Ren "THE RAPIST WITH BONY HIPS" Valin (renvalin) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-01-31 18:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-07-02 |
On the ground; it's where I'm bound
Who: Artemis and Ren
Where: Outside of the place formerly known as Dog-Ink
When: July 2nd / 2009 - After 3:00pm
Artemis hadn't heard that there was a business in town that had caught fire. She had been at work since five in the morning and had spent most of her day with her head under the 'hood' of a plane that needed to be fixed up as soon as possible. This was something she'd actually had to focus on, and so she'd forced herself to ignore the outside world. It had worked, and she managed to finish the work by not taking a lunch break and only stopping to grab a quick bathroom break and a sip of coffee as she went along. At quarter after two she finished her work, washed up and changed out of her coveralls. It was time to go home and get something to eat, her stomach was rumbling.
Hopping on her bike she made it back to Scarlet Oak in good time, the roads not quite busy yet from rush hour. Heading back in to town, she parked her bike at one end of the long block and popped in to a coffee shop and grabbed herself a sandwich. She sat down and ate, happily enjoying the cool air inside of the place, sucking down an iced coffee. Wiping her mouth, she went back to the counter once she was done and ordered another couple of iced coffees and some cookies to go. She hadn't dropped in on Ren unexpectedly in a while, and she was sure he wouldn't mind something sweet to make his day a little better.
Once she left the coffee shop and headed around the corner to the street where Dog Ink was, she of course noticed, the rather scalded and and blackened state that the building that used to house the Tattoo Shop and Ren's home. Her mouth dropping open, she hurried over, across the street moving through the few bystanders that were still around since the morning chatting about what happened. She looked to see if she could see her friend Ren but three was no sign of him. She turned to one of the towns people standing around. "Excuse me...do you know if anybody got hurt in the fire?" Her voice was slightly strangled and loud, the very thought that Ren was actually dead this time had her lungs constricting.
Ren was fairly pissed about the whole ordeal of the day, the destruction that had torn his life wide open -- much wider than he'd ever wanted it to be. It was dangerous too, having the police involved in his personal life, rooting around in the rubble, trying to determine what to do about everything. Lucky for him, nobody had found anything incriminating... which had its downside as well, considering he no longer owned most of the shit he'd taken with him from town to town his entire life. It was disheartening for sure.
He sat in the driver's side of his car, the seat propped backward and his chin on his hand, elbow on the shelf built into the door. The firemen on the scene had found his keys and given them back to him, not that it was of any use aside from the one that allowed him access to his vehicle. Inside it there had been dirty clothes left there from months ago, enough to get by with. No shoes, but at least Ren was clothed. Jeans and a faded and smelling tee-shirt were just going to have to do for the moment.
Nobody had really stuck around. After Imogene had left to go to Austin's, Ren had been left by himself to figure his own shit out. He thought of firing everyone and being done with this bullshit, moving on, moving away. Michigan wasn't that great of a place anyway, and clearly he wasn't exactly safe here. He considered the people he'd met lately, the women he'd slept with... It had to have been one of them. Ren didn't exactly have enemies in the area... not anyone that would know he was here, anyway.
Artemis was getting worried when the onlooker didn't know what had happened. She was the type of person that if she managed to get worked up over something, it was a hard time to bring her back down. "Thanks anyway." She frowned, telling herself to calm down. Ren probably went and got help with one of his employees. Then again one of his employees lived with him....Artemis hoped she got out okay too. Looking around and standing on her tip toes to see around, she wondered if he was still hanging about. Sighing, she made her way to the edge of the crowd, moving along the curb hoping to recognize his car. It was there...at least she thought it was. Artemis hadn't ever been in Ren's car. The last time they had talked about it he'd bloody well lost it in the parking lot at the bar...
She placed her drinks down on the nearest car to her and the cookies she'd purchased and again, looked about for Ren or any of his employees that she could spy by sight. At least they would know what was going on. She thought perhaps calling out his name would help, but did she really want to draw that attention to herself, but Artemis was seriously starting to get worried. She pulled out her cell phone and found his number, quickly calling it only to find it went straight to voice mail. "Shit." She mumbled, an old lady gave her the eye and Artemis backed on to the street to let her by, looking apologetic.
She turned towards the car she was standing in front of...and low and behold who was sitting in the driver's seat, her heart sped up. She let out an audible squeak and quickly headed towards the car's passenger door and yanking it open, hopping in and wrapping her arms around him, in likely the world's most awkward hug ever, squeezing as tight as she could. "Oh MY GOD YOU'RE NOT DEAD." Was all she said.
Ren took in a long breath when he saw Artemis, his eyes trailing her as she walked nearer and nearer to the car. He knew what was coming, noting the two coffees in her hands and the concerned look on her face. He would have called attention to himself, but he figured she would find him in the end no matter what he did... and so he simply sat where he was, content to wait it out. The moment he made eye contact with her and she raced to the car to get into it, he knew what was coming. Or at least, he thought he'd known.
The hug that came soon afterward had not been expected, not by a long shot. He allowed it though, unable to resist inhaling her scent when she closed the distance between them. "Yeah," he said, squinting one eye almost closed so as to avoid hair getting into it. "I'm not dead... not all the way, anyway. Just a little bit." He held out his hands for her to see, the burns faded but still there. "And... I don't really have anything. So it's kinda like being dead, if you think about it."
She squeezed him tighter before she loosened up to let him breathe. Not that she likely could have done much damage to him but still. She was always so curious as to how hard Ren felt when she hugged him, (his body, that was). He had more muscle on him then she always expected. Depending on how he dressed he sometimes looked too thin to be at all powerful. Artemis preferred to eat a cupcake then to go for a run. She did yoga though, so she felt good about that. It just kept her curvy. She was more then fine with this. "I got really worried." She babbled a bit when she looked at his face. She had been worried, but she wasn't sure she should have told him that. However Artemis had endeared herself to Ren, he'd endeared himself right back, in his stupid-horny-tattooed way.
She looked down at his hands when she showed them to her and looked a little confused. The burns looked like they weren't all that fresh. She ignored that thought, wondering what time this all happened. "Oh, Ren." She said gently touching a bit of the skin that wasn't burnt with her finger tips. She looked at him when he said he didn't have anything. "Everything is gone?" She said, turning to really look at the place. God, it really was, wasn't it?
Turning back towards him, Artemis was visibly distressed. As much as her and Ren had their strange, odd relationship with each other, she cared about him. That's why she checked up on him when she thought he was dead the first time, that's why she had brought him coffee today. Her weird sort of notion that he needed a friend, and Artemis was extremely good at that. "Should I take you to the hospital for your hands?" She asked, frowning. She wasn't really sure what she should be doing.
Ren nodded at her question, dropping his hands back down to his lap. "Yeah," he told her, his tone dark and bordering on downright miserable. "I lost everything. My fucking life was up in that stupid place. The entire upstairs is just... gone. Like it was never there to begin with." All of his clothes, records, tee-shirts, photos... Ren swallowed against a strange feeling of emotion in his throat, a lump that was distinctly uncomfortable and altogether unsettling. He didn't like crying, and wasn't about to succumb to it. He didn't do that shit.
"I don't need to go to the hospital. It hurts, but it'll be fine. I just... I don't know what I'm doing. I guess I'm sleeping here tonight, since nobody wants to fucking deal with me." Ren turned to look out the window of his car, staring at nothing in particular. Imogene was going to stay with Austin, but his new hire hadn't extended the invitation to him. That, in and of itself, was deeply insulting. He wasn't sure what to feel about it. Remy had taken off so fast Ren hadn't even been able to really ask her if she was alright. Of course she was, but... still.
It was right now, sitting in the silent car next to Artemis, that Ren was really able to understand how fucking miserable his life had become. He didn't have anyone to fall back on. He had nowhere to go. Nobody liked him. This was his life, and he had built it for himself.
Artemis felt terrible for him. She had no idea what she'd do if her house went up in smoke. Well she knew what she'd do, she'd wail and cry and likely call her mother to put her and Sydney and Langston up until they could find somewhere else. But from all accounts and what Artemis knew from talking to Ren, he didn't have family here, nor did he seem to have a ton of friends. Artemis worried her lip as she studied him over. She hadn't expected to see the emotion on Ren's face, she was so used to him giving her that smirk of his, and having him undress her body silently with his eyes that the mere fact that he looked like he was about to cry startled her. She took a moment, to take that in and then she sighed.
When he said he'd sleep in the car though, she looked slightly indignant. Nobody wants to deal with him? "In your car? That's not happening. You can come spend the night with me you idiot." She couldn't help but let that last word out with it all. Of course that wasn't going to help calling him an idiot, but she couldn't help it. Like she was so bad to lean on. "I'd like to think that all this time that I've known you, drunken first meeting and all, that you might consider me somebody that could help you. Let alone deal with you, as you so kindly put it." She made a face, but the indignant tone was gone.
She felt bad for taking a tone with him though and she wrapped her arms around him again, over the seat separators. She sighed, not caring if he hugged her back. "It's going to be okay. You just need a shower and somewhere to rest for a bit." Her voice quiet. She tried not to tack on 'idiot' again and succeeded.
Ren watched Artemis's face, surprised at the compassion he saw there. That was a first. Not that he was shocked to see it on her face, but that somebody would show such emotion in regards to him. He accepted it, though, and the hug that came right afterward was more than welcomed. He melted into it this time, reaching to hug her back - if only because he needed some sort of physical comfort. "Thanks," he muttered, talking against her hair that tickled his face. He was definitely not looking his best right now. He hadn't showered in three days, and was wearing clothes that had seen better times. Head to toe he looked like a homeless man; it was not a good look for him.
"I'm glad you can deal with me, Arty. I think I'd shoot myself in the mouth otherwise. I might do that anyway, just for kicks." He smirked, but it was gone almost as quickly as it'd formed. He wasn't happy, not by any stretch of the imagination. He wasn't going to be happy again, not for a while.
Artemis couldn't help but want to make sure he was taken care of. She wasn't like that always, to everybody, but to Ren, who had nothing now, how could anybody be unkind to him? Even if he was a bit of a pig (okay more then a bit, Artemis had long since gotten used to that) you couldn't kick a person when they were already bottomed out. She felt good when he was hugging her back more naturally. It was nice to know that her help would be appreciated. He didn't really seem like the type to really express anything like that verbally. Though when his thanks was said in to her hair, she let out a sigh and smiled, snuggling against him, just a touch, and then relaxing her hold.
Her eyes rolled at the Arty remark, she hated nicknames after all and he knew that, but she let it slide, just this once (his house had just burned down damn it!) and nodded her head. However when he continued on her made a face, that of course he couldn't see, against his neck and then pulled back to look him square in the eye. "Ren Valin, you'll do no such thing. And if you do, I'll find myself one of those people that can raise the dead, wake you up out of your grave and shoot you myself. Just for the satisfaction." She said, her tone was serious, but her face wasn't so much. Still, she didn't like to hear talk like that. Not at all. Her voice and face softened, studying his closer then she normally did, on account of the car. "Don't talk like that, okay?"
Ren had definitely felt the change in the way she'd held onto him, though he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. It was slightly reminescent of someone else a long time ago, but... Ren moved away from that train of thought, not wanting to bring up things that had long since been buried and left in his past -- where it belonged. He had lost a lot of things in his life, and that was just how it had always been, and would probably always be. There wasn't anything he could do about it. The people that were gone were gone. End of story.
"I'll take your warning into consideration when it comes time for me to commit suicide, okay? Does that sound fair?" Ren smirked, glad that he at least had someone who would talk to him like this. He thought of the fight he'd had with Imogene, if he could call it that, and frowned minutely. One hand skated quickly through his hair and it stayed back when he'd finished, greasy enough that it wasn't going to move until he jolted it forward by shifting his weight. "I'll try not to talk like that anymore..." He stared out the window again, blinking at the building that had been his entire world for nearly a decade.
"Good. You'd better. I'm pretty damned determined if you haven't guessed that by now." She pointed out. She'd been determined not to let him in to her pants, she'd been determined to help him out. She'd been determined to do a lot of things since meeting Ren. It was a good thing in her mind at least. "Nobody wants to die twice." Her voice was trying to be strong though it wavered, it was hard for her to be that way when she was feeling rather emotionally pulled at. The very idea of committing suicide. Honestly. "Thank you." Artemis said quietly. She at least sounded appreciative through her shaky tone.
She watched him move his hair back and she reached out and touched a lock of it. It was greasy. Surprisingly enough it didn't bother her. She'd been that dirty before in past, it usually wasn't pleasant. She cleared her throat getting a hold of herself. "Do you want to go? We can get you in to a nice shower at my house, a bath even if you'd rather." She asked him, carefully, but honestly. She figured while he was in the bath she could nip out and get him some clothes. Just fly over and fly back. It took much less time then driving. She looked down at his feet. They were bare. "What size shoe are you?" She asked curiously. She'd need to know that, clearly...though he didn't need to know what she was up to. She'd wash what clothes he had on his body as well.
She really was such a mother hen sometimes.
Ren couldn't help but smile a little, pleased in some way that she was worried about his mild threat of suicide. He probably wouldn't even resort to something like that, but he could threaten if he wanted... and hey, at least if he ended up on the street at some point it was an option. He reached to turn the car on and nodded in response to her question. "Yeah, I guess that'd be good. A shower would probably help me feel a little less like a fucking loser. You sure you don't mind my coming over and all?" Ren glanced to her, wondering if she would be riding with him or if she had her own vehicle today. He assumed she did, but he would let her make her decision on whether or not she was riding with him.
The touch registered a short while later, and when it did he blinked, trying to figure that one out. It was just so unusual, having a woman really pay attention to him like that. Not since... Ren lifted a hand to touch the two-inch scars that ran along his left cheek, fingers running back and forth over the slight bumps. He swallowed and took in a deep breath, the memories he'd been suppressing coming up more and more lately. It wasn't easy, exactly, and Ren wasn't sure what to really do about all of it.
"You're not a loser." She said to him, thinking about giving him a mild tap to the arm but then reminding herself he'd just been in a fire, and that likely wasn't a very good idea. "You're an idiot, but you're not a loser." Her voice was firm this time. "Because what would that say about me if that were true." Artemis always made sure she didn't hang out with people like that. She took pride on her judgement of people. "You can be a lot of things dear Ren, but that's not one of them." She tucked her hair back behind her ears.
"Don't let me me have wasted my time on you." Artemis said quietly, muttering really, partly to herself, but loud enough for him to hear. "And I don't mind. Not at all. If I had I wouldn't be here offering you my house for you to stay in." Her motorcycle was just parked around the corner, but she decided that riding with him was the better idea. She'd fly over and pick it up when she went to get him some new clothes. "I'll tell you where to go." She said looking over at him and putting her hand on his arm. Better idea then swatting it. "Just don't try and feel up my roommates. I'm going to warn them not to walk around in their underwear." She said, giving him a bit of a smile and hoping for one back.
Giving her an incredulous look, Ren tried his best to believe what she had to say on the topic of his being a loser. He supposed she was mostly right, though today wasn't exactly helping him to feel like anything but a loser. It was hard to feel good about oneself when everything had just been taken away in a matter of several hours. "I guess so," he finally agreed, nodding a few times.
Ren snorted a laugh at the comment about her roommates, shaking his head as she continued to talk. "I'm not gonna try and feel up your roommates, so long as they don't tempt me." Ren put the car into gear and started out of the parking lot, a half-formed smile lingering on his otherwise roughened face. "And by tempting me, I of course mean looking at me, wandering past me, being women... whatever the fuck. You know." He glanced to her, clearly teasing, and it was obvious in his tone and in the look in his eyes. He was trying to get a rise out of her.
Artemis was satisfied that he wasn't going to think of himself as a loser for long and so she let it go. It was important to her that he realized he wasn't. This...whatever this was, she'd ask him about it later, as to why it had all happened. It very well could have been just an accident. But something was telling Artemis it wasn't.
She made a face at him. "You've managed to stay out of my pants, you can stay out of theirs too. Even if they are women and have to walk by you." She said, her voice not giving away how she was really feeling, but sounding a little bit fired up. The fact was, if he slept with her roommates, she'd be a little...well hurt. Well, a lot hurt. She wasn't sure why. She didn't care much if he slept around with other women. She wasn't stupid, she knew it had been happening. It was just the idea of Ren sleeping with her friends that was the real problem. She guessed, anyway, and under her very own roof too. "My friends aren't dogs either so no staring." She said shaking her head. "No accidently walking in on them in the bathroom either." She said, continuing to list the things he wasn't able to do. She knew in part he was joking, but suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted her friends to be around Ren...or was it the other way around? Who knew, really. She kind of liked him to herself. "Just be the sweet guy you are with me." She said, knowing full well...he wasn't always all that sweet.
She looked out her window as they pulled out of the parking spot. "Enjoy the cookies buddy." She said through the glass at a man who had found the bag of cookies she'd brought for Ren and was currently digging in to them.
The threat of Artemis asking about what had happened was definitely on Ren's mind, coming up over and over again as drove down the road, away from the burned building that had been his life up until now. He didn't want to talk about it, to tell her his fears and the things he'd been doing with random strangers. He didn't want to have to explain what he was, or why it may have resulted in the fire that had torn his life wide open. He glanced to her, though, realizing it may happen eventually anyway, whether or not he wanted it.
"Yeah," he said, nodding easily. He was aware of the strange sound in her voice, the way she delivered the words. "I know, I know. I won't be bad, swear to God. But if you find me sleeping in my boxers on the floor, just let it go. Chances are that's gonna happen more than a few times." He laughed a little, but it was forced. "Sweet and all that, right. I can handle that... so long as you don't mind keeping me entertained until I get back on my feet." He sighed. "Whenever that happens."
As they drove by the man with the cookies, Ren shoved the heel of his hand into the horn on the steering wheel, laughter breaking up from his chest. The cookies were tossed onto the ground, and that was more than enough satisfaction to make it worth it.
She likely would, but not at that moment. Maybe later once he'd had a chance to get cleaned up and settled. She didn't want to press the issue when it was so fresh for him. Digging your finger in to any wound, for whatever purpose, was never pleasant, and Ren's wounds were right there for all the world to see. She wasn't about to push anything at that very moment.
She looked at him strangely when he said he'd be sleeping on the floor in his boxers. That was... unexpected. "Well you'll have a room to yourself, so if you'd prefer to sleep on the hard wood floor that's your own prerogative. Remember I told you about that room I had for rent out back of my place? I still haven't gotten a tenant so you can stay back there for however long. It's private, but you have to come in to the house to use the bathroom and everything. We've got a spare queen bed in there, so I'll make it up for you when we get home. It's comfy." She promised. She'd have to email the girls too, letting them know that they'd be having a guest. She was certain they wouldn't mind....too much. Sydney could use Artemis's bathroom upstairs if she didn't want to share with Ren.
She watched as the man tossed the cookies. She wrinkled her nose. "That was mean! He could have at least enjoyed them. Karma and all that." She shook her head. Ren would always be Ren. No point in trying to even attempt to change that. She wasn't scolding him though. She had no leg to stand on for that. As he drove Artemis waved him off about keeping him entertained. "I can take some time off work if you want, we can work on getting everything back together for you?" She offered. She had so much time to take off at work that it wouldn't matter if she pissed off for a week. She instructed him on where he place was, telling him where to turn when he needed to. It wasn't far.
"I just always seem to end up on the floor, is all," Ren explained, glancing across the car at her. "It's not that I go out of my way to lay on the floor. Sometimes I just... that's where I wake up. I don't know why." He shrugged loosely, knowing what the real reasons were but not ready to divulge that information to her. "Sounds great, the queen sized bed. It'll be like staying at a hotel, I guess." He pulled his lips back, a brief expression of 'meh' passing through his features. He wasn't overly excited about it, but it was better than nothing -- and honestly, beggars couldn't be choosers. He was just lucky to have been offered a place to stay at all. "I can... I can pay rent or something, if you need the money. I don't exactly have a job right now, but I had insurance on the place."
He swallowed, licking his lips as he thought about it. "As long as my insurance on the place comes through, and all that pans out okay, I should be able to mostly rebuild it... get my business going again." He pause a second and groaned out a quiet, "Fuck me." Ren shook his head and explained, "I had appointments booked through the rest of this damn month, too. No way of letting those people know I'm not gonna be there for a while. This is going to kill my fucking business, at least for a while. I guess I can be grateful there aren't any other tattoo places in the area, and hope I can bank on that."
She let him talk about why he ended up on the floor and shrugged it off. He'd be back in the bedroom by himself, he'd have the privacy to do whatever it was he wanted to do back there. It wasn't much of Artemis's business. Unless he started to treat it like his own brothel. That'd be a problem. She managed to hold her tongue though, thinking that she needed to give Ren the benefit of the doubt he'd do no such thing in her home. She looked horrified though when he said he'd pay her. "OH MY GOD." She said flustered this time actually thwacking him on the arm. "Hello did I not just say I'm here to help you? Not extort you for money, good Lord, what kind of person do you take me for?!" She said shaking her head.
She listened to him talk as she pointed out her house. The old heritage place was nice, and the block that it was located on was filled with beautiful trees and other older restored houses. "Here, you can park in the driveway. The girls usually park on the street." She said indicating to where he should go. She could park her bike along side it so long as there was room. "I'm sure this will make the local papers." She said, answering his earlier observations. "People are going to probably find out and call you. You can call the phone company and have them divert your calls to the shop to your cell phone, once we get a new one of those for you." She said, for once having some pretty good and sound ideas. "But we'll get you cleaned up first and then you can worry about that."
Once Ren was parked, she hopped out of the car on to the sidewalk and pulling her keys out of her bag, she led him up the front steps of her house and unlocked the door. Immediately Porkchop was down to greet her, barking happily and then going to sniff this new person, interested at this new...animal like smell. Porkchop needed to be let out, Artemis knew that, but he'd have to go in the backyard. He was too prone to taking off in to the street. Dumb dog.
Ren laughed when Artemis reached out to smack him, ducking his head in an exaggerated manner. "No hitting!" he cried, cackling through it. "I'm a delicate flower or some shit, sheesh. I won't pay you if you don't want. Ain't any hair off my back or something." He snorted, not sure he'd quite nailed that phrase. Didn't matter if he didn't, anyway.
Ren whistled low as they drove up to the house, brow raised high. "Damn, Arty, you've got a nice spread out here don't you? I'll bet it's not filled up to the ceiling with shit, either." He gave her a pointed look as he parked the car where she'd shown him, cutting the engine to climb out. "I'm definitely going to need a new cell phone. Mine was upstairs when the fire... you know, burned everything up." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pocketing his keys while closing the car door behind him. Ren looked completely out of place there, dirty, torn up clothes and no shoes. It was dangerously close to looking homeless, not that he cared.
"Whoa," Ren said, taking a step back at the appearance of the dog. He bent down though, holding a hand out to let it smell him. "I don't bite," he told the dog. Not hard, he added mentally.
"It was fixed up nicely, though the roof's probably going to have to be redone next year. It's home though. Your home for now as well." She said easily. She didn't want him to feel weird while spending time in her house. "And no, it's not. I do a lot of cleaning." She said, trying to keep the sheepish out of her voice. She liked things orderly, that wasn't her fault. It just looked nicer, and this was her home, she took pride in it. She didn't mind so much that he looked like a homeless man, she knew better then that.
Porkchop sniffed at Ren, interested in this new creature that looked human but smelled more like a dog to him. He permitted Ren to give him a pat on the head and then ran to the back door, giving a whine. He wanted out please. Artemis dropped her bag on the hall table and walked towards where the back door was. "Parlor with the fire place, it's kind of a sitting room, mostly we don't use it unless we have parties." She indicated to her left when she walked in. She pointed to the room next to the open parlor. "My roommate Sydney sleeps in there. She's the one with the black hair." Artemis didn't try to open the door to her friends room, they were all fitted with door handle keys anyway so that each girl had their own privacy. "And that's the dining room." She pointed to the space she was currently walking through to open the back door. Porkchop bounded outside and she closed the door just enough for him to nose his way back in once he was done out there.
"This way..." She said leaving the door and walking down the hallway past the dining room table. "Is the kitchen." She opened the one set of doors and swung her arms a bit. The room was large and spacious and had a nice feel to it. "Are you thirsty or hungry Ren?" She asked him, being a good host. Depending on how long he stayed there, she'd offer him stuff, but if it was longer then a week, he'd have to fend for himself.
Ren smirked, figuring Artemis was one for a lot of cleaning. He would have to be mindful of that, he supposed. He was no longer in his own territory. His place was non-existent. This would have to be his home for the time being, and while he was here he would have to remember it wasn't his. It was going to be an adjustment for sure, keeping clean. He thought maybe, though, he could get it figured out for Artemis.
Following Artemis and Porkchop inside, Ren dug his thumbs into the loops on his jeans and sniffled, meandering on through as though he'd been here many times before. He was definitely impressed at the state of the place, that was for sure. "Kay," he stated, nodding toward what had been identified as Sydney's room, "stay away from that one. Got it."
He smirked as she showed him the kitchen, nodding and stepping onto the cool tile. His feet were a little chilly, but that was alright. At least he weren't walking around on the pavement anymore. "Uh, I haven't exactly had anything to eat or drink today... aside from some water that the medics forced on me."
She hadn't meant to avoid the room and she let out a flustered huff at his words but didn't say anything. She knew he'd be good. Or at least hoped that he wouldn't prove her wrong. She had faith in him that he'd be okay with the females that she lived with. Well, she was trying to anyway. Life was shit for him, she wouldn't deny him that. It was too easy to fall in to bed with somebody to make your world seem not so shitty for just a while. She hoped she could do things to protect him from doing that, caring for him in other ways.
She frowned hard when he said that he hadn't eaten anything. Artemis was all about the square three meals a day plus snacks when hungry. Not eating just seemed wrong. "I'll make you dinner tonight." She said tipping her head. "After you get cleaned up. I'll toss your clothes in the laundry too. You didn't answer me before, what size shoe are you?" She asked looking at his bare feet. Right, so shirts, undershirts, jeans (she could tell what size he was when he gave her the clothes he was wearing), boxers (he said he wore boxers, she remembered that much), socks, shoes. She made the mental checklist of what she'd need to get him so he could at least be comfortable for the night. She turned though and got a glass out of the cupboard and turned to the fridge filling it with filtered water and then walking over to it and putting it in his hand gently. "Drink this for now." Nope, she wasn't giving him the option.
"Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house." She headed out of the pocket doors that led them in to the hallway going right first, she pressed open the french doors that held the living room. "TV, Blue Ray Player, Computer and Piano, all for public use if you'd so like to use them." she said, letting him poke his head inside. She made sure everybody had things that they could use. She was just...well, organized like that. She made her way down the hall to the bathroom. "This is the bathroom that you'll use. It's well stocked and everything. Sydney's good about keeping most of her stuff out of the way. I'll show you upstairs later. It's just my bedroom and Langston's room, as well as my office and another bathroom. Nothing too fancy."
Ren smirked to himself a bit, ducking his head a moment to look down at his feet and then back up to her. Something about the promise of having food made for him, of being watched by someone for a while... it just seemed a little too good to really be true in a sense, and though he wasn't necessarily having a hard time with it, it was vastly different from the norm. "Alright, I can handle dinner later," he said, grinning. His stomach rumbled noisily though, signaling he could do more than just handle it. He would eat every last bit of it. Ren had always had quite the appetite about him. "I wear a size ten, I think. Most days." He shrugged.
Taking the glass of water easily, Ren brought it to his lips and downed half of it. He was actually starving. The last thing he'd had to eat was hotdogs for lunch the day before, and a beer or two before passing out in his bedroom last night. Life was stressful trying to take care of a werebear, not that he wouldn't have gladly traded this morning for yesterday.
He followed Artemis back out into the rest of the house, a little sad that he was being taken away from the kitchen so soon. Damn. Ren peeked into the room curiously, eyebrows raised. "Hm. Promising." Television and beer were two of his favorite things. He would probably never touch the computer, but mostly because he had no idea how to use one. He'd just never learned. The piano was probably also fairly safe, aside from him maybe messing with it out of boredom at some point. "Awesome," he said when he was taken to the bathroom. "Should I uhh... you tryin' to tell me I should get in the shower?" Ren laughed.
She laughed. "Yes, before my roommates spot you and think I'm bringing a derelict home." She said giving him a wink. "Faster you get in the bath tub, faster I can put your clothes through the washer and get dinner on the table for you." She said going further in to the bathroom and bending to get in to the cupboards below the sink. She found an unused set of men's razors from a male roommate who hadn't worked out and a can of unopened shaving cream along with a few boxes of unused Irish Spring. She placed each on the counter before peeking in to the shower. There was shampoo in there, likely Sydney's, and went in to another cupboard to pulling out a bottle of generic shampoo that she knew didn't smell like flowers or baked goods.
"Hopefully these will do you okay for now. None of it's too girly, promise." She said smiling a bit nervously suddenly. She hoped things would work out. She leaned back against the bathroom counter. "When you're done getting undressed just toss your clothes in to the laundry shoot there." She pointed in to the corner of the bathroom where a little hinged door in the wall was. "I'll get them in the wash." She said and then remembering he'd likely need a towel. She went in to yet another cupboard and pulled out a large fluffy towel that they saved for guests. She looked around wondering if she missed anything.
"Oh! You'll need a tooth brush, probably not right now but..." She went in to the same cupboard she'd found the shampoo in (it was sort of the place they put all the extra stuff, toilet paper and the like) and she pulled out a blue toothbrush and a fresh tube of tooth paste, placing them on the counter next to the box of razors and the shaving cream. "Alright, I think that's all you'll need." She said scratching her head. "Can you think of anything else?"
Ren was impressed by the seemingly prepared state Artemis lived in, blinking as she pulled out all the supplies he possibly could have asked for. "I... I don't think there's anything else I could want, aside from maybe a loofah," he teased, grinning as he held the glass of water. He took another long drink out of it, finishing it off before setting the glass down on the counter to leave it there. It was habit more than anything, and as he stepped into the bathroom he forgot about it completely for the moment. "I'll get all prettied up then. Should I just come on out naked when I'm finished?" He snorted, knowing she would likely have clothes waiting for him. "I'm kidding."
Not really waiting for her to leave, Ren pulled his shirt up over his head and bunched it up, turning to toss it down the laundry shoot. He left the door hanging open and moved on to unbutton his jeans, taking his time - just enough - to give her the chance to exit the bathroom. He wasn't shy about it, not by any means, though he figured she would be.
Artemis almost opened her mouth offer him a loofah, she had extra of those too, but realized he was kidding. "Ren, you know what a loofah is? How metro of you." She grinned giving him a wink and then laughing. She picked up the glass so she could put it in the dishwasher and then nodded her head at the idea of prettying up...and then shook her head at him just as quickly. "No, not naked. I'll have something for you on the table outside the door." She said pointedly. "Unless you'd prefer my silk robe." She grinned and then turned when he started to strip down.
She'd seen Ren shirtless before, that hadn't been all that surprising. He seemed to always be eager to take his clothes off around her. Silly man. She made another mental checklist in her head. She needed to get in to town and back as quick as she possibly could (it would take mere mere moments to fly to where she needed to go and pick up her bike. And then get dinner out and cooking before heading in to the back room to put fresh sheets on the bed and perhaps move the extra dresser that she'd moved out of the room in preparation for Gregory when she'd thought the man was going to be moving in, back in to the room. So much to do. "Take your time. Maybe just relax in the tub, it's a claw foot tub for a reason." Artemis smiled, tipped up to give him a quick peck on the cheek and then headed for the door, closing it tightly behind her.
She had to ignore the nagging thoughts in her head...and other places, and headed off before she had a chance to even entertain the idea of turning around and heading back in to the bathroom. Ugh, hormones..