Matt shines his light toward Edison’s voice and watches him wince, lifting his hand to cover his eyes. He’s standing on a lower area, at least eight or so feet down.

“What are you doing down there?” Matt inquires. “Are you stuck?”

Edison shakes his head. “Turn off your light.”

Matt scoffs. “Yeah, right.”

“Matt, please. Turn off the light,” Edison insists, still covering his eyes.

“Why?”

Edison waves a hand like he can’t explain. “Trust me. Turn it off.”

Pursing his lips, Matt huffs and turns off his flashlight. It’s dreadfully dark for a moment and panic starts to make Matt’s chest hurt. Then, as though his discomfort is felt by the atmosphere, a soft glow begins to spiral around him.

Slowly, the walls around him light up with dim green stripes. A waterfall some feet in front of him flickers and ignites bright green, illuminating the cavern around him. The waterfall is tumbling over the edge of an outreach similar to the one Matt’s standing on, and falls into a pool that makes up the entire bottom of the cavern.

The walls of the cavern make it fairly small, as far as caverns go, and are lined with the glowing green substance in big patches and streaks. More of the substance hangs from the ceiling and the stalactites that point down.

Edison is smiling from where he stands on a large flat rock above the surface of the water. His shoes are set by the frame behind him, leading into a tunnel he no doubt came out of.

“How did you get down there?” Matt asks.

“Follow the lights,” Edison answered, pointing behind him.

Matt looks behind himself and finds glowing footsteps he hadn’t noticed with his flashlight. He nods and retreats through the frame, following the steps down a slope he probably would’ve fallen down if he hadn’t found Edison when he did. The steps lead to the frame where Edison’s shoes rest. Edison smiles over his shoulder when Matt steps through. He’s sitting on the edge of the rock now.

“Shoes. Leave your shoes by mine,” Edison says.

“Why?”

“The ground feels nice.”

Matt looks down and nods slowly, sitting down to untie his boots. “How did you find this place?”

Edison shrugs. “Wandering. I find a lot wandering.”

Matt hums. “Let me know next time you go wandering. I got worried.”

Edison nods. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Matt sets his boots next to Edison’s shoes and gets up to walk over to him. He pauses after two steps and looks down.

The rock is soft. Another step makes him realize it’s covered in some kind of algae. It’s squishy under his bare feet and makes walking over to Edison an enjoyable trek.

“You’re right about the ground,” he comments.

Edison purrs and swishes his feet in the water.

“You sure the water’s safe?”

He nods. “Yes. It’s very clean. Look. You can see through it.”

Matt looks down. Through the water, he can easily see the rocks forming the floor. Some of them sparkle in the dim light.

“I love underground,” Edison murmurs.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhm.”

Matt smiles and sits down, criss-crossing his legs. “Why’s that?”

Edison thinks for a moment. “It’s colder. Not as many people. Not as many dead. More places to hide. Like this place.”

He gestures around the cavern. “There aren’t places like this above.”

Matt nods, leaning back. “That is true.”

Edison smiles and swishes his feet again.

“So you weren’t crazy about the bar, huh?” Matt wonders.

“Not crazy,” Edison agrees and tilts his head. “But everyone was nice. I liked the drink.”

“I’m glad you weren’t miserable.”

Edison nods. “Maybelle would love it. She likes people more than I do.”

Matt chuckles. “Yeah. She’s good at socializing. You raised her well.”

Edison hums. “I had help a lot more than she thinks.”

Matt tilts his head curiously. “Oh yeah?”

“She learned her skills from our groups. Before she was five, we were never alone. I didn’t want to be alone even after that, but…” He shrugs dismissively and leans forward with his arms on his thighs.

“Still,” Matt says, earning Edison’s gaze, “you get most of the credit. Hey, you’ve kept her alive this whole time. Most real parents can’t do that these days.”

Edison nods slowly.

Matt looks at the water as Edison swishes his feet some more. “Are you planning on getting all the way in?”

Edison shrugs. “I might. I don’t want my clothes to get wet.”

“Just take them off.”

Edison purses his lips, shaking his head. “You don’t know enough for me to do that.”

Matt snorts. “What? What do I need to know? Are you trans?”

Edison shakes his head. “No. I have…scars that I don’t like people to see.”

Matt hums thoughtfully. “Well, you could-”

“Matt, have you…” Edison frowns frustratedly, struggling for words.

Matt waits for Edison to figure out his words.

“You’ve been…with people before, right?”

Matt raises an eyebrow. “With people? Like in relationships?”

Edison nods.

“Yeah. A few. Why?”

“Were they all...good?”

“I mean, I enjoyed them, so…”

“No, not that way. The people you were with, they were good people? They didn’t hurt you?” Edison rephrases.

“Oh. Well, yeah. For the most part,” Matt says. “My last girlfriend cheated on me...a lot, and that hurt, but no one’s ever really hurt me.”

Edison hums, looking at the water.

“Did...yours?” Matt asks carefully as Maybelle’s warning replayed in his head.

Edison nods slowly. “Yes. The last one; only one. Victor.”

Matt hesitates before saying, “You don’t have to tell me.”

Edison shakes his head. “I want to. You need to know. But it will be slow. I’m not good at words.”

“Take your time, Edison.”

Edison is quiet for a moment. Matt almost jumps when he takes his feet out of the water and turns to him, folding his legs in front of him. “Promise to let me talk. Do not react quickly.”

Matt blinks, but nods. “Of course.”

Edison takes a deep breath, still staring at Matt’s face, then nods and pulls off his shirt. He’s still staring as Matt takes in the sight, gauging his reaction.

Matt’s eyes widen and he almost flinches when he sees the shallow bite marks in his skin. There are at least four, just on the front of his torso. He can see one peeking up above the hem of his jeans and another starting on his ribs, just above where his elbow rests.

“Okay, explain. Those look human,” Matt says.

“They are,” Edison murmurs, twisting his shirt in his hands. “Victor said it would keep people from touching me. The first time, he said it was how people start relationships.”

“By biting each other?” Matt demands.

Edison shakes his head. “By leaving marks.”

Matt shivers and shakes his head.

“The worst ones are from the end,” Edison says.

“I hate this guy already,” Matt mutters.

Edison chuckles softly, shaking his head, and relaxes a bit, letting his shirt slip from his hands.

“How’d you get involved with him anyway?” Matt wonders.

“We met them in a bad winter. Maybelle got sick and there was nothing I could do. Victor found us in a broken hospital and he said there was a doctor in his group; Elinore. While Elinore helped May with her sickness, Victor spent most of his time with me. He did so much for me and once Maybelle wasn’t sick anymore, he said I owed him. Maybelle is who told me that was wrong; I didn’t know.”

Matt shakes his head slowly.

“So I don’t trust people quickly,” Edison says, looking up almost intensely. “It’s hard for me to accept that a lot of people are good. But I like you and I want to trust you and I need you to tell me I can.”

Matt blinks in surprise and nods. “You absolutely can. I would never intentionally hurt you, or Maybelle.”

“I believe you,” Edison smiles and gets to his feet. “I’m going to swim now.”

Matt chuckles. “You do that.”

Edison kicks his jeans aside, keeping his shorts on, and slips into the water. Warmth crawls up his skin the farther he gets in until he’s up to chest. He barely hesitates to sink down so the water comes up to his chin and closes his eyes.

“Nice?” Matt asks.

“Very,” Edison purrs.

“Can I join you?”

“Absolutely.”