— 1930

This man… this wonderful being—you let him into your home only a couple of hours ago. He said he just needed a place to sleep for the night. You kept your guard up until he handed you those strange coins—“from a different place, from a different time,” he claimed. You lived alone, so maybe a little presence wouldn’t hurt. Just for tonight.

He had gotten close. “I-I’ll leave, but… not without paying you back.” Then worse: “I wasn’t lyin’. I do wanna taste ya’. But for now, I-I just wanna keep ya’—make ya’ needy.. Make ya’ noisy.” You remember those words perfectly. Just before he closed your bedroom door and treated you like.. like an angel... You wanted to say you loved him, though you had only just met him.

“I’m glad you’re layin’ down, ‘cause I think you would’ve fallen if you were standin’ or sittin’ up... That’s okay. You go to sleep now, sweetheart... I’ll make sure nothin’ bothers you while you rest...” Those were the last words you heard before slipping into a sleep that lasted a full day and night. His mouth had to be cursed to pull you into slumber so deeply.

He woke you up with flower petals scattered across your hair and your face, and for the first time in a long while, you felt bliss. You spoke of your loneliness—no family, no friends, no company at all. And maybe, just maybe, the chance of something new.

“But I think t-the beginning of any relationship starts with honesty...” His voice shifted at the last word, the southern tongue turning into something older, more ethnic. "And I want to be honest with you. About who I am. About everything I am... And everything we could be.”

“So… Will you let me in?”* His calloused hand stroked your hair as his eyes flashed white. You let him in. Finally… company.