If at first you don't succeed, tie, tie again

Bending down, his hands reached for the ground. It took a bit of effort, but his fingertips managed to just about graze the lustrous green grass. Satisfied, he stretched his arms up to the sky and yawned. What a great warm-up. He started jogging along the edges of the field, making it to almost three laps when he noticed his shoelace had become untied. Oh dear, safety first, of course. And it was a great excuse for a small break if he was being honest. Controlling his breathing, he slowly tied his shoe, even redoing the other one as well for good measure. Much better.

Hopefully, the group of girls on the other side of the field hadn't noticed his premature exhaustion. He took a quick peak to check, but noticed that all their backs were turned to him. Pff, what was the point in overexcerting himself then? Allen strolled towards the nearest bench and flopped down. Just a quick rest. He took out his phone and checked for messaging. Just like the past few days, he had received a series of texts from his mom, saying good morning, asking how he was doing, telling him the last updates on the broken hip of their neighbour Margot. Anything to elicit a response. He sighed and typed a short response. On second thought he added a few heartshaped emoticons to appease her motherly feelings. He loved her and all that, but he was almost an adult! Did she have to be so overbearing?

Just as he was about to continue on his run, a random idea popped into his head..Would he be able to tie his shoelaces using just his mind? Fascinating. Even though it was just himself, he still couldn't refuse the challenge. He had to know. For science! So, there he went again, untying his running shoes, placing his foot on the bench next to him, neatly separating the laces. Allen managed to move the laces into the air easily. Now, to remember how to tie a knot consciously instead of using your muscle memory was a lot harder. With a look of utmost focus on his face, the tip of his tongue slipping out of his mouth, he made the laces contort themselves and intertwine. Hmm, did that look alright? He was too far in to go back anyway, so he committed and pulled the laces tight. The end result was a tangled mess. Damnit. Allen reached out to start the process again. ''Come on...'' He had had his shoelace tying certificate since preschool, this shouldn't be so difficult!

Note: Open for anyone c:

What was it with ropes and their unexplainable urge to get more tangled with every move you made? After a bit of effort, Allen finally managed to undo his horrible first attempt, and he could start again. Determined to do it right this time, he grimaced at his shoelaces. Allen could already envision the perfect bow he’d tie, so beautiful, and of course, it would never come loose unless he wanted it. He bet Wren would be so impressed when he told her, as she always was when he showed her mundane stuff, and if she wasn’t, well, he would just force her to pretend to be!

He was just getting started on attempt number three, when a girl sat next to him. For a second, Allen contemplated staying concentrated on his current task, but of course he couldn’t resist the temptation to look up and check out his company. Curse you, curiosity - and short attention span. The girl looked vaguely familiar, as all redheads tended to, with his large extended family full of gingers. Even her accent rang familiar, unmistakably Welsh. The familiarity almost made him miss home, but luckily, her question offered a distraction. ‘’You are excused,’’ he started off slightly pedantically, but with a twinkle of simple joy in his voice and eyes that made it hard to be too annoyed. ‘’Trying to force them to turn into spaghetti for a quick snack,’’ was his first answer to her question, attempting to come across seriously, but he didn’t manage to keep a straight face at all. ‘’But then I realized I wouldn’t have any sauce..’’ His smile cracked even wider and he happily looked at the girl to see her reaction.

Of course spaghetti, it was the only logical choice. But the thick, white laces were only vaguely reminiscent of the delicious noodly snack that he was referencing, sadly. ''It''s the most superior pasta shape. But I'm afraid you're right, the flying spaghetti monster will be disappointed in us,'' he sighed sadly, making the shoe laces fly upwards and dance around in a limp fashion, reminiscent of an inflatable tube man.

Internally, Allen's brain was working overtime to come up with the most witty and clever responses. ''Unless you are secretly hiding a pocket full of bolognese?'' He stared at her clothes suspiciously, checking for any and all signs of secret sauce stashes. He then couldn't help but wonder if someone, somewhere out there, indeed had the god-tier power to turn clothing articles into consumables. What would jeans taste like? Hm. Maybe like smurf blue ice cream? ''To be perfectly honest with you, I am not actually capable of turning my sweaty shoes into a steak,'' he admitted a truth that she surely had seen coming. ''But now I can't stop thinking about what would be the tastiest fashion item to try..'' Oh dear, Allen had gone down a rabbit hole of random thought. It was one of his most enjoyable pass-times, and he whole heartedly hoped she would follow him.

Her long list of pasta sauces evoked a hearty laugh on his end. And her choice of clothes-snack seemed well thought out, and much more detailed than he could have ever hoped for. A rainbow of foods, wow. She was quick on her feet, and pretty funny too! He liked this girl already. And he hadn't even asked her name yet. Oops. ''Ommmg, you're making me want to go dress-shopping, that sounds amazing,'' he laughed. ''I bet glasses have a really satisfying crunch. Oh, or a fluffy winter coat!''

Allen leaned back on his arms and closed his eyes for a second, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. ''What's your name by the way? I'm Allen.'' He offered her his hand, and another trademarked happy-go-lucky smile. He couldn't believe his luck, being here on this awesome island, meeting new, amazing people. Life was good.

Wow, she sure had a rich imagination, and a knack for making people hungry just with words. What she described sounded insanely delicious. ‘’Mmm,’’ he murmured. He wanted that! Although… in this weather porridge might be a smidge too dense and heavy.

When they finally came to introductions, the girl seemed to realize that she had probably never seen him before. Of course she hadn’t, otherwise she’d remember! He shook her hand and grinned. ‘‘Yepp, hot from the press, brand new,’’ he answered, happily advertising himself with a gesture to his body. Get it while it’s hot, right? ‘’I arrived like, three, four days ago.’’ He sighed, then looked up over the field.


‘’Lil, you’ve made me insanely hungry. Do you know anywhere nice to eat?’’ he asked her, jumping up from the bench in a battle-ready position. ‘’Oooh, maybe we could get ice cream?’’ he suggested, instantly speaking as that bright idea entered his mind. Ice cream was always good, and there were so many flavours, they could easily recreate one of the clothing-food imaginations!

OOC: sorry for lateness, I was moving house and didn't have internet!