This might not be heaven's door...

[undomesticated]

WHO: Riley and the residents of House 20
WHAT: Looking for a place to stay
WHERE: House 20
WHEN: Backdated to the late evening of Day 49
WARNINGS: None. I'll be certain to update if any are required.

She'd wandered around the town for the rest of the evening, not coming across too many people, but that left her with more of a sense of unease than anything else. It was one thing for there to be a lack of people in something like the woods or something like that, but walking through a city that felt abandoned just gave her the creeps. A few of the Amazonian tribes her father had studied considered abandoned villages to be bad luck. Usually for a good reason, since a fully abandoned village was usually due to a disease that had swept it and killed most of the inhabitants. It left a taint around it, not unlike the feeling that crept up her spine as she made her way through the city.

The unease could also be because of the cameras everywhere. They made her want to look over her shoulder to see who was watching her. No one was there, but she couldn't stop feeling like she wanted to hunch her shoulders, protect herself slightly against some invisible enemy.

It was getting late and she found herself getting tired. The prospect of sleeping out in the open did not appeal to her. Not in this place. That left her trying to find somewhere to crash. She saw a house up ahead, one with sounds coming from it that told her there were people in it. She went over her options in her head, not finding too many that were overly appealing. She had no idea if the hunter Brigid had mentioned lived here, but the least she could do was check. Riley needed somewhere to stay, and staying around someone was preferable to being alone in this place.

She went up to the door, taking a deep breath to firm her resolve before she knocked on the door.

Comments

[onteamdyson]

It took about a minute before anyone came down to answer the door. Most of their regular visitors just kind of barged in and gravitated to the kitchen. The only people that ever knocked were super-polite dudes like Bruce or newbies like Ned, which meant she needed a sec to clear some stuff off the living room floor and make sure she had a small knife in her way-too-big, borrowed hoodie before opening the door.

When she does open it, she flings the damn thing open! Element of surprise! Double surprise when she also shouts, "HEY!" And flashes a mischievous grin at a face she doesn't recognize. "Can we help you?"

[undomesticated]

She'd heard someone coming towards the door, but having it flung open and the yelled 'hey' had her jumping back slightly, eyes wide. Maybe staying with people wasn't such a good idea.

Riley turned to look back out at the dark street, the chill going up her spine at the deserted feeling making her mind up for her. "Hi. Um, this is going to maybe sound a little weird, but... do you know if there's somewhere here I could stay? At least just for the night?" She tried not to look as uncomfortable as she felt.

[onteamdyson]

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." Kenzi looks the new girl over, holding her chin in her sleeve-covered hand as she ponders. "That depends. How do you feel about rock music, deer stew, and a house full of dudes? Also name! Totes gonna need your name. Do you do dishes?"

[undomesticated]

"Um," she bit her lip as she thought about the answers to each question. "Rock music's fine, I pretty much like anything with meat, and I have two older brothers. I'm used to underwear in non-underwear places. My name's Riley and yes?" She gave the girl looking at her with light blue eyes a hopeful look.

[onteamdyson]

This is one intense poker face. Can she even handle all this suspense?! Kenzi's even squeezing one eye shut, this is some severe decision making. Eventually she steps aside, gesturing for the girl to come inside. She passed the test.

"Well hey, Riley. I'm Kenzi. You can chill with us as long as you need to. Galen and Jesse have the master bedroom upstairs, Clint's got the attic, my room's the one with the drum set, Ned's room is down here and you can take the least messy spare room. It's across from Ned's." The mischievous smile turns bright as she closes the door behind Riley. "Did someone already give you the run down?"

[undomesticated]

The relief she felt was likely apparent on her face and she was quick to step in when Kenzi gestured. The house smelled occupied, something that she'd been missing the scent of since arriving in this town. She looked over at the question. "Which one? About not being able to leave here? Or about the awesome cats in the woods? Or about the death to all that try?"

[onteamdyson]

"All that and more, sugarlump. There's not just cats in the woods. And death isn't exactly the worst thing that happens..." Or a permanent thing, in some cases. But everything from that week was totally fucked up and she's still not really sure if he--

Ha. Haha... moving on.

Kenzi leads the way to the unoccupied main-floor bedroom and flips the light switch. No one's been in here yet, the bed's still made and everything. "I guess we can talk about all that stuff later. After you get settled. Do you need anything? Are you hungry? You're not a psycho murderer, are you?" She's only half serious.

[undomesticated]

She followed behind Kenzi, half sure this was all just some really strange dream. Maybe she'd been slipped some of the spirit potion from one of the shamans again. That had been fun times, except not really.

Riley looks in the room, not expecting much and just pleased to have something close to a bed to curl up on. She'd made due before and she could again, but she preferred not having to. Kenzi's questions made her think about that. "I guess I could eat something. Should, really." When was the last time she'd eaten? Before she'd wound up here, that was for sure. Probably the previous evening.

"I can promise you I've never murdered anyone, psychotically or otherwise. I've hunted, but that's different."

[onteamdyson]

"Holy shit, seriously? Perfect. Hunting is kind of essential. Usually for big stuff, I go with Party Poison. He doesn't live here, he's-- ... a friend. You might see him around." A lot. He's a good friend. A really, really good friend. "But it would be so much easier to just go out and grab small stuff every other day to stock up."

And if the girl needs to eat, she's gonna eat. Kenzi smiles. "How about you get cozy and I bring you something?"

[undomesticated]

"If you're willing to let me stay here, it's the least I can do." Hunting small game, or even medium sized game alone, wasn't unfamiliar to her. She wouldn't have any problem with it, unless she ran into those sabretooth tigers.

"Thank you." Relief was her main sensation at the moment. She was used to being able to pitch in and work for her place when she stayed in the territories of other cultures, but she always found herself unsure when she came home. People in more 'civilized places' were more unpredictable to her.

She went over to the bed, sitting lightly on it. The place smelled of dust, and she might have caught the faint scent of the person who used to be here, but she couldn't be sure. Riley was glad that Kenzi had agreed to let her stay. She wasn't a pack creature by nature, but she was used to being around her family when she was in a strange new location. She missed that. She hadn't realized how much until she'd woken up here and the familiar and comforting scents of her family weren't around. She looked down to stare at the carpet under her feet, wondering how they were and if they missed her.