Blues

Author's note: This is a short one, but I love it. I know, I could have taken GR's rant twice as far as I did, but oh well. =D Oddly enough, it was inspired by Lou Marini, the king of blues. I met him. ^^

"Kid, is that you?" Graverobber had said this too many times it seemed. Yet here he was, saying it again as he peered down at the black haired girl. He hadn't seen her since the opera, and neither had the rest of the world. Still here she was, sitting against a dirty brick wall, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Kid! What are you doing here? You disappeared off the face of the earth after the opera. Not even GeneCo could find you. Where have you been?" Graverroober said. Shilo said nothing. She didn't even look up at him. Graverobber frowned. Taking a second look at her, he could see everything wrong with her. She looked positively dead. She was malnourished. Probably hadn't eaten since before the opera. Her fingernails had dirt under them, probably from wherever she had been staying previous to this. Her eyes were dead, her spirit broken. Graverobber would have attempted to extract zydrate from her if he didn't notice the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She looked... soulless.

"Kid, talk." he commanded. Another minute of silence passed between them. Graverobber sighed. He sat down beside her, crossing his legs in front of himself. If she wasn't going to talk to him, he was going to talk to himself.

"I read about the opera. Some bloody fucking battle, huh? I just feel bad that a kid like you got sucked into the middle. You'd be surprised how ignorant people are. Half of 'em still think all of it was a show." He paused, waiting for a response. When none came, he continued. "And me? Well, GeneCo didn't die. People are still getting surgeries. As long as that happens, I guess I'm still in business. Personally, I think people will always need zydrate. It's not a smart choice, but people really haven't had a history of smart choices. And anyway, who do you think put the addictive chemical in zydrate? It comes from dead people's brains for christ's sake. Another pause. Again, no reaction. Graverobber decided to take it a different direction.

"What about you kid? Where have you been? What will you do now? You don't have a home, or any family. You really have nothing and no one, huh? I guess I can see why you're kinda down." He paused again. This time he wasn't waiting for a reaction, he was staring straight ahead, totally consumed by his own thoughts.

"But you have me, so no worries, right?" he said after a moment. He was beaming his cheshire cat grin at her. Shilo turned her head and smiled back at him weakly. She leaned into him and he carefully wrapped an arm around her. Perfect.

AN: Like I said, a short one! R&R before the repo man gets you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Repo!