Who: Minuette Kirsch, Loren Keller, Tony Reid and Davhal Singh Where: West of The Hotel, Then The Hotel When: Day 5: August 26th / 2015 - Early Afternoon
Mini had made it through the night by herself, amazingly, and had set out in to the world to find...something. She still wasn't sure what she'd find or better yet, what she was looking for. There had to be more people around, right? They couldn't have all died...or could they have? She didn't want to be the last person on the earth...that had been a terrible Will Smith movie... Of course if she did find people, she'd never understand what most of them said, which put her in a rather vulnerable position. What if they wanted to use her to shove off to the monsters if any came by? Who could she trust exactly? It was hard to be in this situation normally, but to be around people she didn't understand? Well that was just the be all end all of unfair wasn't it?
At least, she'd found herself a map. She'd widened the area she'd been combing the day before, and had come across a corner store. Mini had broken in, through a back window and climbed herself in to see if there was anything to eat inside. A warm pop, as the fridges seemed to be off, and a bag of Cheetos seemed to be what was on the menu. Not really the breakfast of champions, but she wasn't so sure she could find edible food in the restaurant she'd been staying in. She didn't want to leave the restaurant, as she liked it because of it's giant wooden doors and the pantry that locked from the inside, but the refrigerators had gone off the day before in the afternoon with the power, and Mini was wary of getting sick, even a little, when she knew she had to keep up her strength. She grabbed up a few other things from the store, ones she could tuck in to her bag, and then spied the maps in the corner. One could help, surely? Not that she could read it, but perhaps she could find some street names that looked the same.
That's where she was now, on the corner of the street looking up at the signs and looking down at the map she had in her hand. She had at least, located the city she was supposedly in, and the right area, but after that, the map offered her no answers. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be taking from it, or where it was supposed to lead her. She sighed, and looked around, listening keenly for something...anything that indicated human life. She really wasn't the last one around, was she?
Loren tore open the small pack of candies he'd found a little earlier, his expression sour at the smell of it. It was food, though it would barely satisfy how hungry he felt he was. He walked alongside Tony, never straying far from him as they went. It was important to keep close, to be sure that the person with the gun had him in his sights at all times. Even as Loren reached into the bag he sighed, not looking forward to the tooth rot that would follow. He would have voiced a rather noisy complaint, but his throat was still so sore, and he couldn't quite keep his head out of dark places for long enough to care.
They had seen a sign that morning, Alive Inside written on what looked like sheets hanging from another building blocks away from where they'd been staying. Deciding it was in their best interest to follow it up with a visit, Loren and Tony had left their safe house behind.
Now that they were out and about, Loren was wishing they could just turn around and head back. He didn't like being out in the open, not really even during the daylight hours. Sure, the creatures weren't nearly as bad during the day, but they were still there. They still existed, and they still stalked each other and the harder to find humans still wandering the city. "We should try t'be fast," he said softly, mumbling around the candies in his mouth.
Normally, Loren would have been much more lively, more willing to joke and tease... but after the things he'd seen, and done, he was having a difficult time wanting to talk at all. He was grateful to have found Tony, at least.
The boy was eating sweets and though the very thought of them made him feel a little nauseous, what got him most was the clacking sound they made against Loren's teeth. He was going to go absolutely spare, he knew he was, with all that racket going on. It wasn't fingernails on a chalkboard, but it wasn't exactly soothing, either. They'd survived the night - not that Tony had much sleep at all - and had dined like footballers on a rampage for breakfast. Anything was fair game.
At the mumbled advice, Tony looked away and rolled his eyes. God, have mercy on me and don't let me throttle the boy... He sighed and turned back to look at Loren. "What a good idea. Glad you thought of it." Then he smiled to take away some of the sting. "We're fine, mate. It isn't that far away. It just looks it, yeah? It's an illusion. We'll be there soon..." Or so he hoped. Tony also hoped that whoever they were had some real food - and that they weren't just luring people in so they could eat them.
Tony had seen far too many episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' while in the television room in prison. He tried not to think about it now.
Mini was still trying to figure out which way the road map was taking her, and which way she'd likely find somebody. She headed down the street, hoping to figure out which way she was looking. The buildings made everything hard to judge, and she might have been okay if she had come straight from the airport, but having been 'living' in the city for two days now, she couldn't get back to the airport if she tired. She was walking her ears open but her eyes down. The monsters seemed to like to sleep through the day, though on occasion you could hear one grunting and making it's way... right now though, everything seemed calm enough. She got to the end of the city block and looked up at the signs, one of them had been torn away, but she could see enough letters to realize which way she was going at least.
She thought she heard a noise, and looked up in time to see two men down the way, and across the street. She had time to move out of sight if she wanted to, she knew that much. Why did it have to be men? It wasn't that Mini really had issues with men, but from past experiences she just knew she related to women easier.
She tried to hear if they were talking, perhaps, they would know what of the languages she knew. Had anybody else made it off that plane alive that she could remember? Mini wasn't sure. Did she call out in English? She knew how to say a few words in English, but likely not enough to carry on any sort of helpful conversation... unless she needed the bathroom. She watched them for a few moments and then decided to take her chances, she looked both ways before crossing the street (silly, but it was habit), and then quickly got to the other side. She waited a beat, still nervous before putting up her hand to be noticed a little better. "Hello?" She said in heavily accented English.
At the sarcastic comment, Loren gave Tony the most charming - and faked - smile he could muster up. He pursed his lips, pressing his tongue to his cheek as he cocked his head to the side. "I hope you're right," he told Tony, "because I wasn't cut out for all this." As he dropped the look, Loren's eyes traveled down the street ahead of them, toward a corner where there was another figure standing there, staring back at them. He startled hard and stopped walking for a moment, instinct overriding common sense until it sank in that it was a woman... not a monster.
"Tony," he said, reaching over to push at the taller man's shoulder. "Look at that." As the woman approached, she threw up her hand and waved, letting out a questioning Hello? in their direction. Loren waited for Tony to say something, glancing between the two of them expectantly. He wasn't in any shape to be yelling anyway, instead fussing with the makeshift bandages around his right hand.
"Who is cut out for shit like this?" he replied, not one to hold back from using swear words while addressing a potentially impressionable person. He had no clue how old Loren was - he hadn't thought to ask yet - but given the givens, who cared? Distracted, he frowned slightly and said, "Oi, what're you playing at...?" when his shoulder was pushed, then he was too caught up in seeing a Real Live Girl, waving at them from down the street a bit, to worry about his shoulder.
Tony looked down at Loren, then back to the woman.
"Well, let's not hang about, then," he said. Standing a little straighter, he walked toward the woman, figuring Loren would follow. "Hello," he called back. "You're a sight for sore eyes, sweetheart..."
Mini could hear them now, that she was closer to them and not across the street straining to hear. They were speaking English, though accented, she was sure. She recognized the accent though from her recent travels with her girlfriend all over Europe, they sounded at least, like they were from somewhere in the general United Kingdom area. Or at least what she'd gathered while they'd been there for the week. She wished she knew more English then she did and bit her lip as they approached. She, out of habit, reached for her purse and held it to her body.
Everything that the blond taller man had said went over her head completely, except for the word eyes which she knew were on her face. She wondered if she needed to look at something. "Um..." She let out a noise that one might consider to be a thinking noise. She started to move her hands in circles, trying to will words to come to her mouth that they might understand. "Deutsch?" She said in a hopeful voice and then added, "Français?" She looked between the two and realized in that moment, just how alone she was. She let out a sigh, fair well knowing that neither of them likely spoke either language.
She didn't bother trying to hide her disappointment in her realization and tapped her chest, "No English..." She said, again, heavily accented. That was at least something her girlfriend had taught her before she'd died...
Loren made a bit of a sour face as Tony all but cat-called at the woman they had just run into. It wasn't exactly the time for it, and on some strange level, he found himself a little jealous. Just a little... sort of in that, I was here first way. He followed the other man anyway, just as curious about her as he should be, given the circumstances. She was alive, which was good, and so far as he could tell, she didn't have any fangs or claws. As they approached, Loren knew there was something wrong. He could sense the hesitation, knew she was about to say something that would make this a pain in the ass.
And then she did, and Loren groaned, rolling his eyes. "Really?" he asked, his tone picked up a little higher than he'd meant. "A limited supply of women left, mate, an' we find the one who can't speak any English? That's fantastic." Really, Loren was just trying to consider what this meant for the two-er, three of them. It would make survival that much more difficult, if they had to worry about trying to translate everything for her.
Still... Loren wasn't exactly cruel, and he stepped forward to offer his left hand in greeting. He held his other hand to his chest, the bandages a clear indicator of why he'd gone with his less dominant. "Hell-oh," he said, making sure to enunciate it very clearly, as though somehow she would understand it better. Tapping his chest once, he added, "Low-ren."
Tony slowed a little as they moved closer to the woman. German? French? Oh, he knew some words in German, but not many. His French was better. The look Loren gave him didn't get missed. Could he help it if he tended to deal with stress in a slightly unorthodox manner? Via humor and flirting?
He gave the woman a quick appraisal, said to the boy, "Actually, she is quite fantastic," and somehow managed not to roll his eyes or pat him on the head when Loren spoke so slowly and deliberately, as if she was completely dense. Then it was his turn for introductions. Tony smiled, but aimed for 'polite' versus 'dazzling'. He hoped she had a sense of humor...
"Sorry, um... nicht deutsch," he replied and added his favorite example to demonstrate his level of German, be it Swiss German, 'high' German or otherwise. "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof." Which meant: 'I only understand train station.' He held out his hand. "Bonjour, je suis Tony. Mon Français n'est pas très bon, mais... il est meilleur que mon Allemand."
The shorter blond one's reaction, that later indicated to Mini his name was Loren made her scowl slightly. The groan and roll of the eyes wasn't appreciated and the look on her face likely told him so. She hoped, that by just her expression that he was not particularly the knight in shining armor she wanted either. She was linguisticly stunted, not stupid. She also knew what 'Hello' meant, she'd used the word for crying out loud, but she took his hand, as to not seem as rude as he'd been. Just because she couldn't understand everything he said didn't mean she didn't get the gist of what he was whinging about. She took her hand back. "Minuette." She replied, tapping her chest once, and then gave a thought, "Mini." That would be easier at least.
She looked at the other man. He seemed to be less...well condescending, she smiled at him carefully when he smiled at her. She nodded her head when he said that he didn't speak much German and that his french was only a little better then that. The train station comment made her at least laugh. At least he tried. "Vous ne pouvez pas être parfait." She replied in French, a smirk tugging at her lips. 'You can not be perfect' -- her own little joke. She knew it didn't matter much in which language she answered them in, it wouldn't help her much.
She gave a sigh and looked at her two new companions and then reached for the bottle of water that was in her bag offering it to the two men, making a drinking motion. She could be at least hospitable.
Loren watched the interaction between the two others and felt a little on the left out side. "I don't really know any other languages," he said, holding his hands up in a helpless manner. "Sorry, Mini. S'a cute name, innit, Tony?" He grinned, glancing between Mini and Tony once. When the water bottle was pulled out and offered he blinked, brightening at the offer. "Oh, hey! Okay, just a sec..." Loren dropped his backpack onto the pavement and stooped down to dig through it, coming back up a second later to offer her a candy bar. "There! See? We bring umm... food an' good companionship... or whatever. Something like that."
In all honesty, whether or not she spoke English, having a woman around seemed like a good thing. Loren faltered, blinking a few times unevenly as the memory of his mother passed behind his eyes. It was still fresh, blisteringly painful, and he did his best not to look the part of a small boy lost without his mum. Instead, Loren just urged Mini to take the offered candy bar, ducking his head to step backward. "We should prob'ly get moving..."
"That's alright," he said to Loren. "I'll translate for you." Oh, you are wicked, Anthony, or you could be, if you wanted... "And 'Mini' is very cute, yes." He meant the name and the woman, of course, but that wasn't important to point out. The offer of water was kind of her, but Tony held up his hand and pointed to his back pocket, where a bottle of water was currently jammed. "Non, merci."
Loren offered her a candy bar and there was something... sad about it, really. Not the offer itself, but the boy's eagerness. Tony hadn't asked anything about Loren's family, really. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder - He was a friend, wasn't he? - and said, "You're right. We should get to that building..."
He looked at Mini and said, "Il y a un bâtiment avec un signe." He pointed. "Là-bas. Les gens sont là." He was probably butchering the language, but as long as he was understood... To Loren, he translated, "I'm telling her that we've seen a building with a sign and that people are there." And he was telling the truth. Would wonders never cease?
Old habits die hard, but right now, I'd better suppress the lying...
Well then. At least the Loren person was being politer. Mini's father, while he was no saint, was always one to suggest that you could attract more flies with honey rather then vinegar. Mini had just never understood why anybody would want to attract flies and often argued that shit did the exact same thing honey did. No wonder her father would rather throw money at her then deal with her. Mini realized suddenly she had no idea if her father and mother were alive. The latter she care about little but the former, while he wasn't a good man, had at least tried with her. The sudden ache of being alone while standing with these two men was so strong that she had to suppress the urge to scream. She had to keep everything bottled up best she could.
"Non, merci." She said to Loren when he offered her a bar of chocolate, trying her best to smile at him. She figured that was simple enough for him to understand. She had chocolate in her bag, the best chocolate, all the way from across the pond from... Annelise's favorite... Oh. That ache. She pressed that down too. No time for theatrics.
She listened to the man who had identified himself as Tony and looked around to the building he'd indicated. It wasn't conversational language but it was good enough for her to understand what he was talking about. "Bon!" She said, hoping perhaps somebody would speak her language there. "Allons-y!" Let's go!. She wanted to be inside, rather than out, surely. She waited to fall in to step beside the two men, deciding she was at least going to be safe.
Loren was a little saddened when Mini refused the candy bar, but tucked it away into one pocket as Tony agreed with him about continuing their travels toward the building. It wasn't too much further, and he was looking forward to getting someplace safe, with more people that could help watch out for each other. "Alright," he said, nodding to his friend but not quite making eye contact. Instead of waiting on Tony and Mini, Loren simply started toward, on toward the building that seemed like the promised land at this point. "C'mon then," he called back, squaring off his shoulders to appear confident, even if he felt anything but that. Loren was - in reality - anxious, and being out in the streets wasn't helping.
He was starved for a good meal, and feeling irritable on top of that, which was probably due to being sleep deprived. As long as this place was all they hoped it could be, Loren would find himself a place to crash and catch up on his much needed sleep -- if he could make himself sit still for long enough.
At Mini's enthusiastic agreement to head for the hotel, the boy took the lead. Tony smiled fondly, much to his own surprise, and he followed, making sure that Mini went ahead of him. Gentlemen rules indicated that he should bring up the rear in this little journey, and besides, then he'd be able to watch her rear. Could it get much better?
Yeah, real food, a hot shower, waking up to find out this is all a bad dream and Rebecca is -
"He's a good lad," Tony said to the woman, not translating this time. Maybe his expression and tone were sufficient. He decided not to worry about it. He just wanted to reach the hotel and confirm it was, indeed, a sanctuary, and then - maybe - he could relax.
Mini let Loren go on ahead. If he wanted to be on point so bad, Mini wasn't about to protest. She'd seen enough life taken...she still didn't want hers stolen as well. She glanced back at Tony when he spoke and had a little bit of a curious look on her face. She sort of recognized good. That was a positive thing she was pretty sure.
She paused for only for a moment to smile at him somewhat gratefully and then turned back towards the way they were headed. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad...then again she had no idea the reason why Tony was so willing to take up behind them. Mini kept her eyes peeled and her ears alert to make sure they weren't ambushed, making sure to keep watch all around her, but not looking behind her. Tony seemed to be well enough put together, that he could take care of himself. Loren...perhaps not.
Dhaval had arranged his new little room to the best of his satisfaction. He was rather miffed at being left alone on the ground floor, but there wasn't anything for it. He'd only be able to reach the "first" floor (the concept of a ground floor annoyed him for some reason) as long as the elevator worked, and he didn't like the idea of being trapped up there. Or of someone having to carry him. It was rather ignoble and he didn't like to be such an inconvenience. He wasn't a particularly big man, but he was dense, and keeping his upper body capable of compensating for his useless legs meant a lot of muscle mass. So here he was with the wrecked lobby and the bar for company, and only a very small window to stare out of.
He'd already arranged the silly little things he'd brought from home. His baby blanket, the little bronze figurines of Indian deities he'd thought before all this he was only keeping to please his parents, photos, story printouts, a nearly full cologne bottle... Rather than making him feel more at home, the little fragments of his life made this converted storage room feel like a ghost of his home, lost and empty. These were not useful musings. A few days ago, he'd have been delighted to find himself practically master of a whole floor, but now he didn't dare let himself get pent up. No computer, no one to read his stories... Years of depression told him exactly what would happen without an outlet, and that was with only the frustrations of an ordinary life at hand. He wheeled out into the hallway to stare out a bigger window.
The cityscape was rather horrid, but at least it was something. The window in his storage closet was a little high to see out of. It was after a moment of forlorn gazing that he spotted the woman and two men approaching. Newcomers? Or maybe they already lived here and had gone out for supplies or something. If the former, he should meet them. Meeting Penny had made this sanctuary seem a lot more plausible than a big sign in the window. And if the latter, he really should introduce himself. He wasn't likely to cross paths with people down on the first floor. Dhaval peered about carefully for monsters, made sure the handgun he really didn't know how to use was still in his wheelchair pouch, and opened the door a crack. A tricky maneuver, but one he was used to. His apartment building didn't have automatic doors.
"Here we go, look!" Loren hopped onto the sidewalk that ran along the front of the hotel, turning around to give Tony and Mini a grin. He was eager to be inside, with other people. When he turned around he made to head for the front door, but stopped short at the appearance of another face. "Shit!" he spat, startling hard and taking a stumbling couple of steps backward. A second after his stumble he realized what he was looking at and blinked, breathing heavy. "Uh... oh. Hi." Loren glanced back at Tony, as though seeking his guidance.
Loren ran ahead of them - stupid boy - and when he swore, Tony went into defense mode, something he thought might have been burned out of him during his time on the other side of the high fence. It seemed it wasn't, though. He put himself between the door to the hotel and Mini, shotgun raised, just in case.
He was about to tell Loren to keep moving backwards, when the boy decided to speak to the face Tony could now see at the door. He kept the gun ready, though.
"Yeah. Hi." Still looking at the person behind the door, and wondering why the face was so low, he added, "We saw your sign, mate. I take it you're on safe ground?"
Mini wasn't sure she wasn't about to join Loren running ahead, but her girlfriend's backpack was much heavier then her own daintier one she'd been carrying. Annelise was a lot bigger then Mini and that was one reason why Mini adored her so. She was much stronger and could easily move Mini around the bed when she wanted to. Mini was having trouble just under the weight of the backpack her lover had been carrying. She was surprised to find herself being stepped between though once they had reached the doors.
The person on the other side, from what Mini could see, looked harmless enough and the idea of resting, safely, was too much of something she was looking forward to. Her feet and back ached and all she wanted to do was sit. When Tony spoke though Mini became nervous and looked behind her. The man with the gun was the one you wanted to be behind sure, if you were against the wall. But not when you now were put at risk to being grabbed at first in the big wide world behind them.
Safe. That sounded like a good word. She liked that word and wasn't even sure if her guesswork was right about what it meant. It just sounded good. She twined, one hand involuntarily in to the back of Tony's shirt. Understanding nothing and seeing even less behind the taller man didn't put her at ease.
They didn't seem at all dangerous. Sure, Dhaval would have preferred having someone around, just in case, but he wasn't going to make them wait outside while he hoped someone might come downstairs. He didn't have a way to fetch a soul, after all. Dhaval completed the slightly awkward maneuver that was opening a door in a wheelchair, annoying but familiar. "It's as safe as anywhere is, um, I assume? I only managed to follow the sign here a very, uh, little while ago." Life was so full of new introductions lately. Dhaval hoped he'd get used to them soon, but for the time being, he was as shy, as self-conscious, and as sensitive about wheelchair, accent, and general awkwardness as he'd ever been.
Dhaval looked up to take them all in. They weren't nearly as odd a group as he'd been a part of when he'd arrived, a nice looking woman and two men. "Um, one of you can grab the door? I'm sort of, well, keeping it open with one tire..." He backed up, leaving the door for one of them to grab, and smiled, trying to look kind and non-threatening. This was quite his natural state, so it wasn't hard.
Hurrying forward to catch the door before it closed again, Loren pressed a small hand to it, clearly favoring his left as he pushed it all the way open. He stepped into the hotel lobby with a sort of stunned look on his face. glad to have found the hotel at last, and other survivors. This had to be better - and more comfortable - than what he and Tony had been doing until now. "Looks alright," he said quietly over one shoulder. Not wandering too far into the lobby, Loren lingered at the door, not quite breaking contact with it just yet. He wanted Tony to come in first, bring Mini... If Tony were comfortable, his confidence would perhaps rise. Too many days of trauma would do that to someone who had never been without his mother, making him reliant on the closest thing he had to that old familiarity.
Not that Tony was womanlike, or anything... Loren glanced back at him, chewing on his lower lip anxiously. There was a smirk at the corner of his lips, the thought passing his mind that the other man was nothing like a woman breaking up some of his hesitations. He nearly giggled, restraining it just barely.
Tony, of course, had no clue what Loren was thinking, beyond the boy taking the bold step into the hotel and giving the 'all clear'. He indicated that Mini should go in front of him then, turning his back to the building and scanning for any potential nasties that might me lurking behind them somewhere, waiting to pounce before they entered safety.
Nothing seemed to be there, so he followed the woman through the door and nodded to Loren that he should close it.
"Right. Well..." He lowered the shotgun a little. "Nice work, Loren. And hello, mate. Thanks for letting us in. It's been a bit of a time, you know?" Wheelchair. Shit, that must have sucked to get around with all the things in the street, living and otherwise. Brave heart, this other man. "Are there many people here?"
Mini let herself be guided forward by indication, in front of Tony now, where she felt a modicum amount of safety at least. He had a gun after all. Mini had a back pack that was too heavy for her and a coat that was becoming increasingly too warm for wear.
She saw the man in the wheel chair and his friendly face and decided she liked him. He looked nice and that was something...well, you didn't always see in desperate times. She made a note to find him later and share some chocolate with him, if he wanted any. At present though, Tony seemed to be doing the talking, and Mini's eyes wandered the room they'd stepped in to as Loren shut the door behind them. She spotted the comfy looking chairs just around the way and immediately her legs begged for them, but she figured she'd wait to see what the other's did before she collapsed in to one.
She turned her attention back to Tony who was talking to the gentle looking man in the Wheel Chair.
"A lot. I'm, uh, not really sure how many. I only found my way here a little while ago." Dhaval backed up. The lobby looked inviting compared to the world outside, but it was still rather a mess. Hard to navigate in his chair, too. But at least it was safe, indoors, and contained no monsters. Dhaval smiled up at Tony, ignoring the shotgun. He wasn't sure what etiquette was for the rather large weapons people had (quite reasonably) taken to toting. There was a handgun in his pouch, after all.
"But, um, there's plenty of food, from what I can tell." Not that he was paying it any attention, but everyone he'd talked to so far had seemed perfectly confident about that. "And rooms are still free. So, um, it's pretty much all ready for habitation." Dhaval looked a bit sheepish. "I've, well, not had much chance to meet people. Since I, um, have to stick to the first floor. So if there is anyone in charge... Well, no one's informed me. There are room keys, though, so I think you can just grab one that's left." That seemed like it covered the important stuff.
Loren ventured further into the lobby as the others chatted, moving to the front desk to examine the keyring that had been mentioned. He picked it up and looked it over, glancing back to see what the others were doing. "What's your name?" he called out, moving his head in a quick jerk to throw back some of his hair. "I'm Loren." It seemed like the right thing to do in a time like this, when all they had were each other to depend on. He came back with the keyring, holding it up to ask, "Just... any of these?" It seemed a little strange, just picking one and settling in, but... Loren really just wanted to curl up and sleep... and probably have a good cry.
"Food is good," Tony said, resting the shotgun casually over one shoulder as he looked around. "More people is also good. Life is looking up." It wasn't what he'd planned, of course. None of them had planned for Armageddon. He was supposed to be in Switzerland, sipping espresso and negotiating his first heist since getting his probation. Not that the officer assigned to his case knew anything about that - and likely never would.
At Loren's introduction, he added, "And I'm Tony. We're here all week. Try the veal. That's Mini." He nodded to the redhead and smiled at her. "She's been a peach." To the man in the wheelchair, he cheerily asked, "Have you already told us your name? Sorry if you have, mate. It's gone. You are?"
Mini smiled when her name was mentioned but didn't think that they were likely saying much that had to have her listening. She was just so damn tired. She hesitated and then realized if you wanted something likely, you were just going to have to take it during times like this. She gave her companions one last look, and a smile to the man who had let them in, before heading over to the chairs that looked a lot softer and more inviting than anything since yesterday when she'd boarded her plane to come here. She missed her home and her bed, but for the moment, the chair was looking just as good.
Mini wasn't trying to be rude, she just didn't know what was going on. She figured if there was anything important for her to know, that somebody would come along and tell her. Or at least she hoped. Dropping her bag on to the floor and sitting down she curled up a little, hugging Annelise's bag to her, finally feeling like she could relax.
Names. Right. Since the woman had wandered off (and he didn't blame her, remembering perfectly well what it was like to not understand anyone in the room) and the younger man was busy picking keys, he addressed his name to Tony. "No, I, um, hadn't gotten it out yet. I'm Dhaval Singh." He smiled gently and extended a hand to shake. He wasn't sure what to make of the man's comments. He caught a reference to a movie, though he wasn't sure which one, and found the comment about Mini to be a little off color. He was probably just far too sensitive. Recalling the common difficulty people had with his name (which he thought was a bit silly, as phonetically it was quite easy), he clarified with, "Dhav for short is fine."
Tony accepted the hand and gave it a solid shake, smiling. "You prefer Dhaval or Dhav? One might be easier than the other for some, but I've been around and I lived in London for years. It's like a second India. Aap kaisey hain?" Which meant 'How are you?' "And no, my Hindi rather sucks. I only know a few phrases." Including the equivalent of 'Want to come with me and check out my mattress?', but he didn't elaborate, of course.
"Dhav is fine. I'm, um, getting used to it recently." Dhaval was a little nervy despite himself. On the sliding scale who and what made him nervous, attractive, confident males in his own age range ranked very high, just shy of sudden noises in dark rooms or hospital smells. "Might as well, well... Stick with it." "Oh, and, um, don't worry about it, huh? I haven't spoken Hindi regularly since I was... well, seven or eight. Mine might be almost as patchy as yours." Not quite true, but not too much exaggeration, and he didn't mind being humble.
"Alright, Dhav. Slick name. I like it." The young man seemed a little nervous, but he'd only just met them and they probably looked like they'd been dragged through Hell - well, except for Mini, who seemed tired, but lovely. Maybe the shotgun was a concern. "Oh," he said, making sure the shotgun was pointed at the floor. "Sorry. Don't let me weapon bother you. It won't go off without provocation."
Tony turned and located Loren - who was sorting through keys like a stunned rabbit, poor thing - and then Mini - who might have fallen asleep in one of the chairs, poor thing - and then down to Dhav again.
"I think this lot are crashing and I'm not likely to be far behind him." Manners, Anthony. "Thanks for letting us in." Though his suitcase was still strapped to his back, he was able to lift the front of his T-shirt and wipe at his face with it. It meant skin was exposed, but it wasn't as if Tony was flaunting himself and what would Dhav care? "They got showers here?"
Well, Dhav might care a little, but he was used to pretending not to. And right now that wasn't where his mind was anyway. "Sure, there's still water. And even those... um, the little waxy soaps and tiny bottles of weird-smelling shampoo and everything." He tried to smile at the other two, but they were pretty much ignoring him, and he didn't blame them. "Best of luck, I guess. I, um, can't help you with anything once you hit stairs..."
"Don't worry about it, mate. We're good." Tony looked between Loren and the sleepy Mini and thought how they weren't really doing well at all - nor himself, either - but considering... "We'll make the stairs. Loren? You got a room picked out? Let's get Mini to a bed, yeah? And I mean no insult by that, mate." He smiled at Dhav. "Thanks. We'll cope. See you later, I guess...?" And he headed to get the other two organized. He'd choose a room for himself eventually.
Right now, he needed a shower and a place to lie down - and let oblivion take him away.