Fire?!?

[smallspot]

Who: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (smallspot ), Cu Chulainn (beforetights ), and anyone who wants to respond to the fire alarm/sprinklers.
Where: Room 2-17, Building One
When: Afternoon on 10-18
Format: Starting in prose, but please use whatever you want to reply!
Summary: Two little boys, two puppies, and a stove. What could go wrong here? (Please note that the fire will be small and quickly put out by the sprinklers, but there will still be smoke and the alarms to deal with. Oops indeed...)
Warnings: Cuteness, puppies, fire?

Edit: Lotus (beforetights ) is having some net issues currently thanks Murphy so she has asked that we have the boys responding separately instead of in a rotation like we originally planned. That way threads aren't held up. Sorry for any confusion!


It's a perfectly innocent scene. Two little boys who just recently adopted each other as brothers--one black-haired and one blue-haired. Two puppies--one grey and one white. They are playing in the living room of the apartment as little boys and puppies do. They were doing something earlier, but whatever it was has been forgotten in favor of playing with the puppies who are more fun than anything else could be.

What is this thing that has been so thoroughly forgotten? That would be lunch. To be specific, it would be the soup sitting to cook on the stove. Diarmuid has been shown how to make it in both the microwave and the stove, but he had opted for the stove even if the microwave would have been safer for two little boys. The microwave has no fire, after all. What is fun about watching food cook in a metal box? Not that even having the fire to cook food over had stood a chance against the appeal of a pair of puppies.

Unfortunately, having been forgotten means that the soup is boiling on a burner that is turned up too high without anyone to realize something is wrong. That is, until the smoke alarm goes off and, immediately after, the sprinklers in the apartment follow suit causing Cu Chulainn to yelp in surprise and Diarmuid to look up from his playing with wide, startled eyes.

Oops...


(OOC: Please post who you would like to respond to your reply--either Diarmuid, Cu Chulainn or both. If you don't put anything both boys will respond by default. Feel free to include event shenanigans if you would like!)

Comments

[ichoosefight]

So the sprinklers were working, that was somewhat comforting.

"It's okay, you're okay. Come stand out here, alright? It's dry. I'll check out the house." She assumed they would obey, and stepped past them into the house. The smoke was coming from the kitchen. A sleeve over her mouth and nose helped protect her from the smoke as she made her way towards its source.

[smallspot]

Diarmuid nods and moves out into the hallway making sure both puppies and his brother follow him. He's a knight and he should be able to take care of things like this, but right now he's just scared. After a few moments, though, he can't help but edge a little closer to the open door to make sure she is okay.

"Please be careful! I don't want you to get hurt!"

[ichoosefight]

She was certainly relieved when they obeyed, and she waved back at them to let them know she was okay. She was seeing shadows again, but it seemed to her that they must have entered the room with her, rather than been here to begin with. If they had been here, she would have seem them someplace other than the corner of her eye.

Finally she made her way into the kitchen, where the smoke was thickest. She squinted her eyes against the sting and waved her free arm through the air in a sad attempt to dispell some of the smoke. There it was, the pot on the stove giving off noxious gas and fumes. She checked first to see if there were any visible flames, then reached past the pot to turn the stove off. It didn't seem like there was any actual danger here. She moved back out into the living room where she could risk leaving her mouth uncovered for a moment.

"Everything's okay! I'm just gonna try to get the smoke out, okay?"

[smallspot]

Her assurance that things are okay should put Diarmuid more at ease than it actually does. Instead, he just frowns.

"Thank you! My brother said he thought he saw something in there. Please don't let it get you! It has to be what caused the smoke and the water, right? Bad fairies and spirits do stuff like that all the time!" Despite how many times people have told him there are no fairies here, Diarmuid can't help but disbelieve them. They are everywhere at home. How can there not be any here?

Besides, it hadn't just been his brother who thought he had seen something. Diarmuid had thought he saw something too.

[ichoosefight]

She frowned in turn. She could see the source of the smoke and the fire alarm, but little else. If there was something, even just a mouse, she might not be able to see it until more of the smoke was gone. She returned to the kitchen and opened the window there, then grabbed a wash rag and waved it through the air to disperse the smoke. After a bit of effort the air began to clear, and finally the sprinklers and the alarm turned off. She continued waving through the air for a bit longer. Finally she called back to the boys.

"Hey kids, it's safe. Nobody in here but me."

[smallspot]

"Are you sure?" Diarmuid peeks into the room. It seems like he has somehow convinced his brother to wait in the hall with their pets until he is sure everything is safe. As Diarmuid looks around the much more smoke free apartment to double check Steph's claim, his eyes fall on the stove and what is left of their lunch. When he realizes what happened, he dashes into the room, eyes wide.

"I forgot to watch lunch! I forgot..."

[ichoosefight]

She had to wring the water out of her shirt, hair and what she could move of her pants. It was not a pleasant feeling.

"You should never leave anything on the stove unwatched for more than a minute or two," she lectured, wrinkling her nose at the stench of burned soup.

"You're lucky nothing actually caught fire. The rain and the alarm are there to stop a fire from getting out of control and call for help. Just doing what they were designed to do."

[smallspot]

Diarmuid nods, eyes downcast. Even without her words, he knows he messed up. He had asked his brother to help him watch, but he's the big brother, so he should have made sure it was done.

Besides, the day that Cu Chulainn is more responsible than him will probably never come.

"I'm sorry. Now you are all wet too... How do I fix the mess, Lady..." He trails off realizing he doesn't know her name. "I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. May I ask your name so I can thank you for helping us?"

[ichoosefight]

Steph smiled sympathetically at the child. He was so young, it wasn't as though she could be angry at him for the accident. Children were to be treasured, taught and protected, not shouted at for every little mistake. As long as he learned from it, he would do alright.

"I'm Stephanie Brown. You can call me Steph. I don't mind getting a little wet, but if you want to fix it you should start cleaning up. That soup's no good anymore, it's all burnt."

[smallspot]

"I'm sorry we met like this, Lady Steph. Thank you for helping us! I will clean up the soup," Diarmuid gives the stove a sad look before looking back at Steph. "How do I get everything dry again? Everything I would use to dry things is wet now!"

Diarmuid really seems focused on fixing things. Probably because it gives him something to think about besides how his mistake put his brother and their pets at risk.

[ichoosefight]

"It's no problem." She waved off his concern as though she raced into smoke filled apartments all the time. Usually there was more fire involved.

"If you really want to dry everything out, you should try setting some of the wet things in the sun. They'll dry out faster. The carpet will just have to dry on its own. You shouldn't have to worry too much about water damage."

[smallspot]

Diarmuid seems relieved she's not angry about all of this, "That is what I will do! It is good this happened before it got too much cooler so things will dry faster!" He takes a moment to look between the wet things and the soup, "It's afternoon. If I want things to dry, I should probably set them out first! I am sure my brother will help me. If you want to go, we won't bother you any more. I am very happy you helped us this much!"

[ichoosefight]

"I should probably get changed." Her voice was apologetic, but in truth she didn't particularly want to clean up the kid's suite. It was a mess, and it reeked of burnt soup.

"And you two may want to go out for lunch."

[smallspot]

Diarmuid nods at her answer. He doesn't seem upset at all by it, "I don't want you to get sick because of my mistake. Thank you for helping! When you go out, will you tell my brother it is okay to come back in? He can watch the puppies while I clean everything up."

It will take a while alone, but it will probably take longer if Diarmuid has to to watch out for a pair of energetic puppies as well.

[ichoosefight]

"No problem. Stay safe, okay? The both of you. I'm right down the hall if you need me." Cucuc knew where she lived, and that would have to be enough. She offered one last smile before heading out the door. It was starting to get chilly already.

[smallspot]

Diarmuid nods and waves as she leaves the apartment. He had thought he was doing good keeping himself and his brother safe, but this incident has proven otherwise.

He is going to be trying a lot harder from now on. He wants there to be no repeats of something like this.