Skye – Monday, 11:31am.

We're okay. We lived, Skye reminded himself. How the fuck did we live after all that?

He wished the hot water washing over him would never stop. Tilting his head down, he watched the brown, soapy water spiral into the drain, refreshing his mind and cleansing himself of the week's events.

If only.

He checked himself over, noticing multiple bruises where he'd been bashed around by Zev. His whole body – especially his shoulder – was sore, but the hot water helped alleviate some of the pain.

Alas, he couldn't dawdle; Wrench was even more caked in mud and filth than he was, and he'd agreed to let his friend use the shower after he was done.

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Skye stepped out of the washroom in a clean change of clothes, flagging down Wrench from the hallway.

“You need some duds?” Skye asked, looking over Wrench's mucky clothes.

“Nah, I'll change when I'm home.”

“You sure?”

“Well, I have work tomorrow. It'll probably be a couple days before I can get them back to you.”

“That's cool with me.”

“...Thanks, dude.”

Skye went and grabbed some clothes for his friend before showing them where the shampoo and towels were. He left Wrench and walked out to the living room, meeting up with Ray and Janice, who were both watching something on TV. Cassandra must have hid in her room.

“So... how many steaks and party nights do I owe you now?” Skye asked Ray, finishing with a sheepish grin.

“Like, five. Of each.”

“Oh, shit.” He assumed Ray was kidding, but that was a discussion for another time. “Ah, can I get you guys anything? A snack or something?”

Ray declined, but when Janice asked what Skye had, she eagerly accepted the offer of a granola bar.

“Thank you so much!” Happiness gleamed from her face over the trivial act of hospitality.

“It's the least I could do. I mean, you guys just saved my ass...”

Skye sat beside Ray on the sofa, and seconds later, the robot put a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Just quit gettin' into trouble,” Ray grunted.

Skye forced out a quick chuckle. “I plan on it. Sorry for everything, dude.”

“Yeh.”

He looked at the TV – it was blaring an announcement about a civil emergency, warning about people with cross-shaped pupils, discoloured skin, and malformed limbs. Apparently, if you saw anyone with those traits, you were in immediate danger and should call a certain phone number to get assistance.

“Immediate danger? No shit,” Skye commented.

The other two were oddly quiet, still looking at the screen.

“Still got that gun?” Ray asked.

Skye hit the side of his thigh, mouthing the words, “in front of Janice?”

“She ain't gonna talk.”

Janice looked over and met eyes with Skye for a moment.

“What do you mean?” Skye followed up.

“She ain't gonna talk,” Ray repeated, emphasizing each word.

“Is everything okay?” Skye asked, glancing between the two, wondering if Ray had been intimidating her.

“I... think?” Janice replied.

She looked more confused than threatened, so Skye decided to quit prodding. “Not like it matters anymore. Zev ate it.”

“Fuck's sake,” Ray grumbled.

Skye shrugged, frowning at him. “Not much I could do about it while I'm dangling in the air with my hands bound.”

Ray grunted some more.

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“...I know I already said it, but I can't thank you guys enough. I would've been completely fucked without your help.”

Janice smiled. “You're welcome.”

“Yeh. Need someone to poke fun of,” Ray teased, nudging his shoulder.

Skye couldn't help but chuckle, ever thankful it wasn't his sore shoulder.

Only a few minutes later, he heard the shower turn off. A couple more minutes, and Wrench stepped out into the living room with an overdramatic frown.

“No more hot water,” they whined.

Skye halfheartedly gasped. “Oh no, I'm sorry, dude.”

“I'm just messing around. I usually take short showers anyway.”

“Aw, good.”

Wrench went and grabbed a chair from the kitchen table, tiptoeing around the wet spots on the floor from everybody's shoes, and brought it to the living room, facing everyone.

They put their hands on their hips, glancing around at everybody with a stern face. “All right guys, this is an intervention.”

Janice and Skye giggled.

“It baffles me that you're already cracking jokes after all this,” Skye remarked.

Wrench gave him an exaggerated smile, tilting their head to the side. “Humour helps me cope with the stress.”

Skye shut his eyes, giving Wrench a solemn nod. “Gotcha. So, I guess this is the part where I tell you guys how I got into this mess, huh.”

“I'm curious,” Ray answered.

“Yeah, I'm into it too,” Wrench followed up.

“Sure,” Janice replied.

Skye nodded again. “Hey, Cass!” he called.

She quickly ran out to the living room. “Yeah?”

“I'm gonna explain all the stuff that's been happening. You wanted to hear, right?”

“I do.” She walked over and sat on the arm of the couch beside Skye.

With his friends sitting by in solidarity, he began recounting his entire situation from the beginning: borrowing money from shady folks, using it both to enrich his home and invest in his project, his trouble paying off the collectors, the encounter and following nightmare with Zev, and the entirety of that morning's insane events. In the interest of not causing needless panic, he opted not to mention Zev's plan to eat Cassandra.

Although Skye's friends knew most of the story already, they didn't know all the minute details. On the other hand, Cassandra was bewildered at the mention of Zev, almost seeming to have trouble believing it.

Skye went to show her the video from the bakery, but realized his phone was still gone along with his coat.

“I got you covered,” Wrench announced, heroically pulling out their phone. They crouched over by Cass and Skye, scrolling through the three-way group chat to find the moment Skye had sent BAKERY_HELL.vid, and then played it for Cassandra.

After watching, she turned to Skye. “And... you're telling me that thing was stalking you? And it sent you to the hospital? And kidnapped you? And... it's dead now?”

“Yeah. More or less...” Skye replied, scratching the back of his neck.

“That's... that's...” She paused with her mouth open, as if she was struggling to find the right words. “That's horrifying! Skye, you could have died! I wish you'd have told me..!”

Skye gave her a guilty smile and rested his palm against his temple. “I– yeah. I'm really, really sorry. I just wanted you to have a comfy life and not worry about my struggles, and I especially didn't want you to be scared of Zev too. Maybe keeping these things secret isn't the way to go about it...”

“No kidding!” Cass leaned over and embraced him. “I'm just happy you're okay...”

Wrench and Ray echoed her thoughts with nods and affirmative hums.

“I hope you can forgive me.” Skye wrapped an arm over her shoulder.

“I do! Like I said... I'm just glad you're not hurt.”

“God, I could cry.”

“Don't,” Ray barked.

“Oh, whatever, boss.” Skye laughed. “God forbid I shed a tear after all this shit.”

“Yeh, better not, softie.”

Skye was tempted to retort by calling him a hardie, but that didn't sound quite right. Some moments after enjoying the comfortable moment, a thought sprung into his mind.

“Oh, would I be able to borrow someone's phone?” he spoke up again. “I need to make an important call about that place in Era.”

Janice and Wrench both offered, but seeing as Wrench was closer, Janice let them give their phone to Skye.

“Thanks, guys. I'll be like five minutes.” Skye stood up and ambled his way over to his room, closing the door behind him.

The confusing sensation of walking back into his personal space after another near death experience rattled his mind – even more so than when he'd returned from the hospital. Weird thoughts continuously spun around in his head: how am I here? Should I even be here? Shouldn't I be dead? This feels so surreal...

He paced through the room, looking over his belongings, repeatedly eyeing the distinct lack of his project. At the very least, he was glad the thresher didn't take his computer too – maybe it wasn't good enough for him.

“Come on, focus, Skye,” he told himself, biting his lip and shaking his head. This wasn't a call he wanted to make, but one he needed to make.

Yes, dad left us for his work, Skye mused, but he's offering us a way out of this hell. I can't keep holding grudges like this.

He dialed his dad's number to the best of his memory, and when he was greeted with the annoying Maroon Shipyard Sweepstakes ad, he knew he had the right one. He sat down on his bed, tapping his feet on the floor as he navigated the phone menus, eventually asking for Reo Devereaux.

His heart skipped with every ring. Come on, dude, it's your dad, for god's sake. He still cares about you. You know that.

And then, moments later, a click.

“Reo Devereaux speaking,” his dad greeted him.

Skye hesitated for a second before responding with, “hey dad, it's Skye!”

“Oh! Hey, kid! How are you?” He quickly perked up upon hearing his son's voice.

Skye chuckled. “I've been way better. It's been insane lately, but I'm surviving.”

“Ah, well, glad to hear you're trucking through! How's Cass?”

“She's doing well. Giving her the best life I can.”

“Good, good. So, what's up?”

“Well, um... I called to find out if that place in Era is still available for us. We really need to get out of Miyatama – for both our sakes. I don't know if you got my message, since I lost my phone this morning.”

“Right. It is still available, but only until the end of the month. That's, what, this Friday?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I can't hold it for any longer; the owners are sticklers for having their suites filled rather than bought out. They're not letting me hold it past the end of this month.”

“And it's Monday today,” Skye thought aloud. “Four days from now.” His current apartment lease was operating on a month-by-month basis, but the idea of quitting Velvet Crumble with only four days' notice wasn't particularly appealing.

And don't forget to call Kaori, Skye reminded himself.

“If you're committed to it,” Reo continued, “I can email you a copy of the lease and we can get this thing going.”

“Please do! Do you still have my email address?”

“I do! I have a few minutes here, so I'll get that sorted out for you right now.”

“Thank you so much, dad.”

“Anything for you two.”