Henry and Gloria walked into the old run down motel. The flickering overhead light revealed the peeling wallpaper and scuffed floors. People, tired travelers and locals, moved around. A beat-up jukebox played sad songs in a corner.
They noticed a bulletin board with faded papers—local events and lost things. Gloria looked at a town fair notice, while Henry saw a poster about a missing goat. "Wait a minute, have I not seen this goat before?" He thought. It bore a striking resemblance to the goat that attacked Bruce in the bar they first met. Gloria tugged his shirt and they continued walking towards their destination.
They kept looking around. Even in this worn-out place, a sense of mystery lingered. They quickly pushed that aside, heading straight to the counter since they needed shelter—the primary reason for coming here.
They approached the receptionist, a striking middle-aged woman, and inquired about available rooms. Henry, being his usual self, began to flirt until Gloria intervened. "Here's the key for your room... the second one on your right," the attendant remarked, mistakenly assuming they were a couple, as she handed Henry and Gloria a key.
Henry smiled and gestured to collect the key, but Gloria hit him and remarked, "There are three of us, douchebag, and we're definitely not a couple."
"I'm sorry about that. We can't stay in the same room; there are three of us," Gloria explained to the attendant. The attendant, rolling her eyes, responded, "Umm, I'm pretty sure I'm sober right now. I can only see two of you here, ma'am."
Gloria looked back and confirmed that it was indeed only Henry with her. "Henry, where's Bruce?" she asked, concern evident in her voice. "Well he's right here, isn't." Before Henry could finish his sentence, he too realized that Bruce was not with them.
They panicked and they both rushed out to see Bruce talking to a random woman. He quickly saw the two of them and ran to meet them." I'm sorry I was kinda lost in thought, getting drenched in the rain and that lady was just worried and brought me back to reality I guess...but wait the two of you forgot me didn't you" he remarked. " Let's just get in and freshen up...we all look terrible right now" Gloria demand.
The group went back in and was offered two rooms. Henry insisted on staying with Gloria but was firmly rejected by her. Bruce and Henry ended up sharing the same room with Gloria getting a room for herself.
Several hours had passed and the group had settled well in their respective rooms. Henry almost asleep trying his possible best to keep his eyes open and his words coherent and sensible asked Bruce who was still wide awake staring into the dimly lit city " hey, hey dude, That chick at the counter is definitely into me". " Yeah yeah...I know"Bruce replied.
Henry finally slept and the sight reminded Bruce of his younger brother. It was pretty late at this point but for some reason Bruce wasn't feeling sleepy yet. He tried all he could but nothing worked. He sat on the bed to read a magazine but that didn't do it for him. He tried to close his eyes and sing nursery rhymes that didn't work as well.He started counting imaginary sheep but he couldn't sleep.
"Damn how did this girl do it so easily" he thought about his daughter who could sleep almost instantly. A smile formed on his face as he thought of her and a frown soon followed as he thought about her current situation. He promised himself again to definitely get his daughter back.
As he was deep in his thoughts he felt what felt like a round house kick at the back of his head. It was Henry. He held the back of his head in pain and looked at Henry who was still asleep but now dreaming.
"Hmm my princess, my queen, grant me the honor of seeing your panties" Henry spoke as he was sleeping. Bruce looked at him and smiled. Bruce had enough, he couldn't bare the boredom anymore and Henry's annoying and aggressive movement while sleeping.
He managed to dodge another kick from sleeping Henry before going to the balcony. He gazed at the nightlife of the town and enjoyed the calm breeze and closed his eyes to fully enjoy it. "Hi, you couldn't sleep as well?" , Bruce heard Gloria's voice. He opened his eyes and it was indeed Gloria. His heart skipped two beats that he almost died as he saw gloria. Her hair tied up in a messy bun with a hoody and baggy pants, she looked really cute and the moonlight enhanced her beauty.
"Gloria?" Bruce spoke softly to get her attention. "Bruce? What are you doing out here? It's late you should be asleep...where's Henry?" Gloria looked left surprised at Bruce's voice and asked.
"Couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts running through my head...and he's out cold... sleeping like a baby Ninja. Ninja baby? whatever…" Bruce responded and gloria chuckled. "Don't worry he won't harm you. And yeah, I couldn't sleep as well. It's been quite a night." Gloria responded while putting back strands of hair on her ear.
Bruce paused for a while and leaned on the balcony rail and responded "You know, I've always found late nights to be... contemplative". Gloria leaning as well responded "Contemplative, huh? That's one way to put it"."You know what I mean. Sometimes the world feels different at night Quieter, even if it's not really" Bruce replied and smirked. Gloria laughed and replied " I guess it does. But quiet isn't really what we're dealing with right now, is it?". Bruce nodded and responded" No, you're right... We're knee-deep in a mess that I never imagined, monsters,magic...dark Lord's".
Gloria spoke softly, "None of us did. But we're here, fighting for our own desires and yours as well, to find April." Bruce paused for a moment and then spoke, "And you've been incredible through all of this, Gloria. Strong, determined... you've saved my life more times than I can count."Gloria blushed and responded, "Thank you, Bruce. You're no slouch in that department either... you've also saved me." "Well, I've got good company to keep me going," Bruce responded while smiling, the moonlight shining on his face. Gloria, feeling flustered, looked away and spoke, "Yeah, company". They paused for a moment, both looking at the beautiful full moon. Bruce tilted his head and remarked when he saw a distant expression on Gloria's face, "Something on your mind?" Gloria sighed and turned to him, "It's just... this whole situation. We're in this together, right? But sometimes it feels like... something more."
Bruce, obviously worried, responded with a soft voice" More than what?"
Gloria nervously clenched her fist and replied"Yeah, like... more than allies. But that's crazy, right? We're in the middle of a rescue mission, not some romance novel".
Bruce, feeling nervous, avoided eye contact and replied "yeah, absolutely. A romance novel would be the last thing we need right now".Damn that sounded better in my head. Gloria looked back at him and responded "Right, exactly" .Bruce paused for a moment afraid that his fast paced beating heart would be heard by Gloria, he then responded "yeah we need to just... stay focused.On the mission. On April.". Gloria felt shy and embarrassed for making the previous remark. She nodded and replied "Yes, April...That's what matters most... we'll definitely get her back". Bruce cleared his throat and said "Yeah, so let's just... keep our heads in the game". Gloria looking for words to say at this point and playing with her hair replied softly" Agreed. We'll be friends... allies... brothers in arms. For April."
They stopped talking for a while and the silence was loud; piercing like a stake to the heart, both wanted to speak but couldn't. The air felt so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife.
Bruce attempted to get rid of this tension as he hesitated when he spoke " You know, Gloria, I saw a pub not too far from here. If you want, we could go there to get a drink. Just to unwind a bit".Gloria was taken aback, then smiled while responding" Actually, that sounds like a good idea. A drink, some normalcy amidst all this chaos."
Gloria noticed a smile on Bruce's face as he responded"Great, then. How about we go now? Just a short break from everything."
"Gloria nodded, wanting to conceal the excitement in her gesture and voice as she agreed. The pair got ready in their respective rooms and met downstairs. At this time, the rain had stopped, but it was still pretty cold. Bruce and Gloria smiled and walked to the pub together.".
The two walked together and were oddly silent until Gloria heard this , "Umm Gloria don't be mad I have to take a piss I'll be back...just wait here..." Bruce couldn't tell her that it was his nervousness that made him forget to take a piss at the motel.
"Really now...well I saw a portable toilet as we were walking" Gloria responded disappointed.Bruce quickly went to do his business at a nearby bush, the perks of being a guy he thought.
While taking a piss Bruce was deep in thought about the conversation he just had on the balcony with Gloria.
He didn't know why he was nervous around her all of a sudden. He kept thinking but couldn't come up with a solution. He finished taking the piss and took a huge breath while holding his chest, trying to suck every last bit of oxygen he could.
He beat his chest to 'fix' it because earlier it had skipped not just one but two beats upon seeing Gloria. He zipped up and proceeded to join with Gloria to continue their walk to the pub. His stride halted when he saw a strange man talking to Gloria. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be too worried but this wasn't a normal circumstance.
It was almost midnight in a fairly quiet and abandoned street and more so the strange man reached to his jacket to grab an object. This triggered Bruce and he didn't need any more reason to really beat up the dude. In the blink of an eye Bruce moved almost 60 metres from where he watched the exchange, grabbed the dude's face with his right hand covering his face and slammed the dude into a wall so hard the dude might have broken a rib or two. The dude was knocked out immediately and Bruce stepped back a bit shocked at the incident that just took place and his newly acquired abilities.
Gloria at this point looked unimpressed and somewhat disappointed. " I would have taken care of that guy myself...I just hope he isn't dead, he just called me hot...you have to learn to hold back Bruce...you're not the same position you were before... let's just leave" Gloria spoke while trying to interlock arms and drag him away from the scene.
Meanwhile at the motel a sleeping Henry sneezes and sits up and says with a very sleepy voice eyes completely closed " my queen...may I... See your panties" speaking every word more slowly and groggily before crashing back at his bed and shivering a little as a cool breeze hit him because Bruce forgot to close the window.
Gloria and Bruce finally reach the pub. As they approach the door a short man with a distinct trucker hat coming out the pub bumps into Bruce and apologizes. Bruce notices scary looking dudes in pursuit of this man who he judged as disadvantaged and outnumbered and cleverly tripped one of the men which caused a chain effect and caused the rest of the pursuers to stumble and fall as well. A bar fight is something Bruce wanted to avoid but he found himself in another one in as many days."oh damn not this again" he thought; Gloria shook her head in disappointment.