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Post by Eric on Nov 18, 2012 14:58:31 GMT -6
Even as Ian quickly excused himself, Eric couldn't help but continue giggling. "Pff- hey come on he was probably just jokin-" she tried to say, but the medic had already absconded. She rolled her eyes and went back to storing the bag of cheese in the fridge. "Now look what you've done," she chided to Achille in a lighthearted tone, “you scared him off. God, what a drama queen. I swear he would squirm if you asked him about his first kiss.”
While the refrigerator was still open she retrieved another soda, before taking Ian's former seat at the table. "So then, what about you?" She asked. "You seem like a ladies man. Probably."
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Post by Achille on Nov 18, 2012 15:37:51 GMT -6
Achille chuckled as he dumped toppings over the pizza, evenly spreading out the sausage, mushrooms, and pepperoni so that no one part would be overburdened. "Only trying to have some friendly conversation with him. And I do honestly believe he would benefit from a tumble in the sheets, if not to relieve stress then to instill some confidence in him. Besides," He said, smirking, "I thought girls liked the shy, innocent ones?" Satisfied that the toppings were evenly laid out, Achille walked over to retrieve a pan to place the pizza on. The oven was already up to heat as he had turned it on earlier, using the embossed words on the buttons to set the right temperature. It was no brick oven but it would do.
"As for your question," He replied while running his hands over the variety of pans in one of the cupboards, "I don't know if you could call me a 'ladies man' but I can say with confidence that I've slept in quite a few different beds in my life, some even more than three times. Ah!" He pulled out an appropriately sized pan, feeling the surface with his palm to check for cracks or leftover gunk before setting it down next to the pizza. "I'd like to think it's my charming personality and the fact that I can cook a meal outside of a TV dinner. That or women just have a thing for the men who can't find their way around the bar without help." He chuckled and slid the pizza onto the pan. "How about you Eric? Straightforward, outspoken young lady like yourself must have young men tripping over themselves just to get to you."
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Post by Eric on Nov 18, 2012 16:17:55 GMT -6
She listened to his answers, playing with the tab of her pop can absentmindedly and watching his movements as he spoke. Damn that pizza was looking pretty good. Too bad they'd have to wait for it to cook. Maybe they could just eat it ra- wait did he say three? Eric gave him a skeptical look at his answer, but remained silent, letting him finish. Finally, the inevitable question about herself came up.
"You'd think, wouldn't you?" She replied, shaking her head slightly. "Nah, never really been with anyone. Guys I meet are always huge assholes who get mad if you don't agree with every little thing. It's ridiculous, I swear." What she elected not to mention however was that usually most problems in relationships were her fault. Being completely honest wasn't one of her strong suits, and unsurprisingly, people didn't like that. Still, nobody had to know that.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 18, 2012 17:05:11 GMT -6
Only a few minutes had passed before Ian found himself walking towards the kitchen again. He'd really only fled away to the bathroom to wash his face and the rest of the flour from his hands, but the short moment of solitude did help ease his nerves a bit. He realized that the way he responded before was probably a little... excessive, but what else was new? It's not like it could be helped now, anyway. Maybe they'd give him a break and let him slide back into their company without another awkward hitch.
Before he entered the kitchen, Ian snagged his crossword book from the common room table. Might as well have something to occupy himself with while the pizza was baking. When he stepped through the doorway, he didn't say anything -- did he need to? No. Instead, the Medic calmly walked over to the table and, seeing as his former spot was now occupied, pulled out the chair on the opposite side and took a seat. Laying the book atop the table, he quickly flipped through it before resuming his work on the most recently started puzzle.
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Post by Achille on Nov 19, 2012 14:00:37 GMT -6
Taking note of Ian's return, Achille slid the pizza into the oven and shut the door. "Well I'm sure you'll find someone who'll treat you right eventually Eric." Setting the timer on the oven, Achille walked over to another cupboard and began to feel around for something, eventually pulling out a loaf of Italian bread wrapped in paper and plastic. "Until then you'll just have to keep being yourself. And until that pizza's done, I say we enjoy some bread and drink. We pick up any wine the last time we went out? The bread always goes better with wine, even if bourbon is more to my taste."
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Post by Eric on Nov 19, 2012 16:27:06 GMT -6
She glanced at Ian as he reentered, flashing him an apologetic smile. "I'm pretty sure we didn't get any," Eric replied, tapping the arm of her chair thoughtfully, "I think I saw some bottles in the basement one time, though. If you want I can go check." Even before the pyro could respond, she was standing and taking a few steps toward the kitchen door. Although the basement was musty and dark, she wouldn't mind going down to get the wine. After all, she never had celebrated her 21st birthday properly by getting hammered. Or drinking at all.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 19, 2012 17:40:34 GMT -6
When Eric suddenly began to depart from the kitchen, Ian stopped writing mid-word and looked up. "Need me to go with you?" He offered politely while placing his pen in the fold of his book. There was nothing else he needed to do as far as making the pizza goes, so the Medic didn't see any harm in proposing to accompany his teammate downstairs. Not that he really wanted much wine; Ian just never had a reason to go in the basement before. Searching for something down there would give him a good excuse to go check it out.
And if the Scout declined? He would just continue distracting himself with his puzzles until she returned -- no big deal.
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Post by Achille on Nov 20, 2012 16:49:18 GMT -6
"You two go on and check. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the pizza." Achille said, setting the bread down and tearing the wrapping. "Or an ear as it were. Heh heh." Normally Achille would have offered to go instead but he had yet to go in the basement so he would have been blind down there. Well, blinder than usual in a sense. No, instead he would sit in the kitchen preparing the bread and making sure the pizza didn't burn. Truly a worthwhile endeavor.
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Post by Eric on Nov 20, 2012 19:56:12 GMT -6
Eric shrugged. "Hey, cool with me." No reason for her to turn down someone actually offering to escort her to a dark and creepy basement. She turned and began making her way, calling over her shoulder, "be right back." If she recalled correctly, the door to the basement was just around the corner, right before the doors to the bedrooms began. Despite being near the center of the base, the door had always managed to blend into the woodwork, making you forget it was even there. But it wasn't blending in now, because Eric knew exactly what she was looking for.
Opening the door released a blast of stale, musty air into the room, and she couldn't help but flinch at the smell. God, they really needed to just clean that basement out and give it a fresh coat of paint. Reluctantly, she flicked the ligthswitch at the top of the stairs, noticing that only half of the lights lining the steps flickered on. Oh well, in and out fast, no worries. The duo descended the concrete stairs, finding at the bottom a small, simple room with various boxes and barrels scattered around. It didn't take her long to spot what she was looking for: a crate with four wine bottles sticking out of the top. "Here we go. I knew I saw some down here once." She approached the box and began looking at the labels of the bottles, trying to decide which two to take back with her.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 21, 2012 0:52:55 GMT -6
When she opened the door, the thick scent that rolled up from the basement stairs made Ian's nose wrinkle. It certainly didn't smell like it had been maintained in a good while. Not that he was surprised -- who would want that job?
...Well, if he had enough time and patience one day, maybe him.
As the two descended the stairs, he immediately regretted not wearing any socks; the icy concrete stairs and floor stung the bottoms of his feet with every step. He tried to ignore it though, more interested in scanning the half-illuminated bottom room of their base. Sadly, it didn't seem like there was much to see... just a bunch of old dusty boxes and barrels that contained only god knows what. It was... disappointingly boring.
His search was short-lived though. Hearing his teammate succeed in her own hunt, Ian shuffled across the basement to inspect the wine bottles as well. To be honest, the young man wasn't too excited about drinking, but he knew a glass of wine never hurt anyone. It was healthy, even, when used sparingly. With that in mind, he carefully plucked up one of the bottles and looked it over.
Another loud crash of thunder rang out from outside, possibly causing the lights to flicker a bit...? Ian couldn't really tell. He took it as a sign that they should get back upstairs, though. "So uh, which one do you want, then?" Since he didn't really mind what was selected, he decided to let the Scout choose.
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Post by Eric on Nov 21, 2012 16:39:57 GMT -6
Although she spent several minutes examining the bottles, she actually had no idea what she was looking for. All of the bottles had equally foreign looking lables. Eric shrugged in response to Ian's question. "Dunmo. Guess these two look good," she replied, gesturing at the two bottles in her hands. If Achille wanted to complain about the choices, he could just get the others himself.
She returned the remaining two bottles to their original position and was about to turn and leave, when a different kind of crash caught her attention. The crash of boxes near the back of the room. The scout glared back at Ian, "Christ, would'ja be careful?"
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 21, 2012 21:10:55 GMT -6
The sudden crash of boxes behind them took Ian by surprise and caused him to jump. He turned to look in the direction of the sound right as Eric scolded him. "I-I didn't touch anything!" He snapped back quite defensively, positive that what had just happened wasn't his fault at all. But if so... what could it have been? Surely the booming thunder outside wasn't strong enough to cause something like that. Not at all.
Reluctantly, Ian walked over to where the boxes were now scattered. A quick scan of the area didn't pick up anything out of the ordinary -- maybe they had just been unstable all along and fallen on their own. Getting a good grip on one of the crates, he attempted to put it back in its place.
But wow, was it heavy. What was even in this thing to make it weigh so much? It took the scrawny Medic a bit of grunting effort, but eventually he was able to haul it off the floor.
That is... until it suddenly felt ten times heavier and forced itself back down onto his right foot with a loud 'thunk'.
Ian yelped as the cold numbness in his toes turned into hot pain under the box's weight, and he instinctively reached down to rip it off of him. When he went to pull it this time though, the crate easily flew upwards with his arms -- so much that the young man almost fell over backwards from trying too hard. Appropriately surprised, he quickly set the box down and hobbled a few steps backwards.
"Y-You saw that... right?" He asked Eric while glancing between the boxes and his hurt foot in disbelief. "Please tell me you saw that."
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Post by Eric on Nov 21, 2012 22:14:56 GMT -6
As a matter of fact, she had seen it, and was at that moment debating whether to stay with Ian or just leave then. More then reluctantly, she decided to stay, and took a few cautious steps towards Ian. Eyeing the box, she murmured in response, "yeah, yeah I saw that..." Eric paused a few feet away, still grasping the wine bottles firmly in her hands. "Like... maybe it was just heavier then you expected...?" Her own explanation came out uncertain.
"Well, look, either way we shou-" Before she could finish, she found herself flinching away from the feeling of something flying past her head, following by the sound of shattering glass. On the far wall, what looked like wine was splattered across the concrete. Fuck this. Fuck it all. Without waiting for something else to happen, Eric bolted out of the room, the only thing moving faster then her feet up the steps being her own heart beat.
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Ian
Truly Feared
Posts: 244
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Post by Ian on Nov 21, 2012 23:09:50 GMT -6
Before he could even grasp what happened, Ian was by himself in the basement... as far as he knew, anyway. But, if that were the case, how did a wine bottle suddenly propel itself across the room? He glanced over to the storage crate as he took uneasy steps towards the stairs. Sure enough, there was only a single bottle left sticking out of the box, with the last one in pieces on the far wall. The chill crawling up his spine told him not to stick around any longer though, and he got up the stairs as quickly as he could.
Once he was back into the main hall, Ian didn't hesitate to slam and lock the cellar door. He glanced down at his foot again and sighed, still shaken up from the events that had transpired down there. With any kind of logic, it was inexplicable... but he had this wound to prove it, and the pain too. It really happened.
There was also the unavoidable upset feeling caused from his teammate completely bailing on him down there. Even out in the hall, Eric was nowhere to be found. What was up with her? If she had been in his situation, it was no question he would have stuck by her. In fact, there had already been a few instances where the Medic had done just that. So then... why couldn't she do the same? No amount of rationalizing could relieve his disappointment in her at that moment.
Clinching his fists, Ian quietly turned and carefully began towards the ward. A crushed foot injury like the one he was sporting now could run the risk of healing improperly if left untreated, and he knew that. He'd have to get it wrapped up before returning to the kitchen.
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Post by Eric on Nov 21, 2012 23:23:37 GMT -6
Eric finally came to a stop in the kitchen. Oddly, the first thing she noticed after stopping was that her knuckles had turned while from clutching the wine bottles too tightly. She quickly placed them on the table and flexed her fingers, still trying to process what had just happened. There was no one someone could have gone down there, thrown the bottle, and left without being seen. And besides, who would want to do that? A RED? There were much easier and more convenient ways to go about harming someone then to throw wine bottles at them.
Achille seemed to be blissfully unaware of the events in the basement, so she decided the keep it that way, despite Ian not being with her. Wait, why wasn't Ian with her? Maybe he was taking longer because of his foot. At the thought, regret flooded over her at leaving without him. That was a pretty dick move. Too late to go back now, though. She would just hope he wouldn't be too mad. Waiting a moment to catch her breath, Eric said to Achille in what she hoped sounded like a casual tone, "Hey, I got two bottles, think these'll do?"
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