Snacks

By: RebekahWSD


Some people have a knack for finding strange things. Strange things always seem to find Zane Legends. Although right now, he had the inability to find everything since it was pitch black outside. While the town had told him they doused all lights at night to stop the native raiding parties that came through, he didn't realize quite how dark it got during the new moon.

It had gotten incredibly dark and foreboding, the town quiet save for the sound of dogs and cats wandering the streets. He had been sleeping soundly on the floor of the inn, since there had been no more open rooms available. Another man was also sleeping on the floor. He had had no money, but the owner seemed reluctant to throw him outside, especially with the natives nearby. And so he had joined the gentleman, the small amount of cash he had given the owner only meant he got one of the nicer blankets she had.

And he would have slept through the night, had his stomach not started growling. He tried to ignore it for as long as possible, but as it got worse he knew he had to find something to eat.

Standing up, slowly felt his way behind the bar and into the kitchen. The owner had said breakfast was part of the fee for staying the night, so it stood to reason that a midnight snack was also part of the deal, right?

Well, he hoped so since he had already managed to find a loaf of bread in the dark. He was really quite good at finding food, even in the darkest of areas. Fumbling around, he found the leftover roast they had had for dinner, slicing off a chunk. A quick drizzle of mustard on the bread before he slapped the meat between two slices, and he had himself a sandwich. A pretty good sandwich, all in all. He ate it slowly, savoring the taste before finishing it off, sighing softly. He'd have another if he wasn't sure the owner would charge him more.

Fumbling his way back into the bar area, he frowned as he realized he couldn't quite remember where his blanket was.

Slowly, very slowly he inched forward, feeling the ground with his sock covered feet, hoping to find his blanket. He smiled as he found something fabric like on the ground, nudging it as he laid down, pulling the blanket over himself.

His relief was short lived as he felt someone wrap their arms around him on the floor.

“Maybelline? You came back to bed...” the voice said, thick and sleepy. His eyes went wide as he realized that it was his fellow...floormate, the guy that the owner hadn't wished to kick out into the night.

“No, my name is Zane, please...stop cuddling me...” Zane said, wheezing as the guy squeezed him tighter. He knew the guy was strong, he was built like an ox, and he sure didn't want to get into a tussle with him. But he also didn't want to cuddle with him the rest of the night.

“Mmm...Maybelline...I knew you'd come back...” the guy said, snuggling closer to Zane. Zane squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of how to get free without making the guy freak out and hurt him.

“Listen. I'm not Maybelline. I'm sorry, but I'm just not. Please let me go,” he said, a bit louder. It didn't seem like it was loud enough to wake him up.

“Let me go, please?” he said, even louder. No response.

“Oh sausages...” he sighed when he realized the guy was too fast asleep to even hear him. He closed his eyes, and decided that pretending the guy was just a very large woman would let him go back to sleep with his dignity mostly intact.

As the sun rose, he woke up to feel the guy who had kept him in a stranglehold shifting before releasing him suddenly.

“Finally woke up?” Zane grumbled as he sat up. When the guy didn't respond, he turned to look at him.

“What, are you just going to pretend that didn't happen? Guess I can also...” Zane said before trailing off. The guy was bright red, shaking his head quickly as if he was trying to apologize somehow.

He raised his hands in front of him before tapping his ear before shaking his head. Zane frowned before realizing what the guy was trying to say.

“You're deaf. You're deaf! Well that explains why when I told you to let me go you didn't...” Zane said with a sigh. The guy nodded as he read Zane's lips before managing to say a quiet sorry.

Zane shrugged. “It's fine now. I just know next time to be a bit more careful where I lie down!”

The guy laughed, nodding as they both stood up, the owner coming into the room with their breakfast.


Genre: Western
Setting: In the dark
Character: Deaf person