ᖴI᙭ᗩTIOᑎ

ᕼE ᗷᑌᖇᑎEᗪ IT

     You snatched his hand instead.

     "I'm not entirely sure what your goal was there but it's affecting my reading time. You're just tickling my fingers at this point," you said flatly, still focused solely on your book.

     Despite your emotionless words, Doe's entire body was vibrating with elation. You held his hand. YOU held HIS hand. Of your own free will. There was a 95% chance he was going to just spontaneously combust. 

     You, on the other hand, completely ignored his excitement in favor of your book. Your ignorance didn't last for long, though, as Doe mistook the inch you gave him for a mile and simply brushed the rats aside in order to snuggle up beside you. Eyebrow twitching, you tried your best to ignore his body pressing into your side and the purring in your ear, keeping your eyes on the book.

     He snaked an arm around your waist, pulling you into a spooning position and sticking his sharp nose in your hair. Okay, that was a little far.

     You smacked down the book and turned your face to glare at him, almost feeling bad at the kicked-puppy look he gave you before retracting his arm . He was still pressed against you but you had a feeling this was the best you'd be getting for now.

     Unfortunately for you both, Doe's 'gentle' brushing aside of the rats had awakened the hive mind and sent the tiny rodents into a frenzy. Speaking of the small creatures, you'd noticed how quickly they'd grown in the past few weeks. Guess you couldn't really call them "baby" rats anymore...at this point they were more akin to "teenager" rats. 

     Rodent angst, ew.

     If you heard a single "it's not a phase, mom" you were going to kick them all out of the house.

     Back on the topic of reality, the rodents were currently booking it into the kitchen where a cacophony of squeaks rang out in tandem. You let out an annoyed sigh before picking yourself up and dragging Doe along with you. 

     The turtle was missing.

     Frank 2.0 was gone yet again- except this time the rats hadn't devoured him like the evil pack creatures they were.

     No, this time you'd managed to lose a creature of mass destruction that had probably gone out to commit a federal crime.

     He needed to be stopped. Now.