Lady Luck: Hoodie x Reader

Chapter 21

        When morning rolled around, Tim didn't bother relocating his laptop to my room. Shortly after I woke up, I heard a knock on the door and opened it to see him standing there with a plastic bag filled with memory cards, but rather than that my attention instead instantly focused on his face. Heavy bags hung under his brown eyes, his features looking heavily drawn and worn with a sort of empty, tired expression.

        "Are you okay?" I asked, immediately concerned. "You look awful..." He just shrugged, his expression barely changing.

       "Didn't sleep that well," he muttered. "Had a lot on my mind. Here." Before I could say anything he held out a plastic bag full of memory cards. "Couldn't find the continuation of that video. I only checked the thumbnails of the first few videos on these, didn't really watch many actual videos. Split the cards I checked into a new bag to watch today, these are the ones I didn't check. Hopefully you'll have more luck than me."

      "...Right." I frowned as I took the bag, still concerned. Something about Tim's entire demeanor didn't sit right with me, made me feel on edge. I didn't get a chance to even try to broach the subject though before he turned and headed back to his room. Needless to say I was left feeling pretty unsettled by the encounter, but in the end I pushed it out of my mind and closed the door.

       I spent the rest of the morning checking the memory cards for the continuation of the video that spawned that disastrous trip to the park. Following Tim's cue, I glanced at the thumbnails for the first few videos in search of decayed buildings and forests rather than watch the videos themselves, but I didn't have much luck. The few cards I found that DID meet the criteria were quickly dismissed after watching the video for a few minutes.

       By the time noon rolled around I had a decent pile of duds gathered on the desk, and more than a little pent up frustration. Noting the time, I grabbed my cat head keychain and exited the room, knocking on Tim's door. When he didn't answer, I frowned slightly and called out, "I'm going out for a walk for a while. I'll be back later." After a few moments, I heard a quiet grunt of acknowledgement from within. Good enough for me.

       With that settled I headed out to meet Hoody. Even after stopping at a fast food place to grab some lunch on the way, it still didn't take long to get there. When I arrived at the alley where I'd met Hoody mere days ago it was just after twelve forty, twenty minutes before the scheduled meeting time. A bit early, but that was fine by me.

       As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who decided to arrive early though. Hoody was already waiting in the alley when I arrived, his faded golden sweatshirt popping out against the brick facade of the buildings. "You're early," he commented as I entered the darkness, and I shrugged.

       "So are you," I replied, and stopped a few feet away from him. "So, why'd you call me out? Is this some kind of trap or something?" I heard him snort, his smirk almost audible in his voice as he spoke.

       "Yeah, no. I've seen what happens when people try to attack you. Either the universe steps in and something ridiculous happens to stop me, or you stab me in the leg again. Not really a fan of either of those options." Glancing behind me, he added, "Besides, if I really wanted to launch a trap, I'd ask you to meet somewhere more secluded. If you screamed here, someone's bound to hear."