.

“Not any better than most of the guild members around here. I mean… I don’t know most of them that well. They all seem to know me though. At least when I ask to be a part of their random games. Everyone always says they’re full and look at me like I’ll rip their head off…” The reputation was probably well-deserved… the last two games she’d gotten into she’d gotten pretty intense. She was a sweet girl up until the point where she was legitimately competing with someone. Then she practically changed into a monster. Fortunately for Ren… competing probably wasn’t something the two would ever do even if she let Astra hang out with her again. Astra didn’t mean to get that way anyway, it just happened and she barely noticed until people complained and stopped letting her into competitions.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren blushed when Astra said that it was really nice of Ren to help. She didn’t take compliments well at all. It had been proven many times already, Ren took insults just fine, but compliments she took horribly. Hadn’t Astra learned this well enough earlier in their day together? Being told she was nice was easier to swallow than being told she was pretty, but still she blushed and looked away awkwardly. “Uh, th-thanks…” She was willing herself to remain calm and normal and just talk to Astra. Willing herself not to make Astra feel bad. Ren had very little willpower.

When Ren asked about Kade Astra gave a concerning answer. Ren didn’t know anything about Astra’s competitiveness or turning into a pseudo-monster. All she knew was that people shouldn’t have to be left out. She frowned, “Oh… b-but… I bet if you asked Kade, he’d play with you. He likes to make sure everyone feels involved. He, uh, talks to me a lot… ‘Cause I don’t talk to people…” she said quietly, staring at her shoes again. Did that make him sound nice? She didn’t talk to people on purpose. She liked the thought behind his attempt, but it definitely made her feel uncomfortable and unsure of herself. She also hid from him. She didn’t mention that part.

[Astra Creed]

"Hmm, I might have to try that sometime..." Astra commented aloud when Ren told her he would make sure everyone was involved. Maybe they would be friends. Her current target for friendliness wasn’t working out so well… but at least at this rate they might actually talk again, right? Ren was nice… even if she did remind Astra of a tiny baby deer who had never been around people before. Astra thought for a moment of how accurate that thought actually seemed before snapping out of it. “Well if it helps if you ever want to talk to me again you don’t have to say anymore back than you want to,” Astra decided as she leaned against the counter. The cake smelled delicious.

“You’re nice even without saying stuff, cause your’e helpful and things. I might ramble a bit because I’m prone to doing that, especially when there’s quiet, like right now for example,” Astra caught herself in time to not ramble for every long, at least.  She blew on her bangs, the red in her hair moving upward before going right back to where it had been. She glared at it for a moment before deciding to ignore it rather than brushing it aside.

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