"You wanna watch the next episode?"

A display of "Wolverine and The X-Men" flashed on Lenny's screen, with a timer going down from ten.

"A-... okay..."

"Sweet." Lenny clicked his mouse, and went back to reclining with Harmon. Under the bunkbed, there was now a nest of blankets, sheets, pillows, and a few curtains in lieu of a bed. The two had been holed up in Lenny's room, eating most of the Boggs' refrigerator's contents, watching tv, playing video games, and generally being boys. Although Harmon hadn't fully grasped how to use a controller, the two seemed to have fun. Or at least, Harmon was learning _how_ to have fun. He didn't have the first clue how to enjoy himself -- He did, however, seem to be getting used to his new outfit. The hoodie and shorts he'd been wrapped in were beyond filthy, so Lenny offered to share some of his own clothes. As of now, he was dressed in a long-sleeved maroon top, dark jeans, and old black running shoes. The shirt would have been a little snug if it weren't for Harmon's absurdly small frame. And a belt was needed to keep the jeans from falling down. And the shoes were definitely a little big for him. But, he managed to make it all work.

Or at least, Harmon was learning _how_ to have fun.

Lenny reached his hand into the bowl between the two, and stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "So, did, I..." He paused awkwardly in his sentence, trying to form words through chewing. "Tell you about Creed?"

"Creed..." Harmon replied, "No... Creed... Tell?"

Lenny paused for a second, swallowing. "Creed is my brother. He's been away with his..." He paused again, trying to choose his words carefully. "He's been away for a few days, anyway, and I dunno when he comes back. He's kinda crazy, so, I dunno if we should introduce you too. He hates humans somethin' fierce."

"Hates.." Harmon repeated. He didn't like the sound of the word. Never led to anything good.

"I mean, he hates a lotta stuff. A lot of different, uh," Lenny trailed off, watching an animated Warren Worthington fly through a city. "Which X-Man is your favorite?"

"A-ah..." Harmon muttered. Despite all the episodes of the series the two had been watching, nothing that was happening struck him as... engaging. His mind was blurring towards other things. Other matters. What NEST would find on all his confiscated devices. His tampering with them over the years had led to some unintentional recording, which meant some footage locked away on his smartphones and cameras would still be present. Although... if the footage were anything like Harmon's memory, they'd probably end up finding nothing but him eating trash out of a garbage tin. It was... probably a good thing he didn't have much of a sense of embarrassment.

"I... I don't know..." Harmon finally returned a rather disappointing answer.

"That's alright. I think Nightcrawler's my favorite." Lenny was easily satisfied and unskilled with reading people. Coupled with Lenny's talkativeness and Harmon's short answers, the two got along fine.

"If not Kurt, though, probably Wol-"

Lenny was cut off by the front door loudly closing.

"Shit, that's Creed. Stay in here, don't let him see you."

Harmon immediately arose from his seated position, fearfully gasping a bit as he waved his camera around the room. Lenny directed him to the closet, and he quickly made his way inside, ducking behind a small array of clothes - in varying states of tidiness - hoisted up on old wooden coat hangers. He nestled beside a pile of tossed clothes and miscellanious items, including a cricket bat. Harmon held one hand over his head, the other clutching the camera tightly. As Lenny left the room, he shifted his vision downstairs, through the television, to watch the altercation unfold.

"Hey Creed."

Lenny sat on the top of the stairs, as Creed took off his jacket and slung it over the couch.

"I saw you on the news today." Creed said coldly. He appeared calm, but Lenny knew all too well what stirred under the mask. Creed took off his gloves, putting them on a small table next to the couch, and began to take off his hat and scarf.
"Where is he?" He asked, exhaling deeply.

"Where's who?" Lenny said, dumbfounded. He stood up from the stairs, and began walking towards the kitchen. In an instant, almost too quickly for Harmon to see, Creed's arm snapped out to Lenny, catching him in the cheek. Creed's face immediately showed his true intentions -- He was red, with veins visible underneath the skin of his shaved head. His eyes practically bugged from his sockets, and his nose flared. His lips were pursed tightly, and his fists shook at his sides. Lenny reeled back, steadying himself on the wall.

"Twenty years, I've had to hide from NEST, and what do you do? You bring back some mutant convict into our house. Do you know what they'll do if they find him?" He asked through gritted teeth, spit flying out at intervals through his speech.

Lenny only shook his head.

"They would put his head on a stick. They would put you in a foster home for the rest of your fucking life. They would find out what I am, and put me in a prison. They would leave mema here to starve. Is that what you want?" His voice was quiet, but, Creed didn't need to be loud. Lenny looked down at the floor, and began to stutter out his reply.

"N-no."

"No?" Creed sneered. "Well, that's what you've fucking done." Creed shook his head, pacing back and forth. He gripped the back of his head tightly, and crouched for a second. "I can't fucking believe how stupid you are, Lenny. How infintely fucking ignorant you are." He stood up, and glared at Lenny. "You wanna know where you got those clothes you're wearing?"

"You." Lenny muttered, staring at his feet.

"You know who keeps those fucking wetbacks from Dead End from killing you on your way to school?"

"You." Lenny grew quieter.

"Every social worker that didn't come, every NEST flunkie that didn't hound you, every penny you have, every jumping you didn't get,"

Lenny his answer over and over, growing so quiet he could barely be heard over the hum of the refrigerator in the next room.

"And you know how you repay me? You disrespect me. You ignore every chance I give you to join the Eagles. You eat every fucking scrap of food there is, and you do nothing but complain. And now, the icing on the fucking cake. You harbor some monster here, in my home, so NEST can come find him and throw my ass in jail."

Creed stared at Lenny who shook silently, staring at the floor. "You leech." Creed hissed at him. "Go get him and bring him here." Lenny stayed where he was, staring at the floor in silence.

Creed chuckled for a second, almost amused. "You're going to regret that."

Creed grabbed Lenny by the collar and flung him across the room. Lenny fell over the table, and crashed onto the floor, scattering ashes everywhere. Creed walked towards him, and over the table, his boots pressing tracked snow over the magazines. Lenny lay limp on the floor, as a boot pressed into the back of his head.

"I will press your skull into this floor, so help me god, if you don't tell me where he is right now." He gritted his teeth, pressing Lenny further into the floor. He gave a squeal of pain, but said nothing.

Creed stared at him, red-faced and almost out of breath. He took his boot from the back of Lenny's head, and placed it on the ground. Lenny had called his bluff, but only slightly. As Lenny gave a sigh of relief, a boot hit him in the stomach, and he reeled back in pain.

"I'll give you one thing, leech, you're a loyal son-of-a-bitch. Shame you won't join us." He kicked him in the stomach a few more times, holding himself against the corner wall for balance. Lenny choked for a second, before being pulled up by his neck. Creed raised a fist, and stared at his dazed brother.

Just then the screen let out a low pitch that interrupted Creed. The two Boggs brothers turned their heads. Over the jewelry display channel that was droning on, faint lines of static shot across the screen. For a split second, the faded image of a swollen, festering eye with serrated teeth around its lashes was there, staring at the two. It was gone in less than a second, just as fast as it had appeared. The television broadcasted normally afterwards.

Creed stared at the TV for a moment, letting his thoughts form in his head. "You're hiding him in your room, aren't you." He asked, but in an uninquisitive tone. "I'm going to go up there. If I find him..." He trailed off, letting his fists tighten, narly too blinded by anger to speak. "Pick a god and pray to it."

Creed turned from his brother, and began to stomp up the stairs, skipping every two steps. He reached the door, and kicked it open, anticipating it might be locked -- It wasn't, and so it merely slammed against the wall. "Where are you." He growled.

There was no audible response. The computer monitor, however, flashed a quick second. More faint, rapid flashes followed.

Creed's attention was pulled away for a second. He lumbered over to the computer, sliding the chair away to more closely inspect the screen, leaning forward. "You playing with the power down there, leech?" He muttered to himself, raising a brow at the strange display.

The image of a man's silhouette standing in a brightly lit hallway flashed across the screen, before an absolutely blinding light followed, right in front of Creed's eyes.

Creed reeled back in pain, grabbing his eyes as if the sudden darkness might help, He roared angrily, toppling over for a second. Lenny barged in through the open door, wide-eyed and fearful. He looked at the screaming Creed, who was too distracted to realize Lenny came in.

"Harmon, what happened?!" He asked, stepping back from Creed.

Harmon didn't respond, he simply barged out of the closet doors, gasping fearfully. He brushed past Lenny and retreated down the stairs. Lenny followed quickly, grabbing his and Creed's jackets from the couch, as well as a hat and scarf from the floor. The two made a mad dash out the door, and began sprinting down the sidewalk. Harmon was running a little ahead, those familar static ripples around his body returning. "Harmon!" Lenny called out, trying to catch up to him. He took one quick look back at his house, seeing Creed running out of the door in full sprint, angrier than a bull. He turned forward and caught up to Harmon. They made their way down a turn around a storefront, out of Creed's sight but definitely not his ability to follow. Lenny managed to pass Harmon and call out, "Turn! Turn!" He immediately veered left, Harmon faltering some but following behind. Creed rounded the corner the moment after. The two came upon a wire fence separating the alley, which caused Lenny to turn around and bolt in the opposite direction.

"No! No!" Harmon called out. As Lenny's head turned, Creed appeared at the end of the alley. Harmon quickly lunged forward and grabbed Lenny's hand. And in a haze of static distortions that covered the two, they vanished. And in that same instant, they reappeared on the other side of the fence in another blur of static. Harmon kept running, but Lenny keeled over a bit, having never done anything quite like that before now.

Creed began tore through the snow and leapt on to the fence, halfway up in a mere second. Lenny limped alongside Harmon, still disoriented from the teleportation. The sound of Creed's boots hitting the floor echoed through the cold twilight air, and he began advancing toward them, his boots crunching over the thin layer of snow. His veins bulged from his neck, and his pupils were like pinpoints.

"**_Stop where you are._**" He said, in a voice that was somehow not his own. Lenny stopped dead in his tracks, but Harmon didn't. His mind was far too hazy to control. He looked at Creed for a split second, and grabbed Lenny. There was another ripple that had covered the two of them, and then, nothing. The two had vanished.

Creed stood in the alley, as snow began to lightly fall, dusting his shoulders. His pupils retracted to their former size, and his veins slowly shrank. He gave a loud exhale, and squatted down to catch his breath. His breathing was slow and drawn-out, in exactly ten-second intervals as he counted down in his mind. After a few minutes, he stood up.

"Well done, leech."

As Creed turned and made his way back towards the fence, Harmon and Lenny peeked over the edge of the roof of the building above - Harmon simply holding his camera out. After Creed had re-scaled the fence and left the alley, they slowly stood back up. "Close call." Lenny said, still catching his breath.

"Sorry..." Harmon muttered.

"It's fine. I tried to, uh, keep him away." Lenny held the back of his still-throbbing head, unaware of Harmon's spying through the screens.

"Sorry... sorry... sorry..." He continued to say, head lowered, shaking. "Fault... mine... all... sorry... sorry..."

Lenny grabbed him by the shoulder,  and turned to face him. "Hey." He said, being as close to assertive as he could muster. "It's alright, not your fault. You're the one who saved us anyway." He picked up the clothes from the roof, and brushed the snow off of them. "Here, put some of these on or you'll get cold." Harmon took Creed's scarf and coat from the pile, but took the hat from Lenny. Creed's beanie would've barely concealed the shards, whereas Lenny's hunting cap fit snugly over them without any odd bumps.

As the two got dressed more warmly, Lenny helped Harmon wrap the scarf up tightly enough. It didn't conceal his lack of eyes, but it hid his lack of a nose. He tucked the body camera in one of the front pockets of Creed's coat, peeking out just enough for the lens to let him see.

"I'll getcha some shades at the dollar store down the block. Maybe it'd be best to head to the fair, eh?" He smiled at his friend, trying to be the more optimistic member of their duo. "It'll be a pretty good place to slip in and hide, and nothing cheers a guy up like Christmas."

He turned and took a few steps, watching the snow over the cityscape. "I hope I don't look like that much of a doofus in that hat." He chuckled to himself.

"Hat... look, like... d-doofus in, in, everything..." Harmon repeated, signaling his literal first ever attempt at a lighthearted quip.

Lenny laughed to himself, at what was the first joke he had ever heard Harmon tell.

"Maybe so. Hey, I'll getcha a boonie hat at the store too. The camo might help us hide a bit, eh?"

"Hide... hide..." Harmon repeated. His joking tone had subsided now. He was slowly inching back towards total fear.

Lenny sensed his friend's changing mood, and looked at him -- Directly in the camera. "Don't worry homie. Creed goes away for days at a time. Someone tries to get you or me at the fair..." He opened his palm, showing Harmon the small sphere of blue light in his hand. "I'll make a hole in 'em." He snickered to himself, and patted Harmon on the shoulder with his free hand, as the ball of light disappeared.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. Let's get out of here."

Harmon nodded quickly, and they were both obscured by yet another quick haze of static as the two teleported away once more.