So Two People with no Social Skills Break into a House... (Kendra/Nadia)

As soon as Kendra saw the familiar building, her pace seemed to double. She was exhausted, having run from the garden paths at a full sprint, turning it into a jog halfway through when she ran out of energy. She knew she had at least four hours before her parents went back home, as they usually spent this time selling their wares or looking for her to force her to help them sell their wares. As she got the key out of her pocket, it finally dawned on her she was leaving.

She looked behind her, trying to see where Nadia was. Maybe it would've been better to walk with her rather than just running, but Kendra had just been so excited she couldn't help herself. As soon as Nadia was close enough, Kendra decided to give her quick warning. "Careful what you touch. The place is pretty neat, so my parent's will probably figure out if things have been messed up. My room's near the bathroom. Just follow me."

She had mixed emotions about the place. As she used the key to unlock and open the door, she couldn't shake away her own disgust. Yet at the same time, she was happy to be here. She had grown up here, even if she had hated her parents. She moved forward carefully, choosing not to remove her shoes. She did that whenever her parents were out. Another small rebellion.

Kendra's House:

Nadia had kept up with the shorter girl surprisingly well as she ran, only stopping short at the house a few seconds after Kendra. She was surprised that it was such a small house. Somehow, she had expected something larger. But then, that was probably because the girl she was with dressed so well, she'd expected her family to have some higher level of wealth. But then, as the girl had hinted at earlier, perhaps that was the whole point.

As they entered the house, Nadia nodded silent agreement to the other girl's terms. The area was...familiar. It was smaller, to be sure, but... "It reminds me of my own parents' home. Bare and lifeless. Like a cage..." She ran her finger along a shelf as they passed. Not a speck of dust, "Or a coffin." The way she said it was easily identifiable as the disgust, pointed, of course, at her own white-walled upbringing.

As Kendra entered her own room, Nadia looked around, admiring the lived-in quality of it. Again, familiarity surged. She kept her own room in a similar manner of ordered disarray. Just enough out of place to upset her tidy parents, but not enough out of place for them to do anything about it. "What exactly are you planning to take with you? It's only a small inn room, and we'll have to carry it by hand. You should choose accordingly." Nadia advised, picking up and examining one of the books on politics in a stack near the bookshelf. It was a familiar title. Maybe she'd scribbled on the pages of this one once or twice.

Kendra frowned slightly when she heard Nadia compare her house, old house now, to a cage. "It's always been like this. My parents are sort of obsessed with being organized and clean. It really just makes the place look dead." There was bitterness in Kendra's words. Organization had been a major part of her life ever since she was small. Organization had been part of the foundation of the personal cage that went with her everywhere. Yet a small part of her didn't mind it so much, wanted to make something similar that was completely perfect and controlled in every way. She ignored it for now.

Her eyes swept around the room, thinking about what she wanted to bring. She was going to need clothes. Maybe one or two of the irritating dresses in case she needed to be formal, but she decided she'd mainly stick to button-up shirts and dress pants. Time for her to get to be casual."Clothes, for sure. Mainly the button-up shirts and the dress pants. I like wearing casual things like that better than those dresses. Going to bring one or two so I'm prepared for formal situations though. Maybe a book or two on politics. Even if my parents bought them for their future version of me, I want them so my own version of the future." There was something oddly satisfying in saying what she wanted out loud at home. She had always relied on thinking it in case the walls gave her away somehow. But now things were going to be fine, so she didn't need to hold back.

"There's one thing I think I want. It's stupid, but it's small at least." She opened the desk drawer to remove a small wind-up dog. "I used to sometimes wind this up when my parents were gone. I'd put it down on the carpet and make small imprints. Drove them crazy, though they could never find it." She smiled fondly at it, remembering she also used it when she got the compulsion to be in charge of something. The dog depended on her winding it up, and she could choose to bring it to life any time she wanted. It was a useful little thing.

When she glanced around the room again, Kendra tried to think of what else she'd want to bring. She at least decided to open her closet, tossing her clothes into different piles to create a little more organized chaos. Everything looked the same, the shirts and pants sometimes a different color. She ignored the dresses entirely, just randomly throwing two down. It was when she got to the back of the closet she stopped. There was a children's book on strong female leaders. Kendra vaguely remembered her mom buying it for her to inspire her to take charge. She found herself reaching for it, studying it for a few moments. "I'm taking this so it inspires me to be strong and be my own person. I gotta be myself and change what my parents tried to make me.

She gathered up as many of the clothes she could, stopping at about five button-up shirts, four dress pants, and a dress she slung over her shoulder. She put the book on top of the other two books, the wind-up dog balancing on top. "Hey, Nadia? Would you mind pickinh up the other stuff for me before we make a quick stop? I'm taking my mom's cook book. She made a vague motion with her legs to the other two button-up shirts lying on the ground alongside the other dress and four other dress pants. She just hoped Nadia didn't question her interest in taking the cookbook. Cooking required you to be in constant control, really, so Kendra had always found it relaxing. Plus, it would count as another small form of rebellion.

Casual? It seemed like all the girl owned were dress shirts and dress pants. And dresses. Nadia remembered something similar, though since being out on her own, she'd adopted a more...jeans and loose blouse look. It felt more comfortable and easier to move around in. Nadia sat on the bed out of the way and watched as Kendra sorted out what she wanted to keep and what she wanted to leave behind.

She was content to listen to the girl explain herself, watching the little revelations as she packed away an old life to make room for another. It was fascinating to watch as the girl reasoned her actions out for herself. Nadia leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees, contemplating, until she started piling stuff up and asked if Nadia would grab the rest.

With a nod, Nadia stood and picked up the discarded dresses and pants, folding the nice-feeling fabric in her arms. "If there are trashbags in the kitchen, these things might be easier to carry if we divide them more equally and put them in trashbags." Nadia remarked, with another look around the room. She honestly expected her to take a few more things. But it seemed like Kendra didn't have much that wasn't expressly to fulfill this purpose her family had for her. Nadia was glad she could help the girl out of this situation, but it brought back memories that she didn't realize would be painful. Like, for instance, how she hadn't received a call from her mother in over a year. Sure, she hadn't called either but...

Nadia followed the girl to the kitchen without saying much more, just inspecting the things they walked past with guarded indifference. She was hoping they'd be out soon, so she could tuck those regretful feelings back in the past where they belonged.

Kendra grinned, clearly happy with Nadia's idea. Really, in Kendra's mind, it was a bit embarrassing she hadn't thought of the idea herself. "Good idea. The trashbags should be in the third cabinet from the left on the bottom." When she said should, she meant she knew they would be, because nothing was ever out of place. A little bit of anger bubbled inside of Kendra, a childish prank coming to mind. "I'm moving them to one of the top cabinets." It was a bit of a bad idea, but Kendra didn't really care about what was good or bad idea-wise at this point.

The kitchen seemed as orderly as ever, though Kendra couldn't help but feel as though the whole area was off. She always had felt the kitchen had been an evil sort of presence, and Kendra vaguely wondered if her mom had started out cooking or something. She crouched slightly as she opened the cabinet, pulling the box of trashbags out. She rolled one out, carefully, broke it away, then moved the box to one of the higher cabinets, standing on her tip-toes. She then put the stack of items she had in, leaving the bag open so Nadia could dump whatever she was carrying in.

"Cook book is probably in the cabinet over the stove. Mom always liked that cabinet best. She claimed she had an instinct when it came to lucky objects." Kendra was already opening the cabinet as she spoke, hands making contact with the corners of the book. She pulled it down, closing the cabinet with her other hand as she did so, and threw it at the bag. It landed beside it, missing, but Kendra just walked over to actually put it in.

"Nadia, you've done the whole leaving thing before, right? Do you think I need to bring anything else?" Kendra hid the small amount of anxiety she was feeling well, though it was still present. A part of her wanted to impress Nadia with her choices, showing her she was ready to just leave, and the other anxious part of her just wanted not to mess up. But those two parts were buried under layers of an unnatural confidence Kendra had been trained to have. "Don't want to make any mistakes."

Nadia's thoughts were starting to drown out the words of the other girl as she decided that she was going to move things around. Nadia dropped the things she was carrying into the bag, with the other objects. The sound of the book hitting the floor brought Nadia's attention sharply to the task at hand, and she watched as Kendra tossed the missed book into the bag. It was a good thing too, because she was asking a question now.

Nadia thought for a moment. More important things to bring? hmm... "Toothbrush and toothpaste, other toiletries. The inn doesn't provide much in that regard." was Nadia's first piece of advice. "Hairbrush and other things like that as well. I don't have much in that department either." She stated factually. She had to admit, the lifelessness of the place was starting to drain her in a way. She hoped they could get out of here with a quickness.

"Do you have any skill in cooking? I think they've actually been looking for someone for the cooking staff." She said off-handedly, as she couldn't think of any other necessities she should keep in mind.

Kendra frowned, feeling embarrassed, her ears turning red. It was really obvious she'd need those kinds of things now that she thought about it. But she was fine, she told herself, letting the embarrassment get buried. She just had been so focused on gathering everything else, which she had done. She had no true reason to be embarrassed after all, and she'd just suck it up.

"I do have some skill in cooking. Something my parents would sometimes have me do. Usually did it by myself whenever I was inside the house and they were out. That way I could spill just a pinch of an ingredient and have it be in an obscure location. And the cooking itself was also fun." She didn't go to get the toiletries just yet, wanting to answer Nadia's question quickly. "I'd be happy to join the cooking staff."

As soon as she finished answering Nadia's questions, not even waiting for any kind of response, Kendra dashed off to go and raid the bathroom. She was careful when entering, slowing down when she stepped onto the tile floor. Last time, when the tiles had been a little wet from her father's intense cleaning, she had slipped and injured herself. Kendra was not going to have that happen ever again. She grabbed the shampoo bottle and bar of soap without question, taking her toothbrush, toothpaste, and the family hairbrush too. After a few moments hesitation, she swiped the floss too, careful not to drop anything as she walked back. However, when she was close enough to the trashbag, she wasted no time in dumping everything into it.

So...There was some goal in mind now, or a more solidified one, Nadia thought as Kendra ran off to grab toiletries from the bathroom. Nadia remained in the kitchen, looking down into the bag and thinking about what it would have been like if she hadn't told her parents she'd be leaving. Would it have mattered? not really. They still wouldn't bother to call her. But Kendra...

She returned to drop the items into the bag soon enough, and Nadia stood back up to give her room, in case she dropped things on the floor this time too. Watching with a passive expression she asked finally. "If that's everything, you should be sure you're ready to do this. You can figure everything out once you've passed the threshold, but you have to be sure." She said, looking toward the door.

Kendra was rather proud to be able to note the floss was the only thing that hit the floor, and that was easily fixed. She looked at the trash bag, trying to think if there was anything else she'd need. She had clothes, two political books, one children's book, a cookbook, toiletries, and a wind-up dog. There were more books than expected, but there didn't seem to be anything else Kendra needed. "I think I'm all set."

Kendra looked at the kitchen, an odd mixture of sadness and joy hitting her. This was, hopefully, going to be the last time she saw this place. There would be no more time with her parents, trapped in a lifeless home, forced to study economy. No more working her schedule so she could get away from her house more easily. No more purple carpeted flooring and yellow walls. No more mom and dad. She should've been over the moon still, but it felt like she was being hit by the full weight of something. Still, Kendra was not going to be held back. She was finally getting her freedom.

"Is there anything else I need to do before we leave? You're technically the expert here and I just don't want to get you in trouble." It was true. Kendra wasn't going to let Nadia get in trouble, especially since Kendra had only let her in the house and told her what to take. "Do I need to change my appearance or anything?"

Nadia stifled a small giggle when the girl mentioned changing her appearance. "No, I don't think that will be necessary. Unless you want to look differently, of course. I wouldn't worry about me getting into trouble. You live here and...Most of this is your property, right?" Nadia replied, mood successfully lightened a little.

"If that's everything, we should get moving. We'll get you settled in tonight, and talk to the Innkeeper tomorrow, if that's okay with you." Nadia allowed, looking down at the bag. Thinking back, it wasn't that much more than she took with herself when she left. The familiarity was uncanny.

Kendra looked at the bag, thinking about it. Technically, the items she had taken were considered household items, sans her mom's cookbook, so she didn't think she was really stealing the toiletries. "More or less. I guess it depends on if you think items shared by everybody in the house count as stolen property. And I am stealing my mom's cookbook." She was feeling a little better, though inwardly she wasn't entirely sure why she'd want to look different if she didn't need to look any different.

"Are you kidding? That's more than okay with me. I'm really excited to be leaving and making my own decisions for once." There was a genuine grin on Kendra's face, eyes sparkling with delight. "I don't think I could really thank you enough for this. You've basically answered my prayer." She picked up the bag, happy that it wasn't really too heavy, and walked towards the door, excited to start her new life. She didn't even think to stop and ask Nadia where she was going exactly, too focused on the path ahead.