Comics in Bed

Participants:

rue_icon.gif shirley_icon.gif

Scene Title Comics in Bed
Synopsis Hearing of Shirley's no-tech predicament, Rue comes to the rescue in the fight against boredom.
Date January 17, 2011

Bannerman's Castle: Shirley's Room


It's thirty past seven in this part of the world. Shirley Keane is laying in her bed, slowly waking up after the first rays of the sun have touched her face. Unlike most teenagers, she has no inclination to keep sleeping when she wakes up after the sun has come up. Not that she's sure of the exact time, as there's no clocks in her room, and the watch around her wrist is a piece of junk due to her own ability. She's not moving yet, though, just laying down there on that bed with her eyes opened and looking at the ceiling.

There's a quiet knock on the door followed by a call of I hope you're decent~ before the door opens to admit a very bushy-haired ginger woman of ridiculous height (unless you happen to be a model, which she is - part-time). Apparently she got the memo, because she's not wearing a watch, though the tan line still shows on her wrist.

"Hey, newbie!" the woman, in her early twenties, greets with a cheerful smile. She unslings a messenger bag from around her shoulders and shuts the door behind her. "I'm Rue Lancaster. You're Shirley, right?"

Shirley is covered by her bedsheets. That counts as decent, right? Her clothes are neatly folded up on a chair, even if they're starting to smell a bit unpleasant. Poor girl has got only one set of clothes. Worse, only one set of undergarments. Which she presumably is still wearing, as those are not part of the neat pile of clothes. "Hey, Rue." The teen offers as she halfway sits up, covering herself with bedsheets still. "Yeah, I'm Shirley." She smiles faintly, "You're another one of those government-proclaimed terrorists, I presume?" She's joking, though she isn't sure if there's a better name to call them.

Rue grins. "Not yet." She drags a chair away from the wall and pulls it up to sit in front of Shirley's bed. "Sorry I don't have breakfast for you just yet. But I come bearing gifts anyway." The messenger bag is pulled into her lap, from which the redhead procures a stack (a stack) of comic books. "I thought you might like to borrow these, since… you know. There's no tech on the island." She doesn't say no tech for you, but rather makes it out to be some awful epidemic they all suffer from. And they do, even!

Oooh, Comic books. "Thanks, Rue." The teen looks over the comic books, first instinct to see whether there's anything of the Fantastic Four in the pile. If it's all DC, she might be a mite disappointed, but she won't show it. That would be impolite. "It's probably for the best there's no tech here… considering I an here and all that." The teen says softly, glancing to the window. "So, what do you do around here, Rue? I mean… Brian runs the Lighthouse, Koshka and Junie are part of the Lighthouse, Barbara seems to be a somewhat important person type, and Ygraine, well… I don't really know what she does exactly, but she's the one who kind of helped me when I manifested."

That's a really good question, actually. What does Rue do around here? "I don't really… have a role here yet," she admits. "My best friend is Samara. I'm sure you've met her by now. She and Brian are joined at the- hip. She was here during the riots, and was worried about me. Sooo, Brian came and got me, and brought me here. I'm not officially one of the gang yet, I don't think." Though Rue feels she could make a strong argument for why she should be.

Turning to the comics, Rue points one finger toward them absently. "Lotta Marvel in there, some DC, a couple'a Dark Horse… If there's anything you really like, be sure to let me know and I'll see about finding more like it either in my collection are at the shops back on the mainland."

"Caaan't recall a specific person named Samara, sorry." Shirley shrugs it off as she looks back to the comics, "There was this girl on the ship that kind of seemed real close to Brian, but I don't think I got her name." Another glance to the comic books, "Maybe I should become a comic artist, daddy sa…" She abruptly cuts off. "I drew some sketches, you know? Barbara got me a sketchbook and some pencils." Shirley motions for the nearby desk, whereupon a sketchbook lies. "Take a look if you'd like!" The sketches are… well… 'poorly drawn' would be an understatement. There's an absolute lack of talent combined with an absolute lack of technique that creates drawings which lack perspective, depth, actions, and well, everything that makes for a good sketch.

Rue gets up from her seat and heads over to the desk to examine the sketches. Are they inexpert? Definitely. But she still beams a bright smile over at Shirley. "You've got some real potential! You should seriously keep at it. You could draw comics of what you see and hear around here. Turn it all into some crazy story." She pauses and cracks a grin, "After all, it sure feels like some kind of comic book plot around here at times." She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her skinny jeans and leans her back against the desk. "Is there anything I can get for you, Shirl'? You don't have any diet restrictions or anything, do you? Allergies? Vegetarian at all?"

Shirley beams at the compliments, however inaccurate they may be. "Thanks, Rue… and that's a great idea!" She grins broadly, "I shall do that. It should give me something to fill my time with." Then, food comes up. Oooh, food. Stomach starts to make noises at that idea, as well. "I can eat pretty much everything." The teen responds to the question, "I don't like spicy food, but if I have to eat spicy food, I can deal with it. Besides, since when do people eat spicy food for breakfast?" Some people probably do.

"Nothing spicy. Got it." Rue reclaims the chair in front of the bed again and crosses her legs. "Breakfast won't be ready for another half hour, I don't think." She makes to glance down at her watch and then laughs at herself. Oh, duh. Not there. "But I wanted to make sure that you get a plate that agrees with you." She leans forward a bit, head tilted curiously. "So, Shirley, tell me about yourself. How old are you? Did you leave a girlfriend or boyfriend behind? Who's your favourite superhero?"

"Thanks, Rue!" Shirley says cheerfully, looking at the window, "Ygraine brought me some breakfast yesterday, but I'm not sure how late that was… so hard to keep track of time when you don't have a clock or anything." Back to Rue, that question makes her think, well, part of that question. "I'm sixteen years old, I had broken up with my last boyfriend three weeks ago. I am not into girls, thank you." A little more defensive than most people would be, there. "And my favorite superhero is The Thing." Probably why she was so interested in seeing if there was anything of the Fantastic Four in there.

"Nothing wrong with being into girls," Rue counters. Defensively. She doesn't let the implication linger, however, moving easily into the next topic. "The Thing is killer. It's fuckin' clobberin' time, bitches~" One hand comes up - rather belatedly - to cover her mouth at her own profanity. "Sorry. I get a little excited sometimes. Should be one Fantastic Four arc in there. I'll bring back some more on my next trip. You ever read Dune? The novel. Also a movie with Sting in it."

"The Bible says it's wrong." Shirley counters. "And even if it wasn't wrong, I still am not into girls." Definitely more defensive than she has to be. Perhaps a little in denial? "Ooh, great!" She brings up when she hears there's some Fantastic Four in there. "And no, I hadn't. If you can bring me a copy, that'd be marvelous!" She positively beams at the prospect of getting to read more Fantastic Four. Shirley's clothes wouldn't exactly suggest her to be from a family with a lot of money… not a single brand item in there. "I didn't get to read a lot of comics back home, really…"

There's a deeeep breath at the mention of The Bible. Rue's outward expression doesn't otherwise change from its pleasantness, however. "Oh, good. Dune should keep you busy for a little while. I think everyone should read it. It's a classic." Her smile stays kind, especially when Shirley mentions she didn't get to read comics much. "Well, you'll get to read plenty here. Don't worry about, like, wearing gloves or anything. I'm not crazy about keeping them cherry or anything, but you know. Common sense. Don't put sticky fingers on 'em or anything. I'm sure I don't have to tell you. I'm just protective. They're my babies."

On that note, the ginger rises to her feet. "I'm gonna go check on breakfast, and I'll find you some different clothes." Rue gathers her bag again and pulls the strap back across her body. "Enjoy the comics. I'll be back soon, or someone will be, anyway."

"Thanks, Rue." Shirley responds, happy enough to keep the topic of liking girls behind. "And it's not like they're so technologically advanced I'll break them down just by being near them, right?" Shirley grins faintly, though there's a hint of serious sadness in her eyes. "And fresh clothes would be good… even if it's only until there can be washed properly. They kind of smell, I've been wearing them for too long…" She shrugs and lays back down, "See you again soon, Rue… it was nice to meet you."

"You too, Shirley." Rue offers a wave of her hand before she opens the door and steps out into the hallway again. She only gets five steps away from the room, after closing it up behind her again, before she leans heavily against the wall and looks down at her feet with a pout. Taking a deep breath, she forces the smile back on her face, even if it doesn't bring the customary twinkle in her blue eyes with it, and starts off toward the dining hall once again.


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