Cage rolls his eyes. "That's not how it works." He huffs and stands, walking to meet Miki by the door.
The window at the end of the hallway upstairs pushes itself open and Gabriel (invisible) squeezes himself in. The process would be more than entertaining if someone had seen, but he eventually has the entirety of his body and both wings inside.
Silver finished her donut and joined Violet in the kitchen. "Hey, can I trim Gabriel's hair today? You said you had some scissors I could use."
Miki pulled on her boots and her jacket and grabbed the keys to the SUV. "Do you need to get anything? We might not be going to town very often now that most of y'all are confined to the house."
Cage shrugs. "I dunno. If I see something I need I'll get it I guess." He takes his jacket from the rack and holds it, not really needing it but wanting to look normal.
Violet pauses and raises her eyebrows at Sil. "I mean, I do have the scissors, but will he let you?"
Miki yelled a farewell to everyone in the house and jogged out to the car, climbing into the driver's seat and turning the vehicle on.
Silver grinned and shrugged. "Probably not but I'm still gonna try. His hair is so long he can barely see through it."
Violet nods in agreement. “I guess. And it’s worth a shot. We can do that this afternoon, I’ll help.”
Gabriel stares in pure horror from the balcony.
Theyre plotting against me.
Cage follows Miki outside, sitting in the passengers seat. “WHAT IF WE DIE LIKE BEN DID.”
"Thank you, Vi." Silver said. "I don't think I could handle him on my own." she laughed as she served herself up another cup of coffee. "Do you have much hair cutting experience?"
Miki snorted. "If we do one of us has to text Vi. That's what I told Ben. I said if he died he had to text us and he texted Vi so that's the thing to do." she backed out of the driveway and headed toward town.
Violet sets the leftovers in the fridge. “Not much? I trim Cage’s hair every now and then. But Gabriel only needs a bit of a trim.”
Cage nods. “Yes. But we won’t die. Or bruise our lungs and cough up blood.”
Silver nodded. "Let me see if I can find him." she jogged up the stairs and peeked her head into Gabriel and Cage's room. "Gabriel?"
Miki cocked a finger gun at him and clicked her tongue. "Right. Also we're not on a motorcycle so we're much safer."
"Also this car is bullet proof so we're even SAFER." Cage states, resting his feet on the dashboard. "What are we getting for dinner? I haven't even eaten breakfast.
Gabriel watches Silver pass him.
No.
Leave me alone.
You may not cut my hair or kiss me, you hear.
Miki laughed. "I think she mentioned steak? And looks like some vegetables. We should ask her if we can make a cake or something.
Silver pursed her lips, standing in the hallway with her hands on her hips, before heading for the ladder leading to the attic.
Cage wiggles his bare toes in excitement. "Yesssssssss. STRAWBERRY cake!"
Gabriel watches, an overwhelming feeling of guilt settling on him as he watched her pull the ladder down, unaware of his presence.
This is lying, right?
This is pure deceit.
I don't know why they let me even live with them, I'm revolting.
He slowly turns visible again, silently rubbing his arm and staring at the floor on the verge of tears.
Monster. Liar. Jerk.
Silver was halfway up the ladder, head peeked into the attic as she tried to find him, when she felt his presence behind her. She closed the door and glanced over her shoulder. "Oh there you are, Gabr–" she paused and came down the ladder. "Gabriel? What's wrong?"
Miki gave Cage a friendly punch to the shoulder. "I like how you think, kid." They pulled into the parking lot and Miki turned the car off. "Okay, let's go."
Cage automatically jumps out of the card and jogs into the building to get out of the steady rain. "Let's buy some carrots too."
Inhaling deeply, Gabriel somehow wills the tears to stay in place and not wet his pale cheeks. He meets Silver's eyes for a split second before looking away. "Sorry…." He whispers.
Miki grabbed a cart and pulled out Vi's list. "Wait, carrots? Why do you want carrots, Cage?"
Silver stopped in front of him and peered up at his face. "Gabriel, what's wrong?" she put a hand on his arm. "Gabe, if you won't want me to cut your hair then just tell me. I… I might eventually make you let me cut it but if it bothers you that much you can just tell me no."
Cage shrugs. "I feel like eating one right n- wOah Miki!" He lowers his voice into a whisper. "Look at how big that guy is!"
A tall, tan man stands over by the fruit, turning a mango over in his hands and examining it. His hair is white but the roots are an ashy color. He stands probably around 6'3ft tall, towering above both of them.
Cage grabs Miki's arm. "Is he gonna kill us….?" He whispers.
Gabriel shakes his head, "No, you can cut my hair, sorry. You're fine."
Miki jumped as Cage yelped, and then rolled her eyes when she saw who he was staring at. "Maybe if you keep staring at him, he will." she grabbed Cage's arm and pulled him away. "Not all scary lookin' people are actually bad." she whispered in his ear, stopping beside another produce stand and shoving a bag of carrots into his hands. "Eat your carrots and calm down."
Silver reached up and pushed his unruly locks away so she could see his face better. "Why do you keep apologizing?"
Cage keeps his eyes glued to the man and watches in horror as he bites a chunk out of the mango.
"That's not how you eat it." He whispers to himself.
_
He keeps his mouth shut this time, staring at the floor.
I shouldn't even be here.
Just let her cut your stupid hair.
But I don't WANT it cut.
Miki glanced back at the man and raised an eyebrow. "Especially when you haven't paid for it yet. Who eats food in the middle of a grocery store??"
Silver sighed, holding his long bangs to the side, since they refused to stay tucked behind his hair. "I won't cut your hair if you won't want me to, Gabriel."
Swallowing, Gabriel manages to speak. "You can cut it. I dont…. mind."
_
Cage shrinks back. "He's gonna eat us too." He takes her arm. "His teeth scare me."
Silver sighed and leaned her forehead on his chest. "Yes, you do mind, Gabriel. You don't have to cater to me when you don't want to do something. I'd rather you just tell me if you don't like something."
Miki frowned, trying to watch the weird mango-eating guy surreptitiously. Cage was right; the dude did have strange teeth.
Teeth like someone else she knew.
"Hmm. Yep. Cage is scared of teeth and likes to eat carrots. Let's go find some steak for Violet." She grabbed his arm again and tugged him away toward the meat coolers.
He sighs. "It's okay. It's not a big d-"
Kissa peeks her head out of her room. "I can cut his hair!"
He glares at her.
GO. A. WAY.
She glares back at him.
NO.
-
Cage lets out a small gasp as she tugs him away from the mango-eater, drawing the attention of his orange eyes for a split second.
"Hey," Cage whispers, "His teeth are pointy!"
Silver lifted her head just enough to send a scathing glare toward Kissa. "No one is cutting his hair." she snapped.
Miki nodded. "Mhmm. Yep. Pointy teeth. Just like a few other people we know. Who used to kidnap us and take us to bad places and probably eat mangoes in the middle of the grocery store." she stopped in front of the cooler and grabbed a package of steaks. "Stop staring at him, Cage!"
Cage looks away and stares down into the cooler, suddenly paler.
"Do you- You think he's here to get us?" He quietly asks, standing completely still.
The man scans the mango and pays, heading out with it in hand, taking a bite every now and then.
Kissa rolls her eyes and slams her bedroom door, making Ben jump downstairs.
"What are you guys doing? Don't slam my doors!" He shouts.
Miki ruffled Cage's hair and headed down another aisle. "I don't know, kid. But he saw us and he's… no, he's not following us. But he was super weird. We need to tell Ben about it when we get home."
Silver sighed and looked back up at Gabriel. "Hey. It's okay. We don't have to cut your hair today." she grinned slightly. "One day we will need to cut it. But it doesn't have to be today."
Cage coldly follows her, obviously still afraid. He stares at the door for a moment.
"Do you think Kissa knows him?"
Never.
Gabriel gives her a small nod.