Mara looked back up at him with an arched brow. “Chihuahua?” she asked, not familiar with the word. She could imagine that it was a smaller dog by his explanation but living in the walls, she didn't understand as much about his world as he did.
"They look like a mix between a rat and a dog," Darius admitted. "And they're about… this big, in general." Darius held his hands up in a close approximation, letting out a breath.
"And I hate them with a passion."
“Oh.” Mara said, trying to stifle a laugh at the thought of someone as big as him being scared of something that small. “Those do sound like trouble.” she commented after thinking how much of a problem that animal would be for her.
"They are," Darius agreed. "Thankfully, none of my friends have any, and my grandmother doesn't come visit. How she handles three of the little demons, I have no idea." The man shook his head some.
Mara chuckled again as she picked up an empty thimble that had fallen over. “The way you talk about them makes me feel pretty lucky that I haven't seen one yet.”
'Yeah, I might have a bias against them. Just a little bit." Darius laughed some, picking up one of his textbooks. He set it on the spot he'd initially aimed for, taking a few loose-leaf papers into one arm as he looked for a folder.
“Maybe.” Mara agreed with a teasing smirk as she looked back over at him. “Wait. Were you just carrying all of that?” she asked in surprise.
"Ah, yeah, I was," Darius admitted. "It… wasn't the smartest decision. I should have made two trips."
Mara rolled her eyes at the obvious statement. That was practically one of the key principles of life for her; never take more than you can carry. “You’re really lucky you didn't hurt yourself worse than what happened. I mean, I know you guys are strong but… That was a little reckless.”
"Yeah… I guess I just wanted to get inside. And hey, it would have totally worked if I had somewhere to set everything down." Darius chuckled, more than willing to admit he'd been stupid with his actions.
Mara sighed, nodding a little as she could sort of understanding the rush to get back in your home. “Then you need a bag if you're going to carry that much next time.”
"Mm… I'll have to look into getting one then, for sure. Especially if my teachers are going to give me as much work again any time soon." Darius finally finished gathering everything up, turning to look to Mara.
Mara looked up at him, a little confused. She knew people like him didn't need to make everything they way she did, but what sort of things did he still need someone to teach him? And what exactly did he mean by work given? “Well, until you get one… just try not to hit this wall again.” she quipped good-naturedly. “I only have so much room here.”
Darius nodded, a small chuckle coming out.
"Yes, I must agree. It wasn't very enjoyable for me to so rudely come bursting into your home like that." The man was keeping his distance respectfully, moving to sit on the couch instead.
“For either of us, I’d imagine.” she pointed out. “That must have really hurt… Even if you do have a thick head.” she added with a soft chuckle before picking up one of the pieces of a cracker she grabbed earlier. “Well, got a head start on making salted flour after that.” she muttered to herself.
"Yeah…" Darius shifted some, looking to Mara again.
"I didn't break anything of yours, did I?" The man asked. If he had, he'd be more than willing to help replace it. The couch was by the wall, so with him sitting on the side, it ended up with him closer a bit than he had been before when they were talking.
“Doesn’t look like it. At least nothing serious.” Mara said after a brief assessment of the main room. Her bedroom was still hidden, thankfully, and there was also a storage room with an actual door. “Definitely going to have to sweep up some of this white dust.”
"Okay, then. That's good at least." Darius still had a bit of the wall dust stuck in his hair, but he didn't seem to notice. He could see some of Mara's room from where he was, but he didn't want to snoop too much.
“Yeah.” she agreed as she ran her fingers through her hair, brushing some of the dust out. She hummed thoughtfully as she felt the white powder and started wondering if there was a possible use for it.
Darius fell quiet, turning his attention to the hole itself. He leaned forward a touch, hand going to his chin. He had no idea how to fix it, but he didn't think it would be a good idea for him to call someone in to fix it. No, it wouldn't be for sure, not with Mara's house right there.
"I'm not entirely sure how to fix this," the man finally admitted.
Mara looked back up at Darius when he spoke. “Ummm… Don't you just need a piece of wood and part of one of those wall sections?” she asked. Living and traveling in the walls, Mara could see how the wall was built from the inside; the part people like Darius never saw.
"A-Ah… what?" Darius had absolutely no idea what Mara was talking about. "I, uh, I've never really thought about how a wall works, never needed to, so… I'm clueless."
“Apparently.” Mara sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Ok, look. Your wall is made up of tall pieces of… whatever you call the stuff you broke through. They’re pretty wide too, and they're held together by long pieces of wood going both directions, up and down and side to side.” she explained as best she could. “You can probably get a piece of wall big enough to fill the hole and just need some wood to hold it in place.”
(wall puzzle 101: wood + wall piece = whole wall)
(come on Darius, it's easy)
(lol 😆 )
(Darius, basically a rich boy who's never known anything at all about construction or fixing things himself: R-Right…)
"O-kay, then…" Darius would do some research into what Mara was talking about and where to get the wall pieces later. "Yeah, I'll do this soon, then…"
(lmao i stg only rich people find tiny people in their homes)
(As a poor person, I can confirm- if there were tinies here, they'd be able to steal, so much, and no one notice)
Mara looked up at him with a brow raised at him. “You don't do much with your hands, do you? Stuff like this, I mean.” she said, gesturing to the wall.
"No, I really don't," the man admitted. He let out a sigh, leaning his head back on the couch.
"There's never really been a reason. I'd usually just call someone else in and have them fix it…"