Deck [Friday Evening]

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

Since it was warm but not hot outside, Ned wandered out to the deck and took a seat next to one of the firepits. He lit one and stretched out beside it, enjoying the warmth from the flames.

There was a bag of marshmallows and some chocolate nearby for s'mores but he hadn't gotten that far yet. For now, he was just going to enjoy it being Friday and the week being over.

He wasn't even moping. Accomplishment!

[Oooooopen, yes.]

Comments

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"You take up a lot of deck," Andrew commented, plopping himself down next to the firepit. "You know, lengthwise."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I have long legs," he said and tapped one leg against the other. "I'm all leg. I'd be short if it weren't for my legs."

Which made...some sense.

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Well, you would be stumpy. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I saw a documentary once on this family where all the kids were born without legs. It was amazing watching them get around using just their hands. They even had bicycles."

Andrew leaned back and looked up at the sky, grinning. It felt awesome being out of the dorms for something other than work.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"They had no legs but they used bicycles?" Ned asked, turning his head to look at Andrew. "I can barely ride a bike with my legs."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"They were modified so that they could steer and pedal with their hands at the same time," he explained. "Plus, they had larger seats, for stability."

He looked over at Ned. "That's one of my biggest complaints about bikes, the seats. I mean, why not make it just a little wider for comfort?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I haven't ridden a bike in a long time," he said but he was nodding. "The last one I had was long but thin and I'd slide forward all the time. I kept thinking I was going to go flying over the handlebars."

He paused.

"Not that I did that more than once. Or anything."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"What? Ride a bike or fly over the handlebars?" he asked.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Fly over the handlebars," he laughed. "I can ride a bike. Just not well sometimes. Again, I blame my legs."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"I used to love riding my bike," Andrew stated. "It was a good excuse to get out of the house. Of course, keeping a bike was the hard part. The neighborhood I grew up in wasn't the kind where you could leave something like that sitting outside and expect to see it again in the morning. And my aunt wouldn't let me store a bike in the house."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Bad neighborhood?" Ned asked, frowning slightly. "I got lucky there. Boarding schools are boring but very safe, I guess. Safe from outside forces."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well there weren't many places in Sunnydale that were safe after sundown." Andrew shrugged.

"Boarding school, huh? How was it different than here?"

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I've never heard of Sunnydale," he said almost apologetically. "And Longburrow wasn't as...open as this place. It didn't have things like decks and common rooms or places where the students could go to hang out like this."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Sunnydale is in California," Andrew explained. "It's home to a Hellmouth, so we got all kinds of interesting characters in town -- vampires, demons, general evil doers, things like that."

He looked about the deck. "And I really like this deck. It's my first time out here."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"You...came from a scarier place than me," Ned declared with a light laugh. "I'm glad you made it out there all right. And it's my second time. I keep worrying about sunburns."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Andrew smiled to himself. "The sun can be a scary, scary thing. I mean, look at me." He held his hands out in front of himself. "I am of the pigmently challenged."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Hey, so am I," he said, holding up his own pale, pale arm near Andrew's. "If I stay out in the sun too long, I burn, not long enough, I stay pale as a stick of glue."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Did you ever know anyone who ate glue in elementary school? I'm pretty sure my friend Jonathan used to do it, but I could never catch him in the act. He was always asking to borrow my glue sticks, and they would come back half gone. And there was never any substantial arts and crafts project to explain its use."

Andrew held his hands out towards the fire. "One of life's little mysteries."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

Ned made a face and just tried to imagine eating glue. "I knew a kid who ate clay once. I think he thought it was cookie batter. He went to the nurse and didn't come back."

Ned glanced over at Andrew's hands and then at the fire and was reminded of something.

"Oh, hey. I brought things for s'mores. Want some?"

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"It's a good thing I have a naturally high metabolism," he commented. "Otherwise, hanging out with you, I'm going to be putting on some significant poundage."

In other words, yes, he would very much like some.

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"It's good poundage," he argued lightly, opening the bag of marshmallows and passing a stick to Andrew before holding out the bag. "Sweets weight is the best kind."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

Andrew took two marshmallows and stuck them on the end of his stick. "And it's not exactly like I need to be watching my figure right now," he added. "No one to grab the love handles even if I had them."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"I don't see any love handles," Ned said, doing the same thing with his marshmallow and stick. "You sure you've got them?"

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

Andrew lifted up his shirt and poked at his stomach. "Nope. Nothing there but my flatness. But if I did, it wouldn't matter to anyone but me."

He held out the marshmallows towards the fire. "So I don't feel bad about the massive amounts of charred marshmallow I'm about to eat."

[death-and-pies.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's not like I have them," he said, jerking a thumb towards his side. "All my weight's in my stomach, I think."

He poked his stomach with the end of his stick. "Flabby!"

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah," Andrew said with a joking little nod, "you're a fatty." He laughed.

"I think that means you need to give me your marshmallows."