Second Floor Common Room [Tuesday Afternoon]

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

The facts were these: Young Ned had found his way into the common room again after getting bored of his room. He'd come with the intention of baking and, yes, there was something cooking in the oven (but he wasn't going to just reveal his pie choice today).

There was something different about today. Today, Ned had the hiccups. Now, as a boy at Longburrow, he'd been made to just wait them out.

Now, without that supervision, he could try to get rid of them. So, he'd looked up some hiccup cures and was currently attempting to stand on his hand and recite the alphabet in the middle of the common room.

It wasn't working.

Yet.

[Open, of course!]

Comments

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"What're you making?" she asked, slightly worried that the teasing wasn't welcome today.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Another pie," he said, checking his watch to see how long said pie had been in the oven. "I was bored."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"What kind?" she asked, resting her chin on her knees.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Sweet potato," he said, tapping on the glass to the oven door just to give himself something to do with hands that didn't want to stay still.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"...you made a pie of of potatoes?" she asked, confused.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It's a different kind of potato," he explained. "It's sweet. It's not like mashed potatoes or baked potatoes."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"I don't think I ever had one," she said, eyes wide.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Everything makes me nervous," he said, keeping his eyes on the oven. "I don't do it for attention or anything like that. It's just...how I am. Band aids can make me nervous. I get nervous around people."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"I didn't think you did it for attention," she said quickly, shaking her head vehemently. "I just didn't want to be the one makin' you nervous."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"You make me nervous for different reasons," he said, picking at his sweater. "Sometimes it's embarrassing, though. I don't touch people. Often. I don't make connections. I don't know how. Worrying goes hand in hand with that. It's new."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Is there somethin' I could do different?" she asked worriedly.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"...you want...different?" he asked, frowning. He hadn't made himself clear and she didn't know but that still made him internally frown. "What do you want to do differently?"

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"To make you less nervous. I could tease you less?" she offered. "And the touching thing -- it don't matter to me. I mean, I don't think about it but I could try to make sure not to touch you?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No, that's just it." He shook his head and tucked himself into as small a ball as he could. Being honest and open like this was overrated. "It's that...I like that. When you do it."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

She paused, tilting her head. "So...I don't make you bad-nervous, right?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You don't make me bad nervous. It's a...confused nervous."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"So long as it ain't bad," she replied, smiling reassuringly.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It's not bad," he said, shrugging and looking at his knees. "I don't know what it is but it's not bad."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"D'you need help with the pie?" she asked, feeling merciful and changing the topic.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's already done. Well, I mean, it will be done once it's done cooking. Nothing to do but wait for it to cook and then cool down."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Can you teach me to make pie?" she asked kind of randomly. "I can make lots of stuff but pie ain't really somethin' I'm good at. I always muck up the crust."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"The crust is the easiest part!" Ned said, eyes wide. "Okay, well, no it's not. My mother used to say that when I tried to get out of making crust. Did you want to try now?"

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"I could," she said, picking herself up off the floor. "I always make it too dry."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It happens," Ned said, pushing off the floor and rummaging around the kitchen area for a good thing. "At least you don't buy the premade crusts. Those taste like metal."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"You can get premade crusts?" she asked curiously.