Old Habits Die Hard

[Tamara Sulik]

Tam shrugged as Guy talked of Irene Adler. “The only Sherlock Holmes’ book I’ve ever read is the Hound of the Baskervilles,” she admitted. And Irene was not in that one. She wasn’t sure the name of the book she was in, Scandal in someplace or something of the like. Of course, she had seen the latest Sherlock Holmes movies. She personally didn’t like their Irene Adler much so if Guy was to say she was not really like that, then not only she’d believe him but would prefer if compared to her. “You, however, if you were in that kind of story, you’d be the villain’s sidekick. And probably played by Toby Jones if they ever made a movie out of it,” she said. The choice of the actor and the role was only due to his height for she knew Guy had the mind to be so much more than a sidekick and was made of too much marshmallow inside to be evil. Though he’d made a very good little devil too. One that might actually win in comparison of all those you see in movies.

“Let me guess, he’s not around to fix it anymore,” she said as he explained this machine was given by a student who said it was better than anything else on the market. Maybe he just wanted to kill his teachers, one after the other. Stephen King should totally make a book about a killing coffee machine. Only he could make a hit out of this. She frowned though at the sight of the machine, helping Guy clean up with the paper towels. Surely there was someone qualified in that school to fix it up. There was that teacher who made robots, how hard could it be for him to fix a coffee machine? But apparently they preferred to stay away from it. Not that she could blame them, really.

“No one says it as well as you do,” she replied as they ended up talking of her breasts. From what she recalled, Guy had never been overly sexual with her. If he ever did, she had no real memory of it. Or perhaps she didn’t pay enough attention. Anyway, if one could find something funny to say as opposed to the obvious, it had to be him. She knew what the others would suggest her to do with her breasts. And the rest of her body. She had a little smirk when he asked her to get the machine, all while speaking of her breasts. “Alright but if I die, I’m coming back to haunt you,” she said, going to the device and pulling it up. There was coffee under it. She was careful, as if it would explode on her any minute now, while wiping the bottom of it. She dragged it away so he could finish cleaning the counter while she dealt with it. It calmed down now. Whatever power it had left in it was now gone and she could clean it up. She pulled the pot out and showed it to Guy. “You still want some coffee?” she asked. He did take hers but if he had that much paperwork, he might not say no to whatever was still in that pot.

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy just waved off comments about Irene Adler. He'd read a few of the books back in college, but he was mostly thinking of more dashing variations that he'd seen in older films and stuff. At the mention of being a sidekick though, he had to raise his eyebrows. "A sidekick? Not even a sub-villain or something? I should be offended. Tell me I'm at least one of those that kills the villain at the last moment."

He didn't bother commenting on the casting or anything along those lines. One could only take a conversation about films and such so long before, well, things got a little silly. Not that things were super serious right now, which was why getting sillier would just make it nearly uncomprehensible. Besides, they had a burbling coffee pot of the damned to talk about.

"He's still around. I think he's just focused on something else. We really should just have someone else fix it or something," said Guy. He seemed to vaguely recall there being a teacher or faculty member who was capable of making robots or something. He didn't exactly know said person personally though, so it wasn't like he could just pick up a phone and call them. No, instead he got to deal with what he had, which in this case meant toweling off what really seemed like more coffee than even the moderately large pot in the lounge should contain.

"I doubt it will kill you," said Guy. "It seems to be more focused on having you suffer. so I'll just pay for the medical bills," he said, his tone downright dismissive. No need to get worked up over a coffee machine, after all, even if it was bubbling forth bile. "I have yours, remember?" he said, gesturing back toward the offered cup. "It is infested with cooties, but I'm sure I'll persevere somehow. But if there's any there that might be drinkable, I might need it too. Lot of papers to get to," and he sighed before walking over to wring out his rag. Was he procrastinating from that work now? Probably. He didn't feel that guilty about it though.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara was amused at Guy’s false offense. “You mean like Grima Wormtongue killing Saruman at the end? I’m afraid books and movies are usually unfair to the likes of us,” she pointed out. Seriously, she bet if a movie was made with a character like herself in it, she’d be the town whore of the slutty girl that gets her head chopped off before the end. Or the one sleeping with the bad guy. Because it would seem the only thing to say about her was the way she looked and how she used such assets. She had a head above those breasts of hers and she was able to use it... in a not creepy blow up doll way. She was smart, or at least she had street smarts, and felt like it should be recognized more. Of course, the possibility it was not done so may be her fault totally eluded her.

“Better watch him before he gives us a dishwasher that eats the dishes,” she commented as she got the coffee machine to clean it up. She had no idea who he was but had a few guesses. She did catch a few kids in the past five years playing with electronic stuff in their room. Unless they burned something or cut the power of the entire floor, she generally didn’t mind. It was not her place to tell them what to do of their time.

Tam did remember giving Guy her cup but she drank some of it already and for all the paperwork he had to do, he would need a lot more caffeine, no matter how black hers was. “Watch out, I have a pot full of steaming hot coffee in my hand,” she threatened him though the light smile on her face showed she took no offense. She stared at said steaming hot coffee in her hand. She never had a cup from that machine, since she was not supposed to be here. “I don’t know if it’s drinkable but I’ll leave it for you there,” she told him as she put the pot on the counter. She might also just go out to fetch him a better one. Guy was one of the good people, she could do that for him. She finished cleaning the machine before placing it back where it belonged. “I wouldn’t advise plugging it again. Who knows what it will do next.”

[Guy LeGrange]

"That's pretty well what I was thinking," agreed Guy. It did seem unfair where he and Tam would likely have ended up in movie casting. Not like the cinema was all that kind to his people or hers. Well, actually, that wasn't entirely fair to her. If Tam applied her smarts as well as her breasts, she'd conquer a business like Hollywood. Guy was tempted to say as much, but he didn't want to come off as being flirty or too forward with the young woman.

By now, he'd gotten most of the various coffee collected and the various sections of the small coffee area wiped as clean as they were going to be. A giant stain did remain on the floor, but Guy didn't see any reason to worry about it that much. Gave the room character. He did eyeball the coffee pot as Tam brought it back over now.

"Well, the thing does brew excellent coffee, assuming you can survive the process," he said. He remained still as Tam adjusted it back on the machine though. "Though it probably had double the caffeine or something else odd done to it. you know how these tech-heads can be from time to time," he waved a hand dismissively, before daring to move to the coffee. He pulled a step-ladder over and began digging about for a mug, as he'd managed to more or less drain Tam's offered cup in the meanwhile.

"It might work perfectly now," he said while working through various mugs. "After all, it could consider itself having been defeated in righteous combat." He looked to the coffee machine, waited a moment, then pursed his lips and nodded. "or it could viciously attack us and we'd have the excellent beginnings of a horror film."

[Tamara Sulik]

Tam had grown used to the unfairness of the world. She was a beautiful woman with an active sex life, that meant half the world at least would consider her some sort of trashy, horny MILF or something. And Guy... well his height will always be mentioned first, as if it defined who he was more than anything else. They said movies but they both knew it was the same in life. Her breasts overshadowed her brain like his height did to his. If Tam wanted to point Guy tome someone in a crowd, sure, she’ll tell them to look at a dwarf. But if you asked her to describe who Guy was, she’d mention his sharp tongue first. Because, let’s face it, when you know him, it defined him a lot more than the fact he was not even five feet tall.

She nodded to Guy as he talked of those tech boys. They knew about life perhaps just a tiny more than those Trekkies living in their mom’s basement, assuming they were not both. She wouldn’t be surprised if one thought his improvement on the coffee machine was brilliant yet never drank coffee himself, or tried to have a machine work before, so had no idea how, in real life, his theory was crazy. Or something like that. She might consider herself smart she had never been a nerd.

She looked at Guy digging up for a mug but did not help him. She never understood why some wanted to help. Guy was perfectly able to get a cup by himself. If he couldn’t he would have asked. She went to the paper cup her coffee was in. He pretty much finished it so she emptied whatever remained in it before tossing it with the rest of the garbage. She turned her attention back on him, smiling as he associated the coffee machine to a horror movie. “The Coffee Slain II: The Reckoning,” she let out. Terrible title, but didn’t they all have only that, terrible titles? “If the coffee undrinkable, I can still fetch you one from the cafeteria. I kind of pity the extra work on your shoulders,” she told him. He only needed to say the word. She should probably be going too. Who knows, some student might have turned a corridor into a pool right now and they were lost without her. Yeah, probably not.

[Guy LeGrange]

In truth, Guy wouldn't have done anything besides make a snide comment if Tam offered her help. He'd grown used to people offering without thinking, and it didn't bother him quite as consistently as people likely thought it did. Hard to blame someone when they had their heart in the right place. Now, if he'd been grumpy or if it had been anybody but Tam, well, that would be a different story altogether. Fortunately, neither of those two circumstances proved to be the case.

In fact, Guy sound found himself chuckling at Tam's terrible title. "Clearly you're meant to title Scy-Fy movies," he drawled, looking over at her. He picked up a mug and saluted Tam with it before climbing back down the little ladder. He reached for the pop, cautiously tipping it over. The coffee looked... blacker somehow, though not quite in a way that was terrifying or anything along those lines. Guy took a cautious sniff of it before tasting it.

"I think this might be tolerable," he said. He eyed the cup severely then nodded again, looking back up at Tam. "Though I might develop something of a twitch," he saluted her with the cup and took another sip, smacking his lips afterward. "Bracing. Now, I'm betting that you have work, and so do I. I'm certain we'll meet again under more favorable circumstances, but for now..." he trailed off, gesturing toward the impressive stack of folders that still awaited his perusal. Yes, he would definitely rather spend time with an intelligent woman: what sane person, especially a sane, heterosexual male, wouldn't?

[Tamara Sulik]

She laughed too at the terrible title she gave for their horror movie. It was pretty ridiculous but let’s be honest, only a few had nice titles, most of the time, it was the same thing with a number after. She bet she wouldn’t be fifty by the time they come out with Halloween 34 or something. “Meh, we’re going to die in there anyway. All that changes really is whether I wear skinny jeans and a tank top or some second skin suit,” she pointed out. It made her wonder what Guy would look in such suit. She could easily create an image of this but she wouldn’t here. Perhaps when she’ll be alone, if the thought came back to her, to have a laugh because anyone would look ridiculous in that. But she would not humiliate the man when anyone might barge in and see that.

Guy was right, she should probably go. She acted like a slacker, coming here, but the fun was over. She wouldn’t want to go back to the south wing and find out she could have prevented something had she been there. It was fun while it lasted but they both had things to do and they could no longer run away from it. “You’re right. And since apparently you decided to risk your life, I’ll leave you with your coffee,” she said, giving a little reverence that was done as a joke. She patted his shoulder as she passed by him. “Good luck,” she told him before exiting the room.

She came back something like fifteen or so minutes later and placed a coffee cup next to his pile of folders. “In case you want something, you know, that won’t keep you awake for a week,” she told him. Yes, she did take the time to stop and get him a coffee before heading back to the south wing. You have to take care of those you like. You can’t let a coffee machine kill them.

(I assumed that is the end?)