Holland "Holly" Sharpe (ilicin) wrote in the_colony, @ 2011-03-19 14:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 35, derek miller, holland sharpe, | derek and holly |
Week 35 - Sunday
Characters: Derek and Holly.
Location: Their room.
Summary: Derek and Holly establish the mood and rules of their new rooming experience.
Rating: PG-13 for language
Holly was sitting on his bed in orange boxer briefs and a white tank top, balancing a hand mirror between his knees as he brushed out his long hair. It was his usual nightly routine, but the part that hadn’t been in the cards was another presence in the room - Derek’s, to be exact, and Holly was shooting him dirty looks despite knowing Derek didn’t want to share a room with him either.
He’d never particularly disliked Derek, and actually it was fun to trade insults with him whenever they had an extended conversation, but Holly hadn’t been prepared for another roommate. The other colonists just couldn’t stop picking up strays, and in result he had to share a room again, which meant lugging all of his stuff to one side and being self-conscious. Meg had been the best because she was blind (and nice, too), Quinn had been more concerned about keeping everything he owned in its proper place than bothering much with him, but with Derek … Holly could just tell it’d be a struggle.
Derek wasn’t happy about this either. If Tom and Alice wanted to go around collecting strays, they could give up their own space for people to sleep in. He hadn’t invited anyone in and as far as Derek was concerned, the new people weren’t his problem. No reason he should have to sacrifice for them.
Of course nobody asked for his permission. Now he had to share a room with a man who spent all his time fixing his hair. Derek liked Holly in a basic kind of way but he wasn’t looking forward to sharing a room with a drag queen. Where was he supposed to get dressed? He kicked his duffel bag under his bed with a huff. The sound attracted Holly’s narrowed gaze.
“I’ll finish getting my stuff off your side tomorrow,” he said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it. Privately, he was almost positive Derek wouldn’t be staying too long; none of his roommates had.
Derek made a noise that was something like a grunt and took a seat on his bed. “We need to set up some ground rules.” He didn’t wait for agreement before laying out his terms. He ticked points off on his fingers. “I catch you checking me out, I will kick your ass. Touch any of my stuff and I kick your ass. Wake me up when I’m sleeping and well, you see where I’m going with this.”
The rule-making on Derek’s part made Holly’s eyebrows arch high on his forehead. Oh, great, so he was rooming with a homophobe. It wasn’t as if Holly didn’t know there were those in their group who were wary of him for certain reasons, but to have Derek speak so bluntly to him grate on his nerves instantly.
“Been there, done that.” Holly rolled his eyes. “I checked you out long ago and you don’t have anything I want.” It was a total lie (physically, at least), but Holly’s attitudinal (bitchy) tone was flawless.
“Super.” Derek obviously sounded disgruntled. “You got anything else you want to add? It’s not like you have to worry about me going through your hair products.”
“Yeah, that you’re a dick.” Holly turned to set his mirror and brush sharply down on the table beside his bed, then climbed beneath the sheets.
Derek shrugged. People tended to think that about him a lot. “That’s not anything I haven’t heard before.”
Holly rolled onto his side, back facing Derek. “Maybe because you tell your new roommate you’re going to kick his ass right before bed? If I were going to rape you I would have already done it, dude. The trip from Vegas to here was long and lonely.”
“When I was shot? Nice.” Derek pulled a face. “And I didn’t tell you I was going to kick your ass, I threatened to kick your ass. There’s a distinction.”
Despite himself, Holly chuckled. “Not to me. How do I know what you’re going to consider a ‘check-out’ look? It doesn’t matter what I do, only what you believe.”
The other man gave an exaggerated sigh. “You’re a damn drama queen, you know that? You bitch more than a girl.”
“You’re just noticing that?” The amusement in Holly’s voice was obvious. “But you kinda do, too.”
“Man, fuck you.” Despite the harsh words there was a hidden snicker. “I did the dorm thing. I’m over this roommate shit.”
“Oh, yeah, ‘cause I totally love it.” Sarcasm practically dripped from his words, but it was amicable. Holly even turned again so he could look at Derek as he spoke, pushing his hair over his shoulder once he was settled on his other side in bed. “I’m not saying it’s so wrong to have a big heart, but it’s getting fucking ridiculous. We are like sardines, even with the expansion going up.”
Suddenly, Derek forgot his frustration about having to share a room in general and with a gay man specifically. It was just nice to have someone to agree with him for once. “I don’t know what the hell I work so hard to guard this place for if they’re just going to invite in everyone with a sob story who goes walking by.”
“Oh my God, I know.” Holly couldn’t say he was too impressed with the most recent newbies, either, even though he very well knew it had more to do with his own biases than their lack of sparkle. “This whole place is such a joke.” His voice was softer, and he averted his eyes from Derek. “The stupid part is I don’t think there’s anywhere better out there anymore.” They were with good people, and even Holly couldn’t argue that.
Commenting on the larger state of their sorry society was just going to upset him, so Derek left that alone. “There are three of them. That’s enough. Go make your group. God knows we’re just full of white folks enough already.”
Holly laughed. “And straight folks,” he pointed out. “But, come on, is talking to white people really that different than talking to black people? I never thought so.”
That was a dangerous path to get started down if they weren’t careful. “What, you don’t ever wish there were more people like you to talk to?” Derek thought there were certain differences and he definitely felt more at ease around Zeke and the Doc than almost anyone else. Meg was the only exception there.
“I guess so,” was all Holly said about that. There were a lot of questions he could ask, like if Derek meant other cross dressers, other gay men, other drama queens, other ex-hackers who felt completely useless in this new world.... The list was endless.
Derek had nothing to add to that so he didn’t. “I’m going to go to sleep. Don’t watch me while I get dressed.”
Holly let out a sharp sigh of exasperation, but did allow Derek to get ready for bed without being watched by rolling over yet again and pulling his comforter over his head. “Tell me when you’re done so I don’t suffocate in here!” he called, muffled, through the sheets.
Derek rolled his eyes. He didn’t change so much as strip down to his undershirt and boxers. “Drama queen.”