| Thick Skin |
| Summary: | A drugged-up Pallas makes a pass at Solstice in the Head. |
| Date: | 21 Mar 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | None. |
| Players: |
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| Head - Deck 4 - Battlestar Cerberus |
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| Like any normal head on the ship, this one is painted in light grey with some blue around the top of the room. Down the center there are 16 sinks, 8 on each side backed up to each other. Along the hull areas of the room, showers and lockers are toward the back and off to the left of the sinks are closed toilets and open urinals. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #388 |
Choosing the odd hours of the day to shower, its to keep her privacy at its best. The sound of her shower is still going as and her robe hanging not far away. Having gone through sims with the Rook, it was time to relax and despite the need to be careful with water stocks, she is using more than her fair share. Oddly there is a soft sound of humming as the ECO twists her dogtags back to hang down her back and rubs at her face beneath the showerhead. She blindly reaches her hand back for her towel, keeping herself face forward to enjoy the water a few moments longer.
It's not her towel she gets when she reaches out of her shower stall. The towel's gone, mysteriously disappeared - though if she tries to grope around for it, she'll probably end up copping a feel on its current holder, Pallas. He's just gotten out from his own shower and is thoroughly drying himself off with Solstice' towel. Lucky for her, he's just within reach - he was in the stall next to her, and now he's standing between the two showers, towelling off vigorously.
The feel of skin is found and no towel. Fingers draw back swiftly and she hits the water on the shower with a loud thud. It ends, throwing her into silence and the ruffling of the cloth can be heard. Oh no. Slowly she turns about to catch sight of the lech using her towel. Her lips part and Shakes stares at him. Her eyes stay upward, not drifting at all to where he might be running the towel. "Excuse me." She says and turns slightly, lifting her arms and hands to cover herself as she clears her throat. She's not a prude, but… "Give that the -frak- back!" She says, flustered.
Pallas looks thoroughly confused when Solstice shouts at him. Then looks thoroughly over her, covered as she is. He is most definitely not covered, nor does he have any plans of concealing himself. "Give the what?" he asks, his words coming out slow and slightly slurred. It's different from the drunken slurring that usually comes out of his mouth; it's more like he's really tired or stoned. Of course, there's no use in trying to answer him immediately, since he starts drying off his hair, which means he's not going to hear anything she says.
Her eyes start to glimmer, Shakes' ire rising with each passing moment. "What? My towel you lech!" She says to him. Her petite form actually shudders a bit with her growing anger. Her usual calm is being steamed away by his antics and she steps out, hazarding a hand away from herself to reach up and try to rip the cloth from his head. "This!" She says in emphasis as she gives it a good tug, her lips making a thin line and cheeks a deep shade of red.
Pallas continues to shake his hands over his hair as though he doesn't realize the towel has been ripped away for a few seconds. Slowly, the hands slow down and lower to his sides. "No need to get grabby, frak," he says, holding out his hands to his sides. "It's not like it was covering any of the important parts." Meanwhile, his own (ragged, threadbare) towel is hanging on the other side of the shower he was using - completely dry.
Holding her towel in her hand, Shakes glowers at him, fuming some. "Drunk…right? Drugged maybe.." She says with disdain, stepping out past him as she lifts her chin. "Would fit you.." She mutters. Solstice sets her wet foot down on the tile and with a turn to try to say something to him as she is still deciding whether or not she should use the defiled towel - she starts to slide. There is a look of surprise as her feet start to move out from beneath her and she is forced to reach out to stabilize herself. Free hand grasping for anything as she makes a soft sound of startlement.
"Painkillers," Pallas replies, confirming the 'drugged', not 'drunk'. "Took three." Between the hole in his left hand and the scars from his recent injuries and surgery evident on his naked body, it's not hard to guess why he's taking them. Despite the painkillers, his reaction time is decent; he reaches out to grab her before she hits the floor. And manages, mostly, though he misses her hand.
That's right, she had forgotten about that. About kneeling next to him. The hold he places on her falls to her waist as she twists and she turns in on that arm, hand clamping down and her other hand dropping the towel as it reaches up to grab for his opposite arm to stay up. Heat rises swiftly to her face and she fumbles a moment in embarrassment to get to her feet and try to get away. Facing him in her inability to remain graceful, Solstice swallows and doesn't dare to reach down for that towel, forcing her gaze on the opposing wall so she doesn't even look at him. "Thanks.." She says faintly and starts to pull herself up, her face souring a little.
"Now you're almost at the right kind of grabby," Pallas laughs as she gets back on her feet. Since she's facing away, he picks up the towel and quickly dries off the remainder of his body before tossing it her way, aimed so that it lands on her shoulder. "No need to get all frakking embarrassed, Shakes," he says dryly. "You can take another shower and scrub me off your skin. Or take another shower with me and let me soap you up." Shame? None.
As the towel hits her, she grabs for it and pulls it away. "Right, I know what you are.." She mutters and offers him nothing but a look at her backside. Dark hair is starting to curl a little in places at it drys around her face. She curls her fingers around the towel, narrowing her gaze as she shoots him a look over her shoulder and instantly regretting it. "Might be a good idea." To which she doesn't specify, but she's rather ruffled to really care. Cheeks still stay highlighted before she steps back into the stall to grab for a few of her personal items. "To think I was worried about you when you landed the frak in my Raptor cabin."
Pallas just smirks when she looks back at him, his eyes deliberately moving from her face down to the rest of her while she can see exactly where his gaze wanders. "Aren't you so glad that Medical fixed me up?" He grabs his own towel and slings it across his shoulders. The thing looks beat up, like he's been using only this one towel since long before Warday. "I know you won't be washing that towel anytime soon," he says, indicating hers with a tilt of his chin. "Frak, you'll probably curl up with it to sleep tonight. Why bother with the towel when you can have the real deal?"
His comment riles her anew and she grits her teeth. Solstice tries to ignore him and as she turns, she is letting herself just drip for now. Frak he's seen her. What the hell. That towel is not touching her anywhere important. Shakes turns then, casting her gaze on him. "Right…why would I want that?" She smirks at him, but there is death in her gaze and embarrasment still. "Go find a flighty Ensign to propose that to." She was getting close to unleashing, her fingers flexing over the towel. An ECO, a bunker on Tauron had made her learn to fight for herself.
Pallas snorts. "You think there're any left that I haven't either slept with or gotten slapped by?" The ratio of sex to slaps remains undisclosed, though it's probably discussed amongst said flighty Ensigns when either happens. "Few enough Medical left, frak. What's next, snipes? Or those lazy-ass knuckledraggers?" The towel comes away from his neck, and he flicks the end of it toward Solstice's backside with a snap of the wrist. "You late-to-the-party planetary pick-ups outrank those options. Maybe I should just try to get over on the Areion for a while. There's a whole new untapped market."
Solstice listens, continuing to move away from him and hmphing to herself. Jests and bragging rights and she doesn't care to know the counts he might have. But at the snap, she jumps, a red welt starting to show as she places her hand over the wound. Her honey eyes glare at him and she strides back towards him. "Its a wonder you have anyone in your bed at all!" She exclaims. Her palm raises and she means to give him a long full swing for his right cheek, gritting her teeth as eyes become glittering jewels of anger.
SLAP. Pallas' head snaps to the side as her still-wet hand makes clean contact with his cheek. Her angry red print is already showing on his face, and it isn't going to go away anytime soon. But he doesn't look like it hurt him one bit, even if it surprised him. The painkillers he's on are top-notch. "Oh, I bet you wonder," Pallas says, slowly bringing his head back up and cracking his neck. A hand comes up to poke at his cheek a couple times. Shrug. "You better have a thicker skin than that if you wanna fly with this crew," he says, tossing the towel back over his shoulder. "And no matter how long you hang around the showers, you won't see a thicker skin than mine." He laughs and starts heading off toward the bunks. "Wonder about that."
Glaring at him and trembling a little at his words. "Thick skin is one thing…Spiral." She says after him, watching him go. "But courtesy is another." She doesn't care to dwell in his head and in whatever he projects. Shakes lifts a hand, extracting the towel to wrap around her body and cover her despite where it had been. Frak it! No one else was going to see her exposed figure and she gives him plenty of time, lingering in the showers as her eyes cloud a little and she shivers. Memories flood and her eyes squeeze shut. "Frak.." She says, as she lifts a shakey hand to wipe at her mouth and the edge of her right eye.
"Exactly," Pallas replies, pausing for a moment by the sinks to examine his moustache in the mirror. He's still wearing it, even though he won the bet with Devlin weeks ago. "Courtesy is another thing altogether. It's just a euphemism for bullshit." The moustache only gets a few seconds of attention; the bright red mark on his cheek draws his focus away, so he spends some time looking that over. "Just couldn't keep your frakking hands off me. Not that I blame you." The cheek gets poked a couple more times, but he still can't feel a thing. He looks back toward her just in time to see her wipe at her eye. "No need to cry, I haven't left yet."
Not gone. Curses. Solstice catches her breath and looks up at him. Her face darkens at his words. "Just leave me be, Spiral." Is all she can say, now covered somewhat and clutching her brush in her hand. She starts for the door, picking her way carefully as she arcs past him and for the opening. "Just shut it.." She breathes, her body trembling still as her emotions flow unfettered through her. The usually quiet woman is sliding back in to that.
Solstice's wish is granted without another comment from Pallas. "Can't stand it when women cry," he mutters to himself after she passes by him, turning back to the mirror to rub at his cheek. "Yeah, that's gonna frakking stay for a while…" He shrugs and strokes his moustache for a bit, then heads back to the bunks when he deems enough time has passed that Shakes is back to her rack. "Next time I take her towel, I should bring a camera. Same old porn's getting stale."
Solstice has had enough time to at least drag on some shorts and her tanks, sliding that towel inside finally and drawing her dogtags off with a clatter and clang against her locker when he finally walks in. Her dark hair is ruffled a little and drying now that she had given in and used the 'used' towel. As he does enter, she turns her gaze to him and with a slide of her hand, the door closes to her locker. Letting out a long breath, she grabs for the book on her bunk and slides inside, hitting the light and curling her legs up to her without a word, opening the pages to drown herself in facts.