"Corby…?"
His name was spoken so softly, his consciousness–having almost not registered the sound at all–had dismissed it. He went right back to sleep. He was tired, reluctant to let go of the sweet world of Dreamland and return to harsh reality.
But then it happened again. Louder this time. "Corby…?"
It had woken him up this time and his eyes fluttered open. It was the boy whispering his name in his ear. "What…?" he replied, gruffly. He must have dozed off despite his restlessness. He coughed himself awake. Getting his bearing, he glanced out the window. "Is it nighttime already?" he asked.
The boy didn't say anything. He was just looking at him. Corby could see the blue of his eyes even in the dark. Taking a peek at his computer monitors, Corby worked out that they were still somewhere over the Atlantic. Eastbound. Flying into the night as it had already set over the eastern hemisphere. No wonder it'd gotten so dark so fast, faster than usual.
The boy was perched at the edge of his seat, looking at Corby impatiently. He must have been waiting for him to wake up for a while. He looked well-rested now if a little edgy. Corby figured he didn't remember much of what happened before. He must have been wondering how he got here. Corby felt guilty for having fallen asleep on him. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on the boy. Not the other way around.
"You woke up, eh?" he asked. The boy nodded, yes.
"We'll be getting to Egypt soon," Corby said, to reassure him. "Remember, you asked me to take you to Egypt?"
The boy nodded, still not saying anything. Corby figured he didn't know a lot of words. He smiled at him though.
"Not too soon though. We still got something like two and a half hours. You might as well lean back and relax."
The boy took his advice and leaned back, his eyes trained on Corby. The way he was looking at him was making Corby's heart vault in his chest. He could tell the boy didn't want to sit back and relax, he was itching to do something.
Unfortunately, within the confines of the car, there wasn't much to do. Corby looked around, trying to think of something. "You hungry?" he asked, realizing he must have been starving. The boy looked at him quizzically; he didn't understand.
"Huuungryyyy…" Corby repeated, pantomiming eating something. But it didn't seem like he knew what it meant.
"Would you like to e-a-t something?" Corby spelled. Nothing. It was probably better if he just showed him. He found an unwrapped chocolate bar and nibbled at it. The boy watched him curiously. Satisfied, Corby rubbed his belly and moaned in delight. "Mmm, goooood." He handed it over to the boy then, hoping that he got the gist. He took it, inspected it curiously, and beamed, happy to get a present. He still seemed to have zero understanding of what he was supposed to do with it though. He'd never eaten anything before in his life, Corby realized. His stomach was literally empty.
"Eat!" Corby suggested, encouragingly. He made an exaggerated chewing motion and pointed his index finger at his own mouth. Then, he pointed at the chocolate bar the boy was holding. Monkey see, monkey do, right?
The boy narrowed his eyes at him; there was a sparkle of understanding. He sniffed at the chocolate bar, uncertainly, drawing it closer to his head. And then he'd taken a small bite of it, seemingly not sure what to expect. Umm, yum! For a moment, he had to close his eyes, it was so good. Corby was watching him closely and his lips curved in a smile. The boy gobbled the chocolate bar down, very enthusiastically now that he'd discovered what it tasted like. He sure seemed to like it. Corby gave him another one. He was glad he didn't disappoint him. First impressions were tricky. And he wanted to make a good impression on him.
Watching him munch on chocolate, Corby's smile faded though. Not from this world, was he? Frowning, Corby studied him. Who even was he? And where the fuck did he come from? "You seem to like chocolate, huh?" he asked.
Loo nodded repeatedly.
"It's okay. Everyone loves it," he said and when the boy finished his third bar, he gave him a cup of Coke. "Try this," he said. "I suppose you're gonna like this too."
Loo looked at the cup with a straw in it and it seemed to puzzle him. Was he supposed to chew on it?
"No, no," Corby said as if reading his thoughts. "You put it in your mouth and then you suck on it. Let me demonstrate. You go like this…" He sucked on the straw. His mouth got full of liquid. He gulped. "See? Now you try it."
The boy was watching him, mystified. And when Corby handed over the cup, he tried doing what he was doing, from under his eyebrows watching if Corby approved. Corby gave him an A-Okay. Loo sucked on the straw until he got a mouthful of liquid. His eyes got wide. Then he forgot to swallow it and it burst out of his mouth.
"Nice try," Corby said, chuckling. "Just go a little slower next time, alright?" He gave him a napkin to dry himself.
The next time he swallowed and it was okay. He was learning faster than Corby expected him to. There was a moment of silence and Corby was subjected to the blue of his eyes again. So beautiful…He had to look away; he couldn't stand the eye contact any longer. Jesus Christ, what the boy was doing to him? He reminded himself he ought to be careful. He was a man on a mission. He was expected to perform. And having this angel in front of him just wasn't helping.
"Corby?" Loo whispered, quick to pick up on Corby's troubled emotions. So he didn't know how to eat or drink, but he could read faces?
Corby's face softened though. "I'm here," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."
Reassured, the boy relaxed. He continued sucking on the straw. Corby was probably the only person on this planet he knew. He felt like he could trust him. Corby wasn't sure he should have trusted him though. He was out of shape. He failed his last mission. What was to stop him from flunking another one? He wasn't going to let it happen though. He knew better now. He wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes.
Noticing something through the windshield, Loo suddenly whispered, "Wow!"
Corby noticed the sun was rising over the horizon, heralding the beginning of a new day. They drove straight through the night. He watched the quickly reddening sky and he could now pick up the outlines of land in the distance. They crossed the ocean alright. New York was left far behind. And as he watched the glowing yellow circle rise, Corby hoped he could leave the mistakes of the past behind too. He was hoping to open a new page and begin a new chapter.