#barely edited

When the medication didn’t work for the tooth aching pain tickles did.

It was hell for Lara, waking up in tears from the excruciating pain. All the other days it seemed normal, but the one time she had a planned day off it fought back. It managed to surpass a ten on the pain level, possibly a twenty when she had to wake up Sophia to take her to the doctors. The medication dosage fixed the problem, but she felt bummed that her itinerary of sightseeing across Toronto fell short.

Now she was resting, computer on her lap binge watching any trendy Netflix show that was on. She encouraged the others to get out, have fun and not worry about her. Realistically, she wished she wouldn’t have said that. Lara would’ve snatched her words back and begged for cuddles and head scratches, being adorably clingy and getting away with it because of her toothache. But she hated her impulses of being desperate for attention out of the member’s plans, so she kept quiet.

During her intense screening of a Korean drama Manon rang her cell. It took three rings for Lara to pick up, eyes glued to the suspense but having to pause.

“Finally you had the decency to call me.”, Lara gives out attitude, flaunting her British accent. Ever since the start of tour Lara and Manon were hit with the British speaking disease, and now every interaction over the phone had to be in a British accent.

“Whatever. I’m at the shop, bout to grab something to eat. Would you like some food darling?”, Manon asks sweetly. Lara was a foodie, any adventure needed to have snacks or meals included. With the harsh events and relentless crying for half an hour her appetite seemed to disappear, over and over again.

“I’m fine darling but thank you.”, Lara responds back, and there was an eery silence on the call. She thought Manon reached a dead end or a fan noticed her. When Lara’s thumb was going to reach the end call button Manon spoke again.

“What do you mean you haven’t eaten? Are you alright?”, The accent breaks down into genuine concern.

“Yes I am alright, I’ve been snacking and hydrating.”, Lara bites into a saltine cracker to have proof. Manon can tell Lara has been munching on crackers and water, not enough for it to be filling. She knew the script all to well, it was one of Lara’s habits when her mind was overwhelmed, shutting down. Lara would have a lack of hunger but would hide it with how extroverted she was.

“That’s not a meal, you need something to stick to your bones.”, Manon lectures, hoping Lara’s next words would be what she wanted to order. When it continued to be Lara being a brat that’s when the fun and games were over. If Manon knew anything besides reading in between Lara’s lies it’s with tackling it with her weakness.

“And why should I think it’s best to listen to you huh?”, Lara plays around, giggling.

“Lara, text me what you want to eat or I’m fucking tickling you. I’m not playing.”, Manon’s tone shifted, Lara immediately can tell when Manon casually slips the f bomb in her words. She played serious whenever she mentioned tickling, it had Lara in a mess of indecisive choices that no matter what she does she’ll get tickled. If she hangs up tickles are on the way if she continues to bicker she’ll get tickled.

The anticipation of tickles were ten times better when Lara’s brain is jumbled up.

Lara hung up, punching the air, kicking her feet, being a mess hiding in her sheets. In a way her words were calculated, that she was only acting slightly bratty for tickles. She did it earlier with Dani but she didn’t think the message was received. It came easily to Manon, a few words exchanged and now she was going to get tickled out of it. She didn’t act out for tickles often, it happened once with Sophia. Accidentally bickering over the smallest details as it ends with Sophia getting her lick back in tickles.

Lara underestimated the time Manon was going to arrive, a few minutes on Manon’s line was twenty minutes. Five minutes in of Lara still in a flustered mess and having to force herself to not smile so it doesn’t bother the pain in her mouth. She had to do breathing exercises, focusing on her poker face in the mirror. Lara had it down, looking the part that she’s been resting and totally not giggling and kicking her feet over the thought of tickles.

The moment she opened the door, spending a hearty ten minutes working hard on fixing her face it all crumbled when looking at Manon. Those endearing eyes holding her soup that had Lara’s name written next to a heart. An envelope inside that could be a sweet handwritten note of motivation. Lara had to shut the door, on her knees by the pleasant surprise waiting for her at the door.

When she tried again she lasted longer at holding her expressions, world record of thirty seconds. Manon wasn’t going to let her shut the door twice, forcing it open to find a placement for the food. Then to carry Lara to the bed for all the nonsense she had to endure. It was a mix of giggles, happy energy as Manon managed to get a good spot in for raspberries.

“MANONNWAIT!!”, Lara’s head went back, laughing at the ballistic raspberry attack. Manon went all around, being careful not to tug at the belly button piercing Lara had. When her hands sprawled to protect her tummy Manon quickly pulled her hands to the pillow and went on going. That was the only method she thought off that failed on the first try, so now she was left giggling through Manon’s torment.

“Fine, I’ll stop so you can give me an apology.”, Manon lets go, giving the space for Lara to say her last works. She knew there was no apology, Manon knew how Lara’s brain operated. That she’ll refuse, get more tickles, then say thank you for the tickles. The same act has been done countless times and still it gave the same result, Lara crossing her and back talking to Manon.

“What? Why should I apologize to you if you tickled me first?”, Lara’s face gets closer to Manon, which turns into a bad decision with her fingers get tangled on Lara’s tummy. Her laugh became high pitched, suddenly fighting for her life but only moving to rest her head to laugh freely.

“WAITHAHAHWAIT!!”, Lara laughs having her hand up, but it made Manon dig deep to her sides. That way there was nothing to wait upon. Unless it was for Manon to use one of her hands lock fingers into Lara’s tattooed hand and the other to tickle. The tickles wouldn’t feel intimidating to her, just pure love.

“You’re worse than Yoonchae at trying to be mad.”, Manon says, letting the teasing begin. To think she’ll get on Yoonchae’s ass that she’s easy to bully. It wasn’t tickles that had the maknae agitated, it was either ignoring or mocking her. In the end Lara apologized and gave her hugs and kisses, which still annoyed Yoonchae but at least she knew she was loved.

“I am not!”, But still not showing signs of being angry. The anger wasn’t in the room, it simply ran off when Manon was tickling her neck. It was laughs from now on, not the fancy ones that made anyone think it was raining money. When she was with Manon the tickles were much different. High pitched, airy, made Lara feel like cloud nine whenever the tickles softened.

“WAITIMMMSAWRRY!!”, What in hopes is an apology came from Lara’s lips. It wasn’t, but it was a great start of another feast of teasing from Manon.

“Wait, what did you say? You need to speak a little. Gosh the AC is so loud in here.”, Manon speaks, knowing the loud noises were from Lara’s laughter from all the tickles. Lara wasn’t pulling any chances of bringing out more words, it was tickles all around. She can say vowels but Manon got to pinching the inner thighs her body swung to the side.

“YOUUUUIHAHAHAHAIII!!”, Now it was a mess of words for Lara to get out. Manon’s fingers were moving fifty places at once, all of them being ticklish. It was the thighs, the side, her neck, her tummy, then astonishingly her feet. For the finale of it all being the armpits.

“Please! Please! You got every spot, don’t go for the armpits.”, Lara was able to say, seeing Manon wiggle her fingers close to her. Lara wanted to lock fingers with her, trying to turn it into a small wrestle competition. That way she can get on top of Manon, shower her with kisses well enough to be forgiven. If she wasn’t bedridden all day her strength would’ve been better.

“Babes, not going for your armpits is like saying I can’t sing for a whole week. That’s impossible.”, With that Manon shoots her scribbling fingers around Lara’s armpits. For a second Lara thought there was a chance Manon was going to listen by her soft tone saying babes. She was glad the tickling didn’t stop, she rather tackle armpit tickles than let it stop.

“HEYHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”, To Lara’s dismay and couldn’t talk back or make any smart remarks.

“Where’s the apology I’m waiting on? Hm?”, Manon questions, going back and forth with armpit tickles, then raspberries on her tummy.

“IMSORRRYYYY!!”, Lara confesses, saying it multiple times through her cackles. Manon did her method then, swarming her with kisses all over her face, still doing raspberries which soon faltered into soft tummy kisses. Lara felt so special being at the other end of her method, in the moment of collecting her thoughts her mind was scrambled again by such tender thoughts.

“Are you going to start making sure you eat and not indulge in just crackers?”

“I promise.”, Lara agrees. Glad she was agreeing to that and not agreeing to stop her bratty tendencies.

Manon got her food from the dresser, setting it on Lara’s lap with napkins and some juice that came along with the meal. The vibe was content, TV on with Lara eating her meal as Manon was scrolling through her phone. With the bothering tooth pain gone there was still another worry, much bigger problem arising. How was she going to win the MIA outro if she lacked the capability of holding her composure around Manon?

Hal let their axe sink into the vine beneath them. It cleaved easily, but the blow still barely left a dent.

"Busy right now, Esker."

"Oh, and I suppose ya just forgot your radio was set to my channel?"

Hal laughed, or tried to. It felt more like choking. They cleared their throat. "Umm, yeah, something like that."

Esker let the silence drag on a little too long. If they think they can pressure me into talking, they've got another thing coming. If there was one thing Rhy... if there was one thing they'd learned, it was stubbornness.

"So. Ya seen Gabbro around?"

Of course it was about them. "Nope." It was only a half lie. Their hatchmate had made themself pretty scarce since coming back from Giant's Deep.

"Goss is just worried, is all. Ya noticed them acting... different?"

Hal leaned on the handle of their axe. This was clearly going to be a whole conversation. "Not really. Gabbro's Gabbro. You know."

Esker let the conversation stall again, long enough that Hal almost hoped they'd just resume their whistling.

"Porphy said you've been dodging em like they've got spring fever."

Hal's ears flattened. "Look, Esker, I'm really busy." Just imagining their older friend's eyes - so concerned and sad - made centipedes crawl into their vocal folds. They coughed. Tektite had noticed their change in demeanor and was picking their way around debris to reach them. It felt like the thorny vines were buried in their chest instead of the ground beneath their feet. Esker inhaled over the line as if to speak, then just sighed.

"We care about ya, hatchling. But nobody can support you if you don't... I just wish either of you..." Esker's voice trailed off. Hal could have sworn they heard for a moment the same exhaustion they'd seen in the faces of all their elders. "Maybe you should talk to Goss about it. That's all. They might understand more than you think."

Hal rubbed their fangs over their lower lip. Nope. Tektite had reached their position. "Why don't you take a break, eh?"

Much worse than the admonishment they'd expected. Hal knew their emotions were written all over their face and they hated it. "Nah, I'm alright. Just checking in with Esker. They get lonely up there." They forced a smile. Tektite squeezed their shoulder, probably harder than necessary.

"Haven't seen you drink water all day, so that's an order." Now Marl was looking in their direction with all four eyes, Ears pricked, brow furrowed. Frustrated, Hal pulled the respirator off their face so they could speak more clearly.

"If what Gabbro said is true-" And that was a big if "we need to get this thing cleared as fast as possible. I'm fine, I have my own water." Water they mostly weren't drinking, since it was such a pain to move away from the worksite, take off the respirator, all just for some lukewarm water that had been sitting in a flask all day.

"Well I better see you using it." Tektite moved away again, resuming their work. But Hal caught their upper eyes straying back to their position. Hal huffed and took a perfunctory sip of their water which tasted like shit and re-secured the respirator over their nose and mouth. Gossan had insisted on the extra safety measure after Gabbro mumbled out an explanation that was mostly nonsense but involved words like "vacuum" and "wormhole".

Honestly, it's like everyone's hit their head. Is this what it was like when Feldspar... they shook their head furiously as if they could rattle the thought loose. Maybe YOU need to hit your head, Hal. The movement had unintentionally captured the attention of their working companions, again. They put their head down and got back to work.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

It was just past sunset when Tektite called off work for the day. The light was just too low. The late summer air hung heavy, the last vestiges of twilight clinging to the horizon in shades of lupine blue and winged insects crawled along the surface of the lamps used to light the path back to the village. Hal trailed behind the rest of the group. Tuff had joined them halfway through the day, and Hal had no motivation to pretend to be interested in the whispered tones of gossip between their hatchmates.

They paused at the top of the hill, eyes scanning the horizon of the crater. It was stupid habit, but the lightless void at the top of the village felt like a hole in their stomach. "Meet me after work, ok? I'll light a lantern." They turned their gaze upwards instead, watching the stars winking on one by one. Their hand fell to their radio, and they flipped through the channels absently.

Esker whistling.

"Yes, quite sure-"

"Hmm... that's odd... I'm-"

"Day off might be good-"

"Ground control to Rhyolite. This is an automated-"

They hit the off button so hard their finger hurt. They huffed out a few breaths. At some point, they'd sunk to their haunches. They forced themself back to their feet over the screaming in their lungs. I can breathe. I can breathe. I can breathe. They wandered down the village path, eyes half-focused on the ground, upper eyes flickering from place to place as if they'd spot a predator in the shadows. Just don't draw attention to yourself. Thank stars dinner's over.

"I can't tell you where they are because I don't know"

The raised voice cut through their dazed mind like water. Hal found themself drawing closer to the lit cabin window, hovering just out of its line of sight.

"You could at least help look for them" Hornfels sounded furious. "This isn't like you. You're unreliable but you've never returned from a mission early."

"Yeah well -" There was a growl, a sound of primal frustration and pain. "I can't you don't -" the speaker paused, panting for a second. "you can't understand."

Is that Gabbro ? It definitely was, the cadence and timbre left little doubt of that. Just... Hal had never heard them like this. In all the years growing up together, Gabbro had rarely shown their feelings. This was entirely different. The emotion spilling from Gabbro's voice made Hal's throat want to close again. It resonated deeply.

"I understand enough. Whatever happened with you two, this is unacceptable. Rhyolite is MIA and you want to what - abandon them?"

"I know they're not coming back but you won't listen to a word I say!" Gabbro gathered themself a little, frustration masking the raw pain beneath.

"I don't know what you're implying by that. I know you aren't suggesting Rhyolite would hurt themself." Hornfels' voice was darker. Hal instinctively made themself smaller beneath the window frame. There were sounds of shuffling inside.

"And I know you weren't suggesting I hurt them when you said 'whatever happened between you two'" A few seconds of seething silence passed. Hal wanted to creep away. This seemed like it was going to end in a fight. Should they call someone? Who could they call? Their body was frozen, rooted to the ground like a tree.

"I fucking told you what happened." Gabbro's voice was a little calmer.

"What you told me is delusional." Hornfels' was not. Another moment of silence passed.

"Forget it. I don't know why I tried." Footsteps moving towards the door.

"We're going to find them. And if you won't help I have no choice but to assume you don't want that." Hornfels' voice held a pleading note beneath the anger. Hal heard it. They were pretty sure Gabbro didn't. The door to their left clicked and Hal found themself face-to-face with the astronaut. Their eyes met for just a second before Gabbro's gaze dropped to the boards of the porch. Some things never change, I guess...

"You should... talk to them in the morning." Gabbro's voice was rough from vocal strain, but lowered. The dim lantern light glinted off the tears on their face, which they made no effort to hide.

"I'm. Umm..." Hal tried to formulate a coherent response. An excuse? Literally anything? But everything felt upside down. They suddenly felt very much like running to Gossan's cabin and pretending they were a hatchling again.

"Or, maybe better, don't." Amended Gabbro, glancing behind them. Footsteps approached the door. Hornfels could, of course, hear their low conversation.

"You're... different." Was all Hal could manage. Gabbro chuckled, but it was a sort-of sad chuckle. Not really a joyful sound.

"Yeah, buddy, a little. I should really be going though." Hal blinked dumbly at them as they slipped away into the darkness.

"Who - Halite? What are you doing here?" The change in Hornfels' voice from anger to the same sickeningly gentle concern Porphy kept trying to give them made Hal take a step backwards.

"I'm... Just heading home from work... Uhh... progress report... Seed is good? I mean. Not good. But we're working on it."

Hornfels squinted their upper eyes, scrutinizing Hal. "Right. So Tektite told me." well shit. Hornfels' face softened again. "Hal... If you need anything... just radio, alright? Your welcome any time."

It was, really unnerving to be let off the hook so easily. Memories of stern interactions from teenage escapades filled their mind like swarms of insects. I should be thankful. There's nobody left to take the fall. Hah. They numbly walked back to their cabin and sank into a dining room chair. They didn't bother to dim the lamp or shut the door quietly. There was nobody to wake up.

Ben's blood froze along with the rest of him. A girl. That sound was coming from the small gym, at the back of the hall. Whoever it was, she whined, weakly. Ben almost thought she'd said, "Stop."

Oh, fuck. Oh, what the fuck.

Ben sprinted, rushing for the small gym door, keys and shoes filling the hallway with so much noise, and then the loud bang when he slammed open the double doors—

There, up there, in the bleachers, two shapes. Ben staggered back when the one turned to look at him. "Monster" was the only word he had in that split second, looking up at the human-shaped thing with gray skin, black eyes, and lips slick with… blood.

Ben was completely out of his depth. He didn't even know how to categorize this. Was it some kind of animal? An elaborate prank? There was the girl, limp in it's hands, and Ben thought he recognized her—

The thing rose, it made to lunge for Ben, and he tripped over himself to get away, falling on his ass just in time to watch the monster get tackled out of the air by something else.

There was something else in here?! What was next?!

The monster and the — the wolf?! — ripped and tore at each other on the floor, away from the door. Not wasting a moment, Ben climbed up off of his butt and sprinted as best he could for the bleachers. He stumbled and banged his shins more than once getting up to the girl, then gathered and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't tell if she was still breathing or not. The thought that he was holding a dead body was like ice water down his back. He looked down the bleachers, holding the full weight of a teenaged girl, and worried that if she wasn't already dead, he'd kill them both trying to carry her down these stairs.

His head snapped up at a terrifying, roar-lile sound that shook the whole gym. Then he looked down, gritting his teeth, and pounded down the steps in a rush.

Holy shit! Holy shit, he made it!

He looked up again, and the human-shaped monster burst into a thick puff of steam. It rushed at him, and his heart stopped, right as the wolf dissolved into a swarm of bats, swirling around and controlling the cloud.

Was he asleep at his desk?! This was a nightmare, it had to be!

He didn't know how much time he had, so he ran, his steps heavy and precarious with the girl in his arms. There was a bang behind him, spurring him on with a punch of fear as he got into the hall.

He did his best to run, to get out of there as fast as possible, to keep the girl safe and balanced in his arms. She made a small sound, a groan, and he would have laughed with relief if he could breathe. He headed for the nearest exterior door, his heart pounding cold as crashing noises chased him up the hallway. He cried out in fear, gripping the girl tighter, and turned to shoulder out of the door.

He tripped, hard, over the threshold, and he had just enough footing left to twist and fall onto his back. The girl fell limp right onto his chest, punching the already winded wind out of him. He gasped, but it was hitched, caught against his sternum like gum. He couldn't get a breath in, he didn't even have the air to get the girl off of him.

The sounds of the fight were getting closer. He couldn't see past the weakly moaning student. He braced, immobile, for whatever pain or horror was about to overcome him.

Bats, so many tiny, screeching, flitting bats burst out of the still-open door, whipping past him and into the night. In the harsh floodlight, he saw several swirl and dive for him, only for several others to swoop over him and attack upwards. He gaped like a fish, still breathless, trying so hard to suck in a breath, mind whirling. These bats didn't move like they were supposed to.

The small animals cleared, screeching and shrieking into the distance. He was able to force half a breath into his lungs, but it hiccuped right back out of him. He squeezed his eyes shut, suffocating. There was another noise, and then footsteps, sprinting to him over grass.

Another set of hands grabbed the girl, yanking on her. Ben gritting his teeth, grabbing for her, trying to protect her from her next attacker, but the newcomer shoved his hands away with incredible force. Then the girl was on the stranger's shoulder, and he ran out of sight. Groaning, straining, feeling ready to pass out, Ben struggled to get onto his hands and knees. The same person — a student — was on him again, then, much to his surprise. Then, to his downright shock, the kid lifted him up onto his feet.

"Walk, walk, walk," the kid growled, his voice urgent, all but dragging Ben to a waiting car. The girl was in the front seat, leaning back, pale as death. The kid dumped Ben into the back seat and slammed the door shut behind him. Ben hadn't even righted himself before the kid was in the driver's seat and pulling the car off of the grass, towards the street.

Ben was finally getting his lungs back, struggling for air, for relief. But now, he could so strongly smell blood. He sat upright, shaking, looking across the car and at the driver. A street light passed in time to illuminate the kid pulling his hand away from his mouth, the meat of his thumb bleeding. Ben stared in horror as the kid reached over to the girl.

"Drink," the kid demanded, and Ben felt a wave of nausea like the inertia around a turn. The girl whimpered in front of him, and the boy turned to look at her. When he spoke again, his voice was downright terrifying, like the barreling of a train rushing up behind you. "Rebecca, you will drink."

She made another noise, and the kid looked away. Ben couldn't see, didn't want to see, if she was doing as told. He just stared at the driver.

"Put on your seatbelt," the kid said in a normal voice. Ben actually didn't want to do that. He wasn't sure he didn't want to bail out of this car yet. But then the kid turned to look at him, another passing street light illuminating a furious look on his face.

Ben slid back and grabbed the belt before the kid could use that voice on him.

The car was quiet, except for the roar of the engine and tire noise as the kid howled through town. It looked like they were headed to the hospital. That was good. So maybe Ben was okay to stay in the car.

Eventually, the kid pulled his hand away from Rebecca's face. He glanced at his hand, and Ben tried not to see the blood smeared across his skin. He could hear the girl breathing now, panting raggedly, fidgeting in front of him. He sighed, shaky and breathless, in relief.

"Rebecca, who was that?" the kid asked. Ben leaned to one side, trying to be quiet, to look forward into the passenger seat. Rebecca moaned. "Rebecca, please, I need to know who that was."

"I… I can't," she slurred. "I don't know."

"Why were you there?" he asked.

"I… we… I don't remember."

Ben looked between them as the kid swore under his breath. What was going on here? Did he think Rebecca personally knew that monster? And where had he even come from? He seemed entirely too calm about Rebecca's state, and he sure had been fast about getting them out of there.

"Who are you?" Ben demanded of the kid. He glanced back, over his shoulder. The lighting was better in this part of town, and Ben recognized the face.

"Abe Mitchell," the kid said. "I'm in your second period European History class." Ben nodded, leaning back slightly. He could see now that Abe was covered in tiny scratches and spots of blood.

What was going on? Where had Abe come from? And where had that wolf come and gone from, and those bats?

And that monster had turned into… mist.

Ben's eyes widened, and he looked again to Abe's hand, now on the steering wheel. Rebecca had been bleeding, he realized now. And she had been pale and chilled in his arms, limp. But now she was suddenly active again?

After… Abe told her to drink.

Ben stared at Abe. Abe threw a stern, sideways look back at him.

When they got to the hospital, Rebecca was still too dazed to walk. Ben carried her inside, and Abe led the way to the ER desk.

"Help," he said to the receptionist, "she's lost a lot of blood!" Ben swallowed another wave of nausea, not looking at Abe's right hand. There was a flurry as the receptionist got nurses into the room, as Rebecca was placed on a gurney and examined as she was wheeled away, as Abe told some bullshit story about the two of them jumping a fence when Ben caught them making out in the parking lot after dark. He threw a look back at Ben during that, looking embarrassed for just a second before his eyes hardened like stone on Ben. Ben responded with a shaken, but still emphatic, glare. As if he would ever in a million years say that it was actually a wolf, a monster that dissolved into vapor, and a swarm of bats that had done this. This kid must have thought he was a complete moron.

When things quieted down, Abe took a seat in the waiting room. Ben eventually sat down across from him. He didn't know Rebecca's emergency contact info, and he couldn't get it from the school at this point, but he had been able to give them her last name, at least. He had her in fourth period, he'd realized when he'd gotten any chance to look at her face. He hung his head and shivered, trying not to think about the moment when he'd picked her up and thought she was dead.

"So," Abe uttered. Ben pursed his lips, rubbing his face, then looked up hesitantly. Abe met his gaze. He looked… nervous. "How… how much of that did you see?"

Ben glanced around the room, but they were pretty much alone. He looked back to Abe, but couldn't meet his eye. Had Abe been the monster… or the wolf? He was the wolf, surely. Unless he was lying to ease Ben's suspicions… Would he do that? He was apparently a pretty quick liar.

"Enough," Ben said, his voice shaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Enough to know I probably shouldn't ask questions."

To his surprise, Abe laughed. Then he laughed again, putting a hand across his face to cover his eyes.

"Shit," Abe swore under his breath. Ben shivered. He really hoped this was a dream. It didn't feel like one. Abe lowered his hand to cover his mouth, looking into Ben's eyes. A flicker of fear and something primal in the base of his skull told Ben not to meet that gaze, so he looked away. "Would you believe me," Abe said, "if I told you that was all for film class?"

Ben glared up at Abe, then pointedly looked to the reception desk. Ben's heart was still pounding, his chest still ached from that awful breathlessness, and they were in the hospital, so no. Ben would not believe that.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. Abe frowned down at the low table between them. He looked pensive. Maybe Ben should have actually tried to make that convincing. Was there anything to stop Abe from turning into a wolf or a swarm of bats or a monster and killing Ben right now?

Holy shit. Abe had… Abe was a…

Ben felt dizzy. He put his head in his hands with a moan. If Abe wanted him dead, then there probably wasn't anything Ben could do to stop him. So there wasn't much point in fighting it.

"Are you gonna kill me?" Ben breathed, intentionally too quiet for a normal person to hear. There was silence between them for a moment. Ben was almost relieved.

"No," Abe whispered, dashing Ben's hopes. "But if that other… one recognized you, then you're still in danger."

This was a nightmare. No, no, Ben was probably actually just dead. He was dead already, and his brain was making up stories to explain it away with his last moments of oxygen. Or, he had just gone straight to Hell. That sucked. He thought he deserved Heaven. He wasn't perfect, but he gave more than he got.

"I'll need to protect you and Rebecca," Abe said. "Whoever that was, they're probably pissed now. They'll want to finish Rebecca off, and get at you just to make things worse for me." Ben stared at Abe. He was taking all of this way too well.

"Who are you?" Ben hissed. Abe looked up, meeting Ben's eye. Ben set his jaw, not looking away this time.

"Abraham," Abe said sternly, all of the youth drained from his boyish face. "Your bodyguard, until I tell you otherwise."

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