(Is this really what you're going to call this chapter, Oliver?

Why? Is there a problem, my little houseplant?

If you try to bring that pet name back, I swear to the Eye…

I'm not bringing it back, I promise! It's just a good title for the chapter. If you don't like it when it's done, I'll change it, ok love?

…ok.)

No matter how handsome he was, my mother was not going to allow Kira to stay in my room. To her he wouldn't be a magical fairy but a delusional and dangerous homeless man. Especially with how wary Kira was of showing his plant magic to any other humans he would interact with consistently. But luckily my mother was hardly ever home to begin with.

Getting Kira into my house that night was beyond easy-

(Wait… are you just going to skip ahead like I agreed to go with you without a fight?

…No?

That wasn't very convincing…

Ahem.)

Getting Kira into my house that night was beyond easy… convincing him to come with me in the first place… not so much.

(Better?

Better.)

He narrowed his eyes at me. Backlit by the flames of the Clark House, he looked more like a demon than a fairy, "what do you mean, no?"

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I got to my feet and stepped as close as I could, the rose bush growing around his feet blocking me from getting as close as I wanted to. I was surprised he waited. He could've wrapped me up in vines and disappeared never to be seen again… but he waited. I opened my mouth to answer, flinching and nearly biting off my tongue at the sound of a loud crash inside the burning building. "Well I don't think I'm coming back here cause I don't think you'll really be here anymore after…" I gestured at the blaze, "…. that. But I don't plan on leaving you alone."

Kira tilted his head to the side and for the first time since I met him I felt that I was in danger, "why?"

"Cause I think you're lonely."

The thorny bush grew explosively, cocooning Kira in leaves and blood red roses. "I do not need your concern. I-" Whatever Kira wanted to say next was drowned out by the wailing of fire truck sirens. Kira stepped out of the rose bush, cursing under his breath. He looked back at the fire fighters coming out of the truck, then he lowered his center of gravity, clearly about to bolt. I reached out to stop him, only managing to snag his shirt as he started to run, tearing off a scrap. "Hey, wait!"

I jumped over the roses and chased after him. At first, he ran for the open fields behind the Clark House, towards the woods but when he looked back and saw me following him, he turned back into town. I was never very fast but somehow I kept up with him, so close behind he was forced to take multiple turns to try and shake me, even running past the fire fighters as I called after him. Dandelions sprouted under his feet with every step, even through the cracks in the asphalt

Eventually, Kira started to slow down and then finally collapsed in one of my neighbors backyards. He fell down face first then rolled onto his back, chest heaving. Little dandelions popped out of the ground all around his prone form like a chalk outline, turning white instantly, their seeds blowing away in the wind.

"Wow… you're really out of shape."

Through pants, he said, "fuck you, kid."

I slowly inched closer, "with the Clark House gone, I bet you need somewhere to stay." I held a hand down to him.

Kira glared at my hand and didn't take it. "Once again. Not human. I don't need a house."

"Then why were you staying in one?" As if to bolster my argument, there was a distant crack of thunder. Kira flinched slightly at the thunder-

(Did not…)

Kira flinched slightly at the thunder, his glare changing into more of a grimace.

"At least, tonight? My parents aren't home."

He hesitated for a bit longer, but when another crack of thunder split the silence, he slapped a hand into mine.