Little Bill“I’m betting you thirty credits that she’ll just up and leave him and he’ll come running after her,” Matija lazily stated before tossing a popcorn into her own mouth. ”Tha’s too cliché. This thing wouldinna’ got 4 star reviews if it wus tha’ simple” Benny responded, sitting forward and leaning out from the edge of the bed. The monitor they had mounted onto the wall occasionally went fuzzy and would flash like a TV with bad reception, but it was one of the few entertaining things they found to do. Matija nodded, hoping that the cliché twist would be different. Unfortunately for them, she became thirty credits richer for being mostly right.
”Fockin’ reviewers, all sizzed tha’ lot of ‘em…” Benny muttered as he passed the change to Matija to which she grinned over. ”Told ya. People are suckers for that.”
The past 3 months have been rather mundane for the entirety of the Revenant. The few run-ins with feds and alliance thugs were fun, but even that paled in comparison to when they were being gripped by the throat. What was there to do other than exercise and train? Sure, Stryker had offered each and every one of them deals that had piqued their interest in staying with the crew, but that too was not enough to fill the boredom that set in every now and then.
“Hey!” Matija and Benny was interrupted by demanding knocks at their door. “Tia, mind giving me some back-up?” added the voice behind the door. Matija got off the bed and opened it to see the new red-headed medic. “What are YOU doing here?” Matija said with a teasing tone. The red-head, Moon, fixed her with a glare, to which Matija responded with a chuckle and her hands raised up defensively. “Just kidding. What’s up?” Moon flicked a stray hair off of her face and sighed. “It’s Grayson. I need backup to clean him up. I doubt that he’s done anything in the bathroom.” Matija pursed her lips in response. “Okay. You need supplies or..?” Moon nodded morosely at the question and Matija sighed as she looked for some spare soap and shampoo to use on Grayson. Moon hesitated at the door after taking the supplies.
“D-do you guys mind doing something else? It’s just…. Fuckin’ Grayson might just stay barricaded in his room, there’s not much I could really do to force him to get up, y’know? Might need an extra set of hands or two.” Matija raised a brow and turned towards Benny. “Well... I find tear gas is a real good motivator for gettin’ people off their arse,” Benny added nonchalantly as he got up and walked up to the other two.
”I don’t think we need to go to those lengths, but… keep it handy, just in case.” she chuckled as she led the way back over to Gray’s room. To her surprise, he had actually vacated the place, the door sat slightly ajar, so she instead went to the men’s bathroom at the end of the hall and barged on in. ”Mhm, just as I thought gang” she said as she saw Grayson standing in front of one of the sinks, splashing his face. ”Not even a clean shirt to be seen” she said, shaking her head before turning to her companions and pointing at one of the shower stalls on the far wall. ”You know the drill guys, drag him in there and toss his ass behind that shower curtain. I’ll go find him something clean to wear.”
Matija looked over Benny with a grin at that prompt. Without a word, Benny moved forward and used Skelly to grab Grayson by the shoulder and his organic hand to hold him by his torso. With the force of Skelly’s servomotors, he (literally) strong-armed Grayson to the showers. Matija held an extra shower head towards the terrified Grayson and held down the hose to let loose a torrent of water that made the man shudder before screaming and thrashing about, getting Benny soaked as well. “Oi! Watch where yer blastin’, fish eyes!” The shower’s heating system isn’t working outside scheduled times anymore, so this was a rather cold shock to both men...
“So that’s that,” Matija said, nodding to the now violently shaking Grayson, and displeased and soaked Benny. “That wasn’t in the bleedin’ plan...” He muttered, shaking himself out of both the cold and getting water off his clothes. Matija shrugged and offered a sheepish smile. “It's tha best thing that I cain do. How about I make it up to ya later?”
Benny sighed. “Just get me somethin’ ta’ dry meself. I’m not walkin’ the halls like this,” he responded, still looking very cross. Matija left and immediately came back with a fluffy towel and a bottle of shampoo-soap that she handed to Benny. “Here. Sorry,” she said with an apologetic smile. Benny took the towel, thankful that both he and Grayson were too cold to do anything but shake themselves dry. “Hope Gingy comes back with somethin’ fer the drunk, ‘cause I’m not drying him,” Benny said as he began drying himself off with Matija’s towel, noticing the scent of the fabric matched with her. He felt a bit awkward at realizing that but tried not to show any outward sign of it. The cold and his resentment from earlier helped that along.
Moon walked back in the room, carrying a bundle of clothing in her arms. She cracked a smile as she saw Grayson and Benny’s state, knowing immediately what had happened.
”Hm, well, can’t say I didn’t expect this. You, back in there, I can still smell it on you, actually wash stuff, in fact, throw the clothes out here once you’re in the privacy of the stall, or we’ll be here all night”
She shooed Grayson back inside the shower stall, slowly but surely, his soaking wet clothes hit the floor with a sloppy slap. Realizing he’d left the soap and shampoo out with them, Moon lobbed both over the top of the stall like a grenade, both of them smacked off Grayson (who swore heavily and unintelligibly through his slurring accent) with slight thuds before clattering to the floor.
Benny meanwhile, after managing to dry himself off enough with Matija’s towel, took the opportunity to walk out and away with his soaked clothes and head back to his room before either of the girls could rope him into doing anything else that could make his day worse.
Matija looked at the shower stall \and sighed when she fully realized Grayson’s sorry state. “So. Why are ya so concerned with him anyway?” she asked Moon.
“Huh?” Moon looked up quizzically. “Well, it’s my job… kind of. As long as I’m traveling with you guys, it’s kind of my duty to keep everyone as healthy as possible. Guy being a slob like this, his room’s a breeding ground for disease. And besides, he’s clearly going through a really hard time. I feel kinda bad for him, yknow?”
The Mecorian nodded. “Well… just don’t burn yourself out with him. He’s sad an’ shit but his happiness ain’t your responsibility. Though,” she said, hearing Grayson nearly finished. “-granted how much of a wreck he is, I doubt that he’ll take care of himself right. Wanna clean him up more? I got some clippers an’ a razor back at my room?”
“I just, I don’t know, think he needs someone to have his back for a while, that’s all. Least I could do for him since he masterminded our little prison break back when we met.” Moon spoke quietly to not tip off Grayson that they were talking about him. “As for cleaning him up… really it should be his choice, but if he doesn’t fight us, I don’t see why not?”
Matija grins mischievously before leaving for her room and coming back with an electric clipper, a straight razor, and a bottle of hair conditioner. “A’ight, you going for his hair or his beard? Straight razors are easier to clean but not everyone knows how to use em. The clippers are pretty straightforward.”
“We should probably ask him first, if he’s gonna fight it, we can call back Benny to hold him but the razor will be out entirely”
They waited for the shower to stop, then several minutes later, the lock on the stall rattled and the door popped open as Grayson shuffled out, still fairly disheveled looking, but cleaner. His shirt was on backwards, but other than that, he had successfully managed to shower. He even looked a little steadier on his feet. Moon carefully worded the question that followed. “Feel like a bit of a trim big guy? You might feel a little more like yourself without that mop in your eyes all the time.”
Grayson simply shrugged, his body language practically screaming ‘I don’t give a fuck’ so Moon took that as the green light to go for it, and nodded at Tia while reaching for the clippers.
Matija pursed her lips as she folded out the razor and placed herself in front of Grayson. “Look, man, it’s gonna be a close shave so don’t move while I work on ya unless I make you move.” With a bottle of conditioner and a freshly changed razor, Matija started working on Grayson’s scraggly beard with utmost care and precision in hopes that the man would be more bearable to look at than whatever sorry state he is in at this moment.
Moon set the guard to a respectable length then flipped the switch on the clippers and began running it through Grayson’s hair. The man sat perfectly still with a blank stare, that all-too-familiar look of deep sadness plastered over his face. He seemed completely disconnected from that moment in time, his mind wandering off to another time and place.
Matija tried her best to not look at his eyes. She did not like them, nor did she appreciate the emotions, or lack thereof, that it carries. With quick and light strokes, she manages to avoid cutting his skin somehow to which she found herself proud of. “All done! Just bring back the stuff I lent y’a when you’re done.” She took a few paper towels from the dispenser nearby and shoved it at Grayson’s chest. “Clean yerself up and thank the nice lady foar her concern, okay?” She said with a tap on the side of Grayson’s face for emphasis.
Moon blushed a little at Tia’s comment, then took it on herself to gather up the soaps and stuff to give it back to the Mecorian.
“Thanks for your help, I owe ya one” she said quietly as she passed it over. Grayson had wandered over to a sink, and was wiping away the stray remnants of hair. Tia chuckled and commented something about being paid back before she bid her farewell and left the two of them alone….
