“Are you sure this is the right way?” Adam asked, doubtful despite not knowing any better himself.

They had been walking around for about an hour now. Nostalgic locations and forgotten landmarks passed by, the main street, a playground, some school Adam couldn’t recognize. It was enjoyable, to be sure, but he still sort of wanted them to get home in one piece. Currently, they were once again in suburban areas (at some point they’d had to manoeuvre around another bit of police tape; seems this place has a bit of a criminality problem), split between enjoying the noon sun and stressing over getting home in time.

“Hm? Yeah bro, just you watch!” Chad said confidently, not being self-aware enough to notice that as being the same thing he’d been saying or an hour now. Narrowing his eyes, Adam tried to put his attention to the warm sun. Being stuck months or years (tens of years, even) in a dark cavern did him no good. This was the life he'd wanted. Dried skin was no fun, he knew that better than anybody, and being able to stay out in the sun with no fear of pain was a welcome change.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to cease worrying about getting home. He’d completely forgotten all about it last night, but now that the idea glared him straight in the eye, he worried. Especially about what John-, his father might say. Jessica might not find any fault in it, but considering how the man had treated him only two days ago, getting a scolding seemed more plausible than implausible.

A scolding. Heh.

Deprived of all human contact, Adam couldn’t help but feel some form of glee at the thought of experiencing something new. Something decisively human. This, together with his blossoming friendship with Chad, made his hopes of regaining normalcy grow. Things didn’t look too bleak.

But, man, he didn’t want to walk any further than this. Every step felt like a thousand.

“Bro, you don’t look too swell, everything alright?” Chad asked, laying a hand on Adam’s shoulder. If Adam hadn’t known Chad’s touch didn’t send him barreling through the air, he might have thought that to be the reason it felt so… heavy. Dense. Last night, when Chad had done similar gestures, it had felt lighter than a feather. This, of course, being because Adam could easily support an elephant on his back, not to even speak of the hand of a teenager. No matter how buff said teen happened to be.

And yet…

“Huh? Y-, yeah, man. Maybe that sleep thing wasn’t the cure-all you said it was?” Adam replied with a short, nasal chuckle. Chad frowned, furrowing his brows in concern. Unsure of what to say, he lightly patted Adam’s back before letting his arm retreat back to his side.

“I don’t think that’s it, bro. I won’t ask about what you did this morning or nuthin’, but you have been kinda off all day, ‘know?” Chad said, affixing his gaze with Adam’s. “Zoning out, looking tired… you’ve barely said a word this whole hour.”

“It’s... “ Adam’s thoughts briefly turned to his situation. It did concern him, and it should have, but there was something off beyond that. Tired. Was that it? Sleeping 3 hours might not have helped that much, and if it didn’t count as a night’s sleep, that would mean he hadn’t had a full night of sleep in… more than 600 years. But for that to catch up with him now of all times… Unthinkable. He’d never needed it before, he shouldn’t need it now. But with a more human body, so came more human needs. “I think I just haven’t slept enough.”

Chad nodded, but he clearly still worried for his friend. Knowing he was cared for was all Adam needed to lift his spirits if only a little.

Soon enough, the turned a corner, and Chad’s head snapped around to view one of the many identical houses that came into view. Despite not recognizing any of the houses himself, Adam knew if Chad noticed something, so should he.

“Here we are! I told ya!” Chad said, his mind seemingly completely taken off the less-than-chipper topic of Adam. Not even just one aspect of Adam, no, his entire being. The man-slug-thing in question let his eyes wander over the modern house Chad was gesturing at. He might have recognized it if it hadn’t looked exactly like every other house they had passed the last hour or so.

“Uhuh,” was all Adam could say in response. Unbothered by his lack of proper response, Chad happily walked up to the front door and was just about to knock before he realized he had Adam in tow. As the rules of having friends state, if you’re in the company of the one who lives in the house, there is no need to knock before entering. But it wasn’t his place to open the door.

Adam did not know these rules. Instead of opening the door, he found himself standing outside it, waiting for Chad to open it.

A glance passing between them alerted Adam to his folly.

“Oh, sorry,” he mumbled, stepping up the porch to press down the handle. It felt heavy. Much like Chad’s hand, it felt hard to move it at all. In fact, the handle barely moved at all. His hand, the hand he had created all by himself, shuddered under the effort to move the handle. Chad looked on mild astonishment. A curse lingered under Adam’s breath, threatening to burst out, but thankfully, the handle gave way before that happened.

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The door slid open, and Adam was met with the task of pushing it open. His despair lasted only seconds though, since Chad pressed his way through, effortlessly sliding the door open as if it wasn’t anything at all.

Adam felt like crying but decided to enter the house itself. Mildly surprised, he found it at least somewhat similar to the house he’d seen only yesterday. They could have busted into the house of a complete stranger for all he knew.

With steps so confident they betrayed his familiarity with the house, Chad stepped inside, cruising through the rooms. Adam followed closely behind, shoulders and back hunched. Man, he felt even more exhausted now. From a different room, a television buzzed happily.

“Adam, is that you?” John’s voice chimed from the living-room. Somehow, his voice contained just a twinge of suspicion.

“Yeah, it’s us, Mr Windsley!” Chad replied in Adam’s stead (which Adam was quite thankful for, he didn’t feel like shouting at the moment), stopping briefly on the foot of the stairs that lead to Adam’s room. “We’re just heading up to Adam’s room to hang out.”

“I see, uh, Chad, will you come over here for a second?” John called out. Before Adam could even take a step towards the living-room, John continued: “Only you.”

Chad turned to Adam, and the two shrugged at almost the exact same time. Face blank, Chad headed over to the living room while Adam took a seat on the stairs, happy for the small break. He decided against trying to listen in to whatever they were saying, if only out of respect for Chad and his privacy. Considering the kind of things Adam had been up to in kingdom of Pteria, such politeness was almost a miracle.

“Chad,” John began, pulling the taller boy closer by putting his arm around his neck, in turn forcing him to hunch down a bit for them to keep eye-contact. “I’m glad you’re hanging out with, uh, ‘Adam’ and all, but… if he does anything weird, call me, alright? And by me, I mean the police department, and by call, I mean call.”

Chad furrowed his brows.

“Uh, sure, sir. I will?” Chad said, more confused than assured.

John nodded, lips pressed tight, a suspicious eye glancing in Adam’s general direction every few seconds.

“You’re a good kid, Chad. You know Adam better than anyone. I’ll try to keep my arm close, but if things get down to it, I trust you’re strong enough to get away, alright?”

“-Yes, sir-?”

With a satisfied sigh, John finally released his grip on the taller boy, allowing him to stretch his back once more, which he did, gratefully. But Chad wasn’t off the hook quite yet. His back wasn’t mutilated enough.

Uncaring for the possible pains of Chad, John slapped him roughly on the back, throwing his head back in a throaty, guttural laughter.

“Oh! I almost forgot, Adam’s phone needs to be repaired after what happened, I was going to take him to ‘Get-R-Done’ down on main street myself, but now that you’re here… you wouldn't mind, would you?” John said, perking an eyebrow at Chad.

Chad nodded slowly.

“Sure man, we were gonna hang out anyways, so, sure,” Chad said, feeling just a bit more unnerved by every second that passed. John was acting real weird. A normal man he was not, but this eccentric… no matter, getting a phone repaired would be no biggie. If anything, it’d be more time he could spend with Adam, which was always a plus. On that note, he should get to that!

“Right, here you go,” John said, handing him Adam’s phone as one would a small packet of crack cocaine. Coming from a cop, it was a bit ironic, if anything. Regardless of how sketchy it felt, Chad accepted it. “Now off you go.”

And that he did.

Scurrying back to the stairs, Chad found Adam propped against the side of it, about five seconds from dozing off right then and there. Leaning down, Chad gently patted Adam’s shoulder. Adam stirred awake, those emerald eyes of his falling squarely on Chad, but only after fumbling about the room like a drunkard looking for his car-keys first. Chad almost felt bad for waking him up, but it had to be done.

“Huh-, Chad?...”

“Rise and shine, darling. It’s a beautiful morning,” Chad joked with a lopsided smile. A small, tender smile met his, and Adam attempted to heave himself back on two legs. His entire body was shaking, especially his legs. His lanky stature hadn’t seemed this severe only hours ago, but now he seemed almost malnourished.

A near stumble made Chad realize his friend might be in worse shape than he thought. Apparently, being ready for something to happened was good for Chad on this particular day, as it helped him catch Adam when he eventually did stumble and completely fall.

“Yo, you’re not alright bro,” Chad stated, his face mere centimetres from Adam’s, arm wrapped around his lower back, the other holding onto the railing. Two groggy eyes stared up at him, confused and muddy. He didn’t even answer. That was all he needed.

With a single, powerful movement, Chad swept the much thinner man into his burly arms.

“Wha-,” Adam exclaimed, his limbs flailing in the air for a moment, as if the very idea of being carried by someone had never passed his mind. And, well, it hadn’t. If he hadn’t been too large for any mortal to carry, he’d been too poisonous for anybody to even touch.

Did he hate it? No.

Did he enjoy it?...

Excellent question!

For now, Adam chose not to think about it, and just let himself be carried up the stairs. As young as Chad was, his muscles were the real deal. Adam was well over 190, and despite being much thinner now than he was yesterday, he certainly wasn’t light by any means. And yet, within only ten seconds, he found himself at the top of the stairs, peering up at the proud face of his friend.

“You-, you can let me down now, bro,” Adam stammered, any remnants of his persona as “Antenora” fading into the darkness. And he didn’t hate it. That’s almost the worst part. He felt safe, cared for, and very much human. Three things he had felt in all too long.

“Bro, you really think you could walk?” Chad replied with a mischievous smile and just the slightest perk of an eyebrow. But as teasing as it was, he was right. As it was, Adam could barely stand, and by process of elimination, that meant walking was out of the question as well. “Thought so.”

And so, Chad carried him further, through the halls, into the door to his room, finally stopping to plop him down on his bed.

With that all done with, Adam attempted to get back up, only to find himself falling back down like the Undertaker failing his final sit-up. Head on the pillow, arms crossed, he glanced over at Chad, their eyes meeting.

“Man, this is the worst,” Adam croaked, prompting a smile from his friend, who stood over him. With a nod signalling his concurrence, Chad turned to glance at the rest of the room, finding it very much the same as last time he was there, with the addition of a bunch of strange comics he’d never seen before.

Adam wasn’t saying anything about it, so with a lack of that kind of assistance, Chad picked up one of them. The main character of the story, or at least who he believed it to be, seemed like a very nice fellow. That was all he needed to see, and, with as much respect for Adam’s privacy as Adam had for his (Hulk comic readings not included), Chad put the comic down.

Adam was looking at him, intrigued yet barely able to move at all.

Chad clapped his hand, grabbing his attention despite already having it.

“Alright, time for a room tour!” he said, and that is exactly what happened.