Big men, big hearts

[Gerrit]

The Ogre looked at the apartment he had been sharing with Ram for the last few weeks. It was not particularly big, but the space was divided in a way that gave each of the Ogre's a little bit of privacy if they needed it: the 'living room' (which really was just a small extra room fitting an couch and a small tv set and some shelves) connected to the 'main hall' (hallway, kitchen and dining room all rolled into one), which in turn had a door leading to Gerrit's room and a bathroom.


As expected, there had been several smaller accidents (and a big one: the couch was barely useable anymore; in it's place is an old spare mattress taking up most of the available space of the room) around the house, but nothing really they couldn't fix between the two of them. Keeping the personal decor and sentimental stuff to an almost non-existent minimum helped the Stonebones to manage all the repairs and replacements without losing his temper.


Strangely enough, their schedules hadn't really made it possible for them to actually sit down and talk beyond a daily chit-chat yet (and the few possibilities there were he had been busy pitying himself and working through his own baggage), but Gerrit wanted to change that today. He had two big pizzas from around the corner and swapped his schedule with a colleague to actually have a day off with the Render.


He put the cartons on the table, took of his windbreaker and hung it up at the small wardrobe hanging next to the door. He didn't try to be particularly silent - he learned that it was better to announce his presence before calling out directly.
"Hey, I'm back."

@%1; Ram

[Ram]

Ram hadn't really... settled in. Most of his clothes he still kept in his folded in his backpack. And every morning he would restuff his sleeping bag back into its pouch. Maybe the sparse surroundings were rubbing a little Winter off on him. Maybe keeping his stuff confined to a small corner helped make the place feel at least a little bigger. Either way, things were starting to spill out a bit. Since starting his job and having money to spend, he'd managed to acquire some new clothes and some other useful items and the backpack would probably start complaining soon.

But that was a thought for another time. Today he had off from his Funderland job and he had already used it to take advantage of having running water to steam up the bathroom and the hallway with a long shower. And he was caught off guard when he heard the Stonebones announcement. Ram shut off the water, quickly and grabbed a towel.

"Hey," he called back "I thought you had work today? Is something wrong?" Ram's mind went to some dark places, wondering if Gerrit was under duress or if something had happened to make him miss work.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit stopped for a moment in confusion. Then it hit him: I haven't talked to Ram about this before planning it. That went to show how much they're schedules didn't match up so far. "Uh, sorry. I've moved my shift around and I thought we could have pizza and get to, you know, actually talk." He looked at the barely dressed Ogre and added quickly "If you've got no other plans that is. Sorry, you can at least finish your shower or get dressed."

[Ram]

"Ah," said Ram, running his hand over the back of his head a bit sheepishly "No, that sounds nice. No plans. Just, you know, enjoying the miracles of indoor plumbing," he explained, though he left out the fact that he'd been doing so for at least thirty minutes. As if the cloud of heavy steam wasn't giving the hint.

"Give me a second." The Render grabbed his backpack from its corner and disappeared back into the bathroom and after some rustling emerged a few seconds later having pulled on some pants and thrown on a flannel shirt. He'd gotten pretty good at dressing quickly, despite his lack of dexterity, when his option for baths had been public restrooms. He finished buttoning up on the way down the hallway to the kitchen.

"So, what brought this on?" he asked curiously. Gerrit didn't seem worried which set Ram more at ease. Still it hadn't been their routine.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit smiled as his inaptitude didn't send this whole plan down the drain. "Hey, it's cold outside - what better way to start the day than a hot shower." There was a part of him that wondered how often Ram did this while being alone, but that part got shot down quickly. You're living comfortably with what you earn right now - don't be a miser. True, he also wasn't the type for long showers himself so that balanced it out.

While Ram got dressed, Gerrit got two clear hard-plastic cups and some tissues to put on the table. He then opened the pizza boxes and ripped off the lids, which could be used as improvised plates. No glasses or plates to break, which hopefully translated to less stress for the Render. "Nothing really. I just figured that you've been living here for a couple of weeks now and we didn't have the opportunity to talk so far." He thought back to the Autumn Equinox and the Summer meeting - on both of those occasions Gerrit was a mess, to put it lightly. He cleared his throat to get rid of those memories and filled the cups with water. "I mean I kind of wanted to catch up with you. How are you doing?"

With the drinks the Stonebones went back to the table and sat down, giving Ram a curious and warm look.

[Ram]

Ram took a slice of pizza before sitting down as well, turning the seat to be sideways so his knees wouldn't be banging the tabletop.

"Working mostly," he admitted. He felt a bit ashamed about that actually. That he wasn't trying harder to track down his fetch. "At Funderland," Did Gerrit know that's where he worked? They'd slipped so easily into short heys and how are yous without really talking too much, he wasn't sure if he'd ever mentioned it "Though I generally end up doing more customer service than what feels like actual guard duty. Gotta admit that Karens are great for getting a taste of anger though." He said with a partial smile. The glamour was nice but it could still sometimes be emotionally exhausting to get. However, he took a bit of perverse pleasure fanning the flames from time to time.

"Let's see, bought a suit recently. Titania and John helped me find one at a local thrift store. Fits alright. Well enough for formal stuff anyway. Titania said Sera could tailor it but I haven't followed up." He didn't want to feel like a burden.

"How about you?" he asked, turning the question around "Anything interesting going on in your life?"

[Gerrit]

Funderland? It was Gerrits turn to feel embarrassed. Had Ram already told him about this, did Gerrit forget this already? He hoped that his face didn't betray him here. Luckily, the Render's explanation gave him enough to fill in the gaps. Security at Funderland - this time he'd memorize it. "Huh, I have a hard time imagining anyone having the guts to talk back at you." Then again, he knew exactly what kind of visitors Ram talked about - with them it was less guts and more entitlement. "Are you enjoying it so far?"

"Hey, that's nice - must have been a real lucky find." That probably went without saying it, given what the Summer had to work with. "So what is Titania like? I didn't really get to talk to her.. at all." He wondered how much Ram got around. He probably made lots of friends so far beside his work.

And with that question Gerrit knew he couldn't just stick to small talk anymore. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Which gave him the verbatim segue to what came next. "I just also wanted to properly apologize to you for the way I've been acting at Circe's welcome. I didn't want to embarrass you." He took a bite of a piece of pizza to fill the awkward wait for his roommate's reaction. The silver lining was, after this he'd only have to apologize to the Queen herself. Gerrit swallowed.

[Ram]

"You'd be surprised," And it was usually the smaller people for some reason "Or sometimes they try using me as a tool in their argument. It depends. But yeah, mostly enjoying it. Though I think Titania is a bit disappointed I didn't take the maintenance job." He said with a small smile.

"She's... pretty vernal. Likes what she likes. Bit up tight. Not big on swearing." Ram gave a slight shrug as he munched on the pizza, unsure how else to describe her "She was of the first people I met in Sacramento, running in the park, so at least a little interested in fitness. Seems dedicated to the group though. Why do you ask?"

Ram's wooden brow creaked as it crease. "Apologize? Be embarrassed," he grinned a bit in confusion "What for?"

[Gerrit]

Gerrit chuckled a bit. "Call me an old man, but I'm under the impression that people have grown way less polite in the last years. They're lucky you're not easy to lose your temper." Which was true as far as he knew - which didn't say much, really.

He took a bite of his pizza while listening to Ram. Not being big on swearing he could relate to and she didn't seem above spending time with less good looking people than her. "Oh, just asking. Frankly, I didn't get the chance to talk to her yet. Well, and most of the others really. I thought I could make up some holes in my knowledge of the locals with you." That sounded a bit sheepish, but only because he felt a bit like interrogating the other Ogre. Don't be silly. You're having a normal talk.

He didn't know if Ram's reaction really put his mind at ease. "You know, the tantrum I threw before storming off. I don't know if that put you in a bad light, because we're living together or something." He shrugged. "It's probably nothing, but I didn't want to leave it unsaid. I'll try to behave better next time." Another shrug. "It's a lot, starting a new life - isn't it?"

[Ram]

Ram shrugged. "Less polite maybe but I figure they've always been that mean," he commented, a little bitterly. The memories were vague but there were enough to remind him that manners didn't save you from cruelty. But they were just shadowy memories and easy to push aside. He smiled again "Heh, can you imagine? Going full Ogre on a Norma? I'd loss my jump but I bet it would feel good," he joked.

He nodded "Well, can't say I know that many people that well but alright. If there's anyone else you want the scoop on I can dish with the best of them." Ram grabbed a glass and got up to fill it in the sink.

"I'll be honest, I kind of already forgot about that," he admitted "I mean, not forgot forgot," he added hastily "More... that's on you?" No that was a bad way to phrase it "I mean, I get it. social stuff can be stressful and feeling like your being badgered... that can make you angry."

He finished filling his glass and sat back down, and gave an understanding grin "And this may surprise you but I think getting angry isn't something to be ashamed of or embarrassed by. Just gotta make sure you put it to good use."