question everything | private

uss · 01-30-2017, 04:11 AM

[align=center][div style="fancypost bgcolor=transparent; bordercolor=transparent; width: 500px"][justify]Morning. Russell was glad it came, so glad in fact that he was up at the crack of dawn- as soon as the rays of sun streamed through his window at around 6:15am, he was out of bed, headed to the communal bathrooms. He assumed that nobody else would be up (as nobody had until this point), so he walked out of his room with little on besides boxer shorts. They were an almost comical in their design- black fabric covered with small palm tree designs and... well, pink flamingos. The print was subtle, for the most part, so it would take someone a close look to identify what it was- or, at least he'd hope that was the case. Regardless, the thought of other people entering the bathrooms while he was there didn't really pass his mind, and he opened the door with a few items in his hands.

He passed the showers and went straight to the sinks, placing a toothbrush, comb, hand towel, and a bottle of pills next to it. Briefly, Russell would glance at his reflection, who met his dark gaze with amused opposition. Although the shorts he was wearing were absolutely ridiculous, he... well, he kinda pulled them off, his figure tall and leanly muscular. Not that it mattered to him, of course. The man would turn on the faucet, cupping his hands beneath the cold water with intentions to wash his face. Little did he know that he was in for an embarrassing surprise within the next few moments.

melantha · 01-30-2017, 04:43 AM

[align=center][div style="0px; width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; color: #000000"]( OH MY GOODNESS IM DECEASED )

The only thing that made living on this godforsaken ice cube were the sunrises. Mel was naturally an early riser, but there was something truly amazing about the flaming sun conquering the vast, wintry horizon. The star's rays reflected magnificently off the powdery snow, captivating the woman with its glory. It had only been three days since her arrival at the lodge, and yet every morning she was up at 4:30 with a cup of hot tea and wrapped in a warm blanket and enjoying the utter silence of the building. Once the moment was over, a mere nine minutes, she cleaned up after herself, and headed toward the bathrooms.

Raised in a military family, Melantha was never one to take long showers. Granted, the lack of water heaters made the water nearly as cold as the temperatures outside, so the duration was cut from seven minutes to five - shampooing, conditioning, bodily cleansing. All done. With a sigh, the woman resisted the urge to shiver against the freezing water and shut off the water. Promptly, almost mechanically, she grasped her towel and dried herself off. Just as the woman pulled on her sports bra and secured her curly brown locks within the confines of a secondary towel, she heard the doors open and shut, the padding off bare feet against the tile.

Since this was a communal bathroom, Mel was not really all that concerned. She merely gathered her toiletries and donned some pajama shorts before heading (quietly) towards the exit. Uncomfortable around strangers, the slight woman generally kept to herself; hence her inclination to ignore the unknown person until she passed, glancing out of the corner of her eye at just the right time to see naked backside of, ahem, a very attractive man. Now, Melantha has seen her fair share of smoking hot male... bodies (none completely naked because she was always too nervous to get to that part of the relationship), but um, this was the first time one had pink flamingo boxers pooled around his ankles. This was also the first one she had seen in public. Six am when scarcely anyone was awake may not be exactly populated, but it was still public. "Oh," she blinked, stunned. "Good morning." Melantha coughed and averted her gaze. It was then that she realized that she was only in her under clothes. She blushed furiously. One must realize, however, that she was not embarrassed because of her state of undress, as she generally was proud of her toned physique and her, uh, endowments. No, it was the fact that a complete stranger, a completely, painstakingly attractive stranger could see the many scars littering her body; on her arms and her torso, not just the few on her face. Maybe she should go...

uss · 01-30-2017, 05:16 AM

[align=center][div style="fancypost bgcolor=transparent; bordercolor=transparent; width: 500px"][justify][color=gray]Well this was certainly... interesting. Russell really wasn't expecting this type of, ah, engagement this early in the morning. Was he opposed to it? Well, partially, but the embarrassment that was going to follow certainly took away from the potential this moment might have. Hearing the voice of a woman, he'd open his eyes, staring down at the sink with slight shock. Slowly, he'd reach over and dry his face with a towel before glancing down and ensuring he was, ah, covered- that movement was a little bit quicker than the first. "Good mornin'," Russell answered as he glanced at her reflection in the mirror, Philly accent subtly audible. He grabbed the orange prescription bottle before he turned to her, his hands requiring something to fiddle with in order to cope with such an awkward moment. She saw his ass, good fucking grief.

"I thought I was alone. Sorry for the view, honey." He offered a grin as he leaned back against the sink, reaching behind him to turn off the faucet. My, she was... definitely not someone he minded being caught naked by. The woman was pretty, to say the very least, and he managed to capture a better glimpse at her in the mirror, but now that he was face to face Russell wouldn't allow his coffee gaze to drift anywhere below her collarbone. She was covered in scars, something he was intrigued by, but tried not to stare at her for too long- he already felt himself starting to blush, as well. "You uh, wanna use a sink? Or the mirror? I'll keep my clothes on, I promise." He attempted to remain nonchalant as he unscrewed the childproof cap with both hands, his gaze moving from her only briefly to dump a dose of sanity into the palm of his hand. It was really getting difficult to maintain a respectful level of eye contact at this point, so Russell hoped she was going to say something soon.

melantha · 01-30-2017, 08:51 PM

[align=center][div style="0px; width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; color: #000000"]A soft exhale, eyes fluttering shut in relief that the man didn't whip around at the sound of her voice and allow her to see, well... Had that happened, Melantha would have spontaneously combusted out of sheer embarrassment. It was only then that she realized that she was staring, dumbstruck, and he had spoken to her. "Oh don't worry about it," she reassured, finally remembering how her jaw works. Melantha had the thought to pull on the sweater she was wearing when she first enetered the bathrooms. It was a worn old thing, the faded blue yarn more or less shapeless as she tugged it over her head. Instantly, she felt safer, more comfortable. Maybe a little more confident (albeit still red from the initial shock of seeing him naked). Confident enough to add, "I have seen worse - that's something to be proud of."

A tiny smirk crossed her lips, stark in contrast to stressed manner in which she clenched her possessions in front of her, knuckles white. Mel struggled to meet his gaze, but when she did, she found that they were a brilliant hue of brown; more golden than chocolate. "Oh, um, yes," The woman had been planning to exit the bathrooms in her haste to escape coming face to face with a stranger (see how well that one worked out), but now that he mentioned it, she actually did need to brush her teeth. She skirted around him as best she could, giving the naked mana wide enough berth so that she was not tempted to glance sidelong at his toned physique or elsewhere. "What clothes?" she rebuked, once comforted that she was facing her reflection in the mirror rather than him. Mel was referring to the single article of clothing that seemed to be in his general area. After a moment of thought, she amended, "Thank you." There was no doubt that the stranger could identify the redness tainting her tanned complexion. Her skin flamed with embarrassment.

uss · 01-31-2017, 03:26 AM

[align=center][div style="fancypost bgcolor=transparent; bordercolor=transparent; width: 500px"][justify][color=grey]Was she... complimenting him? Russell wasn't all too sure.. it took quite a bold statement to really catch his notice, as the man tended to be pretty oblivious. He simply offered a smirk in response before turning back to the sink to tip the pill back and trail it with a palmful of water. "Thanks for not being weird about it," Russ expressed with honesty, "This whole event seemed like it coulda been the start of a creepy pornography." Ah, a joke. A sexual one, too, but that was not too surprising for Russ. He had an unhealthy relationship with... well, relationships, and his casual mentions of intimacy and jokes might have been considered a sign of his problems. Of course, nobody assumes that another person is some psychotic sex addicted weirdo. A Psycho. Was that really what he was? He tried not to delve into those thoughts as the woman walked past him to one of the sinks.

At her next comment, he'd observe her with mild interest, a smirk appearing once again. She was a fiery one, wasn't she. "I named it, you know." He told her, taking on a different sort of tone. He did not move from his place, but his eyes were still on her. "Them, actually. My flamingos." Jimmy John, Gertrude, the list went on. She seemed to be blushing a bit, perhaps he shouldn't have gone this far. "I take a lot of pride in them." Damn, he was intense. It was those eyes, too- deep and dark and golden, unmoving from her form, kept secrets; it was difficult to tell whether or not he was joking. They were making quite the impression on each other, clearly.

melantha · 01-31-2017, 03:54 AM

[align=center][div style="0px; width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; color: #000000"]A short laugh nearly escaped her lips. The awkwardness nearly killed her, and yet, when he thanked her for not being weird, it took so much not to break down laughing. "What did you expect me to do?" asked the woman as she busied herself by applying various facial creams and sunscreen. It might be cold as fuck and the days might be shorter than she was tall, but a girl has gotta keep up that skin routine. No matter if it is the apocalypse or whatever, a good complexion is worth it. Besides, her appearance was something she could control. She could not control that most of her family was dead, or that the world as she knew it was gone. But Melantha did have the power to manipulate her features - a distraction. All those early morning hours spent in the gym were not just for self-defense.

Choosing to ignore the pornography comment (as Mel was unsure is she wanted to open up that particular can of worms), she composed herself and met his gaze once more. "And?" she prompted, motioning towards him with a single, small hand. What were the flamingos' names, goddammit? A tiny smirk twisted the corners of her lips. "Speaking of names," Olive eyes flickered across the expanse of his face, drinking in the tanned skin and chiseled bone structure with a sudden intensity. She was known to constantly fluctuate from shy and awkward to calm and composed. "What is yours? My name is Mel." Just Mel.

uss · 01-31-2017, 04:37 AM

[align=center][div style="fancypost bgcolor=transparent; bordercolor=transparent; width: 500px"][justify][color=gray]"I don't know, it could've gone either of two ways. The first, you would have seen me and screamed out in shock and horror and ran out of the bathroom without a shirt on. Second scenario, you find a certain kind of amusement in what you see and decide to sneak up behind me while I'm occupied in washing my face and five star my bare naked ass." He had quite the imagination, didn't he? Deciding to continue on with what he was doing before they came across each other, Russ would squeeze a line of toothpaste onto his toothbrush, turning away from her somewhat.

For a moment, he thought the conversation would end there, but then the beauty spoke again, creating more interest within him. They shared a rather similar sense of humor. "Well, this one is Cornelius," he began, pointing to a lone flamingo on his thigh, "and the one next to him, his neighbor, that's Laurence. The pair here, Sandra and Nicholas, they're very much in love, you see. Nothing can split them apart, besides a pair of scissors maybe. They're connected at the hip. I hope to love someone like that someday." He gushed with a tinge of sarcasm. The woman before him seemed to be initiating a sort of introduction. Russ would stand up straight, take his hands away from his crotch region and outstretch his hand to her. "I have an old man's name. Russell. You can call me Russ, if you want- I can already tell you're a fan of single syllable words." Her name was an indication. "Where're you from? Before this shit went down." Hm. Should he be shaking her hand? Maybe it would be a little weird to touch her after... all that, but hey, she was a blip on his radar now.

melantha · 02-02-2017, 12:28 AM

[align=center][div style="0px; width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; color: #000000"](hello muse)

Surprisingly enough, the woman laughed. In stark contrast to deep, velvet rasp of her usual speaking voice, the laughter rang in the enclosed tiled space in rolling waves - melodious, almost. Facial muscles relaxed, doing away with the pensive scowl often marring her features and filling the curves of her visage with a youthful energy. It did not last long, as the wariness she felt from the close proximity to a (hot) stranger prevented any form of true amusement; however, the chuckle should be enough to signal that Melantha was feeling more comfortable. Sobered, she said, "You have quite the vivid imagination." A smile. Faint, tentative, but still a smile. Even someone such as her who resolved to keeping distance between herself and the others must admit that Russell possessed a unique charm. "I cannot see myself doing anything so dramatic." Melantha might be a romantic, but she was not a dramatic.

With an amused smirk, she listened patiently to the long introduction (an backstory) of the bubblegum pink flamingos adorning his boxers. Never in her wildest dreams would Melantha find herself in such an odd situation. Maybe having a chance encounter with a stranger in the bathroom, but one who was clothed and not wearing flamingo underwear. Her former life, the life before the blackout, consisted of a strict routine that she followed without error. In school, she was the top of her class, a star athlete. Most people did not like her because they thought she was perfect. That was not the case, but their opinions did not matter in the big picture. She had a responsibility to her family to be the best she could be, even if it was hard because of all the relocating that came with being the daughter of a military man. Her home life was full of love, but there were still rules. Chores, homework, caring for her younger siblings, keeping her mother out of trouble. In short, there was a lot for her to live up to. After high school, Mel began training to join the FBI. It was hard work, but the routine was good. And then the world as she knew it ended, and here she was, living on a big frozen rock with a bunch of frozen people.

"S'a pleasure to meet you all, my feathered friends," came the reply when it was appropriate, very pleased with her stupid joke. The woman found herself caught on his final statement: 'I hope to find someone like that one day.' She wondered if it was true - at first glance, this man did not seem the type to settle down anywhere. His outward personality gave her the sense that he never stayed in one place for very long, or that he was compensating for something. Who knows? Melantha sometimes is too quick to judge. "You talk a lot, Russell," she commented, the phrase not spoken as an insult, but more of an observation. There was a teasing quirk to her lips, however. "Nice to meet you."

As for Russell's query about her origins, she hesitated. Obviously, personal information did not belong to the list of things she normally disclosed about herself. In fact, there was very little that she liked to tell others. To her, experience is sacred, and should only be shared with the people she was closest to. Or maybe that was simply the delusion she told herself to justify the general lack of trust she held for anyone these days. Pain liked to hide behind a friendly face. After a moment of thought, she finally relented. "I'm from Phoenix. It's safe to say that moving here from the desert was a bit of a culture shock." That was it - that was all he was getting for now. She gave him a pointed look, as if to say, "and you?"

uss · 02-02-2017, 05:11 AM

[align=center][div style="fancypost bgcolor=transparent; bordercolor=transparent; width: 500px"][justify][color=grey]Russell would not share that laugh with her, but simply allowed a faint smile to appear on his lips. He was one of the types that did not consider himself to be that funny- it was always a pleasant surprise when someone offered a chuckle at his little quips. Her laughter was especially rewarding, as it seemed to hint at a completely different side of her that Russell almost hoped to see more of in the future. It was always nice to have a break from brooding, yes? "It's outrageous," Russell responded; his thoughts were rather extravagant and overly-creative at times. Was that a bad thing? On the surface, it seemed like a blessing, but more realistically it was a problem that he was dealing with. It made reality that much more of a struggle to grasp and comprehend, unfortunately. In these times, it was hard not to succumb to cynicism. At her next comment, he'd nod with some level of appreciation. "Well, that's what I like about ya, you're the no drama, no bullshit type." Russell answered, peering at her with those intense brown eyes before glancing at himself in the mirror for just a moment.

He smirked at her greeting towards the cartoonish flamingos that occupied the surface of his boxers. "My penis says hello, too, if you cared to know." A joke, of course. Was that too creepy? Hopefully she'd understand that his sense of humor was just a touch below creepy and predatory. Eh, he already regretted it. "Sorry. I don't know you well enough to make those kinds of jokes," he decided. The way he said that sounded as if it was something a therapist told him multiple times- was that his mantra? He moved on quickly, attention possessed by her words regarding his incessant chatter. "I do. Does that annoy you?" He asked, looking at her once again, "I'm trying to decide if I should stop talking so much. I guess I just like saying whatever pops into my head." He shrugged, and for the most part, it was true, however what he said aloud was not really an accurate representation of the chaos that occurred behind that handsome face and those sad brown eyes. "Nice to meet you, too, anyways," he offered.

He noticed her hesitation as he inquired about her past, where she used to live. Perhaps he should have been expecting that- for some reason, the past made people uncomfortable, as well as any sort of personal information. Nobody really knew how to trust anymore, which was sad and unfortunate, but it aligned with the fact that nobody really knew how to keep things in confidence. Did Russ mind talking about his past? Well, not necessarily, he just figured that nobody else cared to hear it. It was boring and full of screw ups. Best of all, he kept repeating 'em. "Phoenix? Oh, I'm sure. I've been there once, all I remember are cacti and the smell of old people. It was a nice place." Russell rolled back his muscular shoulders. "I'm from Philly. Parents were Italian immigrants. Dead now, sadly, or at least dead to me. No difference, really."