you're the little thing, my saving grace

Chapter 2

Pete exhales only when Nop gives the last instructions at the evening meeting and he finds himself in his room. Pete doesn't even turn on the lights right away. He sits in silence for a long time, trying to calm the whirlwind of thoughts. Not to say that the deal went smoothly, but without bloodshed. This was already pleasing. Still, Pete is uneasy. He remembers how desperately that little boy was hiding behind his back... Damn it! The present! He's probably waiting... Pete slaps his forehead. Although, wait... maybe he's already forgotten?

The door to his room opens softly, and a curious face pokes inside.

No. He hasn't forgotten.

Pete smiles and turns on the night light. Vegas stands in front of him in his pajamas, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Hi, kid!"

Pete nods at him, gets up and pulls out a drawer on a small desktop organizer where he keeps all sorts of memorable trinkets, there's even the first bullet stuck in his hip. After digging around, he takes out a small warm pebble, on which there is a dried skeleton of a seahorse and an imprint of a seashell.

"Open your hand," Pete walks up to Vegas and places a gift on the open kid's palm. "Do you like it?"

Vegas's eyes light up. He strokes the pebble with the fingers of his other hand and smiles broadly, babbling:

"Thanks."

Pete also smiles with tender dimples and, covering his palm with a pebble from below, helps to close it, saying:

"From now on, if you ever get scared, just squeeze this pebble in your fist and feel its warmth. And don't be afraid of anything. It's your mascot. Got it?"

Vegas nods and clenches and unclenches his hand several times:

"Oh..."

"What's up, Vegas?"

"And you? Won't you be afraid of anything now?"

Pete laughs and pats the kid on the head:

"And I'm not afraid of anything or anyone anyway. All right, come back to your bedroom now. Good night."

Vegas nods with a sigh and wishes in return:

"Good night, Pete... will you play with me tomorrow?"

Actually, Pete has a free morning tomorrow, he planned to have some lazy time.

"Uh... We'll see."

"So... you're not going to play?"

Pete notices the drooping corners of the small mouth. He shakes his head and nods:

"I'll play. What do you like to play?"

The kid shrugs his shoulders.

"Okay. We'll decide tomorrow. Now run back to your room."

Vegas immediately smiles at him, turns around and runs away. Pete shakes his head once more and waves it off: it looks like he's got a curious little tail in the house since now.