>>"We should get some ice for it I believe. I think there should be something in the kitchen."

The kitchen... oh, what a fateful place. She refused to mention exactly how well she knew the kitchen by now, and opened her mouth to decline the offer of an ice bag. She was a big girl.. she didn't need to be fawned over like a- Oh... there was an hand on her arm....?

>>”Defiantly got some swelling going on, starting to look like a sea sick chipmunk…”

"A sea sick-..!?" Her mouth clamped shut and she followed Martins lead by climbing unsteadily to her feet. The shift in positions brought forth a sudden headache, and raised a hand to her temple. She would have tried to pull off a weak smile, but was rather worried it would look like a snarl to outside eyes. So, instead, she turned her attention to adjusting Carricks goggles over her eyes.

"What kind of goggles are these?... "

Her fingers slipped, and the eye wear slapped back into place crooked. She tinkered with them some more until they were comfortable...er, well, more comfortable anyway. Why did it feel like they were sucking her eyeballs from her skull?... Rubbing her cheek again, she muttered about chipmunks being seasick and shifted back to paying attention to the two people beside her. What were they saying about books?... The dark haired girl flushed with embarrassment at the mention of her unfortunate tumble. The winged one mentioned a doctor, and a permanent fix of some sort... She shook her head quickly.

"No, no... I'm fine... just a little bruise, right?" Now... to pull off a lighthearted chuckle. She laughed nervously, and failed. Doctors... Uuuugh...

Andrea might find his grip around her arm to be tight and somewhat stronger then expected. He seemed absent for some reason though. Absent minded, as he pulled her from the ground, picked her up, eyes on Carrick for a little while longer, as he had sparked his interest. Just a little. She had fallen on his back already. He hadn't. Such little differences. Subtle. He shared a smile with her. Shared it quite unfairly. More to himself then to any other this smile went out, was given away, just as a sign, an outward notice. This whole situation was... ridiculous after all. Such great humor. In so little time.

"I tossed the shovel." He lightly corrected the bird-boy, before following down a road of explanation that was short and precise. Chipped and sharp. All the while his had was pulling, lightly, at Andrea, urging her, a silent reminder, forward, to the safety of the kitchen. "because this good girl managed to land herself on my backside while searching for a book." He refrained from adding any more comments about suicidal teens. They were all so strange after all. Behaviorally unpredictable. How would she have reacted to such utterings?

He felt a little strange too, seeing that both of them obviously knew each other and were now starting a happy talk, chatter filling his ears. Clutter. His steps were falling onto solid ground now, nearing the Mansion, the ice in the freezer, it was not thawing yet, still keeping cool. It would need more then two teens jumping from a rooftop to unsettle him. Today at least. "It is not little." no... little was it not.

”Those?” Carrick asked pointing to the goggles on her head, ”Those are my flying goggles for when the weather conditions are a bit to much strain on my eyes, like rain or snow, or sometimes when it is really windy. Haven’t need them in a while but you know better safe than sorry…” he eyed Andrea rubbing her cheek and he shook his head, ”Don’t focus on it, keep you from worrying, you look alright though!” lied Carrick as he turned back to Martin who was still lading Andrea about.

”Why on earth would you decided to throw a shovel at someone?” Carrick asked still not finding the logic in it, ”Her face probably put a dent in the shovel…” Carrick said trying to make the situation a little more humorous, after all laughter was the best cure right? So said Patch Adams.

Carrick was always a little faster than most of the kids his age even some adults which was good because he reached the kitchen a few moments before Andrea and the shovel throwing Ape, ”Hardly noticeable!” Lied Carrick as he handed Andre the ice and then pointed to the most damaged spot on her face by mirroring the location on his own. ”How did you fall if you were looking for a book? Someone toss it in a tree?” Carrick asked curiously intentionally offering up his services as book retriever. He would defiantly keep better care of Andrea’s book than his own.

>>”Don’t focus on it, keep you from worrying, you look alright though!”

Alright?... She could live with alright... Heck, she could live with horrible so long as she could slink back to her room and hide under the covers until she forgot about her leap of faith onto the Gardener. Which, was apperantly being talked about, once she lapsed back into the conversation...

For the record, she hadn't been searching, for she had known where the book was all along. She had simply been...erm... retrieving? Yes... that would work. Mind you it wasn't a very wise idea retrieval mission, but it had gotten the job done! (minor and major injuries aside). Turning her eyes to Carrick when he mentioned the face meeting shovel part, she casually stuck her tongue out at him. All three and a half inches of it. So what if it was childish (and would only add to Martins assumptions of her), her face was not hard enough to dent steel... though, her skull was still questionable.

>>"It is not little."

She winced, and tried to smile again, which only seemed to hurt- so she stopped. Perhaps ice was a good idea, and Carrick seemed rather prompt in handing her a bag. Eying his movements, she copied the spot he pointed to and winced some more... Since when did bruises hurt so much?... She recalled the injuries from her childhood being a lot less traumatic.

>>”How did you fall if you were looking for a book? Someone toss it in a tree?”

Andrea flushed and her eyes shot to him before slipping away again. With a sigh, she answered back, " I fell asleep in the window sill and knocked my book out accidentally..." With a small laugh, she thought back to meeting the winged boy for the first time. "You know me, can't sleep when I am supposed to, now I'm falling asleep in the middle of the day." She adjusted the ice bag on her cheek, winced, and turned the tables on him. "... but Carrick, what were you doing flying around haphazardly, might I ask?"

OOC: Feel free to chat on without me.

There was the ice. And more useless clutter. There also was work in the garden to be done. So much clutter here. And the teens were happily discussing the appearance of flight goggles it appeared to him. So merrily so in fact, that the green Lady got greener, pardon, she got a blush. A thing that did not escape his attention. A little young was the other one for that kind of blush, was he not? And talking about flying goggles.... Teenagers nowadays found a myriad ways to amuse him really. This union of madness might turn out to be a little too much for him though. And there was work to do, he was reminded by the back of his head. Not his back, that part was still hurting thanks to the now deep green lady, but the part that had planned how to work through the garden bit by bit for the next days to get it ready and good looking.

There was a solution for these problems...at hand though.

He began speaking, first to the Bird-Child. “I threw it, because she was supposed to do some work with me.” Then turning to the green girl and giving her another stern – slightly less so then before- look. “Which I still expect you to do during one of the next days. Ill be in the garden for you to find me.” That he expected her to follow his wishes was something quite natural, was it not? His demand really, as he had not even left room open for discussing it on any sensible level. “And now excuse me please...” You two lovebirds.... urghs. “Il have work to do.” Namely get a bit of ice for my back, too. Not that you will see that. Ever. (Continued for Andrea in here )

Carrick smirked at Andrea as she stuck her tongue at him, it was her really the first time she had ever come off as really playful Carrick always imagined her as a bit more levelheaded and adult like defiantly not one he would have a lot of fun with, however he did really enjoy her company.

Martin’s company he still wasn’t sure on, the way he kept undermining his white lies to make an attempt to ease Andrea’s worries. ”Your as sharp as a beach ball…” he shifted his eyes and looked to Andrea, ”Really I don’t think it is so bad, a little ice and” Carrick clapped his hands, ”As good as new!”

Carrick blinked as Martian told him the reason why he threw the shovel, still not a very good reason as at all but for once he held his tongue and waited for him to leave after demanding Andrea to go to work for him. ”Rough as a bear’s ass that one…” Carrick said as he looked to Andrea and then smirked, ”I don’t fly haphazardly everything I do in the air is a work of art, and that includes dodging a rouge baseball that was bound for space.”

Watching her brace and adjust the ice pack Carrick continued, ”Why is it every time you and I meet there is usually someone there I don’t like? First it was Eejit now it is the Ape…” Carrick paused and then started to look for some food. ”You know you could sue him for workers comp.”

Half hidden behind her ice bag, Andrea simply nodded in agreement with Martins explanation of the shoveling. It had been an accident- much liker her falling out of a window on him... Hm... It kind of tasted like karma, on the tip of her tongue. When he turned and promptly left, leaving her with only a reminder that she owned him her help in the garden, she nodded once more and made a mental note that once the throbbing in her temple went away, she would be fit enough to fulfill his gardening wishes. When Carrick spoke, hopefully once Martin was out of earshot She couldn't help but grin. A grin in which she covered with a hand quickly, while she giggled softly. "Shush! You are going to get us in trouble..."

The grin remained in place, though and the mirth in her voice was apparent. The gardener did have a way about him... something that sent shivers down ones spine if they didn't brace themselves correctly. Perhaps it was all in those calculating eyes?... Or maybe she was just imagining things... Either way, he was gone now, and her head was smarting more and more by the second. "I suppose it is fate you can blame for that, ...perhaps next time we meet you will find whoever I am with then very humorous, or likable even?" She immediately thought of Saphirus, who was in a way similar to the winged boy- but only slightly. The attitude, she was sure. Perhaps they would get along? Shrugging the matter off, she turned back to his previous comment, which she had passed by. "I shall have to come watch you create this art some fine day then. An artist must always had his work viewed." Her grin dampened into a simple smile, and she readjusted her ice pack. "I fear today I will not dally long down here... I think my headache would be better treated with a shower... and a nap." Yes, a nap sounded just lovely...

Nodded his head he smiled, ”Maybe one day, you’d stop hanging around Apes and Eejits then? Maybe someone more enjoyable to be around like a Beor, who said it has to be a man?” Carrick asked curiously as he looked outside and nodded his head, ”True I do like to have people watch me fly…” he paused then placed his hands on his head and continued, ”Maybe I can even take you up there with me some time…” Carrick said off hand like he didn’t care if she said yes or no, he didn’t like offering to take people into the air just to be rejected like his better half he was a prideful mutant.

Finding some left over spaghetti left over from when him and Ruby made some a few hours before he opened it up and took a whiff, ”Yeah, might be best if you call it a day, drugs are your friend!” placing the food in the microwave and covering it with a paper towel Carrick looked back to Andrea as she was still icing her face.

A minute went by and his food dinged within seconds he took his fork pulled his food from the microwave and started eating. ”How about I check on you in a few hours or so?” Carrick asked, ”Just to make sure your alright…” he didn’t worry a lot openly about people but Andrea made him food so he felt like he owed it to her. ”And you can give me back my goggles when your better, it makes the swelling look noticeable…”

With another grin, she nodded. She did know one girl in which she could bumped into Carrick with- though, oddly enough she had only men primarily guys during her short time in the city. She wasn't able to properly hide the widening of her eyes from him, when she thought about being taken up that high in the sky. "That... is a daunting thought, I must admit. I have never even been in an airplane before," She paused, raising her eyes to the ceiling as she pondered.

"But I suppose it would be alright. It sounds very exciting, actually. Just promise you will avoid those random flying space balls?" Ending her sentence with a bit of a laugh, she watching him set about making something to eat, and her stomach growled in response. It would have to wait however, she needed to lay down more than food at the moment. As for him meeting her later, why not? What was the harm in hanging out with the curious winged one again?

His suggestion forced her smile to broaden. It was nice to hear that people cared for you, even if you barely knew them at all. "That sounds great Carrick. Perhaps if it is late enough, I shall cook something for us," A physical representation of how much she appreciated his offer. "As a thank you." Adjusting his mentioned glasses once more she nodded and removed the ice bag from her cheek. "Till later then, My friend." She resisted the urge to bow, and turned, heading out of the kitchen slowly, up the stairs and eventually to her room. Where she promptly stepped into the bathroom for a much needed shower...

(to be continued in...)