After Banehound was finished with his meal, his stomach swollen once again, he had been glaring daggers at Mason when he came back upstairs. Mason was growing worried about why, then the beast growled, "Were you trying to poison me earlier?"

Mason was caught off guard by the question and grew more concerned, "What? No, I wasn't trying to poison you. What made you think that?"

"The meat you gave me before you left. I told you there was something wrong with it."

"What happened? Did you throw up or something?" Will asked.

"That's exactly what happened!" Banehound growled, "About an hour after eating that meat, I didn't feel quite right then threw up. And no, I didn't vomit on the carpet if you're worried about that, this happened in the kitchen."

Mason pushed passed the beast and went to the kitchen to see the damage; there was a large puddle of pinkish yellow liquid with chunks of partially digested meat on the kitchen counter next to the baking sheet the meat had been in and dripping off the sides. Mason thought he'd throw up at the sight and odor of the insides of the monster's stomach all over the kitchen counter. He didn't though, and he was thankful for that, he didn't need more vomit to clean up. He could hear Will talking to Banehound in the other room as he got to work cleaning up after the beast, "So, do you still feel sick or..."

"No, I felt better after vomiting. Whatever was in that meat, my stomach did not like it."

"Maybe it was the preservatives, or the meat just isn't really fresh enough for you."

"Possibly, I am a hunter after all, not a scavenger. Also what exactly are pre-ser-va-tives?"

"Oh, well, it's basically a type of chemical I guess, that helps preserve food."

"That's gross and doesn't sound very healthy. Also, considering the fact that it made me throw up."

Mason was getting slightly annoyed as he cleaned up the mess while his boyfriend had a friendly chat with the beast. He called out, "Will, would you mind helping me with this?" He heard their voices go silent before the sounds of Will's footsteps came to the kitchen and the scratching of Banehound's claws as he waddled off back into the basement. He also heard Will mutter, "Oh god, that smells!" when he entered the room, then Mason said without looking at him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Talking to him like you're best friends! Will, this is a man-eating monster, not your buddy."

"I'm sorry, Mason jar, I just don't want to be on his bad side. I know just feeding him will do, but... I don't know, I just have a feeling there's something more to him. You know?"

"No, I don't know. Will, he threatened to kill me, and he threatened to kill you! You're everything to me if I lost you I don't know what I'll do. I might just give myself to that monster..." he had stopped cleaning at this point, tears pricking his eyes. He soon felt Will's lips kissing away his tears and his arms wrapped around him. Mason looked up at his boyfriend tearfully and said, "We've really only fed him once and I'm already sick of it. I don't want to keep doing this! I don't want to be separated from you or my family if we get caught or worse."

"Shh, Mason, calm down. There's no way in hell I'm going to let anything happen to you. I'm being friendly with Banehound so even when he does get mad for whatever reason, he won't kill us on the spot. Or at least that's my goal." Will hugged Mason and stroked his messy brown hair. Mason calmed down a little and was comforted by the thought that Will is only being Banehound's friend to protect him.

They stayed in this warm embrace for a few minutes before they decided they should continue cleaning up the vomit on the counter, the odor was ruining the mood. As they cleaned up after the beast, they chatted about random little things, trying to cheer up a little, "Do you remember when I named a star after you for your birthday?" Will said. Mason smiled, "Yes, I do remember that that was in high school. You do realize that you wasted your money doing that though, right?"

"Yeah, I've known since we graduated from high school, but at the time I thought it be a great present for you; having your own star."

"Yes, it was a great present until you realize it was just some online scam."

"Yeah, that was a little embarrassing to be perfectly honest."

"But, I knew you had good intentions so I didn't really mind. Kinda like now; I didn't like that fact you were being so kind to Banehound, but now I realize that you're just doing that to help protect me. Although, I swear if I didn't know any better, I would've thought you two were together, haha!"

"Oh ha ha, cause I would totally date a man-eating monster who wears a single piece of cloth that barely covers anything! Hahaha!"

"Wow, only you would notice something like that."

"I can't help it that his 'clothes' can't do their job."

"Why are you two talking about my clothes? What can't they do?" Banehound said, having snuck up behind them. Both men gave a startled yell before Mason said, "Uhh, your clothes don't really do a good job of covering your... Uhh... umm..."

"That piece of cloth you wear as clothing doesn't really cover your dick very well." Will deadpanned. Banehound blinked and tried to look down past his enlarged stomach to his lower regions as if to confirm the men's statement, but couldn't. He said, "Really? I think it's fine. What's so wrong with seeing my penis anyway?"

"The problem is," Mason said, "is that you simply don't care about decency like we do."

"Eh, oh well. And since you're talking about not caring about decency..." Banehound gave a smug smile as he let out a loud fart, laughed, then walked away. Both men gaged at the smell and tried to wave it away as they continued to finish up cleaning.

Later, Will had to go out and do something, leaving Mason alone with Banehound. The monster sat at the kitchen table watching Mason cook dinner. Then Mason thought about something, "Hey, Banehound. I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" The beast grumbled.

"How did you get here? Will and I looked around and found out that your species is native to Africa. But we're in America, so how did you get here?"

The beast didn't say anything and Mason couldn't see his face since his back was turned to the monster, focusing on the stove so the food doesn't burn. Mason pushed him for answers, "Well?"

"... I was brought here many years ago by a human. I was very young at the time, I don't remember much." Banehound answered quietly.

"Are you saying you were kidnapped?"

"No, I don't think I was kidnaped, I have reason to believe I was taken for my own safety, but going so far away from home, I have mixed feelings about it. I try not to think about it much, so can we stop talking about it."

"Sure... sorry for bringing up a sensitive topic." Mason apologized, thinking about what little information the beast gave him. Banehound stayed silent as he walked away, probably to the living room or the basement. Will was right, there is something more to the beast than what meets the eye.

Later that evening, after Will came home, they ate their dinner and watched a movie, all the while there has been no sign of Banehound. The men were now snuggled up in their bed about to fall asleep, but then they heard scratching, a tall tale sign that Banehound was on the move. The monster was walking on all fours when he entered the room, he hopped onto the bed, and laid down in between them. The men sat up slightly, both of them equally confused, then Mason asked, "Umm Banehound-"

"Shut up and let me sleep." The beast growled lightly, interrupting the man. Even though it was dark in the room, the moonlight pouring in through the window showed that the fur on his cheeks seemed to be wet. Had he been crying? Mason thought he knew why and mouthed to Will who had a questioning look on his face, "I think he's homesick."

Will was just further confused so he told him that he'll explain in the morning. He also took this as a chance to do something the beast probably wouldn't let him do otherwise; he reached behind Banehound's ear and lightly scratched at the base, receiving a soft delighted purr. The two men smiled softly at the interaction then they laid down and got as comfortable as they could with a giant monster sleeping in between them, soon falling asleep with Banehound in the middle.