Laura looked to the side,she expect a question regarding family but
not right off the bat. "No...I don't have a sibling. I never really
wanted one but I'm pretty sure I would be a great sister!" She
didn't really know how this game was meant to be played but she
just rolled with it. "How about you?" she asked as she set her eyes
on Floyd again. She wouldn't bare being a disgrace to a sibling as
well...
"Yup! A twin brother! Ahhhh, I miss him~" He giggled, rocking
slightly. His tone was slightly nostalgic, a fond look passing over
before he brightened again. "My turn again! So so, tell me. What's
the last thing you remember before walking up here?" His sharp
tooth grin betrayed his real intentions. Yes, this little game was
to build a sense of trust between them, but it was also a chance
for the two of them to drag out information from each other. A
delightful situation of giving and taking~
She chuckled,letting her eyes wonder around the room before she
eventually answered. "I was walking in some highway and whatnot and
a f***er almost run over me." She kept quiet for a second before
asking him the same thing. She really wanted to ask whether his
brother and him miss each other or if they got along but she would
have to wait her own turn.
"Its no fun if you just return my questions you know. You can ask
your own." Floyd pouted, but thought about the question given to
him. "I don't remember much though. All I remember was walking back
home and opening the front door. That's it. I guess I was pretty
tired, work was hard that day." He mused, trying to recall what
actually happened. "Oh but enough of the boring gloomy things. Next
question~ What's your favorite food?"
"Favourite food, huh? It has to be mum's french fries. They were a
blessing to my tastebuds" She took a brief moment to think.
"Say...did you really grow up on the streets?" She was anticipating
this moment a lot,and it was showing because she had her head
tilted from her curiosity. Of course she felt bad asking something
like that after he had asked her something as plain as that but she
just couldn't hold it in anymore.
French fries huh? That was surprisingly childish but Floyd didn't
mind, it was part of Laura's charm. Her question though, caught him
off guard. He was expecting personal questions, but he couldn't
remember ever telling her that he had lived on the streets at one
point. Spending some time trying to figure out why she knew, he
suddenly remembered the throwaway line he had made and grimaced
internally at that. Ah, his bullheaded nature was coming back to
bite him in the butt huh?
"Yeah, I did. My current clothes doesn't really scream homeless
though does it." He grinned, gesturing vaguely to his haphazardly
put on suit. "Alright, since you asked something so bold, I'll
return the favour. Whats your family like?"
God that question really hit hard. "My parents are honourable and
respectful people,who have a decent job I guess... my mother's
family tree is a bit weird but I don't interact with them as much
as my father's...." she tried to hold in her tears but some managed
to escape. "Anyway...how old are you?" She couldn't guess at all by
his appearance,more so by his behavior.
"Aww little blondie didn't have the best home life hmmm? It's okay!
Sometimes family is the people you choose not the people who share
your blood." Floyd hummed, patting Laura's head gently. He very
politely tried to not comment on the tears and let the other wipe
away her tears before speaking. "I don't really keep count of the
years, but if I had to guess, 17 or 18 maybe?" Humming with
thought, he finally settled on a less weighted question. "Can you
cook well?"
"It's not that. I just did something very disgraceful and stained
my family's name...." she sobbed as she tried to get a hold of
herself. She hated whimpering more than anything. "Yes! I can cook
quite well. I used to assist my mum while she was cooking. She also
let me cook sometimes if I had helped her with a dish a couple of
times,testing both my memory and my skills!" Her face brightened up
a bit. Cooking really made her feel somewhat helpful. "Since you
said that the last thing you remember is coming home tired from
working,what kind of job did you do?" He seemed pretty strong and
able,so she didn't really know what to expect. She eventually wiped
her tears and tried not to continue crying.
Floyd wasn't good with crying people, especially those who cried
because of something he didn't do. His natural reaction to tears
was to laugh at the poor person but he suspected that doing that
right now wouldn't be a very good response. As for the question he
had been asked, there were multiple answers to that. His main job
had varying titles, and he had other side things as well, so he
chose the safest answer. After all, he wasn't lying by covering up
part of the truth was he. "I worked as a chef that night. My best
friend's family restaurant was understaffed that night so I popped
in to help out." He reached a kind of impasse, unknowing what to
ask next. "Um... Oh. What's your dream job? Lets go with that~"
"Dream job,huh? Well...right now I dunno..." she scratched her head
a bit. "I'm decent at maths,so something related to that I
guess..." She kept her mouth shut for a while,trying to listen to
others' footsteps or any ghosts by any chance. "Oi...Floyd...would
you ever kill me?" she hesitantly asked. She kept count of the
questions asked if they had to get out from the room. She wondered
what kept him from killing her since they not only were
together,but she hadn't eaten at that time. He could definitely
just snap and murder her,reducing the competition. She looked at
him dead in the eyes,trying to figure out whether he would lie or
not. She wasn't good at picking up lies but the moment was
critical,at least in her mind.
"if you asked me to, yes." Floyd replied without hesitation,
nodding. "But under any other circumstances, probably not. I'd
leave you behind if you bore me, but I probably wouldn't kill you."
He didn't see any need to kill someone so interesting, other small
shrimps where just annoying so he didn't mind killing them, but
Laura wasn't like the other shrimp in the sea, she was more akin to
a fish, something that caught his interest. "Okay then, last
question from me. Would you ever think of betraying me?" He asked,
looking way too relaxed for that sort of question
Floating just above them but in her invisible form, Amelia stayed
there, listening to their conversations. She remembers that this
game was always she and her brother's favourite to the point that
there is nothing they do not know about one another. They were that
close. Keeping her distance, she looked around, trying to recognise
the room they were in but failed to. Something tugged at the back
of her mind but everytime she went to grab it, it would slip away.
"No. I would never! And I'll do whatever you want to prove that!"
Laura was very pleased with Floyd's answer. Sure,they were enemies,
but she wondered how the others were doing and who else was alive.
"Okay,I guess this'll be the last question from me too then." She
thought for a second. "Do you want to get out of here? To be free?"
She could feel their bond becoming tighter all of a sudden,maybe it
was his answer.
Try hard to recall the memory at the back of her head, Amelia
finally gave up. It was no use to try anymore... After al, it might
just be a small memory she had forgotten over time, oblivious of
the importance of it. Floating just a bit closer, she continued to
listen to their conversation, invisible to their eye. A wave of
peace swept through her as she relaxed for the first time in
centuries.
There was a moment of silence as Floyd hesitated. To tell the truth
or not, to give Laura the answer she wanted or the one that Floyd
held in his heart. Finally the silence was punctuated with a sigh.
"... Not particularly. I don't mind dying and there's nothing out
there that makes me want fight tooth and nail to escape. This whole
thing is a game, one where I win no matter what, even if I'm not
the last person standing." The truth was said with a flippant shrug
before a grin spread over his face. "Well that was fun!! I feel
sooo much closer to you now, wasn't that such a good idea? Oh, we
should probably eat some of this. I'll go first~ Down the hatch~"
Clapping his hands excitedly, he immediately popped a grape into
his mouth chewing it with bliss written all over his face
Laura had already eaten a bit,at least some of the food she had
stored in her bag when they were in the dining room. She ate a bit
more to keep Floyd some company. "Yeah,it was a great idea!" she
nodded. She was a bit extra cautious regarding him eating. Albeit
her curiosity, he didn't want Floyd to be the one to experience
it,there was no way she would take the chance. "I'm 16 by the
way,if you couldn't tell by these." she said as she bounced her
chest a bit and chuckled. "...and my
height..." she added as she continued eating a bit.
Shivering as she realised there was a sudden drop in temperature.
Wait.... can ghosts shiver? He must be going through the second
part of his plan. Shaking her head, she glanced at the humans
before making her decision. Making herself comfortable on the bed,
she watched them, exhaustion engulfing her making her fall
asleep...Wow, she must have been in her human form for too long.
There was a moment to stunned silence before Floyd shrugged.
"Thought you were older with that rack of yours." He hummed, not
really minding that she was younger than he thought. The slight
chill in the room had Floyd's eyes flickering to the walls,
expecting a ghost to come through at any time, but when that didn't
happen he relaxed slightly. He was getting a bit to comfortable,
pushing the instincts that he had honed from the streets off to the
side.
"You seem awfully anxious,do you wanna explore a bit more and find
another room? I haven't heard from that owner guy and whoever was
next to him or whatever in quite a while. I honestly couldn't care
less about them..." She trusted his instincts and his intuition.
Getting ambushed was the worst case scenario. Maybe they would
encounter the others as well.