Screaming skull today.

what kind of screaming?

Have you not fought a screaming skull?

nah

You’re breaking all these illusions I had of you. I thought you were so cool and experienced.

well i am very cool, but before coming to chicago i hadn’t really done much tbh

It was past midnight and Joey was not asleep. Instead he was laying curled up on his side in his bed staring at a backlit screen, which he knew was terrible for his sleep hygiene. He’d gotten out of work earlier than usual these days (10 o’clock), and as had become his habit, had texted Caden as soon as he got on the train home.

I thought you’d seen a body before, though.

yeah, my second uncle

some hunters found him

I’m sorry.

thanks

i actually got out of the house today

What did you do?

i went to see the bean

LOL, tourist.

i also got a chicago hot dog

it was actually fantastic

Don’t get deep dish pizza.

y not?

You’ll die of cheese poisoning.

lol

there’s that much cheese?

You don’t even want to know.

When Joey had sent that photograph of the hellhound, it had opened the floodgates of conversation between them. Now any time he wasn’t at work where someone might catch him, he was texting Caden. Even if they couldn’t date, they could still be friends, right? Most times they would just chat about inconsequential things: what they’d done that day, what TV they liked to watch, books they’d read, things like that. But sometimes Joey would ask a question that was burning in his mind, and Caden was surprisingly open about answering. Last night Joey had asked:

If you can get what you’re here for, are you going to go back to England?

i don’t know

A pause.

probably

Joey paused for a long time, not knowing what to say to this. The bubble showing Caden typing appeared and reappeared several times.

i don’t know if I want to go back

i don’t know what i want to do

What did you do before coming here? Magic stuff?

Joey cursed at himself. ‘Magic stuff’? Who said that?

i was a sheep herder

not really lol

i was in IT

Somehow I would not have guessed that.

you think i can’t do computers cuz i can channel?

No, it just seems like a boring office job. You’re not boring. Not like I am.

you fishing for compliments?

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

jk

nothing about you is boring

Sometimes Caden was the one to bring up serious stuff.

it’s hard to make friends when you have to lie to everybody

It was early morning. Joey left his toothbrush stuck in his mouth while he typed a reply.

I know the feeling. I didn’t have any friends in high school in case they’d figure out I was gay.

it’s like

it’s like being spider-man

Oh, now you’re a superhero?

Joey spat his toothpaste in the sink.

no but like you have powers and you’re stronger and faster than everyone else and you can’t let anyone find out or you’ll get in trouble

idk if anyone wanted to kill spider-man, tho

like for being spider-man

Doc Ock?

j. jonah jameson

What should I wear to work?

show me your closet

[picture]

i like the purple

you look nice in purple

You think I look nice?

you always look nice

Even when I’m covered in ectoplasm?

oh especially then

ectoplasm chic

only you can really pull off the look

Joey grinned but then suddenly remembered that Caden had really only come to Chicago to get his family’s watch. It was nice to flirt, but…

Somewhere along the way Joey had forgiven Caden for lying, had squared it with himself that Caden was a different species from him, had admitted that he maybe still harbored a little crush. Now that Caden was actually talking about himself, it made the situation worse, because with every text Joey liked him more and more. It was worse because it was possible, Joey speculated, that the reason Caden was hanging around was to try to steal the watch for his family.

It was hard to imagine him doing that, but then why had he cozied up into their team? What had his plan been? Afraid to ask these questions, Joey just let himself enjoy these moments as they stood.

Now he had his phone in front of him on his way to work from the train, distracted enough that he almost walked into the street when there was no walk signal.

you were right about deep dish

I warned you!

never again

my dad makes good pizza

I thought British people were afraid of seasoning.

oh, ha ha

i’m not british

Your accent would say otherwise.

my dad cooks all our traditional foods on holidays

lots of spices

though we use weird parts of animals for some of it

might put you off

maybe you could try it sometime

I’d like that.

i’d like it too

you would like my family

The back door of HQ clanked as Joey stepped through, the tips of his fingers chilled through from where they stuck out of his gloves so he could use his phone outside.

“What are you smiling at?” Joey looked up from his phone to see Mac sitting at what was formerly Joey’s desk.

Glancing down at his phone then back up to Mac, Joey said quickly, “Memes.”

“Ooh, can I see?” Indira was leaning in from the door to the front of the store.

“I already clicked away,” said Joey, forcing a regretful tone into his voice. He locked his phone and pushed it into his jacket pocket, not bothering to unwrap from his winter gear since he’d be going right back out again.

The fax machine started making noises in Mac’s office. Mac shoved himself to his feet and went to grab the fax, then returned with it in his hand. “Good news, people. They’re sending us another artifact for the safe. About damned time,” he said to Joey. “Our shields have been taking a beating.”

“Is that normal?” asked Indira. “I know we’ve been busy, but…”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” admitted Mac. “It’s been a long time since there’s been so much activity in the city. And last time we had a Channeler to shore up our defenses.”

Joey bit his lip. “Yeah…”

“They’re sending someone from Home Office to drop it off in a couple weeks. Hopefully we’re good until then.”

The rest of the day, in any spare moment between assignments, Joey was dithering about whether to tell Caden about the new artifact. If he told him, would Caden take this chance to get the watch? Could Caden even pick the lock on the safe to do that? They couldn’t afford for the shields on HQ to come down. And just what the hell was trying the shields so badly that they were even in danger of coming down in the first place?

Why are there so many monsters right now?

Joey was complaining at the end of another long day. It was past 11 o’clock when he exhaustedly climbed the stairs to the El platform.

it can’t mean anything good

came Caden’s reply, surprising Joey. He’d really just been whining, but it’s not like Chicago would have a ‘busy season’ for paranormal events. There must have been some cause for the increase in supernatural population, and Joey was unclear why this hadn’t occurred to him before now. He had been tired and distracted.

Tentatively, he typed out,

Is that something you could look into?

The ‘typing’ bubble blinked on and off. Then:

it would be nice to do something besides sitting on my arse watching glass onion

How many times have you watched Glass Onion?

let me put it this way: i will never tell you

LOL

i’ll go check things out tomorrow

let me know when everyone’s out of HQ? so i can do a reading on the shields

The train pulled up and Joey stepped on, grabbing hold of a pole. It was busy this time of night on what Joey had just realized was a Saturday.

Should he tell Caden when HQ was empty? Could Joey trust him not to go after the watch? That was the big question. It was so hard to have faith in him after the lying…but Caden had come clean. It was almost unbearable to think that he might be flirting with Joey as a means to an end.

It had been several minutes since Caden had sent his last text, so Joey finally replied,

Okay.

A long pause.

Hey, Caden – why are you still in Chicago?

i like it here

Another long pause.

you’re here

Joey swallowed a lump in his throat. This would all be so much easier if Joey could just believe him.