for the birds
who: Autumn and Adam where: around Adam's room when: early morning
Adam rolled over the moment he woke up, reaching for Kyle, but not finding him there. Instead it was just an empty bed. At first he thought he was home, back in his apartment, but after blinking a couple of times he found himself in the hotel. That wasn’t exactly ideal, home would probably be better, but at least it would be easier to find the person he was reaching for. Adam sat up, ruffling his bedhead until he spotted the raven staring at him from the bedpost. He yelped, not remembering that decoration and the bird moved and Adam made an embarrassing noise as he tried to scramble away from the thing. He wound up falling off the bed with a thud, grabbing at his pants and dashing for the door. He needed to find someone to get the live bird out of his room. Shutting the door behind him, pants half on, shirt left behind in the room, back against his door. There had to be some sort of facilities people right? The bed was made sometimes. It was a weird hotel, but it was still a hotel. He just caught his breath when the bird cawed at him from where it was sitting on a light fixture, watching him. And Adam made that same noise again, jumping out of his skin. Autumn had woken up and realized she was in a hotel. It must have been the place Mazie had told her about, and that made her smile. After looking around the room, she saw she had a suitcase of her things, which was definitely awesome. As she got herself together, the first weird thing happened, though she thought nothing of it. While doing her hair, she reached for a glass of water on the counter, but she must have flubbed it, because it crashed into the sink. Sighing, she cleaned up the glass, threw it away, and went about her business. She heard creaking in her room, but she chalked it up to it clearly being an old place. Then, when she was leaving to go exploring, her door slammed shut just as she was turning to close it.
That made her jump, though again, she sort of mentally wondered if there was a window left open, or something. Then she saw someone else, and she started toward him. He looked scared out of his skin. “Hey...are you okay?” she asked.
Adam jumped again when he heard the voice, then swore softly to himself. He needed to calm the hell down. It was a bird. It wasn’t like it was trying to attack him. Sure the hotel seemed to have some sort of issue with birds loose, because there was no way the new bird was the same bird. Just a flock of them or something got into the hotel. A murder. That’s what they called them, a flock of crows. He remembered that from something. “Huh? Oh, fine.” God she was pretty wasn’t she? Adam looked down at himself then and half swore again, trying to fix his jeans as quickly as he could. “Um fine. Just,” he gestured towards the bird watching him, patting his chest like it might make his shirt show up. No, he’d left that in his room.
She smiled at him as he adjusted his pants. It was an appreciative gaze. He was cute. And nicely toned, for that matter. Walking closer, she saw the bird in question. "Ohhh, um...not so cool with the animal kingdom just now..." After the attack, it would be a bit before she was.
“I don’t think any of us are,” Adam agreed since he remembered the attack as well, but more than anything it was just freaking him out. For a second though he was sure she was looking at him like...well like he wasn’t bad to look at, but that was probably in his head. It had to be. “There was one in my room too.” He looked at the bird again, moving closer. “It looks like the same one.” Which didn’t make sense. He’d closed the door. He would have heard it fly out right? There had to be more than one. “Have you see any others?”
"Are you a bird whisperer?" Autumn asked with a little bit of a smile. It was how she was dealing with the situation. It was weird, she didn't know what she was doing, she didn't know this guy and she knew nothing about birds. Well, this kind of bird. Wild ones were pretty, but it wasn't as if she had ever been taken bird watching by a client before.
“Um.” Adam thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I think I’d know about that. And I’d have talked to more pigeons in my life.” He smirked a little, not able to help it, even if he was feeling the shirtless part of his situation.
Autumn returned the expression. “I’m sure you would have,” she told him. “I’d be curious what they would have to say,” she added. Then she looked at the bird again. “...Maybe we open a window?” she suggested, heading to the nearest one. She pulled it open, hit with a cool, delightful breeze. “C’mon, birdie! Out you go!”
“Probably just questions about why you aren’t giving them more of your sandwich,” Adam said with a shrug, but his eyes were on the bird, which just tilted it’s head at Autumn and didn’t move. He made a face then went after it, waving at it to try and scare it away towards the window. “Shoo!”
Jumping, not expecting that, Autumn squeaked a little as the bird crowed, and took flight. It came toward her, and she put her arms up to protect herself. She didn’t actually have to, however, the bird flew right past, fluttering down the hall a little to perch on a table. It went back to eyeing Adam. “...is it too weird to suggest ‘spirit animal’?”
When it went towards Autumn, Adam followed it, but then it just perched again and stared at him. “Um. Yes. Though I don’t know what that means and I’m not sure I want it to be a crow. Or a raven. Or whatever...am I that guy in the poem? If that thing starts talking..” He was babbling a little, but it was staring at him and honestly it was starting to freak him out a little.
Autumn listened to him ramble, and decided maybe he needed a little calming down. So, she put on a good face, stepped up, and put a hand on his bare shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not The Birds, right? It’s not attacking or anything. So...if it wants to just be weird, let it,” she suggested. “Try to ignore it.”
Right because a pretty girl touching him made things so much easier. Adam felt his cheeks go pink, swallowing a little before looking at the bird, then back at Autumn, not sure which was more distressing. He had a boyfriend for pete’s sake and he was still feeling more than a little self conscious with her touching him. “No the Birds…” he echoed but that was about it. The thing was freaking him out.
Giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, she kept her smile in place. “Not The Birds!” she said with a nod. “How about you show me around? I just woke up here, after waking up in medieval land. I’m a little lost,” she confessed, giving a slight downturn of her head, as if bashful.
Adam wasn’t sure he was in the real world again, but he nodded slowly, trying not to stare at her and gestured down the hall a little. “I...sure. I can do that. Um, so it’s a hotel. Which is weird. And the staff is useless for the most part though I’m not sure why. And there’s not a good way out. If you go out a door, you wind up somewhere else inside the hotel.” He started walking, considering his door to go in and grab a shirt, but part of him was worried the other bird was still in his room.
“Thank you so much, it’s sweet of you,” she told him. Nodding, she took that in. Mazie had filled her in on some of this, though getting a second take was always good. “No one’s managed to leave?” she asked. “What about phones, computers, stuff like that?” she asked. “This place looks seriously retro.”
Adam fished in his pocket for his phone when she mentioned it, which was definitely not in his pocket, but probably in his room. Or Kyle’s room. He hadn’t had it in Game of Thrones world, but he guessed it was still here somewhere. “Um phone doesn’t really work. You can dial, but it just rings forever, doesn’t even go to voicemail. I don’t have a computer so I dunno, probably the same though. And no. No one’s managed to leave that I know of.” He shrugged a little. “A lot of us just woke up here the first time. Like...I’m pretty sure I crashed in my bed, in my apartment, but I woke up here.”
“I had been at a huge party, fell asleep there, and woke up to people calling me a princess,” she said with a light smile. “It was interesting. I thought it was some play acting thing, at first.” She didn’t go into the details, really, because she didn’t imagine it was relevant.
“Huh. I was at a party too. Though not a huge one and...not one you’d be at I don’t think.” Adam smirked a little, but he had to guess that she wasn’t really the type to wander into a party with his friends. “So you were a princess there? I was a knight. Which was...nuts.”
Laughing, she looked at him. “What sort of party would I be at?” she asked curiously. At the knight thing, she glanced him up and down. “Oh, I don’t think so. You look like you could be quite the powerhouse if you wanted to be,” she told him, sincerity ringing in her tone. She was sure to let her gaze linger on his biceps. She was good at flattering people’s egos. It was just nice when she didn’t actually have to make things up.
“Not one with a buncha fuck up stoner guys with tattoos?” Adam suggested flashing the tree on the inside of his arm. Kyle’s tattoo was on the other arm, but he’d gotten in the habit of keeping that hidden in the way he held his arm closer to his body. Of course, all of his amusement was forgotten when she gave him a once over and he practically sputtered through his words. “I’m not… I did fine.” He still had the bruises on his torso and healing small gash on his arm from the tournament, but thankfully everything was fading.
“Hey, I like tattoos,” she told him, reaching out to very lightly graze her fingers against the one she saw on him. “This is gorgeous,” she added. Then he got all stuttery. “I’ll just bet you did,” she said. “That whole thing was rough. But look at you. You’re still standing, just fine with walking around, all manly. Hell, there is something a little hot about a guy who’s just a little bruised up,” she added, winking at him.
Boyfriend, Adam’s brain supplied as goosebumps sprang up on his arm, and he blushed again, sure it was on his chest and neck and not just his cheeks. “Thank you,” he managed about the tattoo. “And… I guess? I’d think. Ky wasn’t really pleased though so maybe it’s just a thing.” Or maybe it was a girl thing. Adam wasn’t exactly the expert on things.
At the blush, she had to grin. “God, you are just adorable, aren’t you?” she asked rhetorically. “I saw people dragged off of the tournament grounds with broken limbs, and I’m pretty sure at least one guy died. You did awesome, especially if you never had any knight training. That’s impressive,” she assured him. “And if Ky wasn’t pleased, that’s fine, just know that there’s a whole lot of people out there who would need to bite their lip at the sight of you,” she told him. She was guessing ‘Ky’ was a significant other, otherwise it wouldn’t have been brought up.
Adam ran his hand over the back of his neck, shaking his head. “Not...not really?” He let his hand drop with a heavy sigh when she mentioned the tournament. “Yeah. It was...crazy. I was terrified. I got like half an hour of training from a real knight and like half a day of training with Mazie beforehand. Definitely one of those things where I was pretty sure I could have died doing it.” He tucked his hands in his pockets and half shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t see why, but I mean it wasn’t that he was mad, just that ‘could have died’ thing you know? It was all too intense.”
“Not really what?” she asked, not sure what he was protesting. “Oh! I know Mazie! Awesome, we have someone in common!” Autumn said, pleased. “You definitely could have died. But you didn’t, which means you are just eye-of-the-tiger awesome,” she said. Listening to his explanation about things, she nodded. “I get that,” she said. Then she smirked. “I guess I’m just one of those people who likes a rush, excitement, maybe a pinch of danger here and there.”
“Not really adorable.” Good enough was about where Adam landed with himself. “Yeah? Mazie’s awesome. Total badass,” he said before holding out his hand. “Did I say I was Adam? I don’t know if I did.” He smirked a tiny bit. “I get danger actually. Well, good danger. I mean there’s that rush in doing something that could get you into trouble? Provided it’s not massively illegal.”
Autumn laughed. “Oh, honey. You don’t have a say in that. That’s entirely in the eye of the beholder,” she informed him. “To me, you’re adorable. You can’t take that away from me,” she added. “And she is awesome, and yes, a total badass. Plus hot. Those little tattoos? Mm,” she continued. “Hi, Adam, I’m Autumn,” she introduced herself in turn. When he admitted to the last bit, she grinned impishly at him. “That a boy,” she said. “That’s what I’m talking about. It sort of translates over a few different things. But there’s nothing quite like it, is there?”
“You might need your eyes checked,” Adam teased lightly after letting go of Autumn’s hand, giving up hiding from the bird that was still looking at him from the corner of the hall and opting to brave his room again and get a shirt. He unlocked the door, holding it for her, so she could come in with him. “Good to meet you. And...yeah I guess on Mazie being hot. She’s not really my type. I don’t think. I don’t usually know right away.” He found a shirt and pulled it on, something gray and two sizes too big. “Not really no. Part of why people stuck around my best friend. Nothing beats spending your time with a known felon. Always makes everything go up a notch.” It was said fondly despite the situation. There were times when Adam’s time with Jeffrey was terrifying, but the good outweighed the bad.
“Hush, cutie,” Autumn teased back as she walked into his room. She flopped on the bed, looking around his room to see the differences. Really it just seemed to have different decor, the layout of the room was much the same. “Not everyone has a type,” she said. “I don’t. I tend to find merit in people in general, I don’t cut things down by categorizing,” she explained. She eyed his shirt choice. “Are you going to wear that?” she had to ask. The felon thing didn’t phase her. She certainly had clients that fit into that category. More than one. “Felons are an interesting breed,” she shared, nodding.
Adam watched the way she just made herself at home, which in a way should probably bother him, but it didn’t. “I hadn’t really thought about a type until recently when I realized I had more type than I thought,” Adam explained, leaning a hip against the bed. “I guess...I just like who I like? I think Mazie’s great, but not really like that. Which doesn’t make sense when I say it out loud.” He looked down at his shirt, plucking at it a little. “Um, yeah? Why? Something wrong with it?” It wasn’t fancy, but he liked the shirt. It was comfortable. Rolling his eyes a little, he nodded. “They are. Jeffrey was...crazy.”
She laughed. “Of course that makes sense!” she said. “All of it. Liking who you like, thinking someone’s great but not wanting to sleep with them...not everything boils down to that. It would be weird if it did,” she added. “No offense, honey, but that shirt looks like it belongs to a fat cousin, or something. It’s waaaay too big,” she pointed out. “You’ve got a great frame, share it with us! We all deserve a little eye candy, right?” she posed. “Okay, crazy like, aww, he crazay? Or like holy shit I’m scared now?”
“I guess it would be weird,” Adam said, nodding a little, then pulling at his shirt again. “You sound like Kyle. It’s not...I don’t want to be one of those guys who wears tight shirts all the time.” That wasn’t really him was it? Jeffrey had made fun of those guys. “Both, but probably more the second,” he admitted, voice going quiet.
“There’s a big difference between tight and just something that fits,” Autumn said. “Seriously, you’re really cute. Don’t hide under a tent,” she encouraged. When he said the last part, she looked at him, concerned. “That doesn’t sound like good interesting,” she said, inviting him to elaborate.
“Is it a tent?” He’d been told it looked good on him at some point hadn’t he? Maybe that had been wrong. Sighing a little he sat on the edge of the bed. “Not really no. When it was good, it was great, but there were times, are times, when he can be… someone else. And it’s scary.”
"It just doesn't fit you, so it doesn't compliment your frame. I bet if you started wearing clothes that fit you, you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss people finding you attractive," she told him with a firm but warm tone. Curling one leg beneath herself, she scooted toward him. "I love a rush, but scary like you're talking about isn't my idea of a good time," she said. "Is he here?"
Adam tugged at his shirt. “I don’t think I would know what fits. Because I thought this fit.” He looked slightly curious when she shifted closer, but they were talking about Jeffrey and that was more all encompassing. “No. He’s not. And I’m hoping he’ll still be there if I get back.” He looked down at his hands for a moment then at her. “But no. Sometimes he’s not. But he’s my best friend and my first friend ever.”
Considering him for a long moment, she finally nodded. "Start with one size smaller than that, and work your way down," she suggested. When he continued, she internally sighed, his statements bringing out a protective instinct. "If he scares you, and is crazy, why go back to that?"
Adam nodded, making a mental note about the shirt. Kyle had complained about the same thing so maybe he’d give it a try. “What? Where else would I go? I live with him. He’s my best friend. He’s just…”
"Anywhere," she said. Then she paused, thinking of a slightly different angle. "Would you trust him around Kyle?"
Adam went quiet, sitting on the bed and running his fingers over the tattoo on his arm, the simple words there in script that he’d gotten for Kyle. “I… I don’t know. He doesn’t know about me and… guys. I don’t know what he’d say about that. He’s always hated the girls that I like. And he’s usually right. I mean, I have terrible taste.” Except for Kyle. Kyle was incredible.
Staring at him, she could see this was a whole can of worms she wasn’t sure she wanted to really open up. She’d just met him, starting to dig around what were clearly massive issues was maybe not a good call. If she’d learned anything in her life it was that people would defend to the death someone they knew, even if they were the devil, against some stranger with a clearer view and an honest word. “Okay,” she said. It was clear she had more to say than that, but she didn’t share it unsolicited.
“Not Kyle,” Adam said, taking her bait without even realizing he was doing it. “Kyle’s wonderful. He’s… I’ve never… The first time I met him, he was all I thought about. I didn’t even know what it was, but I…” Adam felt himself blush, then shook his head. “I don’t want him to hurt Kyle. Or ruin it. Sometimes I wonder if he would.”
She nodded. "...sounds to me like he isn't worth the trust. I mean, this guy's supposed to be your best friend, right? What's it say that you feel that way?" she posed, just to sort of get him thinking about it.
Adam opened his mouth, then closed it. “It’s not that I don’t trust him, it’s…” He looked at his hands, picking at his nail for a moment, knee bouncing slightly. “I don’t think he’d get it. With Kyle being a guy. I don’t even get it.”
"No, sweetie, that's trust, but you need to accept that yourself. I can't tell you," she offered. "And what's there to get? Humans like other humans. So long as you're not delving into other species? There's nothing to 'get'," she assured him with a smile.
“Really? Is it that simple? It feels that simple. I feel that way. I like what I like but even Kyle kind of looks at me strange.” He ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up more. “What part of it is trust? Just assuming he’ll be fine with… me being different?”
"The part where you wonder if he'd ruin things," Autumn said. "And yeah, it's that simple. No one in the world can tell you who you can and can't like. So, if anyone's got a problem, it's exactly that - their problem. Not yours."
“You know that kid in grade school? The one who doesn’t like to share his toys. That’s Jeffrey,” Adam said with a sigh. “I like that idea. That it is what it is. Seems like it can be like that here where it’s safe you know? But out there, it’ll be different right?”
"You aren't a toy," Autumn said, a firm note in her voice. Man, she didn't know this Jeffrey guy, but he sounded like an abusive, grade A asshole. When he asked if it was different out there, she shrugged. "Some people are stupid. But not everyone is, and the world is changing around us. You just don't let people's idiocy ruin what you've got."
“Well… Not really.” Adam shrugged his shoulders, still feeling like a toy. Jeffrey’s favorite, but still a toy. “I guess it is what it is right? I mean, it matters what I feel. And I wouldn’t… I’d protect him forever.”
"This is just my opinion, but you shouldn't have to protect him. Having a life together is just...having a life together. There shouldn't be sheltering required," Autumn told him. "He's a big boy, you are too. Support each other, sure, but yeah. Putting things in that other light, that's no good."
Adam frowned a little. “It’s no good? I thought that was what people wanted? Someone to take care of them.” It was what he’d wanted when he hadn’t had a family.
She sort of wondered when she'd become a sounding board for this guy's relationship issues, though she said nothing of it. She was happy to talk it out with him, it was in her nature to do so. But she was pretty aware at how one sided the conversation was. Apparently the cute lil puppy here needed it. "Personally? I can take care of myself. I don't want someone to take care of me, I want someone who's standing his or her own ground with me. Not beneath me." She smiled at him.
Adam blushed slightly. “I’m usually...that’s not what you meant. Right.” He sighed a little. “He can take care of himself. I know. I just like it. I like being there for him.” He watched her for a moment then narrowed his eyes a tiny bit, but no in a malicious sense, just curious. “How do you know so much?” Everyone knew more than he did, but she seemed more sure about her answers than Kyle had.
"Being there for someone and taking care of them are kinda different, in my opinion," Autumn shared. "It's all total point of view, however, so it's how you see things that matters for you," she told him. When he asked her the last question, she smirked. "Oh, I'm a very, very high priced 'escort'. If it has to do with sex or relationships, I know what I'm talking about."
“I guess they are. I’m not used to either. Or well, before Jeff. Then I had both. Sorta.” Adam’s eyes went a little wide and his mouth fell open slightly. “You’re a… Oh that might beat the porn star.” He might have to give Kyle that one considering his current situation was just about the same.
"The...huh?" she asked, not sure if she followed the jump.
Adam laughed lightly. “Kyle met a porn star the other day. And I got kinda jealous because he remembered him from his...work? Though now with your line of work, can you call it that, it seems like I might not be able to get as jealous.”
She laughed. "I see, I'll have to see if I can spot the porn star, it'll be a fun new game," she said. About to say something else, Autumn jumped slightly as she spotted a bird again, staring at Adam.
“Apparently he’s good looking, but that’s all I got out of Kyle before he started blushing because I found out he’d watched porn. Like no one else has,” Adam said, but his voice trailed off as Autumn jumped. “What?” he said before looking over his shoulder, then he was jumping too, moving closer to her. “We left it outside. It was outside wasn’t it?”
"Yeah, it really was," Autumn said. She suppressed a shiver, reaching out to give his forearm a squeeze. "C'mon. Take me for a walk, okay?"
“Yeah, yeah let’s do that,” He was pulling at her arm, pulling her away from the bird, but not taking his eyes off the raven. Crow. Whatever.