[Very open!]

[myfriendkeith]

CHARACTERS: Ellis and EVERYONE ELSE
LOCATION: Kitchen
WARNINGS: Everything may be covered in flour...
SUMMARY: It's December and it's time to make cookies for everyone. Problem is, Ellis has no idea how to do it. Be it help or hindrance, some company would be nice!
NOTES: This is going to be messy...


The kitchen is an absolute mess, almost every inch of it covered in flour or egg or oh, god, what is that even? Ellis stands at the counter, concentrating on a battered recipe book. He's also covered in flour and looks slightly baffled by what he's reading in the book.

All in all, it's quite a sight.

Mumbling something to himself, he pulls another egg from the carton and cracks it over the half-finished disaster in a large mixing bowl.

Comments

[foundafamily]

Firo shrugs and rolls his eyes. "Who knows? They're probably just tryin' to sound smart."

He watches Ellis and nods at the progress. "In the end, all you really gotta do is toss the stuff in there. Not so hard, eh?"

[myfriendkeith]

He nods, looking into the bowl. "Tryin' to sound smart usually just makes ya end up lookin' even stupider." He muses, cracking the second egg over te bowl.

He looks between the cookbook and the mixture in the bowl. "Yeah, I guess when it comes down to it... that's all yer doin'."

[foundafamily]

"I'd say so. Especially if somebody catches you makin' up stuff." Not that that's ever happened to him, nosiree... "Might as well not waste the effort."

He smiles. "Exactly. You'll get good at this in no time."

[myfriendkeith]

He smiles at the boy. "Well, thanks for the vote o' confidence, friend." Then he realizes he doesn't even know this guy's name yet.

"Say, what's your name?"

[foundafamily]

He blinks, then smiles sheepishly. That was rather rude of him not to introduce himself, wasn't it? "Ah, sorry. Firo Prochainezo. You?"

Sorry, Firo, Ellis doesn't have a last name

[myfriendkeith]

"Ellis. Some people call me Ell, but... that kinda sounds like a girl's name, ya know?" He feels equally silly for not exchanging names before now.

Haha XD /pats his back

[foundafamily]

"Yeah, I think Ellis sounds better." He laughs, "Hey, at least your real name isn't a girl's name. I got a best friend back home named Claire."

[myfriendkeith]

"Seriously? A guy named Claire? Can't say I ever heard o' that before." He smiles. Knowing that, he really doesn't have it that bad being called a girl's name. At least he has his real name to fall back on.

[foundafamily]

"Apparently it's a family name. From his grandpa or somethin'." He chuckles again. It's hard to get away with teasing Claire too much to his face, but Firo can do it as much as he wants here.

"I heard people used to give their sons girly names out West. Thought the bullying would toughen 'em up."

[myfriendkeith]

Ellis nods, grinning. "Never woulda thought o' that, myself, but hey, whatever works."

A moment of silence before he speaks again. "I have no idea where my name came from. I mean, I never heard o' anybody else with it or anything."

[foundafamily]

He taps the countertop absently as he thinks. "Well... There's Ellis Island, but that's a place. And I can't imagine anybody'd name their kid after that."

Firo never went through there personally, but he's heard the stories.

[myfriendkeith]

Ellis shrugs, not really caring how he got his name. "Well, obviously somebody thought it was a good idea, right?"

A smile erupts on his face. "When I was a kid, I always thought it kinda sounded like an old lady name."

[foundafamily]

"Guess so." Firo's always been a bit curious about his, but it's not as if he has anyone he can ask.

He laughs. "Can't imagine that made you too popular." He doesn't intend to be mean with the comment; he just knows how kids are.

[myfriendkeith]

He nods, still smiling. "Yeah, people used to make fun of it grade school and shit, but I never really got mad about it. Guess that took all the fun outta it, 'cause they stopped pretty quick."

"Was pretty popular in high school, though." Being as outgoing as he is, it was always difficult for him not to befriend people.

[foundafamily]

"That's one way to get people to cut it out. But most a' the time I think you gotta be more assertive." Firo can't think of a single time not getting mad helped him out. As far as he's concerned, it's an emotion necessary for survival.

[myfriendkeith]

"Ah, people'll come around if you're nice enough to 'em." Sorry, Firo, Ellis doesn't know how to be mean. Or angry. Or sad... Or even irritated...

[foundafamily]

But that's like 70% of Firo's emotional range! You are a strong man, Ellis. Freaking weird, but strong.

Firo almost laughs at that, though it's not a happy laugh. "Oh, yeah?" He shakes his head. "They'll 'come around' and rob you blind or stab you in the back, that's what they'll do."

[myfriendkeith]

Ellis shouldn't be so surprised by Firo's pessimism, but he really is. "Naw, not everybody's like that. There's a whole world fulla great people out there."

[foundafamily]

"A whole world, huh? That explains why there's never any war or poverty, then." He rolls his eyes--he's not annoyed with Ellis, but this attitude is something he'll never understand.

[myfriendkeith]

Firo's negativity does nothing to bring Ellis down, but he does feel a bit bad for him. Being pessimistic is just a good way to make life harder for yourself. "Come on, that's not all there is. What about all those nice people feedin' the homeless or donatin' to charity?"

[foundafamily]

Firo'd point out that those helpful reformers never seemed to make it into his neighborhood, but that's getting too personal.

"There's a lot more skimmin' money off the top a' those donations and not givin' anything at all." He doesn't have a citation for that, but he's pretty sure he's right.