Even with the buzzing of the other boys during the night, Ben's slumber was long and peaceful. It was only when dawn came and the binary suns began to peek over the horizon that he began to stir. Though the little corner that the boys' secret hideaway was hidden in the inner parts of the town, the suns still found a way to peek through the one small window in the room and filter their light down onto Ben's face.

He gave a small groan as his eyelids fluttered open and he smacked his lips.

"Mornin'," he said with a yawn as he stretched out his arms and legs.

Elias and Wolf were standing above him, as though they were watching him as he slept. He jumped and gave a yelp at the sight.

"Same to you, jug ears," Elias said. He sounded like he was kidding, but somehow... wasn't.

Ben's freckle-laden face turned a light, rosy pink as he looked away and scrunched up his face in embarrassment.

"Hey," he indignantly muttered. "That's... that's not that nice, y'know."

"That's the point," Elias huffed.

"So what? You've known me for literally twenty-four hours and you think it's okay to pick on the new guy?" Ben took a defensive stance and put his dukes up. Then, he stopped, took a breath to keep himself from doing something stupid out of anger and started to squeeze the back of his neck to keep his temper at bay. "Okay, let me explain something," he said after giving an exasperated sigh. "If we had known each other longer, we'd be able to get chummy like that; you could call me Jug Ears and I could call you Shit-for-Brains, but it's not like that. In fact, you and I are kind of on shaky ground, so don't go thinking that everything is coming up roses between us."

Elias started to smirk and gave an indignant psh. "That's not the point, dumbass."

"Then what is?"

Suddenly, Wolf cleared his throat as if to get Elias' attention.

Elias looked over to him, and Wolf nodded his head in a beckoning manner.

Elias angrily sashayed towards him and got in his face.

"What do you want, you wermo?" he said through clenched teeth.

Wolf began to whisper. "It might be wise to stop now, Elias. He looks pretty angry, and–"

"So what if it makes him angry?"

"Yeah, but maybe he finds it embarrassing. Shameful, even. Calling him names won't–"

"I don't care if it's embarrassing or shameful, 'cuz it's the truth, and he should be able to take the truth like a man."

"Yeah, see, that's my problem. It was more like an insult and less like telling him the truth. Besides, it's not his fault he has big ears. If it was something he could fix in ten seconds, like something stuck in his teeth, I could see the use in telling him. But telling him his ears are too big and phrasing it as an *insult?* That's not cool, man."

Elias twisted his face as he tried to come up with a comeback. He couldn't argue with Wolf and his superior powers of putting himself in someone else's shoes.

"Uhh— well... if he had anything close to a penis in his pants he'd take that insult like a man and own it!" Elias puffed out his chest and stood akimbo as if he was actually proud of what he had just said.

Wolf was just plain confused. "Since when was this about his penis?"

"I meant that he's not a man, he isn't one of us, he's just—"

"Elias! Elias. You do realize that none of us are men, right?"

"Well, you have to act like one to get in the club!"

"No one here has ever said that. Since when did you come up with that rule? Did you pull it out of your ass after using one-ply toilet paper?"

"Oh, really, Wolf, one-ply toilet paper? Just how far are you willing to sink for the sake of your argument?"

"As far as you've been sinking for your whole life."

Elias gasped, and from that point on, Ben couldn't help but watch the two go back and forth with curses and insults, each one worse than the last. Somehow, the fight between the two of them just kept going and going, and the longer it dragged on, the more it looked like they were going to kill one another. So, Ben, sick of watching them inch closer and closer to death by the other's hand, decided that it was high time he played the part of referee and blew the proverbial whistle.

He jumped out of his seat and began to shout. "Hey! Would you two knock it off? Somebody's gonna hear ya and call the cops!"

His voice, the most threatening it had been in recent memory, commanded their attention simultaneously. The room went silent for a few seconds as everyone caught their breath, but to all involved, it felt like an eternity and two wars.

Ben took a breath, reached out his arms and gave both a gentle touch on the shoulder. "Okay," he said, still a little winded from yelling. "Let's work this out."

"Elias, for once, I'm going to swallow my pride and admit that my ears are pretty big. It's true, and I can't change that. However, as Wolf said a couple of minutes ago, that's no excuse to start berating me over something I have no control over, even if it is the truth. Another thing, Elias; it's my belief that no-one should have to sit and take an insult, regardless of the circumstances. Besides, this is the dumbest argument I've ever been involved in, and I think we should just leave it here."

Elias opened his mouth again. "But–"

"We should just leave it here," Ben retorted, saying the words slowly and enunciating every single syllable. "This argument is over. Let it go."

Elias huffed and shot Ben a nasty look. "Psh, fine. We'll do it your way."

Just as they did last night, the two stormed over to separate sides of the room and flopped down on a beanbag, sulking.

Soon, the entire room was filled with an awkward, stagnating silence that seemed to make the air around them muggy and thick. Each one of the boys was waiting for the others to say something, anything, to break the strange spell of silence that had been cast over them.

A part of Ben didn't want to pipe up. He knew that Elias would probably beat him up if he asked a stupid question like the one he was about to ask, but the nasty pit that had started to form in his stomach told him to ask and be glad you did, no matter how painful the consequences. "Hey guys? I have one small question." He hated how meek he sounded as he spoke.

"How do you get your food?"