"That's how I remember it," Oscar said cheerfully—then he stopped short and his face fell. "Except I can't remember anything. It all just went out of my head." He would have tried out some of the swear words he'd learned from his books, but to him, the were still just words and he didn't understand why humans used them to vent their frustrations. He only knew that some humans didn't approve of them, and he didn't want to accidentally make Honor angry. So instead, he took some black paint and forcefully smudged it across his prairie painting, ruining his progress. "Honor, I think this body's brain is too small. It can only fit so much knowledge before it has to kick something out."
Honor couldn't help but chuckle, nodding as she drove, "I believe that. It's said that we only use about ten percent of our brains though, maybe if you unlock the other nintey percent you can remember everything you want?" She glanced over again, pausing and taking a doubletake as she saw the black smudge against the prarie painting, "Why did you do that?"
Oscar sighed. "I got angry." He added more black to the painting, making random lines as he tried to salvage it somehow. "Maybe I could unlock the other ninety percent, if I found out how. But even if I did, I'd still have to unlock my memories too. Hmm…..what if I added some black animals to this painting? Do you think anyone would mind?"
"If you unlock it, then you'll have plenty of room for your memories when you find them," She said, tapping out the tune of the music on her steering wheel, "If you want animals added, then add as many as you want, it's your artwork." She smiled at him, shrugging, "Anything you want to add, you put in there."
Oscar nodded. "Right then. I'll draw animals that I've never seen before."
After a while of working in silence, he added, "By the way, when should we stop next? I think the sun will start to set soon."
Honor shrugged, glancing outside and then at the small digital clock in the truck, "In about an hour we can stop, or in the next city. Whenever you want to get out and stretch your legs." She was antsy enough to want to just stop right where they were, but driving lots had gotten her used to the feeling, and she was almost confident that she could drive all night if she ignored the need to get out and walk around.
"The next city's fine," Oscar replied, sitting back to study his painting. "Where are we going to spend the night? In a hotel? I read a book where there was a murder in a big hotel and everyone got trapped there until the killer could pick them all off."
“Probably a hotel, I’m dying to sleep in a bed again,” She said with a soft laugh, “That book was a fiction book, nothing like that will happen.” Honor glanced over at his painting hoping that he had disguised the black into animals.
The painting was certainly more eye-catching now. Instead of a greyish prairie landscape with some black smudges on it, it was now a misty, otherworldly landscape dotted with creepy four-legged shadow monsters. Some of them almost looked like earthly animals, but several were so warped and amorphous that it was hard to tell their front from their back.
"I sort of thought that even the fiction books had to be based on some kind of truth," Oscar admitted, putting the caps back on his paints. "But you're probably right. And I'd like to see what a real hotel is like anyway. Do they have food there too?"
The painting was a mix of creepy and stunning, and for a minute, Honor couldn't stop studying it. She blinked several times before she was able to tear her gaze away, a soft smile on her face, "That's an amazing picture Oscar. And it's true that fiction almost always has a basis in reality, but getting killed in a hotel isn't going to happen to us." She drummed her fingers across the steering wheel, nodding her head towards a sign advertising a nearby town, "We'll stop there."
"All right." Oscar studied the sign with interest, shifting his paintings around on the dashboard so they all had room to dry. "Maybe once we get there, we can post my new art online and check on the other ones, to see if anyone's noticed them yet?" He loved painting, but he'd read many stories about starving artists and he couldn't help worrying that he'd end up being one.
Honor nodded easily, turning down the raido a tad so she could reply, "I'll be sure to check on how those paintings are selling, though I have the final betting day set for two days from now." She glanced at another sign, nodding almost to herself, "They do have a hotel here, that's good. Last thing we need is to stop somewhere that we have to sleep in the truck again."
"I wouldn't like that," Oscar agreed. He gazed at the sunset ahead of them for a minute, then turned his attention to the street signs. "I think we have enough food for tonight, right?"
(sorry it's short, busy day today ^^; )
(All good!)
"I think so, if we're hungry we can just dig into our snack pile," Honor replied, turning into the town and looking around for the hotel that had been advertised. The sunset cast a nice glow over the town, almost like something from a movie, and it would've been a lie to say that she didn't find it gorgeous.
Oscar looked all around, quickly spotting the hotel and pointing it out. "There it is. It looks like a nice building." He glanced at Honor and noticed her admiring the sunset. "Do you think we'll get a room with a nice view from the window?" He thought maybe he'd paint the sky if it was still pretty by the time they got settled in.
Honor shrugged, a soft smile on her face, "I really hope so. I guess we'll get whatever is open though." She pulled into the hotel parking lot easily, shutting off the truck but staying in the seat for a few seconds. It almost hurt to move her legs, and after sitting for so long, she took it slow opening her door and standing up.
Oscar realized he felt stiff as well, and was puzzled by this. Why didn't he ever feel this way after sleeping? It seemed like the same thing to him. Collecting his art supplies, he opened the passenger door, eyeing Honor with mild concern. "I can carry everything, if you want."
She shook her head, stretching and letting out a yawn, "I'll help, you don't need to carry everything." Honor walked around to the back of the truck, though her pace was slightly slower as she did so. Even though she felt better now that she was standing, she was still stiff, and that much was evident as she opened up the truck and climbed up onto the flatbed, pulling her bag as well as Oscar's towards the tailgate.
Oscar followed with a frown. "Honor, why does this body feel tired, even though all we were doing was sitting still? It doesn't make sense. Is the body really that weak? Or is it something we did wrong? I'm confused."
"Sitting still for so long makes me stiff, and I bet it's the same for you. We're not weak, it's just that we're not used to sitting still for that long and focusing on one thing," Honor explained, hopping off of the truck and slinging both hers and Oscar's bags on her shoulders. She yawned again as she put up the tailgate and locked the truck, continuing, "Driving for so long makes me want to sleep."
Oscar huffed quietly, gathering a few of their groceries to carry as well. Normal or not, it frustrated him that he had to experience pain even though he'd literally done nothing in the last few hours. It reminded him how out-of-place he felt in human form. This discomfort—paired with the stress of exploring an unknown location—wasn't enough to really upset him. But after a few steps across the parking lot, something tickled his face and he realized his forehead was bleeding again.
"Honor," he said, hesitating. "Do you…..think we'll be safe in the hotel?" He hoped that hearing her words of reassurance would calm him down and seal the wound again. He didn't want to cause a scene in the lobby.
Honor led the way towards the hotel doors, nodding in response to his question, "I'm sure we'll be safe. I've stayed in plenty of hotels before and nothing terrible has ever happened." She glanced over at him, doing a double take at the sight of blood again and frowning, "You're head is bleeding again. I'll put some new bandages on it when we get into the hotel room if you'd like."
Oscar nodded and scrubbed his face with his sleeve, hoping the blood would blend in with the black cloth. After a moment, the bleeding slowed, and he shoved his hat down over his forehead to keep the bandages in place.
"Are we still telling people I'm your cousin?" he asked as he followed her to the door. "I can do a better job of pretending this time if I have to."
"I think we should stick with that for now," She said, nodding as she reached the doors of the hotel and opened them carefully for Oscar. Honor smiled at the tired looking receptionist, walking up to the front desk and starting the process of arranging to get a room, hoping with fingers crossed that they had one open. There hadn't been any 'no vacancy' sign out front, and so she just hoped there was someplace that would work.
Luckily, there were still several rooms available, and the receptionist gave them one on the second floor without asking too many questions. Oscar tried to act casual as they took the elevator up, as if he'd been to a hotel a hundred times, but he couldn't help poking the decorative fake flowers when he thought nobody was watching. He remembered their room number and walked ahead to find it, then had to stand and wait for Honor to catch up since she had the key.
"It's so quiet," he whispered. "Like a library. It's weird—I can tell there are a lot of people here, but I can't see or hear any of them."
Honor followed along with Oscar once she had gotten the key, smiling as she leaned against the wall and watched him touch the fake flowers. It was almost like watching a kid learn more about the world, and she didn't mind it. Honor took her time walking down the hallway, reaching Oscar a few minutes later with her bags in hand. Quickly she opened the door to the room, responding to his question, "You get used to it after a while. Most people that stay in hotels try to stay to themselves and let the other guests do the same, so that's why it's so quiet. You probably won't see many of them."
Oscar nodded, stepping inside the room curiously. It even smelled strange. Setting down his luggage, he wandered to the window and peeked outside, gazing at the highway and the sunset. "You can see forever out there." Glancing back in, he inspected the two ridiculously large beds, the desk with the tv above it, and the empty closet. Then he saw the framed painting above the nightstand. "Honor look, a painting!" He trotted over to inspect it more closely. "The brushwork is so streaky, I like it. The colors are dull, but the light makes it look real. I think it's a painting of the fields we drove past. Come see!"
Honor followed Oscar in, setting her bags down and promptly stretching out as she stood up straight. She glanced over at him as he spoke, then smiled gently and walked over to where he was talking about, "You're right, it's of the fields we passed. It's really realistic too." It was a very detailed painting and as she studied it, she almost wondered if Oscar could recreate something like it. She shrugged and sat down on one of the beds, leaning back and letting out a happy sigh. "I'll just lay here until we have to leave."
Oscar continued to study the painting for a minute, then went back to the grocery bags to find some food. "The receptionist said we have to leave early tomorrow if we're just staying one night. So you're right, we'd better get a lot of sleep." Noticing that his bandages were still soggy, he stood up and went to explore the bathroom. "I can take care of my forehead by myself, if you want to rest for a while."
"I can help..I probably should do more than just sit and lay down," She replied quite reluctantly, sitting up slowly. Honor yawned once before getting to her feet and following him towards the bathroom, unsure if there were medical supplies in here or if she would have to dig her supplies out of her bag. "Is there anything in there that we can use?" She called, turning and grabbing her bag just incase.
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