poly_chromatic | Bored on the Network (Open)

Entry tags:

mysterious skin - neil mccormick

Bored on the Network (Open)

[Neil is Neil, so what can you do? He's eighteen and dry and bored, bored, bored. He's lounging on a sofa in the living room of his apartment, which doesn't have a heck of a lot to recommend it by in the way of decor. Or much furniture, either. He's on his back, knees bent over the end of the sofa, bare feet kicking lazily. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt is an improvement over the last time he was on the network, when he was naked. A cigarette is held between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. Neil is looking at the ceiling. The device is on the coffee table.

Did I mention he's bored?]

So, I live in an apartment in building three, by myself, but I'm not here a lot, 'cause the ticking gets stupid after a while. And I'm sick of it all and bored out of my fuckin' skull.

Anyone want a roommate? I can move there or you can move here, I don't care.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're married?

Yeah.

So can I move in or not? I don't have anywhere else to stay except the Welcome Center and the decorations are weirdly adorable. It makes me itchy.

Itchy?

Uh, if you agree to help with stuff around the place, like chores and cooking and stuff, and you don't, like, paint the walls pink or some other shit color, I think we're good.

Oh, and a job. Find one. Part-time or whatever. You get your own room, but we gotta share the can.

On an emotional level. I can't really cook but I can make sandwiches and I also won't paint the walls pink because that sounds horrifying.

I think I'll be able to find a job pretty easy. I mean, I have work experience and stuff, even though I guess I can't get references. Hey, does this place have a government? Like with bureaucracy and offices and stuff?

Not that I've seen. This isn't a democracy, we've gods, of you can believe it.

And hey, I work retail here and my previous job experience was at a sub place.

Do you like hamburgers?

Oh. Because I work for the parks and recreation department. Or I used to. But I guess I can do other stuff as long as I don't have to be nice to people most of the time.

Who doesn't like hamburgers?

There's all kinds of people here and some of them don't give a shit, so don't worry about it.

Lots of turn-over, too, so jobs, yeah.

Not one of those salad-eaters. Good. Tell you what, you move in, we keep each other sane from the fuckin' ticking, and if it doesn't work out after a month or something, then whatever. I won't kick you out. You just might decide there's better places to live.

And no, I'm not always this nice.

Okay. That sounds fine. Just tell me where to find you.

[He smirks.]

I'm right here.

[That was a joke.]

You know the twelve buildings that just hang out together? I'm in building three, apartment 25

[If anything, April will stare more apathetically than usual at his attempt at humor.]

Okay.

[April will eventually show up with a stolen towel and as much free stuff as she was able to get from the Welcome Center.]

[He opens the door when someone kn ocks, and there's the girl from the network, the weird one who wanted to know if he was an axe murderer. Could this place get any stranger? Neil decides not to ask that out loud. The gods might be listening.]

Hi. C'mon in.

Hey. I just realized I have no idea what your name is.

[She doesn't sound like she really cares, and also isn't smiling or acting like she's happy to meet him but not actively rude is April's version of polite.]

Neil.

[She just stands there, clutching a few items. She doesn't look pleased to see him, but even in person, she doesn't look like an axe murderer. Meh, he could take her if she tried anything.]

And Neil is my name, not a direction.

[Its an attempt at humor.]

Edited 2013-02-02 23:57 (UTC)

[April usually reserves amusement for Andy's jokes and when people hurt themselves in stupid ways.]

I'm April. Thanks for letting me move in.

Nice to meet you in person, April.

[He steps back a bit.]

I can show you your room...

[So... you can get out of the hallway now...]

Sure. Is this place always this weird? I mean the whole place, not your apartment. Oh, wait, no. It's actually weirder sometimes, right?

[He closes the door behind her and leads her into the living/dining/kitchen area. It isn't bad, just plain. Nice view out the window.]

Yeah, sometimes it's weirder than others. It isn't so bad right now... unless there's a curse going in that I don't know about.

[The apartment is worlds better than the way April and Andy's house was before their roommate Ben moved in and started making them do dishes and not fry marbles. Lucky that Neil is becoming April's roommate AFTER all that. It's also sort of weird having a view since her hometown Pawnee's pretty flat, but April did live in DC for a little while, so it's not that weird to be in an apartment.]

Don't get me wrong, it sounds more fun than Indiana...although home is actually pretty weird sometimes now that I think about it, it's just been a long day.

[Neil isn't a neat freak, but the place isn't messy. It's like he diesn't live in it much... which he doesn't, because of the ticking. With April here, they might have a shot at sanity.]

Indiana, huh? I'm from Kansas. Want a beer?

[He opens the fridge .]

Yeah, I'm from Pawnee, it's like 35 miles from Bloomington. It's okay, I guess. Except for the raccoon infestation.

[April's not a huge beer drinker, but a little alcohol right now doesn't sound too bad.]

Sure.

Never heard of either of those places, but I'm from nowhere, so...

[He pulls two bottles of beer from the fridge, closes the door with his foot and picks up a bottle opener from the counter. He opens one and hands it to April, then opens the other one.]

There's some food in the fridge and we have cereal and shit.

Pawnee's the 7th largest city in Indiana. So...it's not really a city.

[April takes a sip and tries to relax a bit, but that doesn't make anything about her seem less awkward, because she's April.]

I'm good for now. Some girl gave me a coupon for a free meal and it was okay.

[Neil nods and leans against the kitchen counter, taking a swig of his beer.]

Yeah. I live in a little place famous for making salt. How lame is that? And that'd be Penny, right? At the Welcome Center?

We have the Boone Bread Factory and the the Sweetums candy factory. But no, her name was Charlie and it was the Jasmine Dragon. Some kind of advertising strategy maybe. I went to the Welcome Center too, though.

I guess bread goes with salt and I like candy.

[He smiles.]

Oh, hey, I know Charlie. She's a friend of mine, too. Penny and Charlie are good with new people.

Bored on the Network (Open)

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