StV: Florida Man, part fourteen

"Where is she? Where is that little bitch. I'm going to fucking kill her! When I get out of here..."

Cloudburst came around the corner approached the cell where Florida Man was being held. His face was flushed red, and he was pulling at the bars hard enough to make them creak. He was also covered with the thick, leathery skin of an alligator. "That's still a pretty cool power," she told him. 

"You! You brought me in after I told you I wasn't going back to jail? Get over here so I can strangle you."

Cloudburst forced herself to keep her pace steady. She wasn't used to being yelled at, and she didn't like it. "Here," she said, when she got close enough to be just out of reach. "About half the deputies don't want anything to do with you, and the other half want to kill you for shooting those cops. So, the Sheriff said I could be the one to bring you Advil and Gatorade. I figured you'd be pretty hungover."

He scowled at her. "Don't want 'em."

 She raised her eyebrows. "You sure? That was a lot of beer and a lot of sun. Even with your gifts, you've got to be feeling pretty rough."

"Fuck you." 

She waited, and after a moment he lowered his head. "All right. Hand 'em over."

She tilted her head. 

"Please, you goddamned bitch. Please hand them over."

"All right." She held out the pill bottle, then yanked it back when he lunged forward and tried to grab her hand. "You keep this up, and I will walk away and leave you with your headache."

He took a deep breath, then went back to looking fully human. "Fine. You win."

She held the pills out again, and this time he took them. Then the same with the Gatorade bottle.

"That's a big bottle," he said, as he unscrewed the lid. 

"Yeah, well, you're a big asshole."

He glared at her, then chuckled. "All right, kid. I get it, you're trying." He popped a handful of painkillers, then poured maybe a fourth of the bottle down after them. "And you're right about the hangover, too. I'm just not used to having anybody try to take care of me."

He took another long drink, and she asked, "You don't have any friends?"

"I do, but they're all assholes too. I don't always like them, but we get each other. Except Araktul. Ancient alligator-god is the most stand-up guy I know."

Cloudburst shook her head. "Look, I'm not your mom, but you could be doing so much better than this. Do me a favor?"

"After you threw me in jail?"

She nodded. "Stay here. Do the time. Stay out of trouble. I can't promise anything, but I do have some connections... and I think a lot of people would be interested in hiring you once your time's up. You could be earning real money for doing some really interesting stuff."

"I don't... Whoever you think I am, I am not that person."

She shrugged. "Maybe not. But you could be. If you put in the work."

He shook his head. "Kid..."

"Just think about it," she said. She turned away and started walking up the corridor, feeling his eyes on her the whole way.