OOM: Jim

[herr_bookman]

Two weeks pass in Los Santos, and Autor finds he's settling in nicely. Buster makes a lot of messes, true, but cleaning them up doesn't take too much time. Neither does cooking for the dog, or himself. He has plenty of time to devote to his studies for premed.

Wilford is rarely home, and when he is, he's quiet, which suits Autor just fine. The man never sleeps in his own bed. He zonks out in a chair or stays awake, staring at his laptop. Autor often prepares German pancakes and bacon with coffee for breakfasts, and Wilford seems to appreciate eating that in the mornings. He eats like a horse, Autor notices, which is also just fine. For a thousand dollars a week, cooking and cleaning is easy enough.

Autor hasn't done much exploring of Los Santos, and for good reason: people dress in chicken suits and drive tanks. He panics the first time someone pulls a gun, and so keeps to the house.

But he's running out of food. He has to go shopping. He leashes Buster reluctantly and leaves the house.

Comments

[cottoncandypink]

Just having Jim out of his space seems to calm Wilford's nerves significantly. Jim is great company when Wilford expects him to be there, but having him just drop in like that pushed all sorts of uncomfortable buttons.

"Check that with your app, there," he says, pointing at Autor's phone. Wilford isn't even going to try to be his English teacher.

[herr_bookman]

Autor checks the time again. "I need to feed dog. Do you want food?"

[cottoncandypink]

Wilford almost waves him off, since he probably needs to go back to the studio soon. But he's too wound up, and Jim would probably come back if he saw Wilford leave so soon.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he says instead, getting back up. "Do something with the pork. It needs to be used." He heads back to the bedroom to go start getting cleaned up.

[herr_bookman]

Autor nods, recognizing the dismissal. He finds Buster and spends some time lavishing him with attention before preparing Schweineschnitzel.

[cottoncandypink]

Wilford is not the sort of person to spend a long time in the shower. He spends just enough time to scrub off pancake makeup and the general funk from sitting under studio lights all day. When he comes back out, he has no intention of leaving the house again, so it's in his pyjamas, with a towel over his shoulders since his hair has a tendency to leave little pink drip stains everywhere.

He's had some time to calm down, and to think. Jim said some things that have stuck in Wilford's mind, and now he's curious. He comes out to collect the cigarette he'd snuffed and left behind before his shower.

"He's gonna come back," Wilford says. "You know how to use a gun, right?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor stiffens. He pauses in dishing up Schweineschnitzel and potatoes. After setting the potato spoon down in the bowl with a clink of metal against glass, he places the bowl on the counter with a clink of glass against metal.

"Yes," Autor says, not looking at Wilford. "I know how use gun. I will not shoot Jack. You can."

[cottoncandypink]

"Well, that's a problem. The gate people are coming next week to start surveying the property, but I don't think that'll stop him either."

He picks up some of the mail that's been gathering on the table and starts going through it. He leaves most of it behind, but takes the rest over to the fireplace and throws it in.

[herr_bookman]

Autor sets Buster's plate on the floor for him, and watches him devour the diced pork. "What do I do for Jack?" Autor says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ignore will not work. And I will not shoot."

[cottoncandypink]

"Nope. Ignoring him's just gonna make it worse. He knows we don't want him here, and that he's not supposed to be here, so he'll be back."

He heads back into the kitchen to grab what he assumes is his plate, and heads back to his chair by the windows.

"Just be as boring as possible. Talk about walking the dog or something. That should make him leave."

[herr_bookman]

Autor had just learned the English word "boring" before Jim came, so the boy understands those instructions. "I can be boring."

He picks up his plate and sets it on the table to scarf down his food. He hopes beyond hope that Jim will tire of him.