G/T YouTubers (One Shots and More)

Phantoms of Hope (Nate and Mat+Steph) (Part 2)

"Good morning Steph!" Mat said cheerfully. Stephanie smiled tiredly as she made her way to the table.

"Morning," she replied sleepily.

"I found some honey yesterday, you want that?"

"Sure." Mat pulled out two neatly cut slices of bread and opened the small container of honey. He carefully poured a few drops of the precious, gooey liquid on the slices and then made sure the lid closed. Stephanie yawned and murmured her thanks as she was handed her sweetened bread. She took a bite and hummed approvingly.

"How are you feeling today?" Mat asked, taking bites out of his own share.

"Well," Steph gestured at her throat, "I was feeling like I was gargling gravel, but good call on getting honey." Mat nodded appreciatively. It had been three days since the house owner, Nate, had discovered Mat, but it had also been three days since Mat decided to soon begin a study of the human. He was mystified by Nate's strange behavior lately, and he wanted to investigate, but Stephanie had been sick. However, now that she was better enough to get up and walk around without coughing so much, Mat decided that today he could begin his secret mission.

"Well, I'm gonna go out and scout for some more rarities," Mat told Steph as soon as he was done eating, grabbing his borrowing pack. His wife watched him with alarm.

"Is it safe?" She fretted. "I mean, we don't really need anything at the moment, do we?"

"I'm just going to look for things like cookie crumbs, or anything Na- the human, might have left out." Mat felt his heart squeeze a bit when he almost accidentally called the human by name. The last thing Stephanie needed to know was that Mat had already been seen while she was bedridden.

"Okay," Stephanie agreed hesitantly. He went over to her and kissed her on the head.

"I'll be back before you know it," he promised. Stephanie ruffled his hair and playfully nudged him.

"You better!" Though the look in her eyes was serious, she still smiled at him as he nodded and headed out. She turned to her breakfast and hoped, prayed, that her husband would return home safe and sound.

Behind the door, Mat hesitated before letting go of the handle and finally turning away to head through the tunnels. But he didn't take his usual route. He took a sharp left and continued up a sloped tunnel until it ended behind a desk in the house. Mat slipped out of the hidden area and sidled along the wall, keeping in the desk's shadow and taking a look around the room. This was Nate's bedroom. Beside the large and messy desk was a guitar sitting in its stand, and across the room was the bed. The bed's covers, however, were messily splayed over a figure under them: Nate was still asleep.

Mat took a nervous breath and then slowly emerged from behind the desk. Soft snoring rolled gently through the air as the borrower approached. He was astounded by how deep under the covers the house owner was, as all he could see from his place on the floor were the tips of the top of Nate's hair. Mat walked up to the bedside and craned his neck as he analyzed the situation. Okay, he's asleep. So now what? The borrower took a few steps back and looked at the nightstand. Maybe I can get up on that, and then...

And then what?

Mat decided to just take it one step at a time. He pulled out his hook and swung it, watching as it sailed through the air and caught on to the drawer handle. He went up to its side and started climbing, and he made his way all the way up onto the top. As he waited to catch his breath, Mat looked around and noticed that the clock's alarm was off. Well, at least when I got up here I didn't alarm it. Mat wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "No, bad joke, bad Mat," he muttered, smiling a little. He turned around and set his sights on the mound under the covers. Nate had fallen asleep lying on his stomach, and the entire left side of his face was squished into the pillows as he slowly breathed in and out.