Chapter 10 - Preparation
After talking to Mae, the group decided that spaghetti would be what they ate for dinner. Angus got to cooking as Bea and Gregg talked about all sorts of things. Gregg appreciated the conversation because he never got to talk to Bea. He could just message her, now that it occurred to him. Bea was just surprised that Gregg could hold a mature conversation.
Dinner was pretty nice. Gregg stuffed himself on garlic bread, leaving barely any for the other two. Bea had two plates of spaghetti, especially complimenting the meatballs. Angus told her it was a recipe from a family member he actually liked, and surprisingly ate the least.
They discussed some of the places they would like to visit. Gregg wanted to go to some amusement park with a ridiculous name, Bea wanted to go to the Anne McCormick Aquarium (marine life always interested her), and Angus just wanted his two friends to be happy. He didn't really care where they went, as long as they were together.
After dinner, Bea stood up, claiming; "I have to go home and talk to my dad about business stuff and tell him the plan for tomorrow."
When she was gone, Angus shut the door and turned to Gregg, who was looking up places to visit on his phone. "I didn't want to say it before, but you really need to shower." Gregg rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Fine, if the whole world wants me to shower so badly." He got up out of his chair, still looking down at his phone. Angus came over.
"We need to talk about something after." He said, pulling Gregg into a hug. The fox hugged back.
"Yeah? What is it?" He looked up at the bear's face.
"I'll talk to you about it after you shower," Angus said, tapping the tip of Gregg's muzzle.
"Can't you come with me?" Gregg asked, grabbing Angus' large paw and tugging.
"I would, but we need to prepare for the trip tomorrow. I'm going to get to packing stuff. We'll have to go to the store later, too." Angus explained.
"We have to go places? Uggghhh…" Gregg complained. "I don't wanna."
"I can go alone." Angus offered. There was a pause.
"You got me. I'll go." Gregg said, with a small smile. Angus smiled back. They kissed for a moment.
"I knew that would work." Angus chuckled.
"Yeah, well, you know I don't like you going anywhere at night alone," Gregg said.
"You don't like me going anywhere without you, period," Angus said. Gregg blushed.
"Guess that's what being in love is like." He said. Angus kissed him again.
"Guess so. Now get in the shower, you smell terrible. And actually use soap this time. I know how you are." Angus said.
"Fine, I will." The fox said. "Make sure you don't forget my retainer."
"I won't. I bet you looked so cute with braces." Angus grinned, imagining it.
"No, definitely not. See you later, Cap'n." Gregg kissed his cheek and walked off, but not before smacking Angus' butt lightly. He giggled as Angus blushed and moved to begin packing.
After a while, Gregg was out of the shower, wearing a towel around his waist. He went into the living room after drying his head. Angus was on the couch, looking at his phone.
"Hey. I thought you were gonna pack?" Gregg said, walking over. Angus didn't look up.
"I'm using a site and the Notes app to make a checklist of things we need," Angus explained.
"Can't Bea bring stuff too?" Gregg asked, tilting his head.
"She's taking care of her own stuff," Angus said. "Hey, I just read that there's a mobile app for Messenger coming out." Gregg's ears perked and he smiled excitedly.
"I'm downloading that day one," Gregg said. "When does it come out?"
"Next month, I think," Angus said.
"Nice," Gregg replied. "I'm gonna go get changed and then I'll be back and help you."
"Sounds good," Angus said. "Love you. Don't forget I still need to talk to you about that thing when you're finished."
"Love you too. And okay, I won't take long." Gregg said, thinking about how different he acted around Angus. It made him feel like an adult which was ew, but it was Angus so it was fine.
He walked into the room and found some silk pajama pants and one of Angus' nightshirts in the drawer. It was way too big on Gregg, but not so big where he was tripping over it. The bear had told him he looked cute in it whenever they first moved in, and ever since then Gregg's been wearing the getup every night.
Returning to the living room, Gregg found Angus standing again. "Hey, Cap'n," Gregg said. "I'm ready to be talked to about things."
"Okay, good. What is this?" Angus asked, gesturing at the pile of papers on their coffee table.
"Papers with pictures and notes on some of the people who live in Possum Springs," Gregg said. "Why?"
"Why? Um, maybe because that's really concerning?" Angus said, picking up the paper with the picture of him on it. Gregg made sure to get that one. "How'd you get them?"
"We found them when we were in Don George's basement," Gregg said. "Don't know what the check marks mean, though."
"You said you ran away from the police before," Angus said, picking up the paper with Lori on it. It had two green checks. "What happened there?"
"I dunno. They just showed up all of a sudden! Maybe they found the rest of the pictures in the basement and are questioning Old Don right now." Gregg said. He was standing with his paws on his hips, and one leg kind of bent.
"Hopefully. That's really creepy and kinda freaks me out." Angus said.
"It's gonna be fine, Angus. Let's just focus on the road trip. Did you finish making the checklist?"
"Yep. Let's get a move on so we can get good sleep." The bear said.
"Together, in the same bed right?" Gregg asked, hopefully.
"If I don't even remember why I'm mad at you, hon, do you think I'd make you sleep on the couch again?" Angus asked, shaking his head.
"Well, thank the god I don't believe in for that." The fox said, smiling and yawning.
"You're thanking the god you don't believe in for me losing my memory?" Angus blinked. Gregg thought for a moment.
"Yyyes…?" He said, squinting.
"Okay," Angus said, looking back down at his phone.
"Sorry," Gregg said, looking at a photo of them on the wall. It seemed like that was taken forever ago. So much had happened since then, and it was only really taken a few weeks ago.
All this Black Goat business made Gregg's head spin. He didn't know whether to truly believe in it or not. Bea said that there had been reports of hallucinogenic gas leaks in the mines, but would some air really cause all of that commotion down there?
"It's fine," Angus said. But Gregg was staring at the picture and lost in thought. Angus snapped his fingers and Gregg shook his head quickly.
"What?" He asked, looking at his boyfriend, whose paw was still in front of him.
"You were staring at something other than me," Angus said. Gregg's cheek tinted red and he grinned. This had been a running joke between them for a while now. One time, Angus had caught Gregg staring at a crappy looking chili dog, and when the fox was back to Earth, Angus said this now familiar quote between the two lovers. It had sounded like jealousy, which was kind of the point. Gregg wouldn't really be able to explain it to someone like Bea, or Mae, but he and Angus got the meaning perfectly.
"Sorry, Cap'n. What'd you say?" He asked.
"I just said it was fine after you said sorry." Angus reminded him.
"Oh. Why did I say sorry, again?" Gregg asked.
"Don't worry about it. Hopefully, it won't happen again...What you said sorry about, I mean." Angus explained.
"Yeah," Gregg said. Angus came over and stood next to him, showing him his phone.
"So, I split the list into two parts. Things we have to buy, and things we have at home. I think we should get the store stuff first." He recommended, his shoulder against Gregg's. Gregg liked the contact, and honestly just wished they could make out instead, or something.
"I think we should get the things at home first. That way we'll already have stuff packed when we go to the store." Gregg said.
"True, but stores don't stay open forever," Angus said. "It's, what, eight? That doesn't give us a lot of time to get a first aid kit, repellent, actual rain jackets, and more food. We already have flashlights, boots, a tent, blankets, books, duffel bags, clothes, a mini telescope, music, I think Bea has a spare tire, and some food."
"Wow, we have a lot more stuff than I thought." Gregg smiled. "Thank god."
"So you believe in a god now?" Angus smirked, his ears perking a bit. Gregg clicked his tongue.
"You know what I mean." He said. "Wait a minute, why did I put pajamas on if we're leaving?"
"You can go out with PJs," Angus said. "It's not illegal or anything."
"Not in this shirt, I can't. People will think I'm wearing a dress!" The fox exclaimed.
"I think you look adorable." Angus laughed. "But you can switch shirts if you want."
So Gregg went and switched shirts, and the two of them left for the store.
"It's sad that we had to get the cheapest shit we could find." Gregg said, walking into the apartment and turning on the light. Angus walked in behind him.
"Yeah, well. When you're trying to move it kinda puts everything else on a budget." He explained.
"It'll be so worth it thooough!" Gregg said, putting down a bag of stuff on the kitchen counter.
"Hell yeah, it will," Angus said, putting down the remaining bags (only some could fit on the counter, so some had to be put on the ground). "Let's get all this stuff packed."
So the two packed until everything was set up and ready to go out in the car the next day. It took longer than they expected, but their excitement of the day to come was a driving force in their motivation.
"Ahh…" Gregg sighed, collapsing onto the couch. "You wanna watch a movie?"
"Actually, we should get to bed," Angus said. "I don't want to be falling asleep at the wheel."
"Oh...I guess you're right." The fox got up and yawned. "I am pretty tired. That was more work than I do in an entire week. And that's saying something."
"It really isn't. You don't do much but stand there." Angus said.
"Well, standing is hard! And boring. Why do you think I leave so much?" The two were walking to the bathroom to brush their teeth. "Hey, you didn't pack my retainer," Gregg said, grabbing the blue case from the wooden shelf it was on. He shook it a bit and heard the rattling of the two clear items inside.
"You need to wear it tonight," Angus said.
"Oh, yeah." Gregg nodded. "Duh." They started brushing their teeth. "Thish ish gunnuh be pretty coo, huh?" He said, the foamy toothpaste making him talk funny.
"Yeah, it'll be shumthing totally new to me," Angus said.
"To all of ush." Gregg corrected him.
"Yesh. I can't wait to, like, leave town and vishit shumwhere other dan my family'sh."
"Agreed," Gregg said, spitting the toothpaste out and rinsing it out of his mouth. The bear did the same after he finished. The duo rinsed off their brushes and put them back in the holder, almost at the same exact time. The fox took out his retainers and fit them into his mouth. They walked into the room together, and Gregg put his (Angus') nightshirt back on. "Hold on, I wanna check Messenger real quick. What time are we leaving tomorrow?"
"A little after breakfast," Angus said.
"That's soo earlyyy…" Gregg whined. Angus didn't respond. He was changing into pajamas. The fox logged into the computer and clicked on Mae's chat icon.
Gregg: Hey hey duder
Mae: Hey, gurlll
Gregg: U kno it
Mae: Hehe
Mae: What's up?
Gregg: Got all packe d up
Mae: Good! Packing all them frozen pizzas?
Gregg: Mae what the heck
Mae:?
Gregg: We wont have electriciticity u thot
Mae: U r the thot u nerd begone
Gregg: o no my feelings
Mae: Oh boohoo boo boo. Must I call the wambulance you poor oaf.
Gregg: R u calling me old u star spangled banner
Mae: No u
Mae: What kind of insult is that
Mae: If you are calling me America I might need to jump off a cliff.
Gregg: Die, mortal!
Mae: o no i am died
Gregg: Finally
Gregg: Ding dong the bitch is dead amirite
Mae: Wizard of Oz is a good movie!
Gregg: No u
Gregg: I am tired bye
Mae: D:
Gregg: I am jk
Mae: :D
Gregg: sike bye ;)
Mae: :o
Gregg: Muahaha *slips away into the cold dead shadows of the black night*
Mae: :O
Gregg logged out of the computer and climbed up into bed next to Angus, who was already asleep and snoring. Damn. Must have been really tired or something. And he's not even the one who had to sleep on the couch. Gregg smiled at him and kissed his nose, then curled up next to him and tried to sleep.