Who: May and Sweeney What: In the clown motel When: Sept 19 Where: Hallway Rating: low
May wasn’t someone who had an innate phobia of clowns or anything like that, but clowns of this magnitude were off putting to say the least. Why would anyone want to collect 6000 clowns? Was it impressive? Sure. But May didn’t think it was necessary. Of course, every Hotel needed its niche. May just had to wonder if people really liked to stay here other than when they were being forced to by a Dome.
She had no idea who her roommate was since when she woke up they were there, but somehow she knew that her roommate wasn't Sweeney. This meant that she was going to explore until she found him. Halfway through the first level she realized she could just use the network. So she did. That was how she ended up almost to his door when Sweeney emerged from his room. Somehow it startled her and she gave a little gasp. Her hands reached out suddenly and grabbed the sides of his arms as if to steady herself with him. Realizing what just happened, she laughed at herself. “Sorry, I guess this place is getting to me more than I realize.”
–
A cruise ship to this sort of shit? Sweeney absolutely knew that the Dome or whoever controlled the Dome was making up for lost time. Giving them a nice little break on a cruise ship, free from any drama and waking up stuck in a hotel that reminded him vaguely of House on the Rock (at least the part he had been allowed to see.)
Waking up alone in a random room, Sweeney had thrown on clothes and after receiving a text from May, started to head out. Only when he opened the room door, the woman was on the opposite side. Startling slightly at her gasp, large calloused hands moved to cover hers, expression and body language remaining unamused at their current ‘clown hotel’ situation.
“Woah, easy there, killer.” Sweeney smirked, steadying her as he glanced down the hall. “It is a pretty shite place.. Someone’s idea of a joke.” He looked down at her. “You alright?” He wanted to ask who she was roomed with so he could request a change of accommodation, but… he didn’t.
–
“I guess that depends on the definition.” May sent him a wry little smile. Yes, she was making a joke. Had they been in a building that was on fire she would still make a joke. She had been through a lot of crap in her life and she was from New York City - she knew how humour could get you through the worst of things. Besides, she felt infinitely better with Sweeney around.
“I’ll be okay. I’m going to want to find Peter and Ned, but something tells me at least Peter won’t be too afraid of this place.” It helped that both the boys were young adults and had been through some scary stuff - Peter more than Ned… though after Wonderland, who knew.
“Good news is I haven’t seen any red balloons or people in creepy clown masks so far.” So far was definitely an important qualifier.
–
Sweeney grimaced as he looked down the hall briefly, focusing on her again. “Anyone or anything looks like a clown comes ‘round I’ll punch its fucking nose in.”
Huffing out a snort, he reached behind him to shut the room door, leaving them in the empty hallway. “Let’s go find your boy and his friend. Sooner we do, sooner we can figure out how to deal with this nonsense.”
No, he wasn’t afraid of clowns. Wouldn’t go that far.. But there was something unsettling about them, especially the ‘nice’ ones, the ones that weren’t truly meant to scare a person.
–
They walked for a bit while taking in the 'ambiance' of the place. Who thought up this sort of place? Did people come here by choice? So many questions.
Finally May spoke, asking about something that she had been thinking about since the time when people lost their English. "If you hate this, I'll never do it again." She felt the need to preface this since she thought it could go either way.
She took a breath and spoke with good pronunciation like she had spoken it her whole life, though she had no accent to go with it. "Tá áthas orm go bhfuil mé in óstán clown leat." Then May braced herself.
–
Ambience. What little ambience there really was.. Sweeney was glad they had found one another, it would’ve been hell to deal with this without May by his side (and it was getting to the point where he wasn’t loath to admit it.)
Then she spoke Gaelic.
Blinking, he stopped walking and turned to look at her, mouth quirking after a few long moments. “Well, here I thought I’ve heard everything..” Sweeney rubbed at the side of his neck awkwardly, unsure how to process it. “That’s got to be the sweetest thing anyone’s done for the likes of me, May Parker.” Then, he added as an afterthought, “if it’s for me, that is.”
–
Well, it hadn’t pissed him off and May had been a little worried that it might. She had some idea of Sweeney’s life, but since he was someone who had lived a much longer time than she probably could really fathom, she knew there’d always be more to learn, things he’d leave out, and even things he simply forgot about. She wasn’t sure if Gaelic would be a sore spot for him.
She blushed a little, feeling a little self-conscious. “Well, I’ll be honest and say that before the whole language thing, I knew about three words from Duolingo. But then I spent a few days with it and now I keep practicing so I don’t lose it.” May had spoken far more Spanish as a young girl than she did now and it was because she didn’t use it a lot. She knew language was one of those things where if you didn’t use it, you lose it. “I’m glad you don’t mind it though… I didn’t want to offend you.” Somehow. “But I also wanted to make sure you knew that it’s not just your looks that I care about.” She winked, lightly touching his chest for a moment. She was well aware how Sweeney felt about his looks and while she’d agree he wasn’t conventionally good looking, she thought he had a charm to him that she found very handsome. Her feelings for him also clouded her opinion too.
–
Sweeney hadn’t been anticipating sharing a room with two other people, especially when one of those people wasn’t May.. But here they were. The more time he could spend out of said room and with May, the better for everyone’s sanity.
“You’ve been reading up on Gaelic for me,” he replied stupidly, finding himself touched at the thought and effort she had put into it. His hand lifting to hers on his chest, calloused fingers curling around the soft digits, Sweeney found himself falling back into the usual sarcasm, though it was softened greatly thanks to the charm of one May Parker. “Good to hear, I am a damn delight to the eyes.”
Hand dropped, bringing hers as he held it between them. “Let’s go find Peter.” Yup, not ’your boy’, not this time.
–
It seemed May liked the pricklier ones. Maybe she had a bit of a ‘type’, but she was happy for it. Besides, she liked she could see Sweeney’s side of him that he probably didn’t let a lot of people see.
She leaned up and kissed him on his cheek. “Yes, let’s.”