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“Hello. May I speak with you a moment?”
“Uh, I’d rather not. I have to be somewhere. Excuse me.” Matt eyed the man in the black trenchcoat, and kept walking. He didn’t want to get mugged or something. He turned the street corner, and the man was standing in front of him. He smiled, and Matt ran back around the corner, smacking right into the black coat, which was apparently leather “Hey! Leave me alone!”
“Oh, do try to be quiet. I’m not really supposed to be here. However, I figured it best to warn you ahead of time. Don’t go to school tomorrow. Fake illness. It isn’t your time yet.” Matt backed around the corner, running off down the street when the man wasn’t there to block his way. A crouching brunette girl looked after the running boy from a rooftop, and frowned up at the man in the black leather trenchcoat who was suddenly standing next to her.
“Zack, did you have to scare him like that? He probably thought you were some sort of pervert. ‘Don’t go to school tomorrow’. What are you, a sadist? You probably scared him half to death anyway.”
“Do you think we should have Katze or Libelle watch him?”
“Libelle would try and stick to him like glue, and would give him absolutely no explanation who she is. He would assume she was some pervert, or a stalker. It would scare him too much. Katze knows the rules. I had to teach him myself.”
“Oooh, how? Was it a private session?” The girl giggled. Zack rolled his eyes and sighed resignedly.
“No, it wasn’t. I talked to him in front of the head of the agency. After the incident with the sadomasochistic cult members, he didn’t want to take any chances with Katze either.”
“Oh. Yeah. I almost forgot about that. Heheh… that was kind of funny though. We walked right in on him while he was doing that thing with the handle of that whip to that one guy-”
“That’s enough. Let’s go get Katze and give him the assignment. The boy needs to stay safe. And he needs to feel safe. The project leader says so.”
“Okay then. Let’s go.” In mere seconds, they were gone, nowhere in sight.
“So then the guy tells me not to go to school tomorrow. What the hell?”
::Well, I dunno. Sounds ominous. I heard that some goths have been going around claiming that they’re going to kill everyone at school one of these days. Do you think he was a fortune teller or something? Seriously, I’m staying home tomorrow anyway. Come over to my house.::
“Nah. I’ll go to school. I’d rather not fail, thanks.”
::Your choice. I’ll talk to you later. My mom’s on my case about the dishes.::
“’Kay.” Matt hung up the phone. He was going to sleep early, so he could get to school ahead of time and work on his student body president’s duties. He had to decide whether or not to accept a petition for hall passes to apply to lockers or not. He flopped onto his bed, turning off his bedside lamp. He fell asleep slowly, soothing music coming from somewhere easing him into dreaming slumber.
“Yes, Zack, I did. I put an eye in a tree in his backyard. Did you know he’s got a Serpents’ Rose? I’ve only seen one of them before. Now I’ve seen two. Rich kids get all the good stuff…” Katze sat in the office chair at his desk “ Nice bedroom, too. I almost didn’t want to leave. Hopefully I won’t need to go back for an emergency.” He sighed, reclining to stare at the ceiling.
“Hopefully not. Gottverlassen are very important to the project. We can’t afford to lose a single one. Keep a close eye on him. Be careful. Now get going.”
“Wait, I have to go?” Zack sighed.
“Yes. You have to watch him at school. Just remember to hide your tattoo. We can’t have any questions or rumors flying around the humans about the project. Somebody already leaked the name to them. They have conspiracy theories all over the internet about the project now.” Katze laughed.
“Idiots. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s a goddamn pass into heaven. Well, roughly. There’s also the flipside. It could turn into a one-way ticket to hell for all humanity, but that’s a worst-case scenario.” He spoke nonchalantly, shrugging as he finished speaking “It’s up to them, really.”
“Thank you for your… blunt observations, Katze. Now you should go. He should be getting to school in a few minutes.”
“Oh, well, that’s a motivator. See you round, Zack.” Katze stuck his tongue out, and vanished.
“Childish fool.” Zack recalled something Katze had said “But he has his uses. A Serpents’ Rose, eh? Interesting…”
“Please, call me Katze. Um, well, I’d like to say I’m very interested in finding out about the area. And making new friends. I am also curious about how your country’s student body operates.” Katze smiled the fake smile he’d given to so many people. Every once in a while, he’d glance at Matt, who was doodling in the back of the room. He’d also look at the other students, to see their actions towards Matt, but everything seemed to be fairly run-of-the-mill. Nobody seemed to dislike him, but no one was buddying up to him either. The teacher instructed Katze to sit, and he found the only empty seat was near Matt. He sat down, and the teacher instructed everyone to get out their Chemistry textbooks. She then apologized to Katze, saying they had no extra textbooks currently, and he would have to share with someone. Matt tapped him on the shoulder.
“I’ll share my book. Here.” Matt moved next to Katze, balancing the large book in the crack between the desks. They were more like small tables, but Katze was for once thankful for the fact Matt didn’t know him. He would never do such a thing otherwise, judging from Zack’s report of his behavior the previous day. According to his information, there would be a small student insurgence in no less and no more than half an hour, and a few less reputable students would go on a killing spree with guns they snuck into school and hid in their lockers. His job was to protect the Gottverlassen currently sharing a textbook with him at any cost. If any other students could be saved in addition, that would be most preferred, but the Gottverlassen took priority over everyone. Everyone. If he had to throw himself in the path of a bullet to do his job, then that would be what would happen.
“Thank you. What is your name?” Mere pleasantries. Katze knew practically everything about Matthew.
“Matt Reeve. I’m the student body president. Don’t ask me how it happened though. I’m only a junior.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I thank you for sharing your book.”
“No problem.” A locker slammed in the hallway, and Katze was partly glad the door to the room was shut. It would be starting soon. Katze spread a small enchantment in the air. A simple apathy spell. Anyone who opened the door would receive a blast of apathy. If someone with a gun opened the door, they would lose the desire to harm anyone in the room, and they would shut the door again and leave. If the students in the room were lucky, the person might even drop the gun. This enchantment was not perfect, however. They might forget to shut the door, and the essence of the enchantment would dissipate. But Katze would worry about that when it happened. Suddenly, a gun shot went off in the hallway. Early. Maybe someone’s gun misfired. Katze got to his feet feigning fear to blend in with everyone else, but spreading the apathy enchantment more thickly. He moved between the door and Matt. Someone kicked it open, and they stopped. They did drop their gun, but they left the door open and walked off. Someone fired an automatic weapon into the room from out in the hall and ran off. Katze had been in just the right spot. He’d gotten a bullet to the shoulder and another to the upper right arm, but Matt was untouched. Katze staggered for a second, but the pain quickly disappeared. Matt frantically caught him as he pretended to fall backwards in pain. The safest place was close to the floor. No one would see them very well behind the desks. Matt looked him over carefully, scared “Are you okay? No, that was a stupid question. Of course not. Here, let me see your shoulder.” Katze obliged. Matt looked at him seriously “This may hurt a bit, but it won’t hurt as much afterwards.”
“Okay…” Matt practically reached his fingers into the bullet holes, pulling out each of the two bullets slowly, careful to keep a tight grip on them. Of course, Katze’s body was pushing them out on its own, so that made it all the easier for Matt, though he didn’t notice. Once the bullets were out, Matt laid Katze flat on the floor, crouching down next to him.
“We should be safe for now. Hold on…” He pulled out his cell phone. He punched in a few numbers “Hello? Police? There’s a shooting at Cooper Lawrence High School. Yes, but doubtless numerous people are dead or dying already. Please hurry. Thank you.” He clicked his cell phone shut, shoving it back in his pocket. He put a hand to Katze’s wounded shoulder, which was healing too quickly beneath his shirt. He looked at Katze, who looked back at him.
“Is it over yet?”
“Not until the police get here. Don’t worry, you’re okay, oddly enough, the wounds look… healed. Wow. That’s odd. I could swear there was a pair of bullet wounds, and they were bleeding…” Katze sat up, looking towards the door. The kids with the guns seemed to have moved out of that part of the school. He looked at Matt seriously.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Matt looked afraid for his life. Katze, who had been shot minutes before, stood, and helped him off the floor “Hey, keep alert. You don’t want to get shot in the head because you weren’t paying attention. I’ll be fired if you even get grazed, so watch yourself.” Matt’s eyes went wide, and he backed away some, only able to take a few steps.
“Who are you? Fired? What are you talking about?”
“Just hurry up and let’s go! Getting out of this school is our priority, don’t you think?”
“Uh…” Katze groaned in exasperation.
“Please tell me you’re smarter than this when it’s not in a time of crisis!” He grabbed Matt by the wrist, pulling him out the door and down the hall “Don’t stop moving or we’ll be seen. And be quiet.” Matt’s mouth was open to protest, but he shut it and kept moving. They reached the main doors and exited the building, running across the parking lot in front of the school. They got to the grove of trees on the other side, and stopped. Katze looked back at the school once, turned to the direction of the police sirens momentarily, and sat on the grass. It was mid-morning, so the dew from overnight was dried. Matt just stared at him “What? Hey, Zack warned you yesterday, but did you listen? Nooooooo! You had to go and okay the locker hall passes! Technically, it would’ve happened anyway, but you just had to go and make my job that much more stressful. You really should’ve listened to Zack. He wasn’t going to hurt you or anything.”
“Who are you, and why are you here? Why are you, obviously, following me?! First that guy yesterday, and now you! Are you guys some sick perverts or something, or are you just trying to make me go insane?!”
“Look, kid, if you weren’t who you are, you’d most likely be dead by now. So how about a little gratitude? I just saved your ass. Twice.”
“Twice?! You only got me out of the building!”
“Okay, that was three. I must’ve miscounted, but you’re just wrong.” Katze pulled him down onto the ground to sit “I made sure that whoever opened that door would’ve lost the will to shoot. Then, I threw myself into a pair of bullets that would’ve gotten you in the head. Then I led you out of the school to avoid being shot at anymore.” The police cars screamed into the school driveway, pulling up in front of the high school and spewing out hundreds of cops. They all rushed inside, and Matt and Katze watched from across the parking lot “So I saved your ass three times, and not even a thanks.”
“Thank you… I guess. Would I really have died?”
“Without me? Yes. Now, far be it for me to nitpick, but if you had just listened to Zack yesterday and not come to school, then you wouldn’t have put me through all that trouble in the first place.” Katze turned to him “As for the matter of who I am, you already know all you need to. My name is Katze. As to what I do, why I’m here, or what any of it has to do with you, all I can say is that I’m here to keep you alive and unharmed.”
“What the hell did you choose me for?! I’m probably the least important person in the world! Matt Reeve, the student body president of some backwoods high school? You’re some government agent, right? Why are you protecting me?! Am I some part of a government conspiracy?! Answer me!”
“Well, I can tell you one thing: None of what I do has anything to do with your puny government. But that’s all I can tell you. If you want to learn any more, you’ll have to be okay with risking your sanity. And I can’t allow that. You have to stay like you are until I’m given other instructions.”
“So you’re saying all I can know about you is your name, that you’re protecting me, and that you’re not connected with any government officials.”
“Yes.”
“Great. That’s nice and all, but I’m walking home now, so I’ll see you whenever.”
“Not so fast. I have to make sure you’re not harmed. That means I keep an eye on you at all times.”
“No way are you following me home, you… you freak! My mom would flip, and I don’t hang out… with guys.”
“So you hang out with chicks? What are you, gay?”
“I’m not gay! I hang out with my friends, but you’re not one of them. So you’re not following me anywhere.”
“Sorry. I have to. It’s my job. Believe me, I’d rather follow some cutie home than you, but I don’t have a choice. Stupid…” Katze mumbled the word after stupid. Matt turned to him angrily.
“What’d you call me?!”
“Stupid.”
“No, after that.”
“There wasn’t anything after that, demonstrating that I’m right. You’re stupid. Now let’s go.”
“Honey, I was so worried! There was a story all over the news about the shooting, and I called the police, and they didn’t know where you were, and I was so worried!” Matt’s mother hugged him tightly, but let go when she noticed Katze “Who’s your friend, honey?”
“That’s, uh…”
“Heinrich Katze. Pleased to meet you. I’m new to the school, and Matt was nice enough to offer to show me around the school.”
“Well, I’m glad to see he’s making new friends.” She smiled, leaving the foyer for somewhere else in the house. Katze grinned at Matt.
“She doesn’t like your old friends. I could tell just from that tone.”
“All my ‘old’ friends are nymphos, druggies, or lunatics. According to her, anyway.” Matt walked off towards his room. Katze followed behind him, inspecting the house curiously as he passed through it. Matt turned to him before opening his bedroom door, glaring at him angrily “No one goes in my room. Just me. That means you stay out.”
“Sorry, but it’s not an option. Don’t worry, I’ve already been inside.”
“What?! When?!”
“You really ought to lock your window. But I snuck in anyway. Don’t worry; I was just making sure you were okay. And I’m not interested in you. You’re not my type.” Matt had gone into his room, and Katze had walked right through the door when Matt shut it on him.
“Wait a minute, you’re gay?!” He visibly shrank away from Katze, pressing himself against the window seat.
“You can’t tell? I thought it would be obvious. But I still don’t think you’re my type. ‘Annoying and asks too many questions’ isn’t my thing. Besides, I’m more interested in tall guys. You’re short.” Matt laughed.
“I’m short? You’re shorter than me!” Katze raised an eyebrow in annoyance. He reverted to his normal form, the young man who’d checked on Matt the night before. Matt’s jaw dropped, obviously impressed.
“Not really. I’m two hundred years old, and I’m taller than you, so don’t mess with me. I don’t like annoyances.” Matt was just staring at him, mouth agape. Katze quelled the urge to laugh at the boy’s expression “The only thing about you that I’m actually interested in is how you got that.” Katze pointed to the rose on the shelf “I’ve only seen one of those before in my life.”
“The rose? I don’t know where it came from. It was just growing. There were a lot of roses on my mom’s rosebush that year, but this one looked odd. I’ve never seen a black rose before. And it hasn’t wilted or lost a petal since I picked it. It’s weird.”
“It’s not weird, it’s hematite and jade. Hematite and jade don’t wilt. It’s called a Serpents’ Rose. They’re very rare in the world. I’ve only seen two counting this one, and I’ve been a lot of places. A lot.” Katze sighed, going over and picking up the rose, inspecting it carefully “It looked like there were thorns on it last night.”
“You were in here last night?! What were you doing?!” Katze rolled his eyes.
“Didn’t we already go over this? I was making sure you were okay, and keeping an eye on you. Believe me, if I really wanted to, I’d have tackled you and ripped off your clothes by now. I’m not interested. Besides, I’m currently unavailable. What, do you want me to do something? I know this neat trick with a whip handle that I could show-”
“That’s okay! Really! I’m fine with not being raped.”
“Well, whatever. I didn’t do anything, but yes, I was in here last night. I hope you had good dreams? I make it my duty to ensure my clientele get enough good sleep. Even if they are prepubescent brats.”
“I’m not-” Matt stopped. Katze was grinning.
“Go on. Finish your sentence.”
“I’m not prepubescent. My voice changed last year…” Matt was embarrassed, tucking his chin to his chin to his chest and blushing. Katze barely contained his laughter.
“You’re still a brat, virgin. And I dare you to prove me wrong on that. You’re too pedantic to have gone farther than second base with anybody.” Matt was fuming now, his face turning red.
“First you call me prepubescent and n-now… now that! You’re an asshole!”
“Your opinion. Excuse me, but I’m going to ignore you now. Just don’t leave your room, or I’ll be forced to come back and do unspeakably horrible things to you.” Katze grinned maliciously, climbing out the window. He walked into the woods, trying to find the cell phone he’d hidden in one of his pockets. He found it when it buzzed, and answered “’Ello love. How are we today?” He had set his phone to buzz when Gavin called.
::Why haven’t you called?! I’ve been worried sick!::
“Baby, I’m sorry. Zack decided he was going to put me in charge of a Gottverlassen, and I haven’t had any free time. If you want, you could come and visit. It’s no fun just being around the stupid brat all day.”
::Is it male or female?::
“Male, but it’s no fun. It’s like being chained to Zack.”
::Oof. You poor thing. I’ll be there in a second, and I’ll make it all better.::
“Okay, baby. Don’t worry too much about me. I’ll be okay.” Katze hung up, shoving the phone back in his pocket. As long as his scare tactics worked on Matt, he’d get some free time to spend with Gavin. Matt cleared his throat from behind Katze.
“You didn’t think that threat would work on me, did you? You said I was supposed to stay alive and unharmed. Meaning you can’t do anything ‘unspeakable’.” Katze sighed heavily, putting a hand over his eyes. He removed it, glaring at Matt.
“Look, kid, unless you want to watch me make out with a guy, then I’d leave. Or else that’s what you’re going to see. He’s going to show up here in a second, and we haven’t seen each other in a month or so, so just go back in your room where it’s safe, and play some video games or do your homework or something.” Someone squealed and tackled Katze, popping into existence just inches to Matt’s right.
“Katze! Hi!” Matt backed off slowly, until the stranger looked over his shoulder at him “Is that him?”
“Yes, it is. Didn’t I tell you to go? Stay in your room or take this with you wherever.” Katze tossed him a marble.
“Uh…”
“Get out of here! I’d rather not be watched by some brat.” Matt ran off back towards the house, and Gavin nuzzled Katze’s cheek with his until they were alone.
“Hi Katze… I’ve missed you, baby.” Gavin kissed him, pushing him flat on the ground.
“Mmmm… I’ve missed you too.” Katze stroked Gavin’s cheek.
“I’ve got an idea. Want to have some fun?”
“Oh, definitely.”
::What? He’s gay, and he followed you home, and now he’s making out with some random guy in your woods.::
“Not some random guy. It’s his boyfriend, but I don’t know who he is. He just showed up and they started making out, so I left.”
::Sick. You should go back out and kick them out. So what if he followed you home? It’s your house.::
“It’s hard to explain unless you were there, but you know yesterday when that random dude off the street told me to stay home? Well, this kid, this guy I mean, he protects me when the goths start shooting people. He’s takes two bullets for me.”
::What? And he’s just making out with some guy? After getting shot? I’m telling you, the guy’s a freak.::
“He didn’t really get hurt though. I pulled the bullets out, and a few minutes later, he was fine. No scars, no marks, no blood, except what soaked into his clothes or leaked out.”
::Freak. I’m just saying man. Don’t go to sleep around this guy. He’s gay. He’ll rape you or something.::
“Well, he said he wasn’t interested, and I don’t think he likes me at all, so it’s a start, but it gets weirder than the bullet thing. After we got out of the school, he starts talking about how I should have listened to the guy yesterday. He couldn’t have known that unless he knew the other guy. And he says he’s supposed to protect me… for something. He couldn’t say what. But it’s apparently his job to keep me alive.”
::Can you fire him?::
“I don’t know. You think I should go try? He’s still out back.”
::Yeah. Just walk up and tell him he’s fired. The worst that could happen is he doesn’t take orders from you, and he laughs. Big deal. Then you’ve still got some freak undead bodyguard or whatever. It’s like free life insurance.::
“Alright. I’ll go try it. I’ll talk to you later.”
::Bye.:: They hung up on each other, and Matt climbed out his window. It was worth a try. Maybe it would work, and the freak would leave him alone. True, he wouldn’t have a permanent assurance that he wouldn’t die at any minute, but he’d survived for seventeen years already. Besides, Matt preferred to sleep knowing there wasn’t a chance he might be groped, or even raped, while he slept.
“Where the hell did he go?” Matt entered the woods behind his house. He walked no more than twenty feet before he stopped, dead afraid, and rather disgusted “Aaaagh! Gross!” Katze was leaned against a tree, and the stranger was on his knees in front of him. Both were shirtless, and Katze’s pants were unzipped. The stranger’s face was practically buried in the fly of Katze’s pants, and it was obvious he was giving Katze a blowjob by the expression on Katze’s face. At the sound of Matt’s voice, they both jumped, scared. The stranger fell back onto his butt in surprise, and Katze zipped his pants frantically.
“Didn’t I tell you to leave?!”
“What the fuck?! You’re… doing… things! In my backyard! Gay things! That I don’t want to see!”
“Katze, I should go…” The stranger stood.
“Okay, baby. I’ll see you later. Hopefully I can switch out with somebody else. Soon. I’m getting sick of this shit.”
“Bye…” Katze kissed him, and he was gone, but Katze remained, glaring fiercely at Matt.
“What?! Why are you staring at me?! You’re the one doing gay shit in my woods!”
“You totally deserve to be killed, you know that? I should just drop you off a bridge or something. Maybe a nice tall building. Oh, and your smart little plan to try and fire me? It won’t work. I don’t take orders from annoying scum, special or not.” Katze grabbed Matt by the shoulder, throwing him bodily into a tree. Matt slumped to the ground, wracked by pain and fear. Katze approached him, sneering “You really, really ruined the moment, you know? I haven’t seen him in a month, and we finally get down to having some fun, and you barge in.” Katze leaned over Matt, who was stretched out on the ground “Maybe I could get a replacement. I’d just have to… but you’re too young for me. And I hate you. But I would just hate to miss seeing the look on your face.” Matt tried to move, tried to crawl away. He knew what Katze was planning, or at least what he was talking about. Not specifically, but Matt had a pretty good idea. However, he couldn’t move. He was pretty sure being thrown into the tree broke a bone or two “You know, the fact that I know you’re trying to get up and escape makes watching you writhe in pain all that much better. Oh, you know what? I just remembered, I promised to do unspeakably horrible things to you if you left your room. Well guess what? You’re not in your room. Maybe I’ll have a chance to show you that trick with the whip handle I told you about.”
“Aaaaaaaagh! Help! Rape! RAPE!”
“You know, you’re really stupid. Nobody can hear you from way out here. Your house is too far away, and there aren’t any other people nearby. Feh. Idiot…” Katze grabbed Matt by the hips, flipping him onto his stomach, ignoring his screams of protest.
“Don’t touch me! Aaaaaaagh! Rape! Somebody help me! I’m going to get raped!”
“I’m not going to rape you.”
“Bullshit! Don’t touch me! Let go! HELP!”
“Oh shut up!” Matt’s voice was suddenly gone, he tried to scream, but all that came out was quiet squeaky noises “That’s better, sort of. Shit. You really need to get some perspective here. Either you get pretty much maimed, then blinded, and burned on what skin isn’t horribly bloody, or you deal with a little bit of a sore ass for a while. Either way, I enjoy what I’m doing, and if I do decide to maim you and whatnot, I might even get a replacement to take over for me, and then I don’t have to deal with you anymore. But considering I either practically rip you to pieces, or cause you a little bit of pain that goes away after a while. If you had a choice, would you really rather get maimed?” Matt just stared at him, wide-eyed, and Katze snickered. He pulled Matt over to him, straddling his legs, and sitting. Matt tried to struggle, making little squealy noises. Katze tried not to crack up, but he could no longer help himself. He broke out into hysterics. Matt just stared, too scared to even move, as Katze laughed loudly, practically rolling on the ground “You really thought I’d somehow find a way to force you to take it up the ass?! Oh my god, you’re stupid! Ahahaha! Hahahaha! Aha… ha… heheh…” Katze finally calmed back down, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes “Man, I really needed that laugh… Haha… Jesus, that was funny… but don’t worry. I can’t rape you. I got in trouble for doing that once already to somebody else. If Zack hears I did it again, then my job’s down the toilet. Besides, I don’t really like you that much. You’re funny, but I’m still mad about you barging in on my alone-time with Gavin.”
“So that was his name? Hey, my voice is back!”
“Yeah, I’m done messing with you, for now.”
“So your… boyfriend’s name is Gavin?”
“Yes… I’m bored. You know, you’re pretty dull. Maybe I should tie you up or something, just to occupy myself.”
“Yee…” Matt backed away as far as he could, his back and ribs hurting “Ah! Oww…”
“Oh, sorry about the part where I threw you into the tree. I get carried away when I’m pissed off. You’ll be fine though. Nothing permanent.”
“Except mental scarring. Jeez, I fucking thought you were serious. I nearly passed out, I was so scared.”
“Oooh, then I could’ve messed around with your clothes and scared you even more when you woke up. Too bad.”
“You’ve got a really sick sense of humor, you know that?”
“Oh yeah… definitely. But you would’ve probably chosen ass rape over being maimed and stuff. That’s what’s so funny.”
“Considering you weren’t giving me any other choices, and I couldn’t move, there wasn’t much I could do in the way of avoiding being raped or killed.”
“Just… next time you think it’s a smart idea to barge in on me and Gavin? Take a minute to think about it. Did you really want to see him doing that to me? Didn’t think so.”
“Yeah, about that. Could you try to not sodomize people on my property? My parents would freak.”
“Oh, they really won’t know. I won’t do it inside at least, I’ll promise that. I’d make too much noise. Besides, we usually don’t get too bad. We just haven’t seen each other in a while.”
“Uh, sure. Whatever. Look, it’s getting late. I’m going inside and taking a nap. I’m tired.” As Matt walked inside, he was aware of Katze following him, shirtless. However, when he turned to Katze to tell him to put his shirt back on, it was unnecessary. Katze even had a jacket on over his shirt, and he looked like a kid again. Matt resumed walking to his room; he removed his socks and shoes, and was reaching to take off his shirt, when he was aware again of Katze behind him. He turned to Katze, who had resumed looking like an adult, had taken his shirt back off, and was sitting in the window seat.
“What? I can’t leave. I have to watch you, and that means actually watching you. I can’t leave you alone, or else you might get hurt, and I’d be screwed, since it’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’ll look away while you’re taking off any clothes, if that’ll make you more comfortable. I’m not completely without civility.” He looked out the window indifferently, as promised, and Matt continued to change. He left his pants on, however. He wouldn’t take any chances. He flicked off the lights, and lay down on his bed. Within minutes, he could hear soft music again, and was asleep. Once Katze was sure of this, he put away the ocarina “Sleep tight, Gottverlassen.”
