Wolf of the West

7.

Will held his bowl of leftover chili as he practically scanned every bookshelf in his house, every so often scooping a spoonful of the saucy meat and beans into his mouth. Rudy had been asleep well throughout the day so instead of cooking dinner, he simply reheated a serving of his dinner the night before. As he ate, he scoured his house for any sign or any scrap of information that may help his companion, or at the very least explain what had happened to him.
He, of course, checked on the redheaded boy every so often, making sure he was still alive and breathing out of fear that something terrible would happen to him. That was the only way Will felt he could handle the boredom and anxiety that came from being stuck at his house for the entire day.
Rudy continued to snore and snooze well into the afternoon and evening, his body exhausted and healing its bruises from his transformation. Plus, without nightmares, it made him much more at ease as he got his rest.
While the boy slept, there was a small tap at the glass window. It was sudden and even rather loud, which would come in short intervals. Tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap. The noise was enough to make Rudy's nose wrinkle and cover his face with the pillow, blocking out the rhythmic tapping.
Will's house was small enough that he heard the tapping from where he stood, though it was faint. "Rudy?" He called from where he stood, wondering if it was just his friend finally getting up from his slumber. Nonetheless, he set his bowl down and made pace to his bedroom, deciding that one could never be too cautious.
     Poking his head in, Will gave a small chuckle at where his friend sat, face covered, before he located the source of the rhythmic tapping. "Gosh, Henrietta." He said with a small sigh, quickly moving to open the window for the small chicken. "Rudy wake up. Henrietta's here and she don't look happy at'cha." He informed his friend as he pushed the window up to allow the bird into his room.
Rudy's blue eyes hazily blinked open as he groggily rolled over onto his back, "Mmh..?" He groaned out as he rubbed his eyes. He saw the hen perched on the window, her head tilted to make eye contact with him as she clucked impatiently. As soon as the window was open, the hen hopped inside on the bed and strutted up the bed to Rudy.
The freckled boy chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Sorry, Henrietta. I didn't mean to leave you. I'm glad you're okay from last night." He told the bitty as he sat her in his lap, tenderly stroking her feathers. The boy's bruises looked practically healed along his arms and face, now only tinted yellow instead of the aching array of purples and blues.
Will pulled his window shut once his friend had gotten his poor, irritated chicken. "I didn't even realize that ya said you were gonna be in the barn with Henrietta last night. Poor bitty must've been scared outta her mind." He said, wiping his hands of the dust from the window onto his pants. "Or at least worried for ya. But at least you don't look as rough as you did this morning! Good sleep does wonders, I guess." He shrugged.
Rudy checked his knuckles to see that the purple bruising had gone down and was now replaced with the gunky yellow. It wasn't the prettiest sight but at least it showed it was healing fast. "Poor baby. She must'a seen what happened to me, too." He muttered as he ran his finger over the comb on her head, to which she batted her sleepy eyes.
Rudy turned back to Will as he continued to pet his hen. "What time is it? I musta' slept two whole days." He commented with a big yawn, once again exposing his new large teeth.
"Darn close. I was just eatin' supper. It's probably after seven." Will confirmed, sitting on the edge of his bed next to Rudy and Henrietta. "You must be starvin'. I thought you were gonna be asleep a lot longer seein' as you haven't moved a muscle since you hit the hay—I mean not even to toss'n'turn— so I didn't make anything. But if you want some chili I could go heat some of that up for ya." The smaller boy scratched the back of his head as he spoke, regretting not making a better dinner in the presence of his friend.
"Golly, that'd be great. I'm starvin'." The boy said as he held his now growling stomach at the mention of chili. "That's the worst part of nappin'— sometimes your body ain't gonna wake you up when you're hungry so you gotta wake up to it." He rambled as he pulled the covers off of himself, putting the hen under his arm.
"Well hunger's an easy fix, I'm just glad you're sleepin'. After all them nightmares, I hope that was at least a little refreshin'." Will gave his arm a small nudge before he stood up and headed out of his room to fetch his own bowl he'd abandoned. "How much chili do you want, Ru?" He said, grabbing the half eaten chili and going into his kitchen to light the stove. Will figured he'd ask, considering the fact that he hadn't brought enough to him last time.
Rudy pulled himself out of bed with a stretch, "Maybe a cup or two? Hell, just whatever you think is healthy." He joked softly as he sat down the hen who continued to linger around his feet. He put his hands on his hips, watching as the sun slowly sank into the horizon, painting the sky to be a lilac and pink. "The sunset is damn beautiful tonight— it's purple." He called out to Will.
Will chuckled at the joke as he lit the stove and moved the pot of chili on top of it. "Is it really? Well tell it to hold on, I wanna see." He joked, grabbing a spoon and stirring their dinner before setting it down and walking back to the bedroom.  Will didn't find any trouble in watching the sunset with him while they waited on their supper to heat. "Wow, that's breathtakin'. Makes me wish I was one of them artists, so I could paint it."
"I've always wanted to try paintin'. Never really had the money or time to, though." He commented as he put his hands on his hips. He opened his mouth to respond but he was suddenly struck with an aching pain in his head. "Damn— I've gotta migraine." He muttered as he retreated back to the bed to sit down.
"You alright, Rudy?" Will asked, giving his friend a small glance of concern. He didn't think much of it considering the long day Rudy had had the night before. "I'll grab you some ice or somethin' if you need. I gotta go check the chili anyway." Will  offered his friend as he moved from the door way in preparation to head back to the kitchen.
"Oh uh, sure. That'd be nice." He mumbled as he felt his head seemed to pulse more and more. It was soon meant with a tingling, burning sensation across his body. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening, or what he assumed to be happening. He felt his breath hitch in his throat as he dropped to the floor for stability, taking in wheezing breaths at how his body burned intently. "W—WILL!?" He called out for his best friend as he gritted his teeth together, his eyes flooding with tears as his mouth began to hurt and pulse, feeling the warm metallic blood once again fill his gums. The hen, who was fluffed up on the bed, craned her head to look at the freckled boy. Henrietta let out panicked clucks as she hopped off of the bed and strutted over to her boy's side, trying to see what was wrong with him.
Will had already left to go to the kitchen, but as soon as he heard Rudy's cry for help, he jumped from the sudden loud sound and nearly fell to the floor turning around to rush back into the room, heart rate skyrocketing with nerves. "What's wrong! Rudy, what's happening?!" He asked loudly with anxiety overflowing in his voice as he dropped to his knees beside his best friend and the hen in order to see if he'd hurt himself.