[BP] Early Birds - and a boy too! (Open: too many to list)

[Successful Edit]

Another year at Barren Pines.

It was good to get back into the old routine. When Imogen had first come to Barren Pines her freshman year, she’d eventually got into the habit of getting up, eating a scanty breakfast and then going out running. She didn’t jog too much, not enough to wear herself out before classes but enough to get her wide awake and ready to face the day. A quick shower after her run and she was good to go.

And coffee. How could she forget the coffee? She needed that too.

With hair still a bit damp from the shower curling limply and still fixing the small tie of her uniform, Imogen wandered over to the second floor kitchen. It was definitely time to put the kettle on. Her kingdom for a good cuppa joe!  

[Akina Tokuwa]

It was 7:30am. Which meant that Fallon had been in the kitchen since 6:45am working on her breakfast. It wasn't that the cooking itself took a while -- just a simple eggs benedict dish she'd thought up the night before -- it was the cleaning process that she had to complete before the cooking could start. When Fallon first came to Barren Pines, she assumed she would have her own kitchen, and she did -- for classwork. But on a day to day basis, she was forced to use the same meager and cramped excuse for a kitchen that all the others did. Her first year, it had caused her to cry in her bedroom every day. By now, she was used to it, and had worked out a system to appease all her OCD compulsions.

Bright teal duct tape was fixed to the counter, tracing a small rectangle that cut the counter in half and trailed down to the floor. It created a neat square around Fallon's feet. The entire space around her was marked off by the tape, and every inch of counter within that space was covered by food and appliances (Fallon's own).

On the counter, there was a small notecard that read:

The Notecard

Dear classmates,

Please do not violate my cooking space. If you would like to eat something, please sign your name below, and I will prepare enough for the both of us. Coffee is available on the other counter. Help yourself.

____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

Thank you,

Fallon Iva Novette-Naim

To the average observer, this might seem strange, but pretty much every student at Barren Pines College knew of Fallon's weird "quirks." There were also a couple rumors of her stabbing unsuspecting freshman with forks when they tried to invade her space. The legendary awe surrounding the quality of the food she prepared was enough to give her a get-out-of-crazy-free pass most days. In one hand, she held a glistening silver knife and was making careful, identical cuts in an onion, lips murmuring her counted numbers.

She waited until she had sliced that section before she glanced up. "Good morning, Imogen. Would you like some breakfast?" With an open palm, she gestured to the notecard. "Please sign the notecard." With that, Fallon glanced back to her onion and began cutting on another section.  

[Successful Edit]

"Fallon, have I ever told you you're an angel? I've been gasping for a cup of coffee" Imogen flashed the other girl a bright smile and without blinking at the oddness, signed her name with a flourish on the note card. It took all sorts you know and it kept Fallon - and herself - happy to let the culinary whizkid have her kitchen space.

"And maybe just a little something to eat please, half a portion. I grabbed a snack breakfast on my way out the door earlier." With coffee in hand, Imogen sighed. Manna from heaven, that's what this was. She grabbed chair and sat watching and sipping at the coffee. Should have grabbed her school books on the way over from the shower really, so she would have had something to doodle on. She fiddled with her mug.

"What kind of eggs are you making?" She asked, eying the ingredients.  

[Auric Halcyon]

She had been dancing in hard-tips last night, and while her toes had been taped and band-aided up, Abeline Froust was struggling not to limp. Unfortunately, she strolled into the kitchen after her morning stretches looking as though she were glding slowly from foot to foot; not tromping in with a strained expression and a desire for liquid. The little kitchen was already cramped on the second floor with its current two occupants but she was pleased to note that the personal chef was in, and therefore, Abeline could order breakfast and not cook it herself. The school had obviously gotten the neurotic Fallon into the second level of the dorms to please Abeline. Although she would never tell them that she was happy with their offering.

She glided behind Imogen to sign the piece of paper that Fallon was pointing at, fully expecting that Fallon would also cook breakfast for her too. Not that her ego really was That Big. "Good Morning." Abeline growled. She hadn't had her first cup of water yet, so she was irritable. But what sounded like a growl, was more of a deep rumble of sound, curling off her lips like she was a lover whispering in your ear to wake you.

A lot was lost in the translation from Abeline's thoughts to how she actually came across. right now, she was pleasant and drowsy apparently; not frumpy and hissing for blood.  

[Iris_virus]

-Morning was not Lucas' friend. Not usually atleast.

He was the sort to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, crash so long as to almost miss his first class most days, and recieve less then pleasant bangs on the door that his 'Alarm has been going off for f@*$ing HOUR!!' on most mornings. Mornings in fact, were becoming a more and more foreign thing to him.

Something however, had woken the boy today as the sun rose, stealing away the oh so precious sleep and refusing to give it back. And no matter how many times he smashed his head beneath the pillow his eyes remained unwilling to close. Groaning, he'd gotten up, booting up his Xbox, only to hurl the controller at the screen when the 'searching for opponets' updater continued to swirl and swirl, taunting him silently. Noone is up now. This is sleeping time. It teased him, swirling it's damn swirl as if it were rolling over itself in laughter.

Noone was up. I mean what in the world could you do at THIS hour?

... Hot damn!

A sudden realization sent the boy towards his dresser, yanking out a tshirt to cover his top half, not particularly caring about hiding the boxers away. They were sweet anyway, he was always careful about that. Brushing his hand through his hair, trying to sooth away some of the bedhead (but not ALL of it, chicks dug that s**t), he sprayed himself down with a bit of aftershave, and then he was out. Making a beeline towards the stairs.

He knew what happened in the mornings. Hot freaking girl on girl shower action, with giggling schoolgirls in nothing but towels traversing the hallways. Perhaps he'd been LUCKY he'd waken up so early this morning.-  

[Akina Tokuwa]

Fallon smiled down at the onion, though the sentiment was directed at Imogen. Once she finished that section, she glanced back over to the curly-haired girl. "I am happy to have someone to feed," she said, laughing. Having grown up cooking for her family, Fallon felt a bit of a void without other people to enjoy her food. Truth be told, she could hardly appreciate her own dishes, tasting only the errors and lack of invention. It was nice to have someone who would smile and gush over every bite. "You shouldn't eat those processed breakfast snacks," Fallon continued, turning back to her cutting board and working on the next onion section. "If you need food for the morning, you can leave a note in the box by my door. I can cook up a week's worth of breakfast meals ahead of time and seal them in Tupper Ware for you. I only ask for three days notice." To the dark-haired teen, it didn't seem like a favor. Fallon liked to do those kind of things, and she found in atrocious that some people poisoned their stomachs with processed food.

She noted Abeline's entrance with a nod and a pleasant, "Good morning, Abeline. Coffee is on the other counter." With another chop, Fallon finished off the onion, sweeping it neatly into a clear glass dish. The English muffins were sitting on a pale blue plate, and sliced ham was roasting in the oven. The scent filtered out of the oven in salty puffs each time Fallon cracked it open. Drawing out a whisk, she dumped several ingredients into a larger glass bowl and began to mix them together. "Eggs Benedict, basically. I made some improvements on it. You'll have to tell me if you like it. I find the typical Eggs Benedict to be too starchy so I'm trying to cut out as much of the grease as possible. There will be a fresh fruit salad as well." The thrum of the whisk against the side of the bowl punctuated the quiet of the room.

Though Fallon seemed to be doing a hundred things at once, she did not appear harried or nervous. It was as if she had choreographed her movements, checking on things in even increments, zipping to the fridge every so often. Setting aside the bowl, she tossed a pinch of a red spice into the mixture. "What has you two up so early?" she asked, smiling as she whisked.  

[Melodine Cantus]

Serenade Soriano had been busy.

Sadly enough, she had gotten hooked onto trying out video games after she had clicked a link to a Youtube video that had shown her 'To Zanarkand', a breathtaking performance by an orchestra. And then she had simply stared. Simply. Stared. At her laptop screen. When she had gotten over her shock, she had clicked the replay button and had constantly listened to it, again and again, noting how each rise and fall was subtly put in with the waves of the music. Serenade then knew that she had to find scores and attempt to recreate the wonder she had just heard, but on the piano keys. It had been a happy happy day...er...night, when she had found what she was looking for. Now all she had to do was save a copy on her USB and go to the library to print it all out.

Unfortunately, it was still really early in the morning (why on earth wasn't the library open 24/7 anyway?) and the girl wandered out of her dorm room, headphones plugged into her ears as she listened to 'Swing de Chocobo', a track which she had dubbed a 'really chirpy and cute song'. The girl peeked into the kitchen, smiling in greeting at the few that were already there.  

[Auric Halcyon]

Abeline glanced at the coffee, her eyes straying to Imogen sitting down and she cocked her head slightly as the other girl recieved a lecture on what she had proffessed to eating. In their first year, once Fallon had taken control of the kitchen, Abeline had stopped telling the chef what she was eating. Apparently half an apple at breakfast and then nothing else for the rest of the day because she had to burn off fat for her next performance, was not an acceptable answer to such questions. She allowed Fallon these moments because the other girl was like a personal chef, and while Abeline was highly self-sufficient, having a personal chef was perfectly acceptable.

She ignored the coffee on the counter and went to to fridge, pulling out a large jug of chilled water and pouring herself a cup. Abeline lived some days on two-and-a-half liters of water alone. It meant that she didn't stomach large meals, but water was very low in fat. An important part of her regular day.

She slid into the chair next to Imogen and sipped the water like it was coffee. She even made a little 'ahh' sound as the liquid hit her throat. The smell of the eggs benedict was wonderful and Abeline was salivating, even though she probably wouldn't be able to eat a whole dish of the size that Fallon was cooking.

She hadn't said much else now, and she left it that way, she was tired from last night, and wanted to skip class. Her feet were a little too sore for ice-skating, but she wanted to ditch school and head down to the ice-rink. It was a futive desire; she needed to attend class or the teachers would waste more of her time with their silly whining about grades.  

[Successful Edit]

“That’s sweet of you. I might think about that, since it’s bound to be tastier than the cereal bars I brought with me.” The bars were chewy things. The adverts had said they were packed full of flavour and it turned out that they tasted more like they were packed full of sawdust. She’d even bought a bulk box of 20 ready for the next few weeks too. Imogen had planned to eat them anyway, hoping that a little honey or something drizzled on top would make them more edible, but if Fallon was offering real food, Imo wouldn’t say no!

“Morning Abeline.” She added to the fellow dancer as she came in. Imogen decided not to bug the irritable-seeming girl with chatter, though she was tempted to start talking to her about the respective merits of ballet and swing. Instead she took another sip of blessed coffee, trying to to feel restless just sitting here. She waved to the others who ventured in before talking to Fallon again.

"I don't suppose you need any help with anything? I know you've got everything under control and all but maybe I could get some plates out ready or something?"  

[Iris_virus]

-Lucas was surprised AND disappointed to find the hallway of floor 2 mostly empty, but maybe he'd come TOO early? He lingered near the shower room for a moment, groaning unhappily when he realized he heard no water or giggles coming from the mysterious haven.

He was in fact, about to punch the wall in sheer irritation, when the sound of feminine voices caught his attention and he swung around like a predator on the prowl.

Between the sound and the delicious scent wafting down the hallway it was pretty apparent where it was coming from.

Reaching the kitchen, he perched himself in the doorway, shoulder leaning far too close to the headphoned girl for comfort, arms crossed, as a sly smile worked it's way across his face.

It was a freaking girl oasis in here and he was the lion.. excellent. One seemed a little.. out of it, which was kind of cute. His eyes took in the details of the peppier few for the moment, staring far longer than was polite.- "Hey babes"

"Our kitchen is out, so I came looking, for some sugar" -His expression made clear what was already apparent. The sugar he was talking about wasn't granular.-  

[Akina Tokuwa]

As each new face entered, Fallon felt a little more satisfied. More people, more mouths to feed, more purpose. This was most excellent. With a manicured nail, she tapped at the little notecard on the counter. "Good morning, Jess, Serenade. Please sign the card." It was one of the requirements for eating Fallon's food; you had to follow her rules. Her rules involved signing the notecard. It didn't matter that you were standing right in front of her. Fallon saved every single notecard and wrote a detailed outline of the dish she had cooked on the back and how each diner had responded to it. That way, she could reference her cards, figure out who had eaten at which meal, and design a dish that specifically fit an individual's palette.

Still whisking, her gaze flickered back to Imogen. "I can make you anything you'd like. Even cereal bars. You would be disgusted if you knew what went into those processed bars. Just leave a note by my door, and I will have them to you in three days," she said, turning back to her cutting board. A few more pinches of this and that went into the sauce, the whisk still moving in steady circles. She was doing it by hand, but it seemed like a robot might be controlling the speed of her wrist. It moved in even arcs around the bowl.

At the offer of some help, Fallon's smile shifted slightly. "No, no help. Just have a seat and enjoy yourself." Helpers only ruined things. Nope -- everyone just needed to stay out of her space.

When Lucas entered, Fallon shifted her eyes to him -- totally bored. The beautiful girls filling her kitchen were really quite enough people to suit Fallon's particular tastes, but she was too polite to turn anyone away, even someone like Lucas. "If you're staying, you need to sign the card, Lucas," she said, a bit coldly. Crossing the doorway, she shot a particularly sweet smile to Serenade, and then opened the door to the fridge, pulling out a bowl full of mixed fruit. She placed identical, small blue bowls at each place setting and carefully dumped even portions of fruit into each of them. She would only give fruit to a person once they had signed her card. "Go ahead and start in on the fruit. The rest of the meal will be done shortly." Stowing the fruit back in the fridge, she returned to the stove and resumed her cooking.  

[Melodine Cantus]

"It isn't any trouble for you, is it?" Serenade asked, moving towards the counter (and away from Lucas, though she hadn't really noticed that he had been close to her) and giving Fallon a tremulous look. It was great that such a great cook lived on their floor; though sometimes she felt guilty that Fallon took it as her responsibility to cook for all of them. There were just so many people about! She nodded to Jess as well; her neighbour, though Serenade hadn't exactly talked to her much. She never talked to anyone much unless they struck up a conversation with her. She was horrible at conversation starters.

The girl turned to shoot Lucas a quizzical look however, as he spoke. "You guys dump sugar on your breakfast?" This was spoken in a genuinely curious tone, tinged by a slight amount of confusion. The concept of the boys slathering pancakes or waffles with sugar was rather strange.

Serenade was not good at catching what people actually meant. She was not good at sarcasm, she was not good at attempts to flirt with her.  

[Auric Halcyon]

Abeline was about to say something- mostly innocent and beignen when she froze up and turned her head, much as a hawk follows a mouse in front of its beaks. Lucas Hendricks was standing in the doorway. Her ears turned pink and she quickly glanced back at the others entering the kitchen. Although her movements were more of a general head-turn and her ears weren't exactly a highlight. There was enough room for half the second floor to be in here, but... well, Abeline couldn't control it. Even if she thought that she should send everyone away and keep Fallon to herself. She had heard that Imogen was also a dancer although ballet and swing rarely intersected, so she wasn't sure of the other girl's talents. This placed the poor thing in position that Abeline placed most other performers. Not an issue. A very different location to Mr Hendricks.

"Perhaps you should take a photo, Hendricks. It would last longer." She growled, her eyes on the other side of the room as he stared at everyone. Everyone! Like some lecher! (Well, okay, like /a/ lecher.) He was such a skirt chaser, and she knew that he bragged about the girls that he'd slept with!

And yet, she thought he was divine. No, no. He was slime and she didn't care. Yes, and no one had to know about the little photo in her room she'd found in the trash some heartbroken girl had thrown out from last year. Abeline's face was demure as her thoughts broke into fifty-mile an hour monologues and she took a sip of water, calm, serene. Duck on a pond.