Tentacle University pt. 17

Devon sat in a booth across from Marco.

“Do they know who he was?” Devon looked up from his cooling mug of coffee.

“His wallet was on him.” Marco didn’t meet his gaze. “I… I think you should take a break from school for a while. This is, what, the fifth death this week? The school will probably be shutting down until this gets resolved, anyways.  You might want to get a head start.”

It made sense.  Something very wrong was going on, and no one had any idea who, or what, was responsible. What…

The thought kept coming into Devon’s mind.  No human could do to a body what had been done to that guy in Retro, or to Tim. They had been turned into withered husks, parts of them already breaking into so much dust. Whatever had made them human, made them whole, had been drained from them. No person could do that.  Not that quickly.

Still, looking at Marco, a part of him didn’t want to leave.  While everything else was going horribly wrong, the man sitting across from him felt like something that had the potential to go very right.  It didn’t help that he didn’t have anyone to run to when he left school.  His parents were both gone, and his aunt, the only living relative left, had a family of her own.  Sure, she would take him in, but it wouldn’t be easy for either of them, and he had relied on her so much in the years following the death of his parents that he couldn’t force himself on her again.

“What?” Marco finally looked up.  “What are you thinking about?”

Devon shook his head. “The problem with your escape plan is that it requires me somewhere to escape to.”

“Your family?”

“Not an option.”

Marco was silent for a moment.  “Why don’t you stay with me? I mean, if you have nowhere else to go… I don’t want to sound too forward, but it would make sense, right? I’m a cop. I can keep you safe, and we… we seem to get along.”

Devon couldn’t help it. He laughed. Marco looked so nervous, and the sound of the laughter only made his eyes go wider with panic. 

“Never mind…” He shook his head.

“No! I’m sorry, it’s just that you are usually so strong, so sure of yourself.” Devon leaned forward, taking Marco’s hand in his. “You get really adorable when you’re nervous.  That’s all.”

Marco let out a sigh of relief. “So, you’ll consider it?”  

“Sure.” Devon gave his hand a squeeze. “But just until school opens again.  I like you Marco.  I like you a lot, but I don’t feel comfortable moving at the speed of lesbian.”

Marco looked at him confused. “Speed of…”

“Moving in together really quickly.”

“Ah.” 

The rest of the meal was more comfortable, and both of them willingly avoided the topic of the deaths on campus.  Yes, they had just seen something horrific, but for their own mental wellbeing they needed to forget, if only for a moment. 

If things kept going the way they were, a moment could be all they would have left.