Pepper and Sig had both followed Dr. Redd out of the main atrium, and kept relatively close to him on the walk to the main escalators. The escalators in 49 were somewhat automatic; the building seemed to conserve energy by leaving them off most of the time until it sensed someone step on one. Then it ran until the weight came off, at which point it went dormant again.
He walked with his hands in his pockets as he led the way down the main hall of the dormitory section, eyes ahead of him. He just expected the two of them to follow, or maybe he was just lost in his own thoughts. At the very least he could save these two the ‘very basics’ conversation that the others were probably getting from Isaac and Hope.
“Pepper, rather than a containment unit, we figured for now you’d probably be best bunking with Cammie. Then, Sig: you, Goro, and Matsumodo – assuming we don’t have to amnesticize the poor guy right away – will be in a room together. And then Eloise and Jamie together. It’ll probably be the best arrangement, but if anyone has objections to that we’ll do our best to rearrange. We’ve only got seven personnel-ready rooms total right now, and Dr. Florence’s team is already camping out downstairs. Agent Cotta and I are roommates, Ms. Phillips has a – we’ll call it ‘weirdspace’ in her office. And then there’s Guy, our armorer, and a handful of other security guys Agent Cotta’s gotten on hand for the Risky-classes downstairs. For right now, you guys won’t have to worry about those until we go over breach protocols.”
They rounded the corner, and Cody stopped in front of the designated guys-room. Three beds along the walls, three chests with replaceable clothes, and a single large desk. The bathroom was down the hall, but given it was just Sig for now, he’d have the option to just change in here with the door shut. It’d leave Cody and Pepper alone for a few seconds, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Then they could get on to the interview.
The sigh of relief from just behind Dr. Redd was both loud and heavy, pulled from the tension Sig had been holding in his gut from the moment he woke late and without a stitch. The privacy of his loincloth was barely passable, and it taken every ounce of distraction he had been able to muster to keep the heat from his face. At the revelation of the men’s bunks and the chests of blessed clothing that unacknowledged pressure the young man had felt melted away. With an uncanny swiftness he bolted for the first footlocker, and yanked a bit too quickly on the fabric within.
RRIIIIPPP
His mouth had been open to speak as the pants tore like paper in his hand, a single leg left caught beneath the rubber sole of a boot and the edge of the locker. His mouth remained open for a moment as his gaze trailed over to the next chest.
”The other guys had their own clothes, right?” He didn’t meet anyone’s gaze as he shuffled slightly to open another chest with exaggerated care. ”I don’t mean to break everything. It will get better in a couple of days.” With a complete pair of pants in his grasp Sig pulled a plain white t-shirt from the chest as well, the same as the clothes he had left in the Foundation-provided hotel.
”I’m sure it’s in a report somewhere?” His surety became inquiry, a curiosity about how much his benefactors had observed thus far. Sig began pulling the pants on over the loincloth, at ease enough with the undergarment to forego the need of privacy. With the task achieved he prepared to put on the shirt before he lifted his gaze to eye level.
”You’re not planning on having me change,” the young wolf sort of shrugged and glanced toward Pepper, ”with her there, are you? I don’t think I’ve ever hurt anyone before, but I really don’t want to risk it.” There had probably been a better way to broach the subject of his testing, but his worries and his comfort with a solid covering from his waist and below had loosened his tongue enough to voice his reservations.
The fabric around his arms gave a soft kssshk before he pulled the shirt over his head quickly. It was a bit small, perhaps because it had come from some other person’s locker. ”Not to mention I just put some clothes on and I really do not want to be naked again.”
For once, Pepper managed to remain mostly quiet as Cody talked, explaining the rooming situation. She’d be bunking with Cammie? That seemed fine. Surely that wouldn’t be an issue for anyone. It made sense to have people roomed based on gender. And even though Cammie had seemed really stand-offish, surely she was just nervous, like many of them, Pepper assumed, were. Certainly, they couldn’t be too terribly different. After all, it took a certain kind of person to survive in the ACF.
She was so deep in thought that she barely even noticed as Sig pulled on clothes over his apron, her eyes distant as she was turned, most unfortunately, toward the room. As she pulled herself out of thought, she became acutely aware of the fact that it might have come off as though she was intentionally staring. She blinked and quickly averted her eyes again, not looking toward either of the men. Her face was tinged light pink as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“Oh, don’t worry about changing in front of me. I’ve already seen a lot of people without clothes on before, you know? I can just look away if it bothers you!” The words came out before she had finished even thinking them, and she stood rigid as a board for a moment. “For science. I’ve seen a lot of bodies for science.”
She closed her eyes and tipped her head forward a bit. Just enough that her loose hair could hide her expression of regret. Was it worse that she clarified? Or was it better? Did it make it even more awkward? Cody knew, she was sure, and he’d probably seen enough bodies as well given he was a researcher. Pepper had seen enough as just an unofficial assistant.
“Uhm. Are you also anomalous? Is that why you’re worried about hurting me?” A good redirect. At least, she thought it was. She hoped it was. God, please let it be enough. She flashed a small, nervous smile at Sig, carefully avoiding looking in Cody’s direction.
Sig’s eyes fell to Pepper as she spoke with a face varying through different shades of blush. He hadn’t quite grown used to his height, and upon realizing how he was looking down toward the girl his shoulders hunched and knees bent to being him closer to her level. The concentration he spared to maintain the position pulled his own tint from his face, affording him a more sober facade as Pepper grew ever more flustered.
“None of my business where you’ve seen what you’ve seen.” He responded nonchalantly, but internally he nodded to himself. He had figured the girl for one of the researchers and her profession to scientific endeavors cemented that assumption. “If you can tell your face you aren’t bothered by bare skin it would probably help.” A touch of heat returned to his cheeks.
His posture straightened at Pepper’s next question, however, causing him to tower over her with his gaze anchored forward over the top of her head.
“Are you also anomalous?”
Perhaps he was wrong. His mother had told him of mental asylums where the mad were quarantined from the rest of the world; of patients there that not only believed they were something else but could convince the common man of the same. He hadn’t been introduced to any other anomalies, neither inanimate nor living like himself. Perhaps, if the girl were also an anomaly, he was simply being presented the face of a researcher
When his eyes drifted back down to Pepper there was a guardedness about them.
“I turn into a beast sometimes,” he answered in the way someone stated the weather. Did Pepper turn into a wolf as well? Was she something worse? He had to choose his words carefully. “I don’t think the beast has ever hurt anyone before. I would like to keep it that way.” There was no lie, though perhaps he had oversimplified. If she were to be involved in his case, if she were a researcher at all, the Foundation would provide her with his file. More specific answers could come from more specific questions.
Cody watched Sig with the same detached gaze he’d worn for most of this, at least until he had pants on. He pulled out a pocket notebook and quickly scribbled a note to remind himself to have new clothes brought up for the other team members. And to get clothes that correctly fit Sig, since he currently looked like he’d raided a nine-year-old’s locker room.
That was about when Sig bent over to talk to his significantly smaller coworker – a bad start – and then tried to dodge the question with her. Cody understood the need for secrecy with people outside the Foundation, and even inside when there was money on the line, but in this case he knew he needed to step in. This was a potentially dangerous secret, and it’d be best to be up-front about those right away.
“He’s lycanthropic,” Cody told Pepper, walking over to stand next to both of them, facing the pair. He put a hand on Sig’s head. “His recruiter wasn’t sure whether or not it’s anomalous, but it’s better to assume that in combination with standard lycanthropy. Also, Sig, there’s no point in being coy with your teammates. Or shy, for that matter. Both of your standard researchers and your armorer identified as female on their intake forms, so you’ll be changing your clothes and-or shape around them a lot.”
The growing red on his face was a good indication that Cody had been right about his application, though. It wasn’t improperly filled because Sig was hiding anything; it was filled out wrong because Sig didn’t have a lot of real-world experience. Castor had been right about that much, at least.
With that in mind, he continued, a little more gently, “You’ll be asked to change for your physical tests, but if you’re comfortable I don’t see why you can’t take your clothes off beforehand. I’ll be conducting the first batch of those along with whoever’s designated your laboratory researcher so she can get an idea of how those are conducted for her future reference.”
