KABOOM!!!! (Cecil / Mallory)

It was another peaceful day. The birds were singing. The tree leaves were swaying and falling in the autumn breeze. And in a small little cottage with a thatch roof and a large, extended garage, the sounds of progress occurred.

Followed by a loud explosion and a flash of light that could be seen only through the windows of the closed garage. Slowly the garage door opened, smoke erupting forth from it, and emerging from it was a single girl covered in so much smoke that any details regarding her were impossible to tell. She had a work apron covered in soot and metal filings, and her hair was frizzed with singes on its ends. Despite being in a work apron though... She was in sports shorts, walking boots, and beneath the apron, a crop top. The birds that had been singing quickly flew off in a panic, and the manic girl laugh heartily as she emerged from the smoke, a blowtorch in one hand, and a now empty can of deodorant in the other.

"An advancement in the name of science!" The girl declared with pride, before hearing complaints from within the smoke, a rather thick accented voice that contained a deep, almost melodic tone. Despite the frustration, the tone was evidently calm. As if used to this.

"Damn it Mallory. Get outta here while the smoke clears, and try to clear the smoke in your head! I need to clear this mess up..."

At this, the smoke, soot, and metal covered weird-o named Mallory pulled the trigger on the blowtorch a few times, before quickly finding it was still working, and contentedly throwing the can of deodorant aside as she stepped out into the world, and shoved the blowtorch dangerously into her aprons pocket.

Around a minute and a half after the explosion shook the air, a rather alarmed looking blond boy could be spotted some distance away, rapidly approaching as he came in at a dead sprint. His focus was honed on the direction of the garage, and as he came in, Mallory would find that he was on a collision course with her.
The boy seemed to notice too, as he swerved to try and avoid her...and in the process, managed to catch his foot on a rather generously sized rock, tripping him and twisting his foot as he was sent crashing down on his side.
As he tried to get his feet under him, he winced at the pain that shot through his ankle, and quickly gave up on that particular effort for now. Instead, he turned his attention to the girl he nearly collided with. "Are you alright?" After a second, the unusual state of Mallory's appearance registered in his mind, and suddenly he seemed a lot more concerned. "Wait, wait - you weren't in that explosion, were you?"

As the running person began to approach, Mallory wiped her brow of the combination of sweat and soot, tilting her head as she watched. More than that though, he got up, and his first concern was on her. As he crashed into the ground spectacularly, Mallory's first instinct was to wince, as if relating to the sudden pain. But then it turned to one of confusion. Rubbing at her eyes as if to try make sure she didn't knock herself unconscious and witnessed a hallucination or dream, Mallory concluded that, no, this was someone that legitimately prioritised someone else when they'd just had a major wipe out.

"I am okay indeed! Although, I must say, I'm fairly confused. Did you knock your head or something? I mean, I'm pretty sure that having fallen, your priority should have been yourself there... I appreciate the thought though!"

At the question regarding the explosion, however separate to the atmosphere it was, Mallory laughed heartily. "In the explosion? I made the explosion! It was truly a test for scientific triumph! Boss wanted to get some welding done, and I figured I'd speed it up to aid with the deadline! Sadly, it turns out that by applying wide sprays such as gas from a deodorant can, the intense and focused heat of a blow torch doesn't continue being contained and focused... But that merely means that one path can be ruled out, or even better, be expanded on in the future! After all... If I can figure out how to harness that explosiveness and make it into a better blow torch... Why, it'll be an innovation that will shake the engineering and mechanic world to its core!"

Cecil was quick to wave off what Mallory said. "I don't need to take a blow to the head to be concerned about someone else. I'll be fine...this was my own fault anyway. I nearly hit you, though."



At the news that she was the source of the explosion, Cecil stared blankly for a moment. Then, he let out a long groan, resigned to the fact that he had just found himself in one of these situations yet again. "...I'm guessing everyone is fine and I didn't need to run over like that, then..." Just his luck.
He tries his ankle again, and quickly backs off as he finds it's not faring any better. "I'm pretty sure blowtorches and explosions are meant for two different things, you know..." He winces as he manages to get his other foot under him, pushing himself up on one leg.

At the comment regarding the difference between blowtorches and explosions, Mallory shrugged. While to any other person, such a thing would seem logical, but to Mallory...

"I mean, I guess if you want to be pedantic regarding it. But at the core of it, a blowtorch and an explosion follow similar principles for definition. While a blowtorch is used for welding and an explosion tends to draw matter apart and separates, both rely on high temperatures to achieve their fundamental goal. Because of that, doesn't it stand to reason that an explosion can, if harnessed properly, cause perhaps a sturdier bond between the metals welded together?"

With a beam of pride, Mallory began patting at her frizzed up hair, before shaking her head. "That aside, you okay there? I'm sure boss'll let me back into the workshop to get some first aid supplies if you need it."

Alright...that was not remotely the response he'd expected. Or one that...there was a logic there, but it wasn't complete. "I...no? Maybe if it was just heat, but...the whole things that make explosions explosions is force. If it was just heat things would melt and evaporate and burn and set on fire instead of being blown to pieces or sent flying."

Cecil's quick to wave off the offer of help, let alone the suggestion that he needed it. "No, no! I'm fine, I'm fine, I don't need it. I'll be ok."
As much as he said that, he was definitely avoiding putting weight on one foot as much as humanly possible.

At the stranger's attempt to rebuttal against her reasoning, Mallory laughed, waving her hand slightly in an almost dismissive manner. "Nah. That's only if you think of force and heat as two separate things. But if you think about it from a more isolated state, both heat and force are a result of energy. Ah, maybe that's... Yes... I see..."

Quickly, Mallory seemed to grow into a muttering state, occasionally the words "harness" and "like a laser beam" would emerge, although she then seemed to somewhat remember what was going on, shrugging. "Ah, whatever, I guess I can work on that in my own time and when my boss won't wring my neck! Anyways! Glad you're not injured! The name's Mallory Lucklace, genius scientist, engineer, and dismantler supreme, with the personality and genius that all should envy!" She declared, grinning and offering a somewhat sooty hand for a handshake. "So, what's your name?"

He wasn't sure what was going on in Mallory's head, and frankly he wasn't sure if he wanted to, but he was happy for the excuse to step out of a conversation he wasn't sure he was ever going to make any headway in. Right now, he just counted himself lucky that he hadn't been called out on injuring himself. She didn't even seem to notice, somehow.
"Looks like you're pretty humble, too..." Suppressing a sigh, he reaches out to shake her hand. "Cecil Erinforth, person who comes running when they hear explosions."
He hoped this wasn't going to be too vigorous a handshake or he was pretty sure he'd end up hitting the deck.

Laughing at the commentary on her introduction, and the dry humour in his own introduction, Mallory shook hands with Cecil in a rather deceptive way for someone so energetic, the expression on her face clearly thrilled, but the handshake being as bland as a businessman. Then, only after the handshake, did the girl do something she probably should have done before; dusting off her hands from the soot.

Still, offering him a smile, the girl decided to both pose a question for conversations sake, and also poke a bit of fun. "So! Running man! What were you doing over here before you heard an explosion and got excited to see what happened?"

Cecil laughs awkwardly, and shrugs as the girl before him decides that posing mid conversation is a thing that people definitely do. "Uhh...not much, really..." He wipes off the soot on one leg, batting away at it after and wincing as he realises wrong fucking leg OW
Taking a slow, hissing breath in, shakes his head and hopes they don't comment. "I was just walking around, really...seeing where my feet took me. Definitely wasn't expecting to hear what I did out here."

"Riiiiiiight..."

Evidently beginning to grow more aware, at least having taken the hint of a wince, Mallory tilted her head, looking at the Cecil person with curiosity, and potentially either concern, and or just interest. "So, say... Not to doubt you or anything, but you sure you don't need first aid? Unless you might be part snake, you aren't really supposed to hiss like that or anything, you know? No need to be stubborn. If you were walking for the sake of walking, then you definitely don't want to make it harder on yourself to walk for no reason."

Bugger.
"Who says I'm not part snake? You turn up some interesting things if you look into your family history sometimes." He shifts his weight from foot to foot, never entirely putting his weight on his bad foot. "I only tripped. It's not like I have a chunk of bone jutting out of my leg and blood gushing from the wound. It was just a little fall - not exactly worth concern."

Shaking her head emphatically, Mallory leaned forwards, shaking a pointed finger at Cecil with a tsk tsk tsk. "Those there. Those are the words of someone with less than adequate medical know how! Just because something isn't instantly visible does not mean that it cannot be damaged! Internal bruising, delayed bruising, a sprain, cramps. I can for reals get some first aid from the workshop and either I can help you out or you can patch yourself up in a jiffy. Because, you just KNOW that if you deal with a problem, then that problem is less of a problem! You know? So, be honest Cecil Cecil, do you need first aid? Or at the very least, help walking home? Sure we've got a spare crutch or something somewhere around here from that lawnmower incident..."

He leans back, looking bewildered at Mallory encroached upon his space to deliver her scolding. "Have you not heard of hyperbole? I know that I don't actually have to have a compound fracture to-" He steps and stumbles back as he speaks, suddenly placing weight on a foot not prepared to handle it. Pain shoots through his ankle, and the leg crumples beneath him, sending him down flat on his ass.
Silence hangs for a moment as he tries to formulate a way to dismiss this...and then finds himself distracted as something that Mallory had said finally strikes him. He points up to her in alarm, eyes wide. "Wait, hold on, what the hell did you do to a lawnmower that people needed to have crutches readily available after the incident?!"

As he fell backwards while trying to explain how he was speaking in hyperbole, Mallory began to go forwards to try help him back up, before quickly stopping at his evidently mildly erratic questioning regarding the lawnmower incident. Still, at the accusation, she couldn't help but cross her arms in a visual sign of disapproval. "Hey! That's not a very nice accusation! I'll have you know that the only one injured was myself! After taking apart the lawnmower, I misplaced three of the screws that held its motor up, and so when we lifted it for repairs, it fell on my foot. Only reason we still have the crutches is because the hospital decided it's probably best for us to keep them in case of an accident. So, no accusations, and more acceptance of help when you need it! So! Cecil Cecilguy! Answer the question! Do you want me to let you borrow a crutch to walk back, or no?"