The Altercations with 24

A Night With Hedwig and a Day With Patricia

Casey didn't ask the Beast to elaborate because she knew he would say that it was a 'need to know' and she really didn't want to throw something at his face. Casey finished her hamburger and watched the Beast watch her. She felt weird that his chest was just on display and covered in blood.

"Does it hurt? To transform into the Beast?" She asked him, very aware of all the veins that were on his chest and arms.

"It hurts Kevin's body because he's not the same as me, but I don't feel the hurt. It's no different than a shotgun wound." He told her.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Casey said, remembering how he acted like being shot was nothing. "Why don't you keep your body like this all the time so you don't have to keep changing?"

He unfolded his bloody fingers and laid them straight down on the table. "None of the shirts would fit if I did that." He explained.

She did think that Dennis's body type was different than the Beast, but she just thought that was because Dennis wore clothes to cover his body and the Beast did not.

"You should shower and get ready for bed. There are clean clothes for you in the second duffel bag, but you already know that." The Beast told her. "I'll be sending Hedwig in after you shower and change."

The Beast stood up to go and was about to leave when Casey called him.

"Thank you for answering some of my questions. Good night."

He simply nodded and left. Casey threw away her trash and put the leftover food in the microwave. She grabbed garments from the duffel bag and went to shower.

Casey decided not to take a long shower because she wanted to see Hedwig. The little boy could always bring a smile to her face.

After she was done in the bathroom, Casey went and sat on her bed. Hedwig came in a few minutes later and almost jumped in her lap. She smiled at his pajama pants that that rockets on them and his shirt that had a dinosaur. The clothes were made for a man of Kevin's age, but it just made him look like a child, which suited Hedwig perfectly.

"Hey, Casey! Guess what?!" He didn't even wait for her to speak. "I found my red socks! Mr. Dennis let me look through the bags in the trunk and I was able to find them and excetera." His face lit up as he showed her his socks and as he spoke. She smiled at the boy.
 
"I'm glad you found your socks, Hedwig. This must be hard for you, moving to a new place and leaving your room behind." Hedwig shrugged.

"It's okay. I have you and Ms. Patricia said when we find a place to live I can have my own room again."

Casey nodded, not wanting to break the news that if they did find a place to live he more than likely wouldn't get his own room.

"I miss my animals most of all. I found a rat outside, but Ms. Patricia wouldn't let me keep it and Mr. Dennis was in a panic that I picked it up because it was dirty." He showed her his hands, but they weren't dirty.

"Mr. Dennis made me wash them before I could come over." And Casey was glad that he did.

"That was very smart of Dennis. Rats are dirty." Casey said before yawning.

"Are you pregnant?" Casey's eyes widened and she bit her lip to keep her from laughing at the boy. "What? No, no I'm not pregnant. Why would you ask me that?"