THE BLADERUNNER ｡PETER PARKER

thirty-one

sunday 26th of june 2016

MASON PURNELL WOKE UP TO THE SMELL OF SOMETHING BURNING.

He threw back his covers and jumped out of bed, his feet only just missing his (J.D's) bunny slippers. He ran out of his room, expecting to see flames everywhere, but it was just two charcoal black pieces of toast still sitting in the machine. He heard the patter of Belle's feet behind him, and he smiled down at her before looking around the apartment.

"Herb?" Mason called out, and jumped when his Uncle burst out the bathroom, swearing and running towards the kitchen.

"Shit!" He yelled. "Where's your sister? She usually takes care of the toast."

"She's still at Michelle's." Mason lied, and Herb groaned.

"We're gonna need a damn change of address card for that kid." He grumbled. "I won't be seeing her till two weeks Thursday anyway."

"Oh yeah." Mason groaned, hanging his head. "I forgot you were going to D.C."

"She's the one that usually remembers that as well." Herb pointed out. "Then you help pack, but we both forgot because she's probably on crack somewhere in Manhattan."

Mason laughed aloud, ignoring the aching pain in his chest. He bent down and picked up his puppy, pressing a kiss to her head. It had been a few days and he was comforted every time she was in the room. Dogs do that to you.

"Well, I guess I'll have to grab a bite on the way to the airport." The middle-aged man sighed, grabbing his coffee flask and glasses case. "Can you bin that toast for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Mason said, watching in amusement as his uncle ran around. "Got everything?"

"I think so." Herb muttered, standing in the centre of the living room and scratching his chin. He counted off things on his fingers and then sighed, walking up to Mason. Pulling the teenager into a hug, he chuckled. "You sure you're gonna be able to hold down the fort?"

"Yeah, Belle'll protect me." Mason joked, and Herb scoffed, patting the dog's head and grabbing his suitcase handle, his coffee in his other hand. "See ya on Thursday."

"See ya, Mase. Get J.D to call me when she gets home. I texted her this morning but she hasn't replied yet." Herb called as he walked towards the already open door. "I'll be back around nine in a couple weeks, okay?"

"Okay." Mason responded, and watched as his Uncle retreated. The door shut, and Mason sighed. "Love you."

Belle yapped, and Mason glanced down at her with a soft smile. "How bout we get you some food and visit J.D?"

+++

THE FIRST THING J.D FELT WAS WARMTH.

It was all over her face, her neck and her arms. She stirred slightly and her lips parted a bit as she released a breath. Her head nodded a little to the side as she struggled to push her eyelids open. She groaned as she finally managed to open her eyes and squinted from the blinding light streaming in through the window.

A faint whining made her look to her other side when her vision cleared. At first she thought she was seeing things, that there wasn't a golden puppy on her lap. Her fingers twitched as she tried to move, wanting to touch it and see if it was really there.

When she gained more feeling in her upper half, she reached out towards it and touched its head softly. The puppy jumped, and J.D smiled as it sniffed her fingers and licked her hand. "Hi there."

When she spoke it felt like her throat was on fire. Her voice was raw and hoarse, and brought tears to her eyes from the instant pain. She closed her mouth again and stroked the puppy, who happily wagged its tail.