Foster's

Robbery 4

Angelica slammed the door shut and then just stared into the gloomy shadows of her house.

She had finally been cleared to leave. All her paperwork had been filled out, the police reports completed and then she got slapped with a big red demand of take leave.

Great.

So understandably, by the time she had gotten home she was pretty pissed off.

"Kyle!" she shouted and he appeared.

Just his head. Poking out of the living room. He looked clearly very nervous and he should be. Cause he was in hella trouble.

"What the actual fuck were you thinking?" she shouted storming into the living room as her Shadow Monster back away. Almost tripping over the rug in his haste.

The TV static was whirring wildly behind him as he frantically searched for the words.

Unsafe.... In trouble...

All of that was true. She had been in trouble. She was very lucky that he showed up when he did. But how did he know? How did he even managed to get to her? He was supposed to be tied to the totem and the totem was somewhere in her house. He would not tell her what it was, so what the hell?

"He sensed you in mortal peril and went to help," Kevin said dropping out of the chimney and into the plants. He hopped from the Russian Sage to the coffee table sending things askew and leaving dirt in his wake. Chad started to grumble from under the couch.

"You can clean later, wiper-boy!" Kevin snapped his accent heavier than usual. Angelica groaned because that was how argument in that house started and all her monsters' arguments ended in fights that broke her favourite and nicest things.

"Don't call him that! What have I said? I said don't call him that! I've told you repeatedly..."

"Whatever. Look, you are being very ungrateful. He didn't have to come and save you..."

"Kevin. He ripped a robber in half!" she cried. "How... how do I explain that to the police?"

"Well... it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell them you have a Shadow Monster."

Okay, if Kevin was going to be unhelpful, then she was going to ignore him.

Angelica turned back to Kyle. "Look, thank you, thank you for saving me today, but Kyle... what you did... it was bad. You killed a man. You killed a man and I had to lie to explain how it happened. People are going to think I'm crazy and we need this job. We need this job or we won't have pizzas or chickens or oranges, do you understand?"

Kyle nodded.

"Next time—cause there's no point in saying something like this won't happen again—next time just lock him in the safe or something. Okay?"

Kyle nodded again and so did she but he didn't stay there with her. He disappeared into the shadows, and Angelica sighed. She had a feeling she had hurt his feelings.

She sunk down to the couch and ignored Chad's purple tentacles as he began to dust off the coffee table and straighten everything for probably the millionth time that day.

"Kevin, can you answer some questions?"

Kevin hopped from the coffee table to her knee, clamouring into her lap as Chad cleaned his mess up.

"Sure."

Angelica scratched the little patch of orange fur that tufted out between his horns. "He shouldn't have been able to come to me. He's attached to his totem, right? So how did he do it?"

"Mm, Shadow Men have two attachments. Their totem, and the person their totem is given to," he said. "The bond to the totem is obviously stronger, so if their person leaves a certain radius it is harder to reach them."

"Okay, yes, but as you keep saying that Kyle and I are not normal."

"That is right," he said with a deft nod. "A little to the left, a little to the left..." Angelica fixed her fingers, moving a little closer to the little goat ear on the left side. "Ah that's the spot, right there."

"So why aren't Kyle and I normal?"

"Your bond, tis different," he said leaning into the scratching. She rolled her eyes, yes, she got that, but why? "You are not prey, you are not resisting him, you welcomed him into your own home, you are his friend and as such the bond is stronger. He can feel you, during the day. He knows when it's been a bad day, or a good day, and he cares. He always cares when you're upset, makes sure we'll be on best behaviour for you."

Aww, that was very nice of her Shadow Monster.

"So... so... because I'm his friend, that I accepted him as part of my life, that's why we're different?"

"Yes, you make him strong. So much stronger than any other Shadow Man I ever come across before."

"And he's young? How young would you say he is?"

"Ah... probably only a year or so, maybe a little more, or a little less," he said with a shrug, tilting his head up so she could scratch under his chin.

"Do you think he knows?"

"Most creatures who just come to be, do not understand. All they know is their purpose. He probably only remembers the first person he was attached to. He will not know how long it was there or when it started, just that it did."

Angelica nodded. That was a sad existence, but then again, Kyle was no doubt immortal, or at least had some extended lifespan, having no sense of time would probably help with that.

She sat there for a bit before nudging Kevin off of her lap and back towards the chimney. She was quiet for a moment thinking about what had happened today and how, honestly, a lot of it was Christina's fault.

It was like her friend was trying to kill her.

Yes they were competitive, but seriously, what the hell was that about?

"Kyle!" she called and he appeared beside her. He still looked worried and she guessed that was her fault.

"Hey," she said softly being sure to smile. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

... Sorry... you... got in... trouble...

"Aw, it's okay. Would have been worse if I was dead," she said waving a hand at him. "Thanks for saving me! You did a good job!"

Won't... have to... feed... for a while.

"Yeah? That's great!" she said. "And guess what! Because I was almost killed at work, they're giving me paid leave! That means I get to spend more time at home playing games with you!"

The edges of Kyle's eyes crinkled in excitement. And his massive hands came together in a big clap. So clearly he was excited.

She didn't tell him that most of the reason she was on paid leave was because a death happened in the bank, in the same room she was in and she couldn't tell them how it happened. That it wasn't so much a leave as a paid suspension as they investigated what happened.

And she figured she wouldn't worry him about that until later.