Cascade

To Bite The Hand

The next week passed by slowly. Ash didn't come by to recruit Sil, and I was grateful for that. Sil may have been a cannibal, but at least he was my cannibal. That and the fact that he cared about my wellbeing. He was good to have around when one was concerned about a different cannibal trying to send rain creatures to kill you. The evil you know...

That said, the days had been peaceful enough. No major beasts had come into the garden. Though, there was one creature that had. A little thing, somewhere between a rabbit and a snake, its fur blending into scaled patches. It'd had a long curling tail with a rattle and had been an off shade of fuchsia. To top it off, the vicious thing had been crowned with a pair of dainty moose antlers.

I hadn't needed Sil's help, though. It had been small enough for me to simply beat it to death with a nearby rake as it'd hissed. I'd examined it afterwards to find gashes along its tail, clotted and bloody.

Cannibal claw marks.

Sil had given it a grimace and we'd shared a look of unease. At least he was on my side...

Then there was that. That, being our 'relationship'. I'd spent the last few nights with Sil curled against me, his head often on my shoulder. It left me with a warmth in my chest and a tingle in my toes. I shouldn't, but I found myself becoming a little too comfortable around him.

He was more daring now, and I more tolerant... I wasn't sure that was a good thing, but I let him into my personal space anyway.

I even took pity on him and patched up his clothes occasionally. He'd sit across from me at the picnic table with his face plastered against the wood, a light pink tinting his cheeks and a low growl leaving him. His growl would grow louder and his flush pinker, whenever I started to chuckle. He'd give me an outright snarl when his actions started a full fit of laughing.

But, then I'd grin at him and his eyes would widen, a trilling purr slowly following. My stomach would fill warm and my throat bubbly. Even though I shouldn't, I found it nice. Certainly better than worrying about Scales trying to kill me.

And so, it was on the second day of the next week that I found myself sitting with my back pressed against the fountain basin. Sil sat curled up beside me, dozing off, and I was enjoying a can of Frawnana's fleeing rodent pasta and spaghetti. The mascot was a grinning grandmother holding up a winged rat by its tail. Their slogan? A chipper "A gleeful spaghetti, you won't soon regrhetti!"

...

Yeah.

I was starting to lose faith in the most recent generation. I'd thought I'd lost it all with the apocalypse, but no. There was still some left to be chipped away at.

Sil gave a soft snore and pressed further into my thigh. A smile curved my lips as I was broken from my thoughts. I shouldn't linger on such things. It was a nice day, not too cold, sunny enough, nice breeze.

And then the peace came crashing down as I caught the sound of padded feet on grass. I glanced up to see Ash making his way to us, a grimace marring his face.

Oh, boy.

I furrowed my brow and nudged Sil with my elbow. He grumbled and cracked an eye open to look at me. I nudged him again and he followed my gaze.

His eyes widened and he jerked up to a sitting position. Smooth.

Sil barked out a greeting, to which Ash narrowed his eyes. He gave his own bark as he sat down before us.

I glanced the other way and returned to my pasta as they started their conversation. Not like I could participate, and Ash seemed to have a foul air about him today. What had been chewing on his ear today?