Topic: Falling Away

Carley

Date: 2010-01-29 22:21 EST
Having escaped the Luinista unseen, the little elf now roamed the streets of the Dragon's Gate district. Carley was dressed somewhat appropriately for the occasion of cold weather - in her cap, her scarf, her coat - all variations of blue. The seemingly ever present shorts and stockings did little to keep the cold away, as was always the case, but it did little to deter her from wearing the things. In one hand she carried a disembodied chair leg - rough, wooden and worn. In her other hand was a flier, notes of her own scribbled on the back. She squinted as she peered from flier to street to flier to building. "Rue.. des.. Farfadets. Well la dee dah, Mister Woodwright. Ain't you fancy now?" Rolling eyes at her own words, she ceased her walk down the street. The location she had ended up was anything but fancy. In fact? It looked like a dump... What was that anyways? A small house attached to a bigger house? No, wasn't big enough to be a house. A shed? A storage building? She crinkled her nose at it. "Tch, that can't be right. Doesn't look like a Farfadet at all!" It was time to double check the flier.

As rickety as Glenn's shop was (and as short as it was even in comparison to the other houses nearby), it was at least insulated enough so that it was impossible to hear anything going on inside. Dim light filtered out through a large glass window to the right of two industrial doors, one set a little deeper in the frame than the other. Posted on the window was the name of his store, with the hours attached by suction cup to the other side. An "open" sign was attached haphazardly to the door on the left. The neighborhood, for all its shabbiness, was relatively quiet, with only the occasional murmur of conversation in Common and French filtering out onto the sidewalks.

No. It wasn't a mistake. This was the address! "Hm." Looking back up, Carley started to approach the building. The signs made it clear it couldn't be denied. "This is like a step down..." She thought Glenn's barn a much better place, although location-wise, being in the city was likely a better choice. With a shrug she kept walking, taking particular note of the 'open' sign. It was because of that sign that she didn't bother to knock on the door before entering. No no, she simply opened it and stepped inside without hesitation.

The interior was equally as unimpressive as the exterior, although for different reasons. It was cramped, with finished chairs and tables practically stacked on top of each other, with little room to navigate through to the back. The counter at the back and to the right side was tiny, with an ancient looking cash register that looked like it might not have been used for several decades. From the left, there was a set of double doors that was shut, but from behind which could be plainly heard the sound of nails being hammered into wood.

Carley let her gaze roam to take in her less than impressive surroundings. "Least the furniture's still lookin' good..." Murmuring to herself, she started shifting and sliding through the labyrinth of said furniture, navigating her way towards the back. It was one of those times being small was a good thing, as she was able to move near effortlessly. Finally reaching the counter, she made a rather annoyed face as she took note of the cash register that wasn't being tended to. "Tch, not smart." Shaking her head in disapproval, bright blues shifted towards the door. Opening her mouth, she prepared to call out to catch the attention of the one inside, but nothing sounded from her. Not just yet.

It was doubtful he'd heard the front door opening, considering how loud the hammering was even behind the doors. After a few moments, it ceased. The double doors swung open, with Glenn wiping his brow with a white cloth liberally stained with varnish and paint. Seeing somebody near the cash register, he put on an apologetic smile. opening the door to toss the cloth back into his workspace. "Sorry about that. How can I-" He froze, when he finally realized who exactly it was standing in his shop. "...Carley?" Nervous hands reached for the single jade arrowhead hanging around his neck, and clutched it tightly.

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2010-01-31 16:07 EST
Well... it seemed she wouldn't have to call for him after all. She stared up at Glenn for a moment before finally speaking. "Saw you were back in business." She set down both flier and chair leg on the counter. "I need that sanded. It's got jagged edges on it and it's a risk for splinters. If Grayson or Bothe got one of those slivers in 'em I'd have to listen to them cryin' like girls all day. S'not productive for business, ya know?" It was definitely a B.S. excuse of a job for him, just to get her there, and not a good one at that.

He walked over to the counter, picking up and turning the chair leg in his hands. Light green eyes that seemed a shade darker than they were when he'd previously been in the city examined the object carefully. He set it back on the counter gingerly, before rubbing the back of his head. "Where's the rest of the chair?"

"On the Luinista." She gestured towards the chair leg. "I didn't need to bring the whole thing for sandin' - just that." Her head was tilted up ever so slightly, giving the little elf an almost indignant and haughty look. "And I brought one of those.. flier things, for my ten percent discount off yer services." Tapping said flier on the counter, she slid it a little closer towards Glenn.

"Don't worry about it. It won't take me too long to sand down a leg. How much time do you have?" He picked it back up again, ignoring the flier, and headed towards the double doors.

By all means, Carley didn't have much time at all. She ought to have not left the Luinista in the first place. She should have already started heading back... "All the time in the world." She shrugged and stepped to the side, rounding the counter. It was clear she intended to follow him through the doors. "You know... it's not real smart to leave yer cash register by itself. Especially if you can't hear anything goin' on in here. It'd be pretty easy for someone to walk away with all your earnings."

"It's empty. I don't even know how to unlock it. It just...came with this place." Glenn waved a hand in a spiral in the air, as he pushed the door open. He paused as the door opened, seemingly holding it for Carley, although he wasn't fully out of the way.

"Oh..." Carley snickered somewhat at that. "So it's just around to add to the Farflefairy ambiance, eh?" She paused when he did, brows raising. It wasn't as if she required much room to get through anyhow, so she kept moving, attempting to squeeze through the small space available to get to the back.

He stood stock still in the doorway for a few more seconds, until he unfroze, almost like a wind-up toy that had been fully wound up again. He shot a quizzical look Carley's way. "Did you say something?"

She turned and glanced up at Glenn, her own look mirroring his in quizzical nature. "Uh.. yeah. Farfle... ambiance..." She gestured vaguely, her words lacking their former enthusiasm.

"Yeah. It's not much, but it's cheap and I got it fast. Gotta get started fast, when you've been gone so long." He placed the rough chair leg in one of the several table vises that were attached to his work bench, and clamped it in. With all the tools lining the wall, the bench, the desk he'd been working on before, and a smaller desk with mounds of paper and pencils strewn about it, there was little space for two people to stand.

Carley simply lingered near the double doors. "Yeah, that makes sense." Her gaze wandered idly as she spoke. "Gotta admit I was surprised to see those flyers. I didn't think you'd be comin' back here since it sounded like you were havin' the time of yer life at that Si-jel place."

"I was." He left it at that, before grabbing a wood block and a piece of low-grit sandpaper. With the sandpaper wrapped around the block, he started sanding away at the leg with smooth, even strokes.

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2010-02-01 19:42 EST
Not content to leave it at that, she pressed on. "Was? So somethin' happened I take it?" She tilted her head curiously as she watched Glenn. "Hope it wasn't somethin' like you flunking out."

"Me getting dumped through time and space." His voice lifted in volume, to be heard over the sounds of his work.

"Yeah? That totally disrupt your life? I don't see why you couldn't have just taken it back if it meant that much to you." She folded her arms and leaned back against one of the doors. "Stuff doesn't just get handed to you on silver platters - ya gotta work for it."

He stopped sanding, turning his head to study her. After one single, solitary slow nod of his head yes, he turned back to his chair leg. "Everyone there pitied me. I can't keep track of time anymore. I was always really late or really early to things. I wear two watches-" He stopped again, to hold up his wrists and show them off. One with a black leather band and Roman numerals, the other with a brown band and Arabic numerals. "I'm here taking correspondence courses and doing some really easy research, but I don't know if I'll ever go back." He turned to the wall, removing the first piece of sandpaper and taking one with a slight finer grain.

Carley's eyes widened in surprise. Couldn't keep track of time anymore? She couldn't even imagine what that was like... After a moment, she spoke again. "Tch, like you were ever able to keep track of time in the first place... As much as you worked? Please." With a shake of her head she straightened her stance a bit. "So yer givin' up something you love- the place you love- because people pity you for the unfashionable faux pas of two wrist watches?" Then? She scoffed.

"I..." He started, stopped, and shook his head, sending messy locks of light brown into his eyes. After quickly brushing them back, he resumed sanding. Apparently, her response had left him speechless.

She glanced away, corners of her lips tipping down just a tad. Maybe that was a little too harsh? And after not seeing him for so long... She ran possible scenarios of things to say through her head. She pondered how to apologize for her outburst. She never did say anything, however.

He switched to yet another grain of sandpaper, this one so fine that the grits were barely visible to the naked eye. While he was sanding, he suddenly paused for a few seconds, perfectly still, then resumed, as if nothing had happened. "Why'd you come?"

Carley considered telling him it was just to get the chair leg sanded, but she at least held Glenn's intelligence at high enough regard that she figured he knew that wasn't it. "I dunno... I saw the fliers and I guess... it just didn't feel right to ignore that you were back."

He wasn't entirely sure what to say to that, and in lieu of a response, he redoubled his efforts on the chair leg, finally finishing the sanding. He unclamped the vise and removed the leg, flipping it into the air with a toss before catching it. "Want me to varnish it or stain it or whatever?"

Lifting her brows Carley chuckled, almost humorlessly. "Don't really see a point to that seein' as it didn't really need sanding in the first place." She glanced at the now smooth chair leg in Glenn's hand. "It'd look kinda funny too, an old rickety chair with one nice, shiny leg." It was an amusing thought, however. She could easily imagine the crew perplexing over it.

His own brows lifted as well, but he said nothing as he handed the leg back over to her. "You could've just come, you know. Without that."

Imrathion Tathar

Date: 2010-02-01 20:10 EST
Taking the leg back, she glanced up at Glenn. "Could I have really?" There was a tinge of skepticism to her voice. "Last time you were in town, ya didn't?exactly seem too thrilled about me bein' around."

At that, he just shrugged his shoulders, before heading over to the other side of the room to open up a drawer on one of the tall work tables. He retrieved another lacquer-stained cloth with a few small holes in it, and wiped his forehead again. "I guess I'm a little different than I was then and then I was before. And I'll be different again in the future."

Bright blues narrowed a touch as they followed Glenn. The nonchalant attitude felt insulting, to say the least. Gripping the wooden leg somewhat tightly, she jabbed it in Glenn's direction, pointing. "Well no shit! People change. That's a pretty basic facet of life right there." Albeit some changed much slower than others, but that was neither here nor there. "And don't shrug at me like that..." Trailing off, the little elf thought to leave it at that. But all this time had passed. Things still nagged at her! Now didn't seem the time to hold her tongue. "I just don't understand... we were real close." Shaking her head. "I ain't even speakin' in the romantic sense - we were friends!"

"I don't really know what happened, you know?" Finished with the rag, Glenn tossed it over his shoulder back onto the table. "I wish I knew." His lips twisted momentarily into something like a grimace: a sure tell, if she was paying attention, that he wasn't telling all the truth. Or any of it.

Carley had been watching the woodworker carefully, for sure. "I don't believe that..." She even pouted momentarily, cheeks puffing up. "Something had to have happened. People don't just cut someone close to them out of their life entirely and disappear from it.... and that wasn't fair!" She had never been able to make sense of it, and perhaps it bothered her more than she cared to admit.

"Do you really want to know? Really? You're not gonna like it." His even, flat tone was a little louder and a little higher-pitched with the increase in emotion. He attempted to hide his rising feelings by pretending to be casual, leaning back against his work bench and folding his arms across his chest, but his posture was obviously too stiff for the gesture to work.

She tilted her chin upwards somewhat, almost defiantly. "I'm here aren't I? All this time later... I don't think I'm askin' too much of ya to just... give me an explanation. So I can understand why ya just... threw me out of yer life."

"Dammit..." He shook his head more vigorously, sending his hair flying around his head. When he stopped, most of it was hanging over his left eye. He brushed it aside as he turned to look at her. "I don't really want to talk about this."

Eyes narrowed, Carley pressed her lips into a thin line as she went marching over towards Glenn, leaving little space between them. Her insistent gaze lifted to meet his. "I don't care." She had grown tired with being so acquiescent.

"Fine." Personal space invaded, he leaned back a little, but otherwise didn't back down from her gaze. "It's always the same, since Haleigh. I meet someone, things are going really good, things go on for a while, and then I realize that I don't love them. I didn't love you. I didn't love Y?ra. It's stupid and dumb and...just stupid. I didn't want to lead you along or whatever, so...I took advantage of the opportunity and the scholarship and left. And I just did the same thing in Sygil. And-nevermind..." Suddenly feeling much more tired than before, he started rubbing at his eyes.

Though she was over Glenn and certainly had been for some time, hearing that? It stung. To hear that made her past with Glenn seem a lie. Seem tainted. Carley's gaze lowered slightly, away from Glenn's face. Certainly there were more questions she could ask. More answers she could get. But he was right - she didn't want to know. Swallowing to relieve her suddenly dry throat, she lifted the chair leg in her hand, as if to indicate it. "Diola lle."* It was spoken calmly as she dipped into her pocket with her free hand in an equally calm gesture. Pulling a couple silvers out, she set them on the nearest surface of furniture before she turned, determined to leave as quick as she could.

Before he could move to give her the coins back, she was gone. He stood in the suddenly empty and quiet workroom of his store, staring at the money she had paid. Slowly, he stood straight up and walked over to pick them up. He opened a drawer in his desk and placed the coins in a overstuffed coin purse sitting there, before shutting it with a slam that was much louder than he anticipated.

*Thank you
((Edited and adapted from live RP))