Silence Falls

Hermanni mentally cursed himself for once again getting himself into another pickle for being able to read Bert’s mind word for word. Just like earlier that morning when Bert had begun to interrogate him the moment he woke up for mastering the English language overnight. It was another impossibility that humans weren’t capable of doing, and yet he did just that. It brought suspicions down upon him not only from Bert and Otep, but now the rest of the group too. Once again, he had to scramble for a lie to conceal his true identity and help assuage Bert from his worries. Awarding him a small smile, Hermanni explained himself. “You are easy to read, Bert, like an open book as the saying goes. Forgive me if that is rude of me to voice your thoughts so openly, I am still learning.”

“Right, because you’re reading all these books to learn how to be more...American, I guess.” Bert shrugged to himself at his own assessment on what exactly Hermanni was doing with all these books and televisions. Whatever the reason was, Hermanni has yet to show any evil intentions with this knowledge and so it shouldn’t be looked at as a problem. Or maybe this morning's breakfast is making him a little soft because he found himself apologizing to Hermanni. “Look, I'm so sorry about all this, man. Since we’ve met you, you’ve been a pretty good friend and everything, and by the way we really appreciate the meal you made us this morning...but we’ve come to the conclusion that we just have a lot of things to sort out still. The truth is, Hermanni, out of everyone here we don't really know you. We hope to one day become more familiar with you, but until then, and I hope you won't take offence to this, but we decide to lock you in here for a while. Now please don’t go thinking you're a prisoner here all of a sudden! You’ll still have access to food and the bathroom, it's just...we need time to figure out all these mysterious events that seem to surround us whenever you’re there. We need to do what's safe for us. We need to be certain you are safe to be around, am I making any sense to you?” Bert asked helplessly, hoping to god Hermanni wouldn't hold this against them if and when he got out, because his culinary skills are literally out of this world and they could really use someone that skill. Everything in the facility had been edible, but never to a point where any stomach was excited for the next meal. You could skip several meals and never hear a single growl echoing through one’s stomach that’s how bland the food was.

Hermanni was nodding the whole time to Bert’s every word, a beaming smile on his face. “No no I completely understand what you mean, Bert. You have everyone's best interest at heart and I greatly admire that. Please, lock me in if you feel that you must. I will not trouble anyone during my time here, I can assure you.”

Stepping aside, Hermanni indicated above the entrance of the Television store to a black gate that can be used to imprison him within the store if they so choose to use it. Connor was quick to take care of it by jumping up and grabbing the gate until it pulled down halfway. Glancing over his shoulder, he called out to his leader. “Let’s go, Bert! We’ve done what we came to do. Plus, I still need a shower.”

Nodding in agreement, Bert paused to deposit a hand on Hermanni's shoulder, earning a smile as he gave it a firm squeeze of appreciation. “Thank you for understanding, Hermanni. I was already feeling shitty enough as it is for even considering doing this to you.”

“Do not worry any further about it.” Hermanni consoled him gently. “That is what friends do.”
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“Hey Bert, we're gonna walk around the mall before bed, is that cool?” Onika asked Bert, still wearing the same white tank top, pink pajama booty shorts and the fuzzy slipper she had been wearing when she woke up that morning. “And before you even say it, we don’t plan on stepping out of the building so you don’t have to worry! We just wanna peek in on a few of the stores nearby.”

Bert looked up from the mound of clean pillows he was helping Otep sort out for everyone due to the previous pillows having swamp muck on them because no one had the energy to take a shower that night. Now, they have clean crisp sheets. Pondering Onika’s request for a moment much like a parent would, Bert finally nodded with a strict look on his face. “Yeah sure, but be careful when you’re over there! And don't go breaking anything! And don't go too far! And don't fall over anything! As a matter of fact don't touch anything at all! You know what? How about you guys just hold each other’s hands and walk in a straight line, that might keep you safe.”

Otep and Onika shared a look at Bert being overprotective, but she had no plans to argue with the man. Instead she agreed along with his silly advice, but only to help ease his worried mind. With an innocent smile, she batted her eyelashes at him. “Yes, daddy!”

When she rejoined her girls waiting outside of the mattress store, Demitria, who was wearing a navy blue tank top with long black pajama pants, Natasha only had on an oversize dark grey shirt that manage to cover just her boy shorts underwear, and Alexis in a tight black t-shirt and long forest green pajama bottoms. They all had stolen slippers from the cabinets in the spa shop next door before their shower since most of the floors in the mall weren't carpeted. Alexis turned her head in Onika’s direction and asked. “What did he say? Are we in the clear?”

Onika gave them a wink and grinned. “Yeah, we’re in the clear. So let's go see him!”
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Hermanni sensed them closing in before he saw them through the black gate sealing the store he was in, so in due time he sat pretending to divert himself with a book as they giggled their way to his location, sharing small admissions on what they believed was his finest features. The closer they got to him, the more aroused their bodies were becoming against their own control. It was like something was coming over them, some kind of magic spell that was transforming them.

“Hermanni, hello!” Demitria whispered aloud to him as she waved excitedly with the other girls on the other side of the cage. The other ladies couldn't help but smile when he turned around on his mound of pillows and smiled right back in that ravishing style he naturally had.

“Hello, my ladies, what have I done to earn your company this evening?” Hermanni inquired, setting his book aside and getting up to take a seat on the floor directly in front of the gate to get a closer look at them. They were all uniquely appealing to him in their own way. In fact all the women he's ever met had something mesmerizing about them that only they were born with. Hermanni loved to identify those furtive enticing traits.

The girls tried to calm their giggling brought on by the small confession they had made of Hermanni on the way there. Some of their faces were blushing red as they looked everywhere, but at him when they sat down on the other side of the fence too. They were behaving so strangely even to themselves. It was almost like he was the hottest guy in school and they were a bunch of nerds that all vied for his attention hoping to not make fools of themselves in the meantime. They knew why he was locked within the Television store, but despite those reasons they hadn’t been able to get him out of their heads. Now that all the present dangers have finally died down, they were able to sit and take a deep breath for the first time since leaving the facility...and Hermanni was the first thing that was on their mind that morning before they were seduced by a five course breakfast meal. They never had a chance to see him on their own until now, and they were going to take as much advantage as they could over it.

“We were just coming to see if you were alright in there by yourself.” Alexis said softly, lowering her eyes down at her fuzzy slippers feet with a shy smile. She needed to get a hold of herself, she knew. She had no idea why she was behaving this way so suddenly. Yes, she thought Hermanni was extremely attractive, but even then she can usually keep herself composed around attractive people. Why did she feel like a pubescent little girl experiencing her first crush?

“And wondering if you wouldn't mind some company in there as well.” Natasha boldly drawled quite seductively, slowly running her hand down her neck with a flirtatious smile. Despite hearing what gruesome things happened out there in the swamps, within the medical facility and all the other alarming things, nothing had ever seemed to vex him. There was no way in hell this guy was dangerous in her eyes, his only crime was being a badass. Natasha was definitely interested in getting a taste of Hermanni one of these days. He’d be her most prettiest conquest yet.