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 Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:12 pm
Melvin didn't know Rodney. They had never talked and never met until Jan told him he would be moving him. He couldn't exactly blame him considering the basement was a living hell ill equipment for anyone to live in, let alone many fresh faces from their pods. It made him feel grateful he had an actual room on the above floors that had basic necessities like working lights and THE LACK OF LICE BUGS!
There had been only two real statements made by Jan before he left for Russia. Take care of himself and don't mention sex to Rodney who, like so many hunters, was shy regarding the issue.
It was hard to feel much of anything these days after, and with Jan gone, he felt even colder inside. Part of him felt guilty that he wasn't making Rodney feel at home or that they didn't have another bed for him, but he showed him around and told him everything was free for him to use and just not be too messy.
Not too messy because sometimes Melvin liked picking after someone.
That afternoon, Melvin was dressed in jeans and a worn t-shirt and laying on top the covers in bed, a pillow on his face and his back to the door. The lights were off and he hadn't bothered turning them on the moment he came home. Instead, he set his phone on the space where Jan usually slept in case he texted him, and laid there, staring into the darkness the pillow provided.
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:19 pm
Rodney only had a single backpack of belongings, which he put in an out of the way corner. Jan had said he could use the couch until they got a spare mattress up, which was fine. He'd slept on his share of couches.
Jan had given Rodney a few instructions, too. Jan told him that Melvin had recently lost someone, and he might not feel like talking.
Melvin was still a kind host. Rodney thanked him. It was the bathroom (privacy) and the space next to the window to work that he was most excited about. It wasn't a studio, but maybe one day...they were both very generous for taking him on as a roommate.
Even if the asking had been on the awkward side.
Rodney had been quiet for most of the morning, but by afternoon he stopped (still quietly) by Melvin's room and asked him in almost a whisper, leaving the lights off, "I'm stopping by the cafeteria for lunch. Did you want me to bring anything back?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:03 pm
When it was quiet and dark, it was easy to fall asleep, even if you didn't want to, and while being THIS unproducitive made him feel bad, he also lacked any motivationn or drive to do anything more than what he was doing - which was absolutely nothing. He made the excuse that he couldn't do any worse if he didn't anything at all, and instead debated going into Rin's things and pulling out her favorite sweater one last time.
At Rodney's voice, Melvin's eyes fluttered open before he pulled the pillow away. Food. He probably should eat, but not the cafeteria. He wished Jan was here again and in the kitchen just so he could hear the chime of dinnerware as he worked.
Turning over, he looked at the other man. "No.....I should....probably get something myself." He pulled himself to sit up and rubbed at his eye. "What time is it anyway?" He hoped it was late so that the day would be over but grimaced when he saw that it was only the afternoon still. "...********." He leaned back to lay down again and looked up at the other man.
"You don't have to go to the Cafeteria. We have a kitchen. Help yourself to anything in there. No need to ask." It was probably better if he did look in there or else everything would go bad.
Melvin slowly turned back to his side again. "You don't have to whisper."
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:46 pm
Rodney raised his tone to his regular speaking voice, which wasn't much louder.
"Almost noon. Sure, um, but I don't mind fixing you something. I can go see what there is."
He could add "not surviving off of canned preservatives" to the list of things that were really great about this apartment. He would have slept in the bathtub. ...But he didn't have to do that either. He had a really good couch, and Jan was a good friend, even if he wasn't here.
He knew Melvin was going through a lot.
After what had happened to him, Rodney hadn't wanted to move. Or be alive. But his brothers were in a better place, and he'd see them again. Not everybody believed that. But he did. He'd seen it. And if belief was enough to shape the world. They had proof of that, that's what they studied here.
In the refrigerator, there were neatly stacked plastic tupperware containers. Each of the containers had a name, RODNEY or MELVIN, and a date, along with instructions in delicate and careful handwriting.
"Aw," Rodney pulled theirs out, and opened his container, pleased to find a fruit and vegetable carapaccio, with a smaller container of homemade sauce. "He didn't have to make these. When did he have time?"
That guy's a real control freak, Seven said skeptically.
"He's just thoughtful," Rodney said, "and was worried about us while he was away." He peeled back the sauce to steal a taste. The most sophisticated Rodney got as far as cooking was lasagna. He sighed at the flavor, "and a genius."
Jack, maybe you should write the guy a sonnet.
"I'll send him a thank you text."
Be sure to sign it with a bunch of hexes and ohs.
"I'm not interested in...boils."
Yeah, okay. And you can say guys. I'm getting a hang of the lingo.
Rodney stacked the containers, and headed back to the bedroom. "Melvin? Jan packed us meals for the days he was away. This one's yours. Did you want me to heat it up for you?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:52 pm
When Rodney left, Melvin reached out, grabbed a handful of pillow, and laid it over his head again. Underneath the cushion, he looked into the grays that changed when the light in the kitchen as turned on, and listened to the fridge being opened.
He knew he couldn't spend all day, all week, all month doing this. He knew there was a list of things he could be doing, needed to be doing, or at least should be doing. He knew all of this, and yet, he laid there. Rin had told him to move on, to get better, but without her or Jan here, he couldn't bring himself to just move around. What was he even looking forward too at the end of the day if he went to work? She wasn't here. He wasn't here. The only blessing was that he could wallow like this without Jan knowing- or at least he hoped so. He wasn't sure if Rodney would say something, but the man had been quiet and kind the entire time.
It was like they had adopted a rabbit that occupied a corner of their apartment, that could feed itself and clean up after itself.
Rabbit…..
He wondered if Blue Kingdom Rin was doing well, and suddenly that thought had him cringing and turning into the mattress to bite into the sheets, angry he even had that thought before it twisred to another throat-tightening urge to break down again.
It was Rodney that pulled his thoughts again, and he pressed the pillow into his face to wipe it just before he removed it, sitting up again to look at him. Someone who had their s**t together still.
"Sure…………..thanks. I….should get up." If anything, the bed was always there waiting and his throat was sore from drinking all the water in the cup by the nightstand and not going to refill it.
Rising up, he followed Rodney into the kitchen. Typically he'd make coffee for himself, but he really didn't care to be all that conscious these days.
"Are you…doing ok? Sorry we don’t have more furniture. We've been slowly buying stuff and don't exactly know how to decorate the place. We should get you a bed too. The couch probably sucks."
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