Born to Kill

F

Fluffy

Guest
Original poster
Priscilla and Brent exited the hospital room and made their way to the lobby area. The doctor assured that Brent would be all right to leave and if there was any issue, to give them a call.

After all their excitement, her wielder must have been famished. The rumbling in Brent's stomach made Priscilla's eyes widen. She forgot that it was a sign of hunger, until he gestured to the cafeteria with an offer to have food and drink. Right, then she made a giggle.

"Oh, that's right. Humans have monsters in their bellies. You must feed it or it'll keep roaring," she replied with a grin. The way she phrased that caught the attention of some passing doctors and patients. Using the word 'human' the way she did and saying there was a monster in Brent's stomach... Obliviously, her black eyes stared at the people who gave her strange looks.

Priscilla then shrugged and made her way to the cafeteria with Brent. She was eager to give coffee a taste; it seemed to be a popular beverage. The scent of it was pleasing, however the sight of it wasn't too appetizing. She knew better than to judge something by its appearance.

"You should sit!" she suggested to Brent while pulling a chair out for him. "Just tell me what to get for you."

She hoped he would rest his leg instead of insist he get his meal himself. That aside, she just wanted to be more... Useful.
 
Brent promptly sat down at her tone of voice. The talk about monsters in bellies had made him smirk somewhat, as he found the comparison between the rumbling of a belly and the roaring of a monster rather funny. She was cute when she talked like that. But when she commanded, even if she obviously did not mean it that way, there'd seemed to slip a bit of steel in her voice, a hard but strong side she didn't allow to show of herself.

Catching himself staring at the floor while she was waiting on her answer, Big B looked up at her and smiled. "I'll take a ham and egg sandwich, and a coke to wash it away with." Then, he thought of something and added. "But do you know how modern money works? And do you have some?"

He kept forgetting how little she knew about modern times, and about New York. She'd have to learn fast if she ever wanted to blend into the society, though even not blending in at all could count as blending in, in New York...
 
"Ham and egg sandwich and Coke!" Priscilla repeated the words out loud, to help her remember what he wanted, exactly. Honestly, she did not know what Coke was, but she had a good idea of what the other item was. Actually, she knew exactly what a sandwich was. Bread and meat was a tasty combination even before she was born.

Just when she was going to rush to the displays of food, he brought up money. "Hmmm..." Priscilla checked all four pockets of her jeans, hoping there might be some golden, silver, or even copper coins! However, she doubted that her ancient roman money would be useful here. Currency changed since the time she last traded it for anything. Still, she thought she would check. Since her clothing changed to a more modern style, perhaps her money did as well.

There was a little cloth bag hiding in one of her back pockets, she found. After pulling it out, she tugged open the mouth of the pouch so she could dump out whatever was in there. There was no coin, but something papery... It was no wonder she didn't notice it before. This new currency was light weight and folded up neatly.

Priscilla made a face at the pile of green that dropped onto the table, and then she dropped the emptied bag on top of the cash. She had no clue what to do now.
 
Brent's eyes widened at the amount of cash that came falling out of the pouch. Sure there were one dollar bills and several twenties, but the trio of thousand dollar bills that lay on top of the pile made him look around to see if anyone had noticed it. As it was, people DID stare at the strange girl putting money on the table, but no-one was close enough to have noted the difference between the bills. Brent quickly put the larger bills back in the pouch. Priscilla must have been amongst nobility the last time she was wielded by someone, and somehow the money had transformed from old money to it's modern variant without giving her the proper knowledge to use it.

"That's... a lot of money you have there. I guess I don't have to worry about running out with you around." He told her quietly, while sorting the bills into neat little piles she could later roll up and put somewhere safe. "People these days usually don't carry around all the money they own, because it would get cumbersome, and increases the risks of being robbed of everything you own. We generally put it on a bank account. You know what a bank is, right?"

Brent awaited her reaction briefly before going on. "In any case, the system is fairly simple. Most of our money is made of paper, while the smaller amounts of money are usually still coined. The bills (as we call them) come in several sorts, the difference being made clear by what's printed on the paper in question. The value of the bill in question is denoted by Arabic numerals on both sides. Can you understand Arabic numerals?"

Brent hoped she could, because understanding numbers was a big deal in any society. He hoped she could read too, now that he thought about it. He couldn't be sure if she could read, or if she knew anything at all. He might have to be her private tutor for several months before they even got to active monster slaying. If she could read English, at least a visit to the library would make his job a lot easier. Brent smiled inwardly; He would never have guessed he'd ever have to take care of someone like her.
 
Priscilla watched carefully as he sorted out the bills she dumped out of her coin bag. At the mention of a bank, she made a couple nods with her head, her curly orange hair bouncing up and down. She knew very well what a bank was and what purpose it served. Seeing how things changed, what she remembered to be a bank must be different now. Nevertheless, she felt she should look into a way to deposit her cash. Confusing as this new currency was, she could tell it was a large amount still.

A five dollar bill was picked up from the table so she could examine it closely. Roman numerals were what she was used to for math, counting and telling time, but she knew about these digits, too. The knowledge came naturally, she supposed. As a servant to these humans, she needed to know the language of her wielder so they could communicate properly. "This is a five," she said to him, to show she understood. "I know how to read your words and numbers. Of course, there's still much for me to learn. Like... How to trade this green paper for goods."

She smiled sheepishly and picked up a few more bills before the rest was put away for later. Priscilla would get this figured out, surely. How hard could it be to purchase a meal? These employees would doubtlessly be helpful.

"I will take this much," she announced, showing him the whole wad of cash. Thirty-six dollars were in her hand; that would be more than enough. "Anything else I should know before I--oh, who's that!?"

Priscilla was immediately distracted by an image on the five dollar bill she was inspecting moments ago. There was a portrait of Lincoln that she didn't notice right away, and she was highly curious to know who he was. Whoever had their face on money was important, after all!

"Oh, sorry... I should get your meal," she said apologetically, frowning cutely.
 
Brent chuckled, a grin re-appearing on his face as he he pointed at the fiver. "That..." He began, pausing for a moment for dramatic effect. "Is the face of president lincoln. President Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the united states of america (the country we're in right now.) And many feel he was one of the best presidents we've ever had. Amongst other things, he abolished slave trade in america and deftly won the civil war that followed. Sadly he was assassinated just six days after the surrender of the opposing army, the confederacy, by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Which incidently was the first assassination of a united states president."

Big B was surprised he still remembered the information he had not brushed up upon since he was kicked out of school. He sounded like he just quoted the history book he had had verbatim. He fondly thought back on the two friends he had had during his high school days, and the thirst for knowledge he had had despite his appearance and the less than kind attention of his peers. Perhaps taking this girl to the library could be an enjoyable excursion afterall.

Then he remembered Priscilla was right there and waiting for him to say something. He winked at her and set up straight, taking care to avoid moving his broken leg. "In any case, let's see you put your newfound knowledge to good use. I doubt someone as smart as you will have trouble with buying anything, and I'm getting mightily hungry." He said and laughed. Hopefully, the girl would be alright, and not get gypped at the counter.
 
Priscilla was impressed with Brent's knowledge of this historical figure. She was mostly expecting a name, and a maybe the years he existed. Instead, she got something better. She got some tidbits about the president's life, really opening her eyes to how great of an idol he was. Now, she wished she could meet him. If she had her way, she'd go back in time to learn more about him, and everything else she missed out on. So many different events happened in different countries.

When he called her smart, she gave a sheepish grin and then turned to walk over to the food counters. No more time could be wasted; he was famished. Priscilla read the labels for all the packaged goods, her face lighting up with another smile when she found a section filled with warm sandwiches. One that had ham, cheese and egg on it was taken into her hand. She then paused, uncertain of how to proceed. Luckily, there were enough people around for her to observe. Most of them had a tray in hand with food and drinks stacked on them. Slowly, her eyes followed a person entering the cafeteria to pick up one of those handy looking trays.

Her walk at a quick pace, she made her way over to the stack of plastic trays and took one for herself, the sandwich set down and carried on it. From there, she went to collect the rest of what they needed. She found a bottle of Coca-Cola for him and added on some things for herself: a wrap that was a flour tortilla with cold cuts inside and a bottle of grape juice. Priscilla was unfamiliar with sodas, so she shied away from them. There was one other thing she wanted to try, though... Coffee.

Humming to herself, she dropped a pile of the money to the cashier after following the other paying customers in the line. "And coffee, where is the coffe!?"

The cashier gave her a strange look, but still smiled politely while counting the change owed to her. Briefly, she left to fill a sixteen ounce cup with some black coffee, assuming that's what was desired since no special order for a mocha or latte was made. The hot drink was set down on the tray and Priscilla went on her way. With speedy steps, she returned to Big B, setting the tray of food and beverages down on their table.

"There you go!"