Solitude

[Jupiter]

Levi listened to him and laughed slightly. "Eh, I suppose that you've got this down, then, considering you can cook those things. I can't, I mean, I'm not a very good cook. I'm gonna have to learn real fast, because I don't want to have to ask you to cook for me. I should be able to cook for myself. I mean, I know a few Australian recipes, but like, you know. I don't reckon that there are any balmain bugs in there, so I don't think that that will be happening any time soon." He laughed slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "I should try and ask for them at some point, just to try and see if I can still cook them. I could try and make you some, but I doubt you'd want to eat it if you saw it." He laughed slightly and then watched him go over to the sink and get a drink of water.


He had to look away, but that didn't upset him quite as much as being next to a giant pool of water did. "Just make sure that when you wash the plates you actually use soap, Alex. Just rinsing it isn't gonna do jack-shit." He laughed slightly and then smiled. "Oh, that's another thing. You won't have to worry about the water involved in washing up duties, that doesn't make me like I was. That's fine, for some reason. Glad too, considering I-"


"Levi, Alex - To the living room."


Levi looked up and frowned, but then shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we have to go then." He hopped down from his seat at the dining table and then shrugged his shoulders slightly before making his way with Alex to the living room. When he saw the balloons, though... He just kind of... Didn't know what to say. His face scrunched up into some unreadable expression and he turned and looked at Alex.


"You're right. Creepy. How...?" He stopped when Beta bluntly spoke to Alex, and then sighed. "Beta, why are there balloons here?"


"You'll see, Levi."





By this point, the rest of the group had made their way into the living room, and were now looking around in surprise and... Concern, maybe?


Nali looked at Levi and Alex. "Did you guys do this?"


"Oh, yeah, I've totally got the power to blow this many balloons up in the five minutes I've been here. Yeah." Levi looked at her and shook his head, but a small smile made it's way onto his face as he looked around again. Hopefully Beta would explain soon.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Interesting." Mark said as he looked over the balloons. "Is there someone hiding in the house with us, Beta?" He asked, simply, but Beta didn't reply and instead started to go on about a load of bullshit about the ice breaker thing that was apparently going to go on now. Mark didn't like the fact that Beta didn't reply to his question, but hey, there wasn't much he could do there, was there? Most definitely not.


"Welcome to our ice breaker for the household. Here you are going to learn more about each other and what sort of things you like, who you are, and generally, what kind of person you'll be like to stay with over the next twelve months - aside from me, of course! Firstly, we're going to be going over what it is we do first here - firstly, what you need to do here is state your name, where you're from, how old you are, and anything else you'd like to include. Then, take a pin from the pot on the coffee table and pop a balloon of your choice - inside you will find a question. Read it out loud, and answer it." Beta explained. "Alex, let's start with you." He said.


"Sure, I guess..." He stepped out in front of everyone and sighed. "I'm Alex Cross, twenty one, and I'm from the City of San Carlos in California. I'm a bit of a party animal, but I suppose I'm a big brother more than anything." He chuckled a little and then turned towards the table, walking over and picking up one of the pins from inside it. He walked up to a dark blue balloon and quickly popped it, which Carly flinched at.


He leaned over and picked up the piece of paper, unfolding it and reading over it out loud.


"What are your interests?" He looked up at everyone. "Well, I like sport and teaching, and I play guitar. I also quite like cooking, as I've cooked for my brothers a lot over the years, so that's one of my new found talents, I guess. Other than that, I like parties. Lots of parties." He chuckled and tucked the paper into his pocket, smiling as he looked over everyone else once again.


"So, I can only guess we're working in rotation. Who's next?" He asked, scanning over all of them and smiling, awaiting someone's response. He was being his usual, cheery and friendly self. He wasn't going to change that that much until things really started to go bad.

 

[Jupiter]

Oh. Yay. An ice breaker. How fun. Levi sighed and rolled his eyes, but a small grin made it's way onto his face when he realised how cheesy the entire thing was. An ice breaker, really? I mean, I suppose it was a good way to get to know everyone, but it was a little bit... I don't know. Childish, in some ways. And creepy too, but that was mainly just the sudden appearance of the balloons. Anyway, he listened to Alex as he demonstrated, smiling slightly. He knew that he and Alex could get along well, even if they were different in many ways. Alex was just a really likeable guy.


Lana, who was quite enjoying the idea of an ice breaker, grinned widely and raised her hand after Alex had finished what he was saying. "I'll go next!" She was pretty cheerful, up for anything, and she was friendly. It would be difficult for her to not make friends in a place like this for a year, but it would also be easy for her to make enemies, with people like Jessica, mainly. It would be easy for anyone to be enemies with Jessica.


"I'm Lana Elks, I'm also twenty one years old, and I'm from Manhattan in New York." She grinned widely and then shrugged her shoulders. "What else would I like to include? Uh... Well. I am a vegetarian, I like to laugh, and I'm a hopeless sucker for romance films even though I know that all of them are bullshit." She laughed slightly and then shrugged her shoulders. "What can you do, though, right?"


Okay, time to pop a balloon.


"Uh... Let's see, balloon..." She picked up one of the pins and looked around the room for the balloon that felt right for her, and she walked over to a hot pink one before popping that one and then awkwardly leaning down to pick it up, and when she stood up again she unfolded it and then cleared her throat and read it out loud. "Oh, this is a simple one. What is your favourite colour? I mean, I like pink, variations of shades etcetera etcetera, and I like black, and white." She shrugged her shoulders and then backed away, a grin still wide on her face.


"Okay, that's me done... Sorry."


God, she hoped that she wasn't being too... Bubbly. She didn't want to scare anyone away.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'll go next." Jessica shrugged once Lana had stepped away - she stepped forward, her breasts near enough busting out of her shirt as she brushed her hair back over behind her shoulder. "I'm Jessica Briggs, I'm from Fort Lauderdale, in Florida." She smiled. "I like... Like Alex, I like parties, and I like alcohol. Sorry, but... Love it." She laughed a little, but got mere smiles out of a few of the other members of the household. Alex's smile was the most fake you could ever see, because behind that smile, his eyes screamed something roughly along these lines:


Jesus, I really fucking dislike this ratchet bitch.





Anyway, moving on from that. "My hobbies... I suppose I like dancing. Other than that... I don't know. Getting a sun tan, maybe? There's not much I'm good at. Not much." She smiled and looked over everyone, particularly the guys when she said that last part.


Cringe.





"Anyway. Balloon." She smiled and took hold of a red one and a pin from the table before driving the pin into it, picking up the paper from the floor and unfolding it, briefly reading over the question. "What are is your favorite animal?" She looked at it with an arched brow for a moment. She didn't like this sort of thing one bit. She hated this, she thought it was bullshit, she didn't think it was fun at all, but hey, there were plenty more balloons to go around, weren't there? Yep.


"Well, I'll have to say that... Owls are my favorite, would you believe it. Particularly snow owls. I can't stand spiders, so if you ever hear me scream at night, that'll probably be why." She smiled and tucked the paper into her pocket, and a thought entered Alex's mind and he had to suppress his laughter, so he curled his lips inwards so that it wasn't too obvious, but he had to look away. Why? Because this was the thought that had entered his head.


You'll probably be screaming over something else at night, slut.





"Right," Alex suppressed a chuckle with a cough instead and looked over everyone. "Next?" He asked, "I'm starving, let's make this quick, right?" He chuckled a little and stood back next to Levi - He was desperate to share his thoughts with everyone, but he hadn't quite reached the point where he was ready to argue with Jessica yet.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi wanted to grab two pins from the bowl and just drive them into Jessica's eyes, see if that got her screaming at night instead. He thought much the same thing as Alex did, though, in other words, and he just, well... Didn't want to say anything quite yet. He'd probably talk about it with Alex later, when they were both in bed or something like that, because he could tell by the fake smile that he felt kind of similar about this whole thing with Jessica.


Slut.





Anyway.


Levi was about to open his mouth and say his bit so he could get it over and done with. "Should I-"


Kit spoke up and interrupted him. "I am Kit Wallace, I am nineteen years old, and I am from Miami, Florida." He grinned widely and shrugged his shoulders. "I like to cook, and, watch documentaries about nature because it makes me realise just how awesome the world can be. If you've ever seen a great white shark eat a seal whole, you'll know what I mean." He laughed slightly and then shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, balloon time."


He picked up one of the pins and twisted it through his fingers as he walked over to a lime green balloon and popped it, then leaned down and looked at the question. "What's your favourite film?"


"Oh. That's easy. Now You See Me, that one about magicians, you know what I'm saying? It's intense, man, you guys have gotta watch it." He laughed and then looked over at Levi, who was glaring at him and had his arms crossed against his chest.


Pissed off? Eh, slightly.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'll go next, I suppose." Mark said, seeing as Levi didn't seem to speak up about it. He thought it was rude how Kit had just interrupted him like that, but he didn't say anything. Oh, wait, he did. "Levi was planning to go before you, Kit." He said. Don't forget that Mark couldn't tolerate rudeness at all, so seeing that had ticked him off before than you may realize. "Don't interrupt, okay?" He said, then stepped forward and stood in front of everyone with a small sigh. He looked over them all and finally put a smile on his face.


"My name's Mark Edwards. I'm nineteen, and I'm from Baltimore in Maryland - I guess there's not really much to say about me. I mean... I went to a school for gifted kids when I was fourteen, I've graduated psychology in college... And..." He looked at the floor. "Not got much else going for me right now - I've got no brothers or sisters, lived with my mother and step-father, and... Never had a girlfriend. Sad times." He chuckled a little, and Alex also gave a little laugh. Mark seemed pleasant enough, Alex thought. Definitely better than Kit, that was for sure.


"Other than that... I like reading, and, like Kit, I also like documentaries on animals, primarily. Not much else to me, so let me just..." He walked over and took a pin from the pot and walked to the balloons, grabbing a green one and popping it with it before leaning over and plucking the piece of paper off of the ground. He unfolded it and looked at it, smiling a little. "What sort of person are you?" He read it aloud, and then looked over everyone and shrugged.


"Tough question. I like to think myself as friendly, you know, quiet... Quite nervous at points. I have a massive phobia of the dark, so, dark nightclubs tend to be places that I avoid." He chuckled. "Other than that... I suppose I'm essentially a therapist, given my degree and all that. So... At the same time, I guess I'm pretty boring. And honest." He gave a little laugh and ran a hand through his hair, tucking the paper into his pocket.


"Would you like to go next, Levi?" He asked.


He'd graduated college already? Lucky fucker, Alex thought.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi was kind of... Wowed by Mark, in a way. I mean, he had graduated from college already, he must be a genius or something, not that he was going to pester him with questions about things and all that. Mark seemed like a good guy, he wasn't going to try and annoy him or piss him off or anything like that, he didn't deserve it. And anyway, that was for Kit to do, to piss everyone in the entire building off at least once throughout the next month, twelve times over the next year. At least.


Not that he intended to, like I've said before.


"Thanks, Mark, yeah, I'll go next." Levi nodded and then looked over at Kit who was smirking slightly, leaning against the arm of one of the couches. Oh, Levi just wanted to punch him right in the face, but he decided not to. I mean, he didn't want that on the first night, and he didn't want people avoiding him or laughing at him. He wanted to stay out of the limelight as much as possible and just be friends with good people, not draw attention to the negative things about himself.


"I'm Levi Valentine."


Is that his birth name, Kit wondered.


"I'm twenty years old, and I've been living in New Orleans, in Louisiana, but you probably already guessed that I'm actually from Australia, Melbourne to be exact." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, uh... I don't really know what to say about myself, it's kind of embarrassing talking about me in front of seven other people but you all managed it so I should be just fine. But, uh, yeah. I like art, spanning from the classics, to the modern day stuff, all the way to the tattoo world." He looked down at his arms, and then smiled slightly. "Uh, yeah. Balloons."


He grabbed one of the pins from the table and then looked up, and walked over to a white one and popping it before leaning down and picking up his question. "What is the first story about you that comes to your head?"


He looked up and around at everyone before letting out a laugh. "Weird question, but uh. Okay." He thought for a brief moment before smiling. "My cat, Heroin, once came across a huntsman spider which was in my bathroom back in Australia, he caught it, and started to eat it, and basically, long story short, he was coughing up spider legs for two days." He shrugged his shoulders. "It was the first one that came to my head, man."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Jessica could only grimace at the talk of spiders. Ugh. Huntsman spiders, at that. Those things were fucking huge and she didn't want anything to do with them. How did animals find the bravery to actually eat one of those things? The idea of even going near a spider was enough to scare her away from something, yet, animals seemed to eat the most venomous spiders without hesitation which she thought was absolutely insane. If they had any knowledge of what spiders could do to you, would they really eat them? Jeeze. Make you wonder, doesn't it? It's like the dogs that jump up and eat flies while they're buzzing around. Absolutely insane.


Alex smiled at Levi while he was talking and nodded once he was done, holding out a hand for to him for a high five when he came back to the group. Up next, who was there? It looked like it was just Carly to go now, and of course, Nali - He was kind of worried about Carly. She didn't seem to be the sort of girl that enjoyed things like this. Alex looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. "Carly, you want to go next?" He asked. She gave him a look and then hugged herself, nodding once.


"Sure." She squeaked, reluctantly making her way out in front of them all and looking over them all with a gulp, but she looked down at the ground. She didn't want to make any eye contact. "I'm Carly Jenkins... I'm twenty-one, and... And I'm from California like Alex." She said, wiping her forehead with one hand. "I'm from Fresno." She added, and Alex just smiled. She was doing okay for now. "I don't... I never really had any friends back in California. I didn't really... Socialize much, which is why I'm here. Sorta." She said, shrugging once, then walked over and picked up a pin from the pot.


Let's just say Alex didn't like the pins. He really didn't like them. He did it anyway, because it wasn't really as risky if he held it right - If someone else was holding it, he felt a little hot under the collar, so obviously, he was freaking out a little bit internally and sweating whenever he saw someone holding the pin up. He watched as Carly popped the balloon and smiled when she leaned over to pick it up.


She read it and gulped, "What is--.. What is your most memorable childhood... Memory..." She said, gulping once, her hands going weak as her mouth hung open a little and sweat started to form on her forehead.


After ten seconds of her standing there looking completely devastated, Alex called out. "You don't have to answer that one, Carly." He said, simply, and she looked up at him and immediately dropped it on the floor before falling back into the crowd and bowing her head, hugging herself.


Alex cleared his throat, "Nali?" He asked.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi high fived Alex as he rejoined his side and watched and listened to Carly beginning to talk about herself and where she was from. It was a little sad that she had no friends, it was probably because she was shy, or, Levi wondered, it might have been the reason that she was as shy as this. Either way, Levi would talk to her just like he'd talk to everyone else, unless she didn't want him to, same went for the others. He didn't expect everyone in here to like him, he just wanted at least one person, and it would appear that he found that person in Alex, thankfully.


And Nali, of course.


She had been watching Carly, and thinking about how she was going to try and help her feel more comfortable around everyone, but she was going to try and be her friend, too. She wanted her to have at least someone who she could feel like she could talk to. Nali wanted her to feel safe, and happy, here.


Anyway, it was her turn to go, now. "I'm Nali Kosla. I'm twenty years old and I'm from Detroit, in Michigan. There's nothing amazing to talk about me aside from... Well, I mean, I do a lot of charity and volunteering work, I try and work with others as best I can and I try and make sure that people in this world are treated equally no matter what. We're all people." She shrugged her shoulders and then picked up a pin and popped the balloon closest to her, then grabbed the question from the floor and smiled as she read it out loud. "What is your favourite hobby?"


She thought for a moment as she folded the question up and put it in her pocket. "I like... I like to dance, and I like to scrapbook things, I hope that's not weird I just love to look through and remember things." She smiled slightly, and then shrugged.


So now what?


Well, they spent a while going through all the balloons until there were no more left, answering questions and having an okay time. But finally Beta spoke.


"It is time for your first meal. Please proceed to the kitchen."

 

[DrTrollinski]

So that was the end of that. Alex was worried about Carly - Her social boundaries were very limited and she didn't like speaking about her childhood. That seemed to scream warnings to him, for some odd reason. What did that mean? Did that mean something had happened to her? Something traumatic? He didn't really want to think about it, but that was glued into his mind right now. He couldn't even bear the idea of it. He didn't even want to think of what she could have been through when she was younger. Was it a possibility that this was something that had followed her around her whole life? And she was so scared of getting into any form of social relationship because of that?


No, Alex was thinking too deeply. That couldn't have been the case. It wouldn't have made sense. Would she even want to be locked in a house alone with seven other people if she was so traumatized by something in her early days? Jesus, Alex wiped that thought clear from his mind and went back to the little ice-breaker they had going on, and of course, once they were done, there was the call for dinner which Alex really liked the sound of, so he lead them all out of the living room, desperate to eat something? He didn't want to cook, but if he had to, he would.


Once they got there, they saw eight plates, all of which were liked up side by side and a little metal plaque was leaned against each one, and they had their names engraved in them. He looked over at his dish and smiled - BBQ Chicken Pizza. His favorite. He couldn't wait to tuck into that, that was for sure. He looked over all of the other dishes and arched an eyebrow. They all seemed very specific. A little too specific.


That was when they all realized that this was their favorite dish, piping hot (or cold, whatever their preference was). Alex looked at the presumably shocked look on everyone's faces, but then listened to what Beta had to say.


"These meals were not prepared out of the ingredients you have access to here in the house. Enjoy."





"Beta, wait." Alex said.


Beta was silent.


That was two questions they needed answering. One: Why was their favorite dish there? And Two: Who the fuck put them there?


"I don't mean to freak anyone out, but that's my favorite food. And I think there's someone in the house with us." Alex gulped, looking around. The food looked fantastic, though, so he'd be eating it pretty soon. Just as soon as the figured out what the fuck was going on.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi walked into the kitchen happily, he was willing to make his own food just like Alex was, but then he saw that there were meals already prepared, sitting there, waiting. They certainly hadn't been there when they left the kitchen. He walked over to them and found his pretty easily, because it was his favourite food.


Barbecued shrimp and damper bread.


For Nali, it was kati rolls, biryani rice, and six momos.


For Lana, rosti casserole with baked eggs.


And for Kit, simply just a large burger filled with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled chicken.


These were all so specific. How did anyone know their favourite foods down to a T? Levi hadn't even told anyone in the place what damper bread was, and how did whoever had made these meals do it and make sure that they were all warm? Who put them here? Who was it that was with them?


Beta remained silent. No question was answered, and for a moment it was just awkwardly silent before Kit lifted his plate and took it over to the counter where the chairs were placed and sat down. Nali looked at him for a moment with her eyebrows raised. "Kit. What are you doing? Aren't you creeped out?"


"Yeah. But I'm hungry too, and it ain't gonna change anything, so I'm gonna eat the free meal." He shrugged his shoulders, and then began to dig in.


Nali looked at Levi and Alex. "What about you? Are you just gonna eat this? Alex, you're right, someone has gotta be in here with us. And it's creeping me out because we weren't told about it in the first place." She looked from Alex to Levi, and raised her eyebrows. But Levi... Well. He picked his plate up and moved one of the barbecued shrimps around his plate.


"I hate to admit it, but... Kit is right on this one. There may be someone in the house, but there's nothing we can do about it if it's part of the experiment, right? So we may as well eat the food that was given to us and accept that there may be people around who are trying to help set things up and make things easier for both the creators, the guys behind Beta, and for us." He shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing we can do about it. We signed up for a social experiment. We're just gonna have to deal with it."


Lana looked at him before looking down at her food. "I think that makes sense..." Her stomach let out a growl and she laughed slightly before picking up her plate and moving over with it to a free chair, that was far away from Kit. "The stomach has spoken, I'll think later." That made two that were now digging into the meal.


Levi shrugged. "We all need this meal, alright? Best to eat it now and just not question the rules of the experiment." With that, he took his food over to the surface and took a seat down far away from Kit but not quite sat next to Lana either. He was on one of the corners.

 

[DrTrollinski]

They'd gone all out on his pizza this time, and it looked at absolutely delicious. Cheese, breast chicken, pepperoni, red onions, peppers... Thin crust, BBQ sauce-covered base, it was great. He walked over and picked up the large pizza plate and carried it over to the counter. "I agree. We need to eat." He said. "And if we throw this away and waste our ingredients making more, we might run out before the month's up, and that's the last thing we need." He said, picking up a slice of pizza and and then lifted it to his mouth and took a bite, chewing on it with a smile on his face before swallowing it down.


"Tastes alright to me." He smiled. "Go ahead and eat up - We can't afford to worry right now. If there's someone in the house, we'll find them eventually, right?" He asked, biting into the slice again and chewing on it happily. He watched as the others went over and got their meals, too. First he looked at Mark, whom of which was looking at his dish - It looked to be lasagna. He didn't expect that to be Mark's favorite. He was expecting for it to be something a lot more fancy, but maybe not. He carried it over to the kitchen island and sat down, scooping some into his mouth.


"It's not poisoned." Mark said, smiling as he swallowed it down.


Carly picked up her plate. It was simply lemon chicken fillet with some fluffy thick potato fries, peas, and grilled tomatoes. She smiled and shakily carried it over to the island and sat down, tucking into it immediately. Jessica had something simple. Chili Con Carne and rice with Garlic bread. Wicked that is, right? Lovely stuff, I tell you. She was enjoying that, I think they all were.


"Jesus... It's fucking hot out here in Arizona, isn't it?" He laughed. "I think I'm gonna' take a cold shower tonight." Alex added. "I've got a sad feeling that none of us are going to sleep properly." He said, simply, then looked over all of them. "How is everyone's food?" He asked, shoving another bit of pizza into his mouth and chewing on it. God, he was enjoying this a lot.

 

[Jupiter]

While Levi began to tuck into his barbecued shrimp, he remembered that he needed to take his hormone treatment before bed. That always happened, he remembered when he was eating, because he used to always take it with meals but started forgetting and then taking them after meals, so now whenever he ate a meal he remembered that he needed to indeed take his tablets and get that shit done.


He tore off a bit of his bread and bit into it, letting out a small groan of satisfaction when he tasted it. This was probably he best damper bread he had ever tasted. "This is fucking great." He mumbled, in between mouthfuls, and he tried not to get crumbs all over himself but he couldn't help it. He was a bit of a messy eater, which was one of his downfalls. And he hated cleaning up after himself.


But here, he would do it. He didn't want anyone to have to clean up after him.


"I don't think any of us will be able to sleep but we should always try." Nali, contributed, smiling. "I mean, we'll probably all be tossing and turning, but, you know. If we get an hours sleep then it's better than nothing and..." She had a thought. "Beta, is there air conditioning in the bedrooms?"


"Yes, Nali. There is air conditioning inside each bedroom. There is a panel that can be located by the door of your room on the inside, and you may alter the temperature of your rooms."


"Oh, sweet!" Kit grinned widely and leaned back against the back of his stool. He was pretty glad that Jessica had decided to sit next to him. He hadn't told anyone, but he had a girlfriend back home. He didn't want to tell anyone at the moment, because every minute that he spent with Jessica just brought him closer to the decision of ending it with his girlfriend.


Lana didn't say anything, just slowly picked at her meal and ate it while she observed everyone else. She wasn't being quiet out of spite, but she didn't have anything to say. She was really tired, despite the nap she had had earlier, so she knew that he first thing she was going to do when dinner was done was go upstairs and sleep. She could shower in the morning, but for now, sleep was good. She wished that there were baths in this place as well as showers, but she'd have to cope with what she could. And, I mean, she knew that her shower had a shower seat but...


Still. A bath would have been better. She didn't know how long she would be able to go until someone fully figured out her secret, not long at all, especially if she kept making jokes or hints, but you know. She knew that Mark would have to know sooner than the others. She didn't exactly sleep with her leg on.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Alex smiled, "Oh, thank fuck." Alex laughed and took a long deep breath. Air conditioned rooms? There was no better thing than that when they were in the middle of the desert, was there? Definitely not. He was happy about that, and he just couldn't wait to freeze the room with cold air so that he could sleep at a comfortable temperature under his covers. He wanted to have a shower first, of course, but other than that, he was just enjoying his pizza. He didn't want this to end, because this was one of the best BBQ Chicken pizzas that he'd ever eaten, and he was just... God, he was loving it. Really. He was loving it.


He continued to eat his pizza as quickly as he could but did indeed savoir it, seeing as he knew that he probably wans't going to get anything like this for a while again. He wanted to make this himself, but he'd porbably use up half of ther ingredients if he did that. He didn't want to be the one that ran them out of house and home. How awkward would that be? It'd be just horrible, and then everyone would hate him, he really didn't want that. He wanted to relax and kick back, eat decent meals, and know that he and his new found friends weren't going to have to spread their food out to him because of his fuck-ups. He could make one pizza at the end of the month, maybe two if they had enough left over.


As soon as he was done with the pizza, he pushed the plate away and smiled as he looked over everyone else, "That was a taste of home right there." He smiled. "Beta, what time can we use the phones tonight?" He asked.


"The phone will be available for use for 90 minutes at one point tonight, after the kitchen has been cleaned." He replied.


90 mins. That was roughly eleven minutes on the phone each.


That wasn't enough for him to talk to his brothers, was it? Unless someone wanted to dedicate their phone time to him. He was hoping people would be kind enough to do that, but you know, you never know, do you?

 

[Jupiter]

Levi was happy that there was air conditioning. If there wasn't, it would be just like when he had been living alone in Australia for that one summer. God... Huntsman spiders, no air conditioning, no family, it was a lonely, terrifying, and uncomfortable time. But whatever, there was air conditioning here, and that was the point of this. He couldn't wait to go to sleep, just... I don't know. Finally have some kind of reality. He'd wake up, and everything wouldn't feel surreal anymore.


When he heard how long the phones would be switched on for, Levi thought for a moment. If there was one phone, and they all wanted to get to call someone, tell them they had arrived and that they were safe, then they had eleven minutes or so to do that. But Levi had no one to call. Everyone who was back home in Australia was probably asleep, and he had no family or friends in New Orleans. He turned to Alex. "Hey. You... You can have uh... Extra time on the phone. I mean, we're gonna have to take it in turns, right? So, I mean, I don't have anyone to call, so you can have my phone time while I unpack some more, or something." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.


Kit had only one person to call, and that was his girlfriend. He didn't really need to call his friends tonight, he could call them tomorrow or something, but he needed to call his girlfriend and break it off with her or something like that. Or tell her he was there safe. He probably wouldn't be able to gather the courage to break up with her, not for a little while anyway.


Lana and Nali both needed to call tier parents, but Nali's parents were old and didn't know how to work phones quite so well, so those conversations would be short and sweet, whereas Lana's conversation with her dad would be quite long in comparison. Still. It didn't take long for the two of the girls to finish their meals, and look around at the others. Kit was still pretty much devouring his and chewing slowly, and Levi was now just slowly chewing on his bread, but he only had around one more mouthful next.


Lana stood up and picked up her plate, taking it over to the kitchen sink and washing it, before thinking for a moment. She walked over to Mark, leaned against the counter (obviously on the side that didn't have any stools) and gestured to his plate. "I can wash up that, if you'd like?" She smiled, and then, when he had definitely finished she took his plate over to the sink and washed it up, dried that and her plate, and then put them in the appropriate places in the cupboards after looking around for theirs.


It wasn't long until others finished their meals and began to clean up after themselves, Levi making sure that he cleaned up the crumbs from the floor and the surface, then reluctantly washing his plate under the hot tap but trying to avoid water as much as he could. It made him feel all squeamish, and he just... Ugh. He didn't know.


Anyway, the point was that it was soon pristine in there, all eight people working towards one goal: phone time, or time to go upstairs.


"Beta, can we use the phone now?" Nali finally asked.


After a moment of silence, Beta finally spoke. "The phone has been switched on. You have ninety minutes, beginning now."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"You can have my phone time, too, Alex." Carly squeaked. "I don't want to call anyone back home." She said, Alex was worried that she was just doing that to be nice, but he decided not to question it further. He could speak to both brothers for fifteen minutes a pop, roughly, and that was like, the best thing ever. He smiled at them both in a sense that could never be put to words. It was a smile that was so grateful for the opportunity that they'd offered him, but he couldn't just sit there speechless like that. He looked over them both again and kept the smile going, but this time, he spoke.


"Thanks so much, guys. You have no idea how much this really means to me." He smiled at them both. "I can speak to either brother for a whole fifteen minutes, that's just... That's amazing, really." He chuckled and then ran a hand through his hair, but of course, he had some cleaning up to do, so he took his plate, wiped up any crumbs he'd left behind, and then went and washed his plate up in the sink. I'll admit, he was a little bit panicked when he felt a fork jab his hand under the water, so he immediately ripped his hands out of there and looked into the hot bubbly water, pushing some of the bubbles aside so that he could get a rough idea of what it was. He sighed and just shook his head with a laugh, feeling rather stupid.


What else would it have been in there?


He finished washing up his plate, and by the time that everyone was done, Nali was asking about the phone. Ninety minutes started now, and he'd be appreciative if he could get the first thirty of them. He'd promised his brothers something, and he'd been itching over it all day since they'd gotten here. He didn't like the phone time rule. Couldn't they just unlock the phone for the whole day so that they could use it whenever? And monitor the phone calls? I mean, Alex had no doubt that Beta was already doing that, so...


"Guys... Would you have any objection if..." He sighed and looked over everyone, feeling rather awkward. "I can appreciate the fact that a lot of you have family you want to call, and... I don't know how many of you have younger siblings, or older ones, but... I've got two brothers, aged ten and thirteen, and... We were really close. Really close. And they're the only reason I regretted getting a spot here. I know it sounds inconsiderate, but... Would you mind if just for tonight, I got on the phone first? I promised them that I'd call them as soon as we got here, but seeing as I never got the chance, I know that all they'd have been doing for the past few hours is panicking about where I am, and they don't need that in their life. They don't deserve it." He said.


"Levi and Carly dedicated their phone time to me... So I'll won't go anything over thirty minutes. I promise." He said.


"I have a few girl friends I need to call." Jessica spoke out, inconsiderately.


Mark shot her a glare, "Blood is thicker than water. Jessica." He said her name with a bit of an 'umpth' to it.


I don't think there was any reason more valid than that.


"I have no objections, Alex." Mark said.


"Me either." Jessica mumbled bitterly, looking at the floor.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi didn't need to have a say in whether or not he used the phone first or last, he just put his hands in his pockets and looked around at everyone else, seeing how they would react to it. When Jessica objected, Levi just wanted to hit her in the face, but he remained where he was, and smiled when Mark hit her with the blood and water quote. Though he absolutely hated that quote when it was used that way, he loved it when it was used in the full version.


The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.


Basically, your friends matter more than your family. To Levi, that was the case, but to others he could understand why the whole thing be twisted, and he wasn't about to say anything in Jessica's favour. He looked around at the others after those two agreed that Alex could have the phone.


Kit... Eh, he was alright with that idea, so he just nodded his head and shrugged. Nali and Lana were both fine with it too, I mean, as long as they got their minutes then they were perfectly fine with that. "I think we all agree that you can go use the phone." Nali smiled at him, and then shrugged.


"Go on, times a wastin', mate." Levi winked at him, and then pushed away from the kitchen side. He had an important question to ask Beta, it couldn't really wait any longer. "Beta, are, uh, are there any areas where we're allowed to smoke?"


Lana turned and looked at him, raising her eyebrows. She didn't exactly agree with smoking, but she wasn't going to say anything.


'You may smoke in any areas outside of the front of the house.'





Levi nodded slowly before walking away from the group and out of the room. His cigarettes were in a drawer in his bedroom, along with his lighter (it had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it), so he went and retrieved those before walking out of the front door and over to the grass, where he pulled one of the cigarettes out of the packet and lit it. He was well aware that this was probably something he shouldn't have announced, it wasn't a popular thing, but still.


He was addicted.


Back inside the house, knowing that there was a full half an hour until the phones would next be free, Nali (who had already fully unpacked) exited the room and made her way to the living room, walking towards one of the bookcases and trailing her fingers along the spines until she found a book that she could consider interesting. It was a book about the reversal of racism, where the world was run by black people, Crosses, and white people were the lower class, Noughts.


Noughts and Crosses. A very brilliant book.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Alex thanked everyone and then immediately rushed to the phone, picking it up off the hook and quickly punching in the number. He waited for the ringing, not really knowing that the home phone number had been logged by the system the house was on. He waited. He was really anxious, because he could hear nothing but ringing for a nice long while, when realistically it was only ten seconds. He waited, and when he heard the phone get picked, he held his breath but gasped in relief when he heard his younger brother's voice shoot down the phone to him.


"Hello?"


"Oh my god. Hey, it's Alex." He laughed, rubbing his head with his free hand.


"Alex!" Adrian yelled happily. "We've missed you so much already, are you okay? Is it nice where you are?" He asked.


"It's... Awesome, dude." He chuckled. "Really hot, but the house is awesome. Really awesome." He smiled while speaking. "How about you? Was school okay for you?" He asked softly, then took a deep breath.


"Yeah, it's going fine." He smiled. "Or, it went fine, I mean." He added.


"Good... How's your brother?"


"He's okay, too." He said. "He's missing you, though." He said, simply, "He told me that you'll be home on the same day next year, right?" He asked, softly, and Alex just chuckled into the phone and nodded even though Adrian couldn't see it.


"Yes, next year, September 1st." He said. "Maybe the 2nd. If it's not the second, then it's very late at night on the first, okay?" He laughed a little bit. "I'm so sorry I left, bro... I didn't want to leave you guys behind, I really didn't."


"It's all good, man, don't worry." He said, "We're gonna' look after each other for when you get back. We're gonna' be taller, though." He said.


"Yep, I know. You'll be as tall as me when I get back." He laughed, holding the phone tightly against his ear. He'd been dying to talk to at least one of his brothers all day, so doing it now not only had him in tears, but he was so happy, too. So very, very happy.


"How often can you call us?" He asked.


"I can give you both about fifteen minutes every day." He smiled. "Around this time, if not a little delayed by half an hour or so." He said, simply.


"Okay. I won't know if it's you, though. The number's private." He replied.


Hm. Private number. Alex figured that that was to stop people from figuring out where they were. The problem is, if anyone in the house spoke about the exact location of where this house might have been, the phone would get shut off for the rest of the night. That meant they'd have to wait until the next day to call someone again. If they continued to speak about the location, just how bad would the consequences be? Would the phone line get shut off permanently for the whole year? Alex would much rather jump the fence than wait a whole year to talk to his brothers again, even if he did get electrocuted.


For the five minutes he took up already, he spoke to Adrian for another ten and then got his brother Joseph on the phone, who was doing exactly what Alex had told him to do and taken his role as the big brother. Seeing as it was only a Tuesday, the boys couldn't stay up very late, but Joseph told him how his plans to drink hot chocolate and watch TV with Adrian were about to take effect as soon as he was off the phone. Alex was proud of him for that. He'd stepped up and was doing what a good brother would do. He wasn't leaving like Alex did.


So, after a long conversation with them both, he had to put the phone down, after saying goodbye and telling them both that he loved them more than anything, like, ever. They didn't know that he was crying his eyes out on the other end, because he was great at masking and disguising sadness. Once he had hung up, he turned and called into the house. "Phone's free!" He yelled, then turned and walked out of the front door to join Levi outside, then looked at his cigarette and all and sighed.


"Hey, think I could get one of those?" He asked, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi was sat on the grass. Well, he was laying on the grass, one arm behind his head and the other rested across his chest, every so often coming up so that he could take a drag of his cigarette. He had decided to have two, spying a cigarette bin just next to the front door, so he had had one, sat for a moment, and then had another. He felt like he really needed it, and deserved it, and plus he hadn't had one since he left Louisiana. He really, really needed this.


When Alex exited the house, he turned his head slightly and looked over at him, smiling slightly, and then pushed himself up to his feet and smiled. "One of these?" He looked at the cigarette in his hand, and then shrugged his shoulders. "I... I guess. I wouldn't have thought you were a smoker, to be honest, but sure. Just don't exhaust my supply, man. I may have a months worth in my suitcase upstairs, but if I have to go without for a while it ain't gonna be pretty for anyone in this house, I reckon." He nodded his head slowly, and then put his cigarette in his mouth and held it there while he pulled his packet out of his back pocket.


He passed one to Alex and then lit it for him (who didn't want a ninja turtle lighter, though, seriously?), before pocketing everything again and then taking his out of his mouth. "What's up, mate? I mean, it's probably none of my business, but you're crying and you can talk to me about it if you want."


-


Next up to the phone was immediately Nali, and she dialled her home phone number after a moment of trying to remember what it actually was. When her father picked up the phone, his thick accent bellowing a hello, she smiled widely and instantly began speaking in Punjabi to him. It wouldn't take long for her conversation to be over, considering her father didn't like using phones and her mother was busy cooking dinner for at least three hundred people even though there were only two people eating it.


The conversation went along the lines of lectures about boys, them trying to convince her to come home, and then a lecture about how her sister was supposed to be her role model and she would never be caught doing anything like this.


Kit watched in horror as she practically yelled down the phone in a language he didn't understand (she wasn't yelling, her mother just couldn't hear her), and when she finally hung up, he instantly jumped on his opportunity to use the phone while Nali ran upstairs to go shower. She was desperate to go to sleep, but she had to shower first.


The phone rang for a moment, and Kit crossed his fingers that she would pick up the phone.


Hi! It's Veronica, I can't come to the phone right now but-





Kit hung up and tried again.


Hi! It's-





Okay, so his girlfriend wasn't picking up. He took that as a sign that she was busy and he could do whatever he wanted for the night, so he dialled his friends number instead, who picked up almost instantly.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm not a smoker." He said, taking a drag of the lit cigarette as he sat down on the grass beside him and then lied down on the grass, one arm behind his head like Levi had. "I just feel like I need one. I've only ever been a social smoker. As in, I'll have one here and there." He said. "The most I'm gonna' ask for is one every now and then, don't worry, I can assure you I won't be running you dry." He chuckled softly and wiped his eyes again, but then took another drag of the cigarette and slowly blew the smoke out of his lungs and into the air. He'd probably run this cigarette dry pretty quickly, right down to the golden line.


"I'm just a bit upset from talking to my brothers, that's all. I mean, my little one, he's fine, school's good - Eldest is missing me a lot, though." He said, simply. "It feels like I've been away from them for a year already, and it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet." He said, then shrugged once and sighed. "I don't know. I'm just grateful I get to speak to both of them for more than five minutes each, you know? I've got you and Carly to thank for that." He smiled. He wanted to talk about Carly, actually, now that he thought of it. He didn't know where to start, though. Should he just say to him that he was concerned about her? That would work, right? I'm sure that would work, because he couldn't have been the only one that was concerned about her, right?


"I'm worried about Carly, now that I mention it." He said, simply. "I don't know why, but I think there's a lot more to her than meets the eye." He said, sighing. "I don't know if you've noticed it, but there's just some things that she won't talk about, and she's just... She doesn't like people going near her, I've noticed. I want to talk to her somehow, see if she's okay and make sure there's nothing that's gonna' bring her down while she's here, you know? I don't want her to suffer for a year with us, if there is something." He said, simply. "I don't know, maybe it's just me. I'm not always the best at analyzing people." He laughed gently and puffed on the cigarette again. Filthy habit, but he didn't mind doing it every now and again.


--


After approximately eleven minutes of waiting, Mark approached the phone that Kit was still occupying and tapped him on the shoulder. "Kit, you eleven minutes are up." He said, "Make a move, friend." He said, patting his shoulder once again. He was in no mood for arguments here, and if Kit wasn't going to move, he'd take the phone by force, because he was hot and bothered, and honestly in no mood to be fucking around and waiting for some douche like Kit to get off of the phone. Who was he speaking to? His drug dealer? It was probably something like that, and Mark just didn't have the fucks to give for it right now. Even Alex had gotten off the phone sooner rather than later.


And I mean come on, Alex was speaking to his brothers, for Christ's sake. They were definitely more important than whoever Kit was speaking to. What was he bragging about now? How big Jessica's tits were, or something? Mark didn't even want to think about it. He just wanted him off of the phone because he was really beginning to get ticked off.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, then. You know, you will be fine. I know it's gotta suck, you seem really really close to your brothers, you could be blind and still see that, but you know. If I could give you more time on the phone, then I would, seriously. You could have the whole ninety minutes if it were just me and you here, I have no one to call, so. And I mean, there'll probably be times where the others don't even want to use the phone, and then you'll have even more extra time, because if they're smart they'll probably give it to you so you can talk to them." He smiled slightly, and then took another drag of the cigarette.


"Carly... You don't have to be good at analysing people to know that there's something that's upsetting her. She might be shy, she might have come from a broken home. For the next year, it's our job to make her feel welcome and happy, just like all the other people in this place. We shouldn't force her to talk about anything, though, I mean, that could make the whole thing worse. You should just... Casually start a conversation with her, or something, you know what I mean?" He shrugged his shoulders.


"Social smoker... I never quite mastered that. Started during my last few months in Australia, couldn't stop, and now it's the bane of my life. It's expensive, it's disgusting, it makes me feel like shit if I don't have one, and it stinks." He sighed, and then took another drag. "Can't stop." He shrugged his shoulders again before sitting upright completely. "I hate to leave you alone out here, but I'm gonna go shower real quick, and then I'm gonna crash or something." He smiled at him, patted him on the shoulders, and then pushed himself up to his feet.


"Don't worry about your brothers, okay? They'll be perfectly fine, you can talk to 'em every day. You should find out if Beta will let you video call 'em from somewhere, one day." He smiled again, and then made his way to the cigarette bin, where he carefully put his cigarette out and then disposed of it before walking inside and up the stairs to his and Alex's room, then into the bathroom.


Water time. Yay.


-


Kit turned and looked at Mark and raised his eyebrows. "Aw, man, come on. We're talking about-" He decided not to tell him. I mean, it was worthless information and it'd probably just made him angrier or something like that, so he sighed. "Okay, let me just say goodbye... Yeah, Tyler, I know. I know, yeah, but I gotta go, okay? Oi, shut your mouth, I'll update you tomorrow or some shit. If you see Veronica around, by the way, tell her to be on the phone this time tomorrow, alright? Yeah. Yeah, bye." He hung the phone up and smiled at Mark.


"There you go, that alright for you?" He shrugged his shoulders and then walked away from him, deciding to go upstairs and shower. Everyone wanted to get rid of the sweat that was all over their bodies, that wasn't such a problem, was it?


After Mark had used the phone, Lana was next in line, and she smiled at him before she dialled her fathers number, who she reassured, and spoke to about her day for eleven minutes. She missed him greatly, he was all she'd had at home, her mother was gone, and so she was going to be really upset to only have eleven minutes of him each day, but it would be okay. She'd be fine in the long run, she was sure, because like her father always encouraged... It was important to get out there and do as much as you could, even if it was something you never thought you would do.


Eventually, she hung up the phone and made her way upstairs and to her and Mark's room. Shower time. Gotta make use of that handy shower seat. God, it was so embarrassing.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I appreciate the kind words, man. It's nice to know that you've got my back on all of this, you know what I mean? It's really great, honestly. I'd love to speak to them for longer, but fifteen minutes each is more than enough for me, you know?" He smiled and shrugged once, but nodded when he stood up to walk inside and sighed. "I won't be too far behind you. I'm gonna' sit out here, catch some fresh air and appreciate the anti-snake mechanism we've got in place. Seriously, I don't know how Kit and Jessica even survived in Florida. Fuckin' alligators in the pool and snakes in the toilets..." He laughed and shook his head. "My youngest brother, terrified of anything to do with swimming up through the toilet. He heard a story about it when he was seven, and he never stopped checking the toilet before he used it. Ever." He grinned and then looked up at the night sky.


"I can tell you some stories of me and then if you have any trouble getting to sleep - I mean, usually, thinking about the two of them helps me sleep pretty well, but hey, if you're bored tonight and want a funny story, just give me a shout. I probably won't sleep so great tonight, anyway." He laughed a little and took a long deep breath. "As for Carly, yes, I know..." He said. "I won't try and push it - If she wants to talk about it, she will, right?" He nodded. "Let's just be nice to people, shall we?" He laughed a little bit and then looked at the cigarette between his fingers, of which was now burned up. He walked over to the cigarette trash can when Levi had gone inside and put it down in there.


He always regretted it after smoking, unless he was drunk. He didn't know why. He thought it was quite odd - How you got eleven minutes (apparently) taken off of your life when you smoked a cigarette. He then realized that most of the other house guests were only allowed eleven minutes on the phone to their loved ones, which he thought was a creepy little coincidence. Anyway. He'd go back inside soon enough.


He stayed outside for a couple more minutes, just looking up at the stars that were beginning to come out at long last. The September sun had gone in, but it was still a scorching night and he was sweating. He knew that his shirt was completely drenched with sweat, but what was there that he could do about that, exactly? Not much, to be honest. He walked back inside once he'd had his fair share of fresh air outside, then walked upstairs to his room and went in.


He couldn't hear the shower running, so he made two assumptions:


He hadn't showered yet, or, he'd made it a very quick shower.


He walked over and lied down on his bed, but only after getting a vest top out of his drawer. He didn't bring any PJ's. He didn't like sleeping in PJ's - He hadn't done that since he was about thirteen. After that, he sort of went off of them. He preferred nice simple clothing, you know what I mean? He didn't like wearing anything baggy to bed because he always found it uncomfortable.


--


Mark was lying on his bed, too, just sitting there reading a book called '20 Years Later' My E. J. Newman. He found it quite interesting so far, and he was only one Chapter in so far. Ah, well. When he heard the bathroom door open up, he didn't even bother looking. She might have been able to run on the assumption that Mark didn't know about her leg, but the truth was that he did. He knew all about it the moment she made that comment in the garden. He was just too smart to let something so simple slip by him. He honestly did want out of here already, but at the same time, he enjoyed the fact that he was away from his home state.


Technically, he was closer to his original one, but more on that later.


"I had no idea you were an amputee." He said, simply, but not in a rude manner. He didn't mean for it to sound rude, so he was hoping she didn't interpret it that way, either. He was actually hoping to surprise her more than anything - He was wondering if she was thinking people knew about it or not.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi showered very, very quickly. He hated it, he hated showering and he hated water, and he always just wanted to say fuck it and shower tomorrow instead, but if he did that then he would never shower, and he wasn't one of those people. He valued cleanliness, he wanted to be clean, hygienic, he wanted to smell nice. He just wished that water didn't have to be involved in that for him to get there. When he showered, he was literally in and out in around two minutes. You may wonder how he managed to do it quite that quick, but seriously, he didn't fuck around in there.


He could barely even breath when he was in the shower, he felt trapped, and like within seconds he would drown, so he did it very, very quickly. Wash his body in the first forty seconds, and the rest of that time was used to wash his hair as quickly as he could, and then he stepped out of the shower and dried off faster than you could even blink. Of course, his hair was a different matter. It was wet, and he couldn't dry it because he didn't have a hair dryer, and plus when he used a hairdryer it just made his hair look a complete mess, so... He had to let it dry naturally.


Which was torture.


Anyway. Considering he was out of the shower now, he made his way over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed his hormone treatments, popped one out, and then took it quickly, dry, and put it all back. That was step one, now he had to brush his teeth and all that jazz. Brilliant stuff. He managed to do that all pretty quickly, but he then realised that, foolishly, he had forgotten to bring in the shirt that he wore for bed. He pulled his boxers on and sighed for a moment before opening the door to the bathroom and making his way over to the dresser.


His arms weren't the only part of his body that were tattooed, that was for sure. Some on his back, on his chest, and one or two on his leg, each one was vivid and different, but not all of them had stories. Some of them were just things that he liked. Such as the small slice of pizza tattoo on his arm. On his chest, though, were not just tattoos. Two scars, quite prominent, but also quite old. Below them both were words inked into his skin, but before Alex could even think about reading them, Levi pulled his shirt over his head. On that shirt? Simply: 'People disappoint, pizza is eternal'.


Levi collapsed down on his bed, pulling his pillow underneath his head and moving around for a moment until he got comfortable.


-


Lana had showered and got changed into her pyjamas, and she walked from the bathroom to find Mark laying on his bed reading. She thought that he would be fine there, that he might not even look at her leg, and she could just get in bed and take it off and maybe avoid any questions for now. But she couldn't, it wasn't that simple.


She sat down on her bed when he spoke, and raised her eyebrows.


"Oh? Did you not? Funny, I get that a lot. Especially when I park in handicapped spots and I get out of my car, people always give me dirty looks." She shook her head slowly, and pulled both of her legs up onto the bed, then rolled up her pyjama pants on one leg, just above her knee. Her leg was made of metal from just below her knee down, and her metal foot was covered in a bright pink sock to match her other one. She ran her fingers along the metal slowly and then looked at him. "Congratulations."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Once Levi had come out of the shower, he instantly hopped up from his bed and smiled at him. “I need a somewhat cold shower tonight, man.” He laughed a little and then walked over towards the bathroom, brushing himself down as he did so. Once he reached the bathroom door, he pushed it open and looked at Levi for a second more. “I’ll be out in five minutes, alright?” He smiled and nodded at him, then walked into the bathroom and locked the door. He didn’t mind sleeping in his underwear, so he decided that that would be the best course of action for him. He walked in and stripped off, then hopped into the shower super quick and turned the hot water on, then the cold, and adjusted that until he had the perfect balance.


The water was slightly cool, but not freezing.


He had a good wash then, soap all over the body, hair smothered in shampoo and conditioner, and just in general standing under cooling water which made him feel so much better than he was feeling before. He felt groggy and sick before, and although he still felt sick now, he was feeling a little better than usual. He was ninety-nine percent certain that he had sunstroke, though. Heatstroke, rather. He remember when his youngest brother was about five years old, he got heatstroke and was throwing up all night long from it. He was hoping that wouldn’t happen to him, but you never know, do you?


Once he was all clean and felt cool enough, he hopped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, quickly drying himself off and then drying his hair, too. Once he was all good there, he slipped on his white vest top, and then his boxer shorts again. He walked out of the bathroom and went over the drawer where all his stuff was in the dresser, then pulled out a comb and quickly combed his hair down. His hair was still rather damp and all, but hey, not much you could do there.


He walked to his bed and lied down, taking a long deep breath.


“And I’m nearly sweating already.” He sighed, taking a deep breath, but then finally gave a little laugh. “Ah, man, it could be worse, but is the air-con on in here?” He asked. “Jesus, I’m boiling. I don’t think I’m gonna’ sleep well tonight. I feel really sick, I think I’ve got heatstroke.” He said, quietly. “It’s shit. A Californian with heatstroke? Sounds like more of a pussy to me.” He chuckled gently and then closed his eyes, setting his head on his pillow. “Gah, fuck my life.” He said, eventually.


--


Mark looked at her and smiled a little. “I see.” He said, nodding, then placed the open book down on the nightstand and moved into a sitting position. “How did that happen?” He asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course.” He said, simply. “I’m just trying to make conversation. We can play twenty-one questions if you want.” He laughed. “Or maybe less than that, because I need to shower, and I’m exhausted after today.” He chuckled a little bit and shrugged, then rolled over onto his side and looked across at her, keeping the smile up. He was only being friendly. He had no means to be rude or upset her.


He’d gladly answer any questions, just as long as it wasn’t about why he had a phobia of the dark. That was something he’d never forget, but never wanted to remember, either. He’d never share that with anyone.


Well, not yet, at least. He just won’t do it willingly.

 

[Jupiter]

Levi smiled and nodded at him, watched him make his way into the bathroom, and then, when he disappeared, he rolled over onto his side and dived into his bedside table. No, he wasn't getting anything sneaky, he wasn't doing anything weird, he was picking up his iPod, and listening to that for five minutes with his eyes shut, only one earphone in. He tapped his fingers to the beat while he waited for Alex to come back, and when he did he smiled widely and looked at him, turning his music down and turning his head to the side so that he could look at him while he spoke.


He grinned widely and then pulled his earphone out after pausing his music. "I know what you mean. I've lived my entire life in heat, then come to New Orleans for a year where it pretty much rains all the time, would you believe it, and now I'm thrown back into the heat. You'd think that the Australian blood would prevent me from even caring about the heat but here we are, I'm sweating a bucket an hour and I'm like 50% sure that I've got sunburn on my neck. Which is impossible. Because I literally never burn." He laughed slightly and then shrugged his shoulders and sat up.


"I don't actually think that the air con is on though, you know. I didn't set it when I came in, and unless you did, it's off." He stood up and made his way over to the little panel by the door, it looked easy enough to work, so he lowered the temperature down considerably and then made his way back to his bed. "It's on now, though, that's for sure. Maybe that means we'll be able to sleep tonight. And, hey, if you have heatstroke, then you might want to consider having a bucket by your bed or something like that, just saying."


He shuffled backwards and leaned against the wall, resting his head back against it. "This is so weird for me. I've lived alone for a year so I've gotten used to just sleeping naked so now I'm wearing clothes and I feel so restricted." He laughed and then grinned widely. "I'm not a creep, I'm not gonna sleep naked here, that'd just be weird. Especially because of those." He pointed over to the small camera and then sighed. "Worst case scenario, I'm going shirtless, but that's it, I promise."


-


She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows when he asked how it happened, and then she looked away from him and sighed. "I don't mind you asking, I get it a lot when people find out. I like to switch up the story depending on whether or not I'm going to see them again. I told one girl that I got it bitten off by a shark. I told a guy I met that I had to saw it off to escape a life threatening situation, but none of those kinds of things are true." She shrugged her shoulders and then began to mess with the strap that was above her knee that kept the leg on.


"I'll tell you the truth, though, because I have to live with you for a year." Once the strap was loosened, she massaged where it had been gently, it was always done too tight, otherwise it would fall off, so her leg was always sore there. "My dad and I liked to go climbing and hiking a few times a year. We lived in New York, but we were constantly travelling around to try and get to places where we could explore and climb. Two years back we went to Silver Mountain." She gulped, and then continued. "We'd climbed it before when I was a kid but this time we were actually going to the top, and we were trying to race each other. As my dad got further away from me he was laughing, because it was all a big joke, I mean, we loved to climb, he loved to win..."


"My ropes got caught on something, and they broke... And I fell. And I blacked out before I reached the bottom, but when I woke up... I had one leg, and the thought of climbing ever again doesn't stop making me nauseous. Now I can't even look down a flight of stairs without feeling as if I'm going to fall and die. You won't get me near a mountain again, and living in New York is the worst now because we live in a high rise apartment. That's it. That's my story." She sighed, and then turned and smiled at him before looking down at her leg again and finally pulling it away and placing it down on the floor by her bed.


It stopped just below her knee, so she could still bend it there if she wanted to, which was one of her favourite things to do because she found it so weird and creepy to watch it bend like that.


She turned to look at him again. "Your turn. What's so interesting to you about learning and intelligence? I don't mean for that to sound offensive, by the way, I just wonder. You're very intelligent, is there a reason or is that just the way it is?" She smiled slightly, and then shuffled backwards and grabbed some moisturiser from her bedside table, and opened it before pouring a small bit into her hand so that she could massage it into the end of her leg, and above the knee. It was always so sore...