Mel genuinely wanted to complete all of the challenges that they’d been given collectively as a household. Not even for any specific reason except for the fact that she was a highly competitive person, and well, it gave them something to do. Something that wasn’t hanging out on the roof, in her bunk, or feeling overwhelmed by the crippling boredom. To be honest, she’d just expected so much more. More drama, more partying, more everything. It made sense that she was feeling the cabin fever - because really, that was the title of the show and shit, was it not? - but she just wished she wasn’t. She missed the beach like no other, so was almost getting so homesick it hurt, even though that didn’t make much sense, because she hadn’t been back to Australia in years, but whatever. Mel was trying to do something, anything that could stop her from going crazy. Or well, crazier, because let’s face it, she was already pretty insane. When Riker suggested they do the ghost pepper challenge well, how could she refuse?
To be totally honest, Mel couldn’t really handle spicy food. She liked it, and she ate it when she could, if she could, but it just was a type of food she had trouble getting used to. But still, she was totally up for the challenge, and if nothing else, she figured it’d make good TV. Although, she’d never actually heard of ghost pepper, so she wasn’t sure how spicy it was supposed to be. A part of her wanted to Google it, but then she decided she better not. If it was one of the challenges from the producers, she figured it’d probably be really intense, and even though it took a lot to make her even remotely nervous, she really didn’t want to psych herself out. Especially in front of the new guy. Especially in front of the hot new guy. Who, admittedly she really didn’t know much about, except for the fact that he seemed really chatty and could zipline better than she could.
Hearing her name being called pretty loudly, Mel smiled to herself, impressed with the volume, and quickly threw her sweatshirt over her head, then bounced down the stairs, three at a time. She’d already fallen down the stairs once, but what in the fuck ever, a little bruise would never hurt anyone. Even though she was already sporting a pretty wicked goose egg on her head. Turning the corner into the living room, to see Riker already waiting for her on the counter, Mel grinned and hopped over to him, then pulled herself up on the counter beside him. She was pretty sure he’d been humming to herself, but she decided to ignore it, and gave him a wink and trilled a “G’day mate.” It really wasn’t hard for Mel to feel comfortable around people, especially around guys because she’d been around them her entire life, and Riker was no exception. Without any real pleasantries, or even an introduction, Mel decided they should jump right in. ”So, how are we going to do this?” She realized she was talking really fast, because she was actually starting to get excited, and just hoped that Riker would be able to keep up with her thick accent. ”Should we like, do it one at a time, or should we take turns, or what?”