Stoker and Stalkers: Suspicious Minds
Nov. 10th, 2005 05:29 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
x-kitten.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsVery belatedly, stupid daylong meetings...
Haroun finds Kitty, and she's clearly not at the top of her game.
She'd come home directly after class ended, having taken the week off work to concentrate on her midterms, since she was clearly pushing herself. But when she'd gotten back to the mansion she'd decided her classwork wouldn't be as interesting as her other project, and she thought she was getting close to a breakthrough.
Now, though it wasn't that late, she was starting to feel tired again. Her mind felt like it was moving through molasses and her fingers clicked less and less rapidly across the keys of her laptop. Occasionally she would close her eyes and open them again to find that what had felt like an instant had been minutes. Focusing on the screen again, Kitty found that her notes didn't make sense, and she couldn't tell if it was because they were nonsensical, or because she was just too tired to understand them. And somehow she couldn't seem to get as bothered by either idea as she vaguely thought she ought to be.
Haroun walked - slowly, but he walked - into the library to find a quiet place to do some work. Alison was in a musical mood, and he knew better than to get in her way when she got involved in writing or scoring a new song. Besides, he was seeing some recent activity in the project folder he'd set up for Kitty, and he was wondering where she was going with her current line of research. So maybe he'd kill two birds with the same stone.
Haroun could hardly be said to have a particularly quiet tred, but Kitty didn't look up at the sound of someone entering the library. She blinked vaguely as the screen went out of focus, a sort of mental blankness settling about her again.
Haroun sank into one of the comfortable chairs in the library and booted the PC on the desk in front of him. For a SSH tunnel, it would do more than nicely. He went through the steps to make this machine talk to his primary dev box, and then glanced over at Kitty. "Hey, kid." he said in a friendly voice. "What are you working on at this hour?"
It took her a few seconds to realize that someone was talking to her. Actually, it took her a few seconds to realize there was somebody near by, and turning to look she saw Haroun, looking at her with that expectant 'I've asked you a question' expression. "What?"
That wasn't much like Kitty, to space out like that. "I asked you what you were working on." he said pleasantly. "You look tired. Maybe you should pack it in, get some rest."
"I've been working on this," she said, waving vaguely at her screen, "but yeah... You may be right. Having trouble focusing now..."
Haroun looked at Kitty. She sounded like she was exhausted or high on something. "Pack it in, kiddo." he said as kindly as he could. "You're dead on your feet here. Get some sleep."
"Yeah," she said again, pushing herself to her feet. "I'll... Yeah. Bed. Definitely." Closing her laptop she said, "Got some work done earlier. Before... Before dark and all with the sleepy." Did that make sense? "I'll look a' it tomorrow, see if's any good. Send i' to you." A yawn fought its way free as she picked up the computer.
"Forget about sending me anything right now. Review it once you've had a chance to get some sleep. Right now, anything you do would be a hash." he said with a shrug. "You want some help getting back to your room?" he asked her. Maybe she _was_ high, but she didn't seem the type.
Kitty was too out of it to notice his considering look. She unplugged the laptop, but didn't even bother to collect the power cord before cradling it to her chest. "'Kay," she said, then blinked, realizing she'd answered the wrong part of what he'd said. "I mean, no. 'S okay. Can get home fine. To my room. Home to my room."
Haroun moved closer to look into her eyes. "You high or something?" he asked suspiciously. It wouldn't be like her at _all_, but she was acting quite stoned. "Come on, you need to sleep it off." he said, gathering up her power cord.
"High?" It took Kitty a second to realize what he meant, the idea seeming to have come out of left field to her point of view, but when she did she stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. She did seem more aware, though, the indignation at the suggestion giving her more of a focus. "No! God, no. Ugh. I've never even gotten drunk!"
"You look high." he said, but he took the girl's word for it. "Come on, you. Back to your room!" he said, offering himself to be leaned against if she felt the need to try to tip over.
"I'm not." Clutching the laptop to her she turned and headed out of the library, ignoring his proffered arm. She was willing to be escorted back to her room but she'd be damned if she'd lose control enough to need help.
Haroun sighed as he followed Kitty back to her room, still holding her power cord for her laptop. She set a hard pace for somebody fresh out of physio, and by the time they got to her room his back was _screaming_ at him. "You forgot your power cord." he said, holding it out for her to take.
Turning to snap at him she saw the cord in his hand and stopped, blushing. At which point she noticed how drawn he was looking. "I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the ground and the energy from her anger seemed to drain out of her. "I'm... It's been a rough while," she said, taking the cord. "I'm sorry. Um, thank you. I'll just go to bed now, sir..."
"Forget it. Get some sleep." he said, leaning against the wall to relieve some of the pain. "And talk to somebody if you're having a rough go of it." he offered.
"Thank you," Kitty said again, nodding. "I'm... Yes. Good night."
"Good night, Kitty." he said, and then waited for her to close her door before looking at the steps at the end of the hall. Taking those again was going to be _murder_.
Haroun finds Kitty, and she's clearly not at the top of her game.
She'd come home directly after class ended, having taken the week off work to concentrate on her midterms, since she was clearly pushing herself. But when she'd gotten back to the mansion she'd decided her classwork wouldn't be as interesting as her other project, and she thought she was getting close to a breakthrough.
Now, though it wasn't that late, she was starting to feel tired again. Her mind felt like it was moving through molasses and her fingers clicked less and less rapidly across the keys of her laptop. Occasionally she would close her eyes and open them again to find that what had felt like an instant had been minutes. Focusing on the screen again, Kitty found that her notes didn't make sense, and she couldn't tell if it was because they were nonsensical, or because she was just too tired to understand them. And somehow she couldn't seem to get as bothered by either idea as she vaguely thought she ought to be.
Haroun walked - slowly, but he walked - into the library to find a quiet place to do some work. Alison was in a musical mood, and he knew better than to get in her way when she got involved in writing or scoring a new song. Besides, he was seeing some recent activity in the project folder he'd set up for Kitty, and he was wondering where she was going with her current line of research. So maybe he'd kill two birds with the same stone.
Haroun could hardly be said to have a particularly quiet tred, but Kitty didn't look up at the sound of someone entering the library. She blinked vaguely as the screen went out of focus, a sort of mental blankness settling about her again.
Haroun sank into one of the comfortable chairs in the library and booted the PC on the desk in front of him. For a SSH tunnel, it would do more than nicely. He went through the steps to make this machine talk to his primary dev box, and then glanced over at Kitty. "Hey, kid." he said in a friendly voice. "What are you working on at this hour?"
It took her a few seconds to realize that someone was talking to her. Actually, it took her a few seconds to realize there was somebody near by, and turning to look she saw Haroun, looking at her with that expectant 'I've asked you a question' expression. "What?"
That wasn't much like Kitty, to space out like that. "I asked you what you were working on." he said pleasantly. "You look tired. Maybe you should pack it in, get some rest."
"I've been working on this," she said, waving vaguely at her screen, "but yeah... You may be right. Having trouble focusing now..."
Haroun looked at Kitty. She sounded like she was exhausted or high on something. "Pack it in, kiddo." he said as kindly as he could. "You're dead on your feet here. Get some sleep."
"Yeah," she said again, pushing herself to her feet. "I'll... Yeah. Bed. Definitely." Closing her laptop she said, "Got some work done earlier. Before... Before dark and all with the sleepy." Did that make sense? "I'll look a' it tomorrow, see if's any good. Send i' to you." A yawn fought its way free as she picked up the computer.
"Forget about sending me anything right now. Review it once you've had a chance to get some sleep. Right now, anything you do would be a hash." he said with a shrug. "You want some help getting back to your room?" he asked her. Maybe she _was_ high, but she didn't seem the type.
Kitty was too out of it to notice his considering look. She unplugged the laptop, but didn't even bother to collect the power cord before cradling it to her chest. "'Kay," she said, then blinked, realizing she'd answered the wrong part of what he'd said. "I mean, no. 'S okay. Can get home fine. To my room. Home to my room."
Haroun moved closer to look into her eyes. "You high or something?" he asked suspiciously. It wouldn't be like her at _all_, but she was acting quite stoned. "Come on, you need to sleep it off." he said, gathering up her power cord.
"High?" It took Kitty a second to realize what he meant, the idea seeming to have come out of left field to her point of view, but when she did she stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. She did seem more aware, though, the indignation at the suggestion giving her more of a focus. "No! God, no. Ugh. I've never even gotten drunk!"
"You look high." he said, but he took the girl's word for it. "Come on, you. Back to your room!" he said, offering himself to be leaned against if she felt the need to try to tip over.
"I'm not." Clutching the laptop to her she turned and headed out of the library, ignoring his proffered arm. She was willing to be escorted back to her room but she'd be damned if she'd lose control enough to need help.
Haroun sighed as he followed Kitty back to her room, still holding her power cord for her laptop. She set a hard pace for somebody fresh out of physio, and by the time they got to her room his back was _screaming_ at him. "You forgot your power cord." he said, holding it out for her to take.
Turning to snap at him she saw the cord in his hand and stopped, blushing. At which point she noticed how drawn he was looking. "I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the ground and the energy from her anger seemed to drain out of her. "I'm... It's been a rough while," she said, taking the cord. "I'm sorry. Um, thank you. I'll just go to bed now, sir..."
"Forget it. Get some sleep." he said, leaning against the wall to relieve some of the pain. "And talk to somebody if you're having a rough go of it." he offered.
"Thank you," Kitty said again, nodding. "I'm... Yes. Good night."
"Good night, Kitty." he said, and then waited for her to close her door before looking at the steps at the end of the hall. Taking those again was going to be _murder_.
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