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  Rex’s pack was far too heavy, he hadn’t had time to balance the weight of it, and running under the burden flat out was almost as exhausting as the few times he’d had to actually use his ability to get out of this situation. Honestly how had they even found him? He’d done so well at avoiding any detection. Panting for breath he turned into some of the suburban neighborhoods just out of the city.

    A few cars had turned up his way and he grabbed a can of paint uncapping it quickly before rubber banding the sprayer down and chucking it at the closest windshield. The paint didn’t really do much and yet the vehicles behind him all swerved massively, almost as if they were dodging something that appeared very solid. Rex was panting at this point, sweat dripping down his face and he seemed to barely be getting any air. His steady steps slowly faltered and he started losing footing. Somewhere, somewhere would have to do.

    A few of the houses around had yards, if he could just sneak in to one of the yards he could sleep just enough. One house up at the corner caught his eye. It stood out as large and out of style but something about it seemed friendly and warm. Truly it felt safe. It seemed to be beckoning to him looking older than buildings he was used to but also completely timeless. With the last of his energy he forced his way into the back of the property and into a few bushes. The last thing he remembered was the smell of the earth and the sound of footsteps.

    When he woke up he was sitting inside what looked like a small sun porch with windows viewing the backyard. He’d been covered with some kind of blanket though it did appear that he’d made a bit of a mess on the floor. Paint dripped from his body, sweat and tears not far behind. Dirt caked where moisture hung against his skin. Honestly he looked quite a sight.

    The person who lived here must have brought him inside. At the moment he couldn’t see any sign of who it might have been. He had to get out of here, they were nice enough to let him inside which probably helped but he had no idea how long he’d been here. Quickly he accounted for everything ‘valuable’ to him and started loading himself back up again.

    “If you rush yourself you’ll get sick again.” The voice came from back in the doorway to the main part of the house. Something about being inside this house made Rex feel oddly dizzy. The warm welcoming feeling was still there, but the very oddly disconcerting feeling of being out of place had replaced it. Something about this whole space felt just slightly wrong.

    “Drink this. At least before you go, drink water.” The cup looked normal. The water looked normal. And everything about this person felt nonthreatening at least. He reached for the cup and drank the water quickly. “Don’t drink it fast! You’ll make yourself sick. Slowly. Slowly…” Their voice was calming, he actually felt his heartbeat calm a bit and let himself slowly sip at the water.

    It wasn’t long before he’d finished the water and felt his strength slowly starting to return to him. Stretching his legs he stood from where he’d sat crumpled on the ground. The figure before him stood back and smiled, gently pointing to the door. Didn’t seem like he was going to get in the way, didn’t seem like he was going to ask Rex for any further information.

    “Go on, it’s fine. Try and not come back again if you’re just going to crush my plants though. Okay?” A bit of humour, but at least no anger. Rex didn’t need telling twice, he took off out the door without looking back.

    The run back into the city wasn’t nearly as dangerous, he could take his usual paths and shortcuts without worrying that someone was watching him. Before long he was back in his usual territory, though he could tell right away that it was under observation. The few things he’d left behind were suspiciously gone and he could feel the tension in the air. He’d still have to lay lo somewhere. There was only one place he could really think of and it wasn’t his first choice.

    “Look I don’t have anywhere else to turn, I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t urgent. I crashed in the backyard of some other guy on the way here.” Luke’s apartment was tiny and in a part of town vastly different from the nice warm house he’d stumbled into on the way here. Luke looked tired, like he’d either been sleeping or should have been.

    “What? You’ve been found? How? You usually are pretty good at preventing that so what got through?”

    “I don’t know, please let me in.” Luke at least did, unlatching the door and opening it to let the exhausted Rex sink to his knees on the floor a little ways inside. Luke stared openly, trying to figure out just what was going on and how to handle this situation. It was no secret Rex didn’t trust anyone and the most they usually interacted was information trading. Actually, Luke had no idea how Rex knew where he lived. He’d ask that later.

    “Look, at least sit down… err. Not to be rude but do you want a shower or something? What even happened to you?” Luke went to his minifridge, which Rex almost didn’t see it was so multi-purposed into a tiny bookshelf, and pulled out an energy drink which he opened and started drinking at. Judging by the light on and the books open Rex guessed it was the latter of his guesses from earlier. Pulling an allnighter again likely enough. Luke flopped back onto the couch under his loft bed.

    “Shower? Y-yeah. That might be nice…” Luke thumbed in the direction of the shower closet and kept drinking his energy drink staring off at the window. Wasn’t really room for modesty or privacy in a place like this, staring off would have to do. Rex showered fairly quickly glad to get the dirt and paint off at least and put on some fresh clothes out of his bag. It felt so good to be clean.

    “You done? Alright well, how long do you think you’ll be sticking around then?”

    “Just long enough to lose them. Maybe a day at the most?”

    “You don’t think you need more time? They’ll forget you that quickly?”

    “I’ve made sure of that.”

    “You would, wouldn’t you?” Luke chuckled and patted the seat next to him, kicking his feet up on the office chair for his desk. “You know, I’m not supposed to have a roommate but no one needs to know. They probably wouldn’t even find out.”

    “Luke you know I can’t-”

    “I’m just sayin’. The streets are getting colder, there are more people looking around and digging for warm spots. You could at least-”

    “I’m sorry. Thank you for opening your home to me for at least the night.” Luke sighed. Sure his tiny little studio was not really enough space for even one person, let alone two, but he couldn’t help but want to help. “I’m really fine. I get around fine.”

    “Alright, alright. At least for tonight, spend some time with me. At least for now don’t worry.” Rex smiled at that and sat down with him, even taking the soda offered that he didn’t remember Luke grabbing from the mini-fridge.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

  Rex’s pack was far too heavy, he hadn’t had time to balance the weight of it, and running under the burden flat out was almost as exhausting as the few times he’d had to actually use his ability to get out of this situation. Honestly how had they even found him? He’d done so well at avoiding any detection. Panting for breath he turned into some of the suburban neighborhoods just out of the city.

    A few cars had turned up his way and he grabbed a can of paint uncapping it quickly before rubber banding the sprayer down and chucking it at the closest windshield. The paint didn’t really do much and yet the vehicles behind him all swerved massively, almost as if they were dodging something that appeared very solid. Rex was panting at this point, sweat dripping down his face and he seemed to barely be getting any air. His steady steps slowly faltered and he started losing footing. Somewhere, somewhere would have to do.

    A few of the houses around had yards, if he could just sneak in to one of the yards he could sleep just enough. One house up at the corner caught his eye. It stood out as large and out of style but something about it seemed friendly and warm. Truly it felt safe. It seemed to be beckoning to him looking older than buildings he was used to but also completely timeless. With the last of his energy he forced his way into the back of the property and into a few bushes. The last thing he remembered was the smell of the earth and the sound of footsteps.

    When he woke up he was sitting inside what looked like a small sun porch with windows viewing the backyard. He’d been covered with some kind of blanket though it did appear that he’d made a bit of a mess on the floor. Paint dripped from his body, sweat and tears not far behind. Dirt caked where moisture hung against his skin. Honestly he looked quite a sight.

    The person who lived here must have brought him inside. At the moment he couldn’t see any sign of who it might have been. He had to get out of here, they were nice enough to let him inside which probably helped but he had no idea how long he’d been here. Quickly he accounted for everything ‘valuable’ to him and started loading himself back up again.

    “If you rush yourself you’ll get sick again.” The voice came from back in the doorway to the main part of the house. Something about being inside this house made Rex feel oddly dizzy. The warm welcoming feeling was still there, but the very oddly disconcerting feeling of being out of place had replaced it. Something about this whole space felt just slightly wrong.

    “Drink this. At least before you go, drink water.” The cup looked normal. The water looked normal. And everything about this person felt nonthreatening at least. He reached for the cup and drank the water quickly. “Don’t drink it fast! You’ll make yourself sick. Slowly. Slowly…” Their voice was calming, he actually felt his heartbeat calm a bit and let himself slowly sip at the water.

    It wasn’t long before he’d finished the water and felt his strength slowly starting to return to him. Stretching his legs he stood from where he’d sat crumpled on the ground. The figure before him stood back and smiled, gently pointing to the door. Didn’t seem like he was going to get in the way, didn’t seem like he was going to ask Rex for any further information.

    “Go on, it’s fine. Try and not come back again if you’re just going to crush my plants though. Okay?” A bit of humour, but at least no anger. Rex didn’t need telling twice, he took off out the door without looking back.

    The run back into the city wasn’t nearly as dangerous, he could take his usual paths and shortcuts without worrying that someone was watching him. Before long he was back in his usual territory, though he could tell right away that it was under observation. The few things he’d left behind were suspiciously gone and he could feel the tension in the air. He’d still have to lay lo somewhere. There was only one place he could really think of and it wasn’t his first choice.

    “Look I don’t have anywhere else to turn, I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t urgent. I crashed in the backyard of some other guy on the way here.” Luke’s apartment was tiny and in a part of town vastly different from the nice warm house he’d stumbled into on the way here. Luke looked tired, like he’d either been sleeping or should have been.

    “What? You’ve been found? How? You usually are pretty good at preventing that so what got through?”

    “I don’t know, please let me in.” Luke at least did, unlatching the door and opening it to let the exhausted Rex sink to his knees on the floor a little ways inside. Luke stared openly, trying to figure out just what was going on and how to handle this situation. It was no secret Rex didn’t trust anyone and the most they usually interacted was information trading. Actually, Luke had no idea how Rex knew where he lived. He’d ask that later.

    “Look, at least sit down… err. Not to be rude but do you want a shower or something? What even happened to you?” Luke went to his minifridge, which Rex almost didn’t see it was so multi-purposed into a tiny bookshelf, and pulled out an energy drink which he opened and started drinking at. Judging by the light on and the books open Rex guessed it was the latter of his guesses from earlier. Pulling an allnighter again likely enough. Luke flopped back onto the couch under his loft bed.

    “Shower? Y-yeah. That might be nice…” Luke thumbed in the direction of the shower closet and kept drinking his energy drink staring off at the window. Wasn’t really room for modesty or privacy in a place like this, staring off would have to do. Rex showered fairly quickly glad to get the dirt and paint off at least and put on some fresh clothes out of his bag. It felt so good to be clean.

    “You done? Alright well, how long do you think you’ll be sticking around then?”

    “Just long enough to lose them. Maybe a day at the most?”

    “You don’t think you need more time? They’ll forget you that quickly?”

    “I’ve made sure of that.”

    “You would, wouldn’t you?” Luke chuckled and patted the seat next to him, kicking his feet up on the office chair for his desk. “You know, I’m not supposed to have a roommate but no one needs to know. They probably wouldn’t even find out.”

    “Luke you know I can’t-”

    “I’m just sayin’. The streets are getting colder, there are more people looking around and digging for warm spots. You could at least-”

    “I’m sorry. Thank you for opening your home to me for at least the night.” Luke sighed. Sure his tiny little studio was not really enough space for even one person, let alone two, but he couldn’t help but want to help. “I’m really fine. I get around fine.”

    “Alright, alright. At least for tonight, spend some time with me. At least for now don’t worry.” Rex smiled at that and sat down with him, even taking the soda offered that he didn’t remember Luke grabbing from the mini-fridge.