The Evening Routine Who: Tayne and Dhaval Where: Dhaval's room When: About seven
After spending an hour or so in the kitchen dealing with that damn bird, plucking and butchering and hanging it up to at least hopefully cool a little in the warming fridges, Tayne got his second shower of the day-- a brief one, mostly to work out the kinks of dealing with that much meat, and to clean out his nostrils of the smell of it-- and went through his haul. Most of it was down in the kitchen, but he still had the flashlight and books.
The books were going to Dhaval. He plucked them up, slipped into a shirt again and tossed his towel into the bathroom after scrubbing off his wet hair, and headed downstairs barefoot to see where the guy was hanging out. First and foremost, of course, he checked Dhaval's room, knocking lightly.
Dhaval was trying to write. He was a tad ambidextrous for everyday tasks, and he'd had to write left-handed a few times before with an IV in his arm. It still didn't go easily, even when he allowed himself two lines on the legal pad for each line of text. Barely legible. But ideas were pressing at him, as ever, and it was much more pleasant to live in his head, away from the screams and monsters and darkness. He hadn't had a recurrence of the morning's breakdown, but he was just waiting. The family photo was still out on his desk, but he hadn't really looked at it in a few hours.
When the knock came, he looked up and smiled. He got lonely so much more easily lately. "Um, come in!" Taylor, maybe? Or Tayne? He hoped it was Tayne, and told himself he didn't.
"Knock knock," Tayne said, pushing open the unlocked door. He had a smile on his face, and the books hidden behind his back in one hand. "You really oughta keep your door locked, man. Just to be on the safe side." Not that he was complaining, since it meant the guy didn't have to roll the chair around to let someone in. But still.
"I guess. It's a habit I never, um, really got into." His apartment door had locked automatically, his dorm in college hadn't had anything in it worth stealing (and he was known to the whole building as a sort of pitiful pet, meaning it'd take someone really mean to steal from him), and he hadn't even had keys to his childhood home, not allowed to leave without a parent. "Well, you're in one piece. That's good. I'm never sure anymore..."
"I know how to look after myself," Tayne promised, letting the door close behind him, the books still behind his back. He peered at the paper on the desk. "Managing to find a way to write without the right hand, I take it?" It sounded like an awful pain. Tayne might have been able to wield an axe or a gun with both hands, but he never could get the hang of writing with his left.
"It's a pain, yes, but it has to be done." He supposed that might be an odd statement to make. Dhaval wasn't sure whether or not he wanted Tayne to ask when he meant. Tayne seemed to be mildly interested in some of his floaty, peculiar statements, the ways he played with words and ideas out loud, but sometimes he just seemed confused. "Block capitals is, um, the only way to be sure I can read it when I'm done. I guess I'll have to get back in practice. ...How're you?"
Tayne didn't ask. At least not at the moment. "Tired. Again. But that's probably gonna be normal for a while, at least until things settle and we get some kind of a routine going." Or, well, he got some kind of a routine going. He didn't know if anyone else would be doing the same thing, trying to find solace in a pattern of living. Tayne just always felt more secure when he could go through at least part of the day on auto-pilot. It was less mentally exhausting that way. "How 'bout you? How's the finger?"
"It's better. Still tender, still kind of angry whenever I move my hand quickly or straight up, no matter how careful I am, but it's not in the really agonizing stage anymore." He shrugged his left shoulder. "I actually got a splendid night's sleep, though. Thanks to you." He set down his pen and turned around carefully, smiling up at Tayne. "So I'm... well, all things considered, really well off." Really, he was going a bit stir crazy, Dhaval had never thought of his job as at all stimulating, but at least heading out and getting on the bus was something to do, and the background chatter gave him an environment to be part of. And his computer made writing much easier.
Tayne's grin got bigger. "I got somethin' that might make 'all things considered' a little better," he said, half teasing and half genuinely looking forward to the guy's face when he made the big reveal. He brought the handful of books around in front of his chest and said, "Ta-daaaaaa. I had to guess what you'd like, so I tried to get a variety...." There was a couple sci fis, a fantasy, a mystery, and two political thrillers. And yes, he was somehow holding those all in one hand, mostly because he'd rubber-banded them together.
Dhaval's eyes widened. He'd been so perfectly convinced he couldn't look forward to anything to read for the foreseeable future he hadn't even let himself consider it. He'd have to tell himself stories, he'd decided. So the sight of even a handful of mass market paperbacks was an unexpected oasis in a desert. "Oh!" Dhaval had a very warm smile, though it hadn't managed to escape his mood very often lately. "Um, you... You didn't go anywhere..." Of course he'd gone somewhere dangerous. Everywhere was dangerous. "Too perilous to get these..." But he couldn't even try to sound scolding, too... Touched, that was the word.
Beaming down at him, thinking that was probably the best reaction he could've hoped for, Tayne handed the bundle of books over. "I was going someplace dangerous anyhow, to get my axe and do some exploring and shit. So while I was out, I just got you these, since you said you didn't have anything to read...." He was sure he'd be collecting more on further trips out, as well. Books were one thing he didn't think were going to be in short supply. He'd heard once, somewhere, that there were more books in existence than anyone could possibly read in a dozen lifetimes, so hopefully he could keep Dhaval well stocked with new material.
"Just try not to get eaten in pursuit of paperbacks. I mean, these are heavy... in any numbers." Though Tayne was probably strong enough to handle a backpack full of books without too much trouble. Dhaval only faintly remembered that experience, not able to carry anything on his back since middle school. But it wasn't pleasant. "But be careful, anyway. That was really, um, very sweet of you." That was probably the wrong thing to say. Not because Tayne wasn't sweet, but it was a very odd thing to say to another man, wasn't it? He'd had so little chance to get himself into awkward situations that he hadn't really learned to avoid that kind of slip.
"Uh." Tayne couldn't help it. He blushed. He'd never been called "sweet" by a guy before, ever. It was rare enough he got something a little less loaded like "handsome", but "sweet"? Pretty much never. He wasn't sure sure what to do with it, or what it meant-- if it meant anything. It probably didn't. "I just didn't like you bein' bored... I mean, there'll be stuff for you to do, once your finger heals up, but until then?" He shrugged and smiled, a bit sheepishly. "Books seemed like a good idea." And he'd wanted to see the guy smile. But he was really practiced at keeping that kind of comment to himself.
"Even fingers will take a while. Bones don't heal too fast." He said it rather quickly. Dhaval didn't show a blush very well. His darker complexion hid it. But it was impossible to miss that Tayne was blushing, or that it was cute. He tried not to react to that. It couldn't possibly mean anything other than embarrassment. "Until then it's much appreciated." He hoped that didn't come across as too warm. Dhaval had kept himself so isolated all his adult life and had been depressed and terribly awkward on top of that during his teen years. He didn't really know how to navigate... this. "Did, um, did you have any luck finding your, um, stuff?"
It came across as warm, though not too warm. Tayne actually kind of liked it, though he thought he was probably just being stupid and reading into things. He dropped to sit on the edge of the bed with a little laugh. "Yeah, I did. I got my axe, and my spare room key back... and my motorcycle saddlebags. Plus, I managed to get stuff to make bread, and found a new guy to stay with us here in the hotel. So I think it was a pretty succ-- succiss-- a pretty good trip. I'll probably go out 'gain for a little while tomorrow, but not long." More likely he'd spend a good portion of his time in the kitchen, making bread and cooking up bird-monster steaks. Maybe he'd post a notice in the lobby or the stairwell or something so people could come get some.
"Well, make sure you have... um, a plan, a good reason, preferably a map... Oh, oh no, I sound like somebody's mother." He covered his face for a moment, feeling ridiculous. "You get it. I'm sure you wouldn't do anything stupid." Though he hoped striking out into the world wasn't going to be part of Tayne's routine. That might give Dhaval some premature gray hair. "Sounds like you did a really good job." He was a bit at a loss for anything else to say. Talking to Tayne was unusually easy. He hoped the conversation wouldn't start to falter now.
Tayne laughed, relaxing a little. "I've got a map, don't worry. I've been marking it up with good places to find stuff, safe-looking places, that kind of thing." Tayne loved maps. They were probably the most useful thing in the world to a traveler, and he rarely went anywhere without them. "And I always go armed. I've got my bike, so I can make a quick get-away and, you know... the tiger thing." He gave Dhaval a reassuring smile. "So you can worry if it makes you feel better, but I'm careful, promise. I got no wanting to wind up dead, I got too much shit to do."
That was more reassuring than it should have been. He didn't really think Tayne had been recklessly setting out unprepared and armed with a death wish, so hearing it said didn't change a thing. Maybe it was Tayne's blithe teasing. That smile did make the whole thing seem less ominous. "The tiger thing. Yes, that's especially comforting. You're perfectly armed against any deer and wild boar you encounter. Just don't try and steal any hunters' sons from wolves." Dhaval wished he could kick himself without it being a major production. Random references to hundred-year-old children's books were not everyday conversation material. And Dhaval had always been made a little uncomfortable by The Jungle Books despite the wonderful storytelling. Probably that whole "White Man's Burden" thing, so he wasn't sure he even wanted to clarify out loud. He just hoped Tayne would get the joke, weak as it had been, and move on.
Unfortunately, Tayne didn't quite get it. He gave Dhaval a puzzled look, and said, "Sure, I'll do my best. Dunno that what passes for wolves out there, now, would be keeping any hunters' sons, though." Then he got it, and he snorted a little laugh. "Oh, wait, Jungle Book, right?" He hadn't read the book, but he had seen the Disney movies, animated and live action. "Sorry, took me a second, there." He had never really recognized the racial issues in the story, but then, those were much more prevalent in the book than the movies, and he was a white mid-westerner.
Dhaval had to resist breathing a sigh of relief and nodded. "You probably, um, already noticed that I'm a dork. That's my English degree acting up." He almost mentioned that Tayne was probably the least Shere Khan-like individual he'd ever met and in all ways, but continuing the discussion would just plunge him deeper into awkward territory. "So, um, did you want to pick my brain about tigers? I'm pretty sure I remember the important details. I, uh, still don't know how much it'll help. I mean, most things, you'll be able to figure out on your own." And there were many ways he wasn't behaving the least bit like a tiger (he didn't seem remotely territorial, for instance), so Dhaval had to guess it came down sort of half-and-half.
"Hell, man, anything you can tell me would probably be helpful," Tayne told him earnestly. "Even if I've noticed something, at this point, knowing it's a tiger thing would be a big relief compared to thinking I'm going crazy with the stress...." And he most certainly was territorial. He just permitted the other hotel-dwellers within his territory-- they weren't hunters, after all, who would steal his prey. Or... whatever the tiger-y issue was.
"If you say so." Dhaval tried to think of where to start. Food didn't seem to be that big a deal, but then, he couldn't assume any such thing. He only saw Tayne when he was nice enough to stop by. Still, describing hunting techniques was probably low on the list of priorities. "Um, well, an adult male tiger needs... I'm going to say at least ten square miles of territory, more in prey-poor areas, with several smaller female's territories overlapping... I'm not at all sure how that might translate for you. Maybe you're alright because no one's competing with you? Tigers don't really go around starting fights with Asiatic lions or leopards unless there's a direct resaon." Dhaval's voice was much more even and certain when he was lecturing this way. Information sharing was so much easier than conversation.
"Well, at least I don't pick fights," Tayne commented dryly. "I don't know about territory size, or anything-- I mean, I haven't exactly been hunting--" Or had he? Not for food, exactly, but.... "I dunno," he amended. "I don't feel settled enough for that yet, I don't think, though the hotel is definitely 'mine'." He blushed faintly, thinking that sounded stupid. "I just hope I don't start getting urges to mark things," he added with a self-conscious little laugh. "That might start getting people pissed at me."
"I'd suggest finding some sticky notes and putting your name all over if the urge strikes. Seems more civilized." Dhaval smiled. "But you don't seem to be acting like a lone hunter or anything. So you're definitely not becoming... a tiger in a human body or anything." Except for a female with cubs, tigers didn't tolerate company well. "And I think the women I've met so far will be just fine if you start feeling the need to claim them, so that's hardly a worry." He tried to laugh, but it came out a nervous chuckle and died after a moment. Bad joke. "The, um, the restlessness fits. Tigers travel a lot through their home range. And you're, well, big. Bengal and Siberian tigers, the biggest ones, I mean, do have pretty massive territories."
Sticky notes was a damn good idea, actually. Tayne would have to remember to pick some of those up, just in case. He didn't think the tiger would make much use of them, but the rest of him would. He made an involuntary face at the idea of claiming women, blushing at the very idea. "I think the women are safe," he said, a bit awkwardly, and made sure to add, "I got no urges to claim anybody, so... yeah." Well, okay, maybe Dhaval. But he wasn't going there. Moving right along! "So, uh, you think I'm, what, an actual type of tiger and not just a gen-- gen-- generic one?" He couldn't think of another word for "generic" so he forced it out.
Dhaval found Tayne's stuttering an odd sort of charming. He was self-conscious about his own awkward speech, and the other man's occasional slips made him relax a lot. That didn't make the subject matter any less cringe-inducing, though. "I, um, joking." Right, and onto the subject at hand. "I bet there are sticky notes in the office behind the desk. It'd be a reasonable place to put them." That had kind of been a joke, too, but if it helped, he was glad he'd thought of it. "And there's not exactly, well, any such thing as a... generic tiger. There are subspecies. They look and act a little different and have a range in sizes, and there really isn't a, well, default. And from your size and color, you must be a Bengal or a Siberian." As though it made a difference. Was he just showing off at his point?
Hey, at least Dhaval didn't take that the way Tayne had inadvertently meant it. No women for him. No way. It just didn't work. But since Dhaval didn't go down that road, Tayne was happy to move on entirely and let Dhaval stay in the dark about the gay thing. "Bengal or Siberian," he repeated thoughtfully. "Wonder if I can find some more books, actually about tigers. I'd love a picture. I got no real idea what I look like, like that-- never really been by a mirror, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't think to look. Looks aren't all that important to a tiger, but damned if I'm not curious, now."
"Well, next time I run into you as a tiger, I'll be sure to grab one. At least you'll get a look, though without much color. Cat vision is designed for depth and movement more than up-close details. Though at least you'll be able to see in the dark. "Most books with good pictures would be big, so, I guess, save some space in your bags? A coffee table book of color photos could be a good blunt instrument, should the need arise." He smiled a bit. "Pity we can't really get a picture. Though if you asked around, maybe someone would have a digital camera they found? I mean, this is a hotel. Whoever was here when this started was on vacation."
"Wouldn't do much good without a computer with power to upload them to," Tayne said, making a little face. "I never could see very well, those tiny screens... but it's an idea, anyhow." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is all so... weird. And new," he admitted. He didn't think Dhaval would judge him for the feeling. "It'd be enough to deal with even without... you know. Everything else." Most of which he was trying hard not to think about, just focusing on day-to-day survival and plans for the future, rather than thinking about the past, or wondering about people he actually cared about. Wearing one's self down into exhausted sleep was the best way to avoid thinking, he'd found.
"I know," he said softly. He almost said, we all know, but Tayne was talking to him. He didn't have any need to pull himself free of the conversation, much as it was habit. He had to wonder who Tayne had lost. Family, almost certainly. That was a given. And probably more of them than Dhaval had. He'd been fond of his uncles and cousins, but they were peripherals in his life, and as the only child of older parents (and, from their perspective, needing constant tending), he'd been very close, but just with the two of them. And Tayne, unlike him, probably had friends and close coworkers and probably a girlfriend. Dhaval remembered his breakdown this morning with distaste, but everyone around him had probably undergone worse. Well, that and Tayne turned into a completely different animal. That made not eating or sleeping much hardly seem worth noting.
Family, yes... co-workers, not so much, since most of his relationships were very casual when you rarely worked the same job for more than a few weeks... friendships had mostly been severed after he'd left school, and then the military. And a girlfriend? Definitely not. Tayne sat in silence a moment, lost in thought, unable for a moment to keep from wondering where his parents were, his brother and sister... but he shook himself out of it after a moment, before he could get to the worrying stage. If he survived, surely his family had. Maybe they were tigers, too. "Anyway," he said, trying to move the conversation on again. "Anything else you can tell me about tigers? Eating, hunting, habits-- whatever, really."
Better. Maybe it would help to talk about what was going on in both their worlds and everyone else's, about the people who were missing and presumed dead. That was always supposed to help. Dhaval had written many such standard scenes. The close-mouthed characters finally made their confessions and everything was much better. It might even be true, but Dhaval couldn't bring himself to try. "Hmm. Just in general? Well, tigers tend to gorge when they find food, but not eat for long stretches, so if that's happening to your appetite, that's why. They're ambush hunters. Big, heavy animals, you know, so good for a short sprint, but, um, don't try and outrun anything that looks too fast. Tigers are mostly nocturnal... Think I mentioned that." He was running out of general things to say.
Well, ambushing was the most efficient way to take prey-- uh, enemies-- or, you know, whatever-- anyhow, so Tayne had no problem with that. He nodded as he listened. "Never thought about the appet-- app-- the eating thing... I've always been the type to be hungry all the damn time, but I've just been so busy lately I ain't really thought about it." He'd have to start paying attention. "Nocturnal, huh? Probably why most of my shifting's been at night." He rolled his eyes a bit. "Makes it hard to get a decent night's sleep, man, let me tell you. So what're they like with other animals? Don't like other tigers, I guess, territorial thing... you said they didn't pick fights?" He was hoping tigers weren't all squabbly, like lions or alley cats. That was the last thing the hotel needed.
"Not really. I saw footage once of a mother tiger that tore a leopard to shreds, but it was stalking her cubs, so that seems fair. Indian lions are so rare it doesn't come up much. It doesn't seem like they start a lot of fights. Tigers are big into conserving energy. They sleep all the time." Dhaval considered. "The worst would be with other tigers, especially males. I guess it all depends on how you see the rest of us, doesn't it? The tiger part of you, well, from what I saw, seemed very gentle. But I guess it's not that weird that I wouldn't seem like a threat..." He'd worry more about Tayne getting into stand-offs with any alpha-male types around, but it seemed rude to insinuate he'd be starting fights. But Tayne had asked. "I'd really only worry about you getting aggressive toward other males taking what the tiger decides is your stuff. I guess... be careful to keep your room as private space, and anything important there. Maybe you can convince yourself that that's yours, and everything else is to share..."
"I know most of the people here aren't any kind of threat or... or intruder, or whatever." Tayne only barely managed to put his thoughts into words, there, busily thinking and frowning. "I mean, I was 'patrolling', I guess you could say, the other night-- ran into some kid. Loren I think it was, the really blonde one. No threat at all, just... kind of wanted him to stop smelling so scared. The only real threat or territory problem I've really had was... well, there was a bird-monster in my truck," he said. "I got really fuckin' pissed at that. I wanted it out. And those monsters and the people with guns at the grocery store-- those were pretty clearly enemies, tiger or person. Nobody in here's been at all a problem... maybe cuz they're not tigers. I don't really know."
"Maybe we just don't register. Um, again? It's not like you're all tiger now. You're not going to start tearing into anyone who sets foot in what's supposed to be your hunting grounds." Tayne had been a tiger all the time Dhaval had known him, he realized, and that meant the considerate, quiet man he knew was also Tayne with a tiger side. "It's not like anyone knows how all this works. The powers and, um, so on. Maybe part of you's always been a tiger, or you turn into a tiger because part of you was close to being one, somehow." He didn't really think that child-murdering, monster-unleashing gunmen straight out of a bad apocalypse movie really needed an inner predator for an urge to attack them to make sense.
"So there's a part of you that never needed to eat?" Tayne asked wryly, turning that statement around and back on Dhaval. "I don't know how this shit works, either... enough to know it does, I guess. Though there were a lot of people at the thing the other night who didn't seem to have one, or didn't know what it was if they did have one. I suppose if it's something small, or weird, or something they might not notice... I mean, I didn't realize until someone told me what I'd done, pretty much. It was... well, it was weird."
"Tell me about it. I thought I was going crazy when I first realized that I hadn't eaten in three days. I'd spent those three days kind of cowering on my bed, really, but once the initial shock wore down a little, the fact that I'd been living on a single bottle of vitamin water for seventy-two hours and didn't feel the least bit hungry? That did push it home that the normal rules weren't applying anymore. Until then it had seemed really dreamlike, but changes in your own body..." Of course, Dhaval was used to immense changes. He considered Tayne's point and didn't really care for what it turned up in his mind. Not needing to eat removed him even further from being quite wholly a functioning, human person.
Thinking of it that way meant Tayne's tiger tendencies meant he was more primitive animalistic than your average person. Any of those changes could have been thought of as good or bad, depending on your outlook. Tayne chose to think of them more positively. It was probably the optimist in him.
The description of how Dhaval spent his first few days, though, had him wincing in sympathy. "It was a bad first couple days for everyone, I think," he offered. "I didn't have the chance to curl up and hide, for most of it, but... well, I sure as hell did want to. I'm glad you were at least safe." And here, now. Partly for selfish reasons, he had to admit.
"Honestly, I don't think I had it that bad. I was very lucky, all things considered. Nothing tried to break down the door. I wasn't hungry, thirsty, or even uncomfortable." Sure, the isolation, slow decay of the world around him, and inability to reach those he'd loved was pretty maddening, but everyone had had that to undergo. "If it hadn't been for Pepper, I'd either still be there or something would have found me by now. Know what's just pathetic? The real reason I didn't leave was I couldn't get past the mess in the hallway. Even with my walker. More so, really. I'm not very steady on that thing." Though he wished there'd been a way to bring it. It wasn't that heavy, but it was really awkward, and Pepper had had enough to carry. Sure, he couldn't do much more than cross a room, but that would be something.
"Well, I'm glad she did, either way." The bit about the walker caught Tayne's attention, though, and he asked, "You can get around with a walker, too?" That was handy to know, and Tayne wasn't past thinking about finding the apartment and retrieving it for him. They needed all the help they could get, and having an alternate way to get Dhaval mobile counted, in his book. Especially while his finger was busted. It might hurt, but you needed fingers less for the actual motion with a walker than a wheel, and palms more.
Dhaval didn't know how to respond to that. "Um, thanks." From anyone else he'd be tempted to be sarcastic. Yes, he was usually grateful that other people weren't trapped by rotting bodies and debris, too. But he could be sure Tayne meant well. "Not very well. It's usually been more to prove the point than for actual mobility. Getting across a room and back on a good day wasn't really worth it, but I guess now it might be. And I guess it has that handy little basket. For... weapons and medical supplies. And instead of tennis balls I can put grenade casings on the front. I'll be the Armageddon cripple." Ah, black humor. He should probably knock it off. That was a good way to make people uncomfortable, even someone as easygoing as Tayne.
And now it was Tayne's turn to not no quite how to respond to that. He understood black humor-- some of his soldier buddies had been rampant with it-- but he never quite got it. It just wasn't all that funny, to him. So now, he just chuckled a bit, and said, "Well, we'll see what I can do about getting it back for ya. Your old apartment's not far from here, right? Pepper kept saying she lived in this area, and I don't imagine she went too far from it to find you, so...." Maybe he'd ask Pepper to come along and they could see what else they could scavenge from the complex.
"Well, I guess it isn't that far afield." Certainly felt like it, but they hadn't traveled especially far. He'd seen the hotel many times, though never given it any thought. The only reason someone local needed to notice a hotel was a wedding or other celebration, and of course no such necessity had ever crossed Dhaval's path. "But there's not much that's worth going back for. It's just an apartment building. As much useful stuff and the same large proportion of junk as any other. And a lot of the tenants were students or single, so I doubt there'd even be much food." He was sure Tayne meant to reclaim his walker, and he didn't want the other man taking such a risk for so little cause.
"There could be other things in the area worth going back for," Tayne countered with a smile. "And your walker is enough reason for me, anyhow. If there's anything else you want, better let me know, I don't wanna be making two trips." Okay, so he was teasing a bit now. And it was obvious in his tone. He didn't make trivial trips, or trips that were trivial to his mind, but he could tease. The walker, though, didn't count as trivial, and nor did making a general survey of the area.
"What, and have you load yourself down with my poor taste in artwork? The only thing I'd need would be clothes, and i can always scrounge those here, same as anyone else. I'm not a particularly hard to fit size." Especially when he didn't move enough for ill-fitting clothes to be a problem. Dhaval thought longingly of his pictures and little figures, but how petty would it be to ask Tayne to add extra weight for the sake of fancy photography prints little bronze animals? Though there was a tiger in that collection.
Tayne would probably see once he got there. "Well, gimme an address, and I'll look it up in the next few days, while I'm out," he suggested, pushing up from the bed and moving over to the desk, where the paper was, so he could write it down. He did glance at the papers already there, and poor Dhaval's left-handed writing and the photo, before sliding it aside to a clean sheet.
Dhaval had always been manic about protecting unfinished work from anyone's eyes to the point of paranoia, but it took a moment longer for that protective urge to spring to life this time, and by the time he'd realized that unedited prose was visible, Tayne had moved on. Well, of course he didn't care. Daval rattled off his address and apartment number. He hoped quietly that Tayne wouldn't get around to going. If he or anyone else got hurt going after a glorified metal basket for his slightly increased comfort, he'd never forgive himself. "So what are you doing for fun, Tayne? Just striking out to look for things that make everyone else's lives easier? That doesn't seem fair." What did Tayne like to do? Such an active, outdoorsy guy probably didn't have a lot of hobbies that could be satisfied from inside a hotel.
"At the moment... yeah." Tayne grinned a bit, folding up the paper and tucking it safely into a pocket. "Exploring and marking things down on my map and collecting shit that might be useful. Which actually is kind of fun, in a weird way, like it's some big game where you score points by finding the big-ass bag of flour, and that isn't quite real until something tries to kill you." Probably a bad thing to say, so he scrambled for something else. "Coming and chatting with you has kind of been high points of the past two days...." ... not the something else he'd been looking for. Goddammit.
"Really? I never, um, thought of myself as exactly interesting... I, um, glad to be of service." Dhaval had simply decided, so long ago it felt like forever, that no one would ever be interested in him. Layer the end of the world on top of that, and he wouldn't have even thought about anyone being attracted. Dumb idea. So those odd little things Tayne blurted out sometimes had to mean something else, all his mental walls insisted, and he really couldn't imagine what. Dhaval's eyes turned down bashfully for a short moment before he collected himself, hoping that hadn't been too visible. "At least you've got something. I... Um, I'd almost envy you, if it didn't already seem plenty real enough to me. This is the kind of thing I write about."
"You wrote... end of the world monster novels?" Tayne asked with a little grin. "Damn, I'd think this'd feel even more surreal, if this was the kind of thing you wrote about." He set down the pen, glancing again at the pages Dhaval had written, curious. "You been published?" If Dhaval had any of his own books in his apartment, Tayne was going to get them when he went, so he could read them. That would be kind of awesome.
"Not exactly. I mean, I wrote in the past, not now. But there were occasional monsters. I, um, used to write fantastic realism stuff, but I had more and more fun with the fantastic. Adventures, peril, heroics, that's really what I meant... Much easier to write than live." Well, not as much as one would think. Writing was hard! "Um, yes. Just one novel, a lot of short stories. They're all there." And some of those stacks of paper were immense. "The next novel and a few stories waiting for the printer, too. Taylor wants to read them, I think."
"They're-- there?" Tayne asked, glancing at the stack of paper on the desk. "Or they're at the apartment? Didn't they send you, like, actual copies of the bound and finished version?" It kind of seemed wrong, if they didn't. Shouldn't an author get copies of his own books? "I wouldn't mind reading them sometime, either, though reading them in lose paper seems a bit tricky." He imagined he'd get them all out of order, accidentally knocking them off something.
"Yes, there." Dhaval pointed to the desk. "And some of them are only there, now. Well, a few copies might be left in my editor's office. Hadn't, um, gone to print yet. But the published ones, well, of course I have copies. Vanity, thy name is wordsmith, after all." Dhaval and vanity didn't seem to go together, but as self-conscious as he was about his writing, he was just as protective and triumphant. Telling a story was always a feat. Dhaval didn't guess Tayne was much of a reader, so the interest was flattering in his favorite way of all. "You're, um, welcome to them. Heck, I'll sign your copies and do live readings." He'd never made it big enough to really tour, but he'd seen other authors at work speaking and reading and pushing their accomplishments. He'd always been equal parts terrified and entranced by the idea.
The idea of Dhaval reading some of his work to him was just too amusing to pass up. He had to wonder what Dhaval would do-- voices for the different characters, sound effects? Or a straight reading? "Sure," Tayne said with a grin. "I think that sounds like an awesome idea. Not tonight, though, since I don't wanna fall asleep on you and have you think I'm just bored, or somethin'." He pushed up from where he'd been leaning on the desk. "'Fore I head, though, I know I promised you I'd get you some fresh air-- there's not much sun out there today, but I could take ya out for a few minutes." He probably ought to give the truck battery a little more juice before dark, anyhow.
He had intended that as a joke, really, but the fact that Tayne seemed to actually like the idea was gratifying. Even if he was tired now. "Awesome, huh?" When Dhaval first heard Tayne's suggestion, he opened his mouth to explain the half dozen reasons that was just a bad idea, but he found they didn't seem very important. He wanted to feel the sun (which was bizarre in and of itself) through the clouds or not, and the idea of bright, circulating air, even heavy with the end of summer, seemed a fantastic one. "A few minutes would be fantastic. Thank you." He wheeled to the drawer where he'd stowed the little pistol he didn't really know how to use.
"Hey, it's healthy to get out now and then," Tayne shrugged, smiling. "And you got as much right to it as any of us." He considered whether he'd need his axe, decided probably not, and headed around behind Dhaval to handle the pushing. The guy's finger was still busted, after all, and he didn't need to be aggravating it by trying to wheel himself around. "Besides, I gotta go out anyhow, and I thought maybe I'd bring myself some company." And leave something propping the door open a little, so he wouldn't need someone to let them both in.
He was going to have to get used to being pushed. Right now it really wasn't helpful. Pushing himself along one-handed was tiring, especially with his weaker left arm. And people would probably keep doing it, and without asking, at least until the cast came off. He should just steel himself. "Thanks. Well, I can do company. ...I wonder if the rain will start up again." The comment, he realized too late, was quite banal. Listening to rain fall outside his warm room was one of Dhaval's favorite things to do, just lying back to quietly experience, but he was still talking about the weather, which was a hallmark of dullness. "Um, what are you doing out to do?"
It was easier to just assume and take care of than to deal with the awkwardness of asking permission, or making Dhaval ask, so Tayne just did. He paused at the door, letting Dhaval open it at least, like before. "Sure as hell hope not," he muttered in response to the comment about rain. He was done with rain. He hated rain. Filthy, wet, cold rain.
And if he was going to think about it further, he'd get himself worked up, so he stopped. "Gotta rev up the truck engine," he answered the question. "I've got the battery running to keep a space heater working in the camper, and I don't want it to die on me in the middle of the night."
Dhaval loved rain. Not being out in it, so much. That was a problem, chair-bound. He'd skid and be hopelessly drenched, and it wasn't exactly good for the poor machine. But watching from the window and letting the cool, wet air and funny air currents in? That was lovely. Lying in bed during a thunderstorm was the best way to spend a quiet evening on the way to sleep. But Tayne's response probably came of irritation traveling in the wet. Funny. Tigers liked water.
"Oh." His first thought was that he wouldn't have known to do that, but the much more important question was why a space heater in a car was a good idea. "Well, that'll work." He assumed. Tayne seemed like he knew. "...Why?"
"Oh, yeah, I didn't mention that last night, did I?" Tayne made a little face, heading them out into the hallway towards the lobby. "When me and Terry were out yesterday, to get my truck, turns out some giant bird-monster had turned the camper into a nest." Which had pissed him off to no end. "I mentioned that, I think, earlier. 'Bout how angry it made me. Well, it was a nest all right." He paused, still having mixed feelings about the next part, then finished, "Complete with eggs. Which're still in there, waiting to hatch."
"You mentioned a bird." Dhaval blinked a few times, considering what he'd just learned. He could think of plenty of reasons to try and hatch the eggs, and all of them were exciting. Everything had felt so bleak, but trying to raise themselves livestock or tame the monsters or just learn something about them was doing something. A plan working toward a positive outcome, an improvement rather than just hanging on. He turned back and smiled up at Tayne. "Good idea. Um, you'll have to remember to turn them over every so often. Gently. If the baby inside rests right against the shell, they won't develop right." One of his uncles had owned a parakeet with a deformed beak as the result of an egg the mother bird hadn't turned.
"Yeah?" Tayne frowned a bit, considering that. It made sense. "I've only ever dealt with chicken eggs, and mostly just to eat, not to raise-- the chickens took care of that kinda thing. But I can turn 'em, that's easy." He grinned some at Dhaval. "Wanna help? The nest is close enough to the door, I bet you could reach 'em." And even if they weren't, Tayne knew he could just grab one end of the feathery blanket mess and drag the whole thing within Dhaval's reach. It wasn't like it was all that heavy. "There's three of 'em. We're hoping-- well, I'm hoping, I think Terry's just humoring me-- hoping that they might be tamable." That Dhaval seemed encouraging about the whole thing was kind of heartening.
"There's no reason they wouldn't be. I mean, I don't think so. The monsters seem to be starting to, um, organize." He wished that weren't so. "Which means they aren't just super aggressive all the time. Even if they aren't regular animals, well, they shouldn't have whole new brains of anything." Some animals really were too dangerous to really keep as pets. Zebras, for instance. But babies could only do so much damage. "The reason they were so dangerous at first, or at least I figure, is they they didn't know any more than we did what was going on, and all they could do was bite. These... well, whatever comes out of those eggs will be what they always were." Well, he wasn't completely sure. Maybe they'd just re-mutate. But maybe his theory would pan out.
"Seems sound, to me," Tayne agreed, pushing him across the lobby and looking around for something to wedge in the door to keep it open for them. He really needed to talk to Terry about getting a spare key to the front. Maybe if he was living on the ground floor, it'd be easier to rationalize, say he was the first line of defense.... "The mama-bird was being pretty protective, so they got some instincts that make sense. Didn't even attack us, just threatened to, from in front of the camper, you know?" Hopefully they'd all fall into some kind of pattern, whatever that pattern was, that they'd be able to learn.
"Sounds like a bird." Dhaval smiled. "Just like a duck." ...That was a ridiculous concept. "...Um, that is, when I was little, I was on a camping trip, poking around some tall grass, and I found a duck nest. And the mama duck was pretty furious. My parents didn't stop laughing for a week after they saw me run out of there with a mallard on my heels. She, well, looked a lot bigger, that angry. And I was, um, pretty small." That was a ridiculous thing to tell anyone. Funny, yes, but the kind of thing your mother told girls she wanted you to date. In fact, come to think, she'd told that one several times to friends' daughters. He was going to shut up for a while.
Though Tayne chuckled at the story, he didn't really think it was all that embarrassing. He'd probably run away from a mallard, too, when he was younger and less inclined to throw himself at danger. Of course, he might've been tossing rocks into the grass to anger the duck, first, instead of creeping around in it looking for eggs.... "I guess all animals get a little crazy when they're protecting babies. I had all manner of horses and cows and goats kick me for getting to close." He stooped to grab a screwdriver from the toolbox as they passed it, then closed the last distance to the door, letting Dhaval unlock and open it for them. He had his wedge.
Dhaval was careful, opening the door bit by bit, giving Tayne time to react. He couldn't do much himself, with one hand on the door and one useless. The only time he'd been in real danger was from the snake thing that he'd happily let inside, but a healthy fear of ambush was the kind of thing to keep oneself alive in this ugly new world. "Hmm, you'd think at least a few of those hoofprints in your side might teach you a little lesson," he teased. Dhaval had never been one for teasing. Tayne made it seem easy, though. He saw nothing outside, and the light on his skin felt delicious, actually tingling, though it was faded and dim with all the clouds.
"You'd think, but when your dad tells you to get out there and put a halter on that foal, well, not much you can do about it but try." Tayne leaned out over Dhaval's shoulder, listening closely and testing the scent of the air. It seemed clean and clear, to him. He pushed Dhaval out and paused long enough to settle the screwdriver in the door before letting it close, gently. The door looked pretty much closed, and the casual glance would probably think it was. Good.
Then he went back to pushing. "The truck's parked right over here, as close to the door as I could get it without it being in the way."
Dhaval refused to acknowledge the slight catch in his breath as Tayne leaned in, perfectly well aware he was just peering out to assess the landscape. He smiled anyway. Despite his decent night's sleep, he'd still been feeling rather flat and drained today between ignoring the pain of his broken finger and the slow, increasing stress of having nothing to do. Out in the light and air, he was feeling much better, more energetic and alive. Weird. "Um, I see it." He wasn't sure if he could help. Trucks, be definition, were somewhat bulky, and with only one hand he doubted he'd add much. At least he could keep Tayne amused. "I guess I'd have consented to be kicked a few times to get to spend time around horses." Not that Dhaval knew a thing about the animals on a personal level. He'd read about them like he'd read about most things, but as to personality or what it took to interact with one, the poor city kid didn't have a clue.
And Tayne's truck was even bulkier, with a trailer-- currently detached and rolled over next to it-- and a camper on the back. It was obvious the guy kept his whole life in there, and took it with him wherever he went.
The scent coming off Dhaval had changed a little, but Tayne didn't know enough about scents yet to recognize it. It was distracting, though, and kind of good. He pushed Dhaval over to the truck, first to the cab, keeping them both on the hotel-ward side, the driver's side. "We'll start up the engine first, I think, get some juice flowin', then check on the eggs. They don't seem like they're gonna hatch any time soon, the shells're still soft. And really, even if the mama-bird-- uh-- bred on the first day of this mess, they could've only been laid, like, a couple days ago at most. So I imagine we've got a few, at least." He unlocked the cab and hauled himself in, leaving Dhaval in the chair on the ground beside him.
"It takes a month even for a little bird. I imagine longer for a big one." Dhaval was just remembering those charts every little kid saw in a grade school science book of a little chicken's development day to day. "And it takes a while to, um, form them in the body, too, I bet." He didn't know that much about birds.
Dhaval tried not to eye the truck leerily. His accident had involved a smaller one, and he'd had a tendency to quietly (and bitterly) disdain anyone who drove such a thing. Just habit. But Tayne had a reason to drive this monster, didn't he? Dhaval tried to dismiss the ingrained thought, turning his mind instead to those little incubators he'd seen for chicken eggs. He had a feeling those worked in a very precise way, and he wondered if a space heater on a car battery could really handle the job. Hopefully. He wanted this plan to work out.
If he had a month or more left to go, the truck solution really wasn't going to last. Tayne would have to think on this. Maybe he could get that mechanics-whiz kid to wire the space heater directly to a car battery, rather than going straight through the system and draining the whole thing. There were more dead cars out on the road than anyone knew what to do with, so there'd be no end to the supply, not for a long time.
In the meantime, he fired up the truck engine and revved it a few times before letting it idle and hopping out again. "All right, turning time, then. Still wanna help, man?" He grinned down at Dhaval before getting behind him to push once more. It was just easier to do than to ask, again. "Maybe you can have a better guess than I have about how long it'll be, once you see 'em."
"I doubt it. I'm improvising." He was dubious about how much help he could possibly be, especially one-handed, but he'd try. "But sure, just tell me what I can do." From what he could tell, the task at hand was perfectly simple, so he imagined he was more there for moral support or possible insight than anything else. Tayne seemed to think he was a lot smarter than he considered himself. He was only an academic in a dreamy, disconnected sense, his cleverness only really meant for making odd connections that he jury rigged into stories.
To Tayne's mind, it didn't exactly take much to be more intelligent than he was. He knew practical things, things that didn't take brains to learn because you just learned them by rote, practicing them day in and day out. The details and the motivations, the full understanding that lay behind the "this is what you do", usually escaped him. So to his mind, someone like Dhaval was much brighter than he was. "Well, you already knew about the turning," he told the guy with a smile, letting his chair go so he could unlock the camper. "So that's a step above me, already. Don't suppose you know how to turn them, do you? Or is just flipping them over directly good enough?" The door came open, releasing the powerful smell of bird-- to Tayne and his senses, anyway-- and a waft of heat.
"They just need to be moved, or the chick will be pressed against one side of the egg all the time." He didn't know the details. "But I think mother birds just use their beaks, so it can't be that precise." Dhaval had a fairly sensitive nose, though it was only human. He did catch a faint mustiness, but it wasn't something overpowering, just like entering the bird exhibit at the zoo. What he caught much more was the heat. It was a warm day, of course, the damp air not nearly enough to chase off the August warmth, but what hit him all at once made his skin tingle again, made him sit up straighter and smile a little. And then it clicked. "Oh." So that was why he had such drive to get into the sun.
"Oh?" Tayne asked, half-in the camper to move the space heater. He glanced over his shoulder at Dhaval, tugging on one end of the piled, feather-laden blankets to slide the whole thing further out towards the door, so Dhaval could at least see, and hopefully reach. "Oh, what?"
"Sorry, I just..." Dhaval felt silly. "I think I just realized, um, what I'm living on instead of food." He wheeled himself closer, carefully steering and maneuvering one-handed, looking as though he was concentrating intently to buy himself a little time to collect his thoughts. "I felt a lot more, well, lively as soon as I got out into natural light... and even more when we got hit by the space heater." Dhaval had hated heat before, and normally would be sweating already, but he felt quite pleasant and energetic just now. "Explains why I was a little sleepy and slow, um, doesn't it? With all the windows boarded up... Huh, life just gets weirder..."
"Huh. So what, you're a plant now? Photo-whatever?" Tayne grinned, backing out of the camper again, nest in tow. He let it go a foot or so from the camper door and stepped out entirely, turning it around so Dhaval could see the large, roundish, speckled eggs nestled in amongst the blankets, feathers, leaves, and ruined clothing. "Guess getting you outside is gonna be a bit more important than just so you don't miss out on vitamin D, then, huh?"
He hadn't thought of that. He didn't think he'd make a very good plant. "Let's hope I don't start turning green. It wouldn't suit me." He thought for a moment. "I could try just sitting by windows. But the sun is nice." He turned his attention to the eggs, reaching out to touch gently with his good hand. They were huge, certainly, reminding him of those emptied ostrich or emu eggs you could buy in gift shops at zoos or museums. The shell was warm under his hand, and he tentatively, gently began to turn the egg over, easing it onto its other side.
"I think if you were gonna turn green, you woulda already," Tayne pointed out, leaning against the open door and watching, for now. There wasn't really enough room for the both of them to get at the nest at the same time. "Sitting by windows would help, they're not boarded up all the way. Getting decent sun outside would help, too, I'd bet." He looked up at the clouds with a sour expression, hoping it was done raining for the day.
"Even this light helped. There may not be a lot of it, but it's still sunlight." The fact that it was hitting all exposed skin at once felt like it helped. Should he just take to sunning himself like a lizard? He turned the second egg, debating. Light felt nicer, but heat was more direct. Maybe that was just like different sorts of food? What a strange idea, even with his constantly assaulted new thoughts on strangeness. "I guess it's a pain if you have to go out in the rain, even if it's soothing and pretty from inside." Ah, saying stupid things. Becoming routine, really.
"I'll let you enjoy it, and I'll keep my window shut, thanks," Tayne told him dryly, grinning just a bit. "I don't sleep well when it rains." Mostly because he was too busy huddled under the blankets listening for any hopeful sound that it might be lessening, wondering if there was a leak anywhere to let it in, trying not to relive the things that made him hate it. If Dhaval liked it, more power to him. Tayne would continue to hate it, and there really wasn't much anyone could do about it, at this point. "So how often d'you think we gotta do this? The turning thing?"
The idea was quite foreign to Dhaval, who had inherited from both parents his fondness for watching thunderstorms like they were riveting movies and staying awake too late just to listen to raindrops on the roof. He almost offered to keep Tayne company if that was his trouble, since he didn't really need much sleep and would probably be up and listening anyway. He couldn't quite work out how to do it, though, and turned his attention back to the eggs after just a short glance at the man beside him. "I... really don't have any idea. Not too often, I think? It seems like the babies would get dizzy." Or did that make any sense at all? The image was peculiar, but strangely cute. "Once a day? Twice?"
Tayne found it pretty cute, too, and he chuckled at the thought. "Dizzy baby birds... great mental picture, man. Twice a day. All right, think I can manage that. Hafta come out that often anyhow to charge the battery." This was gonna be a pain. and possibly dangerous. Unless these things hatched a lot faster than real birds, the longer they waited outside, the more likely they'd be dead from cold or sniffed out by night-hunters. Maybe in a couple days he'd see about rigging that battery to bring the space heater inside, then.
"Maybe they should be brought inside? Were you looking for somewhere to stay downstairs?" Oh, he hoped that was still a plan. "Maybe we could find someplace to put them. Someplace with a door that could lock, and I'll keep an eye on it when you're gone during the day." Dhaval turned the third, smiling a bit. What a pleasant job, compared to other prospects. Tending to babies, even baby monsters. "A small generator or something like that could be enough. If nothing else, animals love eating eggs. Wouldn't want to put in all this work and then have some other monster snatch them for snacks."
"I was kinda thinkin' the same thing," Tayne admitted. "Findin' someplace else for 'em, finding somebody who knows how to wire the heater direct to a car battery mebbe, bring them inside. It'd be safer, at least." He shot Dhaval a glance. "And yeah, I'm thinkin' about it. Ain't decided yet, gotta find a room first that won't put anything or anyone else out."
And staying in Dhaval's room was completely out of the question. Despite the thought that he could, that came quite unbidden to his mind. The poor guy didn't have that kind of room, and besides, awkward.
"It'll cut at least a few trips out of your day." They couldn't live in constant fear, but every time anyone stepped outside, it was a risk. "Though be sure you bring someone along. If you're minding the eggs, you can't watch too closely for anything else. I guess I'll usually do." Where else was he going to go, after all? The only location that mattered aside from his room was the fitness center. And maybe Tayne's room, once that existed. "I'm sure there're more spaces." He didn't want Tayne to give up. Even assuming he'd be quite silent overnight (and a tiger really ought to be, one would think), just knowing he wasn't alone on the whole floor would make Dhaval feel better.
"And you would make a nice, warm cart," Tayne answered, mostly teasing this time, since Dhaval had called himself a cart on more than one occasion, now. With the eggs all turned, he started pushing the nest back in. "Soon's this raininess clears up and I've got a room decided downstairs, we'll move 'em. Moving 'em now'll just jostle them more'n I'd like." It certainly wasn't that he'd given up, it was just that he hadn't really had the chance to look into it yet.
"It's true. I do have a permanent lap, and I'm under the impression it's very comfy. ...If my mother's cats are any indication." He trailed off. Couldn't help it. Thinking about his parents was very hard. "But you're right. We'll let them just stay cozy." Dhaval tucked his hair behind his ear to soak up a little extra sliver of thin, late sunlight. "Well, goodnight, eggies. I suppose we'll be back to see you in the morning." Eggies? Really? He'd always been affectionate toward animals, but a bunch of calcium shells with tiny fetuses inside? And in front of Tayne? Geeze.
It actually reminded Tayne of his brother, who had always gotten the most affectionate with the farm animals, even the chickens, and that made him smile, though it was a rather melancholy one, too. He climbed into the camper to set the nest and space heater up properly again-- with the least fire hazard balanced with the most heat-- then backed out again and locked the door up. "Guess that's that, for tonight. Here's hoping nothing tries to eat 'em. Lemme go give the engine a few more revs, then we'll head back in. You feelin' all juiced up, yourself?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling better. Lucky I never had much appetite." Could he start to feel overfull if he got too much light and heat? He thought he might enjoy an experiment to find out, but where was he going to find a strong shaft of sunlight to bask in for a few hours? Maybe he should let Tayne know if he figured out a method. It seemed a very tiger-y thing to do.
He waited while Tayne revved the engine. The sky started dripping just a little while Tayne was in the truck, and Dhaval found he enjoyed that, too, though it was the slightest little drizzle. Just enough to dampen his cheeks a little. Over in another moment, but nice.
Tayne had always loved sunlight, even before the worst of his rain phobia. If he had the chance, the thought of basking in it was wonderful. He just didn't think he'd really get the chance.
The rain had him tensing up, pulling his leg as far from the door and the drizzle as possible, glancing up and around with far more nerves than before. He sped up the revving, despite the noise it made, trying to fit more power into less time. As soon as it stopped, after only that moment, he shut off the engine. "All right. Indoors we g-g-go," he said, and cursed himself silently for the stutter.