Fourth Floor Common Room, Wednesday Evening

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

He didn't need another night at Caritas, he didn't want to spend it sulking in his room and he was feeling way too tired to actually go off island to find some fun. So, there he was, sprawled in a chair with some mindless movie on, steadfastly trying not to think about marriages, his own stunted emotions, people hitting him and everything in between.

He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself because only stupid idiotic soap opera characters did that. Of course, stupid idiotic soap opera characters seemed to always get the happy ending (even if they had to die fifty times first) so maybe he needed to keep feeling sorry for himself.

"I'm such a fucking girl," he muttered and shook his head.

[Open CR, open post, open!]

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[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen wandered downstairs, feeling unsettled and looking for something to keep herself occupied. She smiled when she saw Hannibal. "Hello. I haven't seen you for a while."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Hey," he said, smiling over at her. "I've been around for the most part. Was on the cruise last week. I haven't been hiding."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She blinked at him curiously. "I did not think you were."

"I was on the cruise as well. It was nice, the first time I've been really warm since I came here, though I've never been around so much water."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"It was my first cruise too but I didn't have the warm problem," he said, shrugging. "It'll get hot here during the summer. East coast is really damn humid."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen grinned at him. "You have clearly never been to my world. This place never gets truly hot or humid."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"I've never been out of the country so there's no way I can get to anyone else's world," he said and snickered. "Summer's here are brutal."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"Be grateful then," she said cheerfully. "Were you to come visit the world of Uquar you would be praying to be back here in the heat of summer. Unless last summer was oddly cold. Other than the time the island spent traveling that is."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't sound like a very forgiving place," Hannibal said.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"That would be a great understatement," she admitted. "Unforgiving in all senses of the word."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"But, you're here now so that's good, right?" he asked.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen nodded slowly. "I was not happy to be here at first, but now I, well, I have grown accustomed to it."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it's not so bad," he said and half smiled. "Could be a lot worse, right? Could be Newark. Or South Dakota."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She blinked at him. "I assume those are bad places?"

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Boring," he said and laughed. "Sorry. Sarcasm just comes out of my mouth without thinking about people who aren't from around here."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. "At least you're kind about it. I often feel lost here."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"You've been here awhile," Hannibal said. "Why do you still feel lost?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen suddenly found her shoes very interesting. "I am... not an easy or pleasant person. I have found it very hard to fit in. Or make friends."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"What sort of ways have you tried making friends?" Hannibal asked.

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I used to spend more time in the common rooms or on the deck when it was warmer," Helen said. "And someone suggested I join a club, so I did that."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"And that didn't work?" he asked. "Or just not as well as you'd hoped?"

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I seem not to be very good at it," she admitted. "Though Triela did come visit me at the Gig once."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"Eh, so you're an introvert," he said and smiled. "You've made some friends, though. You gotta see that."

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. "I suppose. There are several people like yourself who are quite kind to me."

[decoder-rings.livejournal.com]

"You can't let something like not being extroverted get you down," Hannibal said. "You're who you are. Nothing wrong with that."

[livingmyths.livejournal.com]

She smiled a little shyly. "It's not so much that I am introverted as that I can be very... abrasive. A bitch, if you will. If I'm quiet people seem to dislike me a bit less."