Chapter Text
You are chilling in your apartment,watching tv. You feel your stomach growling as you look at the watch on your wrist and notice that it's lunch time. You stand up and stir,get your apron and put it on,then go to a nearby drawer and check what you can possibly cook. You..realise that you don't have enough food for this apocalypse. It can last a maximum of 3 days. You sigh and make yourself a simple sandwich with ham,lettuce and tomato. After eating and brushing your teeth,you decide that this afternoon you will exit your apartment to maybe scavenge for food and bandages or something.
At around 3 pm, you stand in front of the apartment door, preparing mentally for whatever is out there. You step outside and see the ruined apartment floor you're in. Yep,this will take a lot. You take a deep sigh and start walking,a tight grip on your personal cleaver that you somehow didn't forget to bring,which seems rather rare. You explore abandoned apartments, looking through bathroom cabinets and fridges and drawers in the kitchens. You manage to find some junk, some food, a first aid kit, and 2 bandages. Hey, it's not that bad for your first scavenging! When you walk out of the ruined apartment you were in, you wonder if you should either explore a little more or go back home, but these thoughts were soon stopped by something hitting your head.
You fall unconscious.
...
You wake up not shortly after the hit. What's the time? Where are you? How much time did you stay unconscious? You don't have any answers,of course, but the only thing you know is that your head hurts. You groggily stir and rest your hand on your forehead,only to notice that you have bandages on your head. You never put these on yourself,let alone you never have got injured during the scavenging you did. Your eyes dart around and you see,uh, a corpse? Doesn't seem like the corpse of a human, maybe that thing was the one that hit you. Or maybe you fought it, and you just don't remember it? No, impossible. Your cleaver is clean. No blood. Maybe someone found you being attacked by that thing? Yes,that's probably the most believable answer to it. You stand up,stumbling a bit because of your injured head and groggy state, pick up your things and rush home. It's not safe out here.
--
Home, sweet home! You realised you missed it more than you imagined. You missed your living room, your TV, your kitchen. Especially your kitchen. Before flopping like a jelly on the couch, you put the things you found outside where they should be. The couch feels more comfortable than you remember. Your eyes feel heavy. Reasonable because it's 7:30 pm,you've scavenged for the whole afternoon. You suppose that a nap wouldn't hurt,right? When you are about to close your eyelids, a knock is heard at your door. Your eyes shoot open and you flinch, the knock felt heavy, as if it was produced by a strong,big hand. You tense up and stand from your couch, walking towards the door again. You feel nervous. What if it's a possible threat? What if it's something that fakes being friendly just to hurt you,or worse, steal utensils from your kitchen? Your heart beats heavily, your breath is quick. you never felt this anxious by just a knock on your door since your teenage life. You take a deep breath and look through the peek hole.
What seems to be a man stands in front of the door. He looks large and heavy, reminds you of the apartment complex's janitor. You can't tell very well,but he's holding something. Your lips quiver and you build up the courage and speak up.
"Hello..?"
The man looks up at the peek hole and answers with a bright smile.
"Hi. I'm selling food. You want any? Open up and we can trade."
...A food trader? Hey, that's actually great! You can buy some food or trade something for it! You... don't have anything to trade or sell though, but you don't wanna be rude to him.
Your hand trembles and opens the door, only to be found with a much more friendly looking man. You feel less threatened, but you're still nervous.
"Pretty anxious,eh? I get it. Talking to strangers is scary sometimes."
The hefty man comments, is he making fun of you or is he trying to be more friendly? You don't care enough to think about it,so you just nod quietly and clear your throat.
"Uh, yeah. So, what do you trade?"
"I'll show you in a second,may I come in?"
You hesitate,to say the least. he looks so strong and big,can you even defend yourself if he tries to attack you? You doubt. Your hand clutches itself,thinking that you're still holding the cleaver,even if it's now resting on the coffee table. His expression changes to your behavior,he looks almost uncomfortable. You fucked everything up,like always. Great.
"Uh, it's fine if you don't want to, I'm not forcing you."
You tried to protest,tell him that it's not his fault, but it's too late. He puts his bags on the ground and opens them, showing you the food he's got. He's got a lot of canned goodies and more fresh looking vegetables and fruits. Is that a pumpkin?
"How much for the pumpkin?"
You ask, curious about it. It looks pretty good,you can maybe use it to make soup or a pie. The man seems to be counting mentally,before answering.
"umm.. 29,if i remember correctly."
Jeez, that's a lot for a pumpkin. But in this apocalypse the price seems fair. You nod and put your hand in your pocket, but when you pull it out, you see only a 50 dollar bill. Great. You're low in money. Well you already knew that,but you're more poor than you remember. You panic slightly and mumble out the first things that comes out of your mind
"U-uh is it okay if in exchange I give you some cooking advice? I'm a c-cook..."
That's the most stupid thing you've ever heard coming from your own mouth. that's not even something PHYSICAL! oh, he's surely gonna refuse. Why did you say that? You feel like an idiot. Idiot. idiot! You gotta think twice before saying stuff otherwise you would be saying something like this. How can y-
"That'd be great. I've always wanted to improve my cooking skills. Let's do this."
He...agreed? He actually agreed! That's the best thing that could ever happen in this interaction! Your sweaty hands dry up and you exhale a breath that you were holding. You're more relieved than you thought.
"Oh,yeah. Let's do it."
You get from the hefty man the pumpkin you saw earlier and a few other vegetables. You also managed to get some flour and sugar. You don't question where he got them. You share some advice with him,mostly basic cooking skills. You can't help but notice how interested and focused he is. His big eyes look at you as you talk, you sometimes feel your breath hitching at his gaze.
After you finish telling him some cooking improvement skills,he puts the big bag on his shoulder and grabs the other one, preparing to probably leave and trade a little more with other survivors or something.
"Well,it was nice trading with you. I might come back for some more cooking skills,heh."
Coming back? Him? Is this a threat? No, it can't be. He's nicer than you imagined. You're starting to think that he just looks dangerous, but isn't. Or at least it's what you hope he is. He will come back for more information in exchange for what he's got in his bags, so it's okay. Not a real threat, right?
"That's good, I wouldn't mind getting some more ingredients for recipes I've got."
You manage to say out loud without any stutter. Wow, you feel proud of yourself. The man just nods and smiles, you can almost hear a faint chuckle coming from him. He turns away from you and walks away,before he turns back to you and speaks up
"Oh, what's your name, by the way? I've never got it."
Great, it's time to share names. You hope that he doesn't make fun of you.
"It's Hobbs."
The man smiles. Is that a "I like your name" smile or a "that's the most pathetic name i've ever heard" smile? You really hope it's the first option.
"Nice to meet you then,Hobbs. I'm Larry."
So his name is Larry? It..fits him, honestly. And The way he pronounces your name sounds so peaceful,so nice,almost... cute. Wait,no, Hobbs calm your ass down, you can't start crushing on the first one you meet. Especially if it's someone you're gonna see twice in your life. Even if he's not so bad,he can almost pa- OKAY. HOBBS. STOP. you take a mental deep breath and wave at Larry, who is waving too and walking away."
"You too- Uh- B-Bye,Larry."
You stutter once again. Always stuttering. you should stop doing it. Larry doesn't seem to mind the stuttering though, or doesn't notice. You don't know between the two. You rub your temples and close the door, before sliding against it and sitting down. That was the hardest interaction you've ever had in this cataclysm, you don't wanna do it again. But despite that, you still kinda hope to see Larry soon,or sooner than intended. Your stomach growls again, reminding you that it's dinner time, or past. You stand up, stir and go to your beloved kitchen and prepare a quick dinner (steak and lettuce as a side) for you. This time, the steak tastes better than the last time. Juicier, more tender, with the right amount of salt. You get up from the dinner table satisfied and full, but now back to the usual every-day routine. You go to the bathroom and take a shower, then brush your teeth, then put on your pajamas and go to bed. You fall asleep soon after.
--
The next few days, you often go out scavenging for supplies. This time, you're more alarmed and careful. Not to mention that your knife is sharper than normal, mainly for self defense but also for cooking stuff, y'know? You went in about 3 fights in total, winning all of em. You must admit that the last one was the toughest,though. Anyway, It's like, what, Tuesday? You're about to go out to search for more food and maybe ask some people to trade them for cooking skill improvement,not to mention that after the first interaction with the food trader the idea of cooking advice for food is a good trade, when you hear a knock on the door. This is the first one of the week. You feel less anxious than last time, thinking that your fighting skills have improved with the fights, but you still can't shake the feeling of meeting someone or something way stronger than you. Your hand clutches the knife tightly as you look through the peek hole.
Your eyes light up in relief as you see the familiar silhouette of what seems to be Larry. You can feel your lips wobbly trying not to smile at him, as if his presence is a reassurance. You feel already pathetic because of this but you shake off the feeling and straight up open the door instead of speaking from the peek hole, feeling confident than ever with your decision of risking your safety without thinking more than once. Well, you guessed right, it IS Larry. He seems to be holding the same bags as the last time.
"Hi, Hobbs. Got some new stuff, you interested?"
New stuff? Now that's MORE than interesting! You're almost excited to see the so called new stuff. Will there be a new pumpkin? Or maybe something else? You really wanna know. You nod your head and cross your arms, leaning against the side of the door.
"Hey,Larry. I'd love to."
Larry's eyes almost light up enthusiastically and he places the bags in front of your door to open them and show what he's got. There are so many new ingredients that you can use in more difficult recipes you've always wanted to make. Hey, despite the circumstances, why not try them? The world is probably ending and it's up to fate to choose what's gonna happen in less than 15 days, so you don't see a reason why you shouldn't survive them without doing your favourite hobby. You choose the ones that peaked your interest the most and told Larry some cooking advice to improve his own cooking skills. He sure did appreciate it, you can tell by the look on his face. You two chat for another bit, asking each other stuff like "how are you" or "how did you sleep today" or "did you even close your eyes tonight", then he leaves. Despite this being your second interaction, you like him already. Larry seems like a good guy! A friendly friend, the hefty partner that every time you get hurt he fights for you, you know?
You wish you could talk with him just a little more.