|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:55 pm
Melvin was tired, exhausted from being sedated for a few days over body bugs, and then shaken for the rest of that time trying to pick up some crumbs of normalcy or concept that he was, as much as the Life techs in the Infirmary assured him, okay. What resulted was that he didn't want to work, didn't want to go out, and didn't know what to do with himself.
So instead he tried to do something that made him feel better, and was sitting in a lounge area, his tablet in his lap, having an Aliens Marathon very low, and eating Fireheads. He was wearing a green flapper hat that he managed to buy from someone in the Life Department with the tags still on, though for good reason. It wasn't exactly masculine or pretty, but at least it was covering his buzzed head. He was dressed in his favorite worn, soft-blue sweater and faded jeans, and for once didn't look primed and pressed. Depression really didn't make you want to roll out of bed, let alone fix yourself up and be reminded you had bugs in you and you had no hair.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:04 am
"The tags are still on your hat," Jordan pointed out mildly. He crossed the room to the soda machine to check its stock. This particular machine usually had some of the less sweet non-American sodas, and those never sold quite as fast as the sugar-laden flavors. It had actually been refilled, probably as a result of portal availability increasing. He slotted his card into the reader and pushed one of the buttons. Retrieving his drink, he headed back toward the door, but paused in an attempt to get a glance at what Melvin was watching. "Research or recreation?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:01 pm
Melvin was letting the words to the entire movie script play part for part in his head, his lips just slightly moving to not but almost barely mouth each word that was being spoken I the movie. Jordan was just some blurred distraction on the corners of his vision that he had ignored up until he spoke up about his hat.
Jumping, the Firehead candy nearly popped out of his mouth, and he bite the piece in half before he could chew the pieces. When it was manageable to talk, he rose one hand to shield his mouth only because there were still pieces of candy and no one wanted to see chewed food. "I wish I could get paid to watch Officer Rilley kick a** a day." He said, and finished the last bit of candy before he touched his hat to feel for the tag without removing it. Even with the hat on, Melvin lacked the puffy gold hair that would have shown on all sides IF he still had it. Since he didn't, he just felt uncomfortable and selfconcious.
He looked at the drink Jordan got. "Why are you this far for a drink?" The reason he liked this lounge was that people rarely came here for the snacks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 1:49 am
"Oh, Aliens, good taste," Jordan said. His eyes followed Melvin's hand, and now that he was paying attention, he realized that there was a distinct lack of the fine blond hair that usually had Rep calling Melvin Goldilocks. The hat wasn't bulky enough to be concealing it tucked up underneath, either. He grimaced sympathetically. "Oh, yeah. You were helping with the hoard." Everyone who'd been in that room had had bug problems. Jordan's mind flinched away from thinking about the other bug, but he could think about the lice without being much more than just grossed out. Rep had lost half his hair from the lice. Jordan had a patch missing himself on the right side, over his ear, where he'd scratched most often; he'd been unable to escape reinfection over the course of the week, and the damage had been done by the time he'd washed the lice out for the last time. Melvin must have gotten the things also. He held up the bottle in his hand so that Melvin could see the label. "This is the only machine that stocks bitters, when anyone bothers to refill it in the first place."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:27 pm
Melvin cringed when his hair was mentioned, finally finding the tag he missed and tearing it off. "Yeah...thanks for reminding me. Kinda here to forget after the sedatives left." Which was why he was sitting in comfortable closed in a somewhat unvisited lounge watching his favorite movies.
He had hoped, despite how crazy it was, that his lack of hair wasn't that noticeable. He had gotten the full big package thanks to Rin and made it worse by shaving his head in a panic. "Should have never shaved my head. Didn't help." He whispered and shook a bit as if getting rid if a chill.
He looked at the drink. "Sounds gross. Some sort of drink you liked growing up? Is it sour or something?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:04 pm
"You too, huh." Jordan watched the screen instead of Melvin's face. "Sorry," he said after a moment. He opened the bottle and took a sip. "Astringent," he answered. "I don't like sweet things much. It's not a popular drink, which is probably why they only stock it back here." He shrugged. "It's possible that I account for half the revenue that machine pulls in."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:54 am
"Sounds terrible to drink." He said, making a face. "I don't like sweet things either, but I don't think I want to drink something that you can best describe as Astringent." That was not pleasant sounding in any way.
As for sorry, he just shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing you could have done. We all got screwed over. I just should have waited it out." He looked at the tablet screen without really watching. "I just don't do well with bugs."
He glanced back up. "How is everyone else doing?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:04 am
"Well, I won't share with you then," Jordan said, with a quirk of a smile. "What do you drink?" he asked after a moment, curious. If Melvin didn't like sweet drinks, that cut out a lot of commercially available stuff. Water, maybe.
"Yeah," he answered. He didn't want to talk further about bugs. He'd brought it up, but he was more than willing to let the subject drop. "Harrison's back too. We've -- been stressed, all of us. But I think things are looking up."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:09 am
He considered what he really drank. "Coffee, Water and Milk. Tea if I have nothing else." He was a rather dull man when it came to drinks. "Whiskey?" That was technically a beverage. "I do get in a mood for a soda just for a bit of a sugar shock, but usually it's just plain coke or something. My parents weren't really keen on letting us drink soda growing up." And he sort of stuck with it through the years ever since. It was probably why he didn't develop a sweet tooth, while his siblings had gotten one almost out of spite for being deprived in their childhood.
He wouldn't have drunk any bit of Jordan's offered beverage either. Not that he wasn't curious, but sharing drinks was never a possibility for Melvin.
"You seemed to fair okay. You're not bald at least." He was worried about one person's hair though. "How is Rep?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:20 am
Jordan nodded. "I like the carbonated water," he offered. "We got soda as a treat sometimes, but I never liked it much. Too syrupy." The taste had saved him a fair amount of money in high school and college; where his friends had plunked money into vending machines as often as they could afford it, he'd gotten only the occasional bottled water.
"Sunny made me wash again before she'd let me into the infirmary," he admitted. "Not that I was unhappy about that. I think that saved me from losing it. Rep lost half his hair." Jordan grimaced a little, ruefully. "I think he's more upset about it than he lets on. Doesn't look bad," his voice curled up a little at the end of the phrase, making it slightly uncertain, "but it was a shock when I first saw it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 8:15 am
He cringed at hearing even half of his hair was gone. "It was really long too." And soft. He hadn't seen too many guys who had hair that long that wasn't in dreads or just very gross. That or some hippie douchebag he wanted to punch in the face.
"Sunny was pretty pissed I went ahead and took matters in my own hand before just going to the Infirmary." He hated upsetting the doctor as he respected him greatly. "Said I should have known better." Which was true since he spent plenty of time volunteering in the Infirmary. He just panicked at the mere idea of bugs crawling inside and on him and went straight to the bathroom. Even though he loved his hair, he hadn't hesitated in taking it off.
"I haven't had short hair since I was a kid. It's really weird." He lightly touched one of the ear flaps to his hat. "Need to wait till leave to get a better hat though." Until his hair could grow back to something somewhat decent instead of the short buzz cut he now had.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:34 am
Jordan nodded. "He's got nice hair." He glanced sideways at Melvin, deciding not to get any more personal about his opinion of Rep's hair. "Looks kind of punk at the moment. It's coming back in white, actually."
"I had mine really long when I got here," he admitted. "Got some of it burnt off in a fight, though, and had to cut it short." He leaned on the back of the couch. "Did you shave it entirely?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
