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One more project for after the holidays was given to the Quinn's architecture class: create a model and paper of non-standard use of architecture. Basically anything but buildings. Quinn knew one of his classmates was looking into the structure of a company another the government but Quinn was a bit more interested in tangible proof of how architecture affects every day life. Sculptures, cars, plants, food.... So much stuff could be used in the project.

The fall day was warm after the past week where it was freezing in every state in the US and Quinn walked around the grassy quad of DCU trying to come up with a project that few of the others in his class would think of. In theory military maneuvers could be used but so could something as simple as sandcastles and topiaries. He shoved his hands deeper into his jacket pockets, his messenger bag tugging at his shoulder. Quinn was absorbed in his thoughts he didn't realize he had walked all the way to the fine arts building and he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't accidentally ran into someone first. "Sorry. So sorry." He scrambled to apologize as he pulled his hands from his pockets dislodging a scattering of change.

Quinn scrambled to offer the girl a hand up. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention." His change had gone and scattered across the hall not that he cared right then. He did flinch when a quarter nearly took the girls eye out. "Damn. They just went flying. Are you ok?" Shoving someone down was not really Quinn's thing and a girl at that.

“I was just distracted. My teacher gave us a complicated project and I was just racking my brain trying to come up with a solution that wasn't a common answer.” Quinn tried to explain. “I mean everyone knows that sandcastles and even topiaries use the techniques of architecture and, yeah I could go more existential and do sport maneuvers or how a plane is built to withstand the forces of nature… hell for that matter I could probably even use weather itself as a topic of the project but...“ he faded off realizing he was rambling and getting frustrated as well. “Anyway. I’m sorry. I really didn't mean to knock you down. At least let me get you a coffee or something. There is a little coffee place right off campus.” It really was the least he could do.

Quinn watched as the girl claimed to her feet and mentally added dance to his list of possible project topics. Instead he shrugged and said "it's for a assignment my professor handed out." A glance at the hallway and the various signs and posters showed that he had made his rambling way all the way to the fine arts department, a building he really only stepped in once or twice. The colorful drawings and sketches got his brain working and he was already wondering how to twist painting into use for his project when the girl said something. "Hun? Oh um no I just really don't want to do anything predictable. This prof is one of the odd ones... One of his extra credit assignments last year was to make a snow sculpture. I ended up making a snake eating a snowman along the lines of Calvin and Hobbes. He thought it was hilarious."

Since his hand was never taken to help the girl up he used it to shift his bag on his shoulder and ran his fingers through his sandy hair without bought or care to the disheveling the habitual move caused. His smile was crooked but bright when she agreed to coffee. "I'm Quinn by the way and i'm from the architecture department. Like I said, its for a project but I’m just having a hard time deciding what I should use for it.” He politely held the door open for her, his mother did teach him manners. “It could be worse… instead of soccer players it could be football players. It would be like watching a giant poke at a ant hill.”

“Well I wanted to go with a polar bear… you know to play off the old joke of a polar bear in a snowstorm for a blank canvas, the the snow just wouldn't support it self. It was the fluffy stuff and I just couldn't get it to stack more than a foot off the ground. So with a little help I changed my polar bear to a snake and added a bit of twisted humor to make up for the frustration of the failed first attempt.” It still bugged Quinn that he couldn't get that polar bear done but the snake didn't turn out too terribly bad and Dom helped quite a bit on getting it done. The warm food and drink after really helped since it was still cold as all hell then. “Nah he doesn't have a twisted sense of humor but he does have one so he likes giving projects that make us think and wonder. Come up with something no one else has thought of… that's what I get from his class. I don't think its to confuse the students but to make them think and yeah the ants would likely win.” His smile was bright and the laugh was quick, maybe it wasn't so bad he ran into her.

He moved in front of her and started to walk backwards as his eyes brightened with excitement. Building things is what he loved and it was visible. “The entire world itself is an architectural marvel and humans have been expressing their own creativity since time began. To build something that no one else has seen and yet all need, appreciate, and love is something few can accomplish. To build something iconic like the Statue of Liberty or the Pyramids of Giza… something that can stand the test of time and space. Oh to do something like that takes more thought than the typical square house. One still needs to know the basics but you have to have the imagination to go that step further into the beyond. The guy who built the Dymaxion House took that step and while it was a misstep he ended up coming up with the concept of geodesic domes.” His rambling was interrupted when he tripped over a dip in the sidewalk and stumbled a bit. He didn't fall but it did take him a moment to right himself. When he was standing upright his blush was quite clear, “Um. Sorry about that I tend to ramble sometimes.”

They had reached the coffee house and again he held the door open for her. “It’s nice to meet you Delihal. You have an unusual project too?” The place was pretty small and yet it was surprisingly large inside. “If you want to get a table I’ll get the drinks? What would you like?”

“I had a bottle of hot water and before I could use it froze to the point I couldn't get it out of the bottle.” His laugh was rueful but he didn't really mind, it all worked out in the end anyway. The teacher got a kick out of his sculpture and he got full extra credit so even if the original plan didn't work it was all okay.

"Hey one must know the ground before they can build on it." He said with a straight face for all of three seconds before letting loose the laughter. Once that faded Quinn nodded and added to Delihla's thought process, "and there were some pretty spectacular screw ups. Sometimes it's because of nature and sometime the dirt. Sometimes the people themselves. Architecture is always evolving and it's a fine line between reality and imagination." He remembered the class section where they covered famous failures like the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It was one of the reasons his fathers program wasn't working right.... There were so many variables that it's difficult to get the coding to react properly.

Once in the shop a quick glance at the menu gave him his choice as well. He nodded to Delihla and walked to the counter. A few moment was all it took to get the two drinks and he got a few sugar cookies as well. It was possible she couldn't eat them but it never hurt to have them anyway. He brought both the drinks and the half dozen cookies to the table. Her cappuccino went in front of her while the hot chocolate was for him. "Geodesic domes are circles or domes made out of triangles. They create a self bracing structure much like a arch supports itself." He sat down and took a sip of his drink before adding, "probably one of the most famous example of one is Spaceship Earth.... The giant silver ball in Walt Disney World's Epcot."

Quinn hid a smile with another sip of his drink. Apparently his cookie idea didn't miss the mark, it was refreshing to see someone who enjoyed sugar. The smile faded as he carefully put down his drink and watched her sketch quickly, the little that he had caught from the flipping pages made his own fingers itch to see more. “A shame… its a fascinating place.” he said almost absently as the book was finally given to him and he examined the sketch. It wouldn't be comfortable…. or at least it didn't look like it but it really caught the imagination. Like a Valkyrie riding into battle or a lady knight.

He wanted to continue flipping through the book but he knew just how sensitive such an object could be, his own camera was like that since it held the sparks for his ideas… his dreams and his very soul. It was once believed that a camera would suck out the soul of the person whose picture was taken but for Quinn it was his own soul that is revealed every time that shutter is closed and an image is captured. “Hum? Oh, yeah…” He sat in his own thoughts for a moment more before pulling himself out with a careful close of the sketch book. “Its a really good, by the way. You should make it.”

When she asked about why he liked architecture Quinn didn't know how to respond so he took a cookie and ate it why contemplating how to answer. “Its hard to explain… The ability to build something that is useful and needed. That can stand the test of time and yet inspire awe and wonder. Other than nature itself there is nothing that can match that.” How far did he want to explain? How much did he want to reveal? “My family… they have always built things.” In the case of his grandfather, a business empire. “I want to honor my legacy and yet surpass it. I want to make my own mark… even if its a literal mark.” He smiled ruefully and took another cookie. “Anyway I just have so many ideas for the project I just can't decide. After all taking the easy way out won't help me gain the strength to eventually be the best.”

Quinn thought a moment before suggesting, "your right a metallic fabric might work but you will likely lose the rigidity of the metal so what about trying something stiffer yet lighter like painted cardboard?" The metal feel might be lost in translation but if the painting was done right it could be pulled off. His mind was now working and wondering how such a dress could be done and still hold true to her idea.

He was so deep that he didn't even think before he answered her question about the buildings. "Dad has one down in the city." He had meant that his dad's company owned a building that they worked in it never occurred to him that it might be taken another way. The Quinton family line was a old line that dated back to the mayflower and as his mother liked to joke, 'sometimes we sneeze gold my boy'. But Quinn wasn't like them... He wanted to work for the money not have it handed to him. At least his dad made his money through an invention.

Quinn pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused on Deilihla's suggestion. "Well the way the assignment reads is not dealing with an individual material but an object or process that uses methods of architecture like structure and support..... Like your sketch!" That's it. Quinn had a moment of inspiration and decided that clothing would really work well for the project and few of his classmates would even think that clothes and the structure that went in to it would be the building blocks of architecture. It could really work.

Quinn winced at the ‘apparent’ shock in her voice, or thats what he read it as. “Well ok so cardboard might not be the best material but…” He trailed off as it became obvious that Delilah wasn't paying him any attention. He understood completely when she mentioned aluminum. “You just need to make sure that it’s supported and all the sharp points are dulled so no one gets hurt…. that shits sharp.” He winced in memory of the time he ended up cutting his hand pretty bad on some old gutter. Exploring that old house totally wasn’t worth the stitches and tetanus shot he got because of it.

He sunk into his own thoughts trying to think of a way to make the project really work. Clothing design wasn’t his forte however he could really work with the idea. “Hum?” He looked up and smiled widely, maybe the could help each other out… if she was willing and he could explain well enough. “My mom likes to watch competition shows and one of her favorites is Project Runway and, well,” a slight blush colored his tanned face, “I’ve seen an episode or two myself. The avantgard challenge actually works well with the general principles of design.” He turned the drawing back around until it faced Delilah. “Movement, repetition, proportion, rhythm, unity, symmetry…” He indicated the sketch. “All of this in your drawing and yet all imperative to a good building. Fashion is architecture just with another material. I don't know squat about making a dress but I know about construction.” but first he needed to know what her project was, after all he didn’t want to impose if he couldn’t help her with her project. “I never did ask what your project was.” For anyone not in his brain it was a rather dizzying change in topic, not that Quinn ever thought of that.