“please. that’s nothing. besides, I could use a little good karma right now.”
it’s not a complete lie. being dropped off in a completely different city, in a completely different realm is, for a lack of words, completely fucking bonkers. doing a little good should help him down the road.
and god, this would be a great help. Jed’s always been a little curious about the survivors. he would’ve liked to give him the same kind of treatment he gave his other victims. a scary call or two, hints that he was watching them, maybe a gift — small things, just enough to make them question their sanity. but The Entity’s realm just… didn’t allow that. it was too contained. sure, being able to kill freely was nice. returning to his roots, though? well. he wouldn’t mind that.
and again: Dwight’s fascinated him. so much potential in someone who’s been knocked around his whole life. maybe Jed could push him to reach that potential a little faster. maybe he could help Dwight realize the person he was always meant to be.
and then maybe, he could rip it right out of Dwight’s hands.
geez. just the thought of watching the hope drain from the survivor’s eyes once he finally killed him sent a chill up Jed’s spine.
for now, though: black coffee and a muffin.
“actually — that sounds good. I’ll take the same thing.” he waves his hand dismissively at the barista, his attention unmoving from Dwight.
“come to think of it, you look familiar… okay, this is gonna sound weird, but did you used to deliver pizzas or something?”
Even if it was something so small, it kind of struck Dwight in a way that made him come to the conclusion that the guy here was just brought into this place, or he had his own string of bad luck and happen to find himself here. Now he couldn’t just ignore his politeness.
It already seem too late to insist that he didn’t have to. The least he could do then is to give him Dwight’s full attention. “I really do appreciate it. I guess I’ll owe you breakfast if we happen to come across each other again. I’ve heard good things about this place, so I figured I give this place a shot.” Who knows. There haven’t been a lot of familiar faces around here, but sometimes this place is literally a ‘small world’.
The question however, did leave the Leader to tense up slightly, thinking back to one of his many past job he had to work on to pay for college, his apartment, his bills. That was certainly a rough part of his life. Bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck, he couldn’t help but give a bashful laugh. “Ah-ha... I actually use to do that as a part time. Oh... wait, does that mean you’ve ordered from PizzaWhat? That felt like so long ago.” Despite that being from his past, Dwight could only remember so few customers that he delivered pizzas to. Would he had remember this guy at some point!? Now he’ll feel bad that he couldn’t recall who the stranger is!
That coffee and muffin couldn’t come any sooner.
“I-If there was something I had missed, I am so sorry for that.”