Eric Medina (ericthesheep) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-11-20 12:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | day eight, eric, eric and violet, violet |
The Gentleman
Characters: Eric and Violet
Setting: B Block to the Pool, Evening
Eric had been looking forward to this evening probably a lot more than he should have, but he wasn’t really questioning it. He enjoyed hanging out with Violet, and getting to see her in a -hopefully- itty bitty swimsuit was definitely going to be a plus. Well, it probably wouldn’t do his inappropriate thoughts toward her any, but he could control that. He thought he could, anyway. She seemed like great friend material, and the last thing he wanted to do was screw that potential up by pushing for something more with her.
In any case, he’d paid close attention to the time, wanting to make sure he went to her room at seven o’clock on the dot. A minute before seven, Eric left his room, wearing just the pair of swim trunks he’d found among his clothes and a pair of sandals, a towel slung over his shoulder. Standing outside her door, he stared at his watch, the seconds ticking away until right at seven, he lifted his hand to knock.
Violet had gotten herself ready early as well. She blinked in surprise as the knock came at seven sharp, but it made her grin, even as she was opening the door. She had her glasses on, not going to swim with her contacts in. Irrationally, she kind of hoped that it didn't diminish her in his eyes for some reason. She would have gone without, only she was pretty sure knocking herself into a lot of things on the way and having to squint at him to see him was even less awesome than the glasses.
She opened up the door, her own towel wrapped around the swimsuit she'd been given. The colorful thin straps could be seen, but beyond that, not much. Violet beamed at him. "You aren't even a second late!" she told him. "You are Punctual Man!"
Eric grinned broadly when she opened the door in just a towel and thin straps implying that there was actually something underneath. And the glasses were an interesting addition. Had she mentioned wearing glasses before? “But of course. I seem to remember us agreeing on seven. Can’t leave a lady waiting, can I?” he asked cheekily, winking at her. Stepping away from the door so that she could come out, he held his arm out to her. “Shall we, m’lady?”
Violet looked sufficiently charmed, and she shut her door behind her, looping her arm through his. "We shall." she told him. "Oh, I should warn you, I'm kind of...blindish." she told him, wrinkling her nose as they walked. "So, when we're actually swimming? The world around me shall turn into one gigantic blur. So if I'm squinting at you, it's because I can't see you, not because I don't like what you're saying or anything else." she promised.
Glancing at Violet at her preemptive explanation, he quirked a brow. “Okay, squinting is nothing personal, got it,” he said with a small chuckle. “You can rock the glasses, though. It’s cute. I think you’re trying to kill my brain with thoughts of sexy librarians again, though,” he teased her.
She laughed. "Well, thank you." she said, cheeks flushing slightly. "And...is that a good thing?" she added. "The sexy librarian thing...is it a good brain death?" Then she winced slightly. "Did I just say that out loud? There are no good brain deaths. Brain deaths are bad." she said firmly. "...and I'm rambling. Already."
That flush was way too cute, and Eric knew that he wasn’t going to be able resist saying things to try to get her to flush whenever they were hanging out. It was entertaining, and it had been far too long since he’d been around a blushing female. “Rambling’s okay. It’s cute, just like the glasses. And you’re wrong, because the sexy librarian thing - definitely a good brain death,” he assured her, winking again. Tugging her hand a bit with his arm, he started them on the path to the elevator to get them over to the other block.
Violet went along with happily, smiling to herself as they did so. "So, how was the rest of your day, then?" she asked. "No more medical emergencies I missed tending to, right?" she asked. Then she made a show of looking him up and down. "...I mean, it doesn't look like you've been through any trauma in the past few hours..."
“It’s been pretty quiet,” Eric answered first, smirking at the way she looked him over. He had to bite his tongue on the rather crude response that wanted to slip out; yes, he wanted to see her flush, but he didn’t want to scare her off with too crude of humor. “No, no trauma, which is just as well, since you weren’t nearby to save me. How did your day go? Anything exciting?” he asked.
"I met someone named Matt, who seems really nice." Violet said. He also seemed a little anxious, but that happened. She'd noted the stutter but hadn't mentioned it whatsoever, and wasn't going to now either. "Beyond that, I spent some time in the clinic, but there wasn't really anything to do, and then I got back to my room and waited for seven to roll around." she said.
“Oh yeah, you did mention that you were paired up with someone named Matt,” he commented, though he definitely hadn’t forgotten about that. He knew first hand just how violent and dangerous some men in prison could be, so there was a small bit of worry for the tiny redhead he was already fond of. “Glad to hear that went okay, though.” He frowned only slightly at her explanation of the rest of her day. “That’s it, huh? Isn’t the clinic being quiet a good thing?” he asked with a small, crooked grin.
"Oh, it did, he was very nice." Violet assured him. "Really polite, all that." she added. Then she smiled. "It's a good thing, yes." she told him. "It just meant I was kinda bored most of the day, though. Not a whole lot going on. I need to get a few books from the library or something, so I can have something to read down there, kill time. There's only so much inventory you can do, y'know?"
Eric nodded slightly at that, letting the topic of Matt go because he figured if anything bad had happened, she wouldn’t have said it went fine. “Idle hands are the devil’s handiwork,” he said with a laugh. “Books are good, though. There’s a pretty good library. You gotta find ways to keep busy, right?” he suggested. “I think I agreed to teach two different people some music today. Well, I know I did, but only one of them seemed pretty set on actually doing it.” He’d liked Mazie and was actually looking forward to teaching her.
"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Who?" Not that she would be likely to know them. But she was curious anyhow. It meant if she ran into them later she could say 'Oh, my friend Eric talked about you'. Or something. It was also possible that she was seeing if there were girls on that list.
“Reece, the guy I was paired up with today even though I’d already met him, and Mazie, this girl I met at lunch. She’s the ‘owner’, I guess, of that Space Invaders game in the cafeteria. I hung out with her a little bit while she worked on it. She’s trying to get it so it’ll play without quarters,” he explained, figuring it couldn’t hurt to share what few tidbits he did know about people with her since she was just as new if not more so than he was.
Violet listened, nodding and appreciating the details. That and she tried not to twitch ever so slightly at the idea of him teaching a girl music. She'd seen enough movie montages of people 'teaching' each other stuff. They liked to slap those into romances so they could skip the character development part and jump straight to conflict resolution. "I'd wondered about that game." she said, waiting after they got into the elevator to get back out again. "So, they're nice?"
Eric glanced at her with a small grin at that. “Well, you don’t have to wonder now.” He understood, though, because he’d been curious about it before Mazie had explained as well. “Yeah, they’re nice. In their own ways. Reece is kind of rough, but he’s got a sense of humor once you break through the surface. And I think I’m starting to do that now.” He was trying, anyway. “And Mazie, yeah, she’s pretty cool. Seems like the ‘doesn’t take bullshit’ type. She’s a hacker, so I guess she’s gonna teach me shit with the computer as a trade for the music lessons, though I don’t know what she’ll teach me with it,” he explained as they left the elevator and started down the hall toward the other one.
Violet frowned ever so slightly. "...um," she started. "Don't take this the wrong way, but should she be doing that? I mean, what's she in for? Hacking? Why would she teach other people something that got her arrested, while everything we do is probably monitored?" she posed. She blinked as she looked up the corridor, though. "...is that water and soap everywhere?"
Eric lifted his free hand to scrub over his hair. “Fuck, I don’t know. That’s her deal though, right? And I don’t know if she plans to teach me hacking. I mean, hell, I don’t know much about computers anymore. I can use one for basic stuff, but...” He shrugged, figuring that it really was up to Mazie what she did. At Violet’s question, he turned his attention to the hallway ahead of them, slowing to a stop. “What the fuck,” he said, quirking a brow. Letting her hand fall from his arm, he ventured into the mess, peeking his head around the doorway to look into the laundry room. “Ah, shit, it’s full of suds and crap. Looks like someone pulled some kind of prank.” That really was something he’d have expected in a frat house, not here.
Violet walked up as well, frowning. "...I hope things aren't ruined..." she told him. She didn't know what it took to break washers and driers, but she was positive that this wasn't a fabulous plan for them. Was there anything electrical that needed to be shut down? "Eric...back off of it, okay? Who knows what's going on there..."
Eric hoped so too. He thought it was pretty stupid to fuck with things considering they were in a closed environment with no actual repairmen or anything. And who knew if the Admins would replace things if they got broke? “Huh? Oh, yeah sure,” he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her along through the muck to get to the other side of the hallway. “So I take it it wasn’t like that when you left the clinic today?”
Violet shook her head. "No, it really wasn't." she said, frowning behind them as they headed towards the elevator. She didn't like leaving it there, without even attempting to clean it up, but then again, she didn't know where to start. And her one towel? Wouldn't actually even make a dent. Did they have mops? Was there a cleaning supply closet anywhere? Was it even safe?
“Kind of makes you wonder why someone would do that,” he mused as he kept walking along with her to the elevator, pushing the button and waiting for the doors to open. “And who’d done it, for that matter.” And when and why no one had cleaned it up, not that he had the first clue on how to go cleaning up a mess quite that large. “You want to try to do something about it, or just leave it and go on with our plans?” he asked, willing to let her decide as he didn’t really want it to ruin their plans.
Violet bit her lip, looking back at it again before she turned her attention back on Eric. "Is there anything like...I don't know, a supply closet?" she asked. "Mops, buckets...anything?" she asked. She didn't really want it to sidetrack their plans either, but still. Her responsibility gene kicked in.
At the question, Eric shook his head. “Not that I’ve been able to find,” he answered. “And I’ve explored pretty thoroughly. And it would take a hell of a lot more than two bath towels to clean that up.” The elevator doors opened, and he motioned her in ahead of him, though he didn’t let go of her hand as he followed her in. “We can ask for cleaning stuff after. Or we can stop by the library and request it before we go swimming? Maybe put up a public post asking whose brilliant idea that was,” he suggested, wondering if that might satisfy whatever need to do something she might have.
Violet wasn't sure what to do. "Let's...let's go swimming, then figure it out afterwards." she suggested. She had no idea what the hell to do with any of it. "I mean...you were worried about me this morning. What if this makes people mad?" she asked, looking to him for a proper gauge of what should and should not cause her concern.
Eric nodded at her decision, not about to push for them to do something else. At her question, though, he frowned a bit. “Hmm, what do you mean? That someone messed with the machines and made a mess?” he asked. Yeah, he’d been worried about her earlier, but he wasn’t really connecting that thought with the mess they’d just witnessed.
The door slid shut. "Nevermind, I'm probably being paranoid." she said. "I can probably just...I don't know. Figure something out later." she said, not at all sure what she would do. But she did know that water shouldn't be sitting around, stagnant in the tunnel. Especially not so close to the clinic.
“Hey,” he said with furrowed brows, tugging her a little closer before dropping her hand so that he could put his arm around her shoulders. “A little paranoia can go a long way in a place like this. If you want, we can go back to our rooms and grab all the towels in there, maybe get the mess out of the hallway and into the laundry room at least?” It wasn’t really what he wanted to do, but if she was going to be worrying about it, then they weren’t likely going to be able to have fun swimming.
"But then neither of us would have dry towels." She said. Since she still wasn't sure about starting any of the driers in there. "Maybe I'll just go do it when we're done swimming." she said. "Not that I'm sure what I'd actually do, but still." she added. She smiled up at him, an attempt to clear her head as the elevator slowed to a stop. "It'll be okay."
“That’s true, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on skipping showers while waiting for something to wash my towels in,” Eric teased her lightly, hoping that they could find a way to get back to having fun. “Yeah, it’ll be okay,” he agreed. “So, you’re sure you’ll be able to put it out of your mind for a little while and have fun swimming with me?” he asked jokingly as the doors opened.
"It might take some effort to get my mind properly distracted, but I have faith in your abilities to do it." Violet told him, trying very hard to wrench her attention away from the mess, and back on Eric. Which...was easier than it probably should have been. But he was sweet, cute, and looking good at the moment. She liked spending time with him already, and was hoping that it just kept getting more awesome.
A slow smile stretched over Eric’s lips. “I will not let you down,” he said with the same seriousness as he’d done when accepting the mission to find goldfish crackers for her. His arm slid from her shoulders so that his hand could take hers again, tugging lightly to bring her along with him out of the elevator. “I think we can find some suitable distractions!” Glancing at her with a mischievous expression, he added, “I’ll race you there?” He added an extra little bounce to his step as if he was itching to run.
She went with him, smiling at him. "You're good at this, you know." she told him, a warm affection in her tone. "Consider me distracted." she added. She made a show of thinking about the race, then abruptly burst out "OnetwothreeGO!" She took off running,
Eric practically beamed at her response, glad to have managed it already, although he had every intention of laying it on a little thick until he was certain she was suitably distracted. He laughed at her abrupt countdown, waiting a beat after she took off to follow. His wet and soapy sandals made a loud slapping sound against the pavement as he started to run after her. His legs were longer, and he was sure he could have sped past her, but he was curious to see how she would respond to getting there first.
Violet made it to the door to the pool and slapped it, turning around and bouncing, arms up in the air in triumph. “I wiiiinnnnn!” she called. “Go me! I am the winner! Woo!”
Eric was only a few paces behind her, but when she reached the door and started bouncing like that he stopped essentially in his tracks. Her towel had fallen and there she was in that little rainbow colored bikini, and he made a small sound of appreciation in the back of his throat. Eyes on her eyes, man! he reminded himself. “Yes you did! Go you!” he agreed enthusiastically, continuing on to join her. Leaning in close to her to reach around and open the door to the pool room, he wondered if this was really the best idea. Seeing her in that little bikini was not doing him any favors in not looking at her as more than a friend. “After you,” he said, stepping back to hold the door open for her.
She grinned at him, clearly excited, and she didn’t actually move away from him when he went to get the door. It was possible she did it on purpose, because the guy was just cute, and she really liked spending time with him so far. It had been quite a while since she’d met someone she actually kinda wanted to flirt with. So, she was relishing in that. Funny, how it took getting someplace like here to spark that in her. Perhaps it was because she really couldn’t distract herself with working so much like she did out in the world. She strut through the door, having noticed that he’d been distracted himself for a moment, and she counted that a good thing. “Why thank you, sir. Always good to know a gentleman is about.” she said loftily.
Her smile, her excitement could easily become like a drug, Eric realized, and he knew just how weak he was with drugs. If he didn’t keep his head about him, she’d easily have him wrapped around her little finger in no time. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she strutted through the door, unable to stop that soft sound of appreciation from slipping out. “But of course,” he agreed easily, picking up her towel and following in after her. He tossed their towels on a chair and kicked his sandals off. Those out of the way, he rubbed his hands together and looked at her mischievously. “And now for the real distraction,” he said as rushed to her. He picked her up easily, tossing her slightly over his shoulder, almost like a fireman’s hold, and went for the pool. “Hold your breath!” he warned before jumping in.
Violet squeaked, kicking her legs--but not nearly hard enough to actually deter him. She didn't in the slightest want to. She was giggling the whole time too, and she just barely got her glasses off her face and tossed towards the towels. Then they were in the water.
She held her breath as he instructed, quickly pushing away from him, though not actually far, in order to break the surface. She had her head tilted back in order to ensure that her hair wasn't stuck to her face but was out of it.
Eric wasn’t take the kicking as her wanting to be let go especially because she was giggling, which had really been the goal with all this. Once they were in the water, he let her go so that they could both swim to the surface. And even though it had been years since he’d gone swimming, it seemed like it was something that he hadn’t forgotten how to do. As he broke the surface, he ran his hands over his hair, sending water flinging out behind him. He smiled widely at her as he backstroked a bit away. “Hmmm, most of the pool games I remember need more than two people, so what do you want to do now that we’re all... wet?” he asked with a smirk.
Violet blushed, but laughed, squinting at the blur that was him. "Not sure!" she said. "Most of the games I know are more than two people as well. When it's just the two of us....not sure!" she said. Because she wasn't going to suggest that they go find other people to play. Nope. She wanted to have this time to themselves.
He really did enjoy seeing that blush on her cheeks, far more than he probably should have. “Hmm, we’ll have to figure something out then. Let’s see...” He pushed up to float on his back, kicking his feet lightly to keep his momentum and prevent himself from sinking. “We could always race, but you already beat me once today. I don’t know if my ego can handle you schooling me again,” he teased, chuckling a bit.
She laughed, starting to leisurely float along, gazing up at the blur that was the ceiling. "I wouldn't wanna bruise up your ego." she said, smiling to herself. "You know, there's something about the whole chlorine smell. I have no idea what it is, but it's...kind of nostalgic yet anxiety inducing at the same time." she shared thoughtfully.
He floated along as well, not really in a hurry to do anything in particular when doing just this gave him the time to watch her and enjoy the view. “Okay, nostalgic I can get, but why anxiety inducing?” he asked, wondering if she had some fear of drowning or bad childhood memory or something.
"I hated having to take half a year of swimming in highschool." Violet admitted, laughing at herself. "I always felt like every second I was in class, I was being judged by everyone. I mean, I'm kind of scrawny, I'm sure you've noticed. Sure, you've been very nice and saying I'm attractive and everything, and you aren't the first person in the world to say I was cute, but in highschool, if you're some scrawny, boney little thing without much of a chest, in a room full of girls who are constantly trying to figure out if they're prettier than you or not, and boys who are oggling..." she trailed off. "Add on top of that that I didn't have contacts then, I was kinda blind while in a rather judgmental environment. Thus...anxiety."
“Huh, welllll,” Eric began, dragging the word out as he swam closer to her again. “High school was a long time ago - well, it was for me, but the point is, there’s no reason for you to feel insecure now. You are very attractive. So even if you were scrawny back then, I don’t think you are now,” he assured her. “You’ve gotta be used to guys checking you out, though,” he added as if disbelieving that she didn’t get that kind of attention.
"For me it wasn't!" she laughed. "And I know, there's no reason to be all anxious! It just kinda brings it out a little. But I'll make it." she said, grinning in his direction. She shifted, and tread water so she could look at him. "I work with people who're sick and dying. Most of them aren't really in the mood to check anyone out." she told him. "Sexy nurse fantasies are sort of something that only works in not actual hospital situations."
Even though he wasn’t sure she could actually see him, Eric twisted his expression to one of mock-seriousness. “I sure hope so. I wouldn’t know what to do if you had a full-on anxiety attack. I’m not the one with medical training, after all.” He couldn’t help grinning by the time he finished saying it, though. “Awww, I don’t know, if I was sick and dying and got you as a nurse, I’d still notice you,” he said confidently, as if there was no question about it at all. “And it’s not like all you did was work, right? Guys had to have noticed you off the job. Maybe even some girls, too,” he added with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Violet made a face. "Actually...." she said, wincing. "Yeah, I kinda just worked. Like, all the time. Or volunteered places, or...yeah. I wasn't exactly the world's most social creature, I will freely admit." she said sheepishly. "As for girls...ya know I think there was a waitress once that hit on me? But I didn't notice til after I'd left, and someone else pointed it out. So I'm slightly oblivious, too."
Eric almost felt bad when she winced, but then he heard what she was saying, and he looked at her in surprised disbelief. “Oh honey, we’ve got to fix that,” he said with a laugh. “Being in prison isn’t a good thing of course, but I think we’re gonna have to make the best of it. So, no hiding away in the clinic all the time,” he said decisively, and if she tried, he would take it upon himself to drag her away from it. “Ha! So you don’t usually notice when someone’s hitting on you?” Which just made him think all the more that he should be careful with the flirting with her.
"But there's got to be shifts!" Violet insisted. "It's only fair!" she added, because she felt like she needed to plead her case. "But I'm being social! See? Totally talking to you. And I met that other guy today." she smiled. "Social! And yeah I miss it, I guess." she said, shrugging. Though she smirked in his direction. "Yours is pretty clear, though." she teased.
“Pffft!” Eric retorted, seemingly brushing it off. “And yeah, you’re talking to me, but that other guy? That was homework, that doesn’t count. But okay, shifts, yeah. You can have your shifts, but no sticking around there when it’s not your shift!” he insisted, not about to let up on that end of things. He gasped at the teasing, pretending to be shocked. “Mine? So you think I’ve been hitting on you?” he asked, fighting back a smirk. “Maybe this is just me being nice.”
"I'll think about not overworking myself." Violet said, not making any promises. Then she made a show of thinking about things, really wishing he was close enough that she could read his expression. But he wasn't. "I think you've been flirty." she said. "Which isn't the same thing, necessarily." she added. "...am I wrong?" she asked, a bout of insecurity hitting her hard.
“Uh huh, you think about it,” Eric said, chuckling under his breath and shaking his head slightly. He didn’t really have a lot of faith that she would keep from overworking herself, but he could try to help encourage her. He slowly started swimming back toward her, frowning at that hint of insecurity. “Hmm, being flirty and hitting on aren’t quite the same thing, right, but I wouldn’t say you’re completely wrong,” he answered honestly, unable to keep from it in the face of that insecurity. “I’m not angling for anything, though, so feel free to have fun with it without any pressure.” Though as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wondered if that might make her even more insecure.
It did make her insecurity worse, though she did her level best to hide it. She heard the part where not being completely wrong didn't mean she was completely right, either. And with no angling for anything to her meant he was nicely telling her that no, he wasn't really interested. Which, she was a big girl, and could deal with. That just didn't mean she didn't feel a tiny bit crushed, because she had been having fun with it all, and he was ever so cute. She smiled. "Okay." she told him, rolling with things as best as she could, and she even sounded normal.
Eric looked at her for a long moment before deciding that she sounded normal enough to let it go for now, though he was still a little doubtful that he hadn’t already misstepped. Girls were tricky like that sometimes, and it had been a really long time since he’d been around a girl. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, after all,” he added, winking at her. “And now, hmm, I think I might do a couple laps, stretch my muscles, see if it comes back to me.” And the way he’d said it made it clear that she was welcome to join him.
"Well, you're doing a great job." she told him, with a smile. Letting it go, letting it go... she told herself. And, because she was a girl who bounced back, she forced it, and it worked. She was a woman who could suck it up. She was a nurse, who had to. So, she did. Emotional strength wasn't something that was skippable when you had to deal with people who were at their most vulnerable, and needed you to be strong. To know what you were doing, to keep a cool head. Also the distraction of actual swimming helped tons! She grinned. "Should we race?" she suggested. "Whoever gets to ten laps first wins?"
“Racing again?” he replied with a laugh. “All right, let’s do it,” he added as he started swimming toward the edge. She seemed all right, so Eric decide to just let his own concerns go away for now. He wasn’t one to dwell on things, anyway.