Charlie Nelson (charlie_chester) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-07-29 21:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | adam, adam and charlie, charlie, day twenty-one |
Barely Civil
Characters: Charlie and Adam
Setting: Adam's new room (Charlie's old room), block B, morning
Adam run the whole way to his new room. Through the tunnel underground and straight on to the new door. He was close to time, he knew that. Too long loitering with Kyle, but he wasn't just running because he was out of time. The tears were falling before he'd left Kyle's side, but running helped keep them mostly at bay. Just as planned, his braclet with the ID tag on it, the one Kyle had re-made for him, opened the door to the new room he'd been assigned. Once inside, he realized, belatedly, that it was someone else's. That it wasn't his, it wasn't empty. Which meant either someone had his things...or his things were gone.
Adam didn't make it any farther than just inside the door. Someone else's things were scattered about, not his shield, his sword, the painting or the dragon from Wren. The clothes in the drawers weren't his either, if there were any in the drawers. That guitar in the corner definitely wasn't his. And Adam had no idea if he'd get his things back. Ever. It was enough to send him over the edge, sobs shaking his frame until he found himself on the floor, back against the door, alternating between sobbing and hyperventilating. Everything was gone. Kyle was gone and not just because Adam had been informed that it was better for them that they took time apart. Wren's name had been on the other list too, which meant his other best friend was gone. Adam was stuck in a room that wasn't his, that didn't have his things and he'd never felt so alone in his life.
Charlie was already feeling bullish as he made his way to his old room. He had checked the list. He knew who was going to be there. He was under no illusions that this was going to go well. He doubted that he would get anything of his back. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Charlie wasn’t afraid of Adam, and he wasn’t going to start being so any time soon. So he would ask - and let Adam be the dick. It was his turn.
The sobs had stopped, which was good, and Adam's breathing was mostly under control when he heard footsteps outside his door. He hadn't seen whose room he was in, if that was even listed but he had a guess that was who was here. Getting up he wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his wrinkled shirt, taking a breath before opening the door. Just the sight of Charlie had his shoulders slumping. Couldn't it have been a stranger? "What?" Adam sniffed again, rubbing at red rimmed eyes, not wanting Charlie of all people to see him like this.
Charlie raised a brow, looking Adam up and down. “This was my room,” he said, then frowned a little. “...Bad day?” he asked.
The universe hated him. It really did. Adam looked back at the room, then looked at Charlie again. "Shitty day," he clarified, rubbing at his eye am trying to hide how he looked. "So you want your stuff?"
“...Yeah, that’d be great,” Charlie said, cautiously. This wasn’t exactly what he had expected, and he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things were never like this with Adam. Maybe the guy had just had that bad a day.
"Lucky you, getting your stuff back and I don't have a damn thing," Adam said, looking back at the room again. "I should just keep half your stuff." Maybe he would. Then at least he'd have something.
Charlie knew it was too good to last. “Or you could just ask if I had anything I could pass your way,” he snapped. “Which, for the record, I would have offered, if you’d just told me that they sent you here without anything.”
Adam looked back, raising one eyebrow at Charlie and his tone. "You want to try that again in a tone that makes me not want to shut the door and lock you out? I've had a crap day, two of the people I care about more than anyone else in the world are stuck over there and I'm here. I don't even want your stuff I just think this is wildly unfair and making it a little unfair for someone else might just even the score." The whole thing would have been impressive or intimidating but Adam's voice cracked through the whole thing and he didn't even sound angry. He just sounded beat.
“You were the one threatening to just keep half my stuff,” Charlie pointed out. “Plus, one of your friends who is ‘stuck over there’ happens to be my girlfriend, so I get where you are with things right now. I’m kinda having a bad day of it myself. So how about you stop being aggressive, and I’ll stop being pissy and we can work this shit out?”
Adam hasn't thought of himself as being aggressive but calling Wren his girlfriend and calling Adam aggressive had Adam wondering if hitting Charlie would make him feel better. They call that rage issues, the voice in the back of his head reminded him and despite it, his hand balled into a fist, but he didn't swing. I probably wasn't worth it even if he sure he'd have Charlie on his ass. Charlie was no Ryan. Letting out a sigh he pushed the door open the rest of the way and moved away from Charlie.
Charlie paused, and then walked inside. It had been his own room only a few hours ago, after all. Now it was Adam’s - and the guy clearly was having a bad day. He stopped on the opposite side of the room to Adam and looked at him. “So, they kicked you out of your room, gave you thirty minutes to get here, and you didn’t get a chance to go back for anything, because the doors had locked and you were in a different block,” he summarised, mildly, not wanting to escalate anything further.
As sat on the edge of the desk, head hanging. "Yeah that's it. Everything's gone. I fell asleep at my desk in my clothes or I'd be out a shirt probably. Only grab my test kit because that's a habit." He held up the little black case for a moment, just to show Charlie. Of course there was also the being separated from Kyle part, having to say goodbye and feeling like he was never going to see his friend again. There was losing Wren too, whom he'd been hoping to get a hug from at least.
Charlie frowned as he looked at the case. “What’s it for?” he asked.
Adam was starting to fidget, foot tapping. "Diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was five."
“Okay.” Charlie paused. “I’ll split my clothes with you,” he offered. “It’s not fucking right that they left you with nothing. It’s not right, any of this. For any of us. But at least we have a chance to make the best of it.”
Adam glanced up. He almost told Charlie to fuck off and keep his own clothes, but what other choices did he have? What if they never let him get his things back? "It's not like we have any other choice in the whole thing."
Charlie decided not to point out that Adam could simply keep everything and throw him out of the room. Best not to put ideas into the other man’s head. “Right,” he agreed smoothly. “She’ll miss you, you know,” he added, as though offering an olive branch. He’d told Wren he’d try, after all. “They both will, I’m sure. I don’t really know Kyle, but you two seemed close.” There was no way he was going to betray Wren’s confidence and let it be known he pretty much knew exactly what was going on - or, more to the point, what wasn’t going on there.
"She'll miss you more," Adam said, feeling bitter about it. He knew Wren would, but he wasn't sure if it would be as much as he missed her. She had Kyle. "Kyle..." He started then trailed off. Kyle had said he would miss him, but they were supposed to be done now weren't they? Kyle had just gone with that but then he'd seemed distraught when he saw Adam. It was confusing and there was nothing but walls between them now. "I'll live."
Charlie twitched a smile. “Course you will - but sometimes there’s more to life than just living,” he offered.
Adam rubbed at his forehead, not looking at Charlie. "That's the part I'm not good at." He wasn't smiling. He wanted to leave this place but he had nowhere else to go and a target on his back. "What if we never see them again?"
Charlie shrugged. “I don’t think like that,” he said - which was a vast simplification of things. Actually, it was a lie. He wasn’t going to let himself think like that. He had lost Wren for years, he wasn’t going to lose her again. “As far as I can see, though, they’ve left journal and phone communication open. At least that’s something, right?” Not enough, as far as he was concerned, but Adam looked like he could do with some positivity.
"Of course you don't," Adam said, sarcasm in his tone but it didn't have the heart behind it. He glanced at the computer, something he hadn't thought of. "It's something." Except, what was he supposed to say?
Charlie rolled his eyes in agreement with the lame. “They just want to see how we’ll react to it. Pretty much like everything else they’ve done here. We’re like fucking lab rats.”
Which meant Adam had probably failed whatever fucking test they'd put in from of him by turning into a little girl and bursting into tears. "Did you get your stuff yet?" He asked instead, ready for Charlie to just go away.
The other man looked at Adam as though he was insane - given that he had been standing right there the whole time. Still, he got the point. A very un-subtle ‘fuck the hell off’. He shook his head and walked into the bathroom, sweeping his toiletries into a bag, leaving Adam with the bare essentials. Striding back out, he opened up his dresser and took half the clothes, then, tucking them under his arm, pulled his guitar from the corner. “See you around,” he said, with a tight smile, then headed out.
Adam caught the look but ignored it. He didn't have the patience for Charlie right now. Who cared if the guy hated him? That wasn't new. "See ya," he said half waving but not really caring. Once he was gone Adam slumped at the desk, waiting a moment before waking up the computer.