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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:14 am
How much tofu, nuts, hummus, and beans would he have to eat in a day to get all the proteins he needed? He guessed not as much as he might otherwise expect. There was a lot in just a few nuts and seeds. He wasn't sure about how to get the amino acids outside of supplements, though, in that sort of diet. That was the sort of thing trainers and dieticians were for.....all the really hard number crunching and knowing everything anyone could possibly want to hear about food. He wasn't really a fan of soy products. The soy-based protein powders always tasted like Yoohoo. He wasn't sure Colin looked like a Yoohoo sort of fellow. Still, one never knew.
The diner was deeply exciting. Colin being a vegetarian was only vaguely awkward, given the exchange, at least from Björn's point of view. Since he didn't go into his reasons for it, given opportunity, Björn didn't inquire further. Even given leave, it seemed rude to order a cow and devour it in front of a professed non-cow devourer. But Diners were lucky! They almost always served breakfast all day.
His thoughts of golden batter food were interrupted by the question, and he squinched a nostril. Now there was that familiar embarrassment, growing like a sunflower from his stomach. Tall, proud, huge in the light of day. "Ah....booth, probably, unless their chairs are weighted for more than two-fifty. Booths tend to have sturdier base construction. "
Though they also tended NOT to fit a 56-inch chest. He was usually tall enough that it was just his six-pack touching the edge of the table though, and the rest of him well above it. He looked for a likely candidate, one were the seats weren't so broken in that anyone sitting in them was nose-level with the table.
Though idea of measurements prompted a once-over of his companion, a closer inspection this time. "Colin....how many inches is your waist?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:14 am
Had he asked, he would have found out that Colin did not enjoy Yoohoo. More points of connection between the two of them, woefully left unspoken. Woe. Endless woe.
"Cool. I prefer booths too. I swear, the people that design and build the chairs in these places are sadists. Why else would they be so uncomfortable?" Colin headed to one of the empty booths and slid into it, glancing out the window at the shops on the other side of the street; there weren't many, but they were definitely 'local flavor'.
"Hmm? Oh, uh...I think somewhere around 28 inches. It varies a little, depending on how much training I've been doing." He paused a moment as a perky brunette waitress brought them water and gave them menus to peruse. "Why? I'm not near you, but I'm not a twig. ... Okay, I'm a twig, but I've got some muscles!" Colin shot him a look that said "do not laugh, but two heartbeats later started laughing at himself: it was funny!
It was also a ploy to keep Bjorn from feeling bad about anything: being a tank, having some issues with book smarts...wanting to eat most of a cow, you know: things that didn't (or shouldn't really matter.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:24 pm
Well, his waist may be 28 inches, but the best thing about dancers was all the junk in the trunk, which certainly was more than 28 inches. He smiled as Colin laughed, the sound infectious, “Oh, it was not meant meanly. I just noticed that my sleeves could probably be made into shirts and wraps for you. In the case that we ever get stranded on a deserted island with a needle and thread, and need to worry about clothes. “
He skimmed the menu, not really interested in reading any of the little descriptions. He usually just ordered things all places carried, or ordered according to the trumped up pictures scattered about the folds. There was a picture of a tall stack with maple syrup, and there were red letters underneath the breakfasts heading that proclaimed it was “SERVED ALL DAY.” No guesswork there. Fine, fluffy pan disks of buttery goodness. When the waitress came back, he ordered two…a total of 10 pancakes.
And a side of cut fruit. And a coffee.
Sure, it was dinner and coffee was bad for him. He toyed with a fork while Colin ordered, half paying attention during it while getting about as close to brooding as he had been since getting to Destiny City. When the girl asked about the checks he cut in with his best charmer smile, “One check, to me.”
“It is exciting, to be in a new place. Really new. I’ve been away from home many times before, at hotels. But it was always different. Never ….quite so on my own. I was always on the way to meet family, close friends, a trainer, a teacher. It has never been alone in a place wholly foreign, to live there. I suppose for most that is what college is, when they get away from parents and live in dorms. “
“I was worried about what I would find at Hillworth. What sort of boys get sent to a place like it. I’m glad that I have you for a roommate, Colin. “
As opposed to some hardened criminal, or psychotic lunatic. Just a regular boy with a goal.
“You don’t have to say, …..but what did you do to end up at Hillworth? I’ve heard that no one chooses to go, except that one must choose the only school left that will accept them after doing something bad.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 12:01 am
True that! And truly excellent legs too. "I didn't think you were being mean, I'm pretty sure being mean isn't really in your vocabulary." Colin rested his tilted head on one hand propped up by the scuffed table top. "Well then, I'm set if we end up stranded on an island. It'll be a funky sewing job though, I can't do more than make a knot or thirty." For all his 'skills' in the arts, sewing/darning/crocheting and just about anything else involving a needle and thread were down at the end of that list, along with being able to fly or turn his head 180 degrees: he was just not good at it. At all.
The blond smiled as Bjorn ordered his pancakes and fruit along with coffee; when it was his turn, he got a plate-sized (if the image was any indication) vegetarian omelete and water with a slice of lemon in it, winking at his companion and saying that breakfast was one of his favorite meals of the day.
He wasn't quite fast enough to snag the check; all he could do was just chuckle again and shake his head a little. "Alright, you can get the tab this time, but I'm getting the next, okay?"
"Yeah, I think it's pretty unsettling at first for most of us. Even if you've traveled, it's just...weird. Not having your family around. I don't miss Mom's nagging, but I do miss being at home." Bjorn asked about his incarceration within the boy filled mini-prison that was Hillworth; it wasn't some wildly outrageous question - just about every guy was asked at one time or another (by someone or someones) just what they'd done to get exiled there.
"You heard right Bjorn." Colin took a sip of his water and then began, "Basically, I got into a lot of fights back at Meadowview. But the uh, last straw involved my little sister Miriam. She went there with me, younger by two years. But she's small, really delicate and has a speech impediment; there were kids in her class and some upperclassmen too...they were like, tormenting her in the halls between classes, at lunch...after school. It was nasty and I wasn't going to let my baby sister be picked on like that, so I stepped in a couple times, right? Didn't hit anyone or anything stupid."
He paused so that he could take another sip, eyes narrowed over his glass as he remembered the anger he'd felt at seeing his little sister hurt. "But one day this junior, Jamie Sharp, he jumps her after school with some of his buddies. I was late getting out of classes, talking to the teacher. But I saw this b*****d slapping her, trying to rip her blouse open...I saw red. Tore out of the classroom to protect her - both of us ended up with black eyes, he had a busted lip and I had a busted rib." Here the blond shrugged kind of sadly; he loved his sister but he really would have rather not gotten into a fight; it wasn't something he relished...just something he did when pushed.
"So, anyway...with my record, I was expelled. Miri was sent to Crystal Academy, it's all girls and she loves it there. I ended up here." He fidgeted a bit, wondering what reaction Bjorn would have to his little story. It would suck to lose a potentially great roommate and friend.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 12:43 am
The omelet was encouraging. Eggs were excellent protein! He should keep an eye on Colin to make sure he was getting enough food for his dancing energy.
He listened, occasionally taking a thoughtful bite of pancake while Colin explained. The situation was eerily familiar. Were there many boys, generally good lads, stuck at Hillworth because of strict anti-fighting regulations? Maybe so. It was probably more likely that that was just the straw on the camel’s back for most. A lot of boys got into fights less to truly defend another, and more because it was an excuse to let off steam at the expense of some other person’s face. But Colin…he believed. Why would a dancer ever really want to risk serious injury? Fights could end out with broken bones and torn ligaments….and those would end chances of a lifetime.
He gave a wistful smile and nodded empathetically, “It sounds like you did the right thing, though. Even if you are at Hillworth, you stood by your family. By your sister. It is duty.”
“It’s good she’s doing better now at a new school. “ He sometimes had wished for a younger sibling. Brother or sister, it hadn’t mattered. But his mother had never found a man she cared to be with more than one dinner. She’d tried dating for a while when he was in elementary school, even into junior high. He’d never minded, thinking his mother was the most beautiful woman in the world and deserved admirers and more. “A little sister is a treasure, even when she has other hands to protect her…or her own. I’m sure she is glad of her brave brother.”
“It’s a familiar story, really. But I have no sibling. Nothing so courageous, and I wasn’t in consistent fights. Just one, but I broke a boy’s ribs, some into his lung. It was to stop him from hurting another student, but I shouldn’t get into fights. “He shrugged, the reasons why being plain. “Guilty of simple battery in regular court…lawyers said the juvenile record is sealed once I am eighteen.”
“I hope you don’t have an actual court record? It I probably the same if so, cleared at the same time. I can’t reapply to my old school for a year, but by then I will only have one more year to go. Why change again for one year, unless it is terrible here. Can you apply to other schools still? “
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:17 am
Things like eggs were some of his favorite things. Eggs and cheese - dirty little pleasures, but he figured that the eggs were just eggs, nothing yet growing inside them...and the cheese was from happy cows. Like in the commercials on TV sometimes.
Bjorn's story really was a familiar one; a lot of the boys at Hillworth liked to say stuff like that, some embellishing it more...some really had fanciful versions of why they were attending the all-boy's school. Others simply had their 'story' and, much like Colin, just told it and you could take it at his word or not - didn't matter. Usually, the boys like that fell into two types: boys like Colin and Bjorn, there by circumstances caused from bad situations and then the second type: boys that were downright rotten little bastards. Destiny City's future serial killers, rapists and thugs. Terrible young men that liked to bully and destroy.
"Yeah, Mom thought about home-schooling her, but Miri didn't want that. She's really the brave one. I just stepped in with my fists. Pretty stupid when I think about it now, but back then it seemed like it was the only answer." Colin gave his companion a long look, knowing that the Swede probably understood the sentiment. Of course, in Bjorn's case...he'd given broken ribs...and Colin had been the recipient; quite the reverse!
"The Sharp's wanted to press charges, but when it came out that he'd been ripping at Miri's shirt and had started everything...well, they didn't really have a leg to stand on. But I did get a mark on my school records, had to do some community service, stuff like that. I think you got it worse than I did, sorry man. It really sucks - but at least it'll all go away when you turn eighteen."
Trust Colin to find the silver lining! But hey, he was for the most part a pretty happy guy. A happy guy with a delicious vegetarian omelette awaiting more of his attention, which he would gladly give it, eating without that 'advanced shovel technique' preferred by most young men.
"I could, but like you said, what's the point? It's not awful here...I'll just stick around until I graduate," Colin chuckled again, "Besides, someone has to stick around, make sure you're not bored during your 'fabulous stay' at Hillworth."
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:31 am
He thought the stay was not so likely to be bad now.
Though the mood shift of Colin’s comment was noted. “So is just one omelet really equal to so many pancakes? That is what? 5 eggs? Shouldn’t it be 10 eggs to equal out? And you don’t have any sides.”
He speared a piece of melon and wagged it at the other boy in mock disciplinary fashion. “It is a good start anyway, but it doesn’t show well on a first wager.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:42 am
"Well, I'm probably going to order some pancakes too - totally your fault for ordering them, they smell great - once I've got most of this down. I like to have them right off the griddle, nice and hot. If I ordered them when I got my omelette, then I'd have a plate of cold pancakes. They just don't taste right cold."
He gave Bjorn a wide grin, "Don't think you're a shoe-in for our wager, I'm no where near done yet." Colin waved his fork at Bjorn a little before getting another bite of his omelette.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:30 am
It didn't take long to finish pancakes, since they came in convenient stacks. When the waitress came to attend to refills on their drinks, he ordered a plate of southwestern eggs for himself - the kind full of tabasco, peppers and onions.
"You're falling behind, " he grinned, nursing his coffee. "It may be excusable since you have cute smile."
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:41 am
Colin ordered pancakes and waffles when Bjorn got his eggs, sticking his tongue out at the other boy briefly before laughing and poking at one of the creamer cuplets. Creamer was something he generally thought was gross in places like these - he'd known some guys that would drink them like shots, had once done it himself on a dare, but it was just not for him. At all. Black coffee - if any at all - thanks!
"Your's isn't bad either, but don't expect any mercy from me because of it. Not this time." Briefly, Colin wondered what his new friend's sexuality was: he was flirting with him...but then, Colin tended to be a bit of a flirt to everyone, more when he actually liked the other person a lot (of course), so really he couldn't gauge it.
Perhaps when he'd gotten a better handle on Bjorn he could figure that one out.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 3:46 pm
“This time? I wonder what times it will work, then. I look forward to the wagers.”
Though he did not telegraph it, Björn’s tastes in love were simply summarized. Getting into any pants was like getting a present, and it was a happy surprise no matter what you opened them up to find. His love life was brief and so far innocent, a trial of his hopes and hobby of being a strongman and only 16. None of this being asked, however, left it to the dark of other days. Maybe.
Early friendship between boys of their age had certain tradition of knowledge to be asked about. “So you have a sister. And a mother. You go to Hillworth. You are well on your way to becoming a dancer. What about a girlfriend or boyfriend? Should I be expecting anyone sneaking into our room?”
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:08 pm
"Ditto." Colin would have been pleasantly surprised to find another person that felt much the same as he did about dating, love and gender's place in all that. He really didn't care about gender - for the dancer, it was aaaall about the person behind it.
"Pretty much, but I don't know about 'well on my way'...I've had a a few breaks here and there...pretty good fortune, considering how many people want to become professional dancers." And considering just how few of those professionals were male. Still, he'd keep going for it until he wasn't able or until he found something else that aroused more passion. Digging into the stack of pancakes before him with relish, he had to chew and swallow before answering that last bit.
With a smile, he spoke frankly, "Nope. Neither right now. What about you, I bet you've had quite a few relationships. Are we going to be making some sort of sock-on-the-door-knob rule?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:47 pm
“A what rule? I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.” He laughed, furrowing his brow with worry. This sounded like the prelude to some horrible explanation, and he was honestly curious to hear about it. "You have to tell me about this."
“But no, I don’t have anyone. I had …one girlfriend at the start of last year. I didn’t have enough time, though, so she decided she wanted one of the baseball players instead. That was fine, since I don’t think we were in love. ‘Trials and errors’, David called it. I have kissed; she always wore watermelon lip gloss. Nothing much else.”
He’d made out with one of his competitors at a highland game before the clachneart as well, against the back wall of the boy’s tent two months back. The call for the event to start had interrupted. It had been…odd? Exhilarating for the danger of it, and they’d both ended up performing well for all the endorphins and adrenalin. Maybe it had really only been about that, the thrill, since neither had stayed in contact despite having each other’s names.
He considered the conversation about the poster, and decided that other experience was better unsaid. Colin hadn’t flinched at all at answering to either option, but he didn’t want to risk ******** up at all on what would be their first night in the same room. Their first official day as roommates. As….friends.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:18 pm
His reaction was classic, definitely classic. Colin couldn't help chuckling about it. "Well, in a lot of movies about college life, the roommates will put like, a sock or something out on the doornob when they were having sex. That way they wouldn't, you know interrupt." Movies with low-brow humor, but that a some of his buddies found "epic" or "awesome", had provided this little gem of information that he now shared with Bjorn.
"I think it's usually that way. Trial and error and sometimes flavored lip gloss." He winked. Kissing was where most of the youths they schooled with had gone too, a few more 'developed ones' had gotten to - or past - the mythical first base. "When you dance in pair, you get very close, so I've gotten to put my hands all over girls, but it wasn't like, sexual or anything. The lights come up, the music begins and you stop being a person, you're just...performing. Unless the routine needs to be really sexy or whatever, it's a non-issue."
Colin signaled the waitress again, he wanted a glass of juice and a bowl of grits with cinnamon and a pinch of sugar. Maybe some strawberries too.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:52 pm
Björn shook his head, still chortling to himself at the explanation. Sometimes he was glad he missed most movies. He guessed a lot of people would be embarrassed in that sort of situation, since it would be the bedroom (the traditional room for that sort of thing) for two people. Having a system to avoid trouble if someone felt awkward was rather smart. Still, to make movies about it? He bet those movies weren't on any award lists. He would probably laugh at them if he saw them.
He could follow along with non-sexuality of the body once it was in an area of performance and art. "That makes sense. The body becomes...an object. Something admirable but ...motion, mechanics, ....something not a person. For dancers so much more than for athletes, as far as performing though. You're telling stories, or making art, not just striving for ideals."
Grits added to pancakes and waffles? Since he was hardly in form for competitions yet, the idea of carbo-loading was bleak. And really...most other breakfast foods that were on the menu were either carbs or meat. And he didn't feel up to meat with Colin being a ...whatever that was called. Maybe after they'd been in the lunchroom together a couple times and the options were mystery meat or mystery vegetable for lunch and dinner and they had built up the camaraderie that came of that shared food-depression.
"I think you are the winner after all, " He conceded. "You do have a empty pit in there after all."
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