"Hello?" Dio said again. He looked up at Lackey, his face completely covered in confusion. "Is everyone okay there? Why did Silver contact me?"
Silver swallowed and shoved her phone into Cage's hands. "You talk to him." she whispered.
Miki held Ben's phone up by her fingernails. "Guys we are dead if he catches us with this."
"Miki?" Dio asked. "Is that you? What's going on?"
Cage smiles. “Ben is gonna kill us, don’t worry.” He shoves Miki, “get rid of it please.” He hisses in a whisper. “Dio, when are you coming again?”
*
Ryder bites his lip, holding in a laugh. “Geez, they’re noisy.”
Dio held his phone away from his ear a little and nodded to Ryder. "Why is Ben going to kill you? Silver, what did you do?"
Silver sighed and dropped her face into her hands. "I stole his phone to get your number to ask you when you're coming again!" she moaned.
Miki crawled over to the hatch and carefully dropped Ben's phone down to the floor below. "Hey, Cage." she said, turning back to them. "Is there any way to pull the ladder up while we're up here?"
Cage gasps as Ben’s phone thumps on the floor downstairs. “Mik! You’re gonna break it!” He sighs and looks back to the phone. “Ben probably doesn’t wanna see again, but we were thinking maybe you could meet us somewhere or something,” he looks up to Silver, “right?”
*
Ryder smirks, “you’re kidding, they want you back? BAD IDEA KIDS!” He fake shouts, cupping his hands to his mouth.
Silver blinked at Cage. "That's… not what I was gonna say. I was just gonna ask if he was gonna come back. He can't come unless Ben invites him otherwise Ben will kill him too."
–
Dio rolled his eyes, glaring at Ryder. "What, do you think they should have you over instead?" he sassed back. To Cage and Silver he said, "I would love to come back and see you all but I don't want any of us to get in trouble with Benjamin."
–
"Benjamin," Miki mimed as she rejoined them. "Benjamin doesn't really need a reason to kill us, so don't worry about that. You should totally come back though. You're the first new person Silver's ever met and she likes you, so that's a good sign."
Silver's eyes widened and she gave Miki a hard shove. "Miki!" she hissed. "Shut up!"
"Well??" Miki asked, sitting up again. "Why else would you steal Ben's phone to contact him? You can tell he's good, right?"
Cage giggles. “I bet we could set up a time for you to come over! But we’re not allowed to leave the house anymore.”
-
Ryder purses his lips, holding in a smile. “Nah, I’m a bad influence. Continue.”
Dio sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay. Let's… let's take care of one thing at a time. Is… is everyone there? Is everything listening?"
Miki gently slapped Silver's arm. "Hey. Behave. He says we have to listen."
Silver groaned and crawled back into her corner. "Yeeeeees, we're here."
"Okay. Silver, why did you text me? I know you don't have Benjamin's permission." Dio said.
"No. I don't. I stole his phone to get your number. I just…" she sighed and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. "I just wanted to know if you were coming back because you're the first good person we've found since…. since we found each other. But Ben's still mad over how that evening went so he probably won't invite you back for a million years. It… it was just nice to meet another person. Another safe person. Who knows about us."
Dio swallowed. "Silver… how do you know I'm safe?"
Cage shakes his head, whispering to Miki, “he’s not gonna let him back because Vi got so stressed she drank a whole bottle of wine.”
Miki nodded. "Yeah, legit. I think he was most upset about that, when he realized how drunk she really was. So basically we're good as long as Violet doesn't get drunk."
Silver blinked at the phone. "You… you didn't feel bad. I could tell. You were really open and honest and real with us. Nothing in your energy field made me feel like you were hiding something or pretending. You were just… you really enjoyed being here and meeting us. That's… that's how I know you're not a bad guy. The bad guys feel different."
Dio stared at the space in front of him, not really seeing anything. 젠장, 에티엔이 그녀를 다시 원한다는 것은 놀라운 일이 아닙니다. 그녀는 실제로 그가 만든 최고의 Kavi 실험입니다. After a moment he took a deep breath and nodded, even though they couldn't see him. "Alright. Okay." How do I even respond to that.
Cage turns back to the phone. “Will you please visit again? We'll send you home with good food and make sure Ben doesn’t figure out.”
Dio shook his head, laughing silently for a moment before it turned into a full hearted chuckle. "Yes. Yes, I promise I will come visit again. We'll work something out so we don't get in… very much trouble."
"You could just come over after Vi and Ben go to bed." Miki said, picking at her fingernails.
Cage nods. “Yeah! They go to bed around ten so it would be late, but it would be worth it!”
Dio looked up and blinked at Lackey. Lackey returned his gaze with raised eyebrows.
You said they were adorable.
Dio widened his eyes and shook his head. "Wild, crazy, adorable heathen children." he mouthed back. To Cage he said, "Yeah, that might work."
"Wait, you're actually okay with that idea??" Silver cried. "I thought you were an adult!"
Lackey choked on his trail mix and turned back into the kitchen to get some water.
Ryder lets out a mocking laugh. “BOY OH BOY, put em on speaker phone, Dio, let me and Lack explain. Or… just me.”
“Really?!” Cage beams on the other side of the phone. “Great! I’m so excited!”
Dio waved his hand at Ryder to make him hush. What on earth have I gotten myself into, he thought.
A lot, Lackey thought from the kitchen doorway. He smiled to himself at Dio's helpless face.
"Yeah, sure." Dio replied.
Silver stared at Miki and Cage. "I didn't think it would be that easy." she whispered to them. Maybe he is bad. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was just waiting for us to invite him over IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
Miki raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Well. He sounds like he'll fit in great with us. Why don't you come over tomorrow, Dio?"
Ryder sticks his tongue out, “the Big Russian is gonna kill you, I can feel it.”
*
Cage gasps. “YES TOMORROW COME TOMORROW.”
Lackey smirked, trying not to laugh outloud. Dio stared at both of them, as if silently begging for help.
You walked right into this one, Dio, Lackey thought.
"Okay. Yeah. Tomorrow works. Tomorrow sounds great. I'll… plan to be there at about eleven pm."
Silver flailed one arm while covering her mouth with her other hand. "Why is he agreeing to this?" she wheezed. "We're all gonna die. He's gonna die. We're gonna die. Ben will kill us. And burn our bodies. And burn the house. And move to China. We're dead."
Miki slapped her leg and hooted with laughter. "Oh my, this is gonna be great. Yep, eleven pm is perfect, Dio! We'll meet you out front or something. Silver has your number so we can reach you if anything changes."
Cage inhales sharply with excitement. “OKAY! Park behind the bushes before the driveway so he doesn’t see and don’t knock or ring the doorbell! We’ll just wait outside for you!”
Ryder chuckles. “Man, they're really willing to go behind this guys back.”
Dio nodded. "Okay. Behind the bushes. Sounds good. I'll see you then." he hung up before they could spring any more plans on him and stared in horror and shock at Ryder and Lackey.
Lackey stifled his laughter again and Dio pointed a finger at him. "You are coming with me. I can't handle them on my own."
Apparently, Lackey grinned back.
–
Silver snatched her phone back from Cage when she heard Dio hang up. "Oh my word. Why did you make him agree to that? Guys, we're gonna die!"
Miki threw her head back and laughed. "YES, and it'll be great! Oh, I'm so glad you stole Ben's phone and got his number. You're are the best sister."
Cage starts to laugh. “THIS IS SO AMAZING.”
*
Ryder chuckles. “He’s not asking me to go cause I’d just get em in more trouble.”
Silver shook her head and crawled out of her corner. "No, it's not. This is awful. This is bad. I'm done. I'm not a part of this."
"Don't you dare tell Ben!" Miki cried, grabbing her arm before she could completely escape. "You can't tell Ben. Cuz if you do you have to tell him you stole his phone first."
Silver blinked at the floor in front of her, her face beyond white and growing more towards grey. "Yeah. I know." she whispered.
–
Dio extracted himself from his blankets and stood, nodding affirmation to Ryder. "Yes. You are correct. Those children need more adults around them, not another huge child who will just encourage them." he marched into the kitchen to make some tea.
Lackey smirked at Ryder. He says I'm an adult and you're not.
Ryder narrows his eyes at Lackey.
Dont get cocky, kid.
He turns his attention back to the TV. “Sure Dio. If that’s the case then you won’t help much.”
*
Cage scrambles out of the attic. “I’m putting the phone back!” And picks the phone up off the floor before heading downstairs.
"I am an adult!" Dio yelled from the kitchen. "I can't help it if I'm outnumbered everywhere I go. And if I'm not outnumbered, I'm just out-bigged. It's not fair."
–
"And you can't tell Kissa." Miki continued. "She'd rat us out in a heartbeat. And you better not tell Gabriel either cuz he might tell Kissa or something. You have to keep it a secret."
Silver pinched her eyes shut and nodded. "I know. I won't tell anyone."
Miki crushed her in a hug. "I love you. Please steal Ben's phone any time you get an idea like you had today."
Ryder scoffs. “Don’t kid yourself, Dio! Even your height says you’re a child desperately trying to be an adult.” He shouts back.
*
Cage slowly sets the phone back on the island and steps back, just in time for the basement door to burst open, Ben and Kissa entering the room talking to each other.
“It’s better to go for the jaw, and if you put enough strength into you could break a neck. Here, like this.” Ben stops mid-taking the wraps off of his hands, and puts his hands on Cage's shoulders to make him stay put.
Cage swallows. “Wait break a ne-“
Ben slowly and gently pretends to punch Cages chin upward. “See? If you get the right angle, they’re dead. It works best when you’re shorter than them and you’re..”
Kissa purses her lips, “yeah, I know, short.”
He tilts his head. “More or less.”
Dio growled under his breath as he waited for his water to boil. Beside the couch, a pool of ice formed, slowly crawling up the side of the couch until it reached Ryder's exposed ankle.
–
Miki scrambled down the ladder and came to the landing just in time to see Ben pushing Cage's head back with a slow punch. "Whoa, that escalated quickly. What's going on? Why are we punching Cage?"