InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "EBOLA!"

Brian Jenkins | Dr. Jekyll (tooth_fairy) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-06-04 22:18:00

Entry tags:

dr. jekyll, scheherazade

Who: Sherri and Brian
What: Meeting!
Where: The doors/lobby of Bellum
When: Friday afternoon
Warnings: Super extreme politeness and civility

A warm breeze swept the edge of his jacket as he walked, threatening to drag him forward if he walked any slower. Brian was used to being egged on by other pedestrians, but this was the first time that the actual weather seemed determined to get him to walk faster. His strides were long and loping, his shoulders hunched just slightly as he went. Though he was a tall man, Brian Jenkins didn't carry himself accordingly. He looked shrunken. Smaller than he should. His mother had scolded him for such habits when he was a boy, and it seemed they stuck. He felt bad for her.

It was strange for him to be finished with work so early. The sun was still in the sky, not threatening to set yet, and the streets were clear of Friday night party goers. But he had had two patients cancel, and there were none waiting for a dentist. The secretary, Matilda, had practically shoved him out the door as he peered around the waiting room, looking for one last patient to work on. He almost felt lost now without the constraints of work to hold him down. Now what would he do?

Brian didn't like free time. Free time ultimately devolved into something unpleasant. He spent most of his time alone - and would continue to do so, given his recent move - and he spent most of his time alone thinking. Thinking wasn't always good for Brian. If he let his mind wander, it would take him to terrible places. He would get on the internet and search Web MD over and over again, then sit on the Amazon page for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for at least an hour before once again deciding that purchasing it would cement the fact that he's insane. And given the forum posts that his neighbors had made, he would only be getting crazier as time went on.

He had so little to look forward to.

The building he now hated came up quickly, and before long, he was at its doors. From a few yards away, he could see a girl struggling with one of the front doors, a number of plastic grocery bags hanging from her arms. Frowning, he trotted up towards her, slipping a hand between her and the door and pulling it open. "Here," he said, glancing down at her with a faint smile. "You need some help carrying those?"

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withinastory
2010-06-05 03:36 am UTC (link)

It had been a very long week for Sherri, and it only seemed to have the potential to get longer. She'd spent as much of her meager supply of dollars on groceries as she'd felt was okay (and she'd been gaining weight to buy the cheaper, less healthy groceries before, but it was starting to show a little and she did not like that), and had chosen a store that would let her walk back to her apartment so she wouldn't waste ever-more-expensive gas.

However, she'd managed to forget that the door to Bellum Letale opened outward between getting Joss to help her carry things in and, well, her current state. It had been a rough, confusing week, and she thought it was sort of excusable that she would have forgotten the basics of the building's mechanics after secluding herself in her room since the full moon. She'd looped the handles of the plastic bags around her wrists like odd bangles, and had been trying her hardest to get the door opened when suddenly someone took care of it for her.

She glanced up at the stranger, cheeks flushed a little with the embarrassment at having been caught looking less than competent. "Oh, thanks so much!" His offer sunk in a moment later, and she glanced downward. "If you wouldn't mind. I think I went a little overboard."

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tooth_fairy
2010-06-05 03:44 am UTC (link)

The flush on her cheeks was a sure sign of embarrassment, and for a moment, he felt bad that he had wounded her pride. In today's world, you could never tell when a friendly offer would be appreciated for its kindness or hated for its "propagation of the male superiority model." Thankfully, the woman accepted instead of berating him. His smile grew slightly as he nodded, still holding the door while he reached out to slip a few of the bags off her nearest arm.

"It's not a problem," he said nonchalantly, hefting the bags in one hand while he held the door, gesturing with a shoulder for her to head inside. "It's hard sometimes, without a car or a working elevator." His smile was almost wry for a moment. "And I'm always happy to lend a hand to my new neighbors."

	withinastory 2010-06-05 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	"I'll trust your judgment." Tilting her arm to reposition the bags again, Sherri finally acknowledged the necessity of looking forward when she reached the first step. Falling up the stairs during a first face-to-face meeting would be way too embarrassing. "Oh, and I live on the second floor, so I promise your chivalry won't hurt too badly." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withinastory 2010-06-05 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	Sherri winced. "By yourself?" Hopefully none of it had been that big... or his bed had come in more pieces than hers. "It really is a shame about the elevator not working." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tooth_fairy 2010-06-05 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	That was probably smart. "Yeah, I don't think anybody in this building likes to give straight answers," he said lightly, rubbing his chin. "But it'd be nice if it got fixed. I can't imagine living on one of the top floors with it broken like this. Especially on move-in day." He shook his head, frowning. "That's just rough." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withinastory 2010-06-05 10:11 pm UTC (link)
	Sherri glanced around, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized she'd straightened up more than she thought. "Oh, just put them on the tile. Have a seat, make yourself at home!" She deposited her own bags on the tile as directed, then started digging through for the coffee. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)