~~~
Lucien hesitated in the hallway outside the female’s bathroom, and considered not giving her his name. In fact, decided quickly not to. Then had an intrusion of second thoughts and decided it would create more confusion if he didn’t give her his name because in that instant, he decided he’d stay a while. Grinning to himself, he walked back through her house until he reached the kitchen, dug around until he found something to eat, then took it to the living room and sat down on her couch, eating chunks of sausage and chicken out of a plastic container of jambalaya.
He heard the shower turn off, but instead of hurrying to put her food back in the refrigerator, he reached for the remote and turned on the television. He shook his head when the image filling the screen was a sappy romance, and flipped channels until he found Animal Planet, then sat back comfortably on her couch and ate another piece of sausage, licking the cold rice off his fingers. He heard her footsteps coming up the hallway toward the kitchen and suppressed a grin. She’d be pissed he was still there eating her food and watching her television.
“Tell me your naked ass is not smushed against my couch!” she said angrily.
Lucien looked down at where he sat on the couch and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Oh, come on! And what about all the rest of you? I’m guessing that’s all over my couch, too.”
“Since it’s attached, yeah, I’m assuming it’s all waggling around there with the rest of it,” he said.
She snarled, followed by a deep rumble bubbling up through her throat. “Why are you even here?”
“This is where you are.”
“Yes! It’s my home!”
“Cozy. Not the best one, though. Should have picked one by the river.”
“I’m not a water-based beast. I prefer the land.”
“And therein lies the reason I’m here, instead of there.”
“I did not invite you to be here!”
“No, you didn’t. And that was quite rude.”
He almost laughed when her eye began to twitch.
She stalked over to him, snatched the container of jambalaya out of his hands, turned the channel back to the Hallmark Channel, and stomped back to the kitchen. “Get out.”
He ignored her as he licked the rest of the rice off his fingers. “What kind of a name is Hell anyway?”
She shot him a glare from the kitchen. “Go away.”
“No.”
“You don’t belong here.”
“You see, that’s the thing. I really do. But I don’t want to. So, I’m here until I figure out what to do about it.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“Why don’t you tell me, Hell?” he asked sarcastically, putting emphasis on her name.
“It’s Hellen. Only my friends can get away with calling me Hell. And I have no clue why you do anything. I’m even wondering why I didn’t leave you floating upside down in the swamp.”
“Because it’s your job not to.”
“Oh! So, you are capable of reasonable thought. Great! Let’s see how far that reason goes. Leave my home now. It’s a reasonable request.”
“I traveled a long time to get here. While injured, I might add. The least you can do is offer me a place to rest.”
“The yard is out there. You’re welcome to it.”
And just like that rain began to fall.
