Quinten Log 55- 20 02 2006

Salamandastron: Kitchens

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The kitchens of Salamandastron are the center of much activity, charged

with feeding all the inhabitants of the mountain. Countless cooks in

white apronsscurry about, brushing hurriedly past the obviously uninvited

non-culinary hares. Food is everywhere! Some tables, covered in flour,

fruit juice, and cutting boards, are apparently used for food preparation,

while on others sit cooling cakes, well-tossed salads, and other finished

products. Though the numerous ovens occupy the side of the room farthest

from the door, their combined heat is enough to substantially warm the

whole room and all its occupants. And with the heat come the scents, as

the aromas of various foods, spices, and seasonings waft around the room,

enough to tempt even the most stoic beast.

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Gabriel has arrived.

Quinten is sat on a stool dressed in his white fatigues and slowly peeling carrots, each time he has peeled one he slices it up into rounds and drops them into a large stew pot set on the floor beforehim

Looking tired for one of the first times since she entered the mountain, Gabby appears in the kitchen's doorway. The rabbit spots Quinten and seems to hesitate for a moment. However, the appearance of a basket of hot pastries on the counter next to Quin is too much for her. Gabriel walks in, sheepishly rubbing her eyes.

Quinten looks up when he senses somone approaching and smiles hestantly "Gabby....you ok? you look tired"

Gabriel yawns hugely before reaching around Quin for one of the pieces of food. "Yes...haven't been sleeping too well."

Quinten reaches out with a paw and places it on her arm "What...is wrong?"

Gabriel jerks reflexively when he touches her, something she hasn't done in a long while. The rabbit backs up, unable to quite reach the basket. "Nothing."

Quinten lets his paw fall and sighs "Ok..." he picks up the basket and holds it out to her, not at all sure what he's done wrong.

Gabriel takes one piece of food, leaving the rest, not getting closer. She doesn't bite it, but instead looks at the floor...at the pot in front of the hare...everywhere but at /him/.

Quinten sighs and puts it down "Gabby...what have i done wrong?"

Gabriel nibbles the corner of her muffin and sighs. "Nothing."

Quinten nods and looks back down at his carrots "Ok...well uhm see you later then....ye dinnae wanna be hanging round in here they'll uhm...give ye a job to do"

Gabriel looks around. There /are/ a couple cooks banging around with different projects of their own. She appears reluctant, but then decides. The rabbit quickly runs out of the room, and loud sobbing can be heard as she runs down towards the caverns.

Quinten curses and throws his knife down onto the side board and runs out of the room after the rabbit wanting to get to the bottom of this now, he ducks into the store room to make it look likes he's gone for something and slips out te other side into the caverns

Salamandastron: Underground Spring

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This is a small, circular room with a pool in the middle - the lifeblood

of Salamandastron. This freshwater spring allows the mountain a water

supply in the event of a siege. The spring bubbles up from the center

(and providing a great assistance to bathing: having the water already

warm). A passage leads slightly uphill to the Store Room for easy

transport of water between the two rooms.

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Gabriel is sitting on the edge of the pool, her face buried in her paws, the muffin sitting idly beside her. She seems to no longer be crying, but still fairly distraught.

Quinten pads in and looks about, when he sees the doe he moves over towards her and sits down on the edge of the pool a short distance away "Gabby...." is all he says

Gabriel jumps at his voice, and cowers slightly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you stop working!"

Quinten shakes his head "Your more important then working...i got one of the other recruits to cover for me" he moves closer to her but doesn't touch her "What...what is wrong?"

Gabriel seems to be shivering a bit before she looks at him, for just a second. "I don't know if...if I want to be around you any more."

Quinten's face falls, his ears pinning back "Wha...why..what did i do..."

Beginning to cry again, Gabby appears to almost want to hug Quinten, but instead she merely crosses her own arms, sobbing."I talked with the Colonel. And I thought about what you told me. It is...it just doesn't seem..." The rabbit breaks off, wiping her eyes.

Quinten moves closer and wraps his arms around her himself holding her too him, sniffling some himself "Gabby...please" he sniffles and rests his head on her shoulder "I like you...i really really like you...i do honest..."

Shoving at him, almost tipping into the water, Gabby glares. "Don't touch me! Don't /touch/ me!" She jumps up, wielding her muffin. "I need space. I want to think...you said you like /bucks/?" The rabbit drops her agressive stance, now looking very, very small and sad. "I think I understand what you meant."

Quinten almost falls in at the shove, reaching out for her imploringly "No...please Gabby i was wrong...the colonel told me i'm not meant to like bucks, so i started spending more time with you....i really like you...honest i do...please Gabby.."

Gabriel backs even farther away, almost at the store room door. "How can I believe you? You tol' me...told me that"-sniff-"some others said that it was alright! So I believe you've changed, for what?"

Quinten sits down and starts crying rocking back and forth "Tha stupid evil hare...she's..." he sniffs and looks up at you again "I don't want a buck....i want you, your nice and kind, you like to go for walks on the shore and eat the same things i eat....at first...i was just spending time with you cause SHE said i had to, then i started liking you more and more."

Beginning to cry /again/ as she sees Quinten starting to melt, Gabby takes one step towards him. "Evil 'n stupid? So you'll listen to her and then call her that?" She throws the muffin at him, fairly accurately, her vision still blurred by tears. "Then answer me one thing. Were you ever...with another buck here?"

Quinten shakes his head and sniffs "No...kinda let oneknow i liked him....but never...you know..." he looks up "Sorry just she told me one thin...an now she's gone an upset you an i thought we were getting onr eally good.."

Taking another few steps towards him, still too far away to touch him, Gabriel sniffs. "So you've never felt...the way you do about me for a buck? Ever?"

Quinten lowers his hears "I thought....well you know kinda daydreamed bout a buck...but i never felt like anyone like i feel for you....honest Gabby."

Gabriel smiles through her tears and walks up to Quinten, laying a paw on his shoulder. "You've given me...hope. Maybe we can be friends again."

Quinten sniffs and wipes at his eyes "I hope so...i really like you Gabby..the way you smell...yer laugh...everything"

Removing her paw, Gabby also wipes at her face. "I need to go freshen up. Maybe we can talk later." The muffin floats in the water pool behind Quinten, looking just about as sad and alone as Gabby feels.

Quinten nods and squeezes her paw if she'll let him "Ok Gabby....i hope...we can talk later"

Gabriel does let him take her paw, but she doesn't seem too comfortable. The rabbit smiles forcibly, and walks away, shoulders slumped.

- Time Passes Etc -

Salamandastron: Recreation Room

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The recreation room for the army of the Longpatrol. Here soldiers come to

relax after a hard day's work and the officers come for a game of cards or

a quick drink by the fire. The room is quite large, having to deal with a

lot of hares at one time. Along one wall there is a large worktop with

some cuhsioned stools lining one side of it. On the other side of the

worktop there stand many kegs and bottles, lined so that they can be

easily opened by someone standing on the inside of the bar but well out of

reach of the rowdy hares on the other side. There are a few woollen cloths

on the bar and mats in front of each stool. The next thing nearest to the

bar are the round tables, each with 4 chairs around and a lantern in the

middle of each one. There are a couple of slightly larger oval tables with

8 seats around, obviously for larger crowds. The other end of the room is

littered with armchairs, comfortable armchairs, each pair with a small

table in between. The armchairs are near the fire, used to heat the room

and provide extra comfort for the relaxing soldiers.

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Gabriel is sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs, as close to the fire as she can get. She looks a bit damp, but the warmth is drying her fairly quickly. The rabbit is curled up, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, and her face carries a look of...thought or determination, an odd combination not usually seen on someone as young as she is.".

Hm. Someone's sitting in Zoe's usual armchair. The Colonel walks up behind the armchair, peering over to see who's in the chair. Ahhh. Her brow knits briefly and then smooths out as she continues around the chair, lowering herself into another chair. "Hullo, deah."

Gah! The Colonel? Here? Now? Gabby appears even more upset when she sees the older hare, her brows knitting as she buries her face deeper in her knees. She does manage to squeak out a "ma'am", and she shifts a bit so her body is facing the Colonel.

Zoe_Lang's eyebrows go up. "Er... deah? Somethin' wrong?" The way she says it, it's likely she wants the answer to be 'oh, no, just peachy, thanks'.

Gabriel's body tenses, as if she didn't know it was all that obvious. "Er. A bit, ma'am."

Zoe_Lang hms, leaning forward in her chair, resting forearms on corresponding knee. "Care t' talk about it?"

Gabriel lets her legs down, pushing hard against the floor with her footpaws, as if angry at something intangible. "You're probably not...well...it is about Quinten." She admits this sulkily, pretty sure she knows what is coming.

Zoe_Lang tries to catch Gabby's eye with a sober look and a nod. "You c'n talk t' me about /anythin'/, m'gel. About Quinten or no." Even if she /doesn't/ want to talk about it, her soft spot for youngsters drags her into it. Heh. :p

Gabriel also doesn't seem to keen on telling the Colonel, their last few interactions not being that lovely. "Well...I've been thinking about what he said about liking bucks, and I sort of...know what he meant. We were just talking in the cavern, and, er, he said he never actually /liked/ a buck. At least not the way he liked /me/. I almost, I don't know, stopped being his friend. But...I do believe him. Or I'm trying to decide if I /should/? Can someone really change, ma'am? Really, truly change?" She looks very embarassed at the end of this speech, spilling a bit more than she intended.

Zoe_Lang smiles slightly, glancing down at the floor. "I wouldn't have asked him t' try if I didn't believe a beast could, deah." The Colonel looks up, looking at the young creature steadily. "But? If he hurts ya, a sweet gel like yerself? I promise t' give him a life's worth o' kitchen duty." Mm-hm.

The door open and Quinten walksin, ears pinned back and looking sadly dejected, he's still dressed in the plain white o utfit he was wearing for kitchen duty, he looks about and freezes when he sees who it is, Colonel Zoe and Gabriel....maybe he should come back later.

Gabriel doesn't notice Quinten enter, but narrows her eyes at Zoe. "Asked him to try /what/, ma'am? You've been awfully coy about what you two talked about." Wow, this is crossing a line. Nearly as bad as in the library. Gabby knows this, and a mask of fear crosses her face, quickly. "It doesn't matter if he gets kitchen duty or not. It...I don't know. I guess..." She trails off, not really knowing what she's even talking about anymore.

Zoe_Lang bites back a sigh, glancing away and toward the fire. "Deah, mayhaps ya should stop askin' me and start askin' him. 'Tis his business t' tell or not t' tell." She, however, /does/ notice Quinten's entrance, and says no more. She tries to bring Gabby's attention to the buck by way of nodding her head towards him. Ahem.

Quinten moves slowly and nervously towards Gabby, he's not got long before his neck class but he wanted to see her, he holds something out in his paw trying to ignore Zoe "This...is for you..i made it...last night"

Gabriel turns at Zoe's nodding, more words almost ready to be spoken. She sees him and seems to shrink in her chair, but he's already next to her. Quinten holds something out, and Gabby eyes it before reaching out her paw as well, locking eyes with the hare for the first time in a while.

Quinten looks into those soft brown eyes, his own eyes full of fear and hidden underneath it kindness, he deposits the object in her paw, its about the size of his fist, it is a piece of wood, carved to look like a baby squirrel, polished and varnished and exquiste in its detail. "thought you might like it....as a gift...."

Gabriel looks at the carving, and smiles a bit forcibly. "It's...lovely." Her voice doesn't carry emotion, but it doesn't sound like she's lying either. "Did m'grandpa teach you to carve at all?" She seems to consider this before shaking her head. "No...he wouldn't."

Quinten shakes his head "No my dad taught to me carve...your right your granpa would never teach me" he has noticed just how forced her smile seems "K...well i better get to class....." he shuffles towards the door and looks back "I do like you...but i understand if you don't want to see me."

Looking like she may be about to cry yet again, Gabby waves to Quinten. She holds the squirrel carefully, and then puts it on the table in front of her, just staring at it.

Salamandastron: Level Three

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This is the main intersection chamber on the third level of the mountain's

catacomb-like tunnels. Numerous passages lead off in all directions from

the almost perfectly round clearing, hewn into the living rock.

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Quinten is moving slowly down the corridor heading for the stairs and his classroom, shuffling despondantly along

The passageway leading towards the rec room reverberates with rapid pawsteps, and the rabbit Gabby suddenly bursts out, seeing Quinten, and running faster. She grabs him in a hug from behind, her tears flowing freely, her face a frame of happiness.

Quinten stumbles as he's cannoned into from behind he rights himself and places his paws on the arms encricling him in puzzlement, then he twists back to look at her "Gaby...."

Gabriel looks at the puzzled face and releases him, blushing furiously. "I /do/ like you, Quin. And I do believe everything you said to me. Even if they do say I'm too young, I /love/ you." She puts a paw to her mouth, surprised, turning crimson.

Quinten blushes himself and reaches out to take the paw away from her mouth and then kiss her on the lips, holding it for a moment before stepping back and shuffling "I think..i'm falling for you too......i got to get to class..but will you have dinner with me?"

Gabriel has gone beyond a line, and seems actually...happy. Released from a prison. She doesn't kiss him back, though. A bit too shy. She does hug him again, and pulls away, nodding that she'll have dinner with him. "Any time, eh? I'll see you tonight..." The rabbit blushes, and returns to the passage she came from.

Quinten smiles and watches her go, eyes subconciously watching that small puffy white tear drop that is her tail. He smiles happily and moves down the stairs and out of sight, smiling, genuienly the first real smile for days, he's not confused any more he knows who he likes. The Colonel's work it would seem is done.

End Log - Awww Young Love..