Tony Reid (tonyreid) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-03-22 09:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2015-08-30, catie, penny, tony, zane |
Dealing With It
Who: Penny, Zane, Tony & Catie (NPC)
When: Day 9, late morning
Where: Around the hotel, then Tony's room
Penny sighed, wandering around the hotel aimlessly. The sun was up, she could see now... and she was still bored. Nothing to do. She was going to bed soon, anyway, but she wasn't quite ready to do so. When in doubt, she could always eat. She flopped down the first flight of stairs, pondering on how it would be possible to make mac and cheese, when she landed on the fourth floor. Looking down the hall briefly, she paused when she recognized a familiar back and smirked. Mac and cheese could wait, she had more devious things in mind.
Hiding for a moment, she stopped and looked, making sure Zane wasn't about to move. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but whatever it was it was keeping him still. Excellent. With a wicked smirk, Penny took a deep breath, and then ran quickly and pounced on his back, shouting, "BONZAI!" as she landed on him.
Zane's first, Police Academy trained reaction was to throw Penny off him. He lurched forward, swinging long blonde hair over his shoulder, her voice finally registering as familiar to him. He froze with his body at a ninety degree angle, the weight of Penny on his back. "Vegas," he grumbled. "Has it ever occurred to you that jumping on the back of someone trained as a cop when there is a murderer in the area is not the wisest decision to make." Unless she was simply looking to keep her streak for ending up on the floor around him.
"Nope," Penny giggled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before hopping down. "Besides, didn't they lock him away or something?" She rubbed the back of her neck, worrying her lip a little. "I didn't actually know Terrence... did you?" It felt odd, talking about someone in the group who had died. They were such a small population, and even though Penny hadn't known him, it still felt personal.
He sighed and straightened back up again. "No, I didn't know him." He thought perhaps he'd heard Terrence's name mentioned a few times but they had never met or spoken. "What bothers me is the fact that the person responsible is still under our roof." Now was not the time to be taking risks with all their lives. At minimum he needed to be tossed out, though the thought he knew where their group was located made Zane nervous. He looked Penny over. "Isn't it about your bed time?"
"Well, I heard he was still partly human. It isn't so easy to kill one of those as it is a monster out there who looks nothing like a human at all. Unless you're Zane, trained killer cop," she added on a smirk, striking a ninja-like pose. "I'm staying up a little later. So what would you have done to me, then? Think you can do it again?" Penny stuck her tongue out at him, bouncing around. And to think, she hadn't even had any sugar.
"Sometimes things need to be done. It doesn't mean people feel good about doing it," he told her, his tone nothing short of serious. He could only guess how easily everyone might vote to get rid of a threat like that, but then who would carry out the sentence? No one wanted blood on their hands. "I would have flipped you onto the floor," Zane told her, raising his brow. "I could do it again but I might hurt you, and then I would have to fix you." He crossed his arms, watching her spring around like a pack of puppies.
"True... But we'll see what happens, I guess. Who knows if they've talked to him yet or not." She made c'mon hands at him, still bouncing. "I took karate, I can hold my own. Plus, if you fix me there's a good chance I'll have to get naked for it," Penny teased, although he'd already seen most of it. And although that wasn't necessarily true, it wasn't necessarily false either. "Hit me with your best shot."
He looked at her as though he was not amused. "I'm not going to hit or tackle you." His arms stayed firmly crossed. "Moreover, I don't want to be hit." It wasn't exactly at the top of his list of ways to start the day. There was a chance she was being truthful about the karate and he didn't know that his tactical training was equivalent. Learning how to stop a perpetrator on foot or break down a door wasn't going to protect him from a round house kick.
Penny paused and stopped, pouting. "Aaaaaw, c'mon. You never rough housed or anything? It's fun!" She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms across her chest, looking at him. "What do you do for fun, read textbooks? Or do you just use your fancy light tricks now?"
"It's one light trick," he informed her, raising a brow. "And I actually miss my text books." Which meant there wasn't any real fun to be had, if he even knew how to have it. He appraised Penny a moment, leaned against the wall, pouting. Hopefully it wouldn't get him kicked in the gut, or worse, but... Zane lunged at her, bending down and grabbing her around the knees, hoisting her over his shoulder as he stood again. He turned and headed down the hall. He could throw her around but not on the hard floor.
She blinked at his fast action and then laughed, kicking her legs a little. "Oh come on, this isn't rough housing, it's kidnap! You Tarzan, me Jane?" Penny grinned, and pretended to make a fuss, but really she just let herself enjoy the ride. "If you miss your textbooks you should go find one, then. Maybe you can teach me something, and then that way I can play a knowledgeable nurse and know a thing or two. That might be fun." Oh look, Zane's ass. Smirking, she reached up and slapped it.
"I can teach you some things without a textbook," he told her as he walked. He stopped at the door to his room just in time to get himself smacked. "Hey!" he barked at her, though he didn't actually mind it. He pushed through the doorway, closing the door behind himself and went further inside, stopping it front of his bed. He flipped her back over his shoulder and down on to the mattress. "Alright, this rough housing thing you're talking about... I only had a sister and only ran track and boxed so it's rather unfamiliar." That and he just never did that kind of stuff.
"And I was an only child, so what," she giggled, scrambling up onto her knees when she landed on the bed, making the 'come here' motions with her hands again. "Pretend you're boxing, only instead of punching you wrap your arms around the other person. Like this!" Penny was just enjoying herself, trying to take her mind off the new stresses that a murder in the hotel brought. So she dove for his waist and tried to tackle him onto the bed, laughing herself silly.
At that point a knock came on the door and Penny paused, looking up at it and scowling. "Boo."
Zane grunted as he was tackled at the waist, landing him on his back on the mattress. She was strong for a little thing. He scrambled, trying to hold her wrists in his hands, and managed to wrap one leg around her hips so he could flip her back over. "I have strength and body mass on my side," he told her through the struggling. He had just grabbed her around the waist with one hand, a smile threatening to cross his face when the knock came. He, too, paused and just looked at the door a moment. He rarely had visitors and of course one would come now. He looked up at Penny a moment and then disentangled himself from her and went to the door.
On the other side was a girl who he recognized but whose name he couldn't recall. "What?" he asked her, not bothering if she saw his slightly ruffled state or of that of his comforter and Penny behind him.
Penny sat up and finger combed her hair, lifting a brow at Catie who seemed pretty well aware she might have interrupted something. But Penny didn't actually know the woman, so she just sat there and waited patiently to be able to get Zane again. He was pretty good at that whole wrestling thing. "Tony's in his room unconscious, I tried to heal him but I think he needs a doctor."
Frowning, Penny got off the bed and went over to the door. "Is he okay? What happened?" she asked, worried now for the man she had enjoyed the day before.
Catie looked between them again, obviously a little nervous. "He... he tried to attack Megan."
Zane furrowed his brows. He didn't know Tony but he did know Megan a little--he had come to the hotel with her. Aside from her being a bit odd with the whole dancing with a dagger thing, she had seemed nice enough and certainly anyone being attacked was a concern. He glanced over his shoulder as Penny spoke, noting the concern in her voice. "I can take a look at him," Zane said, stepping out of his room and holding the door for Penny to follow. "Is Megan alright though?" He was more concerned with the victim before the person who did the assaulting.
"She's fine, Joyce took her back to her room," Catie stated, leading them towards the stairs to take them to Tony's room. Penny followed with a scowl on her face. That didn't seem to add up with how Tony had acted at all yesterday. What could have happened to set him off? He hardly seemed like he could have been violent- then again, she had put out about two minutes after they met, so it wasn't like she really got to know the guy all that well. Nevertheless, she was concerned for the both of them.
Zane followed behind Catie, wondering if he should make a stop at the room with all the medical supplies. It wasn't as though he had anything on him that would be helpful, aside from his head. He decided he would take a look and then go if he needed anything, that way he wouldn't be taking people to its location.
Once they were at Tony's room Zane stepped inside and made his way over to the unconscious man. First, he checked his pulse, which seemed normal. "I don't suppose either of you has a flashlight on them?" He turned toward the girls. "I need to check his eyes." And he hadn't bothered to carry one with being able to see in the dark and all. "What happened to him exactly?"
"Terry punched him. I don't know if anything else happened, I wasn't there." Catie looked towards him and shook her head. "I have one back in my room, I'll go get it." And with that Catie turned and left, hurrying back towards her room to get her flashlight.
Penny entered the room after Zane and scowled, looking down at Tony. She reached out and brushed back a strand of hair; he almost looked like he was sleeping. "I wonder what happened," she said softly, tilting her head. "He didn't seem at all violent when I met him yesterday..."
Zane watched Penny steadily as she brushed back this man's hair and spoke almost tenderly about him. He crossed his arms and scowled. "What did he seem like?" Obviously Terry hadn't locked Tony up so perhaps Penny was right about his disposition. He glanced at the door, looking for Catie, anxious for her to return. A head injury was the most likely possibility and if Catie couldn't fix it, he probably couldn't either.
"I don't know... Not all that aggressive. Very sweet, actually. We were talking about the possibility of monsters growing wings," she remembered, scrunching her face up and sighing. Looking up again, she saw Catie walk in the door and backed away so that Zane could study Tony with the flashlight. "You can see in the dark and you still need light to look in someone's eyes. Kinda funny."
"Hmm," was all Zane managed as she continued on about Tony. A conversation about monsters hardly equated knowing someone's complete personality. After all, didn't many abusive people seem perfectly nice when they were out in public and around strangers? He took the flashlight from Catie and stood in front of Tony, lifting one eyelid. "I don't need to flashlight to see, I need it to check his pupil dilation. I want to make sure his brain isn't hemorrhaging." He flicked the flashlight back and forth and then moved on to the other eye, doing the same. The response was good. Zane turned the flashlight off and handed it back to Catie. "I'll be back in a moment," he told the two, removing the chain and key from around his neck. He stepped out of the room and practically ran to where the medical supplies were stashed. He grabbed several things and then rushed back. As soon as he stepped through the door again he opened a pack of smelling salts and pushed them under Tony's nose.
Tony regained consciousness to a horrible smell and a pounding head and one side of his face felt like someone had tried to cleave it off. He coughed and that hurt, too. Bringing his hands up, he found the source of the smell and attempted to push it away. "Oh, blimey! Get that shit away..." The sound of his own voice made him groan with pain and his hands went to his head - which was also a mistake. Eyes still closed, he asked hoarsely, "Did anyone get the number of that truck?" God, how much whiskey had he consumed? He'd been thinking of only one glass, but it felt like he'd downed a whole bottle.
Penny breathed a small sigh of relief when Tony woke up, although she was confused at the truck reference. Clearly his head must be hurting. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked, looking between him and Zane. She felt completely out of her element in medical situations like this.
Zane pulled the salts away and threw them onto the nightstand. The fact that he was conscious was a positive sign. "I've been told Terry punched you and knocked you out," he explained to Tony. "Do you have any nausea, dizziness, or blurred vision? Are you on any medications or drugs?" He rolled through the standard questions though at this point he guessed Tony would have a nasty bruise and a nasty headache.
For his part, Tony managed to open his eyes briefly, saying, "Penny Lane is in my ears..." Then it was all too bright and he closed them again quickly. "And in... my eyes... Hello, luv. I see you've brought some friends." He opened his eyes again, very slightly, and regarded the man in the group. He looked stern. Terrific. "Maxwell's silver hammer is pounding on my head," he told the stern man. "I don't think my eyes have been open... long enough to determine... blurred anything..." He didn't know what to say about medication, but since he hadn't really been taking it regularly, perhaps it didn't matter. He blinked and forced himself more awake when one of the other things the man had said registered. "Terry did what?"
Penny sat down by his head and stroked it soothingly, smirking and shaking her head. "If you're going to keep pulling out the Beatles references around me you're going to have to start getting really creative, I've heard most of them before." But still, she was only teasing; Tony seemed a bit out of it, and the fact that he didn't remember Terry hitting him very clearly said something. Unless he didn't know it was Terry... "Do you remember what happened at all?" she asked, looking back up at Zane, a worried look on her face. What did that mean, that he didn't remember?
Zane repressed a groan as Tony began quoting Beatles lyrics to Penny, ad nauseum. He couldn't quite help the smirk as the blonde voiced the very thing he was thinking.--granted the thought in his head was cynical and coming from her mouth it sounded more like comfort. So far the information Tony gave of his symptoms did little to help with a diagnosis, if there was any to make. But, like Penny, Zane worried about the apparent memory loss. He exchanged a look with her over it, her question the one he was about to ask. She made a better nurse than she realized. "Answer the lady," he told Tony.
Tony looked up at Penny blankly, then treated the man - What the hell was his name again? - with the same expression. "What happened? I went to the bar for a drink. What's-his-name and the blind girl were there." He gave them a small smile. "She seemed to be playing bar tender. It was cute. I..." He frowned slightly. God, his head was killing him. "I guess I had a drink..." A sudden, searing image of the girl, up against the wall, pleading, smacked into him. Tony gasped, eyes widening. "What happened? The girl... something was... Is she alright...?"
She hesitated, not wanting to tell him, but he needed to know. "You... attacked Megan," Penny said softly, trying to break the news in gently, although she was sure it'd be a shock no matter how she said it. She looked up at Catie, trying to get more information, but the woman only shrugged. It seemed she had told Zane and Penny all she knew. "She's okay now..."
"Or so we're told," Zane added, glancing at Penny. Her compassion toward Tony confused him: wasn't this the girl who had a scar on her body from a man, a girl who had been regularly attacked. He wanted to question her about what she was thinking but he wasn't one to broadcast the very personal things she'd told him to the whole room. He also wasn't sure he believed the apparent ignorance Tony displayed. If he had attacked Megan and had been caught doing so, wasn't playing stupid the actual smart thing to do? "Take these for your head." Zane tipped several large ibuprofen into the lid of the container and handed it to Tony. "How is it you're not locked away right now like our resident murderer?" Attacking a blind girl--that was really low.
Tony just... stared at them for a few beats, absorbing what he was being told, accepting the pills as an automatic response to instruction. "I... I don't know, I... I don't remember what..." The girl was struggling, bleeding, and hands held her against the wall, strong hands, his hands - He sat up too quickly. "No! That wasn't me! That couldn't have been... I wouldn't..." Jeopordize my position with the group by being so stupid - Wouldn't rape someone when I could have anyone who wanted it - "Oh, God..." Hiis hands started to shake. "I... I need some water..." He couldn't swallow the pills dry and he was so dry and his head was going to explode... "I don't know..." The sounds and images whipped through him. "Why would I..."
Noting Tony's confused reaction, Penny herself became confused. Either he'd done it or he hadn't, but he seemed heavily in denial. Letting Zane The Doctor, or even Catie, worry about the water, she wrapped her arms tight around him from behind. "Take a few deep breaths," she said soothingly, trying to let him know he wasn't alone. "Think it over from the top and tell me what happened. We can work it out together, yeah?"
Zane's eyes moved from Tony to Penny and back. This whole situation seemed strange to him. Tony had attacked Megan but hadn't, and Penny was cozying up to him like they'd been best friends for ages. It was one thing to be sympathetic and maternal, as Penny had shown herself to be, and another to be comforting Tony the way she was. Zane twisted the top off a bottle of water he had brought with him, handed it to the man, and said nothing.
Penny made soothing noises, but Tony wasn't anywhere near relaxed enough for them to really have an effect. Tall-and-grim offered him water, which he accepted. It felt heavy. "Yeah, we'll... work it out." He had a sip of water and almost wasn't able to swallow. He just felt... sick, thinking about it. "I came to the bar to have a drink," he said. "And that man was there, the nervous one. I can't remember his bloody name. The girl was talking him down, you know? I... I can't remember her name, either. I only saw them at the meeting... He was getting all upset. Then he... freaked out and I was..." Tony closed his eyes. "Look, when I... have sex with someone, it isn't with the intent to kill, and... thinking about this... I wanted to kill her, which makes no fucking sense..." He opened his eyes again and made eye contact with tall-and-grim. Penny was behind him, so he couldn't look at her. "I'm not a killer..."
"I know you don't," she sighed, frowning a bit. Zane may have thought she was just being soothing, but Penny could actually speak from experience in this regard. He hardly seemed the killer type. She looked up at Zane, hoping maybe he would say something like he took a knock to the head to explain this, but she highly doubted he was that skilled. Penny swallowed and thought over what he said. The nervous man? Who was the nervous man...
There it was. The last piece of the puzzle snapped into place and Zane's eyes darted up to Penny a moment before returning to Tony. He scowled. She really knew how to pick them, apparently. "I believe you're referring to Charles," he said, his voice grave as he tipped two more ibuprofen into the lid. He turned the lid over Tony's nightstand, pouring the pills out. "I think you'll be fine," he told Tony, his voice devoid of anything, like he was in his tenth hour of studying and was reading from a text book. "If you start having nausea, vomiting, dizziness, or blurred vision send someone to get me." He pointed to the pills. "Otherwise take those in four hours if your head still hurts." He stood, eyes flicking to Penny. "Try not to get yourself attacked, Vegas," he told the blonde as he turned to leave, sure she wouldn't be following him. He left the room, closing the door a little harder than necessary behind him.
Tall-and-grim became grimmer - if that was possible - dispensed medication and told him he'd be fine. Fine? He had some out-of-body experience while his boy tried to rape a girl and he was 'fine'? Tony nodded at the advice, but he didn't know if the man even noticed. The door was closed, rather firmnly, and it made Tony's head hurt more.
"It's he cheery?" he said, his voice just above a whisper, eyes closed tight as the drums on his skull changed their rhythm. "I can't remember his name, either, but he called you 'Vegas'. What's... that all about, Penny Lane?" Normal conversation. He didn't know if it would help or not, but he was going to give it a try. No doubt, the leader-types would want a word with him. Why wasn't he under some sort of arrest? He was horrified by what had happened. It was some sort of nightmare...
Penny had just rolled her eyes at his advice. "That was Zane, and he's just a giant downer. But he's a good doctor," she added, looking him over. At some point Catie had left, but Penny hadn't noticed it at the time. Mother hen mode had turned on, and she was ready to help. "I was born and raised in Las Vegas. Come on, lie back down, you look like you're going to fall over," she insisted, standing up to help him if need be. She was starting to get tired, her usual bedtime fast approaching, but she'd stay awake if Tony needed her to.
"Oh," he said, sighing at the fussing, but lying down. When had the other girl left? God, he was losing it. He was completely losing it... "Zane. He looks like a 'Zane'. It was that or 'Greg' or something..." Tony tried to get his head comfortable on the pillow, but it wasn't working very well. Penny looked tired. "C'mon, lie with me..." He swallowed at a thought. "I won't hurt you..." God, please, if you fucking exist, tell me that what happened wasn't my fault... "Tell me about Las Vegas."
"He looked like a Zane, huh?" she teased, trying to set him up comfortably. "So what did I look like when you first met me, then?" Penny could never really extrapolate names from looks; then again, there were plenty of cover names in Vegas. Crawling into the bed next to him, she shook her head and sighed a bit. "I know you won't. Maybe Charles saw something that'll help you out, yeah? He could be talking to someone right now, setting the record straight." Penny scowled, thinking about her first home. Las Vegas, ugh. "You've really never been?"
"He looked like... a name with one syllable that sounded tough," Tony clarified. "And no, I haven't made it to Vegas yet, amazingly. I hear Elvis has retired there..." He grinned. "And I thought you looked like an 'Alice' when I first met you." He tried not to think too much about what conversations might be occuring right now regarding his fate. Apparently, the leader-types didn't think he was dangerous enough to lock away.
"Many Elvis', some of whom aren't even fat," Penny responded, grinning and leaning back on the headboard, running her fingers through his hair and hoping to calm him. "It is- was- who knows, it's by the Hoover Dam, right? It might have power for a long time." Penny scowled, thinking about it. Could that place still be a beacon of ridiculous, garish light in the middle of the desert? It might be possible. "Anyway, very bright. Lots of lights everywhere. Lots of casinos, and shopping plazas, and strip clubs. Your kind of place, I think."
He didn't mind her hand in his hair. He'd liked it last time, when she'd pulled, but this was nice, too. Right now, he didn't want anything rough. Tony turned to look at her. "My kind of place? What makes you think that?"
She shrugged. "Something tells me you like strip clubs, gambling, and easy chicks, but that might have just been because of our meeting yesterday," Penny added with a cheeky smirk. Words were lost to her when it came on how to describe Las Vegas; mostly because she was never very elegant with words, but also because Vegas meant Jonathan, and that was something she wasn't willing to tell Tony. "There was always something going on, especially at night. The place blew up at night."
Oh. "Pegged me in one," he said half-heartedly. "I haven't been to a strip club since -" That first night I got out of prison - "About three weeks ago, I suppose, and that was the first in a while." Vegas was sounding like prison, which could 'blow up' at night, too, but in a different way, of course. As for gambling? He practically did that every day of his life, though not always with cards. "And you're not easy, Penny-Alice," he said. "You were willing and I enjoyed our shag..."
"Well you're in luck, you banged a stripper. And I'm willing enough to give you a free show sometime when you want it," Penny teased lightly, although she meant it as well. Although she had a feeling why he used that word, it didn't change the fact that she was, in fact, easy. "So, why Alice? Were you thinking Alice in Wonderland? I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late," she sang-spoke, laughing a little as she did.
Tony's eyebrows rose. It made him wince, because one side of his face hurt. He figured he'd have quite the shiner soon, if it wasn't starting already. "You're a stripper? I"d watch your show." He smiled, hoping that wasn't the wrong thing to say. She didn't seem upset about her profession. "And yeah, 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' and all that, and I mean the books, not the porno musical, though it wasn't too bad."
Penny lifted a brow. "Porno musical? What are you talking about," she laughed, shaking her head. "That's the first I've heard of that." She played with his hair gently, still running her fingers through it, and then rested hers lightly on top of his. "I'll show you sometime when I get more lingerie than what I'm wearing now. I'm tired of this crap, I say we should have a group outting and go clothes shopping or something. And stop at a strip club just for you," she teased gently.
"You're kidding, right? 'Alice in Wonderland. 1976. Porno musical. It did fairly well, considering it was X-Rated. It's a classic of the genre, not that I saw it at the time, of course." He kissed softly back and gently ran one hand over her hair. "I can picture you in sexy underwear. Maybe we'll go shopping, sure. I need more ammo and ciggies..." He gave her another kiss. "How bad does my face look right now?"
Penny smiled down at him, shaking her head a little. "Your face looks fine. A little red and swollen, but not too bad. Not sure how long that'll last, though, is it sensitive?" She wanted to touch, but she didn't; instead, she wrapped her arm more around him, drawing him into a soft hug. "And while we're out, you should see if we can find that porno, because now I'm very interested. And I'd spend all my time singing at you," she added, teasingly, returning his kisses gently. "We should also see if any of the ice cream's melted and do a rescue mission. Can't imagine it'll last much longer."
He gave her a rueful smile. "My face is my fortune," he said, partially joking. "I don't want to look like the Phantom of the Opera or... something..." The kisses continued and the hug was nice and he was fine with that. "Porno, ammo and ice cream? Oh, and lingerie... and ciggies... We have one hell of a shopping list..." If there was any ice cream left, who knew what state it was in by now? "Unless it's stuck at the back of someone's freezer, the ice cream might be tricky to find... well, anything you'd want to eat, anyway..."
"True, but it's worth a look. My shopping lists are always awesome, if not always practical," Penny added, grinning and resting her head down on top of his momentarily, just cuddling with him. "I'm sure you won't look that bad, but you'll probably be sporting a nice bruise for a few days. I doubt it'll be permanent, however." It wasn't as if his nose were broken or something, it was just a nice shot on Terry's part. She reached out with her free hand and took his, lacing their fingers together gently. "You'll go back to making millions in no time."
Shopping. How mundane, though the list was certainly creative. Tony smiled sadly at her. "I can handle a bruise." What bothered him more was that Terry had punched him out in order to stop him from - "God..." He closed his eyes. It was difficult to think about. He gave her hand a squeeze. "Millions that I don't need anymore," he whispered.
"Don't think about it," Penny whispered back, squeezing his hand as well before lifting their joined fists to kiss his fingers softly. "I know you're not like that. We'll get to the bottom of this, alright? I'm not gonna just leave you hangin'."
Tony tried not to think about it, but with what had just happened with him and the girl and then Terry clocking him - She kissed his fingers, a very tender gesture, and he wondered how someone so sweet could survive the rather seedy life of a stripper. At least, he understood it was hardly a picnic. Then again, he'd been in prison until a month ago. Eyes still closed, he said, "You don't know that I'm not like that, Penny lane. You don't really know me at all." He sighed and opened his eyes. "That said, I'd appreciate your company for a little while..."
"Maybe I don't, but let's just say I've had some dealings with royal assholes in my past life," she whispered, smiling over at him and putting their hands back down on the bed. "And not a one of them would be this torn up over what happened, except to worry about being thrown out, or that Megan hadn't done what they wanted. I pegged you in one, earlier, give me some credit," Penny added with a small smile, running her fingers through his hair again. "I'll stay as long as you want."
He could well imagine the people she'd encountered. He looked down at their hands and guessed that she was right. Though he'd thought they might throw him out of the hotel, his first thoughts - aside from pain and confusion - were for Megan. Thank God he hadn't - "Thanks." Her hand in his hair felt so nice. "I think... I need to let the pain killers do their thing..."
Penny nodded softly and bit back a yawn. "Rest up, sweet. I'll stay here for a while, I've got nothing to do." Except go to bed, but Penny would probably end up passing out right there next to him before she could make it back to her own room. "If you need something let me know."
"I will," he said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Penny-Alice." Then he closed his eyes and reached for the comforter, pulling it loosely over both of them. He rolled toward her, onto his side - the side of his face that didn't hurt - and waited for oblivion to take him away.