Mysterious Circumstances (pm to discuss joining)

[Othermoose]

"She can see!" Austin thought with excitement. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all" he thought. The first thing Austin did was hold his hands up in a sign of surrender. He then held up two fingers in a peace sign. He then pointed to his eyes then to Kate with a questioning look on his face. He finally learned his head back exposing his two neck scars, the newer one slightly lower than the old one. He looked at Kate waiting, hoping that she understood his miming.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate watched the pantomiming and bit her lip as she paid attention. She then nodded, her expression softening and eyes watering. Putting the coverlet down, she walked on her knees to the end of the bed, reaching out as she said, "Austin? It's not great but I see you!" She hugged him carefully, then slapped his face, hard. Her eyes brimming with tears, "How could you?! I spent all day worried about you and you go and slash your throat? I had to hold your t shirt to your bleeding neck as you lay dying in my arms! Don't you think we've all been through enough?!"

 

[Othermoose]

Austin felt rage burn in his chest as Kate slapped him but it left as fast as it had come. Even if he could have spoken he wouldn't have known what to say. He felt his eyes burn with tears as Kate waited for his response. They stared at each other in silence until Austin couldn't take it anymore. All the pain and anger from the past two days. The memories of Angie and the nightmares from home. He couldn't hold the pain at bay and he threw himself at Kate. He wrapped his arms around her burying his face in her chest as he began to sob. He wished that he could speak so that he could apologize to Kate. To beg for her forgiveness. To explain to her why he did it. But all he could do was sob against her. He was so tired. Tired of pain. Tired of being hated. All he could do was sob against Kate and hope that she didn't hate him too.

 

[slippedhalo]

Like a wounded puppy, or a scared little boy, he held her and wept. The part of her which wanted to push any man's arms off of her instead relented to the maternal instincts she barely ever realized hid beneath the surface of her calm, studious, demeanor. Kate realized that, like it or not, this wounded animal needed her comforting and reassurance more than a scolding...at least, for the moment. So, she just let him cry against her and rocked him, humming her mother's favorite lullabye, something from out of Ireland and very old, and this went on until he had fallen asleep.

Drowsy but not willing to sleep in the same bed as her young confused friend, Kate waited until he'd dozed off, then quietly padded to the lounge where she found a block of old twentieth century television sitcoms and fell asleep on the couch while watching them and enjoying having the sight to see them with.

 

[Othermoose]

David woke up still feeling upset from last night. He wanted to just go back to sleep but decided against it. He grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. As he walked into the lounge he noticed Kate asleep on the couch with an old sitcom playing in the screen. "That's weird." David thought. "I wonder who helped her out here." David shrugged and decided to let her sleep.

He walked into the bathroom, and after relieving himself, he stripped out of his clothes and took a shower. After his shower he trimmed his beard and put on new clothing. He left the bathroom feeling fresh and clean. He went to the kitchen and ordered scrambled eggs and sausage, with a glass of orange juice. He then returned and sat in a recliner near Kate and watched the sitcom in silence, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman. "When she wakes up she'll probably need my help getting somewhere" David thought as he waited for his food.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate stretched and felt the contours of the furniture beneath her, slowly recalling being on the sofa and why. "Mmm..." Opening her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light of the room, she was surprised to spot someone sitting nearby. Yet another man watching her sleep, she mused. Still kind of sleepy but curious, Kate regarded him. "David?" She asked in a whisper, voice still a tad raspy and heavy with sleep.

 

[slippedhalo]

Aziz moaned and turned over...only to fall several feet from the top bunk of a three bunk bed. "What the heck?" he remarked, moving to stand up and take in his surroundings. This was not his lovely king sized bed in his big house designed by he and his brother, Sam, in a quiet, modern suburban village just seven miles from Mumbai.

This was a strange place, cold, stark, spartan. And, the viewport showed a field of stars he didn't recognize passing by. How did he get onto a moving spaceship? He really could not remember. Aziz had been on the bike he liked to ride. He'd waved to a group of children as they passed by on the crowded train. He'd been coming home from his job at the architectural firm, A British Company.

He remembered that he'd been looking forward to seeing his mother and father who were coming by for supper, bringing Chandana and her parents to see if the two young people hit it off. If he liked her, he was considering allowing their parents to arrange a marriage. He'd only seen photos of the pretty young woman, a student at the teacher's college. They had not seen each other in person since he was just twelve and she, nine, and as children they'd had no interest in talk of marriage. His mind had been on the coming dinner and then...

...Aziz looked all around him. Now, here he was on a spaceship? That made no sense! A robot he could identify from news programs as a MeRP, approached him. It told him he'd been killed in a hit and run by a truck. His body had been donated to Science. He was revived as part of a secret ongoing research experiment Earth Government had assigned him to. Then, he was led to a place where he had to sit through several hours of reconstructive surgery on his face, which had apparently been too mangled to function.

 

[Othermoose]

David was half asleep as he sat in the lounge. He was confortable and relaxed. It almost reminded him of home. Then he heard a sleepy groan, and opened his eyes. David watched as Kate stretched out on the couch with a short yawn. She sat up and looked at David. When she said his name he laughed in excitement. "You can see!" He stood up and quickly sat down next to Kate. "This is such great new! When did your eyes start working again?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate shrugged, moving to make room for David by folding her legs beneath her like a pretzel and flattening out the teal night gown so, despite knees showing, the middle area was appropriately covering her. "Uh...a few hours ago. I'm guessing the room Austin had wasn't cleaned yet so...he came to my room when he got back..." Placing a calming hand on David's, she hastened to add, "...It's ok. He just came to apologize to me and...he can't really speak. Poor lad cried himself to sleep. I didn't want to wake him and was wide awake then so I came in here to watch tv...I guess I dozed off."

 

[Othermoose]

David felt a surge of protective anger when Kate told him about Austin. He didn't want to ruin this moment, but every instinct in his body was screaming for him to go deal with the teen. Instead of leaving David asked: "are you sure you're ok? He didn't try anything? Anything at all?" David looked into Kate's emerald eyes half hoping and half dreading that she would reveal some awful thing Austin had done. Despite his best efforts, David just couldn't accept that the teen had done nothing but apologize. "Kids like him don't change." David thought bitterly.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate shook her head, taking both of David's hands in hers. "David, he didn't do anything. He just...it's going to sound weird...I think he needed comforting, like mother to young child...Don't ever tell him I told you all this, please. He'd be embarrassed. This was a breakthrough for him, admitting he cares enough what I think to be sorry for scaring me. And, as he cried I rocked him to sleep and sang to him...I don't know why I did, either, except it seemed to be what he needed. And, it worked too. He relaxed and fell asleep. David, it's not all self inflicted scars on him. He's so thin, I could feel thick, rope-like scars across his back...He's emotionally stunted because I think he was abused, a lot, for a very long time. But, I get a feeling, at least when he talks to me, he seems to want to climb out of the hole he's been in. He needs patience and guidance. I know you mean well. But, I think you scare him."

Squeezing his hands, her eyes met his. She liked being able to see his eyes. They were chocolate brown, concerned, and kind. She knew he would not hurt her. "David, thank you for making me feel safe. Right from the start...Thank you for helping me remember good people exist."

 

[Othermoose]

David still didn't trust Austin. "People like him just don't change." He thought. David met Kate's gaze and took a deep breath. "Kate, I don't trust that kid. He may be crying today but tomorrow he may decide to try something less innocent. If you honestly believe I should back off I will, but I strongly feel it's the wrong move. That kid is Hell in two legs." David shook his head. "You know that I'll protect you from whatever comes up, but if you keep hanging around that kid, I'm afraid he'll do something and I won't be there to stop it. He's dangerous Kate." David finished. He knew this speech would probably upset Kate, but she needed to hear it.

 

[slippedhalo]

"I'll make it clear he's not to come to my room at night like that anymore. That was...awkward. But, I will continue to counsel him." Kate said, making only a slight allowance for David's worries. "I wonder if we can get communication devices to contact each other when we're in different rooms. I bet you'd worry less if you knew I had you on speed dial." She teased. She realized she'd never let his hands go and they were extremely close as they talked, nearly nose to nose. Instead of being nervous this close to him she felt unfamiliar stirrings. She was beginning to like David a lot more than she'd liked anyone since her teens...Eyes locked with hers, she wondered if he felt it too.

 

[Othermoose]

David looked deeply into Kate's eyes. The look on her face was different than one he'd seen there before. They were extremely close, practically nose to nose, and David couldn't help but look at her soft lips. Before David knew what he was doing he leaned in and kissed Kate.

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Austin awoke with a groan. He stretched and inhaled deeply smelling a pleasant but unfamiliar scent. "This doesn't smell like my room, it smells... Oh yeah. This isn't my room." Austin quickly got out of the bed and looked around for Kate. To his disappointment she was nowhere in the room. He tried his best to make Kate's bed, before he left the room to go look for her.

When Austin entered the lounge he saw Kate. She was kissing David. Austin just stood there dumbly before turning around silently and going back into the bedroom hallway. He sat down with his back to one of the doors and tried desperately not to cry again. "She's with fucking David..." Austin thought as he felt his heart sink. He banged his head on the door, feeling worse than he had the day before.

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet awoke and dressed quickly, eager to get to work on the project's website which she found fascinating. She found a dark blue dress which had small white roses embroidered on it and she found a pair of white and tan espadrilles to wear on her feet. Stepping out of her door, she had a fright. She hadn't been expecting to nearly walk right into Austin. "Oh, hi. You back. How feel today?" She asked him.

*********************************************************************

Kate hadn't kissed anyone since that boy, Finn, when she was seventeen. This was much better. David and her were both relaxed and under no pressure to create a moment the way she had felt all of her snogging with Finn had been. Relaxing further against David as he pulled her into his arms upon her cooperation with the kissing, they deepened things further, tongues and hands idly exploring without frenzy or self consciousness. She hoped she wasn't a terrible kisser. With the experience of exactly two snogging partners ever, both well over a decade ago, she couldn't be certain. But, Kate was certainly enjoying this moment.

 

[slippedhalo]

April was awake but had brought a tablet to her room the night before and was spending her morning taking things slow, starting with reading in bed. She wasn't ready for whatever drama the day could bring just yet. Once the book got boring she looked for a good music program and danced and sang around her room with her favorite songs like she was nine again.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin turned and looked up at Yuet as she opened her door. When she asked him how he felt he mimed putting a gun to his head. He moved out of her way and figured that would be the end of the conversation.

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David couldn't help but smile as Kate kissed him back. He felt like a teenager going on a date for the first time. He was nervous and excited, but at the same time relaxed. He knew Kate didn't have any expectations for this moment. It was just two people enjoying a moment together, furthering their relationship. David felt all the stress and fighting leave his mind as he enjoyed this moment with Kate. He reached back and gently rubbed Kate's back as his tongue explored her mouth. "This is perfect." David thought, filled with joy.

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet shook her head, "Dat not funny. If you not feel OK, you say so to me or somebody, yes? Die no answer. We here to do something new, not die. So, we should try do...Hey, you not seen our website. It having files on everybody. We can work on website if you want." Yuet offered.

 

[slippedhalo]

They came up for air and Kate smiled, blushing as she smoothed out her nightgown and sat back. She heard voices coming from the hallway and whispered, "That was nice...But, we're not alone anymore, I think." She rose and leaned down to kiss David one more time, "We'll get back to this sometime later. I'll go get showered and dressed." She announced to him, unable to keep the grin off her face.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin just shook his head. He didn't feel like doing anything. In fact dying sounded like a wonderful idea to him. He just wanted to crawl into a black hole somewhere and forget he ever existed. He wanted to cry but he felt too empty to do that. All he could do was just sit there staring at nothing waiting to disappear.

 

[Othermoose]

David felt happier than he'd been in a long time as he watched Kate walk away. "Yes!" He thought excitedly "finally something is turning out right!" David felt like he could climb a mountain right now. "I know." He thought to himself, his mind still euphoric from his kiss with Kate. "I'll go check out the pool." David left the room and went for the kitchen. He went down the spiral stairway and headed for the pool. He found a locker room and he changed into a pair of provided swim trunks. He ran forward and cannon balled into the pool, feeling like he was the king of the world.

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet shrugged, "Ok, man. Just don't do what you thinking." She said, "Can you try living the rest of this week?" She asked, "One week, try. After that, up to you. But, try hard, not sit moping or mad. Try a week." She suggested. "I be on computer if you want join. Anytime." Yuet said, smiling warmly before heading to get herself some breakfast.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin watched as Yuet disappeared towards the lounge. "Can I manage a week?" He wondered. He didn't know. What Austin did know that he needed to relieve some of the pain he was feeling. He stood up and walked into his room. "It's still a bloody mess." He thought. "Reminds me of home." He looked around for a moment before he found what he was looking for. "At least I've still got you." He thought bitterly, picking up the still bloody knife that he'd used the night before. He sat on his bed and gave himself seven shallow cuts on the underside of his arm. He tossed the knife into a pile of dirty clothes before lying back on the bed to watch himself bleed. "Maybe I'll get lucky and bleed out." He thought, doubting that it would actually happen. Austin grabbed the remote for his speaker system and turned on the song "wait and bleed" as he laid back and tried to sleep.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate heard the music coming from Austin's room. He was obviously awake and had returned to his own space. She had an urge to check on him but thought the better of it for the moment. She wasn't dressed properly and wanted to enjoy the euphoria of starting to have romantic feelings for David...So, she went to her own room. He'd left it relatively in order. Choosing a green, floral patterned, spring dress and slightly more pretty undergarments than she would've allowed herself in her old life as a holy woman, she headed to the ladies room for a shower and morning freshen up.

April was just leaving her own bedroom to come use the shower as Kate was packing up her toiletries to bring back to her room. "Morning April."

April smiled, "Morning, Kate." She dropped her bathrobe, standing stark naked and just about to step into the shower when she realized Kate's wide eyed blush, then shy hurrying to look away and move towards the door. April stepped out of the shower cubicle not caring one bit about her own nudity. She called out, "Hang on! You can see?!"

Kate nodded, "Yes, I can see now." Back to averting her eyes...

April laughed, "That's fantastic news! Sorry about flashing you, then. I'll just pop back into the shower."

Kate laughed, "Uh, yeah well...No worries... I'll get out of your way now.Bye!"

April resumed her shower pleased her new friend had her eyesight back.

Kate took her stuff to drop off in her room, still flushed pink from embarrassment. She then took a deep breath and let it out. It was time for breakfast.

Yuet was talking with an Indian looking man, youngish, he stood next to the table where she munched a croissant and translated bits of English text from the website into Chinese. He still wore the hospital gown they all came in.

Yuet spoke up when Kate came near, "This is Aziz. He new. An architect from India. April finding him empty room."

"Pleased to meet you, Aziz. I'm Kate. Anything you need, just let us know."

"Thank you." He said, shaking her hand. "It's so strange. I don't remember dying..."

Kate nodded, "I didn't either, at first. Everyone has their own unique experience, I think."

April, in just a towel, opened the fourth door on the right and called, "Aziz, this room is empty and male looking if you want it!" She then went back to her business in the ladies room.

Kate explained to him about the seemingly magical wardrobes and he thanked them and disappeared to his room.

Yuet commented, "He seems nice. And, not...unbalanced. That relief!"

Kate didn't want to speak ill of her friend Austin but it was a relief that he so far seemed the only person quite so disturbed and difficult. "Where's David gone?" Kate asked, hoping she didn't sound too smitten.

Yuet shrugged, "Stairs."

"Pool?"

"Maybe. I no want swim. You want?"

Kate had just showered...But she did half want to join David..."I'm curious what the pool is like, how big it is, how deep. I'll just go take a look."

Yuet wished her well and was oblivious to the signs of Kate's interest being more in David than the pool.

Kate headed down.
The locker room wasn't hard to find. She checked out the swimsuits...all bikinis for the ladies...Kate didn't change. She just removed her shoes and padded into the doorway marked, "Pool/Hot Tub". There, David was swimming a lap away from her and she watched his muscular back and toned arm muscles work to propel him against the water with speed and grace. She watched and grinned when he caught sight of her.

 

[Othermoose]

David saw Kate standing at the side of the pool, looking stunning in a green sundress. He swam over to her, trying his best to look impressive. He reached the edge of the pool and looked up at Kate, resting his arms on the side. "Hello beautiful." He said giving her a wide smile. "Why don't you come in and join me? The water's wonderful." David was about to make a skinny dipping joke but he decided against it. "I'm probably pushing my luck calling her beautiful." He thought still smiling, thinking of how bright his future looked.