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futile
May 30, 2007 16:42:52 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 16:42:52 GMT -5
"Bang, bang, BANG!" went Daniel's hammer as he slammed the head of a nail into the wall. There was paint and perspiration streaked across his forehead. His fingers were full of splinters and dust and dirt stained his white shirt. During the storm the other night, water had seeped into the house in two many places to count. He had spent days repairing its aftermath. This afternoon in particular, he was tackling the windowsills in many of the ladies' rooms. While checking for cracks under the windows, he noticed many of their sills were warped and under closer inspection, he found the boards soft and rotted. So, he sent out for wood and spent a great deal of time heaving lumber up the stairs and crafting them into new windowsills.
He pushed the other side of the wood flush to the wall with his right hand and drove in a nail with his left. Frustration had been brewing inside of him for days. Too much to do, not enough time to do it. He'd spoken to practically no one, only worked...worked on projects that never seemed to be finished. Just when one was complete, something else was broken or damaged or in need of painting and sanding. He had been damn near crazy to undertake the opening and management of this house. A damn fool he was. His brow furrowed, he reared back and slammed the hammer's head not into the nail, but into the thumb holding it up. He dropped the vengeful tool immediately and muttered a string of ungodly curses.
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futile
May 30, 2007 17:47:41 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 17:47:41 GMT -5
Hannah blinked rapidly in surprise at the sudden language, and paused. She had been walking past the room on the way down the stairs, when she'd heard the exclamation.
"Are you alright?" She asked, a little hesitantly, as she stepped into the door frame.
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futile
May 30, 2007 18:13:11 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 18:13:11 GMT -5
No! The answer was no, no, NO!
His thumb in his mouth, he quickly looked back over his shoulder to see the girl standing there. He turned back around to face the window just as quickly and narrowed his eyes as he bit his thumb out of frustration at his paint. Composing himself, he reached for the hammer with his foot and slid it across the floor to where he was standing. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said as cheerily as he could manage, bending over to pick up the hammer with a swipe of his hand.
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futile
May 30, 2007 19:37:40 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 19:37:40 GMT -5
Hannah couldn't help but smile at that, "Liar." She accused simply, her tone light as she leaned against the door frame, "You hit yourself with the hammer?" She asked, taking the scene in.
"Look, I'm not much with fixing things, but if you want, I could hold that in place while you hammer the nails in. Might make it a little easier."
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futile
May 30, 2007 19:49:49 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 19:49:49 GMT -5
Maybe on a better day, Daniel would have indulged her and welcomed help. But not today. No, today, if there was one thing he wasn't doing, it was admitting defeat and admitting that he needed some girl to help him. He certainly didn't! Inwardly he scoffed, and meant to give her a kind no thank you. But his quick tongue got the better of him and before he could think to stop it, what popped out was, "Are you out of your mind? This is no job for a girl - hammer or no hammer." He knew it was harsh and instantly regretted it. But at the same time, he wished she'd just go away and leave him to smacking the hell out of the nails.
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futile
May 30, 2007 19:55:31 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 19:55:31 GMT -5
Hannah raised her eyebrows at his quick response, hurt registering in her eyes for a moment, before her defensive nature got the better of her. She glared at the back of his head for a moment, "Fine then. Slam your fingers with a hammer all night long for all I care!" She turned from the doorway, moving away quickly, and backtracking to her own room
Anger mingled with regret as she remembered her words, closing the door to her room behind her, and sinking onto her bed. She knew she often spoke without thinking, a character flaw she hated about herself, but she'd said what she'd said, and she was still burning with anger at his harsh words.
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:00:02 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 20:00:02 GMT -5
"Fine then, I will!" he yelled back at her. Hotly, he reached down and scooped up a bunch of nails. he put one into place and rapidly began banging it into place with his hammer as hard as he possibly could. he could practically feel the sound of it contacted the heads resounding through the house. After a moment of beating poor, skinny nails senseless, he slowed his pace. What the hell did he think he was doing. Almost twenty five years old and he was brutishly fighting with lodger as though he was ten and she was his sister. Had he not progressed at all in his supposedly "mature" age? He knew he should go after her and apologize, but the thought of doing so felt awkward. He hated admitting he was wrong when he was in this state of mind. Simply hated it.
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:16:52 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 20:16:52 GMT -5
Hannah winced at the words that had been yelled after her, sinking onto her bed, quietly seething to herself. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, and glared at the wall for a moment, roughly wiping her arm across her eyes. She hated crying. Hated it with a passion, but at least she was crying in the privacy of her own room.
It wasn't the petty fight she'd just had with Daniel, although that did make her blood boil a little bit. It was everything. Her parents leaving, living with her aunt and uncle, and then having to leave them, living on her own in the city. It just seemed so wrong. It wasn't what she had intended for her life, and she wasn't exactly sure how she's gotten so far from her lifelong plan.
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:24:55 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 20:24:55 GMT -5
Daniel hammered in a few more nails, feeling even more rotten by the second. He threw his hammer down and wiped the perspiration off of his forehead with his sleep. "Just suck it up, Quinn," he told himself though his teeth. "You're a man now. Not a child." He stood still for a moment, contemplating his plan of action. "Aw fuck it," he finally said, and set off down the hall to find the girl he'd hurt. He didn't know exactly where she'd be, but he supposed the rooms down the hall were a pretty good bet. Daniel hoped he wouldn't have to go poking his head into all of them.
He'd didn't have to go far before he found her. Luckily the door was open. He poked his head in a saw her sprawled out across her bed, face down in her pillow. Leaning against the doorjam, he crossed his arms over his chest, and gazed toward the window, not wanting to meet her eye. "Sorry for that," he mumbled, hoping she'd hear.
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:39:29 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 20:39:29 GMT -5
Hannah quickly wiped at her eyes again, making sure there were no traces of tears remaining. She sat up quickly, smoothing her skirts, and flushing with the embarrassment of him seeing her in the state she was in.
She cleared her throat, pushing down any lingering feelings of animosity, "I was just trying to help, you know," She pointed out, knowing full well that she should just accept his apology, and reciprocate with one of her own, but she couldn't quite force the words out yet. As her own way of making it up to him, she offered a wry smile to accompany her words.
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:44:47 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 20:44:47 GMT -5
He was startled by her red rimmed eyes and inwardly cursed himself for making a girl cry.
"Yeah, I know," he responded. "I'm just a pigheaded boy with a sharp tongue. Don't worry though...m'bark's worse than m'bite. As my sisters, if you don't believe me. But, I've been in a rotten mood all day. Shouldn't have taken it out on you though. Had no right to do that."
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futile
May 30, 2007 20:50:07 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 20:50:07 GMT -5
Hannah smiled fully at him, shrugging her shoulders, "I'm sorry, too. I-- I tend to talk without thinking. It's a bad habit.
"I've an older sister, myself, we had it out many a time when we were younger." She shrugged again, adding her next words with a sheepish grin, "I got my arguing skills from her, I think."
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futile
May 30, 2007 21:01:08 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 21:01:08 GMT -5
"Not a good habit," he said. "I'd tell her to take it back if I were you." He gestured toward the bed across from her, semi-asking if it was okay for him to sit down. But he did not wait for a reply before flopping down onto it. As he did he sighed and rested his head in his hands. "God, it's been a long day," he said, his voice resigned. "Been a long week for that matter."
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futile
May 30, 2007 21:15:35 GMT -5
Post by Hannah on May 30, 2007 21:15:35 GMT -5
"We don't talk much any longer." She replied, glancing at the photograph that was sitting on her bedside table for a moment, before redirecting her gaze, and her thoughts back to the man.
Hannah nodded, agreeing with his staments regarding the bad day, "I know the feeling. Seems you'd be glad to have boarders though-- if you don't mind my saying so." Hannah hesitated for a moment, weighing her words carefully. She finally spoke her thoughts, keeping her tone light hearted, just in case he took them the wrong way, "Dare I ask-- is there anything I can do to help?"
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futile
May 30, 2007 21:22:44 GMT -5
Post by Daniel on May 30, 2007 21:22:44 GMT -5
What could she do? He had the same wants everyone else did, but he seemed so starved for them lately, after months of putting the house before himself. He wanted time to go out and have a drink at the pub around the corner, he wanted enough time to take a walk to anywhere, he wanted a girl to court, he wanted to be able to sleep late just once or twice, he wanted someone to make him good meals because he was oh so tired of bread and jam. But what could she do about it? What would she want to do about it?
"Well...." he began, thinking. "You could talk to me every once in a while. No one speaks to me unless they want me to do something for them. As much as I like fixing things, some times it gets old when it feels like that's all you're good for. I don't need somebody to have long heartfelt conversations with....that's worthless mush. I just need someone to tell me a story or a joke or something every now and then in passing." He shrugged.
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