SSSD - Be helpful

Ro sets her book aside and gets to her feet, venturing out into the long hallway. Lights click faintly and the building groans, straining against the raging storm outside. The looks down the long corridor, empty except for a handful of tidy stacks of boxed supplies. Marit usually at least sweeps once a day and often mops, but that hasn’t happened today. The floor has plenty of footprints and water spots from the day’s hurried comings and goings.

Ro goes quietly to her left, finding Golda’s door shut. She doesn’t have the courage to knock and bother her; if Golda wants help with something, she’ll ask for it.

Linda’s normal lab is usually empty, and that’s the case now. She’s typically in the locked lab down by the radio room.

Ro pads down that way and hooks a left into the sleep quarters hallway, leaning into the doorway. Music’s playing, so someone is here. The doors are all closed. It’s a little early for bed, but Ro can understand why someone might want to be done with today early. She finds that relatable.

She can also hear the shower running. She hesitates, then picks her way down the hall to lean around the doorframe and take a peek.

It’s Julie. Her back is to Ro, and water streams beautifully down her smooth body, which Ro considers close to perfect. But Ro’s not in the state of mind to appreciate things like that right now. Anxiety has already scrambled her memories of things like that… group shower thing that happened. It happened; it just doesn’t matter.

Ro hurries back to the hallway in time to hear a door open. She turns and looks. At the far end, Golda is holding two plates as she enters her office. The door clicks shut behind her.

It’s all so weird. Ro gazes worriedly at the door for a moment, then turns to move on. She shrieks and jumps back; Niv is right here.

“You scared me,” Ro says, embarrassed. She takes a deep breath and looks past Niv to see Linda appear, flashlight in hand. Niv must be helping Linda search for her rat. No luck so far, obviously.

“Um,” Ro says, raising her voice. Linda pauses.

“Yes?”

“Do you want help? Looking for your rat?”

“No. Thank you.”

Nerves? Standoffishness? Ro isn’t sure.

“Are you OK?” Niv asks Ro.

“I don’t even know,” Ro replies with a little laugh.

As expected, Marit’s in the infirmary with Birgitte. She sits in a chair, leaning way back with her feet up and her Airpods in. She looks intense and there’s no smell of weed, although there is an empty glass beside her. She doesn’t seem to mind Ro’s presence.

They stay like that for a while.

“Are you going to spend the night in here?” Ro asks her finally.

Marit scowls. “No.”

There’s no discussion; Ro just invites herself along. They brush their teeth together and change into their pajamas. There is nothing even slightly romantic about it, but Ro appreciates that in bed, Marit automatically puts a protective arm over her and holds her close. It’s only when she feels Marit’s face in her hair that she realizes that this is not protection; Marit is worried, and Ro is a big, living stuffed animal for her to hold.

Ro is just glad to be helping.

SSSD

It’s dark. Ro’s on her back in Marit’s bed. She blinks a few times, unsure what woke her. Was that a noise? Maybe from the direction of the hall. Groggily, she sits up, finding herself alone in the narrow bed.

Marit must have gone to the bathroom or something. Ro gets comfortable and waits for her to come back. Her head is fuzzy with sleep. Without her thoughts in the way, her horniness comes back. After all, for Ro, being in bed with a sexy Norwegian is a big deal. Will Marit be up for some half-asleep fooling around when she comes back? Probably not, but Ro has already made up her mind to kiss her. The groggy mind is a funny thing.

Minutes tick by.

Ro feels around and gets her phone, checking the time. It’s past one. Time is hard to keep track of, lying in the dark, but it’s been a while. She fumbles for Marit’s lamp and turns it on, sitting up. Ro rubs her eyes. Something’s not right. She puts her feet in her slippers and gets out of bed with a groan, pulling on her hoodie and zipping it up. She shivers as she pads to the door and quietly opens it, leaning into the hallway, which is dark. At the far end, there’s ambient light from the Long Hallway, which is always lit.

She heads down to the bathroom and lets herself in. A single glance and the total silence apart from the buzzing of the lights and the muffled howls of the wind tells her that none of the stalls are in use.

A spot of color stands out on the tiled floor.

Ro frowns at the toothbrush at her feet. It’s just lying there. Marit dutifully cleans this area daily, and it always smells like bleach, which Ro appreciates. The floor of a bathroom used by a gang of women is still gross, and nobody would leave their toothbrush like this. They’d throw it away. These Norwegians—they are so tidy.

It’s weird. Ro rubs her face and heads down the passage to the Long Hallway just in time for the lights to go out.

“Shit,” Ro mutters, but there’s a line of yellow thirty feet away. That’s Golda’s office. Ro doesn’t actually know where the switches are for the hallway, so she can’t very well turn them back on. She heads out blindly, focusing on that strip of yellow, making it to Golda’s door without hurting herself.

Should she knock?

Or open it?