He had needs but he was remaining silent as he sat in the living room tucked into a corner in the hopes to be unnoticed. He’d been keeping his distance while observing those who lived here, Pippa and Freddy, they were very different in personality and he did wonder if the male was like himself…but no, it didn’t seem as such. Still he didn’t approach either, didn’t ask, and when the female left he relaxed a bit. He had been waiting for orders, demands, anything and yet nothing had come.
Now it was silent and he was hoping it remained that way, it was easier on his nerves, as his ears flickered once as a small fly went by, he managed to hide a yawn with his arm.
Freddy started as soon as he walked into the living room, expression grave when he recovered, then quickly shifted into mild annoyance.
They had a new roommate.
Courtesy of Pippa, of course. Though technically he had a say, because he could have said "no" and he knew his sister wouldn't have pressed, but then...he'd always struggled with telling her "no" when it came to this kind of thing. The look on her face when he did, maybe, or her general demeanor afterward. He hated seeing her down. Hated it even more when he was the cause of it. So.
He couldn't have said "no" and he knew ******** sake, man," he said, taking a step to head toward the kitchen. "What the hell are you doing in the corner?"
His stomach had rumbled its protest not too long ago. It'd been half a day's length of time since his last meal, he realized, so here he was. About to dig through whatever leftovers they had. With as much takeaway as he ordered, there had to be something here. He opened the refrigerator before again turning to the other—Rowan, if he remembered right.
"Hungry?"
Those words, that single one at the end which sounded like a question, had his attention and his pale eyes were focused on them. “Hun…gry?” The word was foreign to him, as was everything else about this planet, but his attention was in the other either way. Slowly the hyena stood, it felt good to not be sitting on his tail, and a small stretch was taken before he approached the other slowly.
Rowan was hoping he’d get the hang of the language quickly, at least the words he’d need the most, he could depend in others for long - it was simply unacceptable. He needed to get his feet under himself and as quickly as he could. He just hoped these two would help him so he could leave them quickly, because living with multiple people was so very uncomfortable and strange for him.
Stopping just a step behind the other, and to the side, his pale eyes lifted and stared in silent question.
Freddy flickered his gaze toward the boy—how old was he, anyway?—as he stood and made his way over in utter silence. It was almost eerie. Or maybe he was just sensitive to this kind of stuff now, given the whole...magic...thing. He returned his gaze back to the inside of the fridge, making quick stock of what all was inside before grabbing at a few boxes.
"Yeah," he said as he worked, "hungry. You know, in need of food?" Maybe English wasn't his first language, wherever he was from. "Hold these."
And without warning, he started handing the stuff over, making sure to grab what he thought would be good for two people before he closed the door. Turning, he took the food from Rowan's arms and stalked off toward the microwave.
"Do you not need to eat or something like that?"
He didn't sound irate, gruff as he was with how he extracted a strange mix of Chinese food, half a burger and fries, and some leftover chicken alfredo from the boxes and set them into different plates. He popped the first one into the microwave before turning to look at Rowan this time, apparently waiting for an answer of some kind.
While Rowan didn’t understand the words he did see, and smell, the food being pulled out. That made sense and the word connected to the actions. He was rather quick in figuring things out and this was nodding his head slowly. “Yes, hungry.” Because he was always hungry, he’d always been hungry, it wasn’t that food had always been scarce on his planet but that he was limited in what he was allowed. After his planet had fallen, as he liked to put it, food had been reduced down to whatever vegetation he could get - that had not been easy. He also wasn’t meant to consume so much vegetation, so he was certainly missing nutrients he needed. Maybe it was that knowledge, and need, which had him gravitating to the container with the hamburger in it. Watching as the containers, which had been shoved into his unexpecting arms, were taken and one was put into some light box…he’d need to know what that was; soon.
Watching them watch him the brunette couldn’t help but fidget in place, he wasn’t good with being stared at, it never meant good things for his kind. Being stared at meant a scolding, or more, because you’d messed up in some way.
The silence was...awkward. Normally he didn't mind it, and could care less about whoever else was in the room, but in this case he was the one who'd been asking a question and was left hanging. Freddy had half a mind to press harder, but seeing the other very obviously fidget with his discomfort he let out a very unamused snort and turned his attention back to the microwave.
"Here," he said, shoving the big plate of leftovers at him. "Have at it. I'll take what's left."
Freddy slid a plate over in his direction, then wandered off to grab glasses and whatever drinks there were in the fridge.
"So," he started to say, wondering if he'd be left hanging again but tabling the concern for another time, with someone who was more familiar with human social cues and he could actually, legitimately, be annoyed with because of that. This guy was an alien, so he imagined all things Earth and Human were foreign to him. "How are you liking it here so far?"
Staring at the plate, bending over it and sniffing further, it smelled…odd. A mix of different smells. Some were alright and others were less appealing to his delicate nose, well more delicate than a human nose, looking up he wrinkled his nose a bit. “It smells….ok.” Looking up slowly, very slowly, the brunette took the food offered and settled into a chair in the kitchen so he could eat.
“Liking it..here?” Motioning around them, to the home, before making a gesture he hoped the other understood meant the planet. “Different….” Very different indeed, there was so much to learn and he felt like he needed to get to that task quickly, he knew nothing of this planet…now or back during the silver millennium when various planets were in communications. He’d never had the ability to learn about Earth or anywhere else.
Nibbling, slowly, taking the time to taste everything and get an idea of what he liked and didn’t, some things he tried…and didn’t eat again. Other things weren’t so bad and he took more of.
Freddy soon set an empty glass near the other, and then a few jugs of various refrigerated beverages — coke, iced tea, lemonade, orange juice, and a pitcher of water. He figured he could choose for himself, so once the options were set on the table he settled down as well.
"Different?" he asked, taking a few stabs at some food he didn't seem to be interested in and piling them onto an empty plate so he could start eating, too.
"Like how? Good? Bad? Just different?" he went on around a mouthful of food. He seemed relaxed enough, and his mood seemed to be improving a little bit after a bite or two. There was a part of him that was curious about where he'd come from — what it was like there, why he was so ******** quiet, etc. — but it felt a little too invasive. Personal.
Looking over the drinks, easily figuring what they were, he took his time in opening each and sniffing before settling for water. It was simple and it was something he was used to, it wasn’t complicated and he knew it was something he’d drink. He didn’t want to try something and dislike it, and thus waste it, so he poured himself that and got up to go looking for some ice…eh’d seen ice before in a drink and he wanted that as well. He preferred it cold…as opposed to his desert of a home planet.
Several cubes were put into the glass, once he’d found the ice and was able to get the ice loose enough to grab. An ear flickered and he tilted his head as he glanced over his shoulder. “Colder…” He said simply before moving around to rejoin the other.
“Show…” He could show them, right? There had to be something similar to his planet on this one…well maybe.
He snorted while pouring himself some iced tea. "It's not even properly winter yet," he said after taking a long swig and quickly refilling his glass. Based on that, though, it was easy enough to deduce that his planet must have been hot, possibly didn't see four seasons the way Destiny City did.
"There are some places that don't get cold like this, though," he went on before taking another bite of food. "Further south, or clear across the country."
He pulled his phone out at that point and did a quick search of "places that never see winter." Deserts were among the search results, and he scooted the phone toward him.
"Show, you mean like this?"
Looking over the phone he started looking at the pictures. Pointing to some. “This….not cold.” At least not like this, not during the day. It was cool at night, it always was, but when you worked hard like he, and others like himself, did then the cool was much needed and wanted. The day time and the heat which came with it were normal…a constant .They made sleeping nearly impossible sometimes. And he kept moving around, scrolling, as he found other pictures which including buildings and other things. Some were similar, though not exactly the same, and poked at the pictures.
“These.” A sip of his drink…and then a gulp. Finishing the water, in two more long drinks, he nearly choked on it but he did finish the glass before pouring himself more. “Always this….all this.”
Freddy paid attention, expertly balancing taking bites of food, sips of tea, and nodding his head as he eyed the pictures the other was pointing out. Arid desert climate, it looked like, which made the ice water make a little more sense.
"Got it," he said, finishing off his plate of food and pouring himself some water to wash it all down. Slowly—he didn't want to nearly choke like his company, here.
"Then yeah, definitely colder than anything you'd be familiar with. We get a hot season, too, but there's also this colder weather, even colder weather with ice and snow and stuff, and then more of an in-between, kinda rainy season right before the hot one comes back around. They're all charming in their own rights. My favorite is the season we're in right now. It's called 'Autumn' formally, or 'Fall' for all the falling leaves you see around."
“Colder..still?” Was he saying it would get colder than it already was? Rowan was certain he couldn’t handle that, this was even too chilly for him when he was just standing around. If he were working, and building a sweat, then the cool weather would be nice on his skin but he wasn’t and so the weather was not comfortable at all. This colder weather, if the other was infact saying as much, was going to be dreadful for him.
All those words they said though…he wasn’t sure. He didn’t understand the language here well and it was uncomfortable for him to manage. “Autumn?” Testing the word out as he spoke, slowly, sipping his drink, as he gave a curious look to the other. Making a motion to his own mouth, then the others, he sighed. “Hard.” Letting himself seem to go a bit limp in his seat…to try and show what he couldn’t say. It was hard trying to communicate…the language was hard and different…clumsy for him. He hadn’t spoken to people in so long either, it didn’t help.
He blinked. Slow, considering the response and how the other seemed to take the news. Seems he only processed the idea of colder weather in the future, which...alright. If he came from a desert planet, that was fair enough.
"Let me text my sister, one second..."
Freddy took his phone back and shot off a quick text. Something about language learning books and resources, the simpler the better. So he suggested children's books, providing a few links to a bookstore nearby their flat, before pocketing the device.
"Alright, found something else you can work on while you sit quietly in a corner. Pip'll probably be more than happy to help you out with that, too. Uh..."
He pointed to the food.
"Still hungry?"
Silently watching the other do something on that device, he wasn’t sure what a phone did, the smaller male kept his pale green eyes fixed on the object on his hands for a moment more before working on finishing his drink glass, again, and eating a bit more. He was eating more of the meat than anything else but he wasn’t ignoring everything else on his plate. Some things he certainly didn’t like, and had ignored after first tasting, but there was a noticeable preference for certain things.
Nodding when he was questioned, when the other gestured, he gave a somewhat guilty look…as if he shouldn’t be hungry still, shouldn’t want more, because he really shouldn’t. But he didn’t know how he’d lasted on his planet for so long without proper food. There was nothing else living there and plants were not something he enjoyed.
Still hungry.
Freddy shrugged at that, and stood. "Eat as much as you like. Just go slow, don't choke on it." He grabbed his glass and his plate and headed for the sink. "And don't feel bad about it. You're a guest, and you're more than welcome to whatever's in the fridge unless it has someone's name on it." Which he didn't often do, because Pippa knew that she was free to take whatever of his that she wanted anyway, label or none.
He heaved a sigh at the thought.
"I gotta head back to my room. Pip should be home soon, though." He nodded at the living room. "You should watch TV or something. Shouldn't hide in corners like you were earlier, scaring the s**t outta people." He had enough of that whenever he thought about knight things…
Nodding slowly, very slowly, he didn’t understand everything but he got enough of the message. So once they were gone he went to get himself a bit more food, heated it with some issue, and went to eat and drink more as he settled himself in front of the television. Pippa had showed him how it worked, he’d been quick to pick up on the lesson, so he flipped about for a while as he figured things out. Tinkering with buttons, and messing with things and fixing some of what he messed up.
He did get something playing, the volume low so he didn’t bother Freddy, as he ate and drank till there was nothing left. After a bathroom trip, and leaving the dishes in the sink, he went back to the tv…and fell asleep curled up on the couch.
Sleet Tempest Snape
