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Ratchet shook her head a few times, more than somewhat terrified of her cabinmate's wrath."I was fixing some shingles and looking for a place to mount this project I'm planning on starting. And... I heard..." Ratchet averted her eyes, grimacing, not wanting to say anything. "I heard enough?" She flattened her ears, not wanting to acknowledge what was going on. "Er. Yes. I heard enough." She blushed and whined under her breath; this was not funtimes for Ratchet.

Ratchet looked worried more than anything now. She had no idea what was going on, but if it did this to Annabel and made Ariel go off like that... "Yeah, I kinda would like to know what happened. I mean, if you're ok with talking about it and stuff... um." That had been a pretty serious accusation there. "I mean... rumors fly. And the show's, well, abut drama. And I'd rather know the truth, y'know? But... why would I tell Simon? Why would I tell anybody?"

"I won't be spreading anything, don't worry." Ratchet nodded. "And I think I get why you're 'specting doom. I think that sometimes, being so exposed brings out the most extreme in people. We wanna show everybody that we're the best, that we'll be the winner, and I think that gets used. Y'know, to make other people want to go home and stuff. I know we're in teams, but I also know that there are some people who really are thinkin' every man for himself. I dunno if that makes any sense- it does in my head, at least. But I'm the girl who fell off the roof, so maybe my head's a little scrambly at the moment, y'know?" A little shaken, she got to her feet and flopped down next to Annabel. "So... what's this unbelievable stuff?"

Ratchet was silent during Annabel's story, taking it all in. Hoe. Lee. Sh.. crap. No. s**t. Holy s**t. Ratchet didn't like to swear, but this was one of those times when the situation demanded it. "You... you should tell Ariel. I mean, I know you don't want everybody knowing, but she saw it, and it's probably better if she knows what really happened. That way, when the rumors fly and she's named as the actual eyewitness, she can tell everybody what really happened. And... yeah. That's really creepy." A silence, awkward like a thousand upturned turtles, filled the air as Ratchet traced a small oval in the dirt with one claw. She looked up at Annabel, wondering what to say. What could she say?

What she said probably wasn't the most tactful thing to say, but it was the first full sentence that crossed her mind. "So... he was your first kiss?"

"That's good, then. Who knows, maybe this will fizzle out if enough people don't believe that you'd kiss Chris willingly... I mean, it's Chris and it's you. I don't think anybody could say out loud "Oh yeah, Annabel's all over Chris" and sound sincere about it." Ratchet smiled at the absurdity. "He's gotta be pretty desparate, though, if he's kissin' campers. No offense or anything." Eager to change the subject, Ratchet leaned her head back against the wall and started talking about home. "My life is... man. It's interesting. And it's fun. It's a lot like this, only without all the voting off and creepy hosts and bad food... ok, so maybe it's not much like this at all. See, we live in this ancient farmhouse on what is essentially a timber farm in Montana, all twelve of us. Seriously, twelve. I have nine brothers and sisters. And the real crazy thing is that most of us get along. That was the hardest part about signing up for camp was leaving my family at home, especially my just-older-than-me brother and my just-younger-than-me sister. I just hope they're watching, y'know? I mean, not to see the embarrassing stuff, but to know that I'm ok and not wasting my time here. How 'bout you? You have any brothers or sisters to miss?"

"I think one of my little sisters would get along great with your sister. First thing I thought of when Chef told us those puppet's names was her. And then... well, then he started the puppet show." Ratchet winced; it was clear that she didn't want to even think about her little sister doing anything with a boy. "It's like we've all got our little obsessions. Me and Fiona, though, we're the builders. Fi's one of my best friends in the world. She usually does the aesthetic creative stuff while I figure out how to put it all together. Mom says we're the mellow ones. We don't get frazzled, so long as you let us be. Now... my oldest sister, Cat, she doesn't mesh with my mom. So I guess I understand what you mean; they don't get along much at all, but I think you could say that Mom's pretty much just like a mama bear. Sure, she might growl at her cubs, but get between her and them and you are one dead duck, brother. She probably hates the idea of me being on here and put through all the nasty bits of camp. But I don't think she'd hate the idea of me making friends." She tilted her head to see if Annabel was cooling down at all. She wanted to make her forget as much of the afternoon as she could, without dredging up too many bad feelings. "She always tells us to go out and meet new people. Our house is like a train station on the weekends with people coming in and out- that's usually when Fi and I head out to the barn. It's like my river, I suppose; it's older than our house is, and me, Dad, and Fi have been restoring it since I was twelve. It's like this big neverending project, and it's a major stress reliever." She was quiet again, thinking. "What kind of stuff do you write?" Ratchet had seen Annabel carrying around a journal, but she'd certainly never read it.

(ooc: a note to my fellow beavers, i will be at comic-con from wednesday afternoon through sunday night with no internet access. i may have time to rp through wednesday afternoon depending on how long packing up my car and last minute errands take, but most likely this is ozzie's farewell for the next few days. good luck in any challenges while i'm gone! i wish ozzie and i could participate over the next week but i'll have to settle for hoping to come back to another victory. biggrin )