Shaliver. Flung. Hit. Humiliated. He knew it from the beginning but he had platitudes used against him. Baring his teeth he closed in on the vhs cartridge. But dainty hands hand stops him. Birch put up a finger and grabbed something from her backpack. Unsealing it she placed the sticker down on the cartridge. She spoke those stupid words and waited. It was silent.

It shook once. Then twice.  A beacon shots out of the small VHS, throwing the four back. All in the vicinity were blinded. Peaking at it Birch could see whizzing faces make their way up and out of the game. She swore some smiled at her as they ascended. Eventually the pillar shrunk into nothing and the room quieted once more. After that Shaliver went and savaged the VHS in a feral rage. And later the board itself which he ate, pieces, cards and all.

They took a moment to finally catch their breath.

"So," Presely dryly joked, "anyone else not going to sleep tonight?"

 Instead of turning on the television again, they wrapped up the adventure by just listening to the pittering rain. As the thunder tooled, Lou was living up to his name by remaining the second last awake. In competition with Shaliver who would normally find falling asleep in 5 minutes easy. It wasn't as if both weren't trying though. He was still licking his teeth over his canines to ensure they hadn't come back. Lou decided to get up and grab a quick drink of water before trying to sleep again. Shaliver followed him and positioned himself on one of the pulled out chairs.

 He leaned over the counter while taking a sip, "Why do you care?" The faux-cat didn't reply. "What you said back there, it was because you think I'm important to her that you brought me back. Why?" Even in the darkened kitchen he could see the none-cat's face scrunching in an annoyed manner.

"You know what her least favorite movie trope is?" Extreme Body Horror? Was it all a Dream? Mary Sues? She did say she hated those Hand-Saw movies. He shakes his head no.

"When the ally sacrifices themselves to supposedly protect the group." Oh.

"That girl cries so much at those scenes, finding them overly dramatic. Some she has listed every alternative option out of pure frustration." He then uses the end of his tail to point at him, "So how would she feel if her own friend did that?" Pulling it back he is now fully glaring at the boy.

"With all the years you've spent with her, make a guess. Even in the short time I've known her it is obvious to me how that would turn out."

He cringed.

Birch would blame herself without mercy. She would be heartbroken.

Shaliver continued, "I may not be her best friend. But I do care enough. Enough that if you pull that go on without me trick again... No. No need to be polite."

Slowly the glare on his face disappears. Instead, he smiles. With his saliva shimmering against his knife length canines. On the counter was a whole coconut, the shavings used for cookies or other treats. Shaliver motioned to it and then to himself. He cranks open his maw revealing an anomalous amount of teeth, leaving the teen to question reality. From it slithers out a tongue that extends and coils over the unassuming fruit. Once they were between his jaws he bites down on it, juices spilling over. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Lou could hear the chewing with what could have been thousands of teeth till Shaliver finished.

"That coconut is you if you try that again."

Lou shivered. Lightning outside illuminated the none-cat, giving the abnormally large eyes a haunting white. For a second he swore the shadow that flashed looked unnatural. Silhouetting a flower of squirming slugs. He chugged the water down and carefully placed it in the sink.

"Right... but you still didn't answer my question. Why do you care about her? You weren't entirely acting like you did back there."

Shaliver appeared to relax, peeking into the living room, before bringing his attention back to Lou. "She's entertaining."

He raised an eyebrow, "What?'

"It was rather boring living on the streets before she took me in. Eat, sleep, watch a man try to open his frozen car door in the morning. In the end that was all I did. That was until Birch came along." The thunder outside boomed.

"She introduced me to her world and it sucked me in. The food, the talk, the whole air of the place was somehow more alive. Her parents even welcomed me in like their own. All of it was new to me. Which made every moment spent here an entertaining one." He looked over to the note hanging on the fridge mentioning to take out the trash.

"It wasn't till arriving here that I discovered just how bored I was. How dull it-" He stopped. Shaliver got off the chair and turned to go back to the living room. "Don't tell her I said this. With her curiosity she will probably try looking further then she needs to."

"As to answer your other question, if you would believe it, watching you all interact was entertaining in itself. You two and her family share that achievement. Even seeing you get angry was fun. So you are both worthy of protecting, because you make her happy. And with it, me."

"Goodnight." Ending on that Shaliver returns to the living room without another word. Lou is too shocked to move, instead opting to drink more water while eyeing the clock. When he was certain Shaliver was sleeping he went back and took his place in the sleeping bag. Despite the complex feelings he decides sleep is more important. This time he is able to join the dream realm in under a minute. 

Birch finds herself the first to awake, the cable box reading sometime after 12. If that noisy traffic didn't make that obvious already. Shaliver had disappeared while the three started getting their things packed. Then made pancakes, eggs and bacon together to Presely's sunny side up playlist. Birch set aside a plate for Shaliver like usual. The previous night's events may have been scary but it appeared they had bounced back. Even joking the next time they bring a board game they'll exorcize it before using it.

Presely and Birch conversate while putting away the syrup and taking the plates to the sink. Lou went to remain on the couch twiddling his fingers. I need to tell her. He was right. So right. But somehow that thing has her wrapped around his creepy ass tail. If he told her about what happened maybe she would stop letting him stick around. Or it could make things dangerous. His hand was still trembling slightly.

But he protected them. Even in that state he could see Shaliver getting Presely to the top safely. And how Shaliver prevented himself from attacking Birch. And preventing him from staying behind. The danger he presented was real. But from the way he acted maybe the things he said last night were also real. All that matters is if they pull anything with his friends he will face them. Even if he can break a "coconut" between his teeth.

They take their leave by 2, which left Birch with the mess. Food on the floor, pans to clean and pillows everywhere. As she started picking up blankets she noticed an extra hand assisting her. Grinning slyly, she continues to clean.

"They're fun."

"Really? Seemed like you were just making trouble with them."

"Sure that girl may have been a bit overly touchy but her reactions were a nice source of amusement. And Lou, he was so fun to tease."

"You call that teasing?" She kicked a chip at him, which he caught with his mouth.

"Seeing that cool exterior melt could not have been more hilarious."

Birch folded the blankets before taking a knee in front of Shaliver, "That is not how you tease. When you tease someone you don't insult them. What you did was over-rationalize the situation and made him think it was his fault. Teasing is poking, not stabbing."

"Like when you mention me eating trash?"

"Exactly! I'm not insulting you, I'm poking fun at something silly you did. It's done with the intent to playfully point out flaws or shortcomings. Blaming him for it was not teasing. Pointing out his eyebags makes him look like he's wearing smudged eyeliner is teasing."

"So saying your blood is probably 45% lemon-lime slush by now is teasing?"

She excitedly gave a thumbs up.

"And that if your eyes were any more green they would glow in the dark is too."

She nodded. He mischievously grinned, "Along with how you purposely wear your ponytail wrong so people actually see your scrunchy."

She grips the remaining pillow in her hand as she shakes her head. He jumps to the loveseat as he continues his "teasing" lesson. It went from cleaning to an intense one sided pillow fight all over the town house. Joined later by their newest roommate, Vroomy. The toy car joins the chase of the elusive Shaliver. Laughter filled the place as they let the bad events of the previous nights fully leave them. Now their objective was to introduce him to pillow fights.