WHEN WE WERE US // OPEN

[ADDY.]

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— addy grimaced, lip curling subtly with disgust. why did he sign himself up for this?

he watched as other people stomped on grapes, their feet stained from the bright red. he had no idea why someone would even want to participate in grape stomping. was it so that lucerne could have that wine he cared so much about? the redhead tried not to scoff. right. he was sure that was exactly the reason why.

although this had been his chore that he picked up to do, he still appeared reluctant to join. deep down, he figured, who wouldn’t be? crossing his arms over his chest, he continued to observe, and then asked no one in particular, “is this - sanitary?” it seemed like a reasonable question to ask. i mean, who the fuck wanted foot juice?

[GREENIE.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Grape stomping wasn’t the most glamorous of tasks but, without modern technology to do the work for them anymore, it left people with quite the conundrum: create wine using the equipment one was born with, or learn how to survive without wine. Now, Green couldn’t say that he was much of a wine lover, but he didn’t have anything against it either. Northstar’s temperate environment allowed for the prime conditions for growing grapes, and so they’d be foolish not to turn it into something that would last for a long time.

Green watched Northerners laugh as they stood in big vats, stomping down onto the fruits. All seemed eager to join in, except for one individual. ❝ Sure it is— ❞ Green wandered over towards Addy, glancing down at the vat of still-intact grapes before looking back up towards Addy with a smile, ❝ That’s what we tell ourselves anyway. ❞ With a short huff of laughter, Green gestured towards the vat before saying, ❝ It’ll be fine. Lucerne said to Mickey something about… acid levels and human packagings unable to live in the wine. ❞

Surely, Green was meant to say ❛ pathogens ❜, but he didn’t even realise that there was such a word. He was understandably confused as to how ❛ packaging ❜ could affect the wine-making process, or what it had to do with humankind. All he could then do is send Addy a casual shrug; oh, Green really thought he was sounding clever.

[ADDY.]

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— it felt more like addy wasn’t using the idea of grape stomping being “unsanitary” more as an excuse, and less so as an actual question. it wasn’t like addy even prided himself on being some neat-freak, after all (although, compared to his housemate, you’d think he was). hell, he didn’t seem to care much about sanitary shit before - yet there he was, still wearing the same disgusted grimace. then again, he doubted he wanted anyone else’s damn “foot wine.”

then green piped up, wandering over. the redhead gave him an unconvinced look - growing only more uncertain as the leader carried on about what lucerne had said on the topic. he huffed a short breath. “human packagings, huh?” if addy had been any wiser, perhaps he would’ve been more formally educated, and had been able to connect the dots for green. instead, he was none the wiser, just like green. his brows only furrowed in thought, humming to himself. “i bet he just pulled that explanation out of his ass or something. bullshit.” guess the man would simply live in denial.

gesturing to the vat, he then muttered, “you go ahead. i think i’ll sit this one out.” then again, who was necessarily surprised?

[OPHELIA]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]of course, with ophelia living in the cult of dionysus for so long where everything about wine was celebrated, she wasn't new to the image of people stomping on grapes. she walked over, intrigued by the laughter she could hear, stopping alongside addy and green, a small smile on her face as she watched the northerners have a good time. "what, don't want grape peels getting stuck between your toes?" she asked jokingly, looking over at the two.

she listened as the two talked about how it was suppose to be sanitary, the wrong term greenie used passing right over her head. "he is right, ya know." she spoke up again, putting her hands in her pockets while she rocked on her heels. "well, i think so, at least. we use to do this stuff all the time in the last place i stayed, don't think i ever heard of anything bad coming out of it." that she could think of right now, that is. "either way, it adds some character, don't ya think?" she gave them a playful grin before looking back towards the group stomping on the grapes.