[001] where were you, I was worried

[notafuckingnut]

[Text.  Or, more specifically, a series of them, spread a couple minutes apart]

SETH.

Cmon Seth this isn't funny. Where the fuck r u weve got a rendezvous 2 make.

At least I think we do.

What the fuck is this place anyway?  The service sucks the beds like a rock and there isn't even a TV.

What am I supposed to do in here stare at the ceiling for an hour?  This is bullshit.

Comments

Video.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

I think that's our answer, eh?

[Small sigh.]

We have showers here, I can show you if you like? You should probably clean up. There should be clothes in your room, too.

Video.

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Terrible idea, Claire. He may never leave her alone now and may also be reading things into that suggestion that she SO doesn't intend. BUT he nods agreeably, with one of those slight, self-deprecating, "harmless" smiles.]

Yeah, sure. Okay, that sounds good.

Video. - When do you sleep?? xD Also, spam or log?

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Yeeaah. She totally meant well, though! Claire just wanted to help. :D ]

What room are you in?

Video. - When you do, apparently? heh And spam's good with me!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Silly Claire. Don't you know inmates = horrors? :/ ]

Uhh.

[Yeah, he has to open the door to check that one, have some wildly veering camera work that shows mostly walls and ceiling and floor as he goes to investigate]

Room nine, floor....seven?

Video. - xD I'm in England so it's only 3pm here. :-P But I was on a wacked sleep schedule before.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[She tries to see the good in people?]

Okay, I'm on my way.

-=SPAM=-

[Claire ruffled the fur on Izzy and Chester's heads before setting off from the second floor, pocketing her communicator. Showing up in greys (http://media.revnewmedia.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_main/images/18587790---hayden_panettiere_018_wenn5.jpg), she gently knocked on his door, announcing herself.]

Richie, it's Claire.

Spam! -ahh gotcha. I'm on EST, sooo it's like 10 AM here

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[It didn't take long before Richie opened the door, almost as if he'd been standing there waiting for it. He peeked out, fixing her with a wary look that quickly gave way to the shy, harmless act that he'd fallen back on most recently, which seemed in direct contrast to the fact that, at 6'1", he practically towered over her when he opened the door wide enough to pass through and into the hallway.]

...Hi. You didn't have too far to come, did you?

Spam! - \o/

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire, being 5'3, was used to everyone being taller than her. She peered up at him with a warm grin and shook her head.]

Not really. Just five floors. Were you able to find clothes?

[She didn't think too much on how quickly he skirted out of his room, not allowing her a peek whatsoever. She wouldn't judge until she knew more about him.]

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Five floors, which would put her on either the 12th floor (if they went up that high) or the 2nd. He filed the knowledge away just in case, and returned the smile with one of his own and a nod, showing her the pile he'd managed to locate; an almost exact replica of what he was wearing at the moment, only clean.]

It was the weirdest thing, I don't think I've ever been to a place like this that gives you clothes.

[And orange jumpsuits don't count.]

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[She began to lead the way back to the staircase, explaining:]

Showers are on the third floor. Aaand you'll learn soon enough that the Barge isn't like any place you've been before.

[She was reluctant to use the term 'magic' on account of sound crazy or causing him any more anxiety.]

Your room looks like your room back home, right? Or, at least, a place you like?

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

...So that's what you call it.

[He went with her willingly enough, keeping about even pace with her while still giving the impression of following, although the question about the rooming arrangement gained her a strange look.]

Are you kidding? It's a step up from some of the places I've been, but it's still a shithole.

[If he realized it wasn't standard for everyone he might have responded differently, but he has no reason to think otherwise.]

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

Oh. Sorry, I just thought all the rooms changed into an old room from home. Every cabin is different on the inside. Mine's a mixture between the room I had in Odessa and the one I had in Costa Verde.

[She paused before the stairs, nodding down the hall they'd come down.]

Seventh floor has the art therapy room and the cleaning closet...what all have they told you over the network so I don't repeat things for you?

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[He shrugged]

We didn't exactly stay in one place more than a couple nights at a time, so maybe they just didn't know what to put. Although it would've been nice if there was at least a TV.

[He thought over both the information she'd given him and the new question, and responded with another shrug]

I'm dead and I can't leave until I redeem myself for...something.

[Hell if he knows what, since he's done ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong ever. Clearly.]

We're in space, the driver's an asshole, and I get a warden appointed to me...eventually. That's about it.

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

You could always ask for something better, sometimes the Admiral is decent, [she called over her shoulder.] He took us to Disney World once.

I'll give you a tour after you shower. I can't imagine you really want to walk around like that.

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Richie is entirely too easily distracted when following individuals of the female persuasion up stairs (or really...anywhere, for that matter), so it probably wasn't all that surprising that he really only caught about half of what she was saying without someone to keep his mind on track. Consequently there was a vacant murmur of agreement after which he realized he probably actually needed to say something.]

Yeah, that sounds good. Um. Disney World's the one in Florida, right?

[See? He was paying attention. Sort of.]

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Disneyland is in California.

[Claire pointed to each floor as they passed it, saying what could be found there. Six had the pool table and laundromat ("You can come back and wash your clothes here, unless you'd rather trash them"), five had the library, and four had the gymnasium ("Which is where I work"). Having reached the third, she led him in the direction of the male Inmate showers.]

Your Warden will assign you a job, like kitchen staff or janitorial duty. And they're the person who can take you into the CES, which is a place that changes into almost anything you're thinking of.

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[More information filed away for later -- six and four being marked as the most obviously important -- before he followed her out onto the third floor. Unlike his last excursion out into the halls, he made a point not to peek into any of the rooms, instead keeping his attention on the girl and the girl alone under the pretense of gleaning as much information about this place as he could.]

I'm not working for some overweight pig with a nightstick, I don't care what the rules are. What's CES stand for?

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[It got a chuckle out of her, his remark.]

Uh huh. CES stands for Closed Ecological System. It's pretty cool, but you'll need a Warden to get inside. Same goes for the pub.

[Showers reached, Claire waved a hand in front of the door.]

And last, but not least, the showers.

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

So there's booze around here, at least. That's a start.

[He took a couple steps in, then paused, as if waiting for something. Turning back around to look, he gave her a questioning look, like something your puppy might give you when you put it outside and leave it there.]

...You're...not coming?

[...For some reason he thought she would be. Way to misread situations, Richie.]

Spam! - I had to share this tag with the boyfriend, you worded it so cutely! <3

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire had started to rest against the wall, paused midway with her butt flush to the wall and her body half bent in mid-lean. She blinked three times, rapidly, a blush claiming her cheeks and neck.]

Oh, um, no, sorry, I...

[She was floundering for a response.

I was going to wait out here for you?

Spam! - d'awww! I'm glad you enjoyed it! <3

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

But...you said you would...you know...

[Hadn't she? Yes. She had to have, he was sure of it. Or, if she hadn't said it, the implication had been clear enough. Harmless confusion began to fade into something a little darker, a little more certain, although still with that injured, eager-to-please puppy quality to it, which maybe made it all the worse.]

Spam! - Also, once I get things figured out, may have an idea for the mirror flood, keep ya posted.

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[She defensively crossing her arms under her breasts and made a gasp, though she was almost smiling in the process.]

Nuh uh! Richie, I said I'd show you where the showers were, not how they work.

[Claire smiled in the continuing act of playing this off as friendly jest, one guy just trying to suavely change the situation to his benefit.]

I promise not to leave, okay?

Spam! - ooo sweeeet! please do!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[He frowned, trying to figure out where the discrepancy came from, which lent a sort of desperate certainty to his insistence.]

But...you said. I heard you, you can't just go back on it like that; it's not fair.

[One step forward, just one; he hasn't quite decided for sure what he's going to do about it just yet.]

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Claire licked her lips in worry, beginning to worry that he hadn't, in fact, been playfully suggesting she join him. Trying to keep the nervousness that now crept over her from showing, she remained firmly in place and insisted:]

Richie, we don't even know each other. I'm sorry if it sounded that way, but I didn't mean it to, I never meant to indicate I'd go in the showers with you. I only wanted to help show you the way.

[An action she was quickly regretting.]

Spam!

[notafuckingnut.livejournal.com]

[Indecision, and where the fuck was Seth, he was supposed to be around. He always knew what to do in these kinds of situations. A gun would have helped, obviously -- because he knew he was right here, he just knew it -- but he obviously didn't have one of those handy, so he'd just have to deal without for now. Fuck. He took another step closer, looking more disappointed and confused than anything else.]

But why would you say something like that if you didn't mean it? That's just...you don't do that.

[Enter argumentative!Richie, which sounds an awful lot like a broken record. He's...really terrible at letting things go.]

Spam!

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[The fear was turning to anger at being accused and put in this situation. This time, when he took a step forwards, Claire slid one foot backwards.]

I don't know how you could have heard me say "I'll go in the showers with you" when I clearly said I could show you. If I had said that? Then, yeah, not exactly nice to be a cocktease, I know.

[Less stern, she sighed.] Look, I'm gonna go before this gets anymore out of hand, okay? Before either of us does something we'll regret.