Page 49 of Darkness

Instead of cheap fast food, they pulled up at a rather classy steakhouse. Morrisey turned off the ignition, faced Farren, and smirked. “You offered me lunch. I’m warning you, I ain’t a cheap date.”

Farren fought a grin. “Duly noted.” The joke, however tentative, said maybe the next hour or so wouldn’t be all bad.

Morrisey smiled for one brief moment, really smiled, before tightening his cloak of grumpiness.

For a fleeting moment, Farren glimpsed the man hiding beneath the bristly exterior, hardened by pain and loss and hopeless situations—situations Farren knew all too well. Hope reared in his heart. Maybe they belonged working together after all.

Morrisey’s eyebrows knitted together. “You okay?”

“What? Oh, sure.” Now came Farren's chance to blush. “Lost in thought there for a minute.”

“Find your way back. I’m hungry.” Morrisey exited the vehicle and strode across the parking lot. Maybe he hadn't been escaping earlier. His long legs simply ate up the pavement with each stride.

Farren followed at a slower pace, allowing Morrisey to find a table in a secluded corner of the dining room. One menu lay on the table when Farren arrived and sat. “You waste no time.”

“Told you,” Morrisey replied from behind the other menu. “Hangry.”

Yes, Morrisey seemed pragmatic, focusing on whatever he currently deemed urgent. Farren perused his own menu.

A Southern drawl to end all Southern drawls sounded above them. "What can I bring y'all to drink?"

Farren glanced up to find a teenager who couldn’t have been long out of high school beaming down at them, seeming not to notice Morrisey’s scowl. For a good tip, the poor guy likely ignored many bad attitudes.

“Sweet tea, please,” Farren said.

Morrisey growled, “Same.”

So, we’ve returned to grouchy old cop, have we? Perhaps Morrisey’s default setting.

The drinks arrived a short time later. Farren ordered a ribeye, baked potato, and salad, while Morrisey ordered a hamburger steak and French fries.

“Would you like slaw or salad?” the server asked, looking up from his order pad.

Somehow Morrisey didn't come across as much of a salad eater. He confirmed the notion. “There’d better not be anything green on my plate.”

“We have corn on the cob.” The server donned a winning smile liable to coax good tips from customer’s wallets.

Morrisey responded with his grumpiest attitude. “That’s a vegetable. I don’t do healthy food.”

The kid gave a crooked grin. “They slather it in butter, sir. More butter than corn, actually. Trust me, it’s not even remotely healthy.”

“Works for me.” Morrisey folded his menu, took Farren’s, and then gave them both to the server.

Farren just upped the tip from twenty percent to twenty-five, settling in to take notes on how the server had deftly managed Morrisey.

The moment the kid wandered off, Farren willed a bubble of silence to shield them from eavesdroppers and began the conversation he both anticipated and dreaded in equal measure. “I’m sure you have questions. Ask away.”

Morrisey paused, taking a drink of tea. He sat the glass on the table, running a finger through the condensation on the side, pointedly not looking up. Thinking before he opened his mouth. Farren approved.

“First things first,” Morrisey said. “You just did something to keep other folks from listening in, didn’t you?”

How did Morrisey know? “Yes. We can speak freely.”

Morrisey nodded slightly, tapping out a beat on the tabletop with an index finger. “Where do you really come from? Space? I saw about realms and shit, but I don’t quite understand.”

A logical question. “No. My realm is like yours in some ways, vastly different in others. The realms exist parallel to each other, some similar to Terra’s environment. Some can’t sustain human life. Each is a whole unto itself. Sometimes, the boundaries weaken, a portal forms, and someone comes across.

"I have no idea how I ended up here. I just arrived one day.” Not the entire truth, but the individual who had summoned Farren didn't intend ill will. Farren wouldn’t throw the man under the proverbial bus. “Only our spirits, if you will, make the journey.”

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