Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Twenty-Five

 "We need to leave."

It had been a few days. The both of us were staying at Vaq's lab, mainly because he needed to monitor Mat just in case there were complications. But while I'd been there, I'd showered, gotten new clothes, a considerable amount of sleep, and some healthy food. I felt like a new person.

So I was very surprised when Mat came up to me while I was brushing my teeth one morning and tugged on the hem of my green hoodie, whining that we needed to leave the lab.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," I said sarcastically, through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"I don't trust Vaq," Mat ignored my statement, beginning to pace around the bathroom as he continued. "I was exploring, because I was bored, and I found a room filled with animals. Like, a lot of animals. And then I found another room, filled with weird shiny bottles, and then an archery range, which Vaq was practicing in. But the weird thing wasn't that he was hitting bull's eyes every time, it was that he only had one arrow!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Mm-hm."

"He only had one arrow, right?" Mat began, looking at me in the mirror. "Every time he shot the arrow, it reappeared in his hand. It was freaking weird, dude."

"He's a scientist, not a magician," I said, after I'd spit out the toothpaste. "Maybe you just imagined it. Your robotic eye could be malfunctioning or something."

"I know what I saw!" Mat insisted.

"Sure," I said, putting the toothbrush away and turning to face Mat. I kissed him quickly on the lips and then left the room, into a spare bedroom Vaq had. It contained a kinda small bed, a dresser, a rug, and that was about it. Mat followed me, tugging on my hand.

"We need to leave," he repeated, this time less whiny and more serious. "The shit he's doing is weird."

"He has government funding for it. Of course it's weird," I replied, sitting down on the bed. Mat sat next to me and leaned on my shoulder as I tied my sneakers.

"Peeeetey," he'd gone back to a whiney tone, but couldn't hold in his laughter at the end. I smiled. "Have you ever considered being a model? You're gorgeous."

"Thanks but no thanks," I said. "I slouch too much. I'd get yelled at."

"Nah, there are some nice models who slouch," Mat said. He was now laying in my lap and playing with my hoodie strings. "Like...uh...that guy. You know."

"Sure, I know exactly who you're talking about," I said, leaning down to look at him. I'd given up on tying my shoes.

"Don't patronize me!" Mat said. He was smiling lopsidedly again and it was almost too cute to handle.

I ran my fingers through his hair. "You're the one who should be a model. You'd be, like, one of those super cute models that all the girls swoon over. And some of the boys."

"Are you saying you swoon over me?" Mat said smugly, leaning up slightly. I felt my face heat up.

"Perhaps."

Mat responded by sitting up and kissing my nose. "We still need to leave," he said upon pulling away.

"Okay, fine," I said, leaning back on my hands. "But tell me: where are we going to stay? HQ isn't an option, obviously."

"Uh..." Mat threw his head back, his hair bouncing. "We could stay at...uh..."

"I thought so," I said, leaning back down and finishing tying my shoes.

"No, no, I'll think of something, hang on," Mat continued.

"I can hear the gears turning in your head," I commented. Obviously, he didn't have any gears, so I couldn't really.

A moment passed. I stared at Mat as he thought.

"We could..." I began, but Mat suddenly cut me off.

"WE COULD STAY AT BALAMB!" He yelled. I flinched at the sudden noise.

"...I was just about to say that," I said. Balmab seemed like a good choice because it was currently abandoned, and contained everything needed for survival. And even though the government would probably be checking up on the place every few days, they'd be looking for a large group of people, not two. Which meant we could hide from them easily.

"Sweet, let's leave then," Mat said, springing up from the bed and running out of the room. I rolled my eyes before following, at a considerably slower pace.

I followed him around a corner, where he conveniently ran into Vaq. Quite literally, I may add. They both fell on their butts. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Heeeey shaddup," Mat pouted at me. I laughed harder.

"In a hurry to be somewhere?" Vaq asked.

"That's none of your beeswax," Mat replied.

"So...yes?" Vaq looked at me. I nodded. "Okay. See ya."

Vaq stood up and stepped past Mat. Mat looked shocked. "That's it?!"

"What, did you think we were going to have to sneak past him?"

"Well...yeah."

"You're a fucking dork." I extended my hand to help him up. He frowned, but accepted the help anyway.

And then we left.

~~~

EEEHHHH SORRY FOR SUCH A SHORT CHAPTER IT WAS KIND OF A FILLER ANYWAY SORRY ILL POST ANOTHER ONE TOMORROW HOPEFULLY

also, i can't thank you guys enough. y'all are super amazing like for realz. a guy on my tv was about to eat some french fries with a fork and a knife i am  d o n e

Ciao!