The rest of the food had been put away easily, and the Will ended up slurping down several cans of sweetened fruit, in lieu of taking the time to heat something up. With his stress levels finally falling, Will let the teen usher him around, putting on an empty backpack and a grey hoodie without much thought. The sweater fit surprisingly well, the insides soft and fuzzy against his cheek - a higher quality sweater than he'd probably ever worn in his life.

Danny handed him a pair of thick wool socks and a knit cap, both of which were pulled into place.

The parts of his brain that were still functioning found the irony kinda funny. The first time he'd be able to wear luxury clothing was in a broken down world full of horrible things. Still, it was nice to have some relief against the cold air. Closed room or now, the apartment seemed uninsulated against the November chill setting in.

"You wanna go back to sleep?"

Will looked up, furrowing his brows, easily finding the blue lamps of Danny's eyes in the darkness.

"Why would I want to do that?"

The glow flicked up, then back down at the small sewing kit he was fiddling with, pushing a thread through the eye of a needle, and drawing it quickly through to an appropriate length.

"Well, it's still before sunrise. I wasn't gone all that long, and you seemed pretty freaked out when I got back. If you feel safer sleeping when I'm around, now's a good time to get some rest." He drew the thread up to his mouth, snapping it off with a glinting bite.

"I do wanna get that gun you mentioned, but we'll need to wait until daylight anyway."

"Do YOU wanna sleep?"

Will kicked his feet from where he sat on the couch, briefly reaching out with a thickly socked toe to poke the corner of the blanket Danny was about to work on.

"Hmm, no, I'm good, thanks."

Will licked his lips, still tasting the sweet syrup from his can of peaches.

"You… still haven't eaten anything."

"Sure I have" The answer came easy, but Will still felt a curl of misgiving. " While I was out, I had a can of soup." There wasn't any real reason to lie about that. But… Somehow it still felt like a lie. Danny pulled the extra blanket toward him, needle flashing little blue glints as he stitched up one of its holes.

"When was the last time you slept?"

The teen shrugged, not looking up from his repairs.

"I don't need much sleep." He glanced up at Will again. "Seriously, you should get some rest. I'll wake you when morning rolls around."

Will frowned again, looking away. The comfort he had felt with Danny had quickly vanished into smoke, constant reminders of unnaturalness rubbing on his nerves. Was there a certain reason he wanted him to go to sleep? Last time, he had run off to get supplies, and sure that was nice, but it had still… the monster still showed up, in that short time.

He curled his feet up onto the couch, fear creeping in that there might be something lurking in the dark space under it. Or… behind one of the piles, or in any of the innumerable shadows around the room.

He felt time crawl along, sitting stiff and silent on the couch, watching Danny jump from hole to hole, mending the blanket. Will nestled his face down into the warm sweater again, eyes trailing over the teen's thin white shirt and short sleeves. He recalled the coldcoldcold hands that had held his own, and the moments of unnatural stillness during their escape.

He knew he should be more thankful, but he also had read way too many monster manuals about tricksters and slow-burn traps. What kind of resource did a creature like Danny need to survive, if not food?

Fresh meat?

He was strong enough to fight off one of the monsters, and had his own little den, full of useful human things. Human food that he didn't even eat.

"You sure you're not hungry?"

Danny shrugged one shoulder, bringing the blanket a bit closer to his face to knot off the end of a thread.

"Maybe a bit thirsty, but I can grab something in a bit."

Will pushed himself off the couch, stuffing his trembling fingers into the fuzzy pouch on the front of his sweater.

"Where do you keep the cups? I can get it."

"Oh, that's nice of you." Danny didn't look up, but the pleased note was apparent in his voice. "In the cabinet up top, to the right of the sink."

Will fumbled through the darkness, sidestepping piles of junk as best he could. He still tripped over something that clattered loudly, and he apologized several times under his breath as he stood atop some sort of crate to reach the glasses.

From the gallon of water he poured them both a glass, setting Danny's beside him on the hard carpet before scooting back onto the couch himself.

It was… actually a relief, when he watched Danny sip absently at the glass, draining it faster than Will did, fingers tracing over the mended blanket in search for any snags or further damage.

"What happened to it, anyway?"

"Ehh, I used it to try to get over a spiky-topped fence. My climbing skills aren't the greatest, and I kinda tore the he-heck out of it." He totally noticed the brief hesitation of an almost-swear. Will hummed to himself, leaning back against the couch and tilting his head back to try to imagine the sneaky teen being ungraceful.

Between one breath and the next, he had drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up, Will couldn't help the tiny yelp, jerking into awareness with a small flail.

The mended blanket had been draped over him, tucked in around the sides. Now that it didn't feel like a smothering monster, it was… a nice gesture.

A sound caught his attention, and Will found Danny shrugging on a thick camouflage jacket, and similarly colored backpack. Both stood out starkly against the white wall behind him. He pushed the blanket aside and stood up, stretching out cramping legs and appreciating the warmth caught under the new clothes.

Danny glanced to the side, shooting him a soft smile.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Will stuck his tongue out before he could think to do otherwise, the exchange far too familiar with his brother's habits. He sucked it in quickly, feeling embarrassed, and a bit resentful that the other teen had stolen that moment.

An ache twisted in his upper chest, and it took a moment to realize it was lonliness. He missed his brother, and the feeling of safety in his own room. He missed mix tapes and the smell of old socks, and the way his brother would slouch around everywhere, except in the moments when he craned up on his toes to get the perfect angle on his beloved camera.

When his brain finally came off autopilot, Danny was opening the front door, and Will felt fear zing through his stomach.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, slinking to the side, out of sight of the doorway.

In the cool light of morning, those eyes didn't seem so luminous, but no less eerie as they considered him.

"You said you had a gun at some point, yeah? You shot it in this world?"
Will nodded jerkily, and the teen opened the door wider.

"Then we should find it again. All the other ones I've found had the springs rusted to uselessness."

"Can't you just repair it, then?" His voice sounded weak in his own ears, and Danny quirked an odd expression.

"Do you know how?" Will hesitated, glancing between Danny's face and the still-open door.

"There's…. Books, right?"

Green eyes blinked and widened, as if the idea honestly hadn't occurred to him.

"Yeah, I guess, but for now it'd be faster to just retrieve the already-working one. You don't live too far away from here, right?"

Will eyed the open door, shuffling away and picking up the long knife again. The monster tended to come and go quickly, but it didn't seem to like giving up on prey. He probably wouldn't be able to fight it in this little space, but it was better than nothing.

The wariness and bitter loneliness bubbled up at Danny's question, and he shook his head 'no'.

"I don't know where 'here' is." A lie. He'd ridden his bike down nearly every back alley and street this little town had. He just wanted Danny to close the friggin door.

"Could you get back home from your fort thing? It's not far."

He averted his eyes, shifting uncomfortably.

"Can we… not go through the woods again?" The idea of having leaves crunching under his feet while something stalked him through the shadows was unappealing at best.

Danny clicked his tongue, opening his mouth to say something before pausing, distracted. Will hunched his shoulders, uncomfortable with the unnatural stillness of the other boy. He jumped, letting out a startled yelp and flailing his knife when the teen suddenly slammed the door closed on a twisting, flexing clawed hand.

Will scurried backward, bumping into the couch and stumbling while Danny leaned heavily against the rough slamming and loud rattle of a door clearly being attacked from the outside. Even the walls seemed to vibrate with it, and Will wanted to cover his ears from the snarling whistles and snapping teeth hissing through the open crack.

The grasping black hand managed to slip back out, the door finally snapped shut under the teen's weight. Will felt his heart froze in his chest at the rattling screech coming from just beyond the doorframe, the sound chilling his blood deeper than wind ever could.

Danny didn't seem phased, bracing his shoulder against the door. He raised a forearm to his mouth and made a quick jerking motion, wincing in pain. Will could hear the teen curse quietly, but the pounding and hissing had abruptly stopped.

Green, glowing fluid leaked from a rough cut on the teen's arm, covered quickly by pale fingers that rose to smear an ugly handprint across the door's seam. Will followed several drops with his eyes as they curved down the slender wrist, dripping to age-yellowed carpet.

His heart was still pounding in his chest, heart in his throat, but he couldn't look away. A sort of… hum had filled the room, setting his teeth on edge. Will blinked. Swallowed. Even the tiniest movements somehow took a ton of willpower to accomplish, and he didn't even notice when the teenager had abandoned his post at the front door, retrieving bandages from somewhere in the mess.

Was he shaking? He couldn't even tell… Where was the monster?

It was too quiet.

"Are you alright?"

Will jerked, looking up to the concerned face hovering over him. He quickly looked back toward the door, feeling his hand shaking around the knife again. His knuckles ached from the strength he gripped it with, but letting go was inconceivable.

"Hey, it's fine, it's- ah!" Will didn't decide so much as he just reacted, slashing the knife sideways toward the lanky figure reaching for him. His blade didn't make make a mark, but he saw it slide through the teenager's forearm. Green was still leaking out of the other, but He didn't bleed red.

If the Monster Manual taught him anything, it was that nonhumans didn't necessarily abide by the same laws and morals that humans did. The guy bit his own arm until it bled. How was he supposed to trust that something like that had a 'no killing humans' rule? Or even if it didnt, that it wasn't- That it wouldn't- Was he even being helped, or was this a trap? How could- … what should he…?

Will choked on his next breath, lungs catching in a painful wheeze, mind scattered as he held the knife out in front of him. It was getting hard to piece his train of thoughts together, and nothing made SENSE.
"Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay…"

Danny was gesturing slowly with wide-open palms, watching him closely. Will had slipped off the couch, half-crouched over a rumpled blanket, face almost as pale as the night he was dragged into this awful place.

He swallowed around the knot of fear in his throat.

"Are you going kill me?" At least the teen had the grace to look surprised at the question.

"Kill- Of course not!" He exclaimed, lowering his hands. The uncomfortable hum still hadn't subsided.

Will shifted, the tag on his hoodie itching a bit, but he refused to take his eyes off the being in front of him. Refused to lower the knife.

"Look, I'm just trying to protect you. It's easier to fight those things with long range weapon, and I kinda suck with spears, so we should find a gun, yeah?"

"Why..did it run away from your blood?" He wished his voice hadn't quivered, but the teen's face didn't change from worried concern.

"It mainly hunts with smell and sound. I smell really bad to it, so it leaves me alone."

His tired arms slowly lowered the knife, heart still punching against the inside of his ribs. He watched the teen slowly, gingerly pull the blade from his fingers, tossing it with a clatter to the floor a few steps away. His mind was still whirling, confusion and fear making him sink down and shove himself against the couch, shivering harder than he could control.

"Why are you helping me? What do you have to gain from this? Just… why?"

His voice sounded wheedly, rasping as the adrenaline slowly drained out, replaced with a sort of scared resignation. He was caught between a monster and something that could kill monsters, and he didn't know which one was the worse deal. Sure, the one outside would kill him, but Danny could… suck out his soul, or something. Feed off his misery and fear. Or maybe he was just feeding him to fatten him up for later.

Danny pull the blanket off the floor, draping it over the smaller boy's shoulders. Silence stretched on, but Will let it, closing his fingers around the blanket's edges and hunching against the cold. His eyes never left Danny.

The teen sat on the floor in front of him, crossing his legs and leaning his elbows on his knees.

Danny paused, looking down at his hands, then back up again. "My friends back home say I have a weird hero-wannabe thing going on. I know this seems weird, and abrupt, and probably very scary." He lifted his open palms in a helpless shrug. "And I know I'm probably not the most comfortable guy to hang around, but… You're not the first person to get dragged into this place. From the pattern of things, you probably won't be the last."