Post by Ruth on Aug 28, 2009 23:51:06 GMT
On the other side of the screen Monica was squeezing icing onto rows of candy, looking up to Chandler who had just entered and announcing that she only had two hands, prompting Ruth to laugh softly, even though she like everyone else on the planet had already seen the episode of Friends she was watching fifty times before. It never stopped being funny. On the couch in front of the re-runs, Ruth was knitting. It wasn’t all that unusual, she found the soft clatter of her bamboo needles to be quite soothing and since she had grown up with a pair in her hands, she could watch the television and knit at the same time, only looking down to count stitches or to smooth out what the was eventually going to become the front of a blue sweater. It was a moment or two after the ad break had started, Ruth counting under her breath to make sure she was still on track with the pattern that she heard a key thunk its way into the lock on the door.
Tommy was home.
"Hey," Ruth called, setting her knitting aside and twisting around on the couch so she could see her spectacled roommate as he wandered in from the hall with a brown bag in his arms, cheeks flushed and breathing hitched. Her eyebrows rose softly she looked at her and then immediately started to go towards his room. Ruth shot up, "Tommy, wait a minute," she said, crossing towards him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," he told her, though he had paused when she had asked him to wait he wasn’t really looking at her, he seemed to be fidgeting a bit. "I’m fine."
"Uh, okay," she responded. Tommy started to leave again but she cut him off, "It’s just. Last night you got home so late and you were in the bathroom for over an hour, then you just went right to bed--"
Tommy sighed, holding his bag a little tighter against his chest. "I was feeling sick. I’m okay now."
"There was blood in the tub, Tommy--"
"Ruth, I’m fine," the male snapped. "Could you just leave it alone? Jesus-fucking-Christ."
Making a defensive and hurt face, Ruth held up a hand, "Okay, okay. Sorry I mentioned it," she backpedalled figuratively and literally.
In that moment he seemed to spot his error and sighed out a nervous laugh, shaking his head. "Look, I’m sorry I’m just-- I’ve had a few really hard days at work, I had a nose bleed last night, I didn’t want to get it on the rug so I leant over the tub and I guess I didn’t mop it all up like I thought," he reached out to touch her arm, smiling. "Sorry I worried you, Ruth. Really."
It didn’t entirely convince her for some reason, but seeing as she couldn’t place it and knew her own capacity for paranoia and anxiety, Ruth did her best to push it all away and accept his apology and explanation. "Okay, I didn’t mean to grill you."
Tommy laughed, "Hey, what’s a big shot reporter meant to do, huh?"
That settled her a little more, that they were back to jokes. "Yeah yeah, big shot nothin’," she laughed back, swatting him. When their brief revel dissipated a little she sighed, "So long as you’re okay now."
"Peachy keen," he returned. "Gonna get an early night though."
Ruth nodded and offered to make him a cup of tea to which he affirmed that would be great and they ultimately partd company for the evening. Something was unsettling to her still about his behaviour over the last few days, and when she thought back he’d been acting a little off for a week or more, she just hadn’t noticed the very first signs of it. Maybe things were really going that badly at work for him. In the end of the day they were friends and she knew he’d tell her that was bothering him when the time was right. Ruth just hoped that if he had really been sick the night before that it was nothing too serious. Nosebleeds and personality changes seemed to her to be a bad combination.
Tommy was home.
"Hey," Ruth called, setting her knitting aside and twisting around on the couch so she could see her spectacled roommate as he wandered in from the hall with a brown bag in his arms, cheeks flushed and breathing hitched. Her eyebrows rose softly she looked at her and then immediately started to go towards his room. Ruth shot up, "Tommy, wait a minute," she said, crossing towards him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," he told her, though he had paused when she had asked him to wait he wasn’t really looking at her, he seemed to be fidgeting a bit. "I’m fine."
"Uh, okay," she responded. Tommy started to leave again but she cut him off, "It’s just. Last night you got home so late and you were in the bathroom for over an hour, then you just went right to bed--"
Tommy sighed, holding his bag a little tighter against his chest. "I was feeling sick. I’m okay now."
"There was blood in the tub, Tommy--"
"Ruth, I’m fine," the male snapped. "Could you just leave it alone? Jesus-fucking-Christ."
Making a defensive and hurt face, Ruth held up a hand, "Okay, okay. Sorry I mentioned it," she backpedalled figuratively and literally.
In that moment he seemed to spot his error and sighed out a nervous laugh, shaking his head. "Look, I’m sorry I’m just-- I’ve had a few really hard days at work, I had a nose bleed last night, I didn’t want to get it on the rug so I leant over the tub and I guess I didn’t mop it all up like I thought," he reached out to touch her arm, smiling. "Sorry I worried you, Ruth. Really."
It didn’t entirely convince her for some reason, but seeing as she couldn’t place it and knew her own capacity for paranoia and anxiety, Ruth did her best to push it all away and accept his apology and explanation. "Okay, I didn’t mean to grill you."
Tommy laughed, "Hey, what’s a big shot reporter meant to do, huh?"
That settled her a little more, that they were back to jokes. "Yeah yeah, big shot nothin’," she laughed back, swatting him. When their brief revel dissipated a little she sighed, "So long as you’re okay now."
"Peachy keen," he returned. "Gonna get an early night though."
Ruth nodded and offered to make him a cup of tea to which he affirmed that would be great and they ultimately partd company for the evening. Something was unsettling to her still about his behaviour over the last few days, and when she thought back he’d been acting a little off for a week or more, she just hadn’t noticed the very first signs of it. Maybe things were really going that badly at work for him. In the end of the day they were friends and she knew he’d tell her that was bothering him when the time was right. Ruth just hoped that if he had really been sick the night before that it was nothing too serious. Nosebleeds and personality changes seemed to her to be a bad combination.