Honor jumped again when the gravel started to bounce around them and the figure bolted upright. "Hey, dude, are you alright?" She called again in a slightly shaky voice, forcing her feet to move forward. The adrenaline in her system wasn't helping anything now, and she wished she was carrying a weapon of sort just in case.
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Very slowly, the young man turned his head to look at her. His head wound almost seemed worse than before–the skull was just barely visible underneath it. He mumbled something too quiet to hear, then looked down at his hands. They were scraped up and bloody as well, for some reason.
(I gtg for a while, back later!)
(ok!)
"Are you alright?" She repeated again, slower this time. Once again she stopped and just looked at him, curious beyond belief but also wary of the figure. Honor knew he probably needed some medical attention though, due to the terrifying gash running up the center of his face.
(I'm back for a little bit ^^)
The young man seemed to be having trouble remembering to breathe as he looked around at his surroundings. He turned to Honor again, and this time his gaze watch much sharper–so sharp, in fact, that it physically burned. He stared at her for a long moment, then broke the silence hoarsely. "Where–what is this? Where am I?"
She felt his gaze on her and it felt like it was physically burning into her - which it was. "Uh, Everett, a small town somewhere in the middle of the midwest that even I don't care to remember." Somehow she took another few steps forward until she was within reach of him, looking carefully at his gash and trying to figure out if she needed to call anyone, "We're on one of the roads leading towards town, if you want a specific place."
(oof well when I said a little bit I thought I'd at least have thirty minutes but I guess not, sorry bout that T.T I'll see you tomorrow!)
"I…..I don't….know what that means." He scooted back slightly, his eyes darting around. "Who are you?….What are you?"
(Thats ok! see you tomorrow!)
"Don't know what what mease?" She asked, head tipping to the side slightly as she gently squatted down and studied him more closely. Honor was sure to keep her distance though, holding her hands out flat to show that she wasn't going to hurt him as she tried a different approach and tried to sound calm and friendly, "My name is Honor and I'm a human. What about you? What's your name?"
"I'm–" He broke off and lifted his hand to his head, gritting his teeth. Somehow those teeth seemed sharper than they should have been. "I can't remember…..I was….sleeping…and then suddenly I was here. I don't want to be here." He looked at his hands again. "What are these things? Are they attached to me somehow? I don't like them."
(lol poor boy ain't used to having a body ^^; )
"That's alright, we'll figure out your name eventually. And for those things," She was trying to keep her voice calm and gentle, motioning to his hands, "Those are your hands, they're a part of you, and I'm sure you'll grow to like them." Honor really had no clue what she was doing or how she was going to deal with this new being, but in her mind she decided that the best and safest thing to do was to get him in her truck and to her house until she could find out what to do next.
(just gonna say, Honor is doing a great job rn ^^ What Goldenrod agents do is they stay as calm and quiet as possible, and they try to distract the Erased One from what's going on by engaging them in small talk. This helps keep the Erased One from getting agitated and attacking.)
The young man curled his fingers, then uncurled them as if both mesmerized and horrified by the sight. "D-do….do I look like you?" He asked shakily. "Do I look like a human?"
She nodded, watching him carefully as she answered, "Well, you don't look exactly like me but yes, you look like a human." It was still growing dark outside and she knew she should get him off of the road as soon as possible. "Hey, would you be ok if I helped you over to my truck and got you off of the road? I don't want you to get run over," She suggested, motioning to her vehicle and then looking to him for his answer, "I can bring you to my house for the night, get you some food and a place to sleep, and we can figure out everything tomorrow."
The Erased One looked like he wanted to argue, but he was clearly getting more and more drained by the minute. "Okay….." He glanced over at the truck hazily and chose a question at random from the list. "…What's food?"
"I'll answer that in the truck," She replied gently, holding out one of her hands for him to take as she tried to figure out if he would know how to walk or not. All she had to do was get him sitting down and buckled in, and then she could be on her way again. Honor made a note to herself as well to find some baby name books so that her new pal could find a name for himself.
He stared at her hand, then at his legs, then back to her hand, as if running intense mathematical calculations. After a moment, he lurched to his feet, moving stiffly as if he was a mannequin brought unwillingly to life. He grasped Honor's hand a bit too tightly, swaying in place and blinking rapidly. "There. Uhm…..you go first. I'll do what you do."
Honor smiled gently and nodded, holding onto his hand to help as she took a step towards the truck. Her other arm moved to behind his back, though she didn't touch him, it was instead just to help again if he needed it. "Just one foot in front of the other," She told him, looking around for something, she wasn't exactly sure what it was though."
He was shaky and clumsy, but eventually made it to the truck and leaned on the side, panting. As he did so, he happened to notice his reflection in the passenger's side window. He stopped, staring at it blankly.
"I'm……" He trailed off, his eyes flicking up and down. "This is what I look like? I'm horrible. I….I'm disgusting."
"You're not horrible or disgusting," She said, opening the side door but not opening it enough for it to hit him, "We just need to get that cleaned up." In all honesty, she wasn't very easy on the eyes at the moment either, still covered in dirt and grime from working, with her hair back in a ponytail and her work clothes still on.
Reluctantly pulling himself away from his reflection, the Erased One edged around the door and somehow managed to clamber into the truck. "'Clean that up?' So….you can fix this?" For a moment his perpetual frown faded and he glanced at Honor almost hopefully.
(I'm guessing you might have gone to bed, but in case you haven't, I have to hit the hay myself now. I'll see you tomorrow!)
(Yeah sorry XD I fell asleep)
Honor bit the inside of her cheek and studied the gash, answering truthfully, "I'm not sure if we can get it all the way gone or fixed, but I know there are ways for a scar to fade even a little." She shrugged and pushed his door closed after him before going around to the other side and hopping up onto her seat. "Buckle up," She said, pulling her own seatbelt on and glancing over at him.
"Um…" He watched her closely for a minute, then fumblingly found his own seat belt and buckled himself in. "What is this thing we're sitting in, anyway? What does it do?" He still seemed a bit upset and scatterbrained, but by now his curiosity was starting to get the better of him.
"My truck?" A proud smile broke onto her face and she looked ahead, turning the ignition and the car rumbled to life. "It's a form of transportation, one way we get around." She made sure once again that he was buckled up before starting to drive, being careful to keep from going too fast or hitting dents so he wouldn't get too spooked.
The young man's eyes widened, and he quickly turned to stare outside at the passing scenery. "How does it work? Is it alive?" Then he frowned. "Wait, no….it's obviously not alive. It fells like…..there's fire in it somewhere??"
She shook her head and laughed, "It's not alive, it's powered by an engine, I can explain them to you later." Her eyes focused on the road and she settled into a rhythm of driving and every so often glancing at him momentarily to make sure he was alright.
He fell silent for a while, staring at the dashboard in deep concentration. Finally he spoke again. "What is your 'home' like? Are there other humans there?"
(I gtg for a while, seeya later!)
(See ya!)
"My home? It's a fixer upper that I bought fairly cheap, and no, I live alone." She replied, turning onto the paved road that led to the main street of town. Honor drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as she had to stop at one of the few intersections in town to turn onto her road.
"Good," the Erased One replied. "Alone is good. I don't want to meet anyone else right now."
Once they were inside city limits, he suddenly had a lot more to look at. He sat up and his head switched back and forth rapidly as he tried to take in all the signs, houses, and other cars around them. He kept starting to speak and ask questions, but then something else would distract him and he'd close his mouth again. He bristled warily when they passed a noisy intersection, and flinched at a flashing sign over a fast-food restaurant. At one point he put his hand on his chest and paused, looking surprised.
"There's….something inside me that's bumping around," he said, sounding a little nervous. "I can hear it. It goes thump-thump really loud."
As hard as Honor tried to not laugh, she had to eventually, looking over at him for a moment, "That's your heart, the thing that pumps blood around your body so you stay alive." She could see how he reacted at the intersections and with the lights and she decided to take a more back way for the last block or so to her house, turning down a quieter side road lined by houses and the occasional light post.
(oops I missed ya! I gotta go to bed, but I'll drop this here anyway ^^; )
The Erased One snorted with half-hearted bravado. "I don't need something like that to keep me alive. This body doesn't even belong to me." He paused and glanced at Honor with the same hopeful look as before. "I won't be stuck with it for much longer, will I? You can help me….go back to normal?"