Rory Cameron's House | Page 1 | Residences | Guild Forums

LoliKokoro
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 7:45 am

When Rory and his best friend Natalia first picked out the little two-bedroom house, it was pretty just because of the orange walls. Outside of the color, it was a typical, average, boring house. In fact, the two of them kind of hated it, though it could have just been a side effect of them getting on each other's nerves. Now that he lives alone, Rory's become quite fond of the place, even though it's rather beaten up and scratched from having three Great Danes living in it. Not that you can tell anymore; it's just as crowded and cluttered as Rory's museum, since he puts the things that don't fit in his living room.

Rory's room is cluttered and filled with books and knick-knacks. What was once Natalia's room is still pretty sparse, and acts as a guest room.

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Rory Cameron (Owner)

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:29 pm

Well, there she was, standing in front of Rory's house. She had been invited over for dinner as a type of apology for the whole being stuck in a random cave thing. Perhaps it was all in her head, but things felt a bit weird after the incident. There was no time to worry about that though, she had accepted Rory's invitation, so dinner they would have, no matter how awkward she ended up feeling. She could handle feeling a bit uncomfortable, but she could never be rude to a friend for no good reason. She rang the doorbell, wondering if this dinner was really a good idea. She'd probably end up doing something stupid and just ruin everything. Or what if Rory had forgotten she was vegetarian and had planned some super meaty dinner? There were so many things that could go wrong! No, stay calm, stay calm. Everything would go fine, her and Rory had been friends for years now, getting stuck in a cave together wouldn't make things weird. Even if she had just realized that she might kind of, sort of like him more than a friend, it didn't really mean anything. It was all just her brain tricking her into it, because she had been scared was all. Besides, it wasn't like Rory felt that way about her, they were just friends! That was stuff she would have to worry about later though, because now she had to focus on dinner and not being completely awkward.

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:18 pm

Rory had been playing with the idea of inviting Usagi for dinner for a while, but had been too self-conscious to do anything about it. He wanted to do it, it felt like the right thing to do, since they had been trapped in that cave together and he at least wanted to make up for it. It wasn't his fault they had been there, but he still felt responsible, and besides, he hadn't really spoken to her properly since then, and he wanted to make sure she was doing okay. But there were certain connotations to inviting a woman over to your house for dinner, weren't there? And Rory had to reassure himself that this had nothing to do with his talk with Zelynity, and once he had convinced himself that he had no ulterior motives, he had been able to pick up the phone.

That didn't mean he was any less nervous. He had spent that day cleaning, but then he realized that under all the clutter, his living room wasn't much to brag about. He was a super bachelor, it seemed, with a preference for functionality over aesthetics. At least the piles of artifacts, books, broken telescopes, and rocks had given it a bit of personality, so after removing the clutter he promptly put it all back. He had ironed his shirt, too, but by the end of the day it was as wrinkled as it had ever been, and he was busy trying to flatten the wrinkles out when the doorbell rang.

It had been twenty years since dogs lived in that house, but immediately Rory tensed, preparing himself for a barrage of loud barks and claws scraping against the wooden floors. He got so few visitors, he hadn't broken out of the habit. Once he remembered that it was just him, he cleared his throat, patted down his hair and shirt a few more times, then went over to open the door. "H-Hello, Usagi," he greeted her, his nerves making his voice uneven and tremulous. "You, err... look nice..." That didn't make him feel any more confident, so he tried again. "Thanks for coming by, I mean. Come in, please!" He stepped out of the way, opening the door as wide as it would go, and looked hopelessly up at the ceiling, hoping that the distraction would calm his nerves. He was a grown man, he was too old to be nervous like this!

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:35 pm

Was it too late to turn around and go back home? She could just call Rory and say she got sick or something, that would work, right? No, she couldn't lie to her friend, and it was too late now, because he had just answered the door! "Oh, um hi!" she greeted him in return. Was it just her or did Rory sound a bit strange? No, it was probably just her. She looked down a bit her lip, but quickly looked back up upon realizing it. She smiled awkwardly at her friend, about to thank him for his compliment, but stopped as he changed the subject to coming in. "Thanks for inviting me," she replied, unsure of what else to say.

She entered the house like he had said, and curiously looked around. It could use some sprucing up, but Usagi rather liked the interesting treasures piled throughout the room. Had she been less nervous she'd have asked about a few of the artifacts, but now was not the time. She turned around to look back at Rory. She was unsure what to do now that she was inside. Should she sit down somewhere or just keep standing around? She really wasn't a very good guest.

((Ehhh sorry it's so short ): ))

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:56 pm

This was awkward, Rory had to resist the urge to laugh. If they had been anywhere else, he probably would have, just to ease the tension, but there was an added formality to all of this, he noted as he closed the door behind Usagi. "Thanks for accepting the invitation," he said rather uselessly as he looked at her go in. All of a sudden, he felt very self-conscious about the status of his house. It wasn't just the clutter, it was the lack of decorations on the walls, the scratched-up floors, the out of date TV barely standing up on its own. "S-sorry it's such a mess. It's been a long time since I had someone over. ...A really long time." He wrung his hands anxiously as he wracked his brain for something to do. He had invited her over for dinner, but... What did you do when you weren't actually eating? He was at a loss. So he talked.

"Uh, I made food. Lasagna. Is that okay? It's vegetarian, but I wasn't sure if you'd like it. I'm not a very good cook, so it may not even resemble lasagna that much, hahahahah," he laughed nervously, before deciding that this was a terrible way to go and he changed the subject. "How have you been? It's been a while, since... yeah. Are you okay? Are the, err, flowers... flowering?" This was going terribly. What was the point of having a genius brain if it was going to crap out when it really mattered? "Do you wanna sit? I... Oh!" He realized that the couch was covered with papers and pebbles, and he stepped forward to sweep them all off. "Here, now you can sit! I'll... put these away." With a quick bow of his head, Rory took his armful of papers and rocks and hurried off into his bedroom. He felt bad for leaving her there, but he needed a moment to regroup, and being around his books always helped to clear his head.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:42 pm

"It's alright," she replied and looked back down. It wasn't like her house was the neatest either; it wasn't as cluttered as Rory's, but it was far from spotless. She didn't like a house to be too clean, it was nice when they looked lived-in! A little bit of mess gave a house character after all. Usagi turned her attention from the house back to Rory. That's right, dinner. That was why she was here. She had been so nervous she had almost completely forgotten the reason. She would have said something had Rory not started to ramble. How had she been? Was she okay? Something about the flowers. He changed subjects too quickly for her to really answer anything. This really was not going well, at all. "T-the flowers?" she questioned, in attempt to get him to repeat the last question he had spouted off. Oh, but he had offered her a seat! Flowers were irrelevant now! She sat on the couch and tried to think up something to talk about, but Rory had left. What was she supposed to do all alone in his living room? Maybe he didn't even want her there. Did he not want to be her friend anymore after the whole cave thing? That was probably it. Usagi sighed, he probably only invited her because it seemed like the nice thing to do. Well, this was less than pleasant.

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:27 am

The moment Rory left the living room, he realized he had made a mistake, but it was too late to do anything about it now. He deposited the rocks and papers onto the chair by his bed and covered his face in his hands. He was trying, he was really trying, he was really trying, but it was just biting him back. He thought back to that time in the cave, when he thought they were about to be mauled by a walrus and made that dumb declaration. He was trying hard then, too. Probably too hard.

He was wracking his brain for things to talk about as he turned to return to the living room, when he noticed a book sitting on his dresser. All of a sudden, he remembered several titles he had been meaning to pull out for Usagi, and by the time he walked into the living room, he was holding almost a dozen books, ranging from train reading material to thick, heavy scholastic journals. His nerves had been forgotten, and he was pink-faced and grinning as he circled around the couch to face her. "I wanted to show you these," he said breathlessly as he set the stack of books on the corner of the coffee table, shoving aside knick-knacks. "I've been setting them aside for seasons, but I keep forgetting to bring them by," he explained as he started to hand the books, one by one, to his guest. "Some are on botany, this one is on the composition of sea caves, I picked it right after... you know..." At the mention of the incident, Rory cleared his throat and kept going. "But most are just some I thought you might enjoy. There are a couple others that I haven't brought out, I'm still reading those." Ahh, there he was, going on about books again. For some reason, he remembered what Zelynity had said to him just a week before. "There are some things in life that books just can't even hold a flame to." If that was true, he was probably going about this all wrong.

Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:42 pm

She knew it, she shouldn't have come here after all. Maybe she should just excuse herself so Rory wouldn't have to put up with her. She'd just wait until Rory came back, thank him for inviting her, and then come up with some lame excuse for why she had to go home. Mitsukai would probably laugh at her for it, but that'd be better than sitting around Rory's house unwanted. She started to run possible excuses for her head, but Rory had returned before she had come up with one she found suitable enough. So much for that plan.

She bit her lip as she looked toward him, watching him sit down on the couch next to her. His composure seemed different from just a moment ago, and he was holding something. A small grin spread across Usagi's face as he explained what he had in hand. "For me?" Had he really been setting those aside for seasons? That was really...sweet. She could feel the warmth rising in her cheeks, and just hoped that her blushing wasn't too obvious. The darkness of the cave had saved her previously, but now there wasn't much to hide it. "T-thank you," she told her friend, picking up one of the books from the coffee table. She flipped through some of the pages, before closing it and setting it back down. She certainly hadn't expected Rory to do anything like that for her. And to think that just a minute ago she had been thinking up reasons to leave! Maybe he still did want to be friends after all.

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:47 am

Rory had involuntarily broken into a smile when Usagi picked up the first book, as he looked upon his friend expectantly. He hadn't brought them out for any particularly self-serving reason, he genuinely just wanted to show them because he had been thinking of her, but he still expected a reaction. The one he had gotten was so shy, so wonderfully gentle, that he didn't really understand it as such (he probably would at later analysis, but his head still wasn't entirely into it just yet) and his smile faded as there was a long pause. "I-I'm sorry, do you not like it?" he asked hesitantly, his mind lurching towards panic mode one more time. "I mean, some of these topics may seem dry, so you don't have to read them if you don't want to! I won't be offended, so you can tell me if you don't want them."

Thankfully, he managed to catch himself before he reached full panic mode again, and he took a deep breath, though his eyes never left his friend's face. He was probably jumping to conclusions again. But he was unsure. Was her small thank you a shy murmur of thanks, or an attempt to be polite? Was the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks -- she did look quite nice when she looked like that, though it wasn't important, probably -- from flattery or from being put on the spot? He was used to people like his sister or Nat, who were much more blunt with their feelings. When Natalia didn't like a present, she'd call him an idiot for being so clueless. When his sister was displeased, she'd scowl. They were so easy to understand, but Usagi wasn't like that. She was much more subtle. Rory liked that subtlety, it made him think, and he liked to think. "I just sort of sprang these on you, it was rude of me," he said finally, bowing his slightly in apology. He was feeling better, but also a little embarrassed, for putting his dear friend on the spot like that.

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:59 pm

"N-no, I do like it!"she quickly told her friend, after his question. Had she not accepted them enthusiastically enough? Or maybe her thank you didn't come across as genuine? That was no good at all. Had she been more like her sister it would've been clear that she liked the gift, but she wasn't like her sister, and she never would be. Still, perhaps she should be more clear when it came to things like this. "No, I want them" she assured her friend with a smile. She didn't read often, but then again she didn't own very many books. Still, she'd make sure to read these.

She became quiet again, as her thoughts took over her mind. She really did appreciate Rory's gift. Maybe she could get him something in return to show that. She wasn't very good at buying gifts though, and while she knew Rory liked books she was afraid that if she got him one he'd already have it. She could always ask Mitsukai, but that probably wouldn't go well either, considering her sister also didn't do too well with picking out gifts. She had to figure something out to show her appreciation though. She continued to run ideas through her mind, until Rory spoke, and brought her back to what was going on around her. "No, not all!" she quickly protested. Springing gifts on her wasn't anything to be apologizing for! Why did he think that?

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 5:50 am

And, of course, it turned out to be all in Rory's head, he relaxed thankfully. He still felt a little bit bashful, but that was nothing new; he was just relieved that he hadn't offended her or put her in an awkward position. "Good! I'll put them in a bag before you go," he said pleasantly, getting a little excited at the idea of her reading all these books. Think of all the discussions they could have! He didn't usually get to talk to people about the things he had read. The people he tended to socialize with weren't some of the bigger readers he'd met.

He was about to bring up the prospect of chatting about the books he had brought out, when there came a loud buzz from the kitchen. It made Rory jump; for a moment, he had forgotten why he had invited Usagi to his house in the first place -- dinner! "That's the oven, I think. I'm pretty sure, unless the coffee maker is practicing its impressions!" he let out a goofy chuckle at his own dumb joke, standing up. "I'll go check on it, I'll be right back," he explained, hesitating before turning into the kitchen. He didn't want to leave her alone again, but it sort of couldn't be helped. After an awkward beat, he hurried into the kitchen and gave the oven timer a hard whack so it would stop its buzzing. The house wasn't exactly the newest on the island, and most of the appliances had seen better days. Still, it functioned as an oven all right, and he was pleased that the lasagna had solidified into something edible-looking. Sure, the edges seemed a little crispy, but maybe she wouldn't notice. Feeling quite good about himself, at least for now, he put the pan on top of the oven range to cool, then turned around and gave the kitchen one more look-over. The dishes were clean and put away, there weren't any stray Cheerio's on the floor as far as he could tell. He had covered the kitchen table (the only table in the house) with a table cloth, the corner that one of Natalia's dogs had ripped a chunk out of tucked away out of sight. There was even a small vase with a few gardenias he had purchased during his dinner-invitation-visit. The plates even matched, which was quite impressive considering how mismatched the other furniture in his bachelor pad was.

"Usagi, food's done and cooling," he said to his friend from the doorway, suddenly feeling nervous again. This was the moment of truth! "Are you hungry? We can eat now if you'd like."

[ooc: maybe a little early, but here's a roll to see how Rory's cooking turned out. 10 is delicious, 1 is you're-gonna-need-therapy-for-your-PTSD-terrible]

Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:29 pm

Usagi smiled at his positive reaction, happy to know that her friend no longer doubted her. Maybe she was worrying about things to much. So far nothing bad had actually happened. So she had let herself get a little flustered, that was nothing new, and Rory didn't really seem to mind. At least, she didn't think he did. After all, he seemed a bit flustered too, though she had no earthly idea why. For now, things had calmed down though, and she could let herself relax again.

She sharply turned her head in the direction of the buzz coming from the kitchen? So much for feeling relaxed, she too had forgotten about the food Rory was cooking. That was an oven noise, right? Rory quickly affirmed her guess and she chuckled at his joke, then nodded in reply as he went to go get the food. So it was the oven. She didn't cook often, so she wasn't especially familiar with kitchen noises. Besides, her oven beeped...maybe? She'd ask Mitsukai when she got home, though chances were she didn't know either.

She looked up as Rory appeared in the doorway. She'd have to worry about her own oven noises later, because food was done! "Oh. Yes." she nodded and got up from the couch, going to join her friend in the kitchen. The kitchen was nice, and there were even some flowers he had bought out! How nice! Hopefully, the food would be good, the only time she ever had the chance to eat decent cooking was when she had dinner with her mother. Still, it couldn't be nearly as bad as some of Mitsukai's creations, so it would be fine.

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LoliKokoro
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:49 pm

Rory broke into an anxious smile as Usagi rose from the couch, wringing his hands nervously as she stepped into the kitchen. She didn't seem to have any major negative reaction, at least not outwardly, which should have been reassuring but just made him feel like there was even more pressure to have a delicious meal. "Please sit down, I'll get the food!" he said almost stiffly, pulling out Usagi's chair for her before taking the empty plates and going over to the stove. ...Now that the lasagna had cooled, and he was up close, didn't it look a little bit suspicious...? Like something was off? Maybe it was just the lighting that gave it that strange tint. He hoped it was just the lighting. He cut two pieces of lasagna from the dish and placed them on the plates, shifting them around to hide the burned bottom, though it didn't do much to help. Giving up, he placed the plates on the table before retrieving a plastic bowl filled with salad (at least salad was hard to mess up) and a small plate with sliced bread.

"Help yourself," Rory gestured to the salad and the bread as he took a seat across from his guest. He felt kind of bashful, sitting in his own kitchen with Usagi like this; when was the last time he had ever shared this table with a woman? "Well, I guess we can dig in! Here goes nothing..." he laughed, but he couldn't bring himself to take a bite, not yet. Instead, he loaded up his plate with salad and bread, picked up his fork and spun it in his hand, before leaping to his feet again. "Oh! Right! Drinks! What would you like? I have water and juice... Oh, and wine, I just got a bottle." He was not a big drinker, but he had just read a book on wine making and it had piqued his interest. And to be honest, he could maybe use a glass.

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:07 pm

Usagi sat as she was told to, and waited for Rory to get the food, not that it was a long wait, considering he only had to go a short distance. She smiled at her friend, as he sat down. It was kind of nice having dinner like this, sure it was a bit nerve-wracking, but it was still nice. It had been a long time since she had a one on one meal with a person of the opposite gender, a very long time. This wasn't like that though! This was just a nice little get together between two friends, nothing more, nothing less. Even so, reminding herself of that did little to help.

She snapped back to reality as Rory gestured toward the salad, oh right, food. She was here to eat, not to over think things! "Thanks," she began to fill her plate with the salad and a piece of bread. Maybe she'd get another piece later, bread was nice, but she didn't want to be rude and take it all. She had to be considerate of these sorts of things when eating with people other than her family. In the mean time, she'd be content with her one piece and her salad. She was about to take a bite, when Rory hopped up from his place. "Juice is fine," Oh, he had wine too? Usagi didn't care much for alcohol, but she didn't want to be rude and turn away the offer. "Wine is okay too though," she told her friend. Besides, wine might not be too bad of an idea at the moment, and a little couldn't hurt.

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Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:45 am

It was sort of a strange sensation, having a dinner guest. Rory was so used to living alone, and doing everything at his own pace, he couldn't tell if he was taking too long in his maneuverings to get Usagi some food and drink, or if he was speeding around the kitchen like a crazy person. Probably the latter. Usagi's agreement to wine was really all the permission he needed, and Rory quickly broke out a bottle of white wine that he had been given, grabbing the only two wine glasses he owned, and pouring two generous shares. He was just about to return to the table when he remembered that she had also said that juice was fine, so he also poured a glass of orange juice, in case she decided that wine was weird. He just wanted her to be happy and comfortable, afterall! He set his guest's glasses on the table first, before retrieving his own, and as he sat down, he smiled almost queasily at her. "Bon appetit, I suppose," he forced a squeamish laugh, before quickly downing more than half of his glass of wine in one gulp. He didn't want Usagi to feel like he needed to be drunk to have dinner with her, but the nerves were intense, so he couldn't help himself.

Now that he had some alcohol in his system, and had sampled the bread and the salad, which were as bread-y and salad-y as he could hope for, he stared at the lasagna anxiously. How was it that with every passing moment it looked less and less appetizing? Even so, it was their dinner, so it wasn't like he could avoid it forever. Taking his fork hesitantly in his hand, Rory cut off a corner of the lasagna and lifted it gingerly to his mouth. Oh goddess, it didn't even smell like lasagna. Praying to the goddess and all her fairies, even though he probably could be considered a skeptic, he took a hesitant bite, and it took all the willpower in the world not to spit it up again. Oh goddess. Rory had never licked the inside of a dumpster before, but he didn't think he had to anymore; this bite of "lasagna" had pretty much brought the experience home. He swallowed with great difficulty, raising his napkin to cover whatever grimace his face was surely displaying. "So," he spoke up, his voice tight as he tried to ride through the godawful aftertaste without revealing anything, "I'm really glad you decided to take me up on this dinner offer. I know it's not a lot, but I've really been wanting to make it up to you. You know, after everything. I just want to make sure you're okay, we're okay." He poked at the lasagna with his fork, reluctant to put himself through that experience again. "I know a simple dinner isn't enough to necessarily set things right, I'm sure Nat would say it's a bit of a cop-out, but I value your friendship too much to risk it, you know?" Ahh, he was beginning to ramble. Was it nerves? The wine? The notable amount of alcohol Loli had consumed before writing this post? Whichever it was, he was feeling chatty again. He just hoped that she was willing enough to listen, and possibly forgive his horrendous cooking.

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