Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Eight

 I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning.

The first thing I noticed was that my hands were stiff, sticky, and sore; but I was willing to overlook that, as I felt completely refreshed otherwise. I still couldn't move my fingers, though.

I bounded down the steps, shoving my hands in my pockets. My stomach rumbled as I hadn't eaten anything in a day. Choco would have to be willing to continue mothering me, as I couldn't very well pick things up with my disabled hands.

I got to the bottom of the stairs and went to the right, into the kitchen. After yesterday's antics, I would have expected the boss to shut Nooch down, but he was sitting at the kitchen table with Choco.

"Hi," I greeted, "got anything to eat around here?"

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Nooch said happily. I'm sure he would be smiling if he could.

"Hey, Brandon," Choco said, "how are your hands?"

"Sore," I said, walking over to the table and sitting down. "Stiff. Sticky. I still can't move my fingers."

"I thought so," Choco replied, "your tendons were cut. Unless we find a miracle worker, you're stuck."

I sighed. "You guys have any food I can eat?"

"Yeah," Choco said, "not food you can eat without your hands, though."

"You're supposed to be mothering me, you can feed me," I insisted, half joking and half serious.

Choco rolled his eyes and stood up to get the food. "Whatever."

"Oh! That reminds me," Nooch said, jumping up slightly. "His name isn't Brandon anymore. It's Pete."

"Wha-" I began, "-OH YEAH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!"

"Pete?" Choco asked, quizzically. "Why Pete?"

"Pete's a cool name," Nooch said. "He could also be Peter, or Petey..."

"I like Petey," Choco said, pulling some cereal and breakfast dishes from a cupboard. "I think I'll call you Petey from now on."

"...okay," I replied.

~~~

After Choco had fed me (which Nooch was very disappointed he didn't have a camera for), the two managed to scrape up some old clothes for me. I kept the ratty jeans, but replaced the hoodie in favor of a tee-shirt and flannel.

"Lookin' sharp, Petey," Choco smiled, looking at my new-and-improved outfit. Nooch didn't say anything, he just stared.

POUND POUND POUND

A pounding noise came from downstairs, like a herd of stampeding cows. We all rushed down the stairs and to the door.

POUND POUND POUND

The noise continued. Choco threw open the door, and there stood Rob and Preston, sweaty, out of breath, and disheveled.

"Whoa," Nooch began, "what happened to you two?"

"The...the market," Rob said, between heavy breaths. "Crow...Crow...attacked."

"They what?" Choco asked, sounding more baffled than concerned.

"It's all on fire," Preston said quickly. "All...all the stands. All my...all my stuff...from my stand...it's gone. All of Rob's flowers...dead."

"The...the fire department's...putting out the fire..." Rob said, swallowing hard. "But we need help to catch Crow."

I exchanged glances with Nooch. Choco looked to be in disbelief.

"You're sure it was Crow?" Choco glared at Preston. "Absolutely positive?"

"Yes," Preston replied, sternly. There was fire in his eyes.

"Well, good luck guys," Choco said, turning around and walking farther into the living room. "I'm not helping you with this one."

Preston growled.

"Go on ahead, we'll be there in a second or so," I said. Rob nodded and dragged Preston away with him. "How are you on power?" I looked at Nooch.

"I'm down quite a bit," Nooch said. "But you can't bend your fingers, it's gonna be awkward to hold hands."

I held out my hand towards his anyway. "Just grab my hand you idiot."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, now let's go!"

Nooch reluctantly grabbed my hand and curled his metal fingers around my flesh ones. Now that I was aware of it, I could feel the energy leaving my body - it wasn't energy that I needed, and it wasn't weakening me, and I began to wonder where it came from. We exited the building and ran towards the market.

The change in temperature was noticeable almost instantly. Rob and Preston were right, everything was on fire. It was even spreading to nearby buildings. The most noticeable thing about it, though, was the giant word "CROW" spraypainted in black across the plaza bricks.

"Holy fuck," Nooch said.

"You can say that again," I joked.

"HOLY FUCK," Nooch said again, this time louder. He squeezed my hand and I flinched. "Sorry dude."

"Hey guys," Preston had come up behind us. His voice was sad. Rob was standing near him, wearing Preston's scarf over his nose and mouth, glaring sadly at the ground. "We have a problem."

"I believe we have many problems," Nooch stated, gesturing to the scene before us.

"Yeah, touche," Preston said. "But listen: one of the buildings on fire is the building Rob lives, or used to live in. All his stuff is gone. He's got nowhere to go."

"It's not like he can live with us," Nooch said. "I mean, this nerd took the last room."

"Well..." Rob said, voice muffled by Preston's scarf. "I could, like, sleep on the couch or something."

"The boss isn't gonna let you do that without paying," Nooch pointed out. "You got any money?"

"Uh..." Rob said, shrugging. "I salvaged like three bucks from my flower stand."

"I can pay for him," Preston cut in, quickly. "However much the boss wants, I've got it."

"No, you don't have to do that," Rob looked at Preston as though they were the only two people in the world at that moment. "I'll build a new flower stand. I can make the money."

"No," Preston said sternly, grabbing Rob's arm and gazing right into his eyes. I felt like I was watching a soap opera. "Let me do this for you. Please."

Rob sighed, looking down at the ground. "Fine."

"That's the spirit, Robbie!" Preston exclaimed, moving his hand from Rob's arm to his cheek and pulling the scarf down so that Rob's nose and mouth were visible. Rob smiled slightly.

There was an awkward moment of silence in which I very much felt like a third wheel.

"Well," I began, "as heartwarming as this moment is, we're gonna catch on fire if we don't leave soon."

"Good point," Preston noted, finally tearing his eyes away from Rob's.

And then we walked away from the fire dramatically, like we were in an action movie. It was pretty damn awesome.

~~~

Yoooo! Wassup y'all? (that's a lotta dialect for two sentences, sorry lmao). Anyway, I think my favorite sentence in this entire book so far is "Just grab my hand you idiot."

Hope you guys liked the chapter! Ciao!