Bored. Bored, bored, bored,
bored. Corey sighed heavily and stared up at the sky as if it was personally at fault for his current predicament. He was lounging – there really wasn’t another word for it – on one of the thicker, lower branches of an oak tree, one leg dangling down towards the ground. He wasn’t very comfortable, with the bark digging into his back through the fabric of his shirt, but he couldn’t be bothered to move. That aside, he didn’t mind the slight pricks of pain in his back so much as he did something else: he was bored out of his skull.
There were a few people out in the garden and, for want of anything better to do, Corey had taken to watching them, but they were perfectly, predictably,
dull. The odd couple that passed under his tree and smiled at each other and tentatively held hands or, if they were feeling particularly adventurous, kissed sweetly (closed-mouthed, of course, during daylight) made Corey want to tear his hair out and shout at them to get a room and
just fuck already. Perhaps it had been too long since he’d last had any – but it wasn’t his fault that there was little to no opportunity for a casual fling within the boundaries of the loop. He could go out to Inndyr and look around for a hook-up, but it seemed like too much effort with too little guarantee of success. He missed New York something fierce, sometimes, particularly on occasions like these.
With an irritated groan, Corey sank lower onto the branch, ignoring the way the bark dragged at his shirt, and crossed his arms. He didn’t like being bored, but it had been a frequent feeling, of late. Perhaps it was time for him to move on to a different loop soon. It would be the shortest he had ever stayed in one loop, but if he was this sick of the place already, there was nothing for it. Perhaps he should never have entered that first loop in San Francisco— But as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, he dismissed it. The very thought of not being here now, alive, was unsettling.
The young couple from before passed by his tree again. Corey lazily turned his head to follow them as they went. The girl was leaning against the boy, giggling into his chest; he had his arm around her waist, thumb hooked into the waistband of her jeans. He looked perfectly pleased with himself, and from their fast pace, he could see what they were up to. Corey let his eyes linger on them as they walked, assessing. He was nice enough to look at, from behind anyway, though she was a bit plain. He could do better than her, but that probably hadn’t occurred to him. Ugh. Boring.
“You know, if you take a picture, it'll last longer,” he heard suddenly from somewhere below him. Corey frowned and looked down at the girl, no older than ten, that was staring up at him, grinning mischievously. Corey frowned down at her, unsure how to proceed. He hadn’t dealt much with children, even in the orphanage. But the way she smiled up at him gave him pause, at least long enough not to outright dismiss her. He tilted his head at her.
“Shame I seem to have forgotten my camera,” he said, smiling with too many teeth.
“Do you make a habit of sneaking up on people?” The quiet way in which she had approached him gave away that she had practice. While he waited for her to either answer or leave, he didn’t move from his perch on the tree. If she left, there was no reason to get up, and if she stayed, well – he was finally comfortable.