Matthew Jacobs (matt_jacobs) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-11-20 14:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | day eight, matt, matt and violet, violet |
A Short Study In Contrast
Characters: Violet and Matt
Setting: The cafeteria, early afternoon
Having stayed with Edan until the early hours of the morning before returning to his own room, Matt had wound up sleeping in far later than usual and as a result felt more than a little out of sorts when he had finally gotten up. His usual shower had helped a little only for it’s effect to be effectively nulled by the administration’s request for the day. The truth and lies game he had no issue with, inconvenient though it was reading his fellow residents’ entries had been interesting and hearing their guesses about him equally so. What he did resent however was being forced into interacting with an unknown person and while there was nothing in the wording of the message that implied there would be consequences to not following through with their ‘request’, he wasn’t naive enough to think that was actually the case so he had bitten the bullet and messaged Violet.
It was something to be grateful for that he had been assigned a woman and from the way she had come across on the journals, she certainly didn’t seem hostile but that didn’t rid him of his discomfort, something that was clearly apparent as he made his way downstairs with his hunched posture and hood pulled down low over his face. He had intended to stop by the kitchen first but the presence of two others already having a conversation in there had stopped him and instead he went straight to the thankfully empty cafeteria. Claiming a table near the elevator and sitting with his back to the wall, he began tapping a nervous staccato against the tabletop as he waited, quickly regretting his decision not to bring his camera as it would have given him something to do with his hands and something to talk about if needed. There wasn’t time however as a quick glance at the clock on the wall revealed so instead he stayed put and waited for Violet to arrive.
Violet headed into the cafeteria, having been down in the clinic for a while, and generally looking around. She had a book in one arm, and she had a bounce to her step as she walked in. She glanced around, and her eyes landed on Matt. "Hi!" she said brightly, giving a big smile. "Are you Matt?" she asked, walking over. She noticed the looked a little nervous, but she was used to people being nervous. She'd been a nurse, no one was super calm when they were in the hospital. Even people for routine checkups often times seemed to be waiting for some random hideously bad news to blindside them. So she was used to putting people at ease with her demeanor. She planned to do that now too. "I'm Violet, in either case. Nice to meet you!"
It was probably a good thing Matt hadn't had something to distract himself given the exuberance of Violet's greeting which would have undoubtedly startled him. As it was, even with watching her approach it still caught him a little off guard but at least he was prepared enough to smile a little in return and calmly reply "That's me," as opposed to jumping out of his skin and stammering inarticulately through his own greeting. "It's nnnice to meet you too."
"Can I join you?" she asked, motioning to the table he sat at. "Maybe we can do the standard 'hi, how are you, this is what I'm all about' thing?" she suggested. She didn't really know what the people in charge expected here, but she was all about meeting new people. She caught his stammer there, but made no visible reaction to it.
"Of course." Pushing down his hood, he waved at the empty seats across the table from him. "M...make yourself comfortable." Like her, he was unsure exactly of what should be happening during these arranged meetings but her suggestion seemed like a good place to start. "How are you settling in? If I remember correctly, you haven't been here very long have you?" he asked, shifting slightly so he was facing her.
Violet sat down, clasping her hands on the table in front of her as she took in Matt. "God no. I still kind of feel like I haven't even finished exploring!" she said. "And this place isn't even all that big. But I've been pretty busy, so there's that. I missed some of the craziness that seems to have been going on. which seems may be a good thing."
The talk of exploring had Matt unwittingly nodding in approval - it had been his first priority on arriving as well, albeit he imagined for different reasons to her. "It may not be big but it keeps growing," he pointed out. "One w....w...wonders how much more there might be waiting to be unlocked." He glanced up the ceiling with a speculative expression on his face. "The powers that be certainly like to keep us guessing thats for certain but I'm pleased to hear you've managed to miss some of it."
"I know, right? I heard that the block I'm in wasn't there before, and now it is. And you can see there's another upstairs, like in block A? But the elevator doesn't go up there, and the stairwells are locked. Or, I'm assuming the stairwells are in the same spots. So, I guess eventually, more people will show up! Which makes me wonder about our medical facilities, honestly. I mean, there's just three of us here, I'm hoping nothing major happens." she said, sighing.
“That’s correct,” he confirmed. “Likewise the subterranean level though it w...would be more accurate to say it was there but inaccessible like the second level in your block is currently.” He shared her concern about there being a limit to what they would be able to handle ‘in house’ as it were and his expression grew serious. “As do I. While I certainly don’t question Cal’s abilities, there are always l...limits to be considered.” Perhaps they would be lucky and more residents would arrive with medical training but Matt certainly wasn’t going to hold his breath for that eventuality.
"He does seem like a very capable doctor, yes. But yeah, beyond him there's just Becka and I, and Becka's been having a hard time lately. I just hope for the best, but worry about things, I suppose. I need to get better acquainted with everyone and if there are medical issues, too. I plan to spend a ton of time in the clinic, and hope that we can all pull shifts? But I'm not quite sure how it'll all play out on that. I think next I'm going to be putting up an announcement about screening for people, just to check for issues." Violet said, then she quirked a little self deprecating smile. "Annnnd that's really probably depressing and a terrible topic of conversation! I'm so sorry, I'm usually not one to concentrate on the downside."
“There are w...worse mindsets to be in than hoping for the best and preparing for the worst,” Matt pointed out. “The screening idea is a good one though. I know Cal did something similar not long after we all arrived but there have been people who have joined us since so it may be prudent to do it again.” At her apology, he shook his head and held up his hands in what he hoped was an appeasing gesture. “And really there is no need to apologise, certainly topics need talking about even if they aren’t the most...uplifting of conversations.”
Violet smiled at him. "Still! We just met, and for the record, I'm usually very bouncy. I am not a morbid person who usually talks about dark things. Generally, I can be annoyingly cheerful." she warned with a warmth in her eyes. "So, I promise to do better! Tell me about yourself, Matt!" she invited. "What's something that defines you?"
He smiled a little at her description of herself. “That was the impression I was getting,” he said before realising how that might be taken and hurriedly adding. “The being b..b...bouncy and cheerful, not the annn...nnoying p...part.” He ducked his head, instinctively tugging his sleeves down further as he took a breath, wanting to get a grip on his stammer before he attempted to answer her question though, as was his want, when he did so it was with another question. “How I define m....myself or how other people do?”
Laughing, Violet was nothing but amused at Matt's almost slip. She definitely wasn't someone who took things personally, so she was finding it funny. At his question, she beamed at him. "Ahh, isn't that the question?" she said, sounding like she was pleased that he had picked up that there was a difference. "How about both?" she asked.
Although his cheeks turned slightly pink as Violet laughed, Matt was more relieved than anything that she hadn’t taken what he’d said the wrong way. “I immmmmagine other people would say my s....stammer but then I’m not very forthcoming about mysself and a speech impendiment is something fairly obvious for people to p...pick up on,” he said, managing to smile a little as he looked back at her, albeit with a self-conscious air to it. “Howw I define myself though...I’d say I’m an observer.”
Violet shook her head. "It's just a thing. Everyone's got their things." she said. "Without contacts or glasses, I am screwed. So it's not actually interesting, and it's sad if that's all people pick up about you." she said. "It shouldn't be defining." she said firmly. "And ooh an observer, that sounds cool. You pay attention to your surroundings, everything and everyone in them?" she asked.
“Yours is a refreshing and all too rare outlook in my experience,” he said, smile taking on a crooked edge. It was brighter than it had been before though and widened further at her interpretation of what he’d said. “Eeexactly that,” he told her, bobbing his head. “Often through a camera lens but sometimes its just me, watching the world and the people in it.” It could be argued that it was a lonely kind of way to be, how a person couldn’t be a part of the world if they were too caught up in observing it but Matt didn’t see it that way. “And wwhat about yourself? How do you define Violet?”
She sat up straighter. "Oh, a camera?" she said, finding that awesome. "You're a photographer? That's so awesome! I love looking at photographs! I'm a believer in the whole 'picture is worth a thousand words' thing." she gushed. "That's just really cool, in general." she told him firmly. Then she went on to answer his question. "Hmm. I define Violet by saying I'm a fixer." she said. "I'm a registered nurse, something I wanted to do ever since I was a little kid. I took a ton of psychology, just so I could help people that way too. When I was in highschool, I used to save my babysitting money so I could buy college texts." she said, laughing at herself a little bit. "I get no greater joy in life than helping."
Although he felt slightly embarrassed by the compliment, still unused to receiving them despite his time spent with Edan who seemed to having nothing but good things to say about him, Matt managed to keep smiling as he bobbed his head, grateful with how well his and Violet’s meeting seemed to be going. As she spoke about herself, he couldn’t help but warm to her in spite of her exuberance which sat so at odds with his own quiet demeanour and felt himself starting to relax. “I think th...that is a very commendable way to be,” he told her, the sentiment a genuine one. “The world needs people like that and in here perhaps even m...more so.”
"I enjoy it, it's a good way to spend one's time, at least, I think so." Violet said. Then she settled in, to have a pleasant conversation with him. So far, she'd met decent people here. She really hoped that trend kept up.