Eli Freeman, ca. 2042 (Half-Life futureverse OC) - somewhere Milliways-ish

[vance_freeman]

"'The common headcrab, Xenogenus calvacaris, was widely thought to be a parasitic lifeform, but further study revealed...'"

The young man who just walked in has dusky skin, a mop of curly red hair, and vivid green eyes, the latter of which are focused entirely on the clipboard full of papers that he's reading as he walks.

"'...is actually a mating instinct mistakenly inflicted upon a human target. By an unfortunate coincidence...'"

The white rat on his shoulder is trying to get his attention. "Eli?"

"'...closely resembles that of a female headcrab in heat. As a result--'"

"Eli."

"Hm?"

"Look up."

He does, and blinks a couple of times at his surroundings. "Oh. How long ago did we walk in here?"

"Eighty-six words ago. You really need to stop pacing around while you're editing."

"C'mon, you know I think better when I'm on my feet..."

"Not well enough to pay attention to where you're going, apparently."

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

"Well, that's good," Voodoo says, penning in four-down. "Comes a time you might be on par with Father Mendel for this sorta shit." He pens in thirteen-across. "How's Hope?"

[vance_freeman]

"She's doing fine," says Eli. "Helping Mom build some factory robots upstate."

[boston_bruiser]

"No shit. Send 'em my best if you see 'em, huh?" he says, penning in another answer. "I'm guessin' that has to do with a re-industrialization? The robots."

[vance_freeman]

"Yeah, we're hoping to get some vehicles built for proper transportation. I mean, teleportation is fine, but it takes a shitload of energy."

Oh, hey, his sandwich is here. Eli takes it and starts eating.