Lloyd had to admit, this was significantly easier than going to the grocery store to pick up some pudding or digging around town for someplace that made something decent. Back home he had just sent an assistant to do the work for him; he didn't really like shopping for food, it took too much time away from work. This was sort of like a shortcut. There was already pudding here, and he could probably coax the man into telling him where it came from, if he liked it
( ... )
"Oh, good," said Lloyd mildly, shrugging. "If you're shameless, then I don't have to feel guilty about being mocking or blunt, since I don't ever regret it anyway."
He took a sip of the vodka; not his favorite drink, not that he drank much at all. But he had learned how, and that was what counted. "It sounds ridiculous, but truly it's just my laziness. Only two things are important to me--my work and pudding--and the rest is up for any sort of blasphemy. It doesn't bother me in the slightest to get a snack from a complete stranger. But do you always do things like this?"
"Be as blunt as you'd like," Umeda said, as he refilled his own glass then put the vodka back in the fridge, "I'm just as bad."
Taking another drink from his glass, Umeda studied Lloyd for a moment. Thinking for a second he answered, "Well, like I said, I wasn't actually expecting you to show up," Umeda shrugged, "I do usually instigate things, mostly daring people to do something. Usually they don't take the bait."
"You miscalculated," smirked Lloyd over the rim of his glass. "When people try to instigate me, I instigate them back. I don't like people trying to play games with me. I was prepared to walk in here and throw all sorts of snark in your face if you wanted to play the game that way." He took a sip, and smiled in a more friendly matter. "But you're not so much of an idiot or a stubborn ass as I had thought you might be, so I don't have to."
"I'm glad I miscalculated," Umeda returned Lloyd's smirk, "I'm glad to have found someone who can match my own cynicism and sarcasm. If you had walked in here with an attitude, I wouldn't have had any problem with sending it right back to you. As for what you think of me now, I still don't really care. But I still think you're an odd one."
Umeda, with his glass in hand, walked around the counter into his living room and retrieved his cigarettes. He returned to the kitchen, pulling a cigarette out and putting it between his lips. Before lighting up he offered the pack to Lloyd.
"Don't you know? Scientists are always odd. It's our stereotype, comes from spending all the time in labs and none of our time out in the real world. I just find it amusing to fulfill that stereotype sometimes," he laughed, taking a spoonful of pudding, "Except that it always drove my assistant crazy when I would be cynical and disrespectul. She had enough conscience for both of us, so what did I need it for? I don't particularly care what people think of me."
He shook his head at the cigarettes. "I quit," he said, sipping the vodka again. "Although living in this town might make me pick it back up again."
Tossing the pack on the counter Umeda pulled a lighter out of his back pocket and lit up his cigarette. "I don't think I could put up with living here and not smoking," he said shrugging.
"Well you're doing a wonderful job at being the "odd scientist" type. What is it you do exactly?" Umeda pulled a chair from the small table that was in the kitchen over to the counter Lloyd was eating his pudding on. He straddled the chair backwards, folding his arms and resting them on the back of the chair.
"If I spend more time with you I'll probably get dragged back into it." Lloyd shrugged. "Oh well. There are worse things in life."
"I can't really tell you," Lloyd said, tilting his head a little. "Or I'm not supposed to tell you what it is. You can try guessing, though. It involves engineering, and I have a contract with the British military." He took a sip of the vodka, and made a slightly bitter face. "In exchange for freedom to design what I want and unlimited research funds, they get everything I produce."
"That's good enough for me. The details of what you do don't really interested me enough to try and delve into your top secret missions," Umeda said, taking a drag on his cigarette, "no need for you be divulge anything that British Inteligence would hunt you down for."
He took another pull on the cig, exhaling through his nose. He glanced at the slowly burning embers at the end of the white stick then looked back at Lloyd. "Not to happy with some of your working arrangements?"
"Eh?" He sucked on the spoon thoughtfully. "Mmmm...they're not very good at understanding that there are certain circumstances which make great leaps of genius possible. You can't do anything if you don't have the right tools and materials. They like to pitch fits whenever I leave the country because they can't supply me with what I need."
He picked up the glass and tossed down the rest of his vodka. "Good thing my contract also guarantees freedom of movement, hmmm?"
"I like the flexibility my job gives me. You'd think being a doctor I'd be stuck in the office at ungodly hours, but despite the shit that happens here, not as many people as you would think get shot or anything too often," Umeda shrugged, "If there's nothing that really needs my attention I'll the place chief resident in charge."
Umeda got up form his chair and took Lloyd's glass and put it in the sink. While he stood, he finished off his own drink and put his own glass in the sink as well. "I enjoy being my own boss."
"Well, that is the problem with most sciences," Lloyd said a little sulkily. "You have to find someone to fund it, and sometimes they make unreasonable demands. Although I could have just funded myself, it seemed like a good idea to take the contract at the time. Oh well, can't complain too much; I did better than the rest of them."
"Anyway, what sort of shit are we talking about?" he asked, sticking the spoon into the pudding bowl and resting his chin on his hand.
"Well, we're talking about ourselves," Umeda said, putting out his cigarette and throwing it out, "is there anything else to talk about?" He sat back down, pulling his chair a little closer to the counter.
The doctor reached forward and stuck his fingertip into the pudding, then brought it to his mouth and licked at it. "You're planning on finishing that whole tub, aren't you?" he asked, and then sucked the last traces of pudding off his finger.
"Not really, besides the city, but I suspect that's something that I'll have to learn about for myself." Lloyd shrugged. "Nothing new about that."
He smiled, raising an eyebrow at Umeda's act with amused indifference to the whole show. "Yes, I am. Unless you're planning on withholding it from me for not paying up."
"You seem very serious about your pudding," Umeda said with a smirk, "so I'm not about to try and take it from you."
Umeda stood from his chair again and got an ashtray from the living room coffee table. Knocking off the building ash into the tray, Umeda set it on the counter then sat back down. "I'm surprised that you've eaten that much so far and haven't gotten sick yet."
"Think of it like you would smoking or drinking," said Lloyd, sticking his spoon back into the pudding and taking a bite. "You have to build up tolerance for it, right? You can't just automatically jump into smoking two packs a day or whatever, you have to get used to smoking first. So I just got used to eating this much pudding."
He sucked on the spoon thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, it helps that I've been eating it all my life."
Reply
He took a sip of the vodka; not his favorite drink, not that he drank much at all. But he had learned how, and that was what counted. "It sounds ridiculous, but truly it's just my laziness. Only two things are important to me--my work and pudding--and the rest is up for any sort of blasphemy. It doesn't bother me in the slightest to get a snack from a complete stranger. But do you always do things like this?"
Reply
Taking another drink from his glass, Umeda studied Lloyd for a moment. Thinking for a second he answered, "Well, like I said, I wasn't actually expecting you to show up," Umeda shrugged, "I do usually instigate things, mostly daring people to do something. Usually they don't take the bait."
Reply
Reply
Umeda, with his glass in hand, walked around the counter into his living room and retrieved his cigarettes. He returned to the kitchen, pulling a cigarette out and putting it between his lips. Before lighting up he offered the pack to Lloyd.
Reply
He shook his head at the cigarettes. "I quit," he said, sipping the vodka again. "Although living in this town might make me pick it back up again."
Reply
"Well you're doing a wonderful job at being the "odd scientist" type. What is it you do exactly?" Umeda pulled a chair from the small table that was in the kitchen over to the counter Lloyd was eating his pudding on. He straddled the chair backwards, folding his arms and resting them on the back of the chair.
Reply
"I can't really tell you," Lloyd said, tilting his head a little. "Or I'm not supposed to tell you what it is. You can try guessing, though. It involves engineering, and I have a contract with the British military." He took a sip of the vodka, and made a slightly bitter face. "In exchange for freedom to design what I want and unlimited research funds, they get everything I produce."
Reply
He took another pull on the cig, exhaling through his nose. He glanced at the slowly burning embers at the end of the white stick then looked back at Lloyd. "Not to happy with some of your working arrangements?"
Reply
He picked up the glass and tossed down the rest of his vodka. "Good thing my contract also guarantees freedom of movement, hmmm?"
Reply
Umeda got up form his chair and took Lloyd's glass and put it in the sink. While he stood, he finished off his own drink and put his own glass in the sink as well. "I enjoy being my own boss."
Reply
"Anyway, what sort of shit are we talking about?" he asked, sticking the spoon into the pudding bowl and resting his chin on his hand.
Reply
The doctor reached forward and stuck his fingertip into the pudding, then brought it to his mouth and licked at it. "You're planning on finishing that whole tub, aren't you?" he asked, and then sucked the last traces of pudding off his finger.
Reply
He smiled, raising an eyebrow at Umeda's act with amused indifference to the whole show. "Yes, I am. Unless you're planning on withholding it from me for not paying up."
Reply
Umeda stood from his chair again and got an ashtray from the living room coffee table. Knocking off the building ash into the tray, Umeda set it on the counter then sat back down. "I'm surprised that you've eaten that much so far and haven't gotten sick yet."
Reply
He sucked on the spoon thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, it helps that I've been eating it all my life."
Reply
Leave a comment