April Hugs!

Hug Meme: Classic Version

Post with your character, canon, and any notes/preferences. (If it is normally impossible for your character to give or receive hugs, like if they don't have limbs or are incorporeal, be sure to tell us whatever you're changing for them to participate.)

Tag other people; either roll a number from 1 to 8 or pick a hug, and give them that hug.

Get tagged.

Enjoy the aftermath!

1. Friendly Hug: The default hug; a hug as a show of platonic affection. Is it a normal hug, or a pouncetackleglomp? You decide!

2. Romantic Hug: Can't kiss your lover right now, or just want to change it up a bit? Give them a romantic hug!

3. Comfort Hug: They look so sad... give them a hug to cheer them up!

4. Awkward Hug: You really don't want to give this person a hug; maybe you just had a fight, or you're just too stoic/manly/badass to do hugs in general. Too bad, you have to give them one. Do your best!

5. Scoop Hug: In addition to a hug, the hugger picks up the huggee slightly off the ground. Works best when they're bigger and stronger, but hey, seeing little girls try to pick up 6-foot badasses is cute too.

6. Surprise Hug: Sneak up on them from behind with a surprise hug!

7. Violent Hug: Hugs are supposed to be friendly, what gives? Whether you're squeezing the wind out of them or are just getting them into the perfect position for a backstab, you're only giving this person a hug in order to hurt them.

8. Other: Reroll, pick your own, mix and match, etc.

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It's okay, Eddie. I'm sure you weren't expecting a visitor today.

[ She spares a glance Gordon's direction; she'd told him she was leaving, as she'd been told... But she's never made much of a habit of doing what she's tood. She nods up at Eddie. ] I'd like that, if it won't get you in trouble.

So long as you don't come into the lab everything should be fine.

[He heads towards the back of the building, passing a few cops that glance suspiciously at Rachel but decide not to deal with the problem. Midway there he stops in his tracks, his hands fluttering nervously, then closes the distance between himself and a bespectacled woman that had just come out of a nearby room.]

Miss Kringle!

[She jerks her head around as though expecting to be jumped, then takes a breath and greets Eddie politely, informing him that she's received his notes from this morning.]

Good! Great. I--the color of your skirt reminds me of algae. The red kind, with phycobiliproteins.

[Um, thanks. She gives him a weird look, then points to the spot on his suit. You've got a little, uh--]

Don't worry. I think that's just blood.

[She wrinkles her nose. The disgust escapes him, but her glance away from the biohazard towards Rachel doesn't, and he hastily introduces her.]

Oh, this is my friend Rachel. Rachel, this is Miss Kringle, the archivist.

[Kristen seems about as surprised as Gordon that Eddie actually has a friend, but she offers her a friendly enough smile before remarking about how much work she has to do and quickly departing. Eddie turns his head to watch her go, then blinks a little as though snapping himself out of a train of thought, continuing towards the lab.]

I'll be good, I promise. [ She knows better, has too much respect for the police and scientists, and the truth and justice, to risk anything by not behaving where she really must.

As soon as Eddie calls out the woman's name, Rachel's full attention is on her, though she keeps her expression schooled. She's heard so much about Miss Kringle, and now here she is. Rachel can't quite get a read on her; she grasps that there may be a bit of being unsure how to deal with Eddie but she can't really figure out the rest of the reaction.

Before Rachel can do much more than say a friendly hello, before she can even move closer to try to shake her hand or anything, Kristen turns and hurries away. She glances up at Eddie, watching him watch her go. His affection was already more than obvious, in the way he'd talked about her, and now she can see the actual effect Kristen has on him.

A couple of quick strides and she falls back into step beside Eddie, reaching to curl her arm through his. ]

She seems very nice. And she's pretty.

She is. [He looks at Rachel, suddenly uncomfortable. It's one thing for him to fail at flirting in front of Kristen alone, but he doesn't want to appear like a loser in front of his best friend.] ...She didn't appreciate that compliment, did she.

I think she just didn't understand it. [ She gives his arm an encouraging squeeze. ] If she's an archivist she likely doesn't have a scientific background and wouldn't know what a phycobiliprotein is. Or what it looks like or how cool it is or any of that.

Sometimes it also works better to leave things pretty general and make them about the person you're complimenting. She doesn't understand what a phycobiliprotein is, but she would get that you were complimenting her if you said something like, "I really like your skirt, that color flatters you," or "you look nice today."

That's true. I don't think she knows all that much about science. I was trying to explain how carbon-14 dating works to her the other day and she seemed very confused.

[Since why wouldn't someone want to know, he'd thought? It was such an interesting tool.

And there's another issue here, too:]

If I said something that direct would that be too...forward?

[ Rachel shakes her head. ] No, as long as you left it there. Generally personal. It's when you get into inappropriate details like the sexual feelings that nice skirt might give you that you've gone too far. But it's generally okay to tell someone you think they look nice today.

All right. Noted. [He unwinds his arm from hers to enter the lab, emerging about five minutes later with freshly washed hands and his suit jacket back on.]

I wish I could show you some of the things we're processing right now in there. But, you know. Contamination and security concerns. I can get you the cookies though. They're white chocolate and raspberry!

[He examines her sleeve, wondering whether he'd gotten anything on that, then carefully rolls it up before offering her his arm and leading her back to the break room. Two cops eating burgers look over at them, and one starts to stand.]

Hi Officers! This is my friend Rachel. I'm just giving her some cookies. Do you mind if I put on a new pot of coffee?

[The cop sits down, content that she's not a threat. His companion scoffs in amusement. How did you get a girlfriend, Nygma? Order her off the internet?]

She's not my girlfriend, just my friend. [Eddie busies himself with retrieving his lunchbox, pulling out a small plastic bag of cookies. They're a bit crumbled, but he offers them to Rachel anyway.]

[ Rachel feels an instant flare of anger at the joke. That's her friend, how dare someone speak to him like that.

She's not going to leap immediately to his defense. That could be embarrassing to him at best and lead to problems down the line for him at worst. But she's incapable of just letting this go, either. Rachel doesn't actually care what anyone thinks of her or says about her if they're not a close friend or family member, but it's a good opening here.

She summons the absolutely sweetest smile (okay, it's maybe got sharp edges if you look closely). ] Hey, fellas.

[ She tugs out a free chair at the table. Turns it around, straddles it, arms folded over its back, so she's at eye level with the two cops. Still smiling at them, her face the very picture of innocent curiosity. ] Can you help me out with something? I'm so confused. What is it about me that makes you assume I'm--what did you say? "Ordered off the internet"? So, what--like a mail-order bride? An escort? Not here by my own choice?

[ They exchange glances, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. She waits for an answer, the silence stretching to just that side of uncomfortable, before she speaks again, still as (theatrically) sweet as could be. ]

Since you seem so concerned over how I got here, and what my profession is, why don't I help you out with that: I'm not off the internet. I am from the Gazette--crime and courts coverage. See, I write about the police, and lots and lots of people read what I have to say about them, Officers...

[ She cranes her neck, leaning in, making a big show of reading their badges. ] Cowell, badge number 5671, and... Patrick, badge number 8840. Hey, weren't you at the scene of that hit and run on Third last Thursday? That was you, right? See--

[ A bit of the sugar dissolves from her expression and tone. ]

I have a long memory. You should probably know that about me. You should probably also be respectful.

[ Neither one of them will look her in the eye now; they're probably too busy digesting the heavily implied threat in her words. Good. Her work here is done.

Eddie offers her the cookies, and he gets a genuine smile as she takes the package. ] Thank you, Eddie.

Edited 2015-04-19 02:18 (UTC)

[Eddie isn't sure what to make of that whole spectacle--he's a little afraid for her when she goes to confront the cops, but her threat seems to have worked well enough to shut them up. He brews some coffee, opening the cabinets and pulling out his mug and a plain one for Rachel, chattering a bit in the meantime about how he baked those cookies himself whilst dumping an excessive amount of creamer into his.]

You know what I really wish I could show you from this morning? The pictures of the blowflies. You would not believe how many were present. It was like a blowfly party in the deceased's abdominal cavity.

[ All three people at the table go still at the words blowfly party, one of the officers setting his burger down and Rachel pausing with a cheek full of one of the cookies. The other officer has a moment of looking like he might say something, but he glances at Rachel and thinks better of it.

She finishes chewing and smiles. ] Sounds fascinating. [ No, really, it does, she's not humoring him, and the moment of imagining a blowfly party with food in her mouth has passed. ] Maybe you could Google search me something similar later?

I could. [He pours the coffee, stepping over to set her mug in front of her.] I also collected some of the maggots and pupa casings as additional evidence for the projected time of death. Have you ever heard maggots eating? It's almost a crunchy noise. The best comparison I've come across is the sound Rice Krispies make when you put them in milk.

[ Rachel is suddenly glad she doesn't like Rice Krispies.

The two officers exchange glances and then they get up hurriedly, the one tossing out what's left of his lunch. They mutter about break time being over.

Maybe it is. Or maybe she should have a word with Eddie about appropriate lunchroom conversation... but these men were jerks and she's not going to help them. Instead she smiles sweetly as they step away from the table. ]

It was nice meeting you both! I hope I'll see you out there sometime! [ A pause, and then: ] Cowell, 5671; Patrick, 8840.

[ ...Look, she holds grudges sometimes.

But Eddie gets a smile as she tugs out the chair nearest hers. ]

Rice Krispies, huh?

Yep. [He sits down.] I kept flies for a while in my apartment, so I know the sound very well. And an ant colony, but the ants got out and it took about three weeks to get rid of them. Right now I only have the spiders and the BALB/c mice.

Did I show you the mice yet? They're very docile. When I let them walk on me they like to perch on my hand or shoulder and stand up on their hind legs.

[ ...Only spiders and mice. Rachel can't help but be faintly amused by that. She shakes her head as she finishes another bite of a cookie, holding the bag out to him. ]

You have not shown me the mice yet, no. I'd love to meet them. Are they albino mice? Like lab mice?

[He fishes out a piece of cookie from the bag, popping it into his mouth.]

Yes, they're the albino ones. They were originally bred from a population in the 1920s and are used for studying a lot of things. I think they're the strain spleen cells for monoclonal antibodies are usually obtained from, too. Those mass-produced antibodies are so important; they're used in a lot of different kinds of laboratory tests.

[He sips his coffee.] I have three mice, all female. I named them Penelope, LaShonda and Fibroma.

I think-- I don't know for sure, I read so much, I pick things up everywhere. But I think I might've known those were lab rats from reading something of my dad's. Maybe. Who knows.

[ She laughs, reaching for her cup. ] That's quite the set of names. They sound like the members of a girl group from the 1960's, maybe, I like those.

[He giggles.] The spiders are females too--Effluvia and Rajni. They're rose hair tarantulas. I feed them crickets and take them out sometimes because their bites aren't really dangerous unless you have a history of anaphylaxis.

I don't have a history of anaphylaxis but I do have a history of freaking out when unexpectedly confronted with a very large spider. So if they're out when I'm around just warn me, okay?

Okay. Don't worry; I don't let them wander too much. If they fall from a height their abdomens can rupture, which causes death within a few hours.

...Are most women afraid of spiders or is that just a stereotype?

...You know, Eddie, I'm not sure. I'm sure it varies with the woman in question.

I do think it's a safe assumption, though, that whether or not a person is afraid of them or not, being unexpectedly confronted with a large one might surprise them unpleasantly.

That would make sense. Especially if that person lacks visual knowledge of the species and isn't sure whether the spider is venomous or not.

You know what used to frighten me? Small dogs. I got bitten by a Japanese Spaniel when I was a kid once. Fortunately it was fully up-to-date with its vaccinations.

I think most people would lack that kind of knowledge, yeah.

Why did the dog bite you?

It always barked at me when I walked by that house and after reading about behavioral conditioning I thought it might stop if I associated my presence with a rewarding stimulus. I had the idea to bring it a small piece of chicken every day. On the third day it got too excited and bit my hand. [He traces over the fingers of his right hand, just under the distal knuckles.] I used to have scars but they've faded now.

[ She reaches for his hand instantly, tugging it closer so she can examine his fingertips. ] Yeah, I can't even tell. It's good they faded. I have a few I wish would have.

Did being bitten put you off liking dogs?

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April Hugs!

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