Morning bird Characters: Ryan and Wren Setting: About 10 or 11, Hallway, elevator, laundry room
Ryan had always liked to sleep late. Oh, he'd managed to keep a schedule back before prison, but that was all part of fitting in. He'd always taken later mornings if he could, since he woke up slowly and liked to take his time. Hedonistic, his mother had always joked. He liked his pleasures, and sleep was one of them. Besides, yesterday had been wonderfully tiring, and it wasn't like there was much to do around here. No one would miss him if he slept in, at least not yet.
He'd taken a long shower and decided to look about getting coffee. He hoped no one had finished it off this late in the morning. So downstairs it was, dressed once again in jeans and a nice shirt (he'd put on a T-shirt to play football this afternoon) and a cowboy hat. He was just locking his door--he at least was more cautious than some, he thought with a faint smirk--when he turned and saw Wren coming down the hall.
"Morning," he drawled, smiling warmly at her.
Wren smiled when she saw Ryan. She'd been hoping to catch him again. After dealing with Adam, and finishing up his door, she'd been feeling a little spent, so she'd planned on lying down for a minute, but her plans changed when she saw her neighbor. "Good morning." she greeted in return. "How's the tower?" she asked, referencing his room.
He pushed his hat back a little on his forehead. "Not nearly as chaotic as its name, thus far, for all I'm not used to picking up after myself," he said in a self-deprecating manner. He never had been good at it, thus the reason he'd often kept a girlfriend after he moved out of his parents' home. "I heard there's a washer and dryer now, so I might even convince myself to do laundry at some point." Especially if he kept going through clothes like he did yesterday, he thought wryly. "And how are you, Miss Wren? Up early like your namesake?" he asked.
"Oh?" Wren said. She'd missed that. She'd been too concerned over Adam's situation to have thoroughly checked the computers for anything important. "Where are they meant to be?" she asked. "As for me, I'm...alright, I suppose." she said, hesitating on her answer. "I've been up for a while." she confessed.
Ryan nodded. "Yes. The new map says it's downstairs on a basement level." Which frankly made him suspicious as to what there could be lurking, but it wasn't like this place was easy to explore. He stepped closer to her at her hesitant answer, putting on a concerned expression. "Is something wrong?" he asked, touching her shoulder.
Wren blinked. "A basement?" she asked. "Oh." that was surprising to her. Possibly very slightly unsettling. She hadn't anticipated a whole level they hadn't been privy to, beneath their feet. That seemed strange. When he asked her if anything was wrong, she offered a smile. "Not with me." she said. "I'm concerned about one of our co-habitants. He seems to be having a hard time, but I suppose a lot of people are."
"I'll print you out a map of it if you want," he offered, knowing it made him more trustworthy to do so. There's also a clinic down there, presumably for the nurse and doctor I've heard are here." He kept himself well informed even if he didn't talk a lot about himself. "And who might that be, and what is the problem?" he asked, thinking it would be good to know so he could either avoid it or egg it on, depending on what would work best for him.
"He said he'd rather I not talk about it." Wren said, looking slightly pained. She didn't like keeping secrets. But she would. "I hope he'll be alright." she added. "How are you, though? And it's okay about the map, I'm sure we could find it if we went looking. If you wanted to, that is."
Ryan frowned faintly, wondering if he could convince her to tell him without coming across as pushy. "Well, I wouldn't tell anyone, I assure you, if you feel the need to talk about it at any point," he told her sincerely. His face was the picture of trustworthiness. "I'm doing well, thank you for asking," he said, manners that had gotten him so far showing through. "Certainly. Do you wish to explore more of our new palace, my queen?" he drawled, giving her a jaunty little bow, reminiscent of when they had met just the other day.
"I appreciate the offer." Wren told him with a smile. She didn't actually tell him, however, moving the topic on. Adam was having a hard enough time, she didn't want to go breaking his trust. "I would love to explore." she said. "Plus, the idea of there being a secret basement is a little too much to pass up without checking it out." she said. "Do you think there are other secret places? Beyond the locked rooms, of course."
"If there's one secret dungeon, then there's bound to be more, don't you think?" he said, hand going to her lower back to gently turn her toward the elevator. "While there can't be a level above us--unless they've mastered invisibility--there can be any amount below, especially since the map doesn't look like the basement we're going to is directly below us, but off to the side," he said, having noted it. "So there could be a whole labyrinth there, and we can't see it." Which he couldn't say he liked--he rather liked to be in control of his surroundings--but he would deal with it for now, and try to find a way to use it to his advantage.
Wren considered that. "Oh." she said at first, not protesting as he directed her where they were going, easily moving along with him. "I hadn't thought about that, so much. A labyrinth? That...sounds rather frightening." she admitted. "Is that silly?" she asked, looking to him to get his opinion.
He pressed the button for the elevator, keeping his hand on her back while they waited for it to come up to them. "No, not silly," he assured her seriously. "Not considering the first labyrinth in legend had a minotaur in it. But I doubt there's any such thing in ours. Let's think of it as more of a... warren, or den, then, where we can all get cosy and safe." Though he would keep looking for a minotaur. "It'll be like we're prairie dogs or meerkats, all in a den of sorts. And if something does come along, I'll keep you safe, I assure you." He smiled warmly down at her.
She smiled at that. "Thanks." she said to him. When the elevator arrived, she stepped inside, still thinking about the underground stuff. "I just don't know. I'm not sure I'd do that well underground. It would seem wrong. Like I was being buried alive, or something. Which is also probably stupid. Nothing like that would happen. No one would be trapped, right?"
"Not stupid. Some people are afraid of that, but this day and age, we're completely and totally safe," he said, and gently tapped two knuckles along the edge of her jaw. "Snug as a bug in a rug, as my mama would say," he drawled. He pressed the button for the new and lowest level, leaning casually back against the back wall of the elevator after he'd done so. "With lights and air systems, I doubt you'll even realize that we're underground."
Wren tried to look like she wasn't still a little nervous, but she wrung her hands slightly, and bit her lip. "I'm sure you're right." she said, even if she didn't sound convinced. Still, she tried to still her nerves, also looking ever so slightly green due to the elevator movement. She wasn't used to it. She'd only ever been on one twice in her life. So the strange way it felt in her stomach was still odd for her.
Ryan pushed away from the wall, hand going to her back and rubbing in a concerned manner. "If you don't like it, we'll go right back up," he told her. "And I'll find someone to do your laundry for you so you don't have to come down here." She'd owe him, at least unconsciously, for that. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, and he gave her another reassuring smile, and his hand gently urged her toward the door.
"I'm sure I'm being silly." Wren said, starting forward at Ryan's urging. She looked out into the space, it already feeling cooler down there than it was upstairs. She couldn't feel the air around, there wasn't any natural light, and no plants to speak of. She already didn't like it. But she swallowed that back, stepping out of the elevator properly. "Don't worry about finding someone to do that. I'd never have anyone doing that for me. That's my responsibility."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with being a little silly," Ryan said, urging her forward, taking in her discomfort. It didn't seem too intense, but neither was it nonexistent. "Well, if you're sure you'll be comfortable enough to do it down here. You don't have to do everything yourself," he told her even as he led her further into the basement level. He couldn't say he didn't like her discomfort, but that liking didn't show in his face or bearing; he filed it away inside himself, to draw out later at his leisure, of which he had plenty.
Wren walked closer to Ryan than she normally would have, looking around the place and continually telling herself she was being an idiot. "I should probably try to get used to this anyhow." she said, though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anything.
Ryan slipped his arm more around Wren, snugging her closer to his side in an almost protective manner while simultaneously propelling them forward and onward. "You can do it, my queen," he coaxed her further in, step by step.
She felt better when he put his arm around her, that helping quiet her inexplicable nerves at the environment. She had no idea why she was reacting the way she was, but it was a real thing for her. Wren offered a little smile for the 'my queen' bit, though it was still less than her normal one. "I really appreciate you helping." she told him, feeling like she was being an idiot, and he was being really nice for putting up with it.
"Well, now, darlin', I don't mind in the least. I would rather help you out than you have to do this all alone and scared," he drawled, squeezing his arm around her waist. Yes, this way he could definitely gauge how she was doing and see how far he could push her with anything. He guided them to the laundry room door, pushing it open so they could go inside and explore it.
Wren still wasn't protesting things, taking the small comfort of the contact. When they got to the laundry room, she searched for the lights and got them on, looking around at the machines. She wasn't sure she liked the room itself. It was all machines and hard, shiny surfaces. She prefered nature. Maybe it was that that was bothering her the most. That lack of anything natural seeming.
"At least it smells nice in here?" she suggested, with the scent of detergent and fabric softener.
Ryan gave her another warm smile, projecting comfort as best he could. "There is always that, yes. Clean and fresh." And not yet at all of dirt or mildew, which was nice. "Where you lived, did you use machines or do it by hand? My mother always thanked the good Lord she didn't have to do them by hand."
"I washed a lot of my clothes by hand." Wren answered. "There was a machine, but it broke down a lot. So, pretty often I just did things the long way. I liked how the clothes smelled when they were dried outdoors." she said, looking at the different soaps. They'd been given a variety.
"Cleaning by hand mother hated, but she did hang the sheets when she could. She liked the, how did she put it, smell of wind and sunshine," he drawled. "Other than that she liked the convenience of the machine." As he did; Ryan did not like having to do unless he was getting something out of it.
"I wish there was a good place to hang clothes here. I'd hang them out if there were." Wren said. And she was thinking she might wash them in her tub or something, to avoid going underground like this. She started towards the door, since there wasn't that much else to see there. "Where to now?"
"You could perhaps put them on the rail or string something up in the courtyard. But then, of course, everyone has access to them." Like he had last night, not that he would say it. "Besides, they would get cleaner, washing down here." There wasn't much done for sheets, otherwise, he thought. He led them back out. "Do you want to peek at the clinic?" He asked, indicating further down the hall.
"I'm fairly certain no one wants to take a look at what I've got, and definitely they don't want them out there for everyone to see." Wren said, coloring slightly. When he mentioned the clinic, she nodded, starting in that direction. "You know I don't remember ever going to a real hospital, except for when I was attacked in prison." she shared.
Though Ryan himself knew precisely what she had and even what likely she had on now, and loved every second of the knowing, he didn't show it in his bent-to-her solicitude and warm air. "Understandable, my dear," he murmured. His eyebrows rose slightly in genuine surprise. "Well that's both fortunate and unfortunate. I've never much enjoyed hospitals myself. They make me rather uneasy," he told her as they made their way to the clinic.
"Why is that?" Wren asked, knowing she felt the same way, but she wasn't sure why he would feel that way. She considered her own aversion to the places a product of her experience and the association. But she'd been introduced to a hospital environment after being viciously attacked, so there was always going to be a darker shadow over that.
"Hospitals are so hectic, and I'm not a big fan of blood, to be honest." Hospitals smelled bad, in their aniseptic sort of way, and he never had liked getting hurt, or having to be a doting whatever to whoever was in one at the time. It was harder to do when the surroundings were so, so... distasteful. "And they smell a bit funny, but that's probably just me. I never liked having to go to one, even if it was a must." There'd been a few injuries from sports over the years, and such. It'd been incredibly hard to visit his high school girlfriend before she died in a hospital, though he'd done it and done it well. "I lost someone once in a hospital, as well. It sort of ended any liking I might have had for a place like that."
Wren frowned at that. "I'm sorry to hear that." she said, reaching out to put a hand lightly on his wrist. "Loss is always difficult." She knew, she'd had loss on a massive scale. Her entire world went away in one fell swoop. "Maybe we should head back upstairs." she suggested, thinking neither one of them seemed to have great connotations to hospitals and she still wasn't comfortable being underground. "I saw you were going to be playing a game?"
Inside, he smiled at her touch, darkly thrilled at the way she seemed to trust him. Outwardly, his smile was gentle, and he went ahead and took her hand, squeezing her fingers. "Sounds good to me. Get you back up in the sun where you'll be comfortable," he said, though her continued discomfort stirred something inside him. He turned them and headed them slowly back toward the elevator. "Yes," he said warmly. "I'm hoping people will want to play. I found a football. You should come watch or even play."
Wren headed for the elevator, getting there slightly faster than strictly necessary. "I will try to come watch." she said. She hoped she'd get time. She had a few things she needed to do, and she'd promised Leandro she'd go try his pizza. But she'd definitely make the effort to watch the game Ryan was doing.
Ryan smiled at her as he pressed the button of the elevator. He hoped she'd come by, he could do with getting to know her better. "I'll look forward to it."