“Would you like black, green, or white tea? Anything in it?”
Some meat from his container was dropped onto his plate and he nudged the rest closer to Saam, away from the edge so the dogs couldn’t reach up while distracted. “If you want some, help yourself, I didn’t eat lunch.”
“Green tea is fine. Lemon in it if you have it.“
Seeing the meat nudged closer to them, Saima got a hold of it to help themselves to some of it. “Appreciate it.”
Two plates were gotten out and Ludwig set the kettle on the stove for tea. “Here’s your container…. And mine….”
“Thanks.“ A little nod before they got their container. It didn’t take long before Saima was plating the hummus and pita bread in a way that would make it easy to enjoy it. Not that it was a terribly complex food in the first place.
Sitting down at the kitchen table, they started to eat some of their food, while waiting for the tea.
The bag was set on the kitchen table and the dogs were shooed into the living room. Gilbert was suspiciously quiet, but it wasn’t worrying yet.
“Do you want a plate?”
Having washed their hands, Saima made their way to the kitchen where the food was placed on the kitchen table. “Sure, a plate would be good.” Although they could eat out of the container, it just seemed more comfortable to eat on a palte at least in someone else’s home.
A dog wandered in, around, and out the garage, clearly not interested in much other than finding out where the two nations were.
If they wanted to hum to themselves, then Ludwig wouldn’t interrupt with a suggestion of music. Surely Saima felt comfortable enough to ask if they wanted a change. Ludwig hoped he was. When the door bell rang, he stood, brushing himself off. “I’ll be back. There’s a sink in the back, if you want to wash your hands.”
Although it always seemed possible to ask for some music playing, Saima had been contented with humming as they worked. It was a gesture that helped keep their focus on rather ordinary tasks.
“Oh okay, good to know.“ The ringing of the doorbell had signalled that the food was here. Seemed like a good time for Saima to go and wash their hands.
“For sure.” Leaving the boxes for the moment, he pulled out his phone to put Saam’s order in alongside his own. “There shouldn’t be too many, and if they are mixed up there won’t be too much issue.” He pulled a box towards himself, winding up the loose wire onto the spool
“Alright, that’s reasonable enough.“ As they worked, Saima hummed a slight tune to themselves – remembering tunes they had listened to earlier in the day. It was a way to keep preoccupied while going through the monotonous work of sorting out the wires.
“What do you want? By the time we order and it gets here, it’ll be a half hour or more.”
There was more of a mess than he remembered and his lower lip was sucked in with a disappointed noise. “Okay. Please try to keep the tags on, since they tell colour. There shouldn’t be many, but they’ll be there.”
“I want some pita bread and hummus- there has to be a place that carries that.“
Seeing the complex nature, it appears that this was going to take quite some time. “I’ll be sure to keep the tags on.” With that instruction in mind, they tried to work diligently.
“No, just boring. When do you want to eat? I can order whenever you’re hungry so you don’t have to wait too long”
Leading the way into the garage, Ludwig started pulling the boxes off the shelves. “Let’s start with this one, just because it’s right here”
“Hm. I guess I could be ready to eat in about an hour and a half. So that might give you a better idea of when to order.“
Following him into the garage, Saima was willing to work on whatever box seemed the best way to start. “Not a bad plan.”And so they started to get to work in terms of sorting out the contents.
“We’re trying to find my work clothes, then my boots. They’ll be rather scuffed.” Maybe he had put them in the downstairs entry way closet? That didn’t make sense, unless he had gotten dirt on them. Maybe his work space? No, spiders could get in them. Glancing back at Saam, he shrugged. “I guess it’s not that important if I work in these. We’re not going to be hauling around anything too filthy. Come on, I’ll look later.” Shooing them out of the closet, Ludwig snapped at his dogs to make them leave the room. “If you have more than an hour, I could use your help sorting wires and bolts, which I know I know is super boring but it has to be done and I’ll bribe you with tea or vodka or beer or dinner or whatever you want.”
“Ah I see, alright then.” It was useful to know exactly what they were looking for just to provide a little more important. Not that it mattered since Lud had apparently changed his mind and was shooing them out of the closet. “Alright then – I’m sure they’ll turn up sometime.”
“Sorting wires and bolts? Yeah I’ll help you out. I think dinner would be a solid payment for assistance with that.” After all, they were more than willing to accept food as payment.
52. Someone’s closet
“I’m not even sure what you’re trying to find in here.” Perhaps they were trying to gather parts of some kind but it appears that Lud’s closet was so well organized that the point of searching for something felt moot. Looking around they couldn’t help but think that maybe a reminder would be useful as the thought seemed to wander away from them.
“Great! Let me know when you’re free and I’ll set everything up”
“Cool. I’ll let you know. “
Seekesotsibteadmist 