Participants:
| Scene Title | Geeks and Their Toys |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Melissa confronts Kendall about his Old Spice antics, then ends up urging him to go be a real boy and not just a geek. It doesn't completely work. |
| Date | August 11, 2010 |
After a few hours spent down at the Suresh Center, Melissa has returned home, dressed in black slacks and a black button down shirt. It's about as professional looking as she ever gets. Though the rainbow colored hair sort of ruins it. But she's a volunteer. What are they gonna do? She comes in, deals with greeting an over-excited Jerry, then heads towards the kitchen, even as she's calling out. "Kendall? You here hon?"
Kendall is in his room, so yes. "Hmm?" he calls from behind locked doors. Ah, it's a Melissa. He's slightly distracted though, since he's in the middle of a boss fight on Persona 4.
A soda is grabbed from the fridge then Melissa heads upstairs, pausing to stop by her room to kick her shoes off before invading Kendall's territory. She glances at the TV briefly, then to him. "Whatcha playin'?" she asks casually, hiding a smile.
"Persona 4." at the moment, there is a large, gay-looking bodybuilder monster with his head surrounded by roses and holding giant objects shaped like the sex symbols, one in each hand. And 4 kids are facing him.
Really, don't ask.
"Very interesting looking game," Melissa says dryly, shaking her head and leaning against the wall. "So. You're the man my man could smell like, hmm?" she asks, struggling to continue hiding her smile. Sadly, she quickly begins to lose that battle.
Kendall hits the button that pauses the game and turns to stare at Melissa. "I have no idea what you're talking about." he stammers towards her. OH THE HORROR. SHE WAS LISTENING.
A brow is arched, and Melissa lets that smile form. "Give it up, Kendall. I heard you. And you would be more confused if you really had no idea what I was talking about."
Kendall mutters something under his breath, and suddenly it seems as if the floor gains a giant mouth, and Kendall falls down, the mouth closing up after him. Gee, wonder what phrase Kendall just muttered, huh? In reality, he's still there, but maybe this'll make her go away. Maybe.
Melissa laughs and shakes her head, not really bothered by the illusion. She's getting used to it. "I've just got one question," she says as though she could see him still sitting right there. "Were you just holding up a thing of Old Spice and acting, or did you actually look like the man my man could smell like?"
"….uh." Kendall's suddenly back in place. "I didn't look like him." but he did look a lot more buff than he does usually without a shirt.
"Well hell. I was hoping you were doing the whole schtick," Melissa says, sighing. "Though, I have to say, glad to see you using your ability more and more," she says, nodding to the floor that 'ate' him.
"Well there's no reason not to use my powers anymore." Kendall replies with a shrug. He'll keep the rest of it secret from Mels. "At least, not in private."
Melissa's head cocks and her brow furrows lightly. "There was reason not to use them before?" she asks curiously.
"…" Kendall just gives Melissa a look. Did she…. forget about Kendall's parents?
"What?" Melissa asks a little defensively. "I've always encouraged you to use your ability! I mean, sure, you couldn't when you were sick, but after that…" She trails off and shrugs. "Everyone in this house is evolved, so hey."
"Well I couldn't exactly do it at home y'know." seems like Kendall still thinks of that place as home despite not having lived there for quite some time.
"Yes you…" And then it hits Melissa and she grimaces. She almost looks angry. Not at him, certainly, but his parents. So she takes a few deep breaths to calm herself before she ends up giving him a mild headache, and her voice is even when she speaks again. "What can I do to make this house feel like home to you, Kendall?"
"Well it feels like home, but… it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word." Kendall shrugs. "I've only been living here a few months, after all."
That's considered for a moment, then Melissa nods and smiles faintly. "Yeah, I can get that. But you're comfortable here, right? I mean, you like it?"
Kendall looks around his room, which is back to its regular messy state now that he's 'rescued' it from being cleaned by Melissa while he was gone. "Yep."
Melissa relaxes a little and smiles. "Okay, good. Oh, and incidentally…If you see a man wandering around the house," and she gives a quick description of Sasha, "then don't freak. Though if he says anything that worries you, tell me ASAP, okay? His name's Sasha, by the way."
"Who is it?" Kendall asks, suddenly suspicious. "One of your, uh…. friends?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at Melissa. By 'friends' he means 'terrorist group members'.
There's a little smirk. "I don't know if I'd call him my friend. He gave me a present, but it was a drawing of a dead dog," Melissa explains in a dry voice.
"….." Kendall peers. "…What?" ok, nutjobs. "Sheesh, you attract all the crazy people, don't you?"
Melissa laughs and shrugs. "I don't know. Who else would you really consider crazy?"
"Well Tony seems to be a con artist, Faron lives in a basement and tinkers with stuff, and Ling is…." pause. "Scary." Kendall raises an eyebrow at Melissa. "And you're an emochick or something."
Melissa stiffens a little. "I'm not an emochick. I'm goth," she protests. "And how is being a con artist crazy? Faron…Okay, he's a little odd, but I don't know if he's crazy."
"I noticed you didn't say anything in defense of Ling." Kendall is quick to point out.
Melissa shrugs. "I don't think she's scary. She just doesn't like to laugh or anything. But, well, she turns into smoke. That's handy, and sneaky, but scary?"
"She was plenty scary the other day." Kendall replies to Melissa, shaking his head and looking to the game system. "And you were scary too."
There's a wince, and Melissa nods a little. "Maybe, but you're not actually scared of me, are you, Kendall?"
"Well, no, not of you. Just what you can do, I guess." Kendall sighs, rubbing his face. "I'm sure there's plenty of other people with powers that are a lot scarier though, so…"
"But you know I'd never use my ability on you, right? The mental morphine, sure, but not the other," Melissa says earnestly. "Or anything else I can do that hurts."
"Well yeah, of course you wouldn't." not that Kendall would think she would anyway. She should know by now that he trusts her!
Melissa smiles and relaxes. "Good. Now…when the hell you gonna get out of the house and, like, meet people, or get a girlfriend or something?" she asks, grinning now.
Kendall almost falls out of his chair. "What?" he squeaks out. "I don't need a girlfriend, girls are nothing but trouble. Not that I don't like girls, but…" cue mental flailage.
Melissa busts out laughing. "Says the guy who was so very interested in Liette?" she teases. "Besides, it's guys who are nothing but trouble. And you still need to get out and be a real boy from time to time, not just hole up in here."
"These days, it's manly to play video games." he gestures towards the TV, which…. still has the gay monster guy on it. "Er." yeah, that's not helping Kendall's cause.
Melissa glances towards the screen, and breaks out in laughter again. "That's it. I demand that you go out at least three days a week and do something that doesn't involve video games." She didn't say anything about comics though. Silly girl.
"What? No, that's no fun at all then!" Kendall sulks, then glowers at the screen. Stupid Kanji and his stupid suppressed homosexuality.
Melissa grins and moves over to him to ruffle his hair. She sure does enjoy doing that. "Go make friends, Kendall. Get a job. Something. It's just not good for you to always be cooped up in here."
"I have a job now." Kendall is quick to reply. "I'm just not working today." he eyeshifts in Melissa's direction. That probably means no more allowance, huh?
Melissa's brows lift. "You do? Where at?"
"Sam's Comics." the one job that is equally as geeky as Kendall sitting here and playing video games all day long. Doesn't the thought of that just make you happy, Melissa?
There's a moment where Melissa just stares at him, then she starts laughing soflty and shaking her head. "Of course it would be comics," she says with a smile. "Well, at least you're out meeting people." She glances to the TV again then heads for the door. "I'll let you get back to your game."
"Okay." Kendall unpauses the game, which was slightly pointless since the combat was turn-based anyway.
Melissa grins again and shakes her head as she heads back out of the room, muttering something about geeks and their toys.