(INTERLUDE CONT'D)
Well don't die here! he snarls.
Please let me stay here. Please.
The Afterdark has to think about it hard. She's not ugly and he kind of likes her, so he lets her stay. Maybe she'll end up being useful, he thinks. He says: You can stay.
He touches her face to see how cold she is. The girl doesn't pull away because she's so damn cold. In fact, she leans forward to be touched by his warm hand. Her skin is ice. She asks, Do you have a radiator or a heater or something?
No, he tells her. But I have blankets.
Derek watches her make a nest out of all of his spare blankets on his couch while he sits next to her watching his television. He turns to her and, on a hunch, asks if she's homeless. She responds in the affirmative.
No shit, he says, but he's not that surprised. You want food?
She nods, but he can only see her eyes in the nest. He gets up and returns with coffee and toast. He has no intention of working any harder at keeping her alive than he has to, and he watches with interest as she devours both. He isn't sure how old she is, so he doesn't make any advances. Instead he goes to his computer system to get to the bottom of the goddamn weather.
The Afterdark isn't as naive as Nell. He's figured out by now that the weather is unnatural, probably caused by someone with powers.
Well don't die here! he snarls.
Please let me stay here. Please.
The Afterdark has to think about it hard. She's not ugly and he kind of likes her, so he lets her stay. Maybe she'll end up being useful, he thinks. He says: You can stay.
He touches her face to see how cold she is. The girl doesn't pull away because she's so damn cold. In fact, she leans forward to be touched by his warm hand. Her skin is ice. She asks, Do you have a radiator or a heater or something?
No, he tells her. But I have blankets.
Derek watches her make a nest out of all of his spare blankets on his couch while he sits next to her watching his television. He turns to her and, on a hunch, asks if she's homeless. She responds in the affirmative.
No shit, he says, but he's not that surprised. You want food?
She nods, but he can only see her eyes in the nest. He gets up and returns with coffee and toast. He has no intention of working any harder at keeping her alive than he has to, and he watches with interest as she devours both. He isn't sure how old she is, so he doesn't make any advances. Instead he goes to his computer system to get to the bottom of the goddamn weather.
The Afterdark isn't as naive as Nell. He's figured out by now that the weather is unnatural, probably caused by someone with powers.
