A Pink Corner House, Bristol, Sunday Afternoon

[chosehumanity]

"We don't need your custom."

"Oi, you pedo!"

"Fucking bastard."

"Could have been any of our kids. Stay the fuck away."

Trust Portalocity not to cut Mitchell a break in the worst possible week for it. There was no getting away from the incriminations, the shouting - he couldn't even go down to Tesco's anymore without getting things yanked out of his hands.

And so Mitchell was stuck on the couch. Watching telly, becoming increasingly more fed up with everything and everyone. He'd tried, at first, to explain things to Fleur - that had just gotten him another angry neighbour in the face. Then he'd tried going about his normal business with his head down, but that hadn't worked, either.

Now...

"I am not the pervert, that's my housemate!" George bellowed through the door upon entry. "And... and actually he's not a pervert either! You've all got it very wrong." There was a thunk as the door slammed shut behind him.

Mitchell looked up, and took in George's appearance: tomato gunk dripping down his shirt and hair. He winced. "They got you too, then?"

"I managed to dodge most of it," George muttered, sopping a little on his way to the sofa. "Shame the house couldn't. Covered in rotten tomatoes."

The telly blared on. Mitchell glared at it. Sort of. There was a fair bit of sulking involved.

"Who keeps their rotten tomatoes?" Yeah, Mitchell didn't need to look up to know this was the start of another George rant. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with it. "Who looks in the salad cooler, sees their tomatoes are on the turn, and thinks, "Oh, oh, no, I'll hang on to those, in case some paedos move in opposite"?" George slammed the fridge door shut in righteous anger.

"It'll blow over soon," Mitchell muttered.

"Wankers!"

The sofa dipped under George's weight. He rubbed at his brow. "If they want us out," George continued, "...they're succeeding."

Mitchell's head had never whipped over this quickly. "Don't let Annie hear you say that," he said, "We're all she's got."

"I mean it, Mitchell." George took a deep breath, and reached for the remote. Thoughtlessly, like an automaton. Mitchell wanted to punch something. "This was always going to happen. Soon as they found out what we are."

Jesus. "They don't know what we are," Mitchell said, and if there was a snarl in his voice, so be it. "They've seen a mob and piled on, 'cause it's easier than having to stop and think." That was the downside of it, with humans. They never bloody thought, did they? For all their niceties, their charms...

"That's what I should have done," George snapped. "Thought! Then I'd never have got Nina involved in any of this."

Could George be any more self-involved? "She isn't involved in this," he said, with a patience he didn't really feel. Mostly, he wanted to throw things.

"She's involved with me," George insisted.

"Oh, for--"

"We've been deluding ourselves we could ever be accepted here." George sounded close to tears, almost, a little edged and a little desperate. "By proper human beings. We are monsters, Mitchell. We deserve to be cast out."

For one terribly uncharitable moment, Mitchell wanted to punch Fleur for setting George back this far; for one terribly uncharitable moment, Mitchell really fucking hated humans.

It passed for about as long as it took for the tomatoes to resume.

[[ nfb and ooc-okay, but also open to phone calls! Taken from Being Human 1x04. Warning: Thread has mentions of a minor being exposed to pornography ]]

Comments

[chosehumanity]

"If Portalocity lets me the hell out of here," Mitchell muttered, "But even then-- fucking--" Somethingorother.

[bitten_notshy]

"Portalocity's got you locked in?" Jack was getting more worried by the second. "Are they telling you why? And what are you trying to get away from?"

[chosehumanity]

"Just some technical difficulties," Mitchell said, bundling up further. He was sounding considerably sulky. "I made a mistake. There was this kid, Bernie-- he'd never seen Laurel and Hardy before, so I told him to pick a DVD, I'd lend it to him. Turns out it was the wrong disk, now the whole bloody neighbourhood's acting like I'm a paedo. Might as well be getting out the torches."

[bitten_notshy]

"And of course no one wants to hear your side," Jack said, exasperated with humanity. He didn't like mobs either. Another question occurred to him. "... what was on the DVD?"

Jack didn't think Mitchell had done anything wrong. But a whole lot of past experience rose like bile in his throat, making him sound wary.

[chosehumanity]

"Just porn," he said, trying and succeeding not to let his voice twist; to any human's reckoning, and the only thing that mattered in terms of their perception, that's just what it was. "And yeah. They're too busy flinging tomatoes."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack bit back the well, hide that better. For one, it wasn't a topic he especially wanted to discuss; for another, if Mitchell couldn't work that one out on his own, it was his problem.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "If Portalocity isn't to the rescue, I mean. Is George all right?"

[chosehumanity]

"Sit it out, and hope they don't try to burn down the building," he all but snarled, and propped his feet up on the end table. "George's throwing fits because our friendly mob can't spell. And about the quality of their tomatoes."

So, you know. George.

[bitten_notshy]

"Because it's much better to get a high-quality tomato thrown at you," Jack noted, and sighed. He thought they'd get through it, but the whole thing seemed so messy.

"All right. I'd say you could come here if you wanted, but it doesn't sound as though that's any use. Anything I could do?"

[chosehumanity]

"Tell your Sebastien not to let anyone pin anything on him," Mitchell grouched. "People can be fucking foul to each other if their brains stop working."

Yes. Thank you, Mitchell. You are so very helpful to everyone today.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack snorted. "We already had that fight a few times, though not as badly as you're going through it now," he said.

Jack looked young even for his age, and was not always able to resist staking a physical claim on Sebastien in public. They'd dealt with their share of discomfited observers.

"But yes, I'll remind him to stick to adult company."