In the Shadows of Kroy

Kazimir turned to watch Queenie leave, his thoughts jumping from one thing to the next.

"She's going to have a rough time..." he whispered quietly. "Isn't she?"

Bobby hesitated.

"Her boss...isn't kind," he said uncomfortably.

"I figured," he said quietly.

There was a moment of silence as his mind wandered. He didn't know for sure what Queenie's situation was, but it reminded him a little of his own - and if it was anything like that, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to change much of anything as some random outsider with a bullet wound.

Still. He wanted to. He just had absolutely no idea about anything in their world still. At least, Queenie's world. Since her experience was different than usual.

He looked back over at Bobby.

"Are you hungry at all?"

Bobby considered the question, biting the inside of his cheek. "A little," he said with a half-shrug. "I-I don't really need anything....right now. I'm okay," he hurriedly added.

Kazimir reached into a pocket inside his jacket and pulled out a fruit-roll-up, a little bag of cheez-its, and a plastic bag of trail mix. One by one he plopped them into his lap, after putting his wallet away finally.

He was still kind of doing everything one-handedly.

"Well, you don't have to eat if you don't want, but I've got snacks. I'm getting a little hungry myself. You want any?"

He hesitated. "I...guess."

He didn't really recognize any of the snacks Kazimir had taken out, and it was usually a really bad idea to eat something you didn't immediately recognize, but...these were probably from Kazimir's time. Maybe the brands had changed, or died, or...something. Kazimir wouldn't offer Bobby anything dangerous.

Bobby's stomach growled.

"I...guess I'll have something," he said sheepishly.

Kazimir lifted the bag of trail mix and offered it to Bobby. "Wanna try these? It's just berries and nuts, and some seeds and stuff like that. Not too heavy."

Bobby silently accepted the little package and tore it open. He recognized most of the stuff in it - though he wasn't used to anything so heavally salted you could practically see it caked on in places. Gingerly he took out one of the little peanuts and put it in his mouth.

He cringed at the sheer amount of salt on it, but once that dissipated, it tasted...kind of normal.

He kept eating.

Kazimir smiled as Bobby accepted the trail mix and opened the cheez-its for himself, tossing small handfuls into his mouth and chewing in silence. It was nice to have food as a distraction.

Bobby folded his legs up under him and ate in silence. Without really noticing, he'd shifted even closer to Kazimir throughout the exchange.

Now that he had noticed, he didn't really feel how he normally did. Rather than panic, he found a sort of comfort in it. Like he was safer now that he was closer.

Kazimir noticed as Bobby slowly gravitated towards him, but didn't draw attention to it. He felt comfortable, though, and he shifted his shoulders a little bit to snuggle into the couch cushions just a little more as he ate the crackers.

It was a nice moment, even though his leg was still throbbing and he was still hooked up to an IV.

Bobby was about halfway through his snack when the bedroom door opened, and Queenie stepped out. She had on a stony expression, and moved with sharp, pointed motions, like everything she did was rehearsed. Bobby stiffened.

"I have to go," Queenie said tersely, "You can both stay the night, but be gone by tomorrow morning. And I mean right away. The moment that clock strikes midnight, you both have to be gone, got it?"

Bobby nodded.

She moved toward the door and stopped to grab a coat out of the closet. Every movement had to hurt her - Bobby had seen enough of her injuries to know that they were bad - but she showed no sign that a single thing was wrong. She'd even removed the casts. The visible bandages were covered by the coat, her hands by a pair of gloves she got from the coat pocket. In an instant, it was as though nothing had happened at all.

"There's food in the pantry. Don't eat anything that's labeled."

And then she was gone.

Queenie came out, put on a show, and was gone. Kazimir had a feeling that there was nothing he could do to help her, but the desire still lingered. She had been beaten up pretty terribly, and she was just a kid. A kid with a boss who was unkind, and probably wouldn't be merciful to her even in her current state.

He frowned as she disappeared and then looked back to Bobby.

"What time is it now? How long before we gotta bail?"

"It's still early," he said, "I...I think she meant that we have today, overnight, and tomorrow. I...how hard do you think she hit her head?" he shook his head, "Nevermind. She'll...she'll be fine. We have time."

Bobby's anxious thoughts wormed their way out of his mouth, and he didn't think to stop them until it was too late.

His mouth snapped shut.