#c:shower socialities

[isaac-moore]

Shower Socialities || Nikola & Isaac || Convo

Characters Involved →  Nikola Sarabia & Isaac Grason

Location → Showers West

Timeframe → Right after dinner

Wordcount → 1,517

Isaac stood under the warm showers that he frequented daily, eager to scrub the stink and grime of training off of him. A content sigh escaped him as he stood there for a minute, simply enjoying the feeling of the water running down his skin in rivulets. The showers were empty, which was a perk of wolfing down your food and almost running towards the showers. It also helped that most of the people that used the showers on your side of the building were girls. Still, people didn't always use the showers that were close to their room for exactly this reason. Just as the thought passed through Isaac's mind, the door opened and cold air rushed in. Cracking open an eye, the recruit rolled his eyes and looked at whoever the other person was. I should have knocked on wood or something. The fog made it hard to see.

Nikola To say Nikola was having a bad day was a bit of an understatement. Despite still being relatively clueless about what he was supposed to be doing there, he thought he was doing a decent job at keeping up with the kids who have obviously been there for a long time. However, he was beaten up in training, his couldn't even say hello properly in Russian and he couldn't find the safety on his gun. Not feeling very hungry, he ventured to the showers, hoping to rinse off some of the failure that was clinging to him. Most of the time he waited until there was no one else around, but given his mood he didn't care who else was there. Stripping, he went into the shower, hardly giving the boy next to him a glance.

Isaac almost felt like slamming his face into the wall when the boy – who he had seen walking the hallways a week or something now, but hadn't made any effort to talk to – took the stall next to him. Couldn't he, like, move away to the other side of the room where there were perfectly fine stalls as well and they would have some privacy because of the thin mist in the room. But no, he had to take the one next to Isaac. Inhaling deeply and suppressing his frustration, Isaac rolled his eyes and returned to his own business, but not before studying the boy shortly. Man-boy. How old was he? About Isaac's age? It was hard to tell in the showers.

Nikola sighed as he felt the warm water hit him and after a few moments, he took a moment to glance at the boy next to him. He's seen him before--given how small Division was there was hardly ever someone you haven't seen before--during classes and such. If Nikola remembered correctly, he was the boy who was always excelling in the IT class. Given that it was the only class Nikola could make sense of, he was more prone to daydreaming there. Feeling a little awkward once he realized how close he was to him, he looked away for a moment before glancing back and giving him a small smile. "Hey," he said softly.

Isaac almost pulled a mild face of disgust when the other boy – Nikola, was it? – started talking. What was this? Lunch? Well, he had guts, at least. Was this his way of coming to Isaac to ask to copy Russian homework or something? God knows how bad the boy was at it, despite his ironically Russian name. Other people usually just came up to him, but well, whatever works. "Hey." Isaac returned as he pulled a hand through his hair, slowly working out the tangles. There weren't many, but if he left them there, they would accumulate and only grow worse. Something he could do without.

Nikola The minute he spoke, it became abundantly clear to Nikola that this wasn't the time or situation to say hi to someone. He looked away and berated himself for being so stupid. It was the cherry on top of his bad day. Quickly washing his hair, he decided not to say anything else. Any conversation could be saved for whenever they both had clothes on again. He rinsed off the soap from his hair and decided to call it a day for the time being. Shutting off the shower, he stepped out with a little nod toward the other boy. Suddenly questioning if that was strange too, he quickly put on his clothes, hoping to get out of this embarrassing situation.

Isaac: As if stung, the other boy suddenly rushed to finish his showering, his movements becoming sloppy and Isaac let out a soft sigh. Maybe he had been too obvious in his frustration. It was a bad day for all of them. Every day was a bad day, usually. He matched his speed to that of Nikola's and he regarded the other recruit's nod with mild interest. What was he thinking at that moment? Probably to get away. Pulling on the grey, nondescript clothing that marked Division, Isaac was out of his stall a little earlier and he turned to Nikola. "Look, I'm sorry if I come across as a douchebag. I am, sometimes. Was there anything you wanted to ask or something?" The words rushed out and to be honest, Isaac wasn't really in the mood, but he felt a little bad. Being the new guy wasn't easy.

Nikola rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "No, it's just--" He paused for a moment trying to figure out what to tell him. He could hear him mother telling him to say the truth, but he didn't feel like telling this boy that he was a slightly insane pyromaniac who was searching for some sort of friend in this strange place. "I wasn't going to ask anything. Sorry if I came off as weird. I don't know how these things work." He hoped that would be sufficient enough to allow him to run away and hide in his room. Maybe if he begged Magnus, she would let him play with a candle.

Isaac raised his eyebrows and gave the boy a curious look. He had heard that he had caused some awkwardness during conversations but he seemed quite okay. For a moment it seemed as he if hesitated between saying two things, and then he took the chicken way out. "Ah, okay. Well, you always can, if you want to." Isaac shrugged a bit and for a moment contemplated on whether or not he should try and get on the guy's friendly side. "And I understand. Being the New Guy here isn't too easy. Just hang in there. Someone will come after you and it'll be easier." The advice wasn't very truthful, since a lot of people also simply failed and got killed, as far as Isaac knew, but it wouldn't help anyone who'd been here a short time if he told them that. Nikola didn't seem like the type to work harder just because it was possible to die by your "saviour's" hand.

Nikola pondered whether or not he should take him up on his offer. There were so many things about Division that he had no idea about and while Amanda was doing her best to set him straight, there was still a lot that he wanted to know about. However, he bit his tongue and decided to keep his questions to himself for the time being. He didn't want to be as overbearing as his father tended to be. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Thanks, I guess, but I doubt things will get easier just because someone else is going through the same thing I am." He wondered if this boy didn't like hearing the truth, but it was too late to take his words back now.

Isaac was forced to think back to moments when words very much like the ones Nikola was saying right now had escaped his mouth with the same tone behind it. The ghost of a smile danced across Isaac's face as he shrugged and stepped aside. If Nikola truly felt that way there wasn't much he could do, not to mention he wasn't really in the mood to play the knight in shining armor for new people. Especially people that took the stall next to his in the shower. "Fair enough. But to still be here when a new guy comes in means you're not entirely useless."

Nikola was beginning to hate this place. Everyone spoke in a double meaning and it frustrated him to no end. Why couldn't anyone be upfront about things? What did he even mean by his last phrase? Was there a chance that he could be let go and put back into his prison cell. At this point that didn't seem like so bad of an option. "Yeah, well, see you around." Running a towel through his hair one more time, he left the bathrooms with his dirty clothes in one hand. If only he had a match on him. That would make everything better.