The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

5. Off Guard

George's POV

Clay unpacks the big box on the table, putting supplies away through his own little system. Bad has provided us with so much more than I thought. There is rice, flour, vegetables, some miscellaneous spices and even some fruits. I quickly swipe a raspberry from the table and pop it in my mouth. I see Clay smile at me from the corner of my eye.

"What?"

"Nothing, that's just cute."

I turn away to hide a smile. The raspberry suddenly tastes sweeter.

I look at my watch to see it's 12:07 AM already. We've been out for quite a while.

"Does this tv have any channels other than static?" I ask Clay as I tap on the screen, sitting in front of it with my legs crossed.

"Regrettably, there's not too great of a signal underground," he laughs as he finishes up cleaning the counter. He walks over me to kneel in front of the tv. "We can try the old fashioned way."

"What's the old fashioned way?" I immediately regret my decision to ask as the side of the tv is met with the flat hand of Clay, making me jump and fall back, finding the cold floor. Clay bursts out in a wheeze, followed by deep laughter, and leans over me, his hands leaning on the ground, one on each side of my shoulders.

"If that already scares you, you don't wanna meet any Hyenas," he smirks, looking over my startled face.

"You caught me off guard!" I yell in my defense, but Clay just keeps giggling.

"You think they're gonna give you a warning before they attack? You're by definition off guard. Maybe I should give you lessons in self defense," he ponders, still looming over me.

"Would you?" I ask him.

"If you want, sure," he says, another one of those sweet smiles displaying across his face.

He lifts himself away from me, only to lay down beside me. I lay my hands on my stomach, and Clay lays one of his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. His leg is touching mine, and just like that, we lay there for a while. I turn my head to look at him and he does the same.

"What did I get myself into?" I ask him softly. He looks at me, and I can tell he wants to comfort me.

"I know it's dangerous out here, but as long as you're careful, it'll be alright." He offers me a soothing smile. "Plus, you have me to protect you. You didn't end up dead on your first night, so that I'd consider a win." He grabs my hand and squeezes it softly while he says it. And it helps. I feel safe around him. I turn my gaze to the ceiling again, and intertwine my fingers with his. Why do I feel so comfortable around someone I've just met?

He's right. He'll protect me. My mind rewinds back to this morning, when he told me about his best friend. He'd do anything to protect him.

"Do you have any friends around here?" I decide to ask him.

"'Friends' is not a term we use a lot," he answers. "We're.. cohabitants, I guess, and we help each other out when needed, but being a friend could be dangerous. You never quite know who to trust, and meeting up could result into a Hyena attack. We communicate very little," he sighs.

"Why do you trust me?" I look into his eyes.

"You're from the same city as me, we have the same story. You were in doubt to follow me down the ladder, but you trusted me, and now we're in this situation. You're my friend now," he responds.

"It's good not to be by myself," I tell him. We share another smile before Clay sits up and leans against the couch, my hand still in his as he drops them to his lap. His thumb rubs the top of my hand reassuringly. I yawn deeply and close my eyes.

"You wanna sleep?" he asks me softly, almost whispering.

"Hmhm.."

"I don't want you to get cold again." I feel his eyes going over me.

"I won't, I've got your sweater," I mumble, turning on my side, my hand still being held. I snuggle into the sweater, digging my nose into the fabric.

"You can't be comfortable just laying on the ground."

"I'm too tired to ca-" I cut my own word off by another yawn, "-re." By the movement of my hand I feel Clay sliding down again, and before I can open my eyes I feel him let go of my hand and reaching his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. My face is snuggled into his chest now, and he lays his chin on top of my head. I listen to his calm heartbeat as my breathing slows. I can't put my finger on why this feels so pleasant, being in his arms like this, but I don't want it to change. The rational part of my brain tells me to not get so attached right away, but I can't help feeling appreciative of his presence, and his care.

"I don't mind being here all that much," I mumble into his chest, and I sigh deeply.

"You know, there's more comfortable places than the floor," he whispers, obviously not content with the spot I chose to lie down.

"Fine, we can move," I groan, getting ready to get up, but I am interrupted in my action by Clay, who quickly pushes himself up to take me into his arms, plopping me down on the couch and joining me again. I breathe deeply as I snuggle up to him again. The familiar warm feeling returns to my chest as I feel his hand glide through my hair. I am relaxed, even though the setting feels quite intimate.

"Me and my friend used to just cuddle up all the time. You know what he used to say?" Clay whispers.

"Hmm?"

"Cuddle yo' homies," he says, imitating what I assume to be his friends voice, a slight Texan accent. I chuckle softly, and decide to wrap my arm around him as well. "He'd call himself 'homiesexual'," Clay laughs, and I laugh with him. He must miss him a lot.

"What was your friend's name?" I ask.

"His name was Nick."