Udinov Cabin (Dev #102)

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'I guess,' she signed. Her dogs needed her, and she did have things to do in the morning, so she ought to....but she liked Dev's company more and she hated to ask him to stay over even if she did feel more comfortable with him there.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'I can walk you back,' he signed to her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Thank you,' she signed, giving him a smile. 'Now where did I end up leaving my coat?'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"On the other couch," he said, pointing for her to see.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Oh, thanks.' she signed. She felt bad she hadn't hung them up, but it didn't seem to create a problem.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'No problem. I usually leave mine on the chair,' he told her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Do you not have hooks?' she questioned.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He shrugged. 'I have a closet. But that's a hassle when I have a perfectly good chair.'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She gave a small laugh. 'You're funny. But it makes sense.' She got up then and went to put on all her winter protective gear, meaning hat and gloves as well.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He sighed and git up as well, going to fetch his coat.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She zipped her coat up and headed to the door to wait for him.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Moments later he was at her side. He really hated that she had to go but he understood. After all, did he really have any claim to her?

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Without hesitation or even a thought, Hannah reached over and took his hand so they could walk together. Not that she was really worried about him losing her in the snow like she'd joked before.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He smiled at her adoringly while she wasnt paying attention then closed up.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

After Dev walked Hannah home, he returned to search for a blanket to use at their picnic. All the while, he thought about seeing Hannah again. He was pretty sure, no, definitely sure that he loved her but he wasn't sure how she felt about him. She made no advances, at least not since the night he stayed over at her place. And maybe that was just because she thought of him as a really good friend. He didn't know.... But he wanted to tell her. And he was going to do it on the mountain.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah and Dev both had the day off, and so she decided to take the chance to enlighten him with some more movies. They'd decided to do it at his house, without the dogs, since she was trying to train them to stay home. So she'd lugged her box of movies over to his house, with every intention of watching each and every one.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Dev had been watching out the window, waiting as patiently as he could tolerate. When he finally saw her carrying the big box of movies she kept up the path her hurried to the door.

"Hannah, you brought the whole box?" He asked, bewildered. Dev reached to take it from her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah waited until he'd taken the box before she even tried to answer, since signing was impossible and speaking was an extra effort. 'No, this is only about...a quarter of all my movies. And a little more than half the classics.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Still, you brought the box," Dev spoke. "Instead of a bag or something easier to manage," he shook his head but smiled at her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Because they wouldn't fit in a bag,' Hannah signed and laughed quietly. She had brought....a lot. Enough that they could watch nonstop for three days and still have more to go.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"You didn't bring anything else?" He asked, going up to the front.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'There's popcorn in the box too,' she answered and shrugged a little. She went around him to get the door so he wouldn't struggle. 'But that's it.'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"I figured that with the amount of movies, you would have brought a pillow and tooth brush," he teased.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She raised her brows like it had just occurred to her, but she grinned to show she was joking. 'I'll just borrow yours if I have to,' she teased instead.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"I hope you mean the pillows," Dev said, putting the box down on the table at last. It wasn't that heavy, but it was an awkward size.
He put up his hands, able to sign to her now. 'Now for a proper hello. Hi. How are you?'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah smiled. 'I'm good,' she signed honestly, for probably the first time in a long time. She felt...good. 'And you?'

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'I'm good,' He signed back. Better now that she was with him again.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'Then are you ready to be movie educated?' she asked, grinning. She was excited, since she got to introduce him to all of this.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'I think so. What are we starting with?' Dev asked her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'I figured we can start with my childhood favorites and then go down to the straight classics,' Hannah signed and then went into the box to find the one she was thinking about first. She pulled out her all time favorite and showed it to him with a grin. The Little Mermaid.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'The Little Mermaid?' He asked, looking it over. 'It it at all like the fairy tale?'

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She considered it, but realized she didn't know if his version of the story was the same as ones she'd heard. 'It's tame, but sort of,' she signed. 'It's a musical, which you can enjoy more than I can.' Though, sometimes when she was young she would put her hand over the speaker to feel it and imagine how it would sound. Back when she thought she might be able to hear music one day.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Well, I've become rather accustomed to watching with subtitles. So if you wanted me to watch it from your perspective,' Dev started.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

'We'll do both,' Hannah explained. Usually she did like muting the movies, with the chance that there would be a large startling sound, but this movie she knew didn't have that.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Anything you want,' Dev replied, going to the television. He put the disc in the player.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah just smiled and grabbed out the popcorn. She waved it to him. 'Do you want me to make it now?' she didn't know if he could eat it, but he could try and at least eat the burnt ones she thought were gross.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'We can't watch a movie without popcorn,' Dev told her.
'I moved the microwave to the other counter,' he said pointing.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She nodded once to say she understood, and went to go make the popcorn. She thought it looked nice in it's new place, but also wondered why he moved it. She popped the popcorn and waited nearby. Often, she had difficulty with burning it since she couldn't hear when it stopped popping. Instead, she had to trust the directions on the box, which were usually inaccurate.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He got the movie set up the rest of the way and thought that it looked simple enough. It was a kids movie, and Hannah liked it so it couldn't be too bad. He sniffed and smelled something burning slightly and went in to see if there was another incident with the outlet.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah was digging through his cabinets for a bowl big enough to put the popcorn in before she started to smell it burning already. She got a little upset and hurried to take it out. Maybe it wouldn't be too burnt, but it smelled awful... She sighed and opened up the bag so it wouldn't shrink while she found a bowl.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Dev looked at bag of steaming/ smoking popcorn and wondered if she had brought a second bag of popcorn. He could remake it for her.
He reached over her head and opened the top cabinet to pull out a large bowl.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah was a little startled when she noticed him reaching above her because she hadn't realized he was there. She just stayed put though, since she didn't want to make it weird.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He put his hand on her shoulder gently as he got it and brought it down for her.
"Do you have another pack? I think the power on the microwave it too high to let it go for too long," Dev told her.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Hannah nodded. 'I brought the whole box of popcorn, just to be safe,' she answered. Mostly she'd done it since she didn't think he had any in his own house.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He turned and saw the box over by the microwave. After tossing the wrapper in the trash and putting it in, he started it for half the time. Dev was curious if there were any cues that Hannah would be able to notice with the popcorn since he always counted between the pops.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Really, Hannah had horrible luck with popcorn. For a long time, she'd stuck to an air popper where she could see the kernels as they popped, but those were never buttery enough and usually too much work. When she switched back to bagged popcorn, she just took a long time to figure out how to adjust for her microwave perfectly.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

'Is the smell bothering you?' He asked her, keeping a close eye on the machine.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She shrugged. 'It is, but there's not really anything we can do about it,' she answered.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

He went over to open the kitchen window. If she wanted, he could put the bag outside. There was the noisy fan over the stove too, but it wouldn't bother Hannah so he turned it on.
'There, hopefully that will help,' He signed, before opening the door to the microwave.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

She gave him a smile when he tried to lessen the smell, and it seemed to work. It was a little less oppressive of a burnt smell now. And the new popcorn was already taking its place, with the warm false butter smell being much more pleasant.