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 Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:34 pm
"Because you might think you are, but you aren't. You seem wound up tighter than a bed spring." He pressed his lips to the bottle and took a quick swig straight from it. "I may have been here longer, but that was more time to possibly die or get injured. I was for a while, in fact." He smacked his lips, "It's actually pretty good. Almost wish I had a real meal to go with it." He reached over to his side opposite Merric, "You like crisps?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:49 pm
He bristled at this accusation, then tried very hard not to bristle. Al was not the first person to suggest this, and he likely would not be the last; and it did not help that Rinzler as well was making snide comments inside of his head, though Merric was doing his best to ignore this.
"I'm sorry I don't quite live up to your standards," said Merric, with a touch of irritation, but there was almost a sense of hurt to the words as well, too close to home. He glanced over at the screen, then back at Al as he took a swig straight from the bottle.
"I like snacks," said Merric distractedly, trying to shut down the part of his mind that was over thinking. He raised the cup to his lips and took a long swallow, ignoring the strange aftertaste that stemmed from whatever had been in the cup prior to the wine.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:01 pm
There was a man talking to a plant on the screen. "So have you seen this movie or the play before?" he asked, trying to gently change the subject as the tension became increasingly tangible. He tossed a packet of prawn cocktail crisps at Merric and then grabbed a bag for himself and promptly tucked in. "So you worked in business before you came here? What kinda business?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:05 pm
Merric was distracted by the man and the plant, because neither seemed reasonably sane, and because he had never even heard of whatever movie was playing on the screen, the title of which he had already forgotten entirely.
"No," he said, after a moment, squinting a little behind his glasses. Merric reached for the crisps and slowly opened the bag while still staring at the screen. "And I didn't work in business, or at least, not entirely. I was in a genetic studies program in Toronto before I came here. My undergrad study was focused on business, however."
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:14 pm
"Why did you come here?" He asked before busying his mouth with crisps while staring at the screen. The man and the plant were now singing together. Sorry Merric, it was a musical for sure. At least it wasn't the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was Al's first pic. This was plan B.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:19 pm
Merric was silent for such a long time that it almost seemed as though he hadn't heard the question at all.
Then, as the music on the screen swelled, he said quietly, "To start over."
He took a long swallow of wine.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:23 pm
"What is starting over for you?" He asked as the music finally came to an end and people seemed to be talking again. Then he took another swig of wine.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:50 pm
Merric took another long swallow of wine.
"Being able to be away from my brother," he said at length. "To be able to do things on my own."
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:25 am
Al held the bottle up in a jerking motion, offering to top Merric's cup up. "Your brother a bit overbearing?" He inquired at the implications.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:34 am
Merric wordlessly held out his cup to Al, his mind a thousand miles away.
"Not really," he said, the words coming out edged in the tension he kept saying he didn't have. "More like he doesn't like to see things different than his own way."
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:40 am
"What exactly is his way versus your way?" He asked while topping the cup off to just below the rim. There was a new song being sun at this point and Al;'s gaze was drawn away to it. He took another swig straight from the bottle. He actually really liked this movie. It made him appreciate Noah's profession a lot more.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:50 am
He didn't know why he was talking about this. Al was not exactly someone who invited confidences, and he had been the one to be stoking the fires during the dare night. It was clear that he had a fondness for drama, or maybe just a desire to poke and prod at people.
But there was something twisting in Merric's stomach, something low and shameful, something he was trying hard not to consider.
He took another swallow of wine, wiping his mouth. Merric's gaze was on the screen, but he wasn't really seeing it, his eyes a little unfocused.
"He gets what he wants. I never did."
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 1:59 pm
Al suddenly seemed to perk up (as much as could be seen of his face from the side anyway) before leaning over to look at Merric curiously. He wasn't doing his usual dopey grin. He looked a bit puzzled, in fact. "Like what?" He seemed to genuinely want to know.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:39 pm
Merric had downed another swallow of wine, and then another, because thinking of Barron was a painful, thick thing in his throat.
"Like...approval. Like, people." Girlfriends, or boyfriends, or significant others, or whatever else Barron wanted. "The life he wanted, money, schooling, whatever it was that he could possibly desire, he was given. He never had to work for any of it, not like me."
Merric lifted the cup again, and this time drained it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 5:47 pm
Al noted the empty cup and waggled the bottle at Merric, perhaps it was better they just passed the bottle back and forth for this one. "I wouldn't know how that is, but it sounds frustrating. Has it at least been better since... uh..," he glanced around the room as a small gesture of this place.
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