10 minutes have passed since Khonshu left Henry behind when he felt growl coming from his abdomen. But he ignored it, thinking that it is remnants of his previous encounter with the zombie Moon knight. But another 10 minutes passed when he felt it again. It took another 20 minutes before the moon god realized that it wasn't his primal instincts after all, it's just regular mortal hunger.
He actually felt relieved at that, but his relief is short-lived when his stomach growled again. As if reminding the boy god one more time that he needs to actually eat. The discomfort it brings now just annoys the god to no end, though it pales in comparison to his primal hunger urges during his cannibalism days.
Now left with no choice, he stopped and looked around.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, he remembered that he doesn't have any money left. Khonshu end up cursing himself for being impulsive on spending again.
With no money, he debated if he will have to start searching through the trash. An action that he is starting to find less and less appealing after he starts gaining access to better tasting foods like fried chicken and ice cream. He can even smell newly cooked fried chicken as he passed by a restaurant. But he have nothing to pay it with and he refuses to resort to thievery. Instead, he sneaked around the establishment. To where he knows the trash bins are.
But when he arrived, he discovered that is was already ransacked. Nothing inside can be considered edible and consuming it will probably give him food poisoning.
But he kept his cool and went to the trash bins of the establishment next door. Unfortunately, that too is also ransacked. This went on for the next 3 establishments, and this only exasperates him more. And as if to make it worst, his stomach let out a loud and painful growl.
Khonshu stormed out from behind another restaurant, furious at finding another empty trash bin when he saw a familiar convenient store at the distance. He immediately felt his anger reside as he saw the sign that spells out "Harold's convenient store". The owner would usually be manning the cashier. And Khonshu knows that the man would have some leftover quick meals close to their expiration date, and he hopes that the store owner would give some to him than throw it away.
With that idea, He quickly walked closer to the store, and he noticed that the store front have changed since the last time he went there. The sign is still the same, but there are more potted plants decorating the front as well as a new exterior wall. Gone are the old and dirty white walls, in favor of a clearly new pastel blue finish.
The god also noticed a vending machine placed beside the entrance. He mused that the machine looks like a sentinel guarding the place. If the Sentinel is a large square block of steel with colorful packages inside.
After that distraction the moon god pushed against the front door on the left of the vending. His entrance signaled by the sound of a bell. Once inside, Khonshu noticed that the exterior wasn't the only one being renovated. The interior looks much brighter thanks to the new ceiling and light fixtures, there are even more products he isn't familiar with.
On the cashier counter, a man is seem hunched down behind it. The top of his back is the only thing visible as the man is clearly busy with something. He didn't look up but he heard the bell ring, so he started his usual greeting while still hunched down.
"Good afternoon…"
He said, and continued as he stood up,
"How may I help…Kay?"
The man paused when he saw who the face of his customer. He had to double take but he recognized the boy standing in front of him, and his face broke to a smiled at the sight of his former delivery boy.
"It is you! How you've been? I almost didn't recognize you with your hair like that. No offense."
Khonshu felt a mix of humour and annoyance. He finds it nice that Harold still treats him well, but he getting really tired with all the comments about his bangs again. It's starting to worry him about how noticeable it has become.
"Nice to see you too Harold." He greeted in a neutral but amused tone, and asked the store owner if he have some nearly expired egg rolls. The god knows that it is one of the items that Harold keeps restocking every week.
The man have worked with the boy long enough to be familiar with his rather serious attitude so Harold isn't fazed with how Khonshu sounded a bit demanding. Though the store owner hope that the kid would relax a bit outside of work, now it seemed that the kid is always on what the man dubbed as "work mode". Still, the man grew fond on the boy and agreed to give a pack. Even offered to heat it for Khonshu.
Khonshu nodded with that.
The store owner then turned around to open the chiller behind him. He do have some that will be expired in a few days but instead he went to the packs that arrived just yesterday. After a week, Harold learned just how stubborn and prideful the boy can be, and it does annoy Harold at times.
The man though, also knows just how hard-working and dedicated the boy is to complete every delivery.
A little too dedicated, He mused as he pushed the on button on the microwave. After 3 minutes, he took the roll and placed it in a paper bag. In the last minute though, Harold went to get a cold can of soda. When he handed the bag with the can of Coke, Khonshu just looked at Harold.
"I didn't ask for a can of Coka Cola Harold" he said. But the store owner insisted that Khonshu take it.
"For old time sake. And consider this as thanks for your helping around the store" He said but the kid god is insistent on refusing it. Khonshu tried to reason that he can't pay for it and that Harold is wasting products.
This went on for a while. Harold is starting to get annoyed at this and thought of an idea.
"How about this. You're worried about not paying this right? I have some errands you can do as payment. Just stop by anytime of the week."
He said.
But Khonshu still refuses to budge. Now this got Harold to yell back
"Yes! Even more. Listen, I'm not giving you this because I want something from you. I'm doing this because I want to. Honestly, you have done way too much for just being a delivery boy."
Khonshu can see that the man is now on a breaking point and accepted to help with the man's conscious.
"Finally, I swear you can be difficult sometimes." The man exclaimed. Khonshu let himself smirk at this, and Harold can obviously see it.
"That wasn't a complement Kay."
"I know" was all Khonshu's reply.
Harold raised an eyebrow at that, finding it a bit odd. But the store owner shrugged it off since Harold have met with even weirder people.
The two said their goodbye's with Khonshu promising to return the next day.
Once outside, he put the can under his armpit so he can unwrap the still-warm eggroll with two hands. Taking a large bit of it first while walking. He passed by pedestrians and a car chase. The sound of the police siren echoed around the bod, but he paid no mind to that as he is completely focused on eating. Within a minute, the eggroll is completely devoured and Khonshu looked around for a trash bin. He saw a rather empty public playground ahead of him and headed there.
Just as he thought, there is a trash bin provided.
Khonshu tossed the crumpled paper bag and took a seat on the bench beside it. Releasing a sigh as he finally rested his legs. The moon god also used that time to open his can of coke, and took one sip, which turned to many gulps. He didn't realize just how thirsty he was until the liquid hit his throat. He kept on drinking until the can is half way empty, surprising himself when he did a quick burp exactly 3 seconds later.
Now that his stomach is placated, Khonshu looked around the playground he is staying. There isn't much people save for a small family and one stray dog digging on the ground. None of them paid any attention, yet the child god can feel the heavy gaze of someone. Khonshu isn't even surprised anymore since he knows who it is now.
He just continued to finished his soda, throw it in trash bin and went along his way like he didn't have a stalker. He had to make a short detour since a road was destroyed from an earlier attack and take a few breaks when his legs got sore, but he finally arrived to his destination after 2 hours. It was nearly 8 pm, when the moon god walked through the front the apartment building, passing by a woman in a tight revealing dress. The two glanced at each other but didn't say anything. They just went about their ways like strangers.
Khonshu thankfully still have his keys in his pocket, and used it to unlock the door to his apartment. The inside is dark with only the streetlights coming in through the curtain less windows. He didn't turn on the lights once he closed the door behind him, instead he mechanically went straight to the bedroom, changed to his night clothes and went to bed.
The moon god let himself lay there for a few minutes. Partly enjoying the soft bed, partly contemplating a bit about what he went through earlier. He them remembered that he still have the crescent blade in the pocket of the shorts that he tossed on the floor.
I'll think about that tomorrow,
Khonshu thought. Soon his exhausted body is now catching up, and in no time, he fell to a tired slumber.
11 hours later…
The first thing that registered in his sleepy mind was the hum of the outside, then the sun hitting his close eyes. It is still not enough to fully wake him up, so in a desperate attempt to catch some sleep, the moon god turned to his side away from the window. But his mind is already partly conscious. In his haze, he cracked open one eye. Khonshu's vision is still blurry, but he can make out a dark figure in front of him.
He paid no mind to this though, instead he closed his eyes, thinking that it is just another dream. It took a few seconds for his brain to fully register what he saw. And Khonshu eyes widened immediately. Now very much awake, his blurry vision sharpened to see a white-caped man standing directly a couple of inches in front of his bed.
The moon god quickly jumped back, practically leaping out of the bed and sprinted out the bedroom door. He quickly shut the door behind him and leaned on it. Expecting some force to try and break it down.
A couple of minutes have passed, but the forced he was expecting didn't happen. But Khonshu didn't let himself relax.
It might be a trap. He told himself. 5 minutes have passed, but nothing still happened.
Khonshu can't help but feel very, very confused at this. He then recalls his previous encounter with the zombie Moon Knight. At how it killed the man who was going to harm Jenny, and ripped out the culprits heart. The zombie had many chances to kill him, yet it didn't.
And this is making Khonshu suspicious, as it is the complete opposite of what the zombie have done. He glances over his shoulder, glaring at the shut door. But it's current action is making him more curious than wary now. He thought about taking a peak, but he stopped himself from doing so.
Khonshu reminded himself that the zombie doesn't belong to him, but to the Other Khonshu.
It could be ordered by the other me.
He tried to reason. The child god is aware that it sounds ridiculous and paranoid, but he knows himself. Khonshu have every right to be wary of himself or any variant of the god.
Khonshu's thoughts were disrupted by the sound of his stomach growling. He released a tired sigh at this and decided that the zombie will have to wait for now. He needs to eat breakfast.
A silent second have passed before Khonshu unpeeled himself from the door he was leaning on. He headed to the working refrigerator and opened it, checking to see if he left anything edible. Khonshu recalls that he put a slice of pizza inside, but that was a few weeks ago.
Lo and behold, he found it, as well as something green growing on the top. He frowned in disgust as he pulls it out of the fridge. His first thought was to throw it away and buy something that is not going to give him poisoning.
That idea was went out the window when he remembered that he doesn't have any money left.
I could cook,
He thought, but he recalled what happened last time he did so. He won't admit that he is still very bad at it, but every time he tried the water keeps exploding. And he can't risk it again. And there is still the zombie in his bedroom. He glanced back at the shut door, knowing what is behind it. And back to the green pizza.
Khonshu can't let the zombie follow him, especially while it is still dressed like that. Someone is going to take a picture and post it on the internet. And it is the last thing the child god wants. He glanced again at the pizza in his hand, and reluctantly made his choice.
He took a deep breath and lifted the pizza to his mouth. Quickly devouring it so he can't register the weird funky taste. It only took a minute before he finished and he proceeded to cleaned himself up, waiting the inevitable stomach pain to come soon.
Khonshu finished taking his shower when the first cramp hit. As expected, so he immediately moved to the couch, sat in a fetal position facing down, and quickly went to work. The god channeled his heka and directed it to his stomach. Slowly and carefully so he won't accidentally cause some unwanted side-effects.
He learned this after rushing his last healing after accidentally eating a spoiled sandwich one day. The excruciating pain caught him in surprise, and it took a few minutes for Khonshu to remember that he is a healing god. But he did it so fast that it made his left leg hypersensitive and numb for an hour, something that he is now trying to avoid.
A couple of minutes of pain have passed before Khonshu can feel the fruit of his efforts. The pain is slowly subsiding until it is completely gone. Once that is over, the moon god just stayed there for a while. Lying down and just savoring the relief.
Once he sat up, he turned his head and screamed in surprise at the figure standing directly in front of him.
"Ahh!"
Without any noise, the zombie managed to get out of the bedroom and is now only an arm's length away from the god. Khonshu immediately jumped sideways. Trying to get as far away as the zombie until he is now standing in the kitchen area, right next to the front door.
"How did you get there? And why didn't I hear you move!?" He yelled. Too surprised to care if the neighbors will hear him.
The zombie just stood there. It didn't move or pursue Khonshu, only turning his head and body to face Khonshu like it have some internal GPS to always face the moon god.
The air is suddenly thick with tension. Khonshu is internally panicking at the zombie, who managed to sneak up on him. Another silent minute have passed, and the god is now finding this whole thing very tiring.
"You know what? Just get out. I don't want you here." He said harshly.
To his surprise, the zombie moved this time. Like a robot, it turned to his side and walked left. Its long cape covering his legs to make it look like it is gliding across the floor, like a ghost. Khonshu watches cautiously as it enters through the opened bedroom door.
The god managed to shake off his confusion and immediately ran to follow it. But once he reached inside, the zombie is nowhere to be seen, only an empty room with dirty clothes and an opened window. The moon god turned around and saw that the window next to the couch is also wide opened.
That must be how it got in.
He concluded and looked back at his bedroom. Walking closer to the bed, he saw that the crescent blade he picked up yesterday is still there, beside the pillow. If fate wasn't at his favor, the zombie could have just picked it up and slashed his throat. It's that easy.
This is actually terrifying, and he cursed himself for being too careless. It is fortunate that the zombie didn't try to take his life, but he can't guarantee that others will be merciful. And most likely it will not, especially with the high ratio of villains and crime in the city.
With a few hours left until lunch, he decided he should start with the protection wards before proceeding with Harold's promise. Though he is not sure if his attempts will work. He is aware that he is not at his full prime anymore and he lacks the necessary tools, but that won't stop him from experimenting.