Split Second And It's All In Smoke {Open}

[Jon Brooke]

Jon pottered his way across the square. No orders had come in and he'd already fixed the village. He had nothing to do, in other words. It sucked really, having nothing to do. For the first half of the day he'd really enjoyed it, caught up with some of those little chores that keep getting pushed aside for when he wasn't so busy. But he'd finished them that morning, leaving him with nothing to do.

He could go to the stables, but that strange Issie person could be there and Jon wasn't sure if he was ready to face her yet. He could go home again, but there wasn't anything there apart from lectures off his Pa. And they were always such fun. Despite wanting something to do, there was no immediate need as he was quite enjoying his walk.

He smiled and nodded to some of the passing villagers, a few of which he'd done business with previously. If he showed signs of friendship, maybe they'd come back to his carpentry service which then might give him something to do. But for now, all he got were smiles and nod back which was about as much as he expected. Much more than that and guards started to think you were plotting and creating new alliances, when really it was just the exchange in harmless gossip.

He sighed as his stomach rumbled. Now there was something to do. Finding some food! Just like most days, he hadn't had any breakfast due to the lacking of food in their cupboards. His brother had gone hunting that morning, though what were the chances of that being successful? Even if he did catch any game, he'd probably get caught on his way back into the village.

Shoving his hand into his pocket, he counted the coins that lay in there. He had just about enough for a loaf of bread or a small bit of meat. Since the Nightwatchman had stopped his rounds, Jon had lost wieght he didn't have to lose. He just wasn't making the money to buy the extra food he'd lost which the Nightwatchman woud have supplied. Nevertheless, he'd always known that the Nightwatchman wouldn't have lasted forvever.

He hooked his fingers in his belt loops as he walked into the bakery. "Afternoon." He said to the baker in greeting as he put the change on the counter. "Loaf of bread please." He gave the man behind the counter a bright smile, hoping to cut the cost or for him to not notice that there may not be enough money scattered on his counter. He didn't want to cheat the man, but he also didn't want to starve. Anyway, he was fairly sure he had the right amount of of money.

He rocked on his heeld as he waited for his bread, looking round the room as he did so. It was very warm in the bakers, and Jon was beginning to feel a little sticky. But this was all forgotten, or pushed aside for the moment, as he noticed someone else in the room. "Afternoon." He said with a wave.

[theowood]

Theodore had dragged Nate over to Knighton for two very good reasons, the first being that the market was significantly better than its Nettlestone counterpart. There were things you could get in Knighton that you just couldn't back in their village - superior tools, superior furniture, superior clothes. Perhaps it was just something to do with having nobles who actually cared, but Knighton was all round better.

The other reason, of course, was to see if there was any work. Since they'd finished up Nettlestone, their well of work had seemingly run dry, and now they had to actively find another source. Unfortunately, it seemed that Knighton's roofs were well thatched (and of course - they'd done most of them recently), which meant they'd have to go even further afield in order to find some work.

Drat.

Unable to find anything decent today, or, rather, anything to satisfy his annoyance at not finding any work, he had dragged Nate into the bakers. Fresh bread was always a treat, and the smell from the place was utter heaven.

In case no one gathered, Theo liked bread.

"What do you reckon, plait or normal?" Theo asked his brother, pointing at the wares on show. It all tasted the same, but if they were taking it home, Mother would probably like the plait because it was prettier.

"Afternoon."

Theo blinked. That wasn't Nate, and if it was he was being a plonker. He looked around before spotting a lad, one of the Knighton folk, but he couldn't remember his name.

"Hey. Alright?" he replied.

(*fails*)

[nathanielwood]

Nathaniel wasn't in the mood to work. He didn't want to go out in search of new business because that meant signing up to the prospect of sitting on a roof for weeks on end. Starting a new project was always a bit of a love and hate experience for Nate, he didn't like having nothing to do, but he didn't like to commit either. It was a good thing he had Theo to force him to do his job, not that his twin was that much better at staying on task.

Looking for roofs to thatch turned out to be a bit of a bust, which wasn't that much of a surprise considering they'd been in Knighton recently working on the rebuilding of the Hall. Still, it gave them an excuse to shop and, compared to the pitiful selection in Nettlestone, Knighton really was a thriving town. The bakery was a case in point, any town that could make bread that smelt as good as that must be doing okay for itself. Then again maybe that was just Nate's stomach talking, he was starving.

Nate gave a little non-committal shrug as Theo asked him what kind of bread they should get, he was being distracted by the sweet buns on display. What did it matter what shaped the bread was, so long as they got to eat it. It would be thick, fluffy and still warm, a good crust on it and maybe some butter. Nathaniel gave a little sigh and shook his head, there was no point thinking about it too much, they hadn't had butter in the longest time anyway.

Theo was talking to someone, socialising without Nate, that would never do. He wandered over and poked his head over Theo's shoulder to stare at the boy in question. "Hello," He said grinning. "You'll help Theo with his dilemma won't you." He slapped his twin on the shoulder, just the faintest hint of tease in his voice. "Plaited or plain, I don't know about you but personally I think plaited brings out his eyes." That would teach Theo to be so dithery when he was hungry.

[Jon Brooke]

Either Jon was becoming really unoberservant or he was now seeing double; because what he thought had been one person, was now two. Or rather one person with two heads. Or someone with a mirror next to his head, but what peasant had a mirror? And who would carry one round with them? After her split second confusion, it dawned on him that there were in fact two people. Just very similar looking people. Oh this was going to get confusing.

He waved to the first of who he presumed to be twins. "Not bad. You?" Small talk, it was so bland and meaningless yet everyone did it. It annoyed Jon, but it felt weird not doing all the small talk, which was really stupid. He supposed it was all out of politeness and whatnot. Thankfully, the other one seemed to skip out on the small talk and went straight to the jokes. Jon had a feeling he was going to like these guys - despite the headaches he'd get from trying to figure out who was who.

Jon smirked with laughter at the second one's question. Thinking back, there was discussion of which bread was to be purchased as he walked in. But Jon being Jon hadn't really paid attention. He normally didn't zone in on voices unless they were girl's voices. He found conversations with girls were more enjoyable than most others. Though, judging from the jokey manner which these two held, things might not be all bad.

He rubbed his chin in fake thought, pretending to ponder real hard, playing up the whole 'dilemma'. "I can see what you mean." He dithered before nodding. "Yes definately the plaits." He grinned, knowing that the brother was doing this only to annoy the other brother. The lacking of names was already beginning to confuse Jon (though whether knowing their names would help was another thing). He toned down the grin to a friendly smile, offering out his hand to shake. "I'm Jon."

[theowood]

Well, it had been a little unusual for Theo to bugger off and start talking to someone, but if Nate was going to be distracted by other things then he wasn't going to stand around. He did so hate to be ignored by his twin, even for a minute. He wasn't keen on small talk himself, but the guy was a total stranger, what else was he supposed to say? Have you tried the buns, they're sweet and delicious? Besides, being inane was what Theodore was good at, and he was rather proud of himself at times.

"I've been better," he replied, rolling his eyes at his brother as Nate stuck his head over his shoulder and made Theo sound a bit more girly than he was comfortable with. He turned and patted Nate's shoulder. "But I thought the plain would look so good with your shoes! Really, it's so hard accessorising bread with your sense of fashion tormenting me." He poked his tongue out. Ha, two could play at that game!

"Yes definately the plaits." Theo made a show of grabbing his brother's face and scrutinising his eyes. He took a step back, letting go of his brother's face and tutted, shaking his own head. "No, no, it'll never do. The crust is just a shade too pale for my eyes! And your eyes. We'll have to make do with potatoes again."

The other teen, temporarily forgotten, put his hand out and introduced himself. Jon. Nice, simple, easy.

He seemed like a bloke who could take a joke. And Theo was beginning to feel a little mischevious. Slapping his brother's shoulder once to let him in on the joke, he stepped forward, bowed and shook Jon's hand much harder than necessary, and instead of letting go shoved it into Nate's hand.

"I'm Nate," he replied as he shook Jon's hand, grinning widely. "And this is my brother." He decided his brother could introduce himself, he was a grown man after all.

[nathanielwood]

Nathaniel grinned and then chuckled as the guy joined in on the joke and then introduced himself. Theo was a good sport, but there was no way he was going to get away with teasing his twin without some kind of payback. Sure enough Theo piped up with a comment about his shoes and Nate had the grace to look abashed for a moment before tapping his chin a few times as if in serious contemplation of what his twin was suggesting.

Then Theo started manhandling his chin, scrutinising him closely and Nate made a show sucking in his cheeks in a ridiculous pout and crossing his eyes. "You're right, what ever was I thinking?" He agreed, nodding sagely. He gasped on cue as Theo suggested potatoes, doing his best to hold back a full laugh as he arranged his face into a shocked expression. The corners of his mouth twitched with the effort. "Going for a root vegetable, how daring of you!"

Theo returned the introductions and as expected he switched their names, poor Jon really had no chance, the two of them had years of practice causing trouble this way. "Twin, actually." He said with a grin, elbowing Theo out of the way. "Theo at your service." He gave a sweeping, exaggerated bow and by the time he rose out of it he was smirking happily. The day had been so unpromising so far, this was just what Nate needed; a bit of mischief and perhaps and new friend to... torment.

[Jon Brooke]

Jon liked the twins, they were funny. But boy were they confusing! He did not have a clue what they were talking about anymore. Shoes which matched bread? Wasn't that girl talk? There was only one kind of girl talk Jon understood, and that was the flirtatious kind - but even that confused him sometimes with all the double meanings and whatnot. Jon was a simple lad; he was a carpenter, nothing more, nothing less.

He raised an eyebrow in questioning, comparing skin tone with potatoes? At least his brother understood him! Jon guessed it must be a twin thing; he and Lewis had their own language which no one else understood. He laughed, both at the twins and the memories of he and Lewis tormenting their Pa. His favourite had been when they decided it'd be a good idea to talk in opposites. "That breakfast was utterly attrotious, mother," they'd said at the dinner table that day to their father, of course.

From the show in front of him, Jon got the horrible feeling he was being duped or something but thought against challenging their names. How many times had he and Lewis switched names when they'd been able to get away with it? The hand shake was a little extreme though, was it some sort of manly display or something? Jon didn't care; he'd found something to do with his excessive amount of spare time, he may as well go along with the joke. He returned both hand shakes with as much ethuasiasm as the twins, kindly confirmed by Theo - who was potentially Nate. "Twins, huh. Bet your parents get confused." It was lame, Jon was very aware of that, but words had escaped him and gone to stare at the girls liotering outside the door - he'd seen them on his way in.

(ooc - gah, sorry for lameness >.< What's going to happen in this? Fire is a little extreme yes? XD)

[theowood]

Theo nodded and then sighed, shaking his head and resting his chin on the back of his hand. He turned to Jon and rolled his eyes, looking exasperated. ”I really don’t know what he’d do without me, the man has no sense of food fashion.”

Theo, unfortunately, wasn’t quite as good at holding back his laughter and ended up chuckling. It had been one of their more ridiculous conversations, to be sure, and he idly wondered how they ever thought them up. Sometimes he thought they must actually be thinking such things, but then he dismissed the thought – that would just be silly, not to mention slightly scary.

Theo made sure to look affronted as Nate pushed him out of the way, balancing against the wall as he chipped in just after Nate highlighted the fact they were twins. ”In case you couldn’t tell,” he said, barely keeping the sarcasm out of his voice.

At least Jon didn’t seem too uncomfortable, if maybe looking a little confused. Of course, that was until he seemed to be distracted. Theo followed his gaze behind Nate and out of the door, to spy some alright looking girls lurking around. He walked over and tapped Nate on the shoulder.

”Dear brother of mine, I do think we’ve been upstaged!” he said, jerking a thumb towards the girls but nodding towards Jon. He shook his head and sighed a little. ”People these days, no manners whatsoever.” He looked at Jon and grinned mischeviously. ”Well, if you’re going to stand around gawking at them, you might as well go and say hello or something. Come on, we’ll help, won’t we Theo?”

[nathanielwood]

"Brother dear you wound me!" Nate exclaimed, voice a high-pitched squeak of betrayal as he flung one arm across his face as though about to fall into a faint and let the other clutch at his heart like he'd been stabbed. With the twins you could always be guaranteed as melodramatic a reaction as possible and Nathaniel didn't want to disappoint. "I happen to be accomplished at food fashion!" He crossed his arms and pouted, pretending to sulk then shook the mood off and let the topic drop, there was such a thing as going too far with a joke. Of course this didn't stop him from having to have the last word.

Introductions were out of the way and while Jon's bemused reaction had been entertaining enough Nate had been hoping for a reaction that was a little less, well... distracted. He hadn't spotted the girls on the way into the bakery, perhaps they hadn't congregated at the door yet, or maybe he'd been focused on the one thing he considered more important than girls; food. In any case his attention was drawn to them when Theo pointed them out and Nate felt he could understand why Jon had been a little distracted, he still joined his brother in a little teasing though.

"It is a sad day indeed if we can't hold the attention of a dashing young man." He agreed with Theo gravely then he turned to Jon and elbowed him ribs a roguish grin on his lips. "Jon, you sly dog!" He didn't need much encouragement from Theo to venture over to the girls and do some flirting. It was always fun and he his eye on the pretty blonde already, a fact that he announced to the other lads. "Why that sounds like an excellent idea, Nate. The blonde is mine." Nate slapped an arm across Jon's shoulders and dragged him over towards the door leaving no room for argument from their new friend.

[Jon Brooke]

Food fashion? Jon shrugged mentally, what the hell! "Food fashion is the hardest to pull off." Jon added gravely, but he Theo have the last say. Over done jokes were as bad as over done food. Lewis was terrible for it and Jon always got embarressed for his brother when he tried to milk jokes for more than they're worth. It only ever got blank looks and it was just awkward. And weird. It was akweird! But thankfully this joke was still funny, and Jon joined in on the last laugh.

Jon hated people talking down to him in sarcastic tones. Ok, so he didn't always have the most intelligent things to say - he was a state the obvious kinda guy - but he weren't that stupid. All the older, more 'wiser', villagers did it to him all the time. It really ticked him off, but he let it slide today. The twins probably got that comment all the time. But Jon did fail with words, unless talking to a pretty girl. Then they came surprisingly easy.

He was a little embarressed really, he hadn't meant to let his mind wander that obviously. "Sorry guys. Couldn't help myself, they're prettier than you." He grinned, he heard dashing quite a lot. "There ain't much in it, but the girls win. " He liked being called a sly dog, sounded cool. What he wasn;t expecting was for Theo, or Nate, to man handle him to the door. He was perfectly willing to go on his own accord. "Fine by me." Jon preferred the darker hair, and one of the darker haired girls had caught his eye. Though there did appear to be a small child hanging off her hand. Oh well, it was all for fun. Who knows, it could be a brother.

[theowood]

Theodore rolled his eyes. Typical. He allowed his brother the last word in the discussion (he would never admit that Nate had the last word because Theo could rarely come up with something), and silently applauded their new friend on joining in the fun. It was always nice when someone went along with you instead of treating you like you were sick in the head or something equally unpleasant. He always got annoyed when people treated you like you were stupid, and he didn't mean to do it intentionally to other people.

He gasped in mock horror as Jon suggested someone could be prettier than either of the twins. Grinning, he scrutinised his brother. ”Well, I can see why you wouldn't find Theo so attractive, but me? You can't deny this,” he said, gesturing to himself. Looking over at the girls once more, one took his fancy and he shrugged. ”Eh, okay, maybe you can.” He pushed the other two lads before him, out of the doors and towards the girls, wanting to get a move on before Jon tried to snag the one he'd taken a fancy to. Despite being twins, they had very different tastes in women – blondes were dull, Theodore found, and he also found small children most annoying, so he'd homed in on the remaining one. Convenient, that. Plus she looked like she'd be cute when she blushed...

(OOC: I'm not starting the girls!)