Happenings in the Hatch

Aboarable

As Kelvin entered the Swan Station, he was immediately met with an almost deafening silence. "Des?" Kelvin called, removing his Hazmat suit and advancing into the hallway, boar piglet in hand. When no one answered, Kelvin grew concerned. He walked into the kitchen, thinking that Desmond was probably just making some more pasta. But when he wasn't there, Kelvin decided to let his new boar friend roam about the station in an effort to sniff out Desmond. However, the boar piglet sniffed and sniffed to no avail, as the Scottish man was nowhere to be found.

Sighing, a disappointed Kelvin picked up the boar piglet and began to cry. Suddenly, there came a faint typing sound from the computer room. The computer room! Kelvin thought to himself, Why didn't I think to check in there? Kelvin crept into the computer room to find Desmond sitting in front of the screen, hands on the keyboard with a blindfold over his eyes. "4, 8, 15, 16..." Desmond muttered to himself as his fingers tried to find the corresponding keys. "What are you doing?" Kelvin interrupted the younger man, sending him flying off the chair about a meter into the air. "Kelvin?!" Desmond exclaimed, "I'm trainin', brother! How long have you been standing there?" Kelvin giggled and replied, "Not long. Hold out your hands." Puzzled, Desmond turned his attention back to the computer. "I'm not falling for that again, mate," he answered. "Come on, Des," Kelvin responded, "I have a surprise for you, and I think you'll really enjoy it!" Desmond pondered this for a moment. Finally, the younger man sighed and held out his hands in Kelvin's direction. "Fine," said Desmond, "but if you brought me back another one of your big jungle spiders, we're gonna have a problem." After assuring Desmond that he was not about to once again put a big ass spider in his hands (a story for another time), Kelvin placed the tiny boar piglet into his roommate's arms. "Now take off your blindfold." Desmond did as he was told and was alarmed to find a boar piglet in his arms! "Ahh!" Desmond exclaimed. "What in the bloody hell am I to do with this?" Kelvin laughed and answered, "He's our new pet boar!" The Scottish man's nerves seemed to ease quickly as he grew accustomed to holding the boar, realizing that it was not a threat. Finally cracking a smile, Desmond began to rock the boar piglet, leading the creature to fall asleep in his arms. Kelvin crouched down next to where Desmond was sitting and stroked the boar's head as it slept. "This is actually quite nice," Desmond admitted to Kelvin, who nodded in agreement. "What should we name him?" The older man asked. Desmond furrowed his brow in concentration, when suddenly the perfect name came to him. "What do you think of Charlie?" He asked his partner. "Charlie..." repeated Kelvin, "I love it." Together, Desmond and Kelvin watched their dear Charlie rest peacefully. It was a beautiful moment.

{beep...beep...beep}

"I'll get it!" Desmond exclaimed, breaking the silence and handing Charlie over to Kelvin. In a rush, the Scotsman tied his blindfold back around his eyes and began typing in the Numbers. "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42!" Desmond said to himself as his fingers blindly navigated their way around the keyboard. His index finger hovered above the Execute button as Kelvin watched on.

{beep, beep, beep}

As the beeps quickened, Desmond hesitantly lowered his finger, allowing it to press the Execute button. He could feel every muscle in his body tense as he braced himself for whatever would happen if he typed in the Numbers incorrectly. Perhaps the entire Island would explode? Desmond didn't want to find out. After what seemed like an eternity, the Scottish man could hear the clock resetting, and he finally allowed himself to relax. He let out a sigh of relief as he removed his blindfold and glanced up at an amused Kelvin. "I would have told you if you had them wrong, Des," Kelvin said with a chuckle. "Yeah, well, I'm not takin' any chances," Desmond replied as he lifted Charlie out of Kelvin's arms and strolled over to the living room couch. Following his roommate, Kelvin informed Desmond that it was really dangerous for him to be training for the next Swan Station Olympic event without his supervision. "You're lucky that I came back when I did," he told his partner, "or you might have exploded this entire rock." Desmond scoffed as he stroked the boar piglet that slept soundly in his lap. "Well, maybe if you weren't going on your bloody excursions all the time, we wouldn't have to worry about that," he retorted. "Hey," Kelvin shot back, "I brought you back a Charlie!" As he stared down at his tiny new best friend, Desmond realized that Kelvin was right, and begrudgingly apologized to his partner. Desmond really did love Charlie, and would always be grateful that Kelvin found him.