She nodded gently, listening to him and not interrupting, just processing what he said. Honor had no clue that Earth was in a sense 'painful' for Oscar. Yes, she knew that from what humans knew about his kind, they really didn't like Earth, but she couldn't imagine feeling like he explained all the time. It had to be frustrating to be stuck in a body that wasn't right, with a name that wasn't right, and a voice that wasn't his. Once again she nodded, staying silent. If he didn't want the topic brought up, she wasn't going to bring it up again. "When you think it's ready to be wrapped again, I have everything here," She said gently, pulling out the needed items from her bag.
"Thanks." Oscar cleaned up the wound a second time, willing it to stop bleeding, then dried his face on a towel. "Okay, I'm ready for the bandages now." Not wanting Honor to worry about him too much, he added, "You know, Ernie was right. Eating sweet, sugary foods does help me feel better for a while. I'm not sure why, but candy and honey and fruits fill me up faster than any other thing. I read in lots of books that sugar's not good for humans, but my kind must be different somehow." He glanced at her hopefully. "Sweet stuff isn't more expensive or anything, right?"
Honor listened carefully, stepping closer to him and gently starting to wrap his head as she replied, "It depends on what I get, but it's normally not that expensive. Next time we make a grocery run, I'll get you more sugary foods and you can try them." She knew that fruits would start to get much more expensive as winter rolled around, but she could manage to get him some now, and candy was something she could always rely on. Hopefully, Ernie was right and sweet foods would help him, at least then she could help in some way besides driving and wrapping his head.
(sorry I took a while to reply, busy couple days lately ^^; )
"Thanks, Honor," Oscar said. Patiently waiting for her to finish, he then made sure the bandage was secure and started rinsing the blood off the sink. "Well, can we eat next? I brought in our groceries from earlier and I'm very hungry. And also can we check on my paintings?"
(All ok)
She nodded, checking once more that the bandages weren't going to come loose before stuffing the rest of the things into her bag. "Sure, go through whatever food you want. I'll check on the paintings in a moment after I take a shower. I feel like I'm covered in grime." That's all she wanted to do at the moment. Yes, she knew she had to check the paintings soon, but this was a higher priority in her mind.
"Okay," Oscar agreed. "It is very dusty around here." Putting his hat back on, he stepped out of the bathroom and went to dig through their luggage. "I'll save plenty of food for you, don't worry." He was starving, as usual, but he figured he should start learning to control his hunger a bit more. "See you soon."
"Take whatever you want, I'll find something. You need to eat more than I do most likely," She replied as she closed the door, locking it behind her before turning on the shower without much difficulty. The water didn't spray hard, but it was warm, and quickly she undressed and hopped in, taking her time. After all, who knew how long it would be before she got another hot shower. Especially if they still had a ways to go to find this level five.
Oscar sorted through the groceries and ate as much as he dared, pacing around the room and gazing out the window while he ate. After a while, he caught himself gazing at the painting on the wall again, trying to mentally dissect how the painter had created it. What colors and shapes had they added first? Was it their intention to make the brushstrokes so big and rough, or had they been unsuccessfully aiming for more detail? Slightly entranced, he walked over and ran his fingers across the glass—then paused. Something felt wrong about the painting. It was too flat and dull, now that he looked closer. The smudges of paint had no texture at all.
It's just a copy of the real thing, he realized, and stepped away in disgust. Somehow he knew there were thousands more like it, probably decorating every room in the hotel.
"I can make a better one," he grumbled, and went rummaging around for his paints. He completely forgot about waiting for Honor, filled as he was with sheer indignation at being tricked into admiring something which, in his eyes, was utterly fake and worthless.
Honor stayed in the shower as long as she possibly could handle, or more specifically until her fingers were wrinkled. Then, only reluctantly, she stepped out of the shower. Quickly she wrapped her hair up in one of the towels and after digging around in her bag, found a new change of clothes. Just because she found her clothes quickly didn't mean she changed quickly though. She took her time, even brushing through her now tangled hair before she opened the door again.
"Did you leave me anything to eat? Or should I order something?" She called when she entered the rest of the room, setting her bag on the floor and focusing on Oscar, a tiny smile on her face.
"I left you lots of food, don't worry," Oscar replied distractedly. He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by tubes of paint and torn-out pages from his sketchbook. Miraculously there was no paint on the carpet yet, but it seemed to have gotten all over Oscar's clothes instead. He barely looked up, completely engrossed in his work. "I'm making a new painting to hang on the wall. The other one's a fake, you know. I'm going to paint something much better."
She chuckled softly at the sight but nodded, letting him do what he wanted, "Is it going to be like the one that's hanging up now? Or something completely new?" It felt rude to interrupt his work, but she was honestly curious, and one question couldn't hurt. Honor made her way over to their food selection, digging around before settling on several things that definitely weren't healthy in any way. Then, she flopped onto one of the beds, eating quietly while she pulled out her phone to check the prices.
"Something new," Oscar replied. "I think the brushstrokes need to be thick and messy, like…..dots. Or smudges maybe." He laid out the colors he wanted in front of him: Indigo, mulberry purple, dark red, and a piercingly bright blue-green. His painting was already a mottled mix of the very dark colors, and now he started drizzling the blue-green on top in little streaks and blobs. "I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I want it to have texture. And the colors need to be rich. Oh, did I leave you enough food?"
"I have enough food yeah," She replied, popping a chip in her mouth and continuing to try to get back to the paintings to check prices. Honor hummed to herself as she did so, eating every so often as she made her way to the paintings and her eyes widened. She coughed, almost choking at the chip she was eating when she saw what the bid was at so far.
Oscar looked up at the sound, noticing her expression. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" His half-finished painting was calling him, but he shook himself free of the zone he'd been in for the last half hour to make sure Honor wasn't dying or upset about something.
"I'm more than okay," She coughed out, sitting up and staring at her screen with wide eyes, "You should come see this Oscar." Honor was amazed by how high the bids were, especially for artwork that had been up for not long. She held out the phone towards Oscar, blinking and forcing herself to eat instead of gawk over the price.
Oscar squinted at the screen and shuffled closer to see what Honor was showing him. It took him a minute to make sense of what he was seeing. "So….this is the money somebody wants to pay for my paintings?" He looked at the numbers again. "Is that…..good?"
She nodded, recovering from her near-death experience involving a chip so she could add, "That's more than good Oscar. If this is how much they want to pay for your painting, that's amazing!" Honor wanted to dance around the room in happiness at the amount. It would be enough to afford rooms in hotels for several nights, as well as food and gas. That was, if Oscar wanted to share the money. She wasn't going to force him too.
Honor was clearly delighted by this turn of events, and although Oscar still didn't quite grasp the significance of the numbers, her attitude lifted his spirits. If he could make a lot of profit from his paintings, he wouldn't have to burden her as much with his own living expenses.
"How do we get their money?" he asked eagerly. "And how do we get the painting to them? And can we put the paintings I made in the car online too?
"Well, I'll have them send me the money online…though I suppose it'll have to go through my account. Then we'll ship out the painting through the mail, and yes," She answered, rattling off the answers one after another. Honor paused at the thought of how to get the money, figuring that going through her account would be the easiest way. "After we actually get the money, I can go to one of the banks in the chain and take it out in cash so you can have it That is, if you're alright with that. Every dollar they pay will be yours, I won't keep any of it, I promise." Honor propped herself up on her elbows, smiling with happiness.
Oscar blinked. In all honesty, he'd never considered that the money would be anyone's but his. He imagined himself independently paying for his own needs, just like Honor payed for hers, and until now, it hadn't even occurred to him that there might be another way. But of course, Honor had been sharing her money without hesitation, and he wanted to be like her.
"We can share if we need to," he said graciously. "All I need to buy is food and maybe new paints someday. We're traveling together, so it makes sense if I help pay for gas and hotels and stuff like that." This decision to be generous made him feel good, for some reason, and he smiled proudly at her. "Deal?"
"I'm not going to take your money, Oscar, you made those paintings, you get all the money from them," She replied, shaking her head with a soft smile, "I have enough saved up from work to get us to where we need to be." Honor knew that using some of his money would allow her to have some left in savings after Oscar got home, but it felt wrong to take his money.
"At least let me pay for my own stuff, then," Oscar insisted. "And promise you'll let me know if you do need money. I want to help, I really do." Going back to his half-finished painting, he cleaned his brush and tried to remember where he'd been going with the piece. "Is money really something that all humans have to worry about here? It seems kind of…..frustrating and overcomplicated."
(Sorry a response is taking so long, I'll get one up in the morning I promise)
(It's okay, take your time! ^^)
Honor sighed, pausing before nodding, "I'll let you know, and you can pay for your materials if you want. As for your question…yes, all humans have to worry about money. Most will agree with you and say that it's frustrating and complicated. But, it's what we have to deal with." She popped another chip into her mouth before glancing back at her phone, starting the process of arranging payment and the rest of the sale with the buyer.
%20pngg.png)