oh the awkward
Characters: Alice and Rusty Setting: Alice's room (Rusty's old room)
Despite what she had assured Rusty over the computer, the mess really did bother Alice. She simply hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him that. She had fluttered around the new room for a bit, flustered and wanting desperately to start cleaning it. She had even gone so far as to start throwing away empty snack bags. It had only taken a couple of minutes though for her to start doubting herself - what if he got mad, and thought that she had been going through his things or something? - and she had ultimately taken the bags back out of the trash and put them back where she had found them. Uncomfortable and not knowing what else to do, she had found a relatively clean spot to sit and wait for him to come and get his things.
Alice was glad that she had taken the time to get dressed before she left her room this morning, terrified of the idea of people she didn't know seeing her in her pajamas. It meant that, while the rest of the clothes she had just been given had been lost in the move, at least she had a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. She was grateful for the hoodie. It was soft and a little baggy, just the way she liked, and she could pull the hood up and snuggle down into it, her hands stuffed into the single, large pocket in the front. As she waited, she looked around the room, not willing to do more, but carefully cataloging everything. She briefly considered stealing an extra t-shirt or something, but the fear that he would notice something was missing stopped her. This time, if something went missing from his things, she would be the only suspect, and that was not something she was willing to risk.
Rusty was glad that at least he had a shirt and stuff. Long pants would have been great, but alas, no. Either way, however, he got over to his old room as soon as he could, feeling bad about the whole ordeal. He knocked, feeling nervous, even if he'd been assured everything was fine. He was a naturally nervous person, however, so there was that.
At the knock on the door, Alice briefly considered hiding in the bathroom until the person outside went away, but she knew she couldn't. She had told him she would be there; if she didn't answer he would know she was hiding and then he really would be mad. Probably. Forcing herself to her feet, she trudged to the door, wishing she still had her taser. Or anything really. Why couldn't the people in charge have just left things the way they were yesterday? She had liked that. Hood still pulled up, Alice opened the door, immediately backing away as she did so. "Is this your room?" she asked, just to make sure, although she wasn't sure what she would do if it wasn't. Probably nothing.
"I am so sorry," Rusty was immediately apologizing, head ducked so fast that he didn't even notice she backed off immediately. Until he noticed that he didn't see someone in front of him, then he glanced up sheepishly. "Hi?" he suggested, feeling totally unsure how to proceed. Especially since she was kinda back there in the room, and he wasn't quite sure why. Oh god she hated him already, didn't she. His room was such a cluttered mess that she was already thinking he was a slobby weirdo freak.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Alice just blinked for a moment as she considered closing the door on the man. What was he apoligizing for? The mess? Or something else? And he hadn't answered her question. She still didn't actually know if he was the person she had spoken to on the computer. Swallowing, she put her hands back into the pocket of her hoodie, clenching them together nervously. "Hi." That greeting was safe enough. Hesitating, she repeated her first question. "Is this your room?"
He blinked at the repeated question. "I--oh--yes! Yes it is and I'm sorry! If I'd known this was even possible to happen I would have kept things cleaner better I've never been very good at that, so I'm totally sorry you got stuck with a mess and I promise I'll like, clean everything top to bottom if you want me to, it's so not your responsibility and did I mention I'm super sorry?" he rambled. “And that I wish I had pants, because this is even worse than usual for me, right now.”
Despite herself, a small giggle escaped from Alice before she could stop it. His rambling amused her. She quickly cut herself off though, horrified with herself. What if he thought she was laughing at him, at his rambling and lack of pants? Which, granted, she was, but she wasn't trying to be mean. Blushing and ducking further down into her hoodie, she moved even further away from him, wishing she could just disappear. "Don't worry about it," she mumbled. Cleaning would mean that he was going to be here even longer, and she didn't think she wanted that. "I can clean everything. You can just... worry about your things."
When she giggled, it got a smile out of him, though he was confused why it stopped so fast. Then she was walking away and mumbling, and--yep. He was officially confused. He was also a little fuzzy on whether or not he was invited in. So he stood there and fidgeted, not sure if he should go in or not, especially with her kinda being weird. "Um...d-do I come in?"
Alice stared at him from under her hood, trying to figure him out. "You can. It's your room," she said, confused as to why he was asking permission. "If you want to!" she was quick to add. If he didn't, she could get his things for him. She hoped he didn't ask her to, because that would be annoying. Plus, what if she forgot something? But maybe that was what he wanted her to do, or maybe that was what she was supposed to do, and she just didn't know it. This whole thing was just making her nervous. She wished she had Puck with her, that he was curled up in the pocket of her hoodie, sleeping, and that she could pet him. That would calm her down. Maybe she wouldn't be making herself look so stupid if she had him with her.
"Nu-uh, it's your room." Rusty said. He did walk in though, but he was super awkward about it. He started to pick up junk first, still feeling terrible that the place was a mess. "So, um," he started, looking back at her. "Obviously we're both pretty awkward people, and this is sort of a world record of 'holy shit' for me, so would this be easier on you if you like, went someplace else? Are you worried I'll take your stuff? Someone could watch over or something, but I kinda can't help but feel like everything out of my mouth and my mere existence is making things worse for you." he said, feeling terrible.
"I don't have anything for you to take," Alice said, before she could stop herself. Backing up a step, she put her back up against the wall - as much to stop herself from running as for any other reason - watching him as he went about collecting things. It hadn't really occurred to her that maybe he felt as awkward as she did, but now that he had said it, she couldn't help but feel like this was her fault. "And I'm sorry! It's not you, I promise! I just... People. I'm not good with people. And I don't know what's going on. I just got here and I'm really confused. And I don't do well under normal circumstances, much less something like this, and... I'm sorry." It was rushed and she was pretty sure she had been babbling, but it was also probably about the most she had spoken to anyone at one time since before she had gotten arrested.
Rusty felt for her. "I'm not great with people either." he shared truthfully. Which he thought was totally obvious, because yeah. Wow, was he not great with social situations. Yeah, this was clearly just as bad for her as him. He glanced around and then went for the trash bin in the bathroom, to get things thrown away that needed to be. It also put him farther away from her, which could only be a good thing. "You don't have to be sorry!" he said. "Just--you're kinda making me even more nervous, you keep backing up like I'm gonna hurt you or something which--totally not a hurt people kinda guy! I'm more the 'gets his ass kicked' type! And like, you're smiling one second then like, looking at me like I'm a serial killer or something and I kinda don't know what to do with that so I'm really sorry I know this is totally awkward and weird an I left this huge mess..." he had to pause for breath. "It's confusing for everyone today. I can try to answer questions if you've got them, but I don't know how much use I'll really be but I promise to try?" he suggested, not sure if that would help or not.
Taking a breath, Alice forced herself a little closer to the man, even if she still wasn't comfortable with all of this. If backing away kept making him nervous, well... At least one of them should be comfortable. "Sorry. It's just... I was afraid you might get mad at me for laughing. I mean, I wasn't laughing at you. Not really. So it's not that I think you're a serial killer. I promise." That wasn't a thought that had occurred to her before he said it. Now she couldn't help but think about it. He didn't look like a serial killer though. Or... Well, she didn't think he did. Then again, she didn't really know what a serial killer looked like. Still, serial killer or not - she was already kind of scared of him, so she guessed in the end, it really didn't make that much difference - the promise of him trying to answer questions was enough to get her more interested. Finally pushing back her hood, she stood off to the side, not knowing if he wanted her to help him or not, as she decided which questions to ask first. "Where am I? And why me?"
"Why would I get mad?" Rusty asked. He kept picking up the mess while he was at it. "And I dunno on both, honestly." he said. "As far as I can tell, just 'somewhere', somewhere temperate, I'd guess? Not too far south. But we don't know." he explained. "As for why you," he shrugged. "Maybe they figure you're likely to succeed?"
Trying to figure out if he was testing her or genuinely unsure, Alice stared at him for a moment before answering, uncertain about the whole thing. "Because I laughed. And if you thought I was laughing at you... Well, a lot of people get mad about that." She grew quiet though as he answered her questions, or tried to answer, at least. His first answer was helpful, at least, but his second... Well, that just proved he had no idea what he was talking about. She supposed it had been too much to hope that he actually knew where and why. Still, she had hoped. Disappointed, she turned and after a moment of hesitation, started helping him pick up. That was better than standing there and staring at him, right? After another moment though, she found the courage to ask another question that had been bothering her. "Is it always like this? Or... What's it like, normally?
"You wouldn't be the first person to laugh at me. I'm sure you won't be the last. Seems kinda weird, getting mad at something like that. Mostly I just get humiliated, and roll with epic embarrassment factors." he offered, still picking up. When she asked the next question, he felt a little better about his answer. "Normally it's pretty tame. Sometimes there are kind of nuts days? But they're more isolated. Right around when I arrived, there were people put into stocks in the other block. That was insane. And this moving thing has never happened before. But most days are pretty normal day to day life stuff. Hanging out with people, doing jobs if you've got one, stuff like that."
That, at least, Alice could sympathize with. It was why she repeated, albeit quietly, "I wasn't laughing at you. Not really. I thought you were being funny." Despite everything, she appreciated a good sense of humor. She might be awkward about it, but she still enjoyed it. Picking up a couple of empty snack bags, she moved to toss them into the trash, listening as he explained a little more about this place. The part about the stocks worried her, but she was quickly distracted by the last part of what he said. "Jobs? What kind of jobs?" There was something about that idea of normalcy that appealed to her, even if she knew she probably wouldn't try to get a job. There would probably be far too much interaction with people for her comfort.
"Um...like cleaning services, and tech help, and stuff like that?" Rusty said, of course blanking on the majority of the job titles, because she was asking. "I guess you can put in for jobs and stuff, you just have to have a couple of people put in a good word for you or maybe there's jobs that aren't filled anymore? So I dunno. What would you want to do?" he asked.
Eyes widening, Alice quickly shook her head. "I wouldn't actually try and get a job. I wouldn't know what to do! And I don't do well with people and I'd probably freak out and make people mad and..." Flustered, she twisted the empty bag in her grip. It took a conscious effort to manage to let it go and drop it into the trash. "The only job I've ever had is at a pet store. In the back, where I hardly ever had to deal with people. I don't... I don't think I'd want a job." Uncomfortable and embarrassed by her outburst, she turned, busying herself with cleaning again. Why had she even asked about the jobs? That had been stupid. Now he would really think she was weird.
Rusty had to stop what he was doing. "...okay you have a real preoccupation with pissing people off. Like, have you only spent time around rage filled monsters or something?" he asked. "And not every job even has to do with people, though...er...some advice? You might wanna get slightly better at it or at least try. That's like, the whole deal here. 'Community' and all that. They want us all to be one big fuzzy ex-con family."
Ducking her head down, Alice wished she hadn't opened the door for him. She should have just pretended that she wasn't there; it would have been better than the fact that she was pretty sure he was judging her. She also was a little angry about the whole thing. Mostly at herself, but a little bit at him. Which really wasn't fair, but she couldn't help that. The thing was, she knew he was right. That just made it worse. Defensive, she tried to defend herself, "I've been in prison the last two years. Most people are already angry. Forgive me for worrying about making myself a target." In hind sight, she probably should have left that last part off. "And I was doing better. Before I was arrested." Hell, she had even worked with a team! She had been making actual decent progress. And now... Prison had definitely set her back.
"Maybe lady prison was different than mine." Rusty mused. "Sometimes there, being the meekest fish in the pond just meant you were like a bright shiny blinking sign that read 'victim here!'." He shrugged. "I don't mean to make you...er...mad? Whatever I did there. Sorry." he told her, sincere. "And you worked with a crew?" he asked, lighting up. "That's awesome! Wait--they weren't the type that sold you out, were they?" he asked, hoping not.
Shrugging, Alice sort of waved off his apology. It wasn't really anything for him to apologize for; he had been right. For a brief moment, she couldn't help but smile despite herself at his musings. "It was a women's prison. Hormones and PMS running rampant. Everyone was almost always angry about something." Still she understood what he was saying. Shrugging uncomfortably, she added, "I'm... I'm fairly good at blending in. Most people tend to overlook me. Except for when I actually have to interact with people. Then I might as well paint a giant target on my back." Which was pretty much how she had made it through the two years of prison she had served. She had stayed quiet and had managed to stay off most everyone's radar.
Hesitating in face of his excitement, Alice took a moment to consider what she was going to say. She wasn't even sure why he was interested anyway. But she never admitted her involvement in that string of casino robberies to anyone, unsure if she could still be charged for that on top of her other convictions. However, she supposed that, as long as she was vague and didn't mention any places or names, she could at least tell him a little about working on the team. After all, he wanted to know, and that desire to please hadn't changed just because she was in prison.
"It was... okay. Kind of terrifying," she admitted. "There were two guys that were angry a lot, always yelling if anything went wrong, and sometimes even when everything went right. I was afraid of them. But... the others were okay. I had Puck, so I could deal with it. And there was one guy that was always nice to me." It was kind of sad, but she supposed that he was about the closest thing to a friend she had had in a very long time. She wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to him.
When she smiled he returned it, happy there was a positive thing going on there. He had no idea what, but he was going to smile and nod with the best of them! Then she went on. "OH...oh shit, I totally didn't think of any of that." he said, eyes widening. "Ouch."
"How did you hook up with them? What's your specialty? Who's Puck? Were the angry guys put away too? Are they here? Should I duck and cover, because I'm talking to you and made you sad and left you a big mess to clean up?" he rattled off. "And cool, what was 'nice guy' like?"
More than a little overwhelmed by the flurry of questions, Alice ducked a little further into her hoodie, although this time, it was because she was trying to organize her thoughts, rather than because she was intimidated. "Uh... I don't think they would be here. I don't... I don't actually know though. I just got here! But they were arrested about a year before me, so I don't know what happened to them." She had spent too much time doing her best to distance herself from anything having to do with that. Now, she almost wished she had paid more attention, at least to the trials. "But he... he was just... nice to me. He didn't give me a hard time when I freaked out or did something stupid. I don't think he ever made fun of me or anything. He was just... nice. Even to Puck, my ferret." Which was, in her mind, something that was very important. The problem was, she couldn't really explain it, and nice didn't really cover it, but... By the end, she had actually been almost comfortable around him.
"Anyway, I was a thief. I specialize in lockpicking." As she spoke, she got a little more confident. This... This she could talk about. This and Puck. Because this... She knew she was good at what she had done. "Give me a lock, on a door, vault, it doesn't matter, and I can get through it. Or at least most any non-electronic lock. Some of them too, but I looked at the locks here, and they're a little too electronic for me. He was the computer guy, so we worked together a lot. He gave me things to deal with the electronic stuff, and other times I'd break in and plant his little devices so he could do his thing." Feeling confident, a rare thing for her, Alice couldn't help but grin and say, "If he was here, and we had all of our equipment, breaking out of here would be a cakewalk." By herself though - or even if some crazy chance put him in here too - without any of their equipment... It wasn't going to happen.
Right, of course she didn't know. Check. He also saw the change in her when she started talking about lockpicking and thievery, which he smiled as he got his clothes out and got them packed away. It wasn't like there was much to start with. "Wow, that is so cool. I mean, I can do a little minor B-n-E, but that sounds amazing!" he said, enthusiastic. "And I'm sure! But then helicopters would totally drop out of the sky and taser us! But it'd be fun!!"
For the moment, even him pointing out about the helicopters couldn't bring Alice down. She just smiled, the simple idea of the whole thing making her happier than she'd been in a while. And well... His enthusiasm for her talents was gratifying. There was definitely that feeling of having done something right, and, even if it was temporary, the approval thrilled her. "It would be fun," she agreed. "Even if we weren't breaking out. I bet this place has all sorts of interesting things locked away." For a moment, she watched him as he gathered his clothes, considering. "What do you do?" she asked finally, feeling daring, but also terribly curious.
He started gathering up other little things, and throwing the last of the garbage away. "Um, a little of this, a little of that? I'm like a jack of all trades, only not that effective." he told her. "Mostly I like computers. I love code, and stuff like that, plus there's two other people here who like it too, so we kinda play around together, I guess. ...which sounds way more gay than I intended it to."
This time, when the giggle escaped her, Alice didn't try to stop it. "I wouldn't even have thought that if you hadn't said anything," she told him, smiling slightly, hands tucked into the pocket of her hoodie. For a moment, she was almost a little disappointed to hear that he didn't really have a specialty, but she quickly shook it off. If he was good at a number of things, that was actually pretty cool, even if it wasn't quite as exciting. And she could respect being good with computers. It reminded her of before, of him. It was probably what made her feel bold, and as she watched him begin to finish gathering the last of his things, she wrung her hands together. Despite that, her temporary boldness helped her to ask, "Um... Could I... Could I maybe borrow a shirt? Or... anything really? I uh... All my stuff got lost when they made me move over here. And you're the first person I've met, so... I don't have anyone else to ask." She felt bad for asking, especially since at this moment, she was actually dressed, while he didn't even have pants on, but... She knew these clothes wouldn't last long if they were all she had. "I'll give it back! I promise! I'll even wash it!"
Rusty had to grin at her giggle. That was a nice sound. It was way better than everything they'd started out with, so he was happy. It showed in his posture, as he relaxed. When she asked the question, he blinked. "Oh! Sure!" he said immediately. "Take whatever you want?" he suggested. "I'm cool with not that many things, so yeah, if you see anything you want, totally, it's all yours." he promised. "And no worries about giving stuff back." he added with a shrug. "It's all good." He gave a grin and gestured to his clothes. "Have at 'em." he said. And, in the spirit of giving things, he also glanced at the computer. "There's a copy of Plants vs Zombies on there...you wanna borrow it?" he asked. "I know sometimes it helped me sorta get through longer days."
Not wanting to take advantage of him, Alice took only a pair of t-shirts. She wouldn't fit into his jeans anyway, but the shirts would do. Despite what he said though, she had already made up her mind that, if she had the chance, she would give them back to him, washed and everything. "Thank you," she said gratefully, smiling shyly. She still couldn't quite believe that she had actually asked him for the clothes, but she was glad she had. Setting the t-shirts apart from the other clothes, she turned back to him. First instinct was to assure him that letting her borrow the shirts was more than enough, but her curiousity got the better of her. "What's Plants vs Zombies?"
"You're welcome." he said. He also thought he had everything pretty packed up. He hadn't exactly had a lot to his name in the first place. He did, however, belatedly grab the garbage bag so he could take it out with him. He also took a second to throw on pants and change his shirt quick. "It's this really awesome game. Cute, but yeah, like...er...plants, versus zombies? Want me to show you?" he asked, making the offer easily.
Torn between wanting to say no - she actually seemed to have actually made a decent impression with him, and she didn't want to mess that up - and genuinely wanting to know, Alice looked between him, the computer, and the door for a second or two, before finally nodding. "Could you?" she asked, smiling hopefully and trying to hide any lingering uncertainty. However, first things first. "I'm sorry. I didn't actually introduce myself. I'm Alice." Sure, they had spoken on the computer, but that was different. They hadn't actually exchanged greetings in person. Her mother would be ashamed of her lack of manners.
"Alice, like the...er...book? I'd say 'disney princess' but she's totally not, plus I don't think she fits with the rest of them anyways, kinda like that new chick too, the redhead with the bears?" Rusty commented, then got himself back on track. "Also if you haven't noticed I sort of go off on tangents...sorry. Nice to meet you, Alice. I'm Rusty. Or Russ, or whatever you want to call me." he said, with a smile. "And I'd love to show you the game. It's pretty fun." he promised. This was a rocky start, but seemed to be getting better. He’d take it.
His rambling just made Alice smile, although she did hesitantly shrug when he finished. "I guess? I mean, it's the same name, but that wasn't where my parents got it." She had been named for her father's mother, but that didn't really matter. Moving over to the computer, she repeated Rusty's name in her head several more times, just to make sure she didn't forget it. Despite herself, she was actually almost eager to see this game he wanted to show her, "Okay, so... Why are these plants fighting zombies?"
Rusty settled in to show her the game, and hopefully make a new friendly acquaintance. Someone he'd definitely talk to again.