Chapter Four
Vic had been silent for an entire minute, which was basically an eternity for Felix. Especially since the entire time, she was pinning him with the most intense, concerned look she had ever worn since he’d known her. This in itself was impressive, considering how many times he had managed to concern her in the past. Felix shifted nervously on the couch beside her—the same couch Creeper was still hiding beneath. Finally, Vic leaned over, elbows resting on her thighs as her hands covered her face while she inhaled.
“So let me see if I understand all of this,” Vic finally spoke, weighing each word carefully. “You saw your lead get pulled into his computer and get eaten by an alien. You know that because the alien spoke to you when you became friends with it. Then the next day the police started questioning people at your office. But somehow, there was nothing on the cameras. No one knows you were there when Paul died and no one knows what actually happened to him. By some miracle you dodged that bullet and…ended up becoming friends with the thing that killed him.”
She then moved her hands away from her face to look over at him. “Did I get that right?”
“I—Yeah,” Felix hesitated, realizing that it sounded even more insane when the story was being told out loud back to him. He certainly didn’t miss the way Vic made sure to point out twice that he had made friends with the alien creature that had eaten another human being in front of him. But that was what happened “Yeah. That’s pretty much the gist of it.”
Vic straightened, turning her body so she could face him with her arms crossed. Her expression didn’t change. If anything, she now looked even more intense than earlier, which he hadn’t thought was possible.
“Okay.” She paused, taking a long look around the room. Her attention then went to the table in front of the couch, where all the junk food was, piecing things together. “And you were having dinner with it.”
“Well, they’ve never had burgers and fries before so I thought it might be neat to introduce them,” Felix smiled hopefully. “Turns out they really like burgers and fries a lot, but they can’t get any nutritional value from them which sucks, but maybe we’ll have better luck with ice cream.”
Vic nodded, lips tightly pressed together as she looked back at the food on the table. Her eyes followed the small path of crumbs that lead to the corner of the table, stopping at those that fell on the carpet. “Ice cream. You were going to give it ice cream afterward?”
“They haven’t tried ice cream either,” Felix explained. “So I was gonna see if it liked that too.”
“I see. How have you been sleeping lately?”
“Kind of shitty I guess, but that’s always been a thing. But I don’t think that’s the alien’s fault.”
“Oh, I’m not blaming your friend. Just curious. Do you have big finals approaching? I remember you telling me that Paul used to make you work even more when you had school deadlines. Like he somehow knew you needed time to study.”
“Yeah, thank god I won’t have to worry about that anymore,” Felix sighed in relief.
Vic rubbed her temples. It was very obvious now. Felix must have had a nervous breakdown and hallucinated everything about last night. On the other hand, what if something had happened to Paul last night, and now Felix was actually coping by imagining an alien killing his team lead. Both possibilities were equally disturbing. And if Paul did die, who killed him?
“So yeah…” Felix continued, nervously filling in the silence. “That’s pretty much the gist of it and why I was worried about telling you. But for what it’s worth I made Creeper promise not to eat you.”
“Oh wow, thanks,” came her immediate response, though it was distracted. She seemed to be searching for something, only to pause, eyes widening once she registered what he said fully. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Um. I made Creeper promise not to eat you? They did promise not to, so yay progress.” Felix made a half-hearted attempt at a hopeful smile, waving his hands a little in front of him.
“Yay progress,” Vic agreed wearily.
“No Vic snack,” said a voice from under the couch. Vic startled, immediately lifting and crossed her legs on the couch cushion to keep it away from whatever was under there.
All at once, realization dawned on Vic as she stared at Felix. This had nothing to do with her friend having a nervous breakdown. Unless they were both now having a nervous breakdown. After a moment she gathered her senses enough to silently mouth the question, ‘Is it…under there?’
Felix nodded and lowered his voice even though Creeper would probably still hear them anyway. “Sorry, I told them to hide under the couch, cause I didn’t want to overwhelm you right away or for you to get freaked out.”
“Well, I’m a little freaked out right now,” Vic whispered back abruptly. She then took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. “Okay…You said it was friendly to you? And it was going to be friendly to me too… So your friend only eats team leads? It’s okay? We’re okay?”
“I don’t think they only eat team leads, but we are definitely safe. Because I’m friends with them and you’re friends with me. So that makes us safe. Right?”
“Right,” said Creeper under the couch.
“Right,” Felix beamed. “See? Safe.”
Vic let out a small incredulous laugh. “Right. Felix, can I talk to you in private?”
“Yeah! Yeah absolutely,” Felix moved to get up. “Um, is my room okay?”
Vic gave him two thumbs up. “That works.”
Felix led the way to the bedroom, quietly closing the door after them. “Listen…If you’d rather not be involved, I completely understand. I know this is kind of a lot.”
Suddenly he felt himself grabbed by the shoulders, as Vic stared intently at him, more worried than ever. “Kind of a lot? Felix, are you out of your mind? That thing killed someone.” Vic was doing her best to stay quiet, but the panic was rising in her voice. “Your 'friend' is dangerous. And because of it, you might be tied to a murder. Do you know how serious that is?”
“I know! I know. But I figured—I mean, if they wanted to hurt me they would have already, right? They could have hurt both of us just now and they didn’t. They’re not just some kind of mindless animal, Vic. Creeper is actually really smart, maybe even smarter than us. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes they’re kind of cute too. I really don’t think they’re bad or—or evil.”
“But it killed your lead,” she insisted, still not convinced. “It killed Paul, Felix. Through his computer. What if it’s trying to manipulate you? It definitely tricked Paul, why wouldn’t it trick you?”
“I just don’t think they would do that,” Felix frowned. He knew he was excited about making a new friend, particularly one from another planet, but he didn’t think he was being tricked. “They seem really excited to get to try out all the new things they haven’t tried before. And I’m just…me. I’m not anyone special, Vic. I don’t know what they would get out of trying to trick me. Even if they wanted to save me as a snack for later they could just pop out whenever they wanted and do that. They wouldn’t need to pretend to be friends with me. It didn’t pretend to be friends with Paul. I don’t think even an alien from another planet would want to do that anyway, actually…”
Vic didn’t seem to have an argument against this. It was true, why work hard on building trust when you could just come out of a screen and simply eat your prey? Still, she didn’t seem reassured by his words. If anything, she looked even more troubled. “Felix… I don’t think it’s safe to trust it. You’ve only known it for a day and it killed someone in front of you. It definitely feeds on people like you and I. What if it kills a nice family? A good father? Kids? You’re still befriending a predator and you’re okay with that?”
Felix felt his shoulders slump, his heart sinking. He hadn’t even thought about things like that. It definitely wasn’t something he was okay with. Sure, he had only known Creeper for a day, but even in that short time he already felt like there was so much potential for good in their newfound friendship. After a long silence, he spoke, grasping at any chance he could to keep Creeper in his life. “Maybe we could teach them not to eat nice people. What if they only ate assholes? Or maybe we could find a way for them not to have to eat people at all. That’s why I was kind of thinking with the fries and the ice cream and…maybe there’s something else that they can live on.”
The desperate tone in Felix’s voice definitely had an effect on Vic. Pity was written all over her face while she reassuringly stroked his shoulders, letting out another deep sigh afterwards. “Darling… are you sure it’s even possible?” She asked, careful with her words. “Sure, if we knew it wouldn't hurt good people and only ate bad people, it would be better. If it could avoid eating humans entirely, it would be ideal, but I don’t know if they can do that. It’s something worth asking.”
There it was. That glimmering thread of hope that Felix was eager to hang on to. “Yeah! We could definitely ask them. Just give them a chance and just…meet them. Please? If you still feel like it’s a bad idea after then we can figure something else out. Promise.”
Vic hesitated before giving a reluctant nod. “Yeah. Okay.” She gently squeezed his shoulders before letting them go. Though there was no doubt she was still tense, at least she seemed to be a bit reassured by his last suggestion. “If it can’t be flexible, let’s come back here and figure something out.”
“Okay! Yeah! Yeah, that sounds good.” Without a second thought, Felix threw his arms around her in a tight hug. “Thank you, Vic.”
She hugged him back without hesitation. “You’re welcome, Felix. But the moment it looks hostile, I’m kicking its ass and sending it back to the planet it came from.”
“Or we could run,” Felix laughed nervously. He didn’t want to have to see Vic fighting the alien, but if anyone could kick an alien’s ass, it would definitely be her.
Vic chuckled. “Yeah, deep into the forest, with no electrical devices. Can it only travel through computers?”
“Through any technology I think.” He led the way back towards the living room before calling out tentatively. “Hey Creeper?”
“Yes, friend?” asked the voice of the creature from under the couch.
“Do you want to come out and meet Vic?”
“But Vic is scared of us.” They didn’t sound hurt. They were simply stating a fact like it was the most logical thing in the world.
Felix glanced at Vic and then smiled at the little shadow under the couch. “Maybe a little. Sort of like how I was too. But I think if she got to know you she wouldn’t be as scared.”
There was no response to that. A pair of glowing eyes simply stared up at the other two, watching from where they hid.
Felix rubbed over his own arm a little before looking at Vic. “Right Vic?”
Vic forced herself to smile. “Right. I just need to know you better,” she said to Creeper, who kept staring at them. “It was just a lot to process, I’m sorry.”
For a moment, it seemed like the creature wasn’t going to leave the shadows. They kept watching both of them for a few more seconds before disappearing into the darkness, the room growing silent afterward. Just as Vic was about to say something to Felix, Creeper finally came out, startling her. They slipped out from the side of the couch, then climbed up the armrest to sit there, still watching them cautiously.
Like before, Felix had been expecting to see the small humanoid body of the alien that first revealed itself to him, but this time it looked like it had taken another shape, one that seemed more…feline. Even the way Creeper sat was cat-like in nature, tail wrapped comfortably around their body and their screen like head cocked to one side. Like this, they looked even more adorable than they did earlier.
“Hi,” they said once they’d settled in.
“Um.” Vic took a moment to recollect herself. Felix couldn’t blame her. It was probably hard to imagine that this now small innocuous looking creature had eaten anyone. “Hi. Nice to see you, Creeper.”
Creeper stopped tilting their head and proceeded to hold Vic in an unblinking stare. “It’s nice to meet you too, friend of Felix.”
Felix beamed. So far so good. And he couldn’t believe how much cuter Creeper looked now. “That’s so cool. I didn’t know you could change shape!”
"It can-- I mean, they can change shape?" Vic asked incredulously.
"We always could change shape. We're just using the ones that humans prefer." The alien explained matter-of-factly.
“Can you change your head shape too or is it always a screen?”
"We can change our head, but it has limitations. Our body and our head are made differently. The things we can do with our body also have limitations. We can never change our feet completely." To prove their point, Creeper lifted one of their back paws. The claws were longer and shaped in a way that almost made them look reptilian. "See?"
“Oh…” Felix nodded in understanding. “How big can you get?”
"Big."
"How big?" Vic insisted, visibly concerned by this new revelation.
"Very big."
"Like a building?" She insisted. Creeper paused, lowering their back paw.
"Maybe. We never tried."
Vic covered her face with both hands, letting her silence speak for her.
Felix’s eyes widened in excitement. “Can you turn into a turkey?” Felix didn’t have any particular love for turkeys; a turkey just so happened to be the first thing that crossed his mind.
Vic looked up from her hands immediately, staring at Felix in disbelief. "A turkey? Why?"
Without hesitation, Creeper had begun to transform. What used to be an adorable cat was now changing in the most confusing way possible. It was like watching tar shaping itself into something more solid, thick bubbles rising and reattaching itself to Creeper until it had taken the proper shape of a big tubby bird. What was even stranger was how the head of the alien remained the same, floating above that cut neck in a way that didn’t even seem real. When Creeper then folded their ‘wings’, Vic was rendered completely speechless.
"Big turkey."
“Oh my god.” Felix stared at Creeper’s new form, a grin spreading slowly across his features before he finally burst out laughing. “Wow, that’s amazing!” Felix looked at Vic excitedly. “Vic, look! It’s a—”
“Big turkey, I know.”
Felix grinned. "A turkey. They’re so round! I mean that's pretty adorable right?" Felix laughed a little, highly distracted now that he knew this was a possibility. He smiled at Vic, absently reaching a hand out with intentions of giving Creeper a little reassuring pat.
"Poison skin," Creeper said immediately, flattening themselves on the armrest to avoid his hand.
"Oh!" Felix snatched his hand back and then laughed nervously. "Right. Right."
Vic wasn’t sure about adorable. In truth, she felt even more confused than before. This being definitely had the potential of being a huge threat. It did more than simply hunt humans through computers; it could also change its shape at will. It didn’t matter how cute it looked at the moment, this was still a huge advantage for it. Making it far more dangerous than she initially suspected.
"Hold on." Vic rose her hands, still processing everything that had just happened. "Felix, what did it just say right now?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah I probably should have told you but if you touch it um..."
"You die," Creeper finished for him.
"You...I’m sorry, what? You were thinking of telling me when, Felix?!"
"I'm sorry! I forgot for a second! This has just been a lot to catch you up on."
"No kidding! So on top of everything, they're poisonous to touch? You were about to pet it, you could have died right then!"
"We wouldn't have let him die," Creeper interjected. "We dodged him. We can be his eyes when he's being distracted."
"No, that won't be enough!" Vic rubbed her forehead. "How poisonous are you? Is it an instant death? A long painful one?"
"Quick and painful. Then humans turn into food for us."
"Food for-- Felix, we really need to have that food talk with your friend," She said sternly. "Now."
"Okay, okay. You're right." He put his hands up in an attempt to pacify Vic and then looked to Creeper. "Alright. So...Vic was wondering if we could talk to you about the kinds of humans you eat."
Creeper turned back into their previous cat form and sat up straight, understanding the severity of the situation. "Okay."
Vic crossed her arms, tense as she let Felix handle the situation.
Felix rubbed over the stubble on his chin as he tried to think of the best way to word what they had discussed prior. "We know you need to eat humans to survive and get energy, but does it matter what type of human you eat?"
"Yes."
"What specific humans do you need to eat?"
"They need to be focused," Creeper explained, raising a paw while they did. "We can't eat the ones that aren't deeply concentrating on something."
"Oh...I see." Felix hadn’t been expecting that kind of answer at all. This did make it a little trickier, because now they weren't only asking Creeper for a favor, but it was one that could potentially make things a lot more difficult for them as well. "Are there any other requirements that you need to be able to eat one? And what happens if one accidentally touches you and you eat them? Don't you get sustenance from them anyway even if they're not concentrating?"
"They only need to be focused on something. The energy that emerges from them when they're focused is what we need as sustenance. If they touch us, it's not the same thing. It's like crumbs. Bad, stinky crumbs. We don't consume them for the nutrients, we do it so we don't leave a trace behind. Does that make more sense?"
"Yeah. I think so." He glanced at Vic then back at Creeper. "Vic and I were hoping maybe we could come up with a plan where you only eat bad people. That way it's sort of a win-win."
Creeper considered this for a moment. "Define bad people."
"Well not kids. Definitely not kids. More like...assholes. People who hurt other innocent people on purpose."
"Okay. How do we know they're bad people? Define bad." It sounded like they were really trying to understand the concept. Creeper was a lot more cooperative and passive than Vic expected. "More like Paul Gates?"
Felix glanced at Vic for help. Paul had been bad, but was he 'get devoured by an alien' bad? It was hard to say. "Sort of. Maybe Vic could explain it better."
Vic nodded, uncrossing her arms. "You should only target evil people. Evil people are wicked and profoundly immoral. For example, a CEO who takes advantage of the poor to get richer. Corrupted politicians, abusers, narcissists assholes who hurt and manipulate others...There are a lot of them, so you won't run out of food. They can also concentrate during long periods of time."
Creeper was then quiet again. It was evident they were trying to understand everything that was being told to them. They squinted their eyes, their weird tail swishing from side to side. "We can try. It will be complicated to figure out which person is fitting the evil definition. It's already a challenge to find humans who don't lose focus while being in our reach."
"Then we can show you which ones are good options," Vic replied immediately. "We have so many corrupted assholes running this nation. Hell, I could even give you their name and tell you where they are generally located. Just don't hurt any innocent people. I won't tolerate it and neither will Felix, okay? If you want this friendship to work, you'll have to make sacrifices. No negotiation."
The alien sat up straighter, looking at Felix. It seemed they were attempting to see if the programmer was agreeing with her.
Felix nodded. He didn't want innocent people to get hurt either, but he knew this was a pretty big thing they were asking from Creeper who could easily just decide it wasn't worth the trouble. Not to mention this was probably a lot for the creature to take in too. He felt bad for making demands of them, especially when they hadn't known each other very long. He smiled gently at Creeper. "Do you think that would be okay?"
"If you show us examples for the first few times... Yes, it can be okay."
Felix gave a sigh of relief smiling brightly at Vic. "See? It'll be okay."
Vic smiled back, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Yeah."
"We understand." The alien said, lowering themselves so they were laying on their front. "It's survival instinct. Predators like us don't usually befriend their food or the other way around. As long as we're able to feed ourselves, we don't care how we do it."
"Good..." She sighed. "I'm glad we had this talk and we're all on the same page."
“Me too,” Felix admitted. “Want some fries?” he offered Vic in an attempt to soothe things over a little more. “We’ve got extra.”
"That's very nice of you, Felix. But no, I already ate. Thank you though." Vic's smile was a bit more genuine then. "I'll let you two have dinner. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Felix smiled back hoping it would put her more at ease. "We'll be okay, I promise."
Vic reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Don't hesitate to tell me everything that's troubling you, okay? I'm just down the hallway. You can knock on my door any time and I'll be here to help. Take care, you two. Have a great meal."
"Thanks Vic...really. Thank you for letting me tell you about all this. I know it's all kinds of crazy, but it helps that you know."
"Of course. Take care…you two." Vic added the last part almost reluctantly, nodding at them both before heading to the entrance. "See you in the morning."
"Night Vic. See you in the morning!" He followed her to the entrance, giving her a little wave before closing the door. His heart felt so much lighter and happier now that Vic knew everything. He smiled over at Creeper who hadn't said anything for a while now. "I'm glad you got to meet Vic."
Creeper watched Felix from where they sat. "Us too, friend."
Felix went back over to sit on the couch near (but not too near) to Creeper. "Did you get enough fries?"
Their gaze shifted to look at the pile of fries on the table before looking back at Felix shortly after. "We can have more?"
"Yeah, of course! You can have as many as you want."
Those neon eyes stared at the fries on the table for a moment. Creeper then jumped onto the table and landed between the boxes of fries and burgers. "We're not used to eating this much human food. " They admitted, grabbing a few fries with their teeth.
"Well, you can have as much of it as you want as long as it doesn't hurt you. Actually, I didn't even think of that. We should probably be careful in case you're allergic to something."
"Allergic?" Creeper ate while they listened, occasionally dipping the fries in their shake, using their tail.
"Yeah. I don't even know if that's possible, but I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you from eating human food."
"What is allergic? We're not sure we understand."
"Oh, it's when you have a bad reaction to eating something and it makes you sick."
"Ohh. We have never been sick. But who knows, maybe we will." It didn't sound like they were too concerned about the possibility.
"That must be nice. I hate getting sick."
"Felix gets allergic?"
"Not allergic exactly, but bell peppers sometimes give me stomach aches so I try to avoid them."
"Ohh...Bad bells."
Felix laughed. "Yeah. Bad bells. They don't taste great anyway, so I'm not bothered by it."
"We never tasted them, but we believe you." Creeper paused to clean themselves with their weird looking tongue. "Does your friend have issues with us interacting with you?"
"I think Vic just needs a little time to take everything in. She's always been protective by nature. She doesn't want anything bad happening and she's wary of things going wrong. But I don't think she dislikes you."
"It's normal, humans don't normally mix with our kind. It's like asking a mouse to be friends with a lion."
"I guess that’s a good way of putting it. What do you think about it though?"
"About what?"
"Being friends with humans."
"Oh." They watched Felix for a little longer before looking back at their food, grabbing another fry with their mouth. "We're not supposed to befriend humans. We know we're breaking the rules, but we don't really care. We like you."
Felix smiled. "I like you too, buddy. Some rules are stupid anyway."
Creeper responded with a toothy little grin and a sound that could only be described as laughing. "Weheheh."
Felix couldn't help but laugh as well. For whatever reason, he never thought Creeper would laugh, and it was even funnier than he could have imagined. "I mean here sometimes we have to break rules for our own survival anyway. There was no way in hell I was gonna tell the cops about you."
"The cops would be more in danger anyway." Their grin never vanished. "What if they were very focused? They would become hamburgers."
"They wouldn't have believed me anyway, they probably would have just locked me up."
"We would have eaten them then. No one will lock you up, friend. They are fries and ice cream for us."
Felix laughed. "Thanks, buddy. That makes me happy to know. Hopefully nothing like that ever happens, though."
A sudden, firm knock on the door caused Felix to jump. He lowered his voice. "It's probably Vic, but just in case you should hide. It could be the landlady."
Once Creeper was out of sight, he headed over cautiously to open the door only to feel a twinge of panic at the sight. This wasn’t Vic, or his landlady, or anyone he’d ever seen in his life for that matter. Instead, he found himself staring up at two intimidating men, and neither of them looked like they’d ever smiled once in their life. Both were dressed in fitted dark suits. One was broad-shouldered, above average height, looked to be in his thirties. Even in a suit, it wasn’t hard to see his solid build. It was the kind of person that Felix was sure could take him out in one hit if he wanted to. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, a mean scar was etched across one side of his face, from his brow to cheekbone. The man standing next to him was of average height but it didn’t make him look any less intimidating. He was leaner but meticulous in appearance. If he had been wearing a lab coat he would have passed as a pharmacist. An evil pharmacist. Suspicion was written all over the would be evil pharmacist's face from behind the thin silver framed glasses.
An uncomfortable tension settled between them before Felix cleared his throat. "Can…I help you?"
Glasses-man spoke, his voice clinical. "Felix Remzi. We're following up on the investigation of the incident that happened at the Vidal building last night and would like a statement as to what you witnessed before you went home that night. We assure you that anything you share will remain entirely confidential."
Felix swallowed and took a moment to collect himself. Was this the FBI? Oh god, the FBI was here to interrogate him. Oh fuck. That explained why they hadn’t even questioned if he was the one they were looking for. They already knew.
"I...I didn't see...I didn't see anything. I went home that night."
The taller man stepped forward, his face immobile as he fixed Felix with cold gray-blue eyes. Felix leaned back a little on impulse. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. The man finally spoke after a tense moment, his voice low and authoritative. "And have you seen anything…suspicious since then?”
Before Felix could even respond, the other man interjected sharply, his impatience not as neatly kept in check as the rest of him.
"Mr. Remzi, we have reason to believe your life may be in danger. It would benefit you to cooperate and tell us anything and everything out of place that may have happened that night or since then."
"No…No, I haven't seen anything, what do you mean I'm in danger?"
"There is a high possibility of it. But we can't be sure unless you tell us everything you’ve seen. Something out of the ordinary perhaps? Something that you may have felt uncomfortable talking about with others?"
"Telling us what you know will be to your advantage, Remzi.”
The threatening nature of their words seemed to stem from a sense of urgency, which only made it all the more unnerving for Felix. He looked between them, doing his best to get a hold of his wits. He couldn’t afford even the smallest mistake right now. His gut told him these two knew something strange happened that night, but who knew to what extent. It felt like they were determined to hear him say he'd seen something out of the norm. Like a murder. Or an alien. Like Hell would he ever let some weird mafia men get a hold of Creeper. Felix was a lot of things, but he’d never betray his friends. Who knew what they’d do to Creeper if they found them. Maybe it would start with two men in suits, but it would certainly end in government intervention, with him and Creeper in some lab surrounded by men in biohazard suits. They’d probably end up killing Creeper at the end of it. Well, there was no way he’d let anyone hurt any friend of his. Gathering the meager courage he had, Felix straightened himself, his words resolute. "Like I said. I haven't seen anything."
There was a tense, long silence. The taller man then reached into his pocket for something. Felix panicked internally, half afraid the man was planning on pulling out a gun, or something to attack him. What if they knew he was lying and had other ways to make him talk? What if they kidnapped him and drove him out to a warehouse in the middle of nowhere to torture him until he did? He jumped as the man’s hand came out towards him, his heart thudding wildly in the hollow of his chest. But it wasn’t a weapon. Unless these men were planning on killing him with a business card. Hesitantly, he took it.
"If you remember anything, or see anything...suspicious…call this number."
"Right. Thanks. Thank you," Felix mumbled, eagerly moving back into the safety of his apartment. "Have a good time—I mean night. Good night."
The man with glasses narrowed his eyes and then without another word, both turned to leave.
Felix abruptly closed the door afterwards, locking the bolt and sliding the chain lock over as well for good measure. He then pressed his back to the door and let out a huge breath. "...what the fuck."
"Felix...?" The voice of Creeper called out from the living room, peeking out at him from under the shadows of the couch.
Felix distractedly lifted his head from staring at the business card before heading quickly over to Creeper, keeping his voice hushed just in case. “Hey. I don’t know who those two were but I don’t have a good feeling about them at all.”
"What could they be? Detectives?" Creeper asked as they slowly emerged from their hiding spot. "They made you nervous. More nervous than police officers."
“I don’t know. FBI, CIA, whoever they were, we should be careful. We should tell Vic but I’m gonna wait until tomorrow morning. This has all already been a lot for her. She’s probably tired and who knows if they’re still watching the place or if they’ll come back again.”
"We can eat them." Creeper suggested, curling their tail around themselves. "They look like bad guys. We just need them to be very focused and it's in the bag, Felix. No more worries."
“They could be part of a larger organization. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
"Then we eat the larger organization. Easy-peapy lemon quirky."
“We don’t know how much they know about you. If they’ve found some way to hurt or capture you…Who knows. We shouldn’t take a risk like that if we don’t have to. Even if there might be a lot of good reasons for an entire organization like that to disappear, I also think if you did something like that, the world is gonna notice quickly. It’d probably cause some sort of mass panic which wouldn’t be good. "
"How? We thought the FBI and CIA were supposed to be quiet. Would they let the world know they're outnumbered?"
"Probably not if a few went missing, but if you ate them all they would. Either way, I have a feeling they know about you. We should try to get some rest tonight and figure out something with Vic tomorrow."
"Okay Felix. We could also distract them and pretend to be somewhere else, so they will stop bothering you. Humans are easy to distract."
"That might not be a bad idea but…I wouldn't want them to catch you Creeper. I’m more worried for you than me right now really. We have no idea what they’re capable of. Let's wait and see what Vic thinks tomorrow."
"Okay, okay, no FBI snacks." They sounded a bit disappointed. "We'll let you warn her."
"Yeah no FBI snacks…at least not yet," He came back over to sit on the couch with the other. "Do you need sleep?"
"We don't need to rest right now. But you do." Creeper looked up at him.
"I probably should...But I'm kind of on edge now. It's going to be hard to fall asleep," he admitted.
"Watch something?" They suggested, motioning the television with their neon head. "Until your senses grow numb and the exhaustion takes over."
"Yeah…Yeah, I think I’ll do that," Felix nodded, sitting on the couch as he reached for the remote to turn the television on. "That's what I usually do anyway. Have you ever been seen by humans before me? I mean ones that haven't died shortly after."
Creeper jumped on the back of the couch to settle down. They took their time, curling their odd tail around themselves. "Just one."
"Ohh." Felix didn't think it would be right to ask anymore questions. After all, if Creeper was here and not with that person, it was pretty obvious it either didn't end well, or it was a long time ago and that person was no longer around. "Are there humans in other worlds too?"
"Yes. You're not exclusive to this world only, friend."
"Wow. That's weird to think about. Are they very different from the ones here?"
"Yes and no. Some are very different and some are very similar. Almost close copies of each other."
"Must be sort of neat getting to travel and see so many different things."
"We could show you. It's not difficult for us to make an opening big enough for a human like you."
Felix perked up immediately. "Really? Is it dangerous?"
"What is? Going to the other side? No."
It was evident that temptation was playing along Felix's thoughts. He couldn't even begin to imagine all the new things that he would be able to see in another world. "I'd love to get to see. But I should probably talk to Vic about it first before I do. Maybe we could all go together sometime. How often can you travel to other worlds? Can you just go to any of them any time you want?"
"We can always travel. It's in our power to do it any time we want. The only thing we don't have control over is where we are heading, because the paths are tricky to navigate. There is only one way we know by heart, and it's home."
"Oh wow. So that means if we leave here, it might be really hard to ever come back..."
"Yes. We can find the way back to your home, but it would take trial and error. It's not impossible."
"I don't know if Vic would be willing to take that long of a break from work," Felix laughed a little. "And my job would probably fire me."
"Okay Felix. No biggie."
Felix laughed a little at hearing the saying from the other. "Yeah. Maybe one day though."
"Maybe one day," they repeated after him, lowering their head while they continued to watch what was on the television.
Felix watched quietly with them, though his mind couldn't help but wander elsewhere to thoughts about different worlds, FBI agents, and what Vic would think about it all. At least tomorrow wasn't a workday. It would give him time to think it all over and maybe come up with something together with Creeper and Vic. This thought alone was comforting to him, and as he laid there against the couch, he could finally feel his body beginning to relax.
Sometime throughout the late hours of the night, sleep finally found him. When he woke again, he groggily dragged himself to sit up while he rubbed over bleary eyes. Judging by how eagerly the light was trying to break through the blinds, he had probably slept in a little.
Felix glanced around, noticing Creeper was nowhere to be found...or so he thought. He yawned. They’d probably just left like before to explore or get food.
"Hello, friend."
Felix froze mid yawn and blinked when he heard the voice, then leaned over to peer under the couch. Somewhere in the dark emptiness he could see those familiar glowing eyes staring at him. It was going to take him a while to get used to the little couch lurker. "Oh hey."
"Vic is still home," they informed the programmer, staring at him all the while. "She's been awake for a while."
Oh, right…They needed to talk with Vic. Stupid FBI people. Felix furrowed his brow. "Wait. How do you know that?"
"We took a peek from her television. She didn't see us."
Felix gave a little sigh and rolled back up onto the couch. "That's called spying, you know."
"We know. That's how we prey on humans. But no Vic snack. Only to see if she was still home."
"No spying on Vic." Felix glanced over his phone briefly for the time then headed to the bathroom so he could take care of his necessities.
"Okay, Felix."
As Felix brushed his teeth, he went over every possible scenario in his head. He knew it wouldn't exactly help but he still did it, even if it didn’t necessarily make him feel better to do it either. Life was very good at pulling the rug out from under him. He really hoped those two weirdos weren't gonna come back any time soon. He had faith in a lot of things that Creeper could probably do, but taking down an entire government organization didn't seem like a good idea to him no matter how strong Creeper was.
"Felix?" The voice of the creature called to him.
Felix took a moment to rinse the toothpaste from his mouth. "Yeah?"
"We ordered you food. Don't panic if you hear a ding-dong."
"You ordered—Wow. Really?" Felix poked his head out from the bathroom. "That's pretty cute. Thank you. Do I have time for a quick shower?"
"Maybe. They still need to prepare it."
"Okay, I'll be quick." Felix took what time he could under the steaming water, but the idea of actually having a ready breakfast spurred him to finish up quicker than he normally would have. He dried off and got dressed in his room. When the doorbell rang, he hurried over to the door, excitedly throwing it open.
"Wow...pizza for breakfast," Felix laughed, causing the delivery guy to look at him in confusion. Right. He was the one who had supposedly ordered it. "Just what I wanted!” Felix quickly added, though it didn't seem to make things any better. "Oh. Right. Sorry. Let me grab my wallet."
He returned to the door after a moment and pulled out enough crumpled bills from his wallet in hopes that it would soothe the annoyed delivery driver. He then brought the pizza inside, setting it on the table to see just what kind of pizza Creeper might have ordered for them.
It looked like a classic cheese pizza, or it would have if not for the french fries. No. Not a side of french fries. There were french fries spread all over the top of the pizza, halfway melted in the gooey cheese.
"Do you like it?" Creeper asked from under the couch of the living room.
Felix couldn’t help but laugh. He expected a lot of things but not this. "Yeah. Yeah it's beautiful. Thank you, Creeper. Do you want some of this?"
They peeked out from their hidden place. "Maybe one slice."
"Go ahead, take whichever one you like. Just be careful, it's still a little hot." Felix took a slice for himself. He'd only ever had cold leftover pizza for breakfast, so this was a nice treat, french fries and all.
Creeper quickly left the couch, then jumped on the table to tear a slice apart by pulling it with little teeth. "Thank you Felix."
"Hey, thank you for ordering it. That was a nice surprise. After we eat, we can go over and tell Vic what happened."
"Okay." Creeper quickly inhaled their slice, eager to taste it.
Once they'd finished eating, Felix put away the box so that they could have something to snack on for later. "Since it's kind of a big thing for you to come out of my phone, do you wanna just hide in my hoodie for a short bit while we head over there? I don’t wanna scare, Vic."
They nodded, stopping at the edge of the table. "Okay, we can.”
"I'll be careful not to touch you. As long as you're small it shouldn't be hard." Felix tugged on the hoodie and then offered the big front pocket for the other with a little grin. "Will this be okay?"
The creature nodded, wiggling their butt as they got ready to jump into the front pocket. As soon as they jumped they made themselves even smaller, easily slipping into the front pocket.
"Yes,” came the muffled voice from inside the hoodie.
"Perfect. Alright, let's go." Felix grabbed his phone and keys, locking the door after himself before heading down the hall to Vic's apartment to knock at the door.
After a few seconds, the door opened. "Good morning! How are you?"
"Morning Vic," Felix smiled apprehensively. "I'm okay, but could I come in and talk with you?"
The look Felix gave her had Vic nodding seriously. "Of course. Come in." She opened the door wider, and stepped aside.
Felix waited for her to close the door before he spoke. "Vic…I've got a really bad feeling that someone knows that Creeper is with me and knows what happened to Paul."
"Oh shit. But how? What happened? Come, let's talk in the living room. I don't think we should talk about this near the door."
Felix followed her over to the living room, rubbing his hands together nervously. "Well...last night after you left, a couple guys came over asking if I'd seen anything weird the night of Paul's death. They didn't look like cops though."
Vic stared at him, just as troubled as he was, if not more. "You've never seen those guys before? Not even from work?"
"No, never. They were dressed in suits and really serious and—Oh yeah they gave me this business card too, but all it has on it is a number. Not even a name or anything. Which is weird, right?"
"Felix, don't call them," Vic said, resting both hands on his shoulders. "It's not normal for a card to not have anything but a number. Even the FBI would have more information on their card. What did they say to you?"
"Well…they asked me if I'd seen anything weird, and were kind of pressuring me to tell them if I knew anything about that night. They said I might be in danger and anything I'd tell them would be to my benefit. That's why I have the feeling they know about Creeper."
"They aren't revealing anything to you...They're not the police or the FBI, Felix," she said darkly, eyes wide with worry. "Our system is shit, but those two groups would still give you more information than this. Hell, if the FBI knew about you keeping an alien, they would have raided your home already. Neither of those things happened, darling. Those guys...they either work for themselves or for someone no one knows about."
"Yeah. That makes sense I guess. So what should we do? I don't want someone trying to take Creeper away. Do you think they’ll come back?”
Vic let go of him, taking a moment to think. She paced for a few seconds, eventually coming to a solution. "Why don’t you stay here tonight?" She asked, turning to Felix. "Let's start with one day and play it by ear. I don't think it's safe for you to go back to your place for now. They know where you live and they probably know more than they are letting on. Maybe it won't work, but maybe if we make them believe you're not there often, they will look elsewhere. It's worth a shot."
"That's not a bad idea. Who could they be though?"
"I have no idea...Do you remember their faces?"
"Sort of, yeah. They were both pretty serious looking. One was tall, the other had glasses. Both of them had dark short hair."
Vic rubbed her chin, furrowing her brow. "Anything else? Like a beauty spot, a scar...Anything that makes them stand out? So I know what to look for."
"Oh yeah, the taller guy had a scar across his eye. Almost kind of like a messed up upside down cross with two lines going across instead of one."
"An upside down cross...Got it." She seemed more satisfied. "Eye color? Skin tone?"
"Lighter skin tone, the taller one was a little tanner than the other one but mostly light toned. One had blue eyes, the other with glasses I don’t really remember. It was kind of dark."
"Got it, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for those assholes. In the meantime, let's help you gather your essentials. Let's do it now, in case they plan on coming back."
"Okay. Is it okay if Creeper stays here with us too?"
Vic hesitated for a second, about to say something before shaking her head. "Yeah sure, it can come stay with us if it makes you feel better."
"We're already here, technically," Creeper commented from within the front pocket. Vic blinked, trying to look around Felix to see where the voice was coming from. "In the hoodie." They added, and Vic looked immediately at Felix’s stomach before looking at Felix with a raised brow.
Felix laughed. "I hid them in my hoodie pocket."
"I can see that. Like a baby kangaroo," she joked with a soft chuckle. "Alright, let's go gather your things."
“I didn't want to leave them alone if there were weird guys looking for them.
"It's okay." She returned to the entrance, opening the door for them both. "Let's go."
After they had gathered the things he would need for the night, they went back to Vic's place and Felix felt a little more at ease. "I really hope they don't come back."
Vic set the bag next to the couch of the living room, sighing in relief. "Me too. For now, let's get you settled. We'll try to figure something out, Felix, don't worry. It's not permanent."
"Can we come out now?" Creeped asked from within the hoodie.
"Sure, buddy, come on out."
Creeper slowly slipped out of the pocket like a big drop of ink. When they landed on the floor they regained their shape, shaking their body like a feline would.
"...Do you have any bones?" Vic asked the alien.
"We're made differently."
"I see."
Felix found himself distracted with taking in the details of Vic’s apartment for the first time. It was clean and well organized. The decor all seemed thoughtfully curated to each room, like separate environments that were perfectly under control. He could pick up on a subtle floral scent, which he then realized came from a candle on one of the tables.
Vic seemed to have a minimalist approach with her decorating style; a few plants here and there, and paintings and artistic posters hanging on the walls. All of the artwork was brightly colored and full of energy, but the color choices simultaneously seemed to be very purposeful. Warm and cool colors surrounded the occasional hint of yellow, accenting the main subjects to make it stand out. The blues were dark and the reds were blazing and violent, demanding attention.
Felix found himself studying the paintings a little more, wondering if she had painted any of them herself. The ones in the living room were more abstract than those in the kitchen, and they felt more expressive, broad strokes of brushes bringing out intense emotions. The furniture seemed like it had chosen to match with the colors of the paintings, rather than the other way around. The artworks in the kitchen looked to be more realistic still life paintings, with one of them being a dying rose with withering petals. As for the posters, most were feminist and punk illustrations, with scattered quotes on the subject of equality.
The furniture seemed to represent a more elegant side of Vic with their design, while the visual decorations revealed the artistic side that was hungry for justice. Being here in her apartment was almost kind of like seeing her personality visually. The two biggest sides of her were abundantly clear. Some things were subtle, others more bold, but they were all inspiring. Much like Vic was herself.
"Thanks again for letting us stay over for the night," Felix murmured once he pulled his attention away from the details of her apartment.
"It's no problem at all." She made sure the door was locked before coming back to them, smiling reassuringly. "I'd rather have you here than risk having another weird interaction with those guys. Are you thirsty? Hungry? "
Creeper moved away from the duo, jumping on the back of the couch of the living room to watch them from a safe distance.
"I think I'm good. I don't really need much."
Vic nodded in understanding. "Okay, let me give you a tour of the place. Oh, before that, let's just take off our shoes and put them on the rack next to the entrance. Sorry, I was too focused on helping you bring everything here." She was already on her way there, eager to remove them.
"Sure thing. Your place is really nice."
"Thank you. You can make yourself at home while you're here."
Once they both took their shoes off, Vic began to show him around. Somehow she managed to make a round table fit next to the kitchen, converting the empty space into a small dining area. All the space was used wisely and methodically, meant to be useful in terms of efficiency. If nothing practical could be there, a decoration usually took the space. She seemed to be very good at usage of space in a way that didn’t make things feel cluttered.
Vic showed him where things were in the kitchen, so he could help himself to things if he wanted to. Then she showed him the bathroom, which was elegant and just as organized as all the other rooms. She even had added shelves to her walls for bath products, plants and some decorations. "I have a lot of showers and bath things, so if you ever need either, you're welcome to use them. I'll make some space for you on the counter, so you can put your things there for now."
"I really appreciate all this. Thank you. I might take a shower later tonight if that's alright."
"Sure, of course."
"What is behind the curtain?" came Creeper's voice from where they were peeking in by the doorway.
"Oh, this?" Vic opened it to reveal the combination shower and tub. "This is where humans wash themselves. Do you ever take a shower...or a bath, Creeper?"
"No, we don’t stink."
Felix laughed and stepped aside to give Creeper more room to take a look. "A shower is basically like being able to have rain inside a house. They're a good way to keep clean, yeah, but they can also be good for just relaxing too. Especially when they're nice and hot."
"We see..." The small creature still kept their distance, staying where they were. "Very interesting. Some humans don't even have access to water, while others can relax in it."
Vic was silent for a moment. The reality check was unexpected, and it showed on her face. She nodded once she was over the initial state of shock, agreeing with the comment. "It's true. Though our leaders are taking so much from us and we're on the edge of facing an economic crisis, still…some humans are still more fortunate than others."
Creeper made a sound of acknowledgement, then slowly retreated to the living room. "Fascinating."
Felix exchanged a look with Vic, almost as if he was hoping that exchange had improved her outlook on Creeper. After all, the more time he spent with Creeper the more that he saw that they weren't just some mindless predator. It seemed that the alien had a broader outlook of everything around them, making them even more mindful than a lot of humans in most cases.
Judging by the pensive little hum that left Vic on their way out of the bathroom, Felix was certain that she could see it too. He followed along after her and she continued. "So yeah, feel free to use the shower or even have a bath if you need it. I'm going to prepare dinner for us."
"Can I come help with anything?" Felix offered.
"Sure! You can cut some of the vegetables for me. Do you have any food restrictions?" Vic headed for the kitchen, opening up the fridge to peer inside.
"Nah, I eat just about anything really." There were only a few things he didn't like, but he wasn't going to be picky around Vic, especially not when she was already being generous enough to allow him to stay over for the night.
"Okay. How about spicy food? Can you handle it well? I was thinking of making chili con carne. I can add sour cream to your portion, if it's too much to handle." She took out bell peppers and an onion while she spoke, setting them on the counter.
"Yeah! I love chili and I especially love spicy food." Felix's smile faltered just a little when he saw the bell peppers. Ugh. He still didn’t understand why people liked eating those. "Are…these the ones you want me to cut?"
"Yes, just half of each. I like having a variety of colors when it comes to bell peppers and chili," she responded, taking out the ground beef. "I'll help you with the onion when I'm done, it shouldn't take me long. We won’t need a lot of it. anyway."
As they nearly finished with everything, Felix couldn't help but notice that Creeper had been quieter than usual. "Hey Creeper?” He furrowed his brows when he received no response. “Huh. That’s weird.”
Vic was stirring the food they had made together, making sure everything would be properly mixed. "Hm? What is it, Felix?”
"I was wondering if they were even still here or if they left again." The last thing he wanted was for the little alien to get into something they shouldn’t have in Vic’s house. Felix dried off his hands and moved away from the kitchen to look around. "Creeper?"
Still there was no response. Vic had continued to focus on their dinner, the sounds of a wooden spoon being gently knocked against the edge of the pot still coming from the kitchen. “Maybe it fell asleep somewhere. It seems to like the couch a lot.”
“That’s a good idea, I’ll check there.” Felix got down and peered under the couch, but there was nothing. He sat up afterwards with a sigh. Maybe Creeper had sensed the impending doom of bad bells and had decided to vanish into one of the electronics, like they had before. Seeing as how that seemed to be the only conclusion, Felix slumped his shoulders and made his way back to the kitchen only to pause when the sound of something from the bathroom caught his attention. Curiously he headed over, flipping on the light.
A thick cloud of steam had gathered in the bathroom, fogging up the mirror and coating every wall in a thin layer of humidity. The floral curtains were half closed, and water could be heard steadily running from the showerhead behind them.
"Um....Creeper?" He took another step forward, furrowing his brow as he gently pulled aside the curtain. "Are you in here?"
The alien was laying face down under the steam of hot water, splayed out like some kind of wet spider. When they heard their name they lifted their head and blinked their eyes open, looking up at Felix. "Mmmyes...?"
It took Felix a moment to take in the sight, doing his very best not burst out laughing at the sight.
"O-oh. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll just leave you to it."
Slowly, very slowly, Creeper lifted their head and climbed all the way up to the edge of the tub, using the curtain like a rope. Once they reached the edge they moved the curtain away, looking up at the human with tired, squinty eyes. "We got shower coma."
"Oh. I see. Are you…okay?" Felix laughed a little. "Or are you just sleepy?"
"Maybe we're enjoying ourselves. Maybe we're dying." They almost sounded philosophical as they spoke, slowly sliding down the tub and disappearing from view. "Please turn the shower off."
Felix hurried to turn the water off, amusement instantly trading out for worry. "Please don't be dying. Do you need help getting out of there? What can I get for you?"
"We're okay. We got burger limbs." Creeper responded, curling up on themselves. "All jelly. Jell-O? Jello."
"Burger limbs?"
They slowly nodded, the movements drawn out as if their head weighed a ton. Creeper then flopped on their side, looking up at Felix like nothing happened. "Hello."
Felix laughed again gently. "Hi."
"Hi," they repeated, pausing for several seconds before continuing. "We had enough."
"Was that your first time ever feeling warm water?"
"Yes, we're not used to the heat."
"Are you sure you don't want help getting out?"
"Yes, please. We're melting away, Felix. We're nothing but soup."
Felix wasted no time getting a towel to carefully pick up the damp alien, making sure not to touch them with his bare hands as he did. "Okay let's get you feeling back to normal," he chuckled.
Vic stopped near the doorway of the bathroom, pausing at the sight of Creeper being cradled like a small kitten. She stayed quiet as she watched her friend taking care of the weird looking creature, crossing her arms as the hint of a smile floated over her lips. It...no—they looked far less intimidating like this.
"Are you feeling okay now?" Felix wondered as he turned and spotted Vic with a little smile. "Oh hey. Creeper wanted to try taking a shower."
She chuckled. "I can see that."
"We are now less coma and more solid," Creeper informed her, stretching out their front limbs.
Felix grinned offering the deadly bundle to Vic. "Wanna hold them?"
Vic made a face. "No thanks, you can keep your baby."
"We are no baby, we are terror," Creeper commented as they turned into a ball of void, somehow hiding their neon head between their arms. "More dangerous than Pestilence itself. When humanity still believed the Earth was held up by a turtle, we were there to consume them one by one. We are living poison. We are the new plague."
"Sure you are."
"They're pretty badass and terrifying when they aren't soup," Felix seconded, bringing them back out to the living room to set them on the couch.
Vic was close behind, watching Creeper’s attempt to throw themselves out of Felix's grasp and fail miserably. They fell like liquid, undulating their body all the way down until they landed on their head with a little thunk. Then they dropped over on their side, quickly turning into a ball of darkness with their weird looking tail wrapped around themselves. "Goodbye."
Vic tried not to laugh. "Did you mean goodnight?"
The alien didn't respond. It seemed like they were already fast asleep.
“I hope they aren’t sick from the warm water…”
Vic moved closer to Felix to rub his back. "I'm sure they're fine. I doubt they would have walked right into something that was harmful for them. If they’ve really lived as long as they have, I’d assume they have a pretty strong instinct to avoid trouble. It might even be stronger than an animal's."
"Yeah. You’re right," Felix smiled, reassurance settling through him with ease. "Maybe a little food later will perk them up again."
"I can give them the spiciest bowl if it helps," Vic grinned a little then quietly gasped. "Oh, it should be ready now," she quickly added, hurrying back to the kitchen.
"I don't think they've tried spicy food yet. We should probably be careful and just give them a little of it at first, just in case."
Vic was tasting the chili with her big spoon, making a sound of acknowledgement. "Sure. Your friend can even have some with sour cream, if it helps. It's almost done, just needs to sit there for a bit. Do you want to watch a movie in the meantime? We can pause it when the timer rings."
"Yeah. I'd love that."
A few minutes later they had settled comfortably on the couch to watch some terribly cheesy horror movie. Creeper remained asleep through most of it, though occasionally they would wake up and offer wayward comments before dropping back asleep again.
More than once, Felix found himself resisting the urge to reach over and pat the little sleeping puddle. Creeper really had no right being as cute as they were for a creature that was living poison and could consume humans without a second thought.
A couple bowls of chili later and they had gone from one movie to another. It was a lot easier to forget about potential danger and wannabe FBI agents investigating him when he was in the company of Vic and Creeper. For once, he wasn't stressing about work, or…anything really. All that mattered right now was that he was sitting in a room watching ridiculous movies with not one, but two friends.
As the hours crept on into the night, eventually they all bid good night to each other. Creeper slid into the comfortable dark that was under the couch, leaving Felix to get settled on the couch with a blanket that smelled vaguely of lavender. In the quiet, he replayed the day’s events in his mind, coming to the realization that for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was part of a family. A weird unconventional family maybe, but a family nonetheless. Deeply comforted by the thought, Felix drifted off and slept peacefully through the entire night.