[open] a friend in need's a friend indeed

[nedofpies]

Who: Ned and OPEN
What: Random encounters & fallout from dream-walking tomfoolery
Where: House 20, the garden, anywhere around town
When: Day 89

It's been a long week. A long, mostly-sleepless, weird week during which Ned has seen far more of his friends' and neighbors' subconsciouses than he would have liked to. Plus, a creepy city made of crystals that everyone seems to have seen, but no one will claim as their own. Shady stuff. Today, he is determined to wear himself out. Perhaps if he's tired enough, whatever mojo the men behind the curtain have put on him won't be strong enough to stir him out of a deep and dreamless sleep.

It's probably a futile tactic, but he can't just do nothing.

So he is a bustle of activity - cleaning the house, walking around town, checking on the crops to see if they are holding up well (carefully, with an eye for any enterprising tigers roaming too close to the edge of the forest), keeping an eye out for new faces and an ear out for rumors of missing ones.

Comments

[undomesticated]

She's surprised at the question, blinking curiously over at him as she finishes the mouthful of food. "My favorite kind of pie? Oh, well, huh. It's hard to pick just one. I guess it would be strawberry. I've always loved a good piece of strawberry pie."

Which got her thinking about it, a small smile on her face as he pictured a pie, topped with whipped cream and just begging for her to eat it. She missed the little things, like treats and ready-made food.

"Why? What's yours?"

[nedofpies]

Ned smiles at that. Strawberry. That was what he'd guessed, but he is wrong sometimes; people can surprise you. "Just curious." It's not quite the truth. It might seem silly, but Ned thinks you can tell a lot about a person, based on what kind of pie they like. Strawberry is just about right for Riley: bright, versatile, sweet, a little unusual.

"I love all pie equally," he says, with an air of fairness and solemnity. He can only keep it up so long, however, before he's admitting, "But I suppose, if I had to choose, it'd be peach."

He's not exactly sure what liking peach pie best means. Surprisingly enough, he's never known anyone else who liked it best.

Ned makes a mental note to make his next pie strawberry, smiles at her as he takes another sip of his tea.

[undomesticated]

"Peach? I had a really nice peach pie once. Sorry, Ned, going to still have to stick with strawberry anyway." She smiled and moved to finish her breakfast. It was nice of him to have made it for her, and if she'd known about his other intentions to make a strawberry pie, she would have told him not to bother, if only out of habit. But if that pie happened to get made, there'd definitely be a piece with her name on it that she wouldn't mind sitting somewhere and enjoying.