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]

"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.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"From the stores," he said, nodding and gradually becoming more comfortable. "But, they're not as good, trust me."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'd guess not, if they taste like metal," she agreed, nodding.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Well, most of them do," he amended. "I've never tried every single brand because I didn't get an allowance when I was a kid. I just asked and sometimes my mom let me and sometimes not. So, some might taste like pennies or some might taste like trees. I really shouldn't say they all taste like metal because it's kind of a lie."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"I wonder what trees taste like," she said thoughtfully.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Uh." That stopped him. "Why do you wonder that?"

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Because you said some might taste like trees and I don't know how I'd know," she said, shrugging. "I ain't never tasted a tree."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I've licked one before," he said, having no idea why he'd just admitted that.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Were you dared?" she wondered.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"No," he said and blushed a bright shade of red.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"Why'd you do it?" she asked, tilting her head.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Curiosity," he said, turning an even brighter shade of red and focusing on tapping his fingers against the counter in front of him.

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"You're weird," she decided. "I like that 'bout you."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I'm not really that weird," he argued even though he was. "I'm just different."

[weefeetbigboots.livejournal.com]

"You licked a tree. S'okay, I'm weird too," she replied.