Meeting Over Apples Who: Loren and Corey Where: The kitchen When: Late morning
Loren had finally managed, somehow, to drag himself away from Landon for a few minutes. The redhead wasn't dead after all, and they had found him, but he was in lousy shape. At least he had woken up though. That was something, right? Over all, things at the hotel were looking pretty dim. Loren wasn't stupid, and he knew what the quiet whispers in the hallways meant only negative things. It was on his way to the pantry that he stopped, small body bouncing a little on his heels as his eyes caught sight of something interesting. He turned slowly, head cocked to the side as his tongue touched to his lips. There were apples on the counter. Not many... but... Loren reached out for them, glancing over his shoulder to be sure no one was coming. If they were being saved, wouldn't they be hidden away? He felt bad though, like somehow he was doing something wrong... This sense of guilt sent a tremor of unease through his fingertips, but eventually hunger won out and he snatched it up.
It smelled amazing, just as surely as it would taste that way. It didn't take long for Loren to begin eating it, the crunch, smell and taste almost overwhelming him. It'd been too long since he'd had any fruits or vegetables.
Corey was just getting in from his morning trip out to let Blitz and the cats find someplace to do her business and do a little patrolling around. He had run into a monster or two, but he and Blitz had chased them off, so he felt the day a success, even if he hadn't found the same kind of haul he'd found the day before. Maybe another day. Today, his plans were to get that generator up and running, or at least ready to run for the next morning.
Once he made it in, he headed for the kitchen, curious whether the apples he'd found the day before were all gone, and if there were any left for him.
Apparently there were, since there was a kid chowing his way through one. "Glad people're eating those. They'll go bad 'fore too long, if not." Some of the ones he'd brought had already started going soft, but he'd figured that wouldn't hurt anybody. Fresh fruit was probably worth a little softishness.
So lost in the act of eating the apple, Loren was stunned to find himself being spoken to, the shock of it bringing up a sound as he nearly dropped what he had in his hands. He turned to face the source of the voice, making an unflattering face for a good couple of seconds as he tried to sort this out -- new person, caught red-handed, old person, what the hell -- as quickly as possible. Loren, not being terribly good at subtleties, wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and took a few steps back. "Who are you?" he demanded, as though he were in charge of this area. He attempted to look bigger than he was subconsciously, head held high and chest out. Loren hadn't made it his goal to be out and about for socialization lately. There were probably many faces he was unfamiliar with still.
Looking the kid up and down, snorting at his attempt to sound authoritative when obviously he had no kind of authority whatsoever, Corey just passed him by to grab an apple, himself, tossing it up once and catching it again. "Corey Jackson. And the guy who brought those apples, so maybe you might wanna say thank you instead of acting like I don't got a right to be here." He took a noisy bite of his own apple, and headed to the cupboards to see what else he could make a late breakfast out of.
Blitz finally came in after him, flicking one of her two tails at Loren but otherwise ignoring him, at least unless he made a fuss.
Loren's face changed significantly at being put in his place, the act dropped almost immediately when Corey moved past him toward the cupboards. He shifted in place, glancing down at the apple and then back up again, not sure what to say now. This had become awkward very fast for him... though it was one of his many talents, making life awkward for himself and others. "I... where did you even get these anywa-what the hell is that?!" Loren scattered away from Blitz, not having expected to see an animal in the kitchen all of a sudden.
Probably especially not an animal with two tails, six tentacles on its back, and six legs. And horns. Couldn't forget the mess of horns. Corey glanced over his shoulder, saw Blitz, and said casually, "That? That's just Blitz. She's mine. She won't hurt you. Will you, girl?" He crouched a little to scratch behind her tufted ears. Any awkwardness was entirely on Loren's part, it seemed, because Corey was completely at ease at the moment. "She ate pretty good already, today, and I've been pretty firm that things on two legs who live in this building are off-limits."
Loren stared at the monster with disbelief, a clear lack of trust on his face. He didn't have any reason to buy into any of this aside from the very fact that he hadn't (as of yet) been eaten. "Blitz," he repeated, dumbfounded by the animal. He couldn't help but wonder what it was this thing ate, his mind doing terrible things to him right now. "What the... how do you even 'ave it?" he asked. He was sure to keep distance between them, to keep himself safe should something happen. A bloody tiger, and then this. Loren reminded himself that the next time he considered leaving his room, he should kick himself in the face.
"Tamed 'er. Mostly." Corey shot the boy a wry sort of smile, which looked pretty sinister on his long, lined face. He didn't care. "Partly patience and feeding 'er, partly my gift. Apparently everyone's got one? Well, mine's talking to these guys." He gave Blitz's furry side a hefty pat, then went back to his hunt for more food, something more substantial than an apple. He was a big man: he needed a lot to eat. She gave him an unreadable look and sauntered off to wash, cat-like.
"That's sick," Loren said, though the word 'sick' was toned in more of a positive manner than negative. He didn't approach the creature when it moved away, though, not confident enough to follow her. Turning his eyes back on Corey, he wondered when he'd arrived at the hotel. "How long 'ave you been here?" he asked, bringing his apple up to consider taking another bite. He wasn't quite ready to commit to that just yet though, and waited until he'd heard an answer. He might need to speak again right away, and he couldn't do that with a large chunk of apple in his mouth.
Sick. Was that some kind of new slang? Corey eyed the boy warily, briefly, before deciding it probably was, since it didn't sound like an insult, and back to the cupboard and pulling out a can of beans. Protein was what he needed, and lots of it. "Few days," he answered, closing the cupboard and heading over to the stove. On an overcast day like this, he needed it warmed up. It'd help dry the rest of him out, from the inside. "Three, to be specific. You? Been here a while?"
"Ah," Loren answered, still unsure how he'd missed the arrival of this guy. He watched his movements though, and very slowly began eating his apple again. It still tasted good, and he still wanted it very badly. "Yeah," he said around a mouthful of food, "I've been 'ere a little while now... not sure how many days exactly." Loren crept forward, trying to see what it was that Corey was doing. He'd been so used to the fact that they didn't have power that he didn't even consider the possibility of being able to use it now.
Since the stoves appeared to be gas, Corey wasn't so worried about the lack of power-- though he was planning on fixing that eventually, too. He found a small soup pot and a can-opener and went to work. There weren't any questions in there, so it took him a moment to respond, and in the end he only came up with an, "Uh-huh," anyway. "Stay outa there," he added, to Blitz who was nosing at the cupboards, though Loren might not figure that out.
Loren blinked and stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Corey as he tried to figure out what that was all about. "Stay outta... what...?" He glanced downward and then up again, finally realizing it was probably the monster the other man was talking about and turned to find it. His eyes landed on the catlike animal and he frowned, not appreciative of it in the least. He wasn't easily won over by things that looked like the creatures that roamed the streets.
"Blitz," Corey clarified without turning around, pouring beans into the pan and setting it on the heat. "She's poking around, and I don't want her, I don't know, deciding a can of peas will make a good chew toy." The cat-monster eyed Loren, right back, one tail lashing and the other curling tight to her side. Corey did catch the exchange of glares and added, "She mostly listens when I tell her stuff, though, so don't worry too much. She'll behave."
"Blitz," Loren repeated, though he was less than charmed by the animal, still. "Prob'ly not a good idea, no." He swallowed hard at the mostly bit, even more unsure of her, and the glare he received. "That doesn't sound very convincing, not really. What if she does decide to find lunch on her own?" He moved closer to Corey, as though somehow that would dissuade the catlike beast from coming after him, should she decide he looked good enough to eat.
"Then you'd better keep your bedroom door locked, shouldn't you?" Corey shrugged, rolling his eyes at the boy's fear at something that one, he'd already promised wouldn't hurt him, and two, had shown no inclinations towards that in the several minutes now they'd shared a room. He added a can's worth of water to his beans. "Only time she might roam 'round without me to keep an eye on her would be at night. But the plan is to keep her locked up at night-- maybe let her out a window, but nothin' else, not inside the hotel. Rather not turn the whole damn building against me for the pets I keep, you know?"
"Yeah," Loren said, moving to sit up on the counter nearest to Corey. He sniffled a little, rubbing the back of his hand against his nose. "So 'ow did you tame it then?" he asked, head cocked curiously down at the animal. He felt a little more comfortable up off of the ground, considering how small he was in stature. Standing up for himself wasn't easy, not physically at least. He did have his voice, though, which helped him to feel confident where he might otherwise have fled the area entirely.
Stirring his beans and sniffing at them hopefully, Corey answered, "Combination of food and getting inside her head. And being firm, never gotta forget the firm part. No predator's going to take you seriously if you're wishy-washy." He snorted a bit at the very idea. "But mostly the food and getting inside her head. I feel 'em. Monsters." He tapped his temple, glancing up at the boy again before focusing back down on his lunch. "And I can make them feel me, back, I think."
Loren listened to Corey as he explained his powers, more and more curious about it as the words kept flowing. Dominating a predator, feeling their minds... it was all very odd to him. Everyone else seemed to have such unusual and helpful powers. It was really quite interesting. "So like, do you know if there's a monster coming close then?" he asked, his tone lighter, childlike as he allowed himself to slip into a more comfortable frame of mind. Loren's sneakers tapped against the cupboards behind his feet, one after the other as though he were only five.
"Yeah," Corey answered absently. "There's a couple tiny ones down in the basement, there's three in the truck outside, and Blitz. Unless something else came in since I got close enough to check those spots." He didn't have that big of a "range". "Can only talk to one at a time, though." He'd been experimenting a little when he went out, and ran across monsters, seeing what all he could do. Gave himself a headache, more than once, but it usually passed quick.
Loren blinked, wide eyed at Corey as he told him what monsters were supposedly nearby. "What?" he demanded, clearly unhappy with the answer he'd been given. "What do you mean there're monsters down in the basement? I thought those were all destroyed!" The whole thing about only talking to one monster at a time wasn't what bothered him, but rather that there were potentially dangerous creatures all around him at any given point in time. He'd had enough monsters to last him the rest of his life. Loren didn't particularly ever want to have to scream again, thank you very much.
Glancing back up at Loren at the panic in his voice, Corey said, "There's a couple downstairs. In the basement. Like... two. Or, there were two when I was down there yesterday. Can't tell right now, they're too far from here. Really small things, probably not bigger than--" He held up his big hand, making a circle with two fingers not even an inch wide. "That big? There was another one, but Blitz ate it. Figure she'll probably eat the rest while she's bored down there today, too."
"Oh... like those nasty bug spidery things, right?" Loren had heard about the spiders, and had not been happy about it. He made a face of disgust, an expression that didn't help him any, and raised his shoulders in an expression of slight discomfort. "At least they're... tiny or whatever. I hope she gets them, so we don't 'ave bigger monsters in a few months to deal with."
"If she doesn't, I'm sure someone'll deal with them before they get to be too much trouble," Corey promised. Probably himself. He didn't know who all else counted as capable of dealing with monsters, around here. Of course, he'd probably wind up picking them up and transplanting them outside... he hated killing things that he could feel, inside his head. It made him feel even more crazy than he probably already was.
He turned off the stove and took the beans off the hot burner, stirring them as they cooled. "You never did tell me your name," he added, mostly because he wanted to at least have names attached to faces, in this building, as long as he had to deal with these people.
"Oh," Loren said, glancing to the catlike creature one more time. "Yeah, I guess..." He hoped. Anxiously, Loren reached up and scratched the back of his neck underneath his hair, sighing as he dropped it to the counter. "Sorry, how rude of me..." Whatever. "I'm Loren." He scooted a little closer to where Corey stood in front of the stove and reached out a hand, a ridiculously friendly smile painted on his face. He wasn't really being insincere, but there was certainly some cockiness to it.
It took Corey a minute to look up from what he was doing to even notice the offered hand, and he just snorted at it, seeing the smile as fake and the handshake as mocking. "You want some of these beans to go with your apple?" he said instead, turning away to find a bowl. He could eat them all himself, but he didn't need to, and the kid was right there.
"Mmm... sure." Loren cocked his head to the side, a playful smirk appearing for a moment. He considered jumping down to fetch them bowls, but instead sat there, watching as Corey searched for them. It was more fun this way somehow. "So what did you used to do, before all of this shit?" He was curious what kind of job this man had, unable to help himself from needing to ask. "Were you like, a farmer or something? You seem to be used to this whole animal thing."
"I was the crazy cat man," Corey shrugged, finally opening the right cupboard and getting them down. "I didn't get paid for that. I got paid for fixing people's broken wires, installing solar panels and replacing breakers, and hauling people's garbage. Very glamorous, I'm sure." He started dishing out beans. The lion's share went to him, but Loren got enough that it didn't look like he was giving him nothing.
"Oh yeah?" Loren asked, very interested. The crazy cat man was feeding him... and somehow it didn't seem that weird, considering. "It's okay. I never did anything important with my life." He shrugged. "Never really got the chance I guess." When his portion was served out, he took it from Corey, surprised to find that he was much more hungry than he'd thought he was. An apple, and now this... what more could a young man ask for?
"You're just a kid," Corey told him dismissively, taking up a knife to quarter the rest of the apple, dipping the first slice into the beans to scoop some out with. "Kids never do anything important with their lives. But now you're still alive, so you can change that, I guess." Look at him, being all... inspirational. Or something. Maybe that was another sign that he was supposed to be here. So far he hadn't pissed anyone off, and he was actually being a little encouraging with a couple of the other people here.
Loren bristled just slightly at the comment by Corey, sitting up a little more when he was called "kid". It wasn't meant to be insulting, but he couldn't help but be a little put off by it. Loren pushed back some of his hair - it was getting long - and sighed, glancing down at the beans for a long couple of moments. He finally dug into it, capturing a sloppy mouthful as a good portion of it landed back in the bowl. It didn't matter to him, and the taste of it took over anyway. Hungrily, Loren continued with his meal, not even really remembering to respond to the next bit. He didn't really have faith in himself, that he'd do anything worthwhile during his time here, but... he supposed they would find out in time. Maybe his power would be useful down the road. Maybe he'd save everyone someday, and he could usurp Terry's leadership. Loren snorted softly to himself, fully aware of the absurdity of it.
Lack of conversation was fine with Corey. It was how he'd spent most of his life over the past decade, after all-- or in one-sided conversations with cats. He was very good at holding a conversation all by himself, by now. He took his own portion over to the worktable that actually had chairs, and dropped his long frame down into one. "C'mon, Blitz. I'll be nice and share." The cat-monster merely flipped her tails at him and continued her washing. Corey snorted a little, and just dug in, himself.