Obligatory Disclaimer: Dark Horse and Mr. Mignola own all, save for my own original characters. A special thank you to Guillermo del Toro for bringing this wonderful character to my attention.
"I got's the penthouse unit," Torie said with a rueful smile, pointing at the third floor balcony of the nondescript concrete building rising before them. The area surrounding them was run-down, bordering on derelict. But flower boxes hung from the railing of the balcony Torie was pointing to and they were decorated with Christmas lights, which blinked a cheery welcome to them.
Torie began waking towards the front door of the apartment building. "I know, you were expecting something a little more… run down in this neck of the woods. But oh no! My place – primo. So don't be hatin'. And, as an added bonus, there's no elevator so we get to walk up three flights of stairs and get even more exercise tonight. I know, glamorous. Especially on grocery day, let me tell you."
Hellboy shook his head and chuckled quietly. He followed behind the woman he had met just moments before, if he thought about it, into her home. Feeling almost like a stray puppy, Hellboy mused that Torie had walked quite a ways that evening – night – and yet still seemed to have a spring in her step. It made him feel almost… guilty for feeling so ragged.
It also occurred to him that he was following a virtual stranger into their home. This never happened before and it was difficult for Hellboy to wrap his head around the idea. But after her initial momentary fear of him, Torie seemed to quickly accept that he would do her no harm. And while that Hellboy was grateful for that, it was her rapid acceptance of what he looked like that threw him.
But, Hellboy supposed, he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when she was as young and refreshing – despite her world-weariness – as Torie was.
But for the moment, he was going to live by his credo of 'expect the worst, hope for the best' and not let himself get too emotionally attached to the woman. Having learned the tough lesson several times over in the past, Hellboy refused to let down his defenses so easily.
But that didn't mean Hellboy could enjoy her company while he waited for the other shoe to drop.
Silent except for the echoing sound of their footsteps on the metal steps reverberating all around them, they climbed the three flights of stairs to Torie's floor. A big, stenciled number 3 painted on the door at the top announced their destination. Torie pushed down on the door handle and Hellboy followed her and her dog into a hallway, where he was surprised to only see two apartment doors, one opposite the other, about halfway down the passageway. At the end of the hallway before him was a window with a draft that caused a gauzy curtain to flutter. Beneath it was a radiator that he doubted had been turned on in the past decade or so, it was so cold in the corridor.
A jingle of her keys brought his attention to the door in left of him. With a twist of her wrist, Torie opened the door and beckoned for Hellboy to follow her in.
He stepped over a doormat that directed him to 'Wipe Your Paws' and once inside, Hellboy took in his surroundings. Torie had shrugged off her coat and tossed it on the couch. She stuffed her hat in her coat pocket and after she unsnapped Lance's leash, she set it on a hook next to the front door. Torie headed towards the kitchen, following her dog as he bounded over to his water bowl, peeling off the green sweater she was wearing and setting it on the kitchen counter.
Hellboy was embarrassed at his disappointment that Torie was wearing a t-shirt beneath the sweater. He looked away and was glad her back was to him, so he was able to focus on his surroundings. There wasn't much to the apartment so Hellboy was able to absorb most of his surroundings pretty quickly. The apartment itself seemed almost like a loft, but with an enclosed bedroom. Posters of classic films hung in cheap frames and books were piled everywhere. There was a decidedly college flair to his surroundings, but the way everything was arranged made Hellboy feel that there was a maturity far exceeding Torie's years.
After a few moments, Torie realized that Hellboy was still standing near her front door. Mad at herself for not being a better hostess, Torie turned around closed the distance between them. Seeing the furrow of his brow, it dawned on her that he was unsure of himself. She found that realization rather endearing and that caused his physical appearance a little less intimidating.
But, feeling rather like Scarlet O'Hara, Torie reflected that she would deal with having a large, red man in her home some other day. Possibly inviting a… demon into her home was a bad idea, but it was a little too late to think about the consequences of that action after the fact. Besides, he wasn't acting malicious, just awkward.
"Want to take off your coat?" she asked, breaking into his thoughts.
"Uh, sure."
Hellboy shrugged off his leather duster and handed it to Torie, who tossed it on top of her own. When she turned back towards Hellboy, ready to invite him to follow her into the kitchen to get some coffee, a look of fear washed across her features. He followed her line of vision and saw that the weapons attached to the belt encircling his waist was her cause for alarm. More specifically, her gaze was focused on the Samaritan, his custom built gun that, now that he thought about it, had to be as big as Torie's head.
"Uhm, yeah. Let me… let me put this with my coat. I promise, not for use on you. More for use on the boogeyman and such I was talking about."
He deftly unbuckled his belt and slung it on top of his coat, careful of the relics and talismans tied around the perimeter. Hellboy then stepped forward, motioning Torie to head towards the kitchen by fanning his hands back and forth.
With one last glance over her shoulder towards the weapon's belt, Torie haltingly led the way to the kitchen. She was putting a lot of trust in him that the weapons weren't something for her to worry about. But he had taken them off, which Torie considered an act of peace, so she was going to pretend that everything was fine. She did take note, however, that Hellboy had a good number of reliquary attached to his person. That was very interesting indeed. Especially in light of the conversation that was had in the shadow of the church earlier.
Hellboy was painfully aware of her silence, it was as thick as peanut butter around them, but figured she hadn't freaked out and that the damage was done anyway. So he followed her retreating back deeper into the apartment. He had to admit that her apartment was warm and inviting, despite being an open floor plan with high ceilings. Cozy. He hoped that she would show him all of it, but for the moment he settled for admiring her kitchen.
The kitchen appliances and sink wrapped around the back right corner of the apartment, with a counter and overhead cabinets dividing the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, making it a galley kitchen of sorts. Barstools lined the counter on the outside and Hellboy slid his bulk into one of them as Torie walked behind the other side, searching for her bag of instant coffee and a mug in the cabinets above. After putting the coffee in the microwave to brew, Torie asked, "Want anything to eat?"
Her words interrupted his inspection of her apartment and caught him off guard. "Huh?"
Torie bit her top lip in amusement. He might look different from her, but it seemed that on the inside, there wasn't much separating him from other people in the world. "I think I'm plumb out of 'huh.' Must have finished all that the other day. But I can make you a sandwich or break out some cookies or something."
He rolled his eyes in response to her humor and with a chuckle, said, "Cookies would be good. But don't go to too much trouble for me. I'm not too hungry."
Torie grabbed a ponytail holder from a saucer on the counter and pulled her hair back, biting her lip in thought. After a moment, a smile crossed her lips and she pivoted, grabbing a paper grocery bag off the top of the fridge and plunked it down in front of him.
"My friend sent a care package and there's no way I'm going to eat next to any of this stuff, so dig in."
Seeing his hesitation, Torie tipped the bag on its side and spread the contents across the counter before her visitor. Before him appeared a bag of Oreo Double Stuff, a box Vanilla Wafers, a baggie of homemade oatmeal cookies, a box of cinnamon Graham crackers…
…and a bag of Baby Ruth candy bars.
"Wait," he breathed. "You're giving up your Baby Ruths to me?"
Torie smiled and shook her head in amusement. He certainly looked like a grown… Man, not demon. And yet he was acting like a kind in a… Don't even think of finishing that thought, Torie. "Have at 'em. You have no idea how much stuff I've already taken to work to share with my co-workers and the women I help, let alone consumed myself. There was enough junk food in that cardboard box over there to last until the end of time."
His eyes were glowing golden with excitement as he cautiously reached for the bag. "Lady, you have no idea how much your worth has increased in my eyes. Anyone who gives me Baby Ruths is someone who has made a friend for life." He bit into a candy bar and shook his head in bliss.
Then what she said seemed to dawn on him. "Care package? Don't you usually get that when you're far away from home or something?" he asked, chocolate and peanut bits falling from his mouth and sprinkling onto the countertop.
Torie chuckled as she set before him some coffee into an oversized mug. He was like a little kid who was given a rare treat. She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that this being was sitting at her kitchen counter, but it was slow going in making friends for the four months she was in Connecticut, so an evening of companionship that wasn't of the canine variety was a nice change of pace. Besides, the situation was too trippy for her to believe it was actually happening. For all Torie knew, she could be having the most realistic dream of her life.
"Well, I moved here not that long ago. How I ended up in Connecticut is a rather long story that I'll share with you some other time. But my friend Monica sent it because she thinks I'm not making enough new friends out here. And she packed a box with so much junk food so I could offer it to people and make new friends. But whatever. You try making friends with the hours I keep. And really, I'm too busy to notice. But at least I met someone who can indulge in some of the sugar. I'll make sure I let her know," Torie finished with a smile and a wink.
As she continued watching him eat one candy bar after another, Torie took a sip of coffee from her own mug and decided that it needed creamer and sugar. I have no idea how anyone can stand the taste of coffee black.
After turning her coffee from black to pale, Jessie pulled her ponytail holder out and set it back on the counter as she stirred her spoon. She then pulled her fingers through her tresses and shook her head to fluff it out.
"'…And her hair spilled out like root beer…'" Hellboy said, watching Torie toss her hair from over the rim of his coffee cup.
Torie looked into his eyes, surprised. The words that Hellboy said were so unexpected that Torie was speechless. But the more she thought about it, the more Torie realized that the guy in her kitchen actually reminded her of the music she would listen to, night after night, in order to shut out the loneliness – despite how lonely the music itself seemed to be. Their voices even sound similar, deep and scratchy. Almost like tires on a gravel road after whiskey had been poured all over it and then lit on fire.
"Burma Shave. Tom Waits," she replied. "I love that line. I love all of his lyrics, truth be told. But man, to have someone direct that line at me… wow. It's strange to admit, I know, but as soon as I heard that song, that line, I wanted someone to say that about me. I have never heard a better description of… anyone. So thanks. I think. But the ponytail thing is a bad habit of mine. Been putting my hair up and then taking it down incessantly for as long as I can remember."
"You like Tom Waits?" Hellboy was dumbfounded. He didn't think anyone as young as Torie would be interested in someone as undefinable as Tom Waits.
In response, Torie walked out of the kitchen and over to her coffee table and picked up a remote. Clicking it in the direction of her stereo that was next to her sliding glass doors, she smiled over at Hellboy as 'Old 55'came drifting into the room.
"You know, Sarah McLaughlin recorded a live version of this. I have it floating around somewhere. Not a big fan of covers, but I figure that it was more of an homage. And the Eagles… they didn't seem to 'get it,' despite doing a fantastic version of it. Fabulous song, but without the emotion of Tom's. So yeah, I love Tom Waits. He gets it, like no other." Torie took a seat next to Hellboy and smiled up at him. He nodded his head, unsure of what to say and was grateful he has able to sip his coffee instead of answering.
She suddenly sprung out of the barstool and said, "Hey, I've been a bad hostess. I'm sure you would be more comfortable on the sofa. Wanna relocate?"
Hellboy spun around and faced the rest of the apartment. The brown couch was oversized and overstuffed and, he had to admit, very inviting. He reached back onto the counter and picked up his cup of coffee. "Sure. But I don't want to be in your hair for too long. If you want to go to bed, I can head home."
Torie smiled and shook her head in the negative. "Naw… I'm off tomorrow, so don't sweat it. This has to be the most exciting Friday night I've had in a long time. Please… sit. Stay. Drink bad coffee. Eat a few candy bars. Listen to some Waits with me. And now that I've said that this is an exciting Friday night, you must think I'm really sad." She winked and motioned for him to follow her. "And now for the nickel tour, which you can have without moving. To your left is the restroom behind that closed door in the corner. Please lower the seat after use, as I don't want Lance drinking out of the toilet. You know where the kitchen is; if you want more coffee, have at it. In the far corner is my bedroom. Between the bedroom and bathroom is my balcony, in case that slipped your attention. And the rest of this room is compromised of my family room. Any questions?"
Hellboy raised his left hand.
"Oh my goodness. I wasn't expecting an actual question, but yes?"
He smiled and asked, "Where is the designated smoking area?"
"Uhm… That would be past those sliding doors and onto the balcony. There's an ashtray and an overhang to protect you from the elements. Anything else?"
"You're a smoker?"
Shaking her head, Torie plopped down on the couch. "Not really. I mean, I've been known to bum a drag off of people, but the ashtray is more for the friends I'm not making for when they'll start coming over." Torie wanted to kick herself painting herself as a total knob. For the friends I'm not making. How much of a bigger loser can I make myself out to be? But Torie masked her face into complete irreverence and waited for another question from her newly formed friend.
Hellboy made a point of not making eye contact when his lips slid into a smile. Trying to cover his amusement by feigning interest in Torie's CD collection, he wandered over to her stereo and squatted before it, his tail swishing back and forth in time with the music.
"Thank you for not jumping on a perfect opening and making me feel like a loser, despite being one. Maybe next time, I'll be more entertaining."
Hellboy immediately stood and looked at Torie hard, feeling his heart skip a beat. "Next time? You mean you're willing to have me come back?"
Torie wrinkled her brow. She actually hadn't really thought about that; the words had just popped out of her mouth. But after a moment's pause, she replied, "That's more your call than mine. I'm gathering that you making a visit would require some work on your part. But sure." Torie shrugged her shoulders. "That is, if you don't eat my dog or anything. Now c'mon and sit down, you're making me nervous!"
Hellboy ruffled her hair as he walked past her and sat down with exaggerated grace on the sofa. Lance had curled up on one end and the dog beat his tail against the fabric in greeting. Hellboy laughed and rubbed his left hand along the dog's back in salutation.