Intermedia

[ooeeooahah]

[ Ilsa is tired. ]

[ She's been working the horrendous secretarial job to keep from being droned, using the slack times to type up the history of her world, chipping in to the office petty cash funds to cover the costs of the materials she uses. ]

[ Then it's heading home to deal with the general household maintenance, and try to keep the facade

Comments

action;

[hotfrombehind]

[For all his restlessness, Pyro figures he has to come home at some point. As much as he'd like to avoid people, he knows it's not really good for anyone. He pops upstairs and puts away his briefcase and his suit jacket before he returns to the kitchen where he can hear and smell human activity.

He stands awkwardly in the doorway.] Uh. Need help, or anything?

[hotfrombehind]

I-- Uh. [He purses his lips.] Yeah. Must suck. I just-- [He shrugs and looks down.] I guess I could try harder. I mean, I don't know, I guess it's not that great being in this house by yourself. If you really stick around, I mean. Uh. S'why I don't stick around here much. Especially since my teammates are outside just as often as I am. And I still need to find the RED Spy, fuck.

[Is he rambling? He can't really tell, and sometimes he just likes to hear the sound of his own voice.]

[ooeeooahah]

Well, if you wanted to invite the team members for dinner sometime, just give me a day's notice and I can manage to have something for you, and leave the dining room to y'all after.

[ Wait - she's heard that name before. ]

and... Red Spy? Where did I hear... the one at the library.

[hotfrombehind]

[He laughs.] Sorry, I fucking doubt you'd want the BLU frog here, or that brat, for that matter. They're both likely to try to "romance" you or some shit. Dunno about Medic, I guess he can be kinda tolerable, but he's one creepy motherfucker. Yeah, I'm pretty sure the only one either of us would want over is the other team's Sniper, but only because he's so fucking tame.

So you've seen him? [He perks up.] He's not wearing his suit, so I can't really recognize him that well, not to mention he's probably avoiding me.

[ooeeooahah]

He was suffering from nicotine withdrawal the time I saw him... last month, I believe. His first day here, and not dealing well with American tobacco.

[ She looks thoughtful. ]

You know, if you need to have them over for anything, and prefer to keep the rest of the house-mates clear of them, I can set up something and retreat to the basement... or perhaps a friend's house.

[ She smiles to herself, plating the chicken. ]

[hotfrombehind]

Hah! Sucker. It always made me wonder how he could smoke and run around all day.

[He shakes his head and sits down in the chair he was leaning against.] No, it's fine. If we were indoors all at once, we'd probably destroy, well, almost everything. My teammates may be the only people I know, but they're still fuckers. And we don't even have Demo or the other Pyro here.

[ooeeooahah]

[ Setting the plate before him, she briefly touches his shoulder before going to the other side of the table to sit. ]

I studied psychiatry, and I still don't understand why people start to smoke, full stop. But then, I also have the compulsion to help even when it's not wanted.

[hotfrombehind]

[His shoulders immediately tense when she touches him.] Oh, so you're a shrink. That makes sense.

[Once she's across from him, he slumps his shoulders.] I dunno, it was a fad at home. You know, smoking makes you cool and all that shit. Probably had it worse in Europe, especially if they had those fancy brands and shit. Everyone has their quirks.

[He begins to tap his fork against his plate.]

[ooeeooahah]

I try to keep it under control, but if someone is going to hurt others or themselves... I'd rather they take it out on me, if we can't find another way to deal with it.

[ Still in that conversational tone, as if talking about putting herself in harm's way is completely normal. ]

[ She then nods her head, saying ] Itadakimasu.

[hotfrombehind]

Oh. That's-- [He falters for a moment. How to put it politely. He chews on his bottom lip and goes for something else instead.] Reminds me of how I used to work in certain cases back home. Probably not as noble, but...

[He trails off and takes the cue from her to begin eating.] Holy shit, I forgot how awesome it is to eat food made from someone who knows how to cook.

[ooeeooahah]

[ She doesn't say anything about the pause, or the emotions he's practically shouting at her, but chuckles appreciatively at his exclamation. ]

And that is one of the best things about cooking for others. I'm glad you like it.

[hotfrombehind]

[He grins.] I don't think anyone with a working mouth wouldn't.

[Just, you know, chows down for a good while. He's almost done when he looks up again.] I ought to stay home for dinner more often.

[ooeeooahah]

I'd be glad to have you here.

[ Lightly, as she pushes the last of her serving of chicken (which wasn't that large to begin with) around her plate, she asks one question. ]

Do you have any favorite meals that you'd like me to try?

[hotfrombehind]

Uh. Not-- really, no. I'm sure it'd all be good, yeah. [He finishes his meal, though more slowly than he had dealt with the rest.

When was the last time he'd had a proper meal? He can't really remember.] Thanks for dinner. I'm sorry I haven't been around for it much. Seriously, I was missing out.

[Have a lopsided grin.]

[ooeeooahah]

[ That's a nice smile. I need to see if it can come out more often. ]

[ She chuckles. ] Once the basement is finished off, I might start putting up some wines and brewed sodas. Too late for a Yule wine, but maybe something for May.

[ She smiles, her eyes on the table. ]

Though honestly, I'd be happy to leave it behind if we can all get out sooner.

[hotfrombehind]

Yeah. Doesn't look like it's happening any time soon, so I guess it must be nice to have something to occupy your time. I keep hearing about this basement of yours. [He props his chin on his hand.] Is it like your lair or something?