( picture prompt meme )

[socketeer]

the picture prompt meme I — Comment with your character. II — Others will leave a picture (or two, or three...) III — Reply to them with a setting based on the picture. IV — Link to any pictures that are NSFW, please. V — Be aware that this meme will be image-heavy. Link to an image: <a href=IMAGEURL>TEXT</a> Embed image in your reply: <img src=IMAGEURL> Image width and height: <img src=IMAGEURL width=500> OR <img src=IMAGEURL height=INSERT>

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[littlemissfutility]

She rolls her eyes again--extremely mature, definitely patient--but doesn't try to leave the elevator. She doesn't at floor eight, either, just watches the doors open and another identical hallway does exactly nothing in front of them.

His question gets her attention, though. In a moment, he's no longer at the edge of her vision--the sliding doors are, as she turns her head towards him.

"Just the one over my eye?" The one under her other eye is probably the next question, but usually people bring them both up at once. And usually she says something about an accident, or she's silent until the other person drops it, but right now, that doesn't feel quite right. Maybe she's more annoyed at being bossed around than she realizes. "Some people hit pretty hard."

Better he's asking about the scars on her face, anyway, than the one just under her jaw. Most of the time, she's got a scarf fluffed out around her neck in an attempt to hide the ragged spot, but she hadn't expected company while she was doing her hair and makeup--it's only now that she remembers her mistake. Dipping her head a little lower, she glances back at the doors. "Floor nine."

[success_story]

"'Tell me about all your scars' is kind of a weird way to go into it, I think." He hums. Plus that's the one that bows when she makes faces. Plus he kind of anticipated she'd spill on the rest like most would. Beth doesn't give an inch thoughtlessly though; he feels better and better about his choice of consult. "Did you hit back? Ten coming up."

[littlemissfutility]

"You wouldn't be the first." Some people are jerks, or just kind of thoughtless. At one point, she probably would've been, too. When he asks his next question, she shrugs one shoulder like the answer doesn't matter. He'll decide for himself whether he thinks she did, and maybe that'll be the end of it. (It probably won't be. He's full of questions, and all of them point straight at her. But it's worth a shot.) "Floor ten."

[success_story]

His eyes narrow at the non-response, and he lets it hang in the air for a bit. Only for a bit, though. "...So...is that a shut-the-fuck-up?"

[littlemissfutility]

"I don't use that word." Much. She glances over at him. "So why aren't we getting out?"

[success_story]

"Shut the fudge up?" He teases. "This is just to confirm. This elevator goes to every floor. Every floor exists so far. We can agree on that, right? Just establishing observable facts. I promise it pays off. When we get to the fourteenth--mm."

Tim cuts off when they reach the eleventh floor and a pair of exhausted, surly counselor-teachers slide in with them. He scoots closer to Beth, shoots her a closed-mouth look. Glances out the door. Floor eleven. The new riders are going up to thirteen, and the quiet that they brought in gives Tim a chance to look and think. He nudges Beth when the doors opens on Floor Twelve and no one gets out, breathes a quiet "Thirteen" when that floor arrives and the counselors exit. He only takes a few inches of space back as the doors close again. "So--is it Jesus that keeps you from swearing or believing in ghosts? I'm just--making guesses here."

[littlemissfutility]

It's a stupid joke on his part, and still not something she'd say--shut the hell up, it's really not that hard--but she doesn't bother answering. He's just being a dick. She's not encouraging that. And then the counselors show up, and she's definitely not saying anything in front of them. Until he demands to know whether she's the kind of Christian who says gosh and shoot, she's silent, neither looking at him nor ignoring him.

"Yeah, you are." And you're standing too close. Either way, she's not taking the bait that easily. She glances up at the number 13 as they climb toward the top floor. "It could be on the thirteenth floor. That's the only place we've seen people."

The fourteenth floor looks exactly the same as all the others to her--wait. No, it doesn't. There's a little puddle of something red (maybe blood, maybe not, she can't smell it from here) at the edge of the visible corridor. Beth glances over at Tim. "Can we get off this time?"