Beggars can't be choosers.

'ACK, wait!' Kyle managed to say before they hit the ground, flat on his back. 'Listen Nova, I'M THE BOY IN THIS RELATIONSHIP.' Hoping he caught her off guard with the painfully sexist remark, he pushed up with his hips, which made him blush because he could feel her warmth on top of him, but nonetheless, roughly rolled over and pinned her to the ground.

He grabbed at her waving hands and they made the bottle slip out of their grasp and slide away from them on the carpet. Kyle pinned her down for a moment longer and then leaped for it, scrambling on the ground next to Nova who, by the sounds of it, wasn't happy with him.

((permission to wrestle with nova!))

Alec blinked at Nova uncomprehendingly.

What do you mean he doesn't drink? I thought you said he was a writer? And it sure looks like we wants to.

Laughing at Kyle's statement, Alec quipped

Well, you must be the emo boy in the relationship then, because she's on top AND kicking your ass. Oh, good reversal. Maybe you're the boy after all.

Nova snarled at Kyle’s use of the dreaded ‘R’ word and pulled back to deliver a vicious head butt when he suddenly lifted up his hips.

Hello.

That was her last thought before she realized she was flat on her back, Kyle was scrambling over her, and Alec was…cheering him on? What the hell!

“Alec! Evans! Men!”

With a growl she brought her knee up, connecting with god only knew what, and rolled over onto Kyle’s back, straddling his hips and grabbing him by the hair with one hand while the other reached for the bottle.

“Give it up Evans, you’re not going to win this one.”

She looked up at Alec, blowing loose strands of hair away from her face.

“No, he doesn’t. He really really doesn’t...”

Doctor Turmishkish strolled up to the nurse’s station, where he was happily greeted by cheerful exclamations of “Doctor T!” from the three nurses on duty, and went to take a look at the charts.

He was, however, interrupted from this task by the sound of quite a tussle in one of the rooms.

‘Alec! Evans! Men!’

Doctor T looked to the nurses in concern and saw they were exchanging knowing glances.

“Er…should I check…”

One of the nurses shook her head.

‘Ah…no Doctor T, I don’t think you wanna know…’

Doctor T looked to the others for confirmation and, seeing three nodding heads, decided they were probably right. He picked up a chart at random and headed down the hall, though behind him he could pick up snatches of the nurse’s conversation.

‘Mmmhmm.’

‘You don’t have to tell me.’

‘Now what –I- wanna know is, what’s the second guy doing?’

‘Girl, if you don’t know I sure ain’t gonna tell you…’

'NO....KNEES,' Kyle called out winded as Nova managed to knock the wind out of him and thankfully not his boys. She climbed onto his back and grabbed a handful of his hair.

'NOVA...NOT THE HAIR...GET OFF, I'M NOT GOING TO DRINK IT,' Kyle hooked his arm around and grabbed one of her legs. 'That's it!' He pulled her leg up and tried to bite her.

Laughing, Alec leaned over and plucked up the bottle.

Well, shit. If no one ELSE is.

Twisting it open, he took a good swig, smiling.

Ooo! The knee! AND the hair! Nice! I've never been more proud of you, Nova!

Chuckling, Alec waited to see what the next turn of events would be. Nothing like a morning of entertainment to pass the time.

Nova flailed and kicked when Kyle grabbed her leg, seeing his intent, and squirmed in a most unladylike manner while growling out:

“Hey! I am the biter in this r…”

Her eyes widening at what she almost said, the room suddenly became clear to her through the haze of furious battle. There she was, sprawled out over Evans with one leg in his hand while Alec calmly drank from the JD bottle they were fighting over. They were also, she realized, being really loud.

“Umph.”

She shoved off Kyle with a grunt, leaning against the bed and resting one foot on Kyle’s hip, pushing lightly in an attempt to get him on his back. She spoke almost tiredly while she nudged, closing her eyes in a long suffering manner.

“Why is it that every time we see each other we end up rolling on the floor or pressed up against walls or…Alec if you answer that I swear to god I’ll throw this entire bed at your eye.”

“Why is it that every time we see each other we end up rolling on the floor or pressed up against walls or…Alec if you answer that I swear to god I’ll throw this entire bed at your eye.”

'Because you are a strangley violent woman?' Kyle ran his hand through his hair. 'I sold my soul to even have this much hair at my age.' He patted it gently, glaring at her with her leg on his hip. He smirked and sat up.

'I wasn't going to drink it, Nova. I was going to...smell it?' He shrugged annoyed and embarassed. Running his hand over his face he sighed unhappily. He would've drank the entire bottle, just to escape from this new hell. Kyle laid out flat on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. Yeah, he would've.

Kyle crossed his arms with a humph and muttered without looking at Nova, 'Thank you,' ever so quietly.

Eyes widening at the thought of getting smacked with a bed, Alec held his hands up.

Color me 'shut the hell up' then.

Laughing, Alec took another swig and passed the bottle to Nova.

To the victor go the spoils! I'm not willing to 'wrassle' with you for it. Besides, Kyle might get jealous of me laying hands on. Annnnnnnd on that note, I'll cue the music and make my exit. Heal up, hero, and kick his ass, Nova. Y'all have fun now, y'hear?

Walking past the nurse kiosk, Alec felt a lingering spark of mischief. At the strange looks he was getting at the nurse station, he smirked and quipped

That was some crazy footage. Goodnight ladies.

((ooc: Alec out pending response))

Nova’s eyes glazed over for a moment before she delivered her retort. She could practically hear a splash from the amount of sarcasm dripping.

“Why thank you Evans, I’m flattered.”

She was, however, satisfied enough that Kyle had thanked Alec for the gift even if it didn’t go over so well, and even if she didn’t believe the crap about not planning on drinking it, she let it go as she took the bottle from Alec’s hand and screwed the cap back on.

Pushing up to her feet, she followed Alec to the door and set the bottle on the floor outside while she said her goodbyes.

“You bet…and thanks Alec, it was cool of you to come by.”

After shutting the door behind her, Nova sighed, suddenly tired and realizing that it had been a while since she had what she considered a decent day’s sleep.

It wasn't until she turned back around that it occured to her that Evans might be thanking -her-. She didn't really know how to respond to that and, feeling more awkward than usual, which was saying something, she shoved her hands in her pockets and spoke in a perfectly normal tone of voice.

Well, perhaps a little softer than usual. Not that, in turn, that was saying much either.

“Alright. I’m going to ask you something and I need a straight answer without any smart assed remarks. Can we do that?” She took a deep breath and looked around the room for a moment. “When was the last time you ate?”

Kyle looked over at her from his position on the floor.

'First, I was thanking YOU,' and then he huffed dramatically. 'Second, I haven't eaten since like...1986, it seems like. But I think I ate about 2 days ago. I had just finished a rather nice steak when I got thrown into the back of a limo, kidnapped, shot, killed, revived, shot at AGAIN, nearly blown up, nearly smashed, addicted to an illegal drug, kidnapped...AGAIN, manhandled BY YOU, gone through severe withdrawls, attacked...AGAIN BY YOU. So I haven't had the chance to grab so much as a snickers bar from the vending machine.'

He sighed. 'Wait, you said no smart assed remarks, didn't you?' He held up two fingers. 'Two days.' Kyle's eyes narrowed. 'Why?'

Nova gave the room another shifty glance before some vague memory of her upbringing reminded her of the proper response.

“You’re welcome.”

She sighed at the diatribe that followed, thinking that a request for a truce probably was too much to ask. At least half of that stuff wasn’t really her fault but it was hard not to feel a little bad nonetheless.

Hard, but not impossible, and Nova set her jaw before speaking.

“Because. There’s a pill that can help. It’s very new and it isn’t a magic wand or anything, but it will help with the cravings and possibly the side effects of withdraw as well. It does, however, carry its own side effects, one of which is that it kills your appetite, so you should eat something before you take it, and then you’re going to have to remember to eat regularly even if you don’t feel hungry.”

She pulled her bright yellow phone out of her pocket and once again regained her composure. This being civil stuff was damn trying.

“So,” she said between her teeth “what’s it going to be? There’s a cafeteria around here somewhere or I can order in.”

Kyle considered his options. On one hand he had what seemed like eternal damnation of his soul, ie withdrawls or take a pill and not be hungry.

Damnation of soul.

Remember to eat.

Soul.

Eat.

'Are you sure I wont sprout a third eye or possible want to eat a cat? Because I'd consider that a bad side effect too. And oh my god is that a smiley face on your phone?' Kyle sat up and looked at Nova. Why? Why was he attracted to this woman? He conceeded that was she hot. She'd never get any older, but could probably get meaner, if that was possible. He gave her an appraising look, from head to toe.

'Can we eat in here?' He caught himself saying we. Was he inviting her to stay? Kyle's eyes narrowed at her in thought.

Yes, he believed he was inviting her to eat with him.

Nova snorted involuntarily before giving Kyle a look as though he really had grown that third eye he was so concerned about. When had she started thinking he was funny?

“Did you just say ‘omg’? And no, we aren’t totally sure of all the side effects but I can safely say it’s nothing like that.”

She held up her phone, which did indeed have a smiley face sticker, along with a bright green Mr. Yuck and several cautionary stickers one might find on prescription pill bottles.

“May cause drowsiness.”

She smirked a little when Kyle asked if they could eat there and answered in an amused tone.

“I don’t see why not; what are they going to do, keep you in a room with loud aggressive women to manhandle you? Oh wait, they’ve already done that, so fuck it, let’s get some food.”

With that, she flipped open the phone and started through her contacts.

“What do you say…pizza? Chinese? Oooh, we could have…”

The realization that Kyle had just invited her to join him struck so suddenly that she cut herself off and faltered for a moment before continuing on as though nothing had happened. “…er…there’s a pretty good cheese steak place that delivers…”

Kyle smiled slowly at Nova's enthusiasm. He almost snorted when it dawned on her that he invited her.

'Chill out, She-Ra, it's not a date. I'm just asking you to partake in dead cow with me, not asking you to marry me. A philly sounds good.' He gave her a wink and picked himself up off the ground. He grabbed his bag that had spilled onto the floor and carried it into the bathroom, figuring he'd leave her alone to order.

Kyle pulled out the shirt and looked at it again. He blinked and then smiled. She picked it because she liked it. Jesus she was going soft on him and he was fairly certain he liked it. He shook his head, must be the drugs. Pulling off the scrub shirt, he put on the day glow orange eye sore and slipped on some jeans she had brought as well.

'Hrmm, no socks.' Kyle wiggled his toes and then walked back out into the room.

Nova made her best scoffing face as Kyle walked away, wondering where in the hell he got his cocky little attitude. She was, however, encouraged enough by the thought of a cheese steak that she was willing to let his use of the ‘m’ word slide.

Someone ought to wash his mouth out, though.

She made the appropriate call while Kyle was in the bathroom, adding fries and coke to the order as well as extra catsup and mayo.

She gave a surprisingly genuine smile when Kyle stepped out of the bathroom in his bright orange shirt, but it turned smug after a moment.

“See, fits you just fine. Told you it was a good shirt.”

Well, if it were a little tight through the shoulders she certainly wasn’t going to say anything. Made for a nice effect.

“It’ll be here shortly; place is just down the street.”

Grinning at his bare toes, she walked over to the closet and pulled open the drawer under the scrub shirts.

“Slippers!” She tossed Evans the plastic package with two foam slippers inside. “Okay, they’re very nearly worthless but you can’t stay in a hospital ward without experiencing the slippers.

'Noooo!' He dodged the slippers and let them fall to the ground. Nodding towards Nova's feet, 'Gimme your socks. They probably fit,' he teased.

Walking over to the bed, he hopped on it, laying on his side. Kyle looked over at Nova and started to rub the spot next to him. He mouthed the words with a ridiculous grin...Come on, come on...wink, nod, wink. He gave it one final pat and said, 'Oh come on, have a sit down. Tell me about yourself. I won't bite. OH,' he laughed at his own joke.

Kyle figured, the least they can do is attempt to be civil and he always found that talking like mature adults on a queen sized bed with bouncy springs was usually a very good start. He gave her another lecherous grin, snorting to himself as he rested on his elbow, he pointed to the shirt.

'I'm wearing this ridiculous shirt for you, you owe me, missy.'

Nova snickered and lifted pulled up one pant leg a couple of inches to reveal the tops of the neon blue socks that peeked out just a little over her combat boots.

“You sure?”

She scowled a little at Kyle’s invitation, but when he stopped goofing off and just straight up asked she took a hesitant step toward the bed.

Hmm. No sudden moves…

Her eyes narrowed a little as she approached, waiting for him to do something totally weird, but as he seemed to mean no harm and since she remembered that she could kick his ass around the room any time she felt like it, she finally took a seat at the edge of the bed, still regarding him warily.

“It’s a perfectly good shirt.”

With that, she bent down to unlace her boots.

“What do you want to know?”

Kyle eyed up her neon colored socks and said, 'Well first thing that comes to mind is whether or not you're actually color blind.'

She had hesitated coming over to the bed, but eventually sat down on the edge. He probably unnerved her, which he actually felt bad about. He wondered how old Nova actually was. She looked about late twenties, early thirites, but if her sense of style was any indication, she probably wasn't much older than that. Kyle looked into her face and watched her concentration on her shoelace, she was quite beautiful...in that man hater kind of way.

He thought of his question. 'What makes a person leave everything behind to live an unnatural life of a vampire? The money? The eternal youth? No pun intended. Isn't it lonely?

Kyle's eyebrows furrowed. Nova could easily ask the same thing of him. Did he leave behind everything and everyone to live his unnatural life of being a drunk? Was it for the money, which was good. Was it for the fame?

Whatever it was, he was definitely lonely.

Nova made a ‘pfft’ sound at Kyle’s comment regarding her choice of colors but kept quiet on that front other than to mutter under her breath, defensively.

“I –like- bright colors.”

At his next question she actually stopped loosening her laces for a moment and thought, wondering if she should just pick one of the smart assed answers rolling through her head and go with that.

“I love how people throw around the word ‘unnatural’ like they know what it means. What does that mean? Honest to God, give me a break.”

Shrugging, she pulled off one boot and started on the other. She didn’t think she had anything to lose with a straight answer and her life was pretty much an open book…she just wasn’t used to being sincere.

“I’ve had the opportunity to know some great minds, Evans. –Great- minds, it was…unfathomable sometimes. And I’ve gotten the calls telling me they’re dead and it just…you know, they spent half their lives on their work and the other half trying to reach out and make someone else understand, trying to find someone to carry it on, because life is so short and discovery, innovation, science…it’s so slow, it’s glacier paced.”

Pulling off her other boot, she sat back on the bed, leaning on her hands, and looked up at the ceiling.

“You know the saying, ‘if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’? I mean, that’s how it is, it’s how it’s done, but I had the chance to see further. I had the opportunity to break that cycle of striving and learning and sticking your nose to the grindstone and only lifting your head to –force- people to listen to you, only to die with the hope that in the next generation they’ll be another curious mind to pick up where you left off. And the sorts of minds I’m talking about don’t come around all that often, and in this…fucked up, stupid world we live in, it could be the guy delivering your pizzas, or the chick that got hit by a stray bullet in a gun fight, and that was the one, the brain that could have done it, wasted. So these brilliant people, and their brilliant ideas, sit around gathering dust for years before someone else picks them up and actually –does- something with them.”

She gave a self depreciating laugh and looked over at Kyle, shaking her head.

“Hell. I’m not saying I’m the next Newton or anything. Maybe I’m not one of those great minds, truly great minds that should be preserved from an eternity, but dammit, I’m good, just maybe good enough, and moreover I –want- it and that should count for something. I want a thousand years to study and understand something, some little piece of us, and then I want the real deal, the next Einstein to come along and tear it all to the ground so I can pick up and start over. I want to be there for the whole damn thing, bottom to top. I want to go all the way with something that will be around as long as I am.

Relaxing, she leaned back on her elbows, looking back to the ceiling.

“I mean, you’re a writer. Maybe long after you die college kids will have to study your articles in journalism school. Maybe you’ll be ‘The Great Kyle Evans’ and maybe it’ll happen in your lifetime but how often does that really work out that way?” She shrugged. “You see?”

She grinned, realizing she had gone on. “Hell. Anyway, no, it was never the money, and while I’ll admit I was sweating the over 30 glass ceiling…” She gave an annoyed snort, struggling to find the words. “I mean, I never thought I was leaving something behind. I was moving forward. I am moving forward.”

“As for it being lonely…hell, I don’t know. That’s another good thing about this whole immortality deal; I’ve got a lot of time to figure that out. I don’t think it’s lonely, though. It doesn’t have to be. So no. Yeah. Anyway.”

She looked down at her phone.

“Damn, where’s the fucking food?”