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 Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:39 pm
He absolutely hated salad, but some impulse drove him to add that on his tray. He didn't particularly like cheesecake, didn't even really want it, but it's what he grabbed off the line. The whole selection was even more depressing- the tea was the only thing he'd normally go for... but he couldn't even think about steak at the moment.
Even if Bia hadn't been staring, he would taken even a glance his way to mean that. He scowled at her as he walked towards the table and settled for one that was just close enough to allow him to call her out. "What's yer problem?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:49 pm
That scowl, that voice... Bia paled, though with her complexion it did little difference.
"Rhodes..." she said it in a heavy whisper, not intending it to be heard. She had never spoken to him, though she had heard his voice in the hallways of the labs. He was too ...himself, not to be noticed. That was the only way Bia knew how to explain it. She was more startled that he was there than at the obvious changes that he'd undergone. A fuzzy buzz- almost a whine that blocked full realization- ran a broken record track in her mind.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:54 pm
"What?" Freddie leaned closer, narrowing his eyes at the bird women. He wasn't quite sure what he'd heard, but it was easy to assume it was something unflattering. Bia's own appearance didn't ring any bells, but he was having trouble looking past the beak, and the feathers, and those fingers...
"What did you say?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:17 pm
"Ah, nothing. I didn't say anything. ...Sorry." She looked down again, manipulating the food on her plate with her impossibly long fingers. The guard... or, ex-guard now, she supposed- hadn't recognized her. She wanted to keep it that way.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:22 pm
"No, nuh-uh..." Freddie put his tray down and moved closer. "I heard you."
His ears twitched. Big as they were, they didn't seem to help his hearing any. He loomed over the table, and with some difficulty tried to ignore the changes. It was coming to him, very slowly, as many things did.
He frowned. "Do I know you?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:26 pm
"I don't think you do." It wasn't a direct lie. She'd never introduced herself to the man (though she didn't know if he could be called that anymore, with the obvious addition of such non-male attributes). The Dr. had never spoken directly to Rhodes- except perhaps to murmur an 'excuse me' while she pushed past him in a hall. Hers was not even a department that had her interacting with the lower tier staff: she'd never had to direct a guard.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:32 pm
Freddie stared at her, annoyed with himself that it just wouldn't click. And it wouldn't. He caught glimpses of her before, but only enough that it just nagged him. "Ah, forget it."
He grumbled, shook his head, and turned back to the table he left his food at. It wasn't worth starting something over, even if he'd normally jump at the opportunity to go off on the least little thing. Here was a prime candidate for picking at, and he didn't feel like it. His mood sank even deeper.
Maybe he should start with the cheesecake.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:42 pm
A ream of relieved air escaped her beakish mouth, and the buzz in her mind calmed to a gentler hum. He hadn't recognized her, or at least he decided to leave it alone. These days, Bia was only able to smile in the slightest way, thanks to the advent of her more calcified mouth, but even so, a small smile spread beyond her beak as she stared into her food, seeing his retreat as a sort of victory. She'd managed to keep herself from being recognized. She might be able to pull this off yet. Sure, she told herself, you don't have any friends yet, but soon, when you're more like them, they'll accept you, and then you'll have more than just comfort and material objects- you'll belong somewhere.
Her journey into elation was short-lived, however, as she realized that this was only once incident- and that she and Rhodes would be on the island together for presumably the rest of their lives. There was plenty of opportunity for him to recognize her. For the first time, Bia found a part of herself hoping that her next change would render her... unrecognizable.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:50 pm
That feeling that somewhere, somehow, he'd met the strange looking woman when they'd both been more normal stayed with Freddie. But how many more ex staff members could there possibly be? He and Newt and recognized each other, and as poorly as both encounters with him had ended maybe it was better he didn't run into any others who might have known him. They'd only rub it in, seeing as they knew him when. Hell, he would.
He followed a bite of cheesecake with the salad, making for a very odd taste as the two briefly lingered together. The tea recitfied that mistake.
"So what are you supposed to be?" He asked, right before he shoveled another fork full of salad into his mouth. He wasn't good at pleasant conversation, he didn't even particularly want to talk... but anything was better than eating in silence and wondering about why the woman seemed so familiar even with a beak.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:00 pm
His words startled her, and she looked up and in his direction, her fears of being recognized overcome in that moment of surprise.
"I don't know. Something... a bird." It was a sign of her nerves that her words were ill-fitting puzzle pieces.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:08 pm
He chuckled as the question caught her off guard. Seeing how unnerved she was by something as simple as that encouraged him to keep talking.
"They didn't tell me, either... 'Cept about the boobs." He was particularly bitter about that. The note that had been there when he first woke up in the duplex made sense, but it still didn't explain what he was. He washed every noisily chewed bite of salad he took down with a gulp of tea, all the while trying to keep himself from thinking much of what he might be. Clearing his mind was harder than it seemed.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:17 pm
She was confused. So they did tell him that he would be getting breasts, but not what he would be becoming? Bia blinked, more convinced than ever that he had been transformed for punishment's sake.
Bia looked back down at her tray, knowing that on profile that she appeared more alien, and less like her 'old self'.
"I don't think they tell most people. And I don't think I could ask."
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:23 pm
"Why nah?" Freddie just had to ask the question why his mouth was still full. He picked a piece of lettuce out of his teeth while he waiting for her response. He'd never thought about 'regular' islanders being just in the dark as him, he just assumed he was getting raw treatment in every aspect.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:29 pm
"I don't know. Probably fear." Bia Grey did not have the same hang-ups of needing to be strong or hiding her insecurities. They didn't see them as flaws, and thus, could admit to them openly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:35 pm
"Oh." A smile began to creep across Freddie's face, only to die a moment later when it hit him that he was just as afraid of what he was becoming. The... extras only made it worse. He shoveled a bit of cheesecake in his mouth even though there was still a bit of salad left. He was quickly discovering pleasant conversation was harder than he thought. It was so much easier to just say whatever would get a rise out of people. He was at a loss for both.
"This really sucks," he said, falling back on his previous thought.
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