She had great hips, and despite her petite stature she mustered up a pretty intense smoldering gaze in his direction.
Her name was Oriole - she was hot and she worked cash, and that was handy because Rex had every excuse to saunter up there since he was security and that was part of his goddamn job. He leaned back on the counter during a quiet break when most of the kids out shopping had stopped for lunch, and gave her his own idea of a smoldering gaze. He figured he was pretty good at those. Sometimes he did it to the other girls in the store, just to see how many of them would blush... although most of those were a little young for him. Oriole, though... she was his age, he figured. Maybe a little younger. Eighteen, nineteen... what the heck.
Either way, she didn't seem fazed. She just looked up, quirked a narrow blond eyebrow, and shrugged. "When're you off?"
Three hours later, she'd pushed the clutter off Rex's bed with a casual flick of her arm. Her kisses tasted of cinnamon and sunshine. Her fingers unbuckled his belt quickly and efficiently - no fumbling, but no particular rush either. He ran his hands up her sides, slipping underneath the taut fabric of her tank top and wondered if he was dreaming, but she felt pretty damn real so he stopped thinking altogether. Rex wasn't a great thinker at the best of times anyway, and right now there was plenty of distraction around to crush every one of his thoughts to shreds.
* * *
A few hours later, he became aware of a steady stream of water in the shower. It didn't really bother him - quite the opposite, in fact. The hissing sound kept tugging him back into unconsiousness, and he ended up bobbing just on the surface of his dreams. They were strange dreams, dreams about flying and cinnamon and Oriole's black-and-white wingtip flats. Strange dreams for Rex to be having, at least - usually his dreams involved him being one of the contestants in his favorite reality TV shows. In the good dreams he won - or at least got laid. In his nightmares, he was the first to lose.
The shower must have stopped running eventually - he didn't wake up until a few hours later, and by then Oriole was gone. He could still smell her on his pillow, but her side of the bed was decidedly empty. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes - she'd probably tried to wake him up and failed. Rex was a notoriously heavy sleeper. Whatever - he'd see her at work later, right? Would have called her if he had her number, but he supposed it was just as well. What the heck would he say anyway? She'd talked a lot on their way here, asking him all sorts of questions - but he'd never been able to find enough of a gap between her questions to ask her some himself. He barely knew anything about her. It would be practically like starting a conversation with a complete stranger... except you'd just slept with them, and she knew pretty much everything about his life.
He checked the clock - twenty minutes to the next episode of Big Brother. This was a good way to wake up - he smiled and rolled onto his feet.
A second, puzzled glance down at the bed clarified that there was, indeed, a big yellow-and-black egg sitting on the sheets, surrounded by a little makeshift nest made out of some of his clothes. There was a note tucked in beside the egg - he opened it sleepily, squinting to read in the dim evening light.
Take care of Nellie.
You can do it, big guy.
- Oriole
You can do it, big guy.
- Oriole
He looked at the note. He looked at the egg. Wished he did have her number - at least now he had something to talk about. What the heck did she want him to take care of her egg for? Looking around his mess of a place, you could tell he could barely look after himself. And this was... well, this was one weird egg. It was big, funny-colored, and there was a ring hovering about it. There was probably some giant tropical bird inside - he could just imagine it. He didn't know anything about giant tropical birds! He'd had a pet once - a hamster. It had died. If he killed Oriole's giant bird, she'd probably get pissed off at him, and...
He was going to have to give it back. Like right now. He'd go over to the store and ask some of the other girls for Oriole's number. Yes. Except -
Big Brother. He couldn't miss this episode! Not after what had happened last week! Oriole and her egg would have to wait. He pulled on his boxers and headed for the living room. But something beckoned him to stop. The glimmer of the silver ring that hovered around the egg... he eyed it uncertainly, then leaned over to pick it up. Enough room on the couch for the two of them, after all.
