Miss Independent (Caz)

[Rapunzel]

Okay, she could figure this out. How hard could it be? You put the clothes in, push a few buttons and voila! Clean clothes. Except how was she supposed to know which buttons to push? Maybe she shouldn’t have said no and flounced off when her mother had asked her once if she wanted to learn how to use the washer.

Taking every dirty article of clothing that she had with her (it had been a long journey, at least to Rapunzel, and had required a lot of outfits. Of course she was used to being able to change her clothing several times a day to match with what she was feeling, so...), she balled it all up together and stuffed it into the washer, barely able to get the door closed. Right, first step done. Now there was something about soap. Opening the lid a crack, she tossed in the bar of soap she had brought down with her. Good.

Now for the buttons.

Blowing her fringe out of her face with a quick puff of air, Rapunzel glared hard at the buttons on the machine, propping her hands on her hips. Whites, colours, delicates... well, she had a little bit of all of it in there. Smiling suddenly as she figured it all out, she just started pressing all of the buttons.

Easy as pie! Which, incidentally, she also didn’t know how to make.

[Cazaril]

Cazaril didn't have a lot to wash, to be honest. He hadn't been here long and after the extensive amounts of travelling he figured this stuff would need to be cleaned. At the moment he was wearing the hand me downs he'd always been given. A beanie hat, an old woollen jumper and a pair of ripped jeans. He needed a shave, but other than that he was certainly clean if not stylish.

Just the clothes then.

He took what he had down to the laundry room in a washing bag - curtsey of his room, a bed, a mini fridge that he'd traded from a kid down the next block, and a desk with a lamp was pretty much all he had and needed considering he had very little.

When he entered however he wasn't expecting a very pretty blonde, trying to use the washing machine. His eye brow raised considerably as he noticed she was trying to press all of the buttons.

"Easy, easy!" he said, suddenly, coming in and dropping the washing bag, walking over and waving his arms in a panic. "You'll make the machine explode, that's the last thing you want!"

[Rapunzel]

Mashing a few more buttons, Rapunzel grinned triumphantly as the machine whirred to life and started to fill with water. Sadly, the triumphant grin didn’t last as she was suddenly interrupted by a rather scruffy looking young man. Still having seen so few people here (though, to be fair, this was her first full day in The Town), she turned quickly toward him, blue eyes going wide as he rushed at her, arms waving about. Letting out a startled squeal she jumped backwards, almost tripping over the open suitcase at her feet that she had used to drag her laundry down in. Luckily she managed to stay on her feet so she didn’t end up making the same impression on this guy as she had on Gaston.

“Explode?” she repeated, looking back at the machine. It seemed to be running fine. Lowering her brows slightly, she turned back to the scruffy guy. Honestly, just because he was only doing laundry was no excuse to run around in ripped jeans and and old ratty jumper. She was here doing laundry as well, but she still managed to look stylish in a knit dress, leggings and some rather fuzzy boots.

“It seems to be working just fine, thank you very much,” Rapunzel replied, a bit haughtily. She had been feeling so proud of herself for figuring this whole laundry thing out and he just had to burst in and ruin it for her. She would probably pout about it if she wasn’t trying to look so stuck up and accomplished. “I can do my own laundry, you know.”

No sooner had the words passed her lips then did she glance back over at her machine to see water and soap suds starting to spill out from under the lid of the overloaded washer.

[Cazaril]

"You're sure about that?' said the young man, his eyebrow raised high on his forehead. The overloaded washing machine looked like it was going crazy by this point. Well, so much for taking advice when you clearly need it.

He waited a second before looking to her again.

"Look, Miss, I don't mean to be rude, but the machine will destroy your clothes if you don't let me show you how to do this properly."

He had the sincerest intentions of course, being male and lovely and all that. Though, she was pretty to look at too. He wouldn't deny it. Perhaps one day he could sneak her a poem under her door about her hair...

No. No Caz, don't be silly!

Anyway, he shrugged his shoulders, waiting for her to respond. He wouldn't touch the machine unless she said he was allowed, and the water issue did seem to be worsening.

[Rapunzel]

“Oh fiddlesticks!” Rapunzel exclaimed. Water and suds were spilling everywhere and the whole machine had started to shake and the scruffy boy was just standing there, doing nothing but talking! Not only was he talking, but he was talking about the machine destroying all her wonderful clothes!

Throwing herself at the machine, she tried mashing all the buttons again, surely one of them had to be a stop button, but it just whirred on, and now she was getting soaked.

“Okay, fine, yes, please! Help me!” she screeched, trying to hold the lid down on the washer as if that would keep the water in. “Make it stop!”

Oh, what a disaster! And she had been so proud of herself for figuring it out on her own, for proving that she didn’t need her parents around to do everything for her. She was sixteen now, gosh darn it, and she could take care of herself!

Only, obviously, she couldn’t.

The water on her face right now wasn’t just from the overflowing washer.

[Cazaril]

The moment she allowed it, he rushed forward, and pressed the right button, the off button, turning to look at the soaked young woman.

"Stand back!" he said, carefully but in a very dominant manner, before throwing the door open, careful to put a washing bag underneath it so the clothes, wet and soggy and very bubbly due to soap collapsed in a mushy puddle in the container.

Caz rolled up his jumper, inspecting the washer, there was a lot of water inside it still, so he looked around, and was pleased to find there wasn't a sink too far away, and started to empty the washer's water into the sink with a bucket.

It didn't take long, just long enough so it wasn't going to explode any time soon. The washer was ready to work again at least!

He stopped and turned to face the girl again, her face was wet, and she looked miserable. He decided instead of just doing the washing for her, he'd at least show her how to do it properly.

He gave her a reassuring look. 'Shall we see if we can clean your clothes better now? I promise, they'll be clean in the next hour or two and I guess you'd like to know how?'

[Rapunzel]

Backing out of the way when the young man stepped in to help, Rapunzel let out a huge sigh of relief when he managed to stop the machine, but it quickly turned to dismay when he opened the door and all her clothing rolled out in a sodden lump. They were probably all ruined, and not only was it all her fault but she hadn’t even been able to find the stupid stop button. She was just so in... so in... such a failure.

Wiping at her eyes and sniffing quietly, she leaned against one of the other washers and tried to calm down. Pulling the elastic from her hair, it fell in a drenched clump from her ponytail. Running her fingers through it, instead of the gesture helping to relax her she only felt worse when she came up short. Keeping her hair up so much now, she could almost forget that it wasn’t as long as it used to be, and boy had it been long. It had been her trademark, and she missed it, but it was a sacrifice she had had to make to save herself from being sent away with her evil aunt. It was growing back, though, she could almost feel it.

Having tamed her hair so it looked halfway presentable, she looked at her saviour with the most pitiful expression when he finished bailing out the washer. She wasn’t sure what to expect now; would he yell at her? Tell her to go do something somewhere else while he cleaned up her mess and did her laundry for her? The latter was what her mum or dad would have done; the former, she suspected, was how her aunt would have handled it.

This boy did neither. Instead he asked if she would like to learn, and this time she accepted.

“Oh, yes, that would be wonderful!” Rapunzel exclaimed, pushing off of the washer behind her to stand at attention and beaming brightly at him. Sure, she could have been all offended and stubborn, but trying to figure it all out herself hadn’t worked so far, and she had no problem accepting help with certain matters.

[Cazaril]

She looked so sad, so helpless that he couldn't help but spurning himself on to help her. So she had shouted at him sure, but she was upset, and clearly confused. Caz was one to forgive and forget if the choice presented himself.

He gave her a smile as she wished to learn how to use the washer now it was ready. 'I'm Caz, by the way. It's short for Cazaril, but no one likes to call me it so...whatever' he shrugged, before turning to her clothes. 'We need to put your clothes back in the washer and make sure there's definitely enough room or it wont clean your clothes properly.'

He decided after a moment's hesitation to quickly put the clothes back in there himself and pretend that he was not looking at her 'delicates' as it were when even a man of his calibre couldn't help but notice them in a pile.

He flushed darkly before battering it away. 'Yes, so clothes inside, do you have soap powder? What did you put in the machine?'

[Rapunzel]

Caz. Cazaril. Well, it was certainly no more unusual than ‘Rapunzel’; they both had a zed, which wasn’t exactly the most common letter when it came to names... or anything for that matter.

“I’m Rapunzel,” she replied in return, dipping into a slight curtsy just as he mother had taught her. “It’s not short for anything, nor is anything really short for it. It’s what everyone calls me.”

Definitely not the most intelligent introduction in history, but Rapunzel didn’t notice. To her, it made perfect sense, especially following the form of his introduction. Giving it no other thought, she watched as Caz haphazardly shoved all of her clothing back in the washer while telling her to make sure there was enough room. “Well, I did really have to stuff them in there originally. Should I wash less this time?” she asked, eyeing him sceptically. If the water all overflowed, maybe it was because there wasn’t enough room for the water and she should make more room, but he was filling the machine again and he was supposed to know these things, so maybe she was just over thinking it.

Then there was the question of soap. “No, I don’t have any,” Rapunzel replied, her own cheeks pinking slightly. It wasn’t a lie, she really didn’t have any, but then she hadn’t known she had needed soap ‘powder’. Looking down at the bag that he had dropped her sodden lump of laundry in, she pointed at the half dissolved bar of soap that remained behind. “I used that.”

[Cazaril]

'The washer can be on longer if you have more clothes' Cazaril admitted. 'It's just changing the settings. I had to do chores for my mother so...' he shrugged. 'You can wash less if you'd prefer, but I reckon you'd be fine with what you've got in there.'

He saw her eye her like that, he didn't want to look like an idiot, but he had obviously done more washing than her. 'I'm not an expert, but...I've definitely can use one of these' he tried to reassure.

When she pointed at the soap his eyes raised on his forehead, almost up to his hair line. 'Okay, well that's not the sort of soap you need, but that's okay, I have some.' He gave her a reassuring smile. 'It needs to be in powder because it's easier to clean the clothes that way.'

He moved over to his own washing bag, and pulled out a small box, that said rather simply. 'Soap Powder' on it. 'You put two scoops in the drawer with the plastic spoon inside and then when you've closed the draw we'll look at the dials and buttons.'

[Rapunzel]

He at least sounded knowledgeable, and who was she to argue with him? He had come here to do his own laundry on his own, after all, and claimed to have done so before, so he definitely had more experience with it than her. Maybe she just had to stop asking questions and just trust him.

Fortunately, in this situation at least, Rapunzel was very good at blindly trusting people.

She wasn’t sure she liked how he was looking at her just then, though, with the super high eyebrow look. The pink in her cheeks getting darker, she started to absentmindedly play with her hair. At least he didn’t outright call her an idiot, though. Kids at school back home used to call each other that over the silliest things and it was not a term she was fond of. Caz wasn’t like them, though. Caz was patient and helpful and really very nice. What was that saying about books and judging? Or not judging, rather? Whatever it was, it fit him. He had run in here all scruffy and yelling at her and now he was being really sweet and, well, she supposed he could be rather good looking if he cleaned up a little.

Oh, right, she was supposed to be paying attention here. Snapping her eyes back to Caz when he held the box of powder out to her, Rapunzel eyed it for a moment before hesitantly accepting it. Not only was he telling her how to clean things properly, but he was letting her do it on her own. Carefully measuring out two scoops, she poured it into the drawer he indicated. Setting the box back on top of the washer, she awaited the next instructions.

Had she taken a moment to really think about anything right then, she might have noticed she'd been quiet for a whole two minutes, which was certainly a rarity. Oh, the power of concentration.

[Cazaril]

It would be said Caz was a natural teacher, but he wouldn't know about that. He'd spent his life learning off what he could from his brothers, and knowing it was unfair to live in fear of those older and wiser when sometimes, new ideas were good too. He knew he was different to them, and everyone else, that there was more to him and that would always remain even in a place like this as far as he was concerned. He'd like to feel more at home though, and it felt good to help someone.

Speaking of Rapunzel he watched her nervously. He wanted her to get this right so badly, as it seemed like she was someone who really wanted approval, just like he did when he was a kid. He also had the feeling that she didn't get a lot of it where she had been from. Something that he would quickly change if he could.

She was scooping powder into the washer drawer and he couldn't help but grin at her. Surprising for someone who appeared so demanding at the beginning to look so friendly. He had this nice scruffy sort of charming smile, cloaked in a texture of black stubble that he should really shave by now.

'That's great, well done!' he told her and then looked closely. 'Now depending on what you have in the machine is what you press on the buttons and dials. I usually go for 'Synthetics' he explained, looking at the dial, and he pointed to one side. 'Just twist it to the second word down,' he explained.

He then frowned himself in thought, the other dial had all sorts of spin cycles on. He did the thing that most with beards seemed proned too, stroking the stubble looking much older and wiser for the tiniest moment before his face lit up in obvious realization.

'Okay, for the last bit I think you live that dial where it is. No point changing it, because it just changes the speed. It's on it's highest setting so it'll be a powerful wash. Then you just press the start wash button.'

He pointed at the last ominous button with 'Start Wash' on it. He grinned deeper, his face crinkling. 'Think you can do it?' he said, this time with less of a teacher tone, but more in a friendly manner. Rapunzel could do this, and she'd feel accomplished.

Maybe, just maybe, he might of found an ally in this strange new place as well.

[Rapunzel]

Rapunzel’s kneejerk reaction to the praise was just to smile extra brightly. Yes, she seemed to smile a lot anyways, but generally she was a happy person, or had been up until she had ran away. She had always been confident and happy with herself as well; it was only now that she was struggling to do so much on her own that her confidence was starting to suffer, but she wasn’t one to dwell on it.

Standing beside Caz in front of the washer, she too looked closely at the dials and buttons. Now this is where she had really run into trouble. He said ‘depending on what you have in the machine’, and that was why she had tried to set it to everything. In the machine right now she had dresses and blouses and underthings and even the rare pair of trousers, and the clothing ranged from whites to dark and every colour in between.

Apparently ‘synthetics’ covered it all. Who was she to argue? Shrugging, Rapunzel turned the dial to the second word, as instructed.

Now he was frowning. Frowning wasn’t good. Unconsciously, she mimicked his expression as she looked over at him. What she did not do, though, was stroke her chin. Without a beard it would just look strange, but not as strange as she would look with a beard.

After a minor bout of beard stroking Caz was smiling again, and so was Rapunzel. A high speed, powerful wash sounded good; that meant it would be finished quicker, right?

“The high speed means it will be finished quicker, right?” she asked the question because... well, why not?

Could she do this? Of course she could! All she had left to do was press the start button. A worried expression settling on her face, she absently put one hand on Caz’s chest to push him back as she, too, stood back as far from the machine as she could and still reach the button. “Sure, but just in case maybe we should stand back,” she said, cautiously.

With one last moment of hesitation she hit the start button then jumped back from the machine. If it was going to flood again or actually blow up then she didn’t want to be anywhere near it when it happened.