truth or dare
Characters: Violet and Eric Setting: the laundry room/late
It was one of those days with the storm essentially raging outside. Eric almost wanted to go out and sit in it just because he could, but he held off on the temptation. For the most part, anyway. He couldn’t keep himself from wandering out into it halfway through the afternoon. He didn’t linger too long, though it was long enough for his clothes to be mostly soaked through. He lingered in A Block most of the day, wandering around a bit aimlessly. He’d noticed the older man sitting near the pool room, but steered clear of him. He had that kind of look that made Eric think avoidance would be the best course of action at this point. At one point he’d settled in the activity room to play video games, but when the power started flickering, he took his book and wandered out again.
While Eric was in the kitchen grabbing some food (and it looked like others had already been through to grab what they could, as the pickings seemed far slimmer than normal), the power went out again. When it seemed to take a little bit longer to come back on, he sighed and shook his head, moving a bit faster to gather what he wanted to take back to his room with him. If nothing else, he’d have the water from his sink and the fruits from the farm if the power did go out and he was unable to get back to the kitchen. As he left the kitchen, juggling the soda and package of goldfish in one hand, a sandwich and his book in the other, he made his way to the cafeteria and the elevator.
The power didn’t go off while he was in the elevator, for which Eric was quite thankful. The relief was short-lived, though, as the power did go out as he was making his way through the basement passage between the elevators. “Well shit,” he cursed, sighing and shifting to lean against the wall to wait in the utter darkness for the lights to come back on. They’d only taken a minute or two at the most so far, so he could deal with that.
Violet had been going between the clinic and the laundry facilities. She'd been folding her clothes when the power seemed to die and not come back on, which gave her a sinking feeling. She'd heard the elevator ding a few moments before, and ventured toward the door to the tunnel.
While she made it without much incident, she was aware really abruptly that it was pitch fucking black out there. Jesus. It was darker than she'd ever, ever experienced before. "...hello?" she called hesitantly, unsure if anyone was down there or not.
Well, at least he wasn’t alone in here, Eric thought when he heard a voice call out near what he thought sounded like the direction of the laundry room. “Yeah, hi,” he called back. He wasn’t sure who the other person was, but it had sounded familiar and distinctly feminine. “You’re not alone, and uhh... I think I’ve got matches in my pocket, hang on,” he added as he carefully knelt and set his stuff down.
Shoving a hand in his pocket, he felt around the package of cigarettes there for the book of matches he’d snagged his first day here. “Aha! There we go,” he said, pleased when he found them and pulled them out. He was careful as he opened it and took a match out, feeling around it before striking the match against the strip on it. It took a couple tries for it to light, and it didn’t give them much more visibility, but it was enough, at least, to see who was in the tunnel with him. “Vi!” he greeted cheerfully despite them being clearly trapped in the basement tunnel.
She smiled, a pinch of relief hitting her at seeing Eric’s face emerge from the darkness. He she could deal with. It hadn’t even fully dawned on her, but the second she saw someone she considered ‘safe’, she recognized that some part of her had been just a tiny bit terrified that it was going to be someone scary. But it wasn’t, it was Eric, and she was good with that. “Hey.” she said, smiling at him warmly. “Think the power will be back anytime soon?” she asked. “And...do we think there are candles, or anything down here?”
Her smile was gonna kill him, Eric realized as he distracted himself with gathering his things from the kitchen. He really needed to get a handle on his attraction to her, even if it was increasingly difficult now that he’d seen her in that itty bitty bikini the other day. “Uhh, I don’t know. It’s come back after a minute or two before, but in case it doesn’t we should probably look for something, or at least a place to get comfy if it doesn’t come back on right away. Don’t really have an endless supply of matches,” he told her, glancing at her with a half smirk.
“What? You mean you don’t spontaneously generate them?” Violet scoffed. “What good are you, then?” she teased. Then she paused, and thought. “Okay, let’s look in here. I don’t actually have the keys to the clinic. I wish I did, but noooope.” she added, sighing. It’d be handy as hell right now, because if they did wind up there a long time, at least in the clinic, there were places to lie down. She looked in the direction of some cabinets in the laundry room. “This way?” she suggested, grinning and giving an exaggerated gesture in the direction she wanted to go.
“I’m no good, haven’t you figured that out yet?” he teased. He didn’t really think he was all that bad, but he was well aware he didn’t have much to offer. Well, at least he did have some matches, so maybe he was good for a little. He glanced back at the door to the clinic, thinking that it probably would be convenient if she could get them in there, but oh well; they’d make do with what they had. “Lead the way,” he said, motioning for her to go ahead of him, following after her. Once in the laundry room, he set his things on the long table down the middle of the room. Of course it was then that his match decided to go out, and he got out his matchbook to light another one right away. Hopefully they would find candles soon, because he hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he didn’t have an endless supply of matches. “Hmm, I have seven matches left, so let’s open we can find some candles soon,” he told her.
Violet made an indelicate snort, laughing. "Oh whatever. You're totally good for bunches of stuff. Sure, I don't know a lot of it off hand, but everyone's good for something. You could be a snowshoeing champion, and I wouldn't know it. You could save the day, when the ice storm hits, and we all get buried under fifty feet of fluffy powder." she said, more to keep herself talking so he'd be able to follow her voice well. Plus, it made her less nervous to keep blabbering. She opened up a cabinet, and started looking around.
"Pffft!" Eric replied, laughing a bit as he shook his head. "I can assure you that I'm not a snowshoeing champion and I'd probably fail at saving the day if we got buried under fifty feet of snow. But! I do have matches and goldfish, so maybe I'm not such a lost cause after all." And he couldn't deny that having goldfish made him think of how he and Violet had met, which had really been a fun afternoon. "Find any candles in there?" he asked, pushing up on the balls of his feet a bit to try to see in the cabinet she'd opened.
"Score!" Violet said, finding a few plain white candles. "We have candles! Hooray, we can cast back the darkness!" she said cheerfully, holding one out to him, so he could get it lit. Thank goodness someone thought ahead on that. Jeeze, that could have been bad.
It was definitely a relief when she found a few candles. Not that he was scared of the dark or anything, but the dark and total darkness were two different things, and it was bad enough that they were trapped underground without having any kind of light to break things up with. He took and lit the candle she held out with the match that was about to go out. "Think we'll be good with just the one for now? Just in case it takes awhile for the power to come back on. Would suck to use up all the candles and then be stuck with nothing," he pointed out with a crooked grin.
"Yes. We have no idea how long it'll be out, so you are absolutely right-- I'd rather us make due with one, than light a bunch and run out." Violet said, practicality kicking in hard. Then she leaned back against a washer, and looked at him. "So...now what?" she asked. "I don't suppose you brought a deck of cards with you."
Holding the candle steady in one hand, he pushed himself up to sit on the long table facing her. "Uhh, no, don't think I have a deck of cards. Have a couple books, but it would probably be a pain in the ass to try to read in this kind of light. So some kind of talking game might be the best way to keep us entertained. Maybe some variation of twenty questions or truth or dare?" he suggested, his grin turning more into a smirk.
Violet considered that. "Hmmmm. Well, I think dares might get weird pretty fast." she said. "But we could always give it a shot. I might suck at that game, though. I'm not entirely positive I'm hugely adventurous or creative enough to come up with super interesting dares. Fair warning." she said, pushing herself up onto the washer, letting her feet dangle down as she bounced one heel off the front of it.
Eric chuckled a little at her warning. "Nothing wrong with that. We can make a rule - full veto power on dares if it's something you're just really not comfortable doing?" he suggested considerately. He didn't want anything to get weird for her, and he was well aware that playing truth or dare with not only a friend, but a girl you were attracted to could get pretty tricky. "You want me to get us started? Truth or dare?" he asked.
Violet laughed. "Truth." she said, grinning at him. "I told you I was boring!" she added, so he wouldn't get the chance to call her on it first. Not that she thought he would be mean about it at all. He wasn't like that.
"Oh man, if you think choosing truth makes you boring, you haven't played truth or dare with the right people," he said, winking at her. "Hmm, let's see." He thought on it for a moment, trying to think of a question that wasn't invasive. It was always best to start off light, and it was a great opportunity to get to know her better. "What is your favorite movie and why?" he finally asked.
Violet thought that he was probably right on that. That she just hadn't played with even close to the right people. Then she thought on his question. "God, I hate picking favorites! I have such wide tastes!" she said, giggling as she made herself pick something. "Okay. If I absolutely, gun to my head had to pick...The Princess Bride. Which I know, sounds cliche--but the reason isn't because it's a fluffy love story. It's because a guy going by the name of the Dread Pirate Roberts gets the girl. The two helpers he's got? Initially bad guys! It sets you up to understand that people aren't two dimensional. I appreciated that."
She definitely won points with that answer, not that Eric intended to tell her that. "Nice. I don't think I've heard that reason for that movie before." It was one of his sister's favorite movies, too. "Aaaaand, now I'll go for a dare," he said cheekily, wiggling his brows at her.
Violet made a face at him, sticking her tongue out and everything. "Hmm." she said, thinking. "Okaaaay, I dare you to try and hop from this row of washers," she said indicating the one she sat on. "To that one." she said, pointing to the ones across the way. It didn't look impossible, at any rate. They had a lot packed into the room.
Eric just smiled wider at her when she stuck her tongue out at him, biting back the response that wanted to come out, that she shouldn't stick her tongue out if she didn't intend to do anything with it. That probably wouldn't be great for this whole being friends thing. He laughed at the dare she put forth, hopping down from the table and holding out the candle to her. "That I can do, but if I break something, I fully expect you to patch me up again," he said as he went over to a washer a couple down from where she was leaning.
He climbed up on the washer and didn't waste much time in getting a little momentum before making the leap from that row of washers to the other. He nearly missed, rocking on the edge of the washer before falling forward a bit, hands flinging out to brace against the wall behind the washer he'd landed on. After only a moment, he moved further onto the machine, turned around, and pumped his fists in the air, letting out a 'Woo!' "And that is how it's done!" he said, winking at her as he dropped to sit on the washer.
She giggled at that, clapping via one hand on her thigh. "Very nice!" she told him, pausing to stick the taper to the top of one of the washers next to her. Then neither of them would have to hold it. "Excellent skills, sir, I am impressed." she told him dutifully, grinning.
"Oh, I'm full of all sorts of surprises!" he joked, smiling wider at her. "All right, Vi, your turn. Truth or dare?"
She laughed. "Fine, I'll go with dare, because I can't follow that up without one." she told him, bracing herself for what he might come up with.
Eric chuckled, then turned his expression serious as he thought for a moment. “Okay, let’s see. Hmm, show me your best ‘80’s dance moves,” he decided with a grin. “I can even give you a beat,” he added, winking at her.
"Well you'd best drop a beat like Tiffany or Debbie Gibson." Violet told him, laughing. It was before her time, sure, but her mother had sort of never stopped listening to eighties music, and it wasn't like she hadn't watched a lot of the movies. She hopped off the washer, and waited for him to start, giving a wicked grin.
He didn't waste time in starting the beat for her, channeling his best eighties vibe for it, ridiculously looking forward to see her moves. If it came out a bit like music for a bad porno, well, it wasn't his fault that's what the eighties sounded like a lot of the time.
Violet threw herself into it. Sure, she wanted a little more 'I think we're alone now' and less 'boom chicka wow wow', but she rolled with what she had. She took her glasses off, then did a lot of bouncing around, throwing herself dramatically at driers and doing a ton of hair flipping. Hair in the 80s was big. She was going to big hair it up with the best of them.
Eric truly did try his best to give her a good strong beat, but drums had never been his strong suit. As she really got into it, it didn't take long for him to start laughing, and after a minute, he was rolling. "Fuck yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" he said through his laughter.
Violet laughed, finally coming to a stop as she swooned against a drier, hair down in her eyes as she tried to look pouty. Then she grinned and stood straight, bowing. "Let it never be said that I can't channel the soul of a bubblegum pop star."
"Oh no, I'd never say that. You were made for it! You must have been born in the wrong decade!" Not that he really believed that; he had no problem at all with the fact that she was born when she was and had ended up just where she was now. "If we ever do karaoke, cause there's a machine in the music room I think, I am so gonna get you to do an eighties number again," he told her.
She grinned. "Oh, it's on." she told him, going back to her washer to sit on. "Your turn! Truth or dare!"
“Hit me with a truth,” he decided, wondering what she might come up with.
Smiling, she leaned back, eyeing him thoughtfully. "Okay, if you could be roommates with any fictional character, who would it be and why?" she asked.
That was a tough one, and Eric was quiet for a couple minutes as he thought on it. He’d read enough during prison to have a decent mental list to go through. Luckily it didn’t take him too long to settle on someone, and he grinned as he answered. “Dobby the House Elf, and is an explanation really necessary?” he asked, winking at her. “I’d get him a really awesome and outrageous pair of socks, and we’d be best friends forever. I’d never have to clean again!” he added, laughing.
Looking pleasantly surprised, Violet’s jaw dropped. “You’ve read Harry Potter?! Seriously? You really don’t look like a Harry Potter man to me, but I guess I’m wrong! Well, color me totally surprised, and impressed.” she told him, laughing. “Awesome.” she said, nodding. “Also, good answer.” she added. “I’m truthin it up.” she told him, giving him a ‘bring it on’ gesture.
Eric looked at her just a little incredulously. “Of course I’ve read Harry Potter! Who hasn’t read Harry Potter?” he joked. “‘Course the last one was released after I went to prison, so I had to wait for my pathetic library to get it, but yeah, I’ve read them.” He’d been thirteen when the first book had been published, and he’d enjoyed recreational reading as a kid. “Truth, hmmm.” He thought on it for a moment, wondering if she’d be upset if he completely changed the tone of the questions already. No, probably safer to ease her into it. “What was your favorite game to play as a kid?” he asked, keeping things light and innocent for the time being.
"I don't know! I just thought it was more of a girl thing." Violet said, laughing. "But I'm impressed, regardless." she added. "God, favorite game..." she said, wrinkling her nose a moment. "Um....god, you know how lame I am? I didn't play that many games." she admitted, looking a little sheepish over it. "Should I cop out and say 'operation'?" she suggested. "See, I don't know if it's right, though. I don't know. My household wasn't exactly what one would consider 'playful', honestly. Sorry."
Gasping, it was his turn to look at her incredulously. “No games?” he asked sadly, tisking softly and shaking his head. “What a shame! We’ll have to make up for lost time and play a lot of different games so you can get that vital experience,” he said in mock-seriousness, though he did think he would probably make it a point to get her to have some fun and play more games. “And now, hmm, hit me with a dare.” Maybe that’s what he’d do - alternate between the two.
Most people didn't ask her about her family, even when she said something that could catch the attention. It was normal. She leaned back, eyeing him with mock critical eyes, humming audibly. "Okay, a dare...." she said, wanting to come up with something entertaining, anyhow. Sadly they were super limited in their surroundings. She looked around anyhow, even if the sight distance provided by the candle wasn't that wide. "Build a little castle with the soaps, and anything else that you can find that will aid you in your epic quest."
Eric grinned at the dare, amused and even a little charmed by it. It made him think of being a kid; growing up poor meant he and his siblings had often had to come up with creative games like building forts out of ordinary household items. Even if he had been a quiet child, there were fond memories of such things. “All righty, that I can do!” he said with a grin as he rubbed his hands together and set to finding what he would build a little castle out of. It took some time to get everything together and then to figure out how to organize it into a castle shape, but he finally managed it and let out a proud little laugh. “Tada!”
Violet clapped for him, having watched the progression of the castle. "Looks good to me!" she said. "What's it's name?" she asked, figuring he would come up with something on the spot.
“Ahh, shit, umm...” He tried to come up with a name, but being put on the spot like that was making his mind go a bit blank. His hand lifted and scrubbed through his hair. “I don’t know! Didn’t think I was gonna have to name it, too!”
She laughed. "Well, you can't go making castles and not name them. What about all the people who live there?" she asked. "They're living a blank existence thanks to you!" she cried dramatically, like she was wrapped up in the plight of the imaginary people.
He couldn’t help but laugh at her dramatics. “Okay, would it be a total copout if I named it Hogwarts?” he asked, grinning crookedly at her.
She giggled. "Yes." she told him. "You'd have to roll with something more like...Soapwarts or something." she provided.
“Hogwergent!” he replied abruptly, laughing at the utter absurdity of it. “Though I like Soapwarts, I think we’re gonna go with that. So, alright missy, truth or dare?”
Giggling, she gave a little clap again. "Oh, that's good. I like that. I like Hogwergent better. But it's your castle. So, you get to pick the final name." She pulled her legs up beneath her, sitting indian style. "Um...dare?" she suggested, though she sounded unsure.
“Oh! Well since you like mine better, we’re gonna go with mine! And may Hogwergent be remembered fondly by all those who will have the pleasure of living there,” he said cheekily, winking at her. When she answered ‘dare’ in that unsure tone, he figured he should probably continue to play it safe, assuming that she was worried he would dare her to do something inappropriate. “Hmm, lick your elbow - or if you can’t, give it your best effort,” he decided. It was kind of lame, but he just wasn’t sure how to change the tone of things without screwing things up.
Violet yanked her sleeve up and put in a good effort, though couldn't quite manage it. "I fail!" she said, flopping backwards. "I'm a failure! Oh god, why have you forsaken me!!"
It was entertaining to watch her try, though he wasn’t really surprised when she couldn’t manage it. He didn’t think he’d ever actually met someone who could lick their own elbow. “I can let you lick my elbow if it would cheer you up,” he offered, teasing flirtatiously in an almost knee-jerk response to her dramatic failure.
She laughed. "Um, I totally don't know where that elbow's been." she told him. "So, pass. So what happens when you fail a dare?" she asked.
Eric pouted at that. “Hey, it hasn’t been anywhere that I haven’t been, and I haven’t been anywhere unsavory!” he insisted, though it wasn’t like he was going to try to talk her into it. Maybe he’d dare her to do it another time if she picked dare again. “You didn’t fail. I said you had to give it your best effort if you couldn’t actually do it, so you’re good,” he assured her.
She shifted, lying flat on the washer top, letting her hair fall over the edge. "Okay, you then?" she asked. "Truth or dare?"
“Gimme a truth,” he decided quickly.
She considered, really giving herself a few minutes to come up with a good question. "If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would it be?" she asked. And he could take that any way he wanted. It could be something silly, it could be something serious. It could be a personality trait, it could be a hairy mole on his ass. It was wide open.
The question almost surprised him a little, thinking it could be taken more seriously than they’d been treating the game so far, but he didn’t mind that at all. He wanted to really get to know her, and yeah, he wanted to see if things might evolve some as well, so he was treating it more seriously. “Hmm, I think I’d want to be able to read things, situations, people better so I can respond more appropriately. Sometimes I can go from just joking around to too far in the other direction of explaining that it’s just joking around that I miss things,” he explained, going above and beyond answering her question because he wanted her to get to know him better as well.
She liked the answer, and appreciated that it was in depth. "How often do you think you kinda misread things?" she asked. "Like is it a lifelong issue?" she continued, curious. Sure, it wasn't part of the game but she couldn't not ask. It wasn't in her nature. Plus, he'd given a great answer, and it led to more questions.
Eric considered chiding her for asking another question when she’d already used up her turn, but only for a split second. He didn’t mind if they had some honest conversation outside the game as well. “Umm, yeah, it’s kinda been an issue of mine for a long time. Told you before I was pretty shy as a kid. I was on the outside of things a lot, so yeah...” he trailed off, shrugging and running a hand through his hair. He hadn’t had all the social interactions as a kid to really build up those skills, which was probably why he’d gone so far in the opposite direction in college.
"What do you habitually misread?" she asked. "Do you miss verbal stuff? Nonverbal? Social?" she asked. Her first thought was that she knew he'd been involved with drugs. And addicts quite often exhibited impaired ability to interpret people around them. They missed out on major signs that were clear to others. So far she didn't think she'd seen that from him at all, but she couldn't rule out that it could have either caused or exacerbated an awkward tendency already present from childhood.
Shrugging, he shifted awkwardly, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "Uhh, I don't know. Just think I sometimes miss stuff. And anyway, it's your turn. Truth or dare?" he said, deflecting because he was just really starting to be uncomfortable with the self analysis.
Violet didn't say anything for a moment, hesitating over her words before she said them. "Avoidance won't actually help anything." she said. It wasn't a cue to continue, she was letting him drop and change the subject but she wanted to let him know that she wasn't just going to play pretend like it wasn't there or hadn't come up. "Truth."
Eric opted not to reply to that statement. Sure, avoiding it wouldn’t help, but he wasn’t sure it actually needed help or fixing or whatever. It was just a part of who he was. Since she opted for a truth and had asked him a question that had some depth to it, he decided to do the same. “What has been your biggest regret, not including your conviction or the events leading up to it?” he asked, adding that qualifier because he didn’t want her to tell him about something he already knew about.
Staying quiet as she considered it, she turned her eyes up to the blackness of the ceiling. "I'm not really a regrets type of person." she started. "Honestly, I know it's probably a disappointing answer, but I'm not. I strove for what I wanted in life, and I got it. I helped hold my family together when it was necessary. I haven't done much that I've ever thought back and decided was stupid, I don't really make rash decisions. I also don't really feel like I've been denied anything due to the choices that I have made. Other people might look at my life, and think I missed out on wacky teenage fun, or something like that, but you know what? I don't really care that I did. I never felt the need to go out and do stupid things just to say I did them. I don't think it ever made anyone any happier, just like I know ODing and having her stomach pumped after a massive bender didn't make my lab partner in college any happier or better off either. So, I suppose the answer is I don't really have one."
Even with her explanation, Eric was having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that there was absolutely nothing she regretted. While he wasn't prone to bouts of self-pity and regret, he did have some things he regretted. "Wow," he finally said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. He didn't question her honesty about it, though. And then, because he was curious, he focused in on one part of what she'd said. "How'd you have to hold your family together?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know what her family life had been like.
"We weren't a perfect family." Violet answered. "I suppose no one's is, really, but mine had a few issues. My father occasionally had bouts of...let's call them 'ill advised temper outlets'." she shared. "And when I was around nine years old, he came down with this...strange illness. They still don't know exactly what it is? My one of my older brothers wound up coming down with it as well. Not fatal, but potentially. There were some scares. But, someone had to keep their head together, and that someone was me."
As he listened, his brows furrowed a little in confusion. He understood the gist of what she was saying, but the specifics, her father and brother coming down with a mysterious and unknown illness was what was tripping him up. "So they really don't know what it was? How is that possible? Thought they had a name for everything," he commented, though he wasn't sounding judgmental or like he was doubting her. He just genuinely didn't know. "Is that why you decided to go into the medical field?" he asked, knowing full well he was breaking the unspoken rules of their game.
"Oh, people think that all the time." Violet said, sighing as she rolled over, propping her chin on her crossed arms. "But seriously? Medical science sees stuff every day that they just have no clue what it is. I mean, think about it. Even the common cold? Do you know why that doesn't have a cure? Because it's constantly mutating. People sort of view doctors like magicians. They're supposed to have all the answers, and all the magic to make everything better, but just knowing all the bones in the body, or how the circulatory system works doesn't mean you know every pathogen on the planet, or could see how the human body decides to destroy itself randomly. Then there's constant other factors...environmental, mental...the list goes on. Add on top of that that people take a lot of drugs, both prescription and recreational and they all have their own effects. No one knows everything. There've been diseases that only ever effected one person, as far as anyone knows. The world is far less quantifiable than anyone would like to believe--sort of terrifyingly so."
The answer, that long explanation, wasn't altogether unexpected considering her profession, and he just nodded slightly. Pushing away from the washer he'd been leaning against, Eric moved around the room to the washer she was sitting on, pushing himself up to sit on the washer next to hers. "Yeah, guess I can get that. Sucks that they couldn't figure out what it was, though." Leaning over, he nudged her lightly with his shoulder. "Do you miss them?" he asked after a long moment, feeling a little out of his element with the seriousness of the topics they seemed to be on now.
She tilted her head to the side when he bumped his shoulder against hers. "Yes, but not so much that it eats away at me. I didn't see them all that much when I wasn't in prison. Afterwards, now and then, sure, but none of us were so close that we're cracking without one another." she explained. Which had her sighing, and looking sad. "Not like Becka. The other nurse, if you haven't met her? She apparently had a sweet prison she was at, and she's super attached to her family. I'm kind of considering appealing to the administration on her behalf, to send her back. I don't think this place is good for her. I think she was happier where she was, and that's just not fair to her."
Eric nodded in understanding at the beginning of her explanation. He really did get it; he missed his own siblings, but over the years they'd grown so far apart, he didn't really find it a hardship to be here. "Oh? No, I haven't met her yet. But wow, so this is kinda a downgrade for her? That sucks. So what about you? Are you happier here? I mean, you've got to hang out with me," he pointed out cheekily, winking at her.
"Huge, totally unfair downgrade for her." Violet confirmed. She paused, arching an eyebrow at him. "Ya know, it's kinda unfair for you to back down on stuff with me, then keep digging for information on my end." she told him. It wasn't mean when she said it at all, more just she wanted to put it out there so he'd recognize it.
There was no way to stop from feeling a little bit of sympathy for the girl if it was as much of a downgrade as Violet was saying, but he did manage to put it out of his mind when she pointed that second part out. Laughing, he shrugged almost sheepishly. "You caught me, oops! So, what do you want to know? Maybe we should just play truth now," he suggested. "Not like there's a whole lot of dares we can do down here... at least, not with keeping things PG," he added with a wicked little smirk, wiggling his brows at her suggestively.
She laughed a little, though didn’t comment, the other night very firmly in her head. He’d been more than clear there, so she needed to keep that whole flirty thing under wraps. Obviously he wasn’t, but she was guessing he was built a little differently than she was on that score. Which was fine--it wasn’t like she was going to stop hanging out with him. She liked him too much to do something silly like that. Plus she was a big girl. But she did have it looming in mind, to not get carried away with anything. Then she considered. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, truths. Um..." she paused, wracking her brain for a question. She wasn't sure where they were at, level-wise now, whether they were getting into deeper questions, or keeping things light. "If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be, and what would you name it?"
Although she laughed, she also seemed to get a little pensive, but he didn't comment on it. And when she finally asked a question, he figured she'd probably just been trying to come up with one. "Any pet in the world, hmm. I don't know! I've never had a pet. I think it'd be pretty cool to have a turtle, though. The ones that live to be over a hundred or something, so I could pass it on to someone else." Like a kid, though he was definitely not thinking about having kids. Like ever. Maybe that would change now that he had the potential of living a life again, but for now he was still in the 'going to be in prison for twenty more years' mindset.
"Ooh, good answer." she said, smiling. "But you forgot the name part. What would this super awesome turtle who'll outlive you's name be?"
“Oh, uhh, you’re right, I did,” Eric agreed. He glanced up at the ceiling as he considered it. “Hmm, Snappy. Yep, Snappy would be this super awesome turtle’s name,” he decided.
She giggled. "Good name." she told him, smiling. "Okay, my turn. Hit me with a question." she invited.
"Where would you like life to take you?" he asked without thinking, though he was aware it was a wildly broad question. And then he thought that maybe she would answer it similarly to his regrets question. Maybe she didn't have a destination in mind, maybe she was just along for the ride.
"This is where I prove yet again that I'm boring." Violet warned him. "But I just want to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm hoping, that I graduate the program and will be able to retain my credentials, then I can start over someplace else, and get back to doing what I love." she said. "I know, nothing exciting. I don't want to be rich, or famous. I just want to do what I want to do, be the best nurse I can be."
Eric looked at her for a long moment, just staying quiet as he tried to sort out his thoughts. It made him want a hit of something, all this thinking and talking about serious stuff, but it had been a very long time, so he mentally shrugged it off. "I don't think you're boring at all," he said softly, not looking away from her eyes. They really were so pretty, even in the dim, flickering candlelight. "And I think you're a pretty damn good nurse already, so if you get a chance to go back to it outside of here? I don't think you're going to have any trouble with that goal."
She smiled at that, happy to hear it. It was nice, even if part of her was thinking he hadn't seen her in action that wasn't pretend, so he couldn't know, but he sounded like he had faith in her. And that was nice, in and of itself. So she took it for what it was, and she felt good for it. "Thank you." she said. "Your turn. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get out of here?"
The question teased a short laugh out of him, and he shook his head. "Are you gonna stop liking me if I say 'get high'?" he asked, glancing at her with an expression of extreme amusement.
"No." she said. "It would just make me sad." she added, being honest. "If that's your answer, that's your answer." she added, making it very clear that she wasn't actually looking for him to tell her what she wanted to hear, she honestly did want real answers. Which apparently included drugs. Her mind drifted back toward his whole 'I misread things' deal, and was more heavily linking the two in her mind.
He frowned at her answer, not wanting to make her sad, but she did imply that she wanted whatever his honest answer was. "Then, sorry, I hate to make you sad, but I think the first thing I'd want to do would be to get high. None of the hard shit for me anymore, though. Just a nice bowl, relax, and then figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with my life now that I'm apparently not looking down twenty more years behind bars," he explained.
She nodded, taking his answer on board. Then she waited for him to ask her his next question, shifting slightly on her stomach. She propped her chin on her hand, gazing out into the dark thoughtfully.
Since she seemed to be waiting on him, Eric took a moment to think of a question. There was a lot he wanted to know, it was just that some of it he wasn't sure how to ask. "Fuck it," he muttered under his breath. "What would be your perfect date?" he asked, studiously not looking at her this time as he asked it. Although afterward, he couldn't help but look at her, watching to see how she reacted and answered.
Violet's first instinct was to remind herself again not to read in. So, she wrinkled her nose cutely, then groaned, and thunked her head down on her arm. "God!" she said. "I have no idea!" she confessed, looking at him. "Seriously, I'm not exactly well versed in dating in the first place. And I'm not the kind of girl who daydreams about it? But okay, let me really think." she said, giving herself a minute to come up with something, because he'd asked, and she felt like she needed to give him a not lame answer.
"I guess I'd probably want to go for something that eased into it. So, like, dinner for starters, because conversation can be had. Then maybe a movie, because having that entertainment factor is good, only it isn't too high pressure for anyone involved. After the movie, I'd want to go for a walk. Someplace quiet." she said. Then she made a face at herself. "Is that too analytical?" she asked, since she seemed to have reasons why she would pick every stage.
Eric merely smirked when she wrinkled her nose and groaned. She was just too damn cute, and he was certain that it was going to get him into loads of trouble. He just couldn’t help it sometimes, though. He wanted to ask if she’d ever dated at all; maybe she hadn’t. Maybe she was... utterly innocent, and that wasn’t exactly the most comfortable thought. It wasn’t a turn on or a turn off, it was just... weird to consider.
“No, it doesn’t seem too analytical,” he assured her with a small smile. “Didn’t do a whole lot of dating myself, but that seems like pretty standard first date stuff. So what kind of movie would you want to go see?” She struck him as someone who’d want to see something fun, but he could be reading her wrong. He did that sometimes, as he’d admitted earlier.
"I'm not sure." Violet said. "I think it would depend on what kind of mood I was in that day. Sometimes I'm all for some mindless action. Sometimes I like something scary, sometimes I would kill to see a good comedy...it's a toss up, really." she said, smirking a little. "Which I know, is a pretty lame answer. Way for me to not pin down, like, anything, huh?"
Eric chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “Yeah, you’re so lame,” he teased lightly. “Nah, it’s all good. Just means you’re not all that difficult to please, which isn’t a bad thing. So, got a question for me now?” he joked, winking at her.
Humming, Violet wracked her brain. "So you've crash landed on a tiny island where food and shelter are totally not hard to come by, so you don't have to worry about that. You find a magic lamp and a genie pops out, but it's kinda an old decrepit genie, and can only grant you one wish--and it can’t be to leave the island. What is it?"
“Someone to share the island with, who could be friend and lover,” Eric answered right away, not having to think about it with the parameters she’d given him. He had no desire to be utterly alone in that way.
Violet snorted, giggling as she clapped a hand over her mouth. "You realize that a dog fits those criteria, technically speaking, right?" she told him, giggling some more.
He just stared at her for a few long seconds, brows raised, expression twisted into one of clear disgust. “Are you fucking nuts? Hell no, a dog doesn’t fit that criteria! Jesus, I thought ‘of the human variety’ went without saying,” he muttered, shaking his head.
She kept giggling. "Sorry!" she said. "I know, that was an awful place for my brain to go! I blame laundry fumes!" she told him between more giggling. “Okay so a human! Anyone specific, or just a general person shaped person?”
He cracked a grin at that, but then her question surprised him, catching him off guard, and there was only one name coming to mind, he just didn’t know how much trouble it would get him in if he said it. He wasn’t good at controlling his impulses, though, and almost as soon as he thought it, he was saying, “You’re the only one coming to mind.” And if he wasn’t quite looking full-on at her, it was because he was worried she’d react poorly to the admission.
Blinking, Violet stared at him, even if he wasn't looking at her. Then she burst out giggling again, assuming he was teasing her. "I don't fit the description either!" she told him. "I mean, let's be real here. I'm barely person shaped. Plus, you were pretty clear the other night when it comes to that other stuff." she told him.
When she started giggling again, he did finally look at her with a confused expression. “The other...? You mean at the pool? Ahh, fuck,” he cursed, rolling his head back to stare at the ceiling for a moment. “That wasn’t... Shit, Vi, I’m crap at this stuff, okay?” he said, glancing at her. “I’ve never dated anyone seriously, it’s all been real casual stuff, and... And you deserve better than that, so I just didn’t want you to think that’s all I was aiming for,” he tried to explain.
She arched a brow and watched him, giggles tapering off when he swore. It took her a second to formulate a response. "You kind of framed things like maybe you were just being nice to me, and that you weren't interested in stuff. Telling a girl that you might just be being nice is a pretty hard 'nooooo, not been hitting on you' message. And you even told me they aren't the same thing, and...it was just clear. I got the message." she told him, sitting up. "Then you kinda cut out and decided to do laps, so..." she trailed off.
Way to screw things up, Eric. He sighed, lifting both hands to scrub through his hair as he tried to figure out how to explain what he’d meant by what he’d said. “Fuck, yeah, I can see how it came off that way, but that’s what I was saying earlier, sometimes I go too far in the opposite direction, like overcompensating for shit I shouldn’t be worried about in the first place. I just didn’t want you to think I only wanted to get in your pants. I’d rather just be your friend than sleep with you and fuck any friendship up.”
"Oh." Violet said, surprised, and she sat there quiet as she tried to figure out how to readjust her point of view on things there. She'd been pretty crushed when he'd gone in that direction. And she sort of wasn't entirely positive where that left them now. "I'm um, I'm kinda terrible at all this too." she said honestly, realizing that he was probably in need of her saying something more substantial than 'oh'.
Glancing at her, he tried for a grin, but it didn’t quite make it fully. “That’s alright. I figured, hey, this girl’s really fucking awesome. I just want to get to know her, be her friend, and maybe sometime down the road things could go somewhere else, but if not, at least I’d have her as a friend. This whole situation? I mean with the facility and shit, it’s a mindfuck in and of itself, so I figured it might be a good idea to try to get used to it before throwing in the whole trying to have some kind of relationship when I’ve never had that kind of one before.” He shrugged awkwardly, definitely not used to being so open and honest with his thoughts and feelings, much more used to deflecting with humor.
She smiled at him, a soft expression as he spoke. When she was sure he was done, she leaned over and nudged his shoulder with hers. "I'm good with that." she told him. "So...friends, definitely, because I think you're made of awesome too. And super cute, and who doesn't want eye candy around?" she teased lightly, to help make him feel better. Even if she was kinda serious about that too. He was cute. "We'll worry about heavier stuff some other time, or just...kinda see what happens, where things go. I won't lie and say I really don't think I'm a casual dater type? Just for full disclosure here. I don't think I'm built for it. I'd get too attached."
Eric couldn’t help but smirk a little at that eye candy comment, turning his head to wink at her to show his agreement. Eye candy was always a good thing, and despite what she’d said only moments before, he rather enjoyed that which she provided. Her mention of full disclosure caused a twinge of guilt in him, but he pushed it away. He’d only survived as long as he had because he’d been damn sure not to talk about the main reason he was in prison, and he wasn’t going to change that just yet. Maybe sometime down the line he’d talk to her about it, but not tonight. “Good to know, but... full disclosure? I had plenty of casual, and staring down as long a sentence as I have... had? Whatever. It didn’t really make me think there’d be anything but, you know? But...” He trailed off, shrugging a bit. “But I don’t know, maybe something more serious might be nice. But! Yeah, we’ll see what happens, where things go,” he finished with a smile for her.
Violet nodded. "I know." she told him. "It's...kind of obvious, to me, anyways." she told him. "It's why I told you up front. Just so you'd know, and we could all be not confused about the me end of things there. If it isn't your thing, it's okay too, I understand. I just know me. And Violet doesn't do anything halfway." she said, laughing lightly at herself. "I mean, by now, you know enough about me to know when I go for something, I really go for it." she added, since she'd told him how she was, and she figured he definitely got it. "So, you had a lot of flings in prison?" she asked, since that's what it sounded like he'd said.
Eric nodded slowly in understanding at that, grinning when she laughed. “Yeah, I know, and for the record? I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” He’d been pretty driven as a kid, and then college had happened, and the drugs and parties had become more important. He wasn’t a college kid anymore, and he had the possibility of having a life again, so maybe it was time he started reprioritizing. “Oh, uhh...” He ran a hand awkwardly over the back of his neck. “Guess you could say that. I’m not a fighter, and there’s... Yeah.” It wasn’t that he’d hated it or that he’d resented the things he’d done, it was just awkward to talk about with the girl he was hoping to have something with at some point.
She saw that the subject made him uncomfortable. "Sorry, I don't mean to bring up any unhappy subjects or anything. Just...the way you worded things has me thinking you're into guys, too. And that you'd had relationships in prison, even if they were short lived. I get it if it was a situational thing. There's actually even a word for it."
Her response got a soft chuckle out of him, and he glanced at her with an amused smirk. “Nah, it’s not unhappy or situational. I’m into guys, too,” he replied, not wanting there to be a misconception there. Some people got weird about it, and if it was going to be weird for her, better they found out sooner rather than later. “I mean, maybe it was partly situational, because there were some protection deals mixed in there, too, it’s just a little awkward to talk about. Never would’ve guessed I’d feel awkward talking about my sex life,” he said with a laugh and shake of his head.
She nodded, taking the information onboard. She wasn't sure how she felt about it, really. Though, one bit was clear. It made her insecurity twitch again. His last statement caught her attention more, however. "Why do you feel awkward about it?"
“Because I’m into you,” he answered right away, thinking it was the clear reason for it. “I might joke about shit a lot, but you don’t talk about your sexual exploits with the person you’re interested in being with. And, well, my parents basically disowned me when they found out I was bi, so talking about it’s been weird for me ever since. But hell, that was years ago, and I haven’t seen or heard from them since, so might as well let it go, right?” he rambled a little. “And crap, is the electricity ever gonna come back on?” He was concerned about it, not because he wanted to get away from her, he didn’t, but because being trapped in a basement with no bathroom and only the little bit of food he’d brought down wasn’t really ideal.
Violet had to wonder if he wanted out of the conversation. The statement's timing certainly lent itself to that. She remained quiet for a moment, looking up into the dark. "Honestly I think maybe we should think about sleep." she told him. "If the lights pop back on, then cool, but they haven't yet? So I'm wondering if it's going to be a long haul sort of night." she didn't seem upset about it, however. She had more she wanted to say, to address what else he said, but since he seemed to want out of the conversation, she felt obliged to let him.
Eric was oblivious to the impact of the timing of his statement and just focused on what she was saying. “Yeah, maybe we should,” he agreed. “It’s probably not gonna be all that comfortable in here. So hmm, let’s see.” He hopped off the washer and tugged his hoodie off, bundling it up. “This is all I’ve got for some kind of pillow, if you want to use it,” he offered, holding it out to her. He’d just chill somewhere and be fine, he was sure.
Violet shook her head. "No, keep it. You need a pillow too. I've got some dirty laundry that didn't make it in the washer yet. So, I can snuggle up with my own stuff." she told him, thinking it might be gross to offer him any of that, what with it being dirty and all, and she really didn't want him winding up with a kink in his neck or anything because of no pillow.
“Fine, I didn’t want my sweatshirt to smell like you anyway,” he teased her, winking cheekily. He could find his footing again, he was determined to. Even so, he pulled the hoodie back in, glancing around in the dim, flickering light to try to decide on where to settle in for however long the power would be out. “You happen to bring your bedding down to wash, or just clothes?” he asked, already anticipating that she’d only brought clothes but figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask anyway.
"Just clothes." she said with a sigh. "Otherwise I would have offered them up already." she added, since she really would have. She hopped down off the washer, going to her basket which was barely seen in the dim light. Digging through, she pulled out a sweatshirt of her own, then climbed back up onto the washer closest there, keeping her mostly in the dark but not entirely. She curled up on her side. “If you aren’t grossed out, feel free to dig through there all you want.” she offered.
“Right, yeah, but I wasn’t asking for my benefit. Just want you to be as comfortable as possible,” he told her honestly. He just didn’t really see how she could get comfortable at all down here. “Ah, thanks, but I’ll be okay.” If she wasn’t going to use more than a sweatshirt, there was no way he was going to take clothes that she could be using to make herself more comfortable. He turned to the big table in the room, moving his laundry soap castle and the snacks he’d brought down over to one end of it. “Oh, brought some food down too, if you get the munchies,” he told her, motioning toward it as he pushed himself up onto the table.
She smiled. "Thanks." she said. "But right now, I'm thinking sleep. Sweet dreams, Eric." she told him, eyes open as she stared into the near dark in his direction.
“Alright,” Eric said with a smaller, softer smile. “Sleep tight, Vi.” And while he wasn’t sure just where they stood now with everything they’d talked about, at least he knew that things were a little more open between them.