Jim's mood was souring at an exponential rate. Sy had been missing for over two hours now, and he had no idea where his boyfriend could possibly be. They'd searched almost everywhere, and so far they'd turned up neither hide nor hair of either he or Zephyr.

Jim was a bit loath to admit it, but he was worried about Zephyr as well. And not just because Sy cared about him.

"Maybe we should confront Gray. Tell him we know he has them, and demand he give them back."

Mellow nervously rubbed his front pinchers together. "If we do that, we may put them in more danger. And if we're wrong, then Gray will know that we're suspicious of…um…whatever it is he has done that made you suspect he might have hurt Sy."

Jim didn't feel like explaining, so he didn't bother to. "Well if we don't do anything, Sy could be in real and serious danger."

Mellow's pincers were rubbing faster now and he tucked his body as far under his tail as he could. "Perhaps we are looking at this from the wrong angle?"

"What do you mean?"

"All bedrooms have a window. Only the bottom two floors of the medium statured dorms have the film on them to prevent people from looking in. No students are taller than two stories high, and there's a no-fly restriction above that level without express permission. Maybe….we could look in from outside?"

"And how will we do that?" Jim responded. "Neither of us are three stories tall, and as you may recall, neither of us can fly."

At least, Jim sincerely hoped that Mellow could not fly. Otherwise he was likely to have some very serious nightmares about Scroop this upcoming week. Worse than the ones he was already expecting, at least.

"I can climb. I….am not much of a fan of being used like a mount, but if you wanted to ride me, I should be able to support both our weights on a vertical incline. I can take you to look into Sy's room from outside, if we can identify which window is his."

Jim could feel his face lighting up. "Can you!? Thank you! Let's do it!"

The agreement was out of his mouth before he realized that this meant he had to touch Mellow. Worse, he had to be able to sit on him and trust his life to him. An unsuppressed shiver shot down his spine.

But if that is what it took to find Sy, he had to do it.

"Do we just, like, crawl out a window, or are we doing this from the ground?"

Mellow eyed Jim over cautiously. "I don't know how much you weigh, so I believe it would be safer to start closer to the ground. If I can not support us both, better to find out when it is easier to abort the mission."

Jim nodded. "I think I would prefer that as well."

He'd have time to secure his hold before Mellow could buck him to his death.

A small voice in the back of Jim's head - a voice that sounded suspiciously like Sy - chastised him for his assumption that the alien intended to do him harm. So far Mellow had been nothing but kind to him, and had done nothing to indicate he had any foul intentions. If anything, Mellow was doing more than Jim was, considering his latest sugges-

No. That was a step too far. Jim absolutely could not, and would not, believe that Mellow was doing more than him to save Sy.

The two cadets made their way outside as cautiously as they could. So far, their luck had been holding. No one seemed to have come looking for the missing cadets, and no teacher - or other authority figure - had spotted them thus far.

Today was shaping up to be hot. It was only just approaching mid morning, and already the harsh sun had chased away any lingering cool night air. For just a breath Jim could appreciate that he wasn't participating in his physical requirements. The gratitude was barely enough to distract him from the issue at hand.

"Alright." Mellow swallowed hard, by all appearances even more anxious than Jim was. And that was a tall ask, considering Jim's skin was crawling at just the thought of having to even touch the other young man. Mellow continued, not seeming to realize just how repulsive he truly was. "I think it is best if you settle your weight here, between my first and second legs. That should put you far enough forward that you won't be in the way of my tail, and you won't have your weight on my thorax."

Jim had always done his best to consider Mellow's anatomy as little as possible. He was a slightly different species than Scroop was. More scorpion, less spider. Equally as creepy. Less greasy, more venomous. Their upper anatomy seemed to be nearly identical, as best as Jim could remember. The same awful claws, same broad chest and hunched back, same pin thin stomach and waist. Honestly, how his internal organs fit inside him was a subject Jim never wanted to consider. Scroop had been bad enough in his looks.

Adding on that tail? Jim was half certain he was going to pass out before he ever even touched Mellow. How Sy could ever possibly care about something like that, he would never, ever understand.

But that thing might be Sy's only chance. And if Jim was going to take the man at his word, Mellow cared about Sy as much as Sy cared for him.

So Jim had to trust him.

Breathing in deeply, Jim approached the alien. He reached out, setting just one hand on his flesh.

It was solid. Hard, shell like. Nothing soft or forgiving about it.

An involuntary shutter ran down Jim's spine. He yanked his hand back, breathing hard. He couldn't do this. He couldn't. He had to. He couldn't.

"I'm sorry."

The words came as a shock. So small, so weak. Jim almost wasn't sure he'd truly even heard them. But then they came again.

"I'm so sorry. I know my appearance is repulsive to others. I would change it, if I could. I hate looking like this. I hate how much I scare you. I wouldn't force you to touch me, ever, I understand that I'm ugly and evil looking. If you aren't comfortable coming with me, then I can look for Sy alone. But you're so worried about him, I wanted you to have the option to try. Sy's my only friend, I don't want to not explore every option to find him."

Jim swallowed hard. He felt like his tongue was in his throat. He couldn't speak, didn't know what to do or say. Guilt clawed at his stomach. Sy had pleaded with him to give Mellow a chance. But that was easier said than done.

But it had to be done.

"You don't have to be sorry. You can't help how you look. Lots of people are scared of Matt, too, and he's probably the nicest person anyone is ever going to meet." Jim stepped forward with newfound confidence and set a hand firmly on Mellow's….whatever body part that was.

Kicking his leg up and over the other cadet's haunches, Jim mounted his classmate. "Let's climb."

The world shifted under Jim. Mellow ascended the wall with surprising speed, considering he was carrying Jim along with his own body weight. He was forced to lean forward, his arms wrapped around Mellow's waist and his knees tightening against Mellow's hips in order to maintain his position. If he slipped, it would be a very long way down.

Jim drew in a deep breath and set his eyes on the third floor windows. "Try the third one to your left. I'm fairly certain that's Sy's."

All he could do now was trust.

AN: Hey friends. So, I am very sorry that this is taking so long to update. It's not abandoned or forgotten, I promise. Things have just been really rough for my family this year. I'll be writing as I'm able, but I can't promise anything reliable right now. As we recover, I should be able to produce more. I love you all, thank you for every view and favorite, they mean the world to me. Hope to see you soon 3