The creature watched the figure curiously, coming to the conclusion that whoever they were, they were badly injured. They appeared to be unable to stand for whatever reason, as well. Perhaps a broken bone or a deep flesh wound. The smell of blood wasn’t so strong, however, for it to be a puncture. As the human grew closer and closer to the clearing, the creature gave another quiet noise, albeit softer this time. A chatter that was more of an acknowledgement of their presence this time instead of a threat. The human clearly didn’t know what they were doing, likely confused and afraid. They reeked of intense emotion, as well.
Taking a few slow steps closer to the path of the human, the creature hesitantly inched forward. After merely a few small steps taken by the beast, it stood directly in front of the figure, around ten feet away. It was aware of how frightening it could seem, and dipped its head to the ground after a moment in an attempt to make itself look smaller and less frightening. It gave a soft tilt of its head, doing everything in its power to make itself seem less threatening. Of course, with the blood still dripping from its snout and the sheer size of the creature, it was still quite intimidating.
It wasn’t long before he had to stop again. Talon had heard another sound coming from nearby, but he really didn’t want to think about it too much. Surely, it was nothing he had to worry about. So he kept going, until he glanced ahead and stopped in his tracks with a sharp intake of breath.
The creature was unlike any animal he could name. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, which made Talon wonder how long it had been there, and how it could be so quiet with its size.
“Oh, hello,” he murmured shakily, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t think it would understand him, but for some reason talking to it was the first thing that popped into his mind. “Big creature… thingy, um. Please don’t eat me, I don’t think I’d taste very good, yeah? Yeah. Okay. Um…”
That’s when he noticed the creature’s posture. He had a huge animals and wildlife hyperfixation when he was a kid, which turned out to be useful here. He recognized its stance as nonaggressive, and realized the blood coating its snout could be taken as a good thing. It might’ve eaten something else earlier, which means it might not be hungry enough to declare Talon its prey. ‘Might’ was the key word though. No chances could be taken.
And yet, he still talked as if that would somehow help things. “C‘mon buddy, what do you want? I’m just minding my own business here, yeah? Sitting here like an idiot, with a twisted ankle and a rash…” he started scratching at his legs again. “You know what, you can eat me. I’m starting to wonder what it’s like to be eaten alive.” He chuckled nervously at himself.
The creature processed that the human was speaking, but only managed to understand a few of the words. ‘Hello… please… don’t… ankle… eaten…’ Taking another few steps forward, the creature looked the figure over curiously. It was a man, probably around Ace’s age. He was afraid, that much was obvious. His scent combined with the shake to his voice gave that away clear as day. …Afraid of the creature itself? Leaning its head down to sniff the figure, the beast thoroughly examined him- as well as it could, anyway. He was badly injured, his ankle as well as something on his legs that the creature couldn’t place at the moment.
In a moment of pure genius in the creature’s mind, it bounded back over to the clearing and grabbed the second squirrel, skipping back over to the figure and dropping it in front of him before sitting back on its haunches proudly. Its human thoughts in the back of its head were trying to voice some sort of concern, but the beast was too far gone to listen to them, just nudging the meat closer to the injured human as a sort of peace offering in its mind. It took only a moment before the creature remembered that humans liked to eat their meat burnt. Even when it was Ace, it ate its meat burnt as well. How had it forgotten? With a small, almost human-like shake of its head, it carried the slumped body of the squirrel back to the clearing, skipping back and staring at the human for a long moment. He wasn’t moving his legs. With gentle and precise movements, the creature approached the figure and grabbed the back of his shirt in its maw. The creature easily picked him up, careful as it began slowly making its way back to one of the places it recognized as safe.
As the strange beast looked him over, Talon was beginning to regret his words. Being eaten alive sounded like a cool way to go, despite the pain, but then he would be leaving behind a pretty sad and disappointing life. If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that he came to woods to somehow make his life not suck anymore. It would be even more sad and disappointing if he died before he could make that happen.
All the same, his eyes widened in surprise when the creature bounded away in the direction that he had been going. Oh, I guess I would’ve run into you either way. Even more surprising, before Talon could get his wits about him and get moving, it came back… with a squirrel carcass?
“Uhh, thanks buddy, I appreciate it, really, but… and you’re gone. Okay.” Some of the fear crumbled away. The thing hadn’t attacked him yet, even offered what seemed to be its food, and seemed to possess some form of intelligence. Unlike him.
As soon as it was gone it seemed to come back. Talon returned its stare, fascinated by its glimmering yellow eyes.
“You kinda remind me of Mrs. Davidson’s cat,” he muttered. “What was his name again? I forgot- oh wait, buddy, that’s close enough okay? You don’t need to-“
He tried to scoot away from it as it approached, but that was rather challenging with a twisted ankle. He felt the creature’s mouth close over his sleeveless shirt, and quickly held on to his pack and keyboard as tight as he could as he was dragged along. He didn’t think he could get out of this situation without something going very wrong, so he didn’t fight the creature, only squirming slightly. Oh my god, maybe this is Mrs. Davidson’s cat gone feral, he thought wildly.
The creature only readjusted slightly when the human began squirming, making sure nothing was hurting him before continuing on its merry way. It had to walk with its head pointed up further than it was used to to ensure that the human’s body wasn’t dragging on the ground, but it wasn’t too different from when it got a particularly good kill. The only real difference was the caution it took, carefully winding through thorns, trees and occasionally a small creek bed. Everything that they passed, the beast took care to keep the human safe from stray rocks and such, knowing the forest like the back of its hand.
With the creature’s long strides, it took only a short while to reach the house. It wasn’t anything impressive, just a decent sized cabin perched in a tiny clearing. The rabbit from earlier remained on the front porch, the warm lights inside still on. A faint buzzing came from the abode, specifically a bug zapper hung from a beam on the roof when you looked closely. On the front door hung a small wreath of flowers, strung together with surprising stability. The windows were covered with softly flowing maroon curtains on the inside of the cabin, as well. Overall, it was a cozy, surprisingly homey looking place.
The creature trotted right up to the front door and gently set the human on the porch with a proud wag of its tail. It gently nudged the figure towards the door, prompting him to go inside. The beast couldn’t enter through the front door, or even open it for that matter. It’d tried many times, but only succeeded in getting the doorknob covered in dirt and slobber. Ace had worked around this problem though, finding a fix and putting it in place within a few months. The creature didn't leave the human just yet though, wanting to ensure his safety first. The human could open doors, right? Yes, Ace did it easily, and this figure seemed quite similar to him. The creature just sat back on its haunches and waited, tail continuing to wag softly.
Something akin to fear was still there, but it was mainly dominated by confusion now. Talon fell silent as it carried him, but his thoughts still ran wild. Maybe I’m not it’s food, but maybe it has babies and I’m their food. Wait no, it still would’ve killed me, nevermind. Actually, this reminds me a lot of how cats carry their young. Am I being adopted by this thing? Ah well, that doesn’t sound so bad… if that’s the case.
It was only when they passed the first creek that Talon realized how careful the beast was with him. He didn’t even get a drop of water on him, though he thought it would be nice to soak his rashes in it. Then he realized how he not only didn’t get wet, but that nothing else hadn’t gotten on him either. No cuts or scratches, nothing. How? Knowing him, he would have at least gotten something. Was it all because of the creature?
His confusion only increased when he caught sight of the cabin. Cabin, not underground den or nest somewhere between the trees. Why were they here? It was a sight for Talon’s sore eyes, sure, but why was the beast taking him somewhere where humans reside? Because he himself was human? Was it really that intelligent?
He felt himself being let go, and shouldered his pack and keyboard before being nudged. “Okay, okay, but this place doesn’t look abandoned or anything bud, I can’t just waltz right in, y’know? I mean, thanks, really, this is nice, uh…” he caught sight of the dead rabbit and lost his words. He looked back at the creature, the tail wagging now reminding him of a dog. With that thought, his fear finally melted. All that was left was a quiet caution.
Talon carefully got to his feet, scratching his legs for a moment and making sure not to put any weight on his ankle. He knocked twice on the door, listening for sounds inside. “Hello?” When he heard nothing, he went over to the window next it, using the wall to support himself. It seemed that no one was home. But why were the lights on then? He looked back to find the beast still there, and he sighed softly. “You live here?” He asked, chuckling at the idea. Going back to the door, he turned the knob. Finding it unlocked, he peeked inside, then slowly entered.
Finally content and sure that the human had gotten its message, the creature winded around to the back of the cabin. While the inside wasn’t too big, a special section towards the back and side was specifically reconstructed for the creature to reside in. With slightly higher ceilings and a wider room, Ace had repurposed it relatively well. The main room was a simple nest-like feature, a soft carpet piled with small blankets and pillows, as well as a few large steps up the rest of the home so it could peek up there if it really needed to.
Carefully lowering its head to avoid impact, the creature nudged the mechanism around the back, the large door swinging open so it could trot in. Ace had experimented with curtains at first, but they all ended up getting ripped. Not to mention how impractical it would be for the cold winters they had. In the end, the human had pieced together his few years of education on the subject, and pulled together a simple mechanism for a door that he easily constructed out of nearby wood planks. Overall, the renovation for the cabin was a lot, but nothing Ace wasn’t determined to go through with.
Nudging the door closed behind it, the creature trotted up the couple steps to peak up and check on the human. Upon seeing that he had found his way inside just fine, the beast shifted tactics, heading over the other side of the steps and nudging at the small medicine cabinet Ace had installed. It wasn’t much, mostly balms and such that he’d made himself and small packets of ibuprofen that he’d saved up. There would likely be something inside to at least soothe the human’s pain.
The cabin looked to be as cozy on the inside as it was on the outside. Talon shut the door behind him to keep the cold night air out and looked around before settling on a doorway across the room, where he heard the sound of something like a garage door opening. He raised a brow when the creature came into view.
“Oh. Hey. Guess you do live here.”
Man, did this thing have an owner? Maybe it was the result of some weird science experiment and the scientist is the owner, just living in the woods. That would be cool.
It took a moment for him to realize what the thing was gesturing to. With his itchy legs nagging at him, he slowly made his way to the cabinet, leaning on the wall or random furniture. Upon opening the cabinet, he made a low whistle.
“Man, you sure are smart, y’know?” He glanced over at the beast, then looked over the contents of the medicine cabinet. “I hope whoever else lives here doesn’t mind me taking anything…”
He paused, suddenly overcome with a feeling of amused hopelessness. He couldn’t remember how to treat a twisted ankle, or what to use to treat poison ivy. His mother used some sort of cream in an orange tube or something for the poison ivy, but he could never remember the name. The ibuprofen looked promising though, so he took a packet. The balms confused him. He was worried that anything he picked would only make it worse, so he decided not to pick anything.
“Damn it,” he muttered. “Wish I could go back to the creek and soak them… oh wait,” as he spoke, he remembered. “Water. Ice. Of course.” He laughed at himself and started glancing around. “Okay, where’s a bathroom around here?”
The creature sat back and watched with interest as the human looked around. If it could change back to Ace at this point, it would’ve- but the transformation back wasn’t as quick as the transformation to, not to mention ugly at times. It didn’t want to scare the human off with that, especially in the state he was in. Not to mention that it was just harder to shift back while awake. Something about needing to recharge- Ace had attempted to research it towards the beginning, but quickly gave up when all he found were children’s stories and picture books, so he could only guess. Regardless, Ace was this at the moment, mind clouded and slightly dumbed down. The creature maintained a decent bit of intelligence, though, being able to piece together strands of words and remember locations easily. It’s more human thoughts were worried, it could tell, but in this state there was little it could do about that. Later, once the human had fallen asleep, it could transform then so as not to disturb him. Once the human had fallen asleep, the creature’s worries would also be settled for the moment, and rest would come easier then. Then the more human Ace could take care of everything properly in the morning.
The creature blinked at the human blankly for a moment, trying to process what was going on. It’s brain power was limited, and after a moment it laid down on the hardwood floor, watching the human stumble about. After a moment it was able to process that he was looking for some sort of water for whatever reason, and gladly nudged him in the direction of the kitchen sink before sitting back with a wagging tail, clearly proud for understanding as much as it did.
(Talon and creature being dumb together plsss)
(I’m imagining the creature with a loading sign over its head)
As he looked around, it occurred to Talon that he should probably check on his injuries since there was light to see them now. He looked down and winced. The area where he sprained his ankle was beginning to swell, and his calves were nearly covered by pinkish-gray rash. He couldn’t help but scratch them again before looking up, only to be nudged over to the kitchen by the beast.
“Oh uh-“ he said, caught off guard, “Uh, this isn’t the bathroom, but I can work with it I guess.” He turned to the beast, chuckling at it’s wagging tail.
After a bit of rummaging, he found a few wash cloths and soaked them under the faucet before wringing them out and setting them to the side. After retrieving a plastic bag, he looked through the small refrigerator and found the ice bucket, and put the ice blocks in the bag as quickly as he could. He zipped it up, gathered the wet cloths, and made his way back to the couch he spotted when he first came in, leaning on the wall to support himself as he went.
“Alright, here we go,” he muttered as he sat down and set his pack and keyboard on the floor next to him. “Guess the bathroom was irrelevant.”
He set the wash cloths over the rashes, and the ice-filled bag over the swelling ankle.
“I think that’s good… at least for now,” he said to himself, looking back for the creature.
(akdjsjkfks- accurate as hell honestly)
The creature continued to watch the human, cringing slightly every time he stumbled. Part of its mind suggested it get up and act as a sort of aid for him, but it felt it would likely just knock things over and make it worse. Ace could take care of him in the morning. Until then, this was as much as the creature could do.
The creature’s tail-wagging started back up again as soon as the human looked over at it, almost smiling as well. There was a bedroom down the hall. Would the human prefer that? Or the couch? Or if he wanted, he could always share the creature’s mound of pillows and blankets. That would likely be the warmest option. It wasn’t sure how to go about communicating any of those things, though. The couch would have to for tonight, then, if the human didn’t understand what the beast was trying to get across. It couldn’t do much to say what it wanted, just looking from the human to the pillows next to the creature’s own, to the hallway.
The creature felt somewhat guilty for not being able to do much for him, but it physically couldn’t at the moment. It kept reassuring itself that Ace would take care of everything in the morning. Standing up and turning in a circle, it settled in it’s pile of blankets, leanings its head on its paws and keeping its gaze on the human until he settled in for the night as well.
Talon grinned at the beast. “You’re not only smart, but I guess you’re kinda cute too,” he said. Then he tilted his head. “Whatcha looking at, bud? Do you see something?” After a minute he shrugged, figuring it was a fly or something, and turned away as the creature settled in.
There was a blanket lying over the couch, so he grabbed it and covered himself with it. Then he quickly took the ibuprofen, and then leaned over and grabbed his keyboard. Why should he go to sleep? At least not now. The ice and wet cloths did soothe his pain, but the slight itching was still there and it would be no help in falling asleep. And he was still processing the fact that he was brought here, saved really, by a weird animal abomination that looked like it would murder him if it was mad or hungry enough. That was another thing. He wasn’t sure how he felt about sleeping with that thing watching him. Solution? Play on his keyboard until he felt tired.
He made sure the volume was low enough so it wouldn’t be super loud when he pressed a key, and that it was on the piano setting. He pressed middle C. It sounded like a piano and it wasn’t too loud, so he continued and played the scale. There was a melody he’d been working on, so he played it over and over, then tried experimenting and expanding it. Sometimes he’d mutter to himself or scratch his legs when he couldn’t fight the itch. Then he remembered hearing a certain song he liked earlier that day and tried to replicate the melody. He would occasionally sing the notes himself so he could figure out the right ones on the keyboard. Then he went back to his original melody. Overall it was a little chaotic, melodic time.
Eventually, his solution worked. When his eyes started getting heavy and all he could think to play was the same three notes over and over again, he decided to go to sleep. He carefully set the keyboard on the ground with a sleepy sigh, the pain in his legs and ankle just bearable enough now. He took off his army jacket, laid it over the blanket and snuggled in.
“Night buddy,” he said, closing his eyes. “Thanks for everything.”
The creature listened to the music, laying its head down and drifting off soon after the human, focusing on being transformed back by tomorrow morning. A soft purring and the crickets outside being the only noise as the two drifted off to sleep, the moment was relatively quiet and surprisingly peaceful.
By morning the creature had disappeared, leaving a grey-haired boy in its stead. Ace woke up earlier than he usually did, though he supposed that was good in this case. As reluctant as he was to get up, this morning was different than most. He had important things he needed to take care of. Glancing up at the couch, Ace checked that the man was still safe before getting to his feet. He stretched for a moment, muscles always being a bit sore after a night transformed. He wasted no time in stepping out onto the front porch and grabbing the rabbit from last night- other than a bit of dirt, it was good to go. He cleaned and stripped the meat with practiced fingers, slipping it into a tupperware container and into the fridge. Once that had been taken care of, he began a simple breakfast omelet and a fried egg for himself given that he'd eaten plenty last night.
A single glance at the medicine cabinet gave away that the man had stuck with the ibuprofen and ice packs. Understandable, honestly; the balms could be a bit intimidating from an outside perspective. He'd have to sort through them once breakfast was done and pick out the ones that would work the best. Of course to do that he'd need to take a closer look at the man's injuries, which would need to wait until he'd woken up. …And answered as many of his questions as he could, which was sure to be a lot.
Talon slept a lot later than he would have if last night had been a normal one. It was a wonder why he didn’t fall asleep faster than he would have as well, but perhaps the blame could be put on his utter refusal to sleep at a decent time.
He woke to the sound of sizzling and smell of eggs. The itching feeling and aching in his ankle soon followed, but he kept his eyes closed. He wasn’t feeling in the mood to immediately open his eyes and sit up. Sizzling… eggs… after a couple minutes it finally occurred him what that meant, and he found the will to open his eyes. From here he could somewhat make out the figure of a man in the kitchen, though his vision was still fuzzy from sleep. Talon raised his head, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Maybe it was this creature’s owner who was in the kitchen now. Naturally, many questions ran through Talon’s mind before he thought to check on his injuries. Slowly, he rose in his seat, put his army jacket around himself, then uncovered the blanket from his feet. The wash cloths were still somewhat damp, though much of them were mostly dried up, which explained the itching. The ice in the bag had completely melted, and it wasn’t even cold anymore. He sighed, which turned into another yawn. He scratched his legs before looking back to the man, a little unsure of what to do. Would the man want him to leave? He wasn’t sure he should even move right now.
Well, I’m assuming it’s his weird pet or something that brought me here, so it’s not like it’s my fault I trespassed on his property, he thought. And since I can’t move until my ankle heals, I guess I have to stay here whether he likes it or not.
Ace hummed softly to himself as he cooked, flipping the breakfast with practiced ease. He happily and quietly buzzed about the kitchen for a bit, only stopping his soft humming when he heard fabric rustling in the direction of the couch. Calmly turning over his shoulder to look over at the man that had been sleeping up until quite recently, he gave what he hoped was a warm smile. He hadn't had to interact with any other people like this in a while, and he was a bit anxious that he'd mess something up. Somehow. "Good morning," he offered after a moment. "I, uh- I'm Ace. Hope you're okay with omelets." He stepped aside slightly to show the stranger the sizzling frying pan, offering a slight tilt to show the breakfast he was cooking. He hadn't taken into account allergies or things of the like- were many people allergic to eggs? Whatever, he was sure the man would let him know if the breakfast was an issue.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at your leg later as well. Couldn't really do that last night, I hope you weren't too uncomfortable." Ace spared a few glances back at him as he spoke, trying to gauge his reaction to everything. This was probably a lot for him. He didn't even want to bring up his transformed state from the night before, but he knew that the stranger would likely be extremely curious about that. And he definitely owed him an explanation, as well. He'd answer any questions the man had, anyway. He owed him that much given that he'd just snatched him up last night. To be fair he wasn't in his right mind at the time, but that hardly excused anything.
Talon quirked his brow at the man, staring at him intently now. “Ace. Solid name. I’m Talon. And omelets is cool with me, but I’m pretty sure I packed some granola bars and stuff, so…” He bent down and rummaged through his pack and produced two granola bars and a bag of chips. He shrugged. “Eh, I can save ‘em for later.” He put them back in his pack.
Ace had not even finished speaking when he jerked his head up in surprise. “Wait, what? Where were you last night? Did you come back while we… I was asleep?” He had meant ‘we’ as in him and the creature, but it occurred to him as he spoke that it couldn’t be guaranteed that the beast had slept as consistently as he did. It may have woken up during the night or something. Indeed, when Talon turned back to see if the creature was around somewhere, it was no where in sight. He could only assume it was roaming the forest again somewhere.
He looked back to Ace. “Aren’t you… I don’t know, surprised that I’m here? It was your… uh, I don’t know what to call it, your large pet or something, it brought me here. Does it usually do that?”
“Hah- thanks. I like yours too.” Ace hummed softly, contemplatively. Did he want to let this stranger in on every thing that truly went on around here? On the one hand he had a right to know given that he’d been dragged here and was essentially stuck until he healed fully. But on the other, Ace didn’t know him. Talon could lead the entire town at him with pitchforks the second his back was turned. Worst case scenario, of course, but still a possibility. “I… um. I had a particularly eventful night out, came back a bit later than usual.” It wasn’t technically a lie, he was just leaving out some key information.
“Not often, no,” he answered with a laugh. “Not many folks find themselves here. Especially not ones that are very obviously weak, smell of stress, and are badly injured on top of that. I was a bit surprised nothing else had gotten you first.” He flipped the sizzling breakfast in the pan once again, pulling out two plates and setting them on the counter next to the stove. Turning off the burner, he slid the breakfast onto the two plates and set the pan aside. He’d decided to go for a slow approach, test the waters before letting Talon in on everything that went on around here. “Speaking of. What are you doing out here, if you don’t mind me asking?”
(sorry for the sudden disappearance! the semester just ended where i am, and it was a bit of a rough transition.)
(Totally understandable dude! Glad you’re back ^^)
Talon scratched his legs absentmindedly. He would’ve been studying Ace intently if he hadn’t lost focus and started staring at a blank spot on the wall. At least he caught what the other man had said.
“I see,” he mumbled. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that he had come late in the night, saw him and the ice pack and things on his legs, but couldn’t do anything due to the late hour. “You made it sound like you were there when it found me.”
Then he huffed with laughter as well, refocusing on Ace. “Fair enough, I’m surprised by that too if I’m being honest.”
Talon’s gaze drifted to the food as the smell of eggs hit him once again. This would be rather… difficult to explain, wouldn’t it? He didn’t really feel in the mood to explain what he’d been doing last night, but he figured he owed it to Ace, seeing as how he just appeared in his house one random night.
“Uhh, it’s kinda complicated,” he began, rubbing at his eyes. “Things aren’t the best back home and I needed… I needed some time to myself, I guess. To get away. Start over, maybe.” A flash of rage went through him as his thoughts turned to what the townspeople might say once they found out he’d run away. Such a shame, that silly boy. He was never going to make it. He should’ve done as he was told. The same things, over and over again. He was so tired of it. He dug harder into his skin as he scratched his legs.
“…Ah. I get that. I left for similar reasons, I believe.” Falling silent for a second, he finished tidying up the stovetop and kitchen before turning back towards the couch. “You shouldn’t scratch,” Ace commented after a moment. “I- er- I have some salves and things that might help with the itching, if you’d like..?” He averted his gaze for a split second, smiling nervously as he carried the plates over to the couch where Talon was sat. He set both plates on the coffee table before taking a seat on one of the scrapped-together floor pillows across from the couch and taking a small bite of his egg. He’d never been the best cook, eating all he needed to in his transformed state. It was easier that way, both because he didn’t have to cook and because he didn’t have to worry about properly stripping and cleaning the meat he caught. Now that he thought about it, most of his meals were eaten in his monstrous form. He’d fixed himself an egg anyway though, mostly to kill any suspicion that might’ve arisen from him not eating breakfast himself.
“I- I hope it’s okay. I don’t cook much.” His own small breakfast tasted all right, though it was a simple meal without much margin for error. He wasn’t going to eat much, either, still full from the night before. He figured he’d pick at his meal a bit so things weren’t awkward, and then set the leftovers aside for either himself or the woodland critters.
“Oh really? That’s comforting,” Talon remarked, and he meant it. It was nice to know there was another “failure” who ran away.
His fingers twitched, and then he stopped scratching. He scoffed. “I know, just can’t help it. Salves would be nice, thank you.” Thinking about salves reminded him of the medicine cabinet, which somehow brought his mind to 17th century medicinal practices, which then made him think about amputation and what the inside of a leg would look like if it was cut in half. In that time, Ace seemed to teleport from the kitchen to the couch, and Talon had to blink a few times before he noticed his omelet.
“Ah- thank you,” he said quickly, taking a bite. Then he shrugged good-naturedly. “‘S not bad.” He was more used to having things like cereal or pancakes for breakfast, but the omelet was a nice change of pace.
Returning his gaze to the other man, he tilted his head. “Why didn’t you make yourself one?”
Ace picked at his food, not hungry at all. He did eat some of it though, if only a few bites. At the question about his own meal, he blinked a few times like a deer in headlights. “Just not very hungry. Heavy midnight snacks and all that.” He cringed at himself as soon as the words left his mouth. That was a normal human thing to do though, right? Midnight snacks? Yeah, that was a completely normal explanation.
He took a few more bites of his breakfast before taking his dishes back to the kitchen, setting the leftovers aside and rinsing the plate quickly before setting it in the sink. He turned to the medicine cabinet once he’d thoroughly straightened up the kitchen. The first few years out here he’d been sloppy with the cleanliness of the home, and he’d paid for it in the amount of ants that worked their way in. Of course in the woods a few bugs were guaranteed, and while Ace didn’t mind them, some were a bit of a nuisance.
Rummaging through the cabinets, Ace pulled out a few small mason jars and examined them. He evaluated their contents for a moment, holding them up to compare before setting a few back and settling on two slightly larger jars. Their contents were a light green color, the consistency similar to that of thin lotion.
Talon stared for a few moments, then nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation. He couldn’t blame anyone for their eating habits, not when he sometimes forgot to eat meals himself and ended up snacking late.
Speaking of eating… he remembered that he had a plate of food in front of him. Eating it all was quite easy and quick, as he had forgotten to eat dinner the night before. He set the plate on the table, licking his fingers. As Ace moved around, Talon’s eyes followed. More questions surfaced in his mind, and they ended up flooding out, rather by accident.
“How long have you lived here, anyway?” He began. “Is it hard living here? Oh yeah, and where did you find that weird creature thing that brought me here? You know, I thought you created it somehow, like a mad scientist, uh, Frankenstein thing? But I don’t see any scientific equipment around here, so I guess that’s a no. What even is it, anyway? I could tell it was pretty intelligent when I encountered it. Are there more of them? Ooh, maybe it’s like an alien or a prehistoric creature. That would be cool. Wait, what’s in those jars?”
Ace was happy to answer the questions to the best of his ability, although he smudged the truth a bit on some of them. He just wasn’t sure the man would be ready for the complete truth in some regards.
“A few years now, I think.” To tell the truth he’d lost count after a while, though he was certain he’d gone through at least four or five winters out here. “It’s relatively easy, actually. I have plenty of fresh food and more than enough resources to keep myself healthy and sane. I do miss conversation some times though, but I much prefer this to living in that town.” He lowered his voice towards the end of that sentence, not sure whether that was too much information or not. Probably was, actually.
Oh lovely, how was he supposed to answer that… “I, erm. I suppose it’d always been around. Just once it revealed itself to me, it was difficult to keep it a secret. The townsfolk didn’t take too kindly to the whole situation.” It wasn’t a lie, anyways. “I’ve never come across any others, so I’ve come to believe that it’s just me. It. It, I mean.” He cringed slightly at himself. God, this was harder than he’d thought it’d be. Relieved at the change of topic, though, he threw himself into a long explanation. “Mostly herbal recipes. I’ve gotten plenty of cuts and rashes in the past, and just sort of …figured out what works. This should soothe the itching. I’m not sure what I can do for your ankle, though. I have some old ibuprofen, that’s about it. Of course you don’t have to accept any of my help, I just supposed it’s the least I could do. Y’know, after everything.”
Talon’s eyes widened. “Really? Damn, couldn’t imagine living here that long. But I have to agree with you on that, I don’t want to go back there any time soon.” He chuckled. “Y’know, I was starting to wonder how was going to survive by myself with no one to talk to, so this conversation is nice.”
As if put under a spell, he started scratching at his legs again. How long had it been since he last scratched? Five minutes? Not bad. Maybe he should try and break the record. As soon as he satisfied the itch… which might take a while.
“Huh, you mean you encountered it in town? I feel like I would’ve heard something about it at some point.” He paused, then shrugged. “Maybe we just lived on the opposite sides of town. Or maybe I did hear about it, but I forgot. I bet it likes you.”
Learning Ace had gotten something for his rashes, Talon stopped scratching. He decided to occupy his hands by taking the rags, still layered on his legs, and folding them up. Truthfully, if he had been still living in town, he wouldn’t have accepted this kind of help from anyone, except some of his friends. But Ace didn’t seem like someone he had to prove himself to, like the neighbors and townspeople. “Oh thank God,” he said. “This itching is really hard to ignore. Um, for my ankle… I don’t know, take some ibuprofen, put an ice pack on it, wait a few weeks, and hope for the best?” He shrugged, then took the bag on his ankle, now filled with water, and set it on the table next to his plate. “And hey, if I didn’t except your help, that would be kind of stupid of me, wouldn’t it?”
