[Scene: The kitchen in a trashed out foreclosure in Hen Tie, WA]

[Dev is slicing a strawberry cream cake when the doorbell rings. He looks up in bafflement.]

[His usual cockiness is gone. His shoulders are rounded, his skin is pale and his eyes are meek. He puts down the knife and goes to the door]

[As he reaches it, the door becomes as clear as glass and on the other side is Hotaru Tomoe, wearing a black dress and tights and holding a gift basket]

[He breathes a sigh of relief that it is just El's little emo friend from school. He unlocks, unlatches and opens the door]

Dev: [shyly] Well, hello. So nice of you to come visit.

[Hotaru stares at him in open puzzlement, taken aback to see none of the swagger the bigger girls find so attractive. She can't help but feel his slumped posture and shy smile make him look like a bit of a dork.]

Dev: I was just fixing some coffee and cake to take up to El. Would you like come in and have some with me?

Hotaru: No thank you. I'm not supposed to be outside my room right now. I had to crawl out the window.

Dev: Huh.

[Hotaru looks around at the dilapidated condo with dismay that Dev can't help but notice]

Dev: El told you our address?

Hotaru: No.

Dev: Then how did you find us? It should have been impossible. [Detects the invisible cloak of mystical fog and sees it is still in place]

Hotaru: I just...I saw you get off the bus at this stop...and I knew where you lived...somehow.

Dev: Oh? That's unsettling.

Hotaru: [blushes] The two of you haven't been in school for a while. I just wanted to drop by to see if you were ok... Did you come down with that horrible flu that is going around?

Dev: Right. Yes... We've had the flu. That's why we stopped going to school... I got it first and El stayed home to take care of me, but now she's got it, worse than I did, so I'm staying home to take care of her.

Hotaru: You really should ask to be transferred to a better host family.

[They stand there in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.]

Dev: They're ok.

Hotaru: Is she going to get better?

Dev: [under his breath] God, I hope so.

[Hotaru's eyes fill with alarm]

Dev: I mean yes. Of course she is going to get better. She is the toughest little girl I know.

Hotaru: [nods] I admire her so much. She never lets anyone bully her, or push her around, does she?

Dev: [distantly] ...yeah...unfortunately...it seems everyone has their breaking point...

[Hotaru stands and waits in awkward silence for him to elaborate, but he does not.]

Hotaru: I was afraid you and your sister might be sick so I brought over this basket. It's got all the things in it that make me feel better when I'm sick. There's saline nasal rinse, mint-eucalyptus scented tissues, and honey-lemon cough drops, and hot and sour instant ramen, and a bottle of mandarin-lime soda, and a package of gingersnaps to help settle her tummy...though I think you call them 'ginger biscuits?'

Dev: I know what a gingersnap is.

Hotaru: Oh. [hands Dev the basket with sad eyes] Tell El to please get better soon...and if you need anything...I don't know when I can get away but...[blushes]...she's...the only friend I've ever had.

Dev: Yeah, same here.

Hotaru: [taken aback] But you're one of the most popular kids in school.

Dev: You might not realize this, but there is a world of difference between 'being popular' and 'having friends.'

Hotaru: Oh...huh...I guess you're right...

[They stand around]

Hotaru: I'd better get home before someone misses me.

Dev: Yes. [leans closer to Hotaru, his eyes glowing white] Run along home, and when you get there, I want you to forget that my sister and I ever existed.

Hotaru: [robotic] Yes. Of course. [she turns and scampers away]

[Dev closes the door and regards the gift basket with a wan smile. He sees a little crocheted bunny in a white dress and gives it a smile before setting it back in and picked up a card addressed to El. He pulls it out of the envelope and smiles to see the word A FRIEND LIKE YOU IS ONE IN A MILLION, in glittering letters.

[He opens the card. The blank side is filled with writing, he doesn't read, other than to note the profusion of XO's along the bottom. The other side shows two cartoon monkeys sitting with their arms around each other, over the words GET WELL SOON. The monkeys are wearing bows on their head to denote them as female. Hotaru has drawn a swarm of little hearts around them.]

[Dev's smile falls into a bitter scowl]

[His eyes focus into a laser beam as he burns one of the monkeys away]

Dev: I don't think so, you little homewrecker.

[He goes back to the kitchen, dropping the basket into the trash along the way, and loads up a tray with two coffee mugs and two cake slices.]

[As he passes the trash he gives it other glare and the contents burst into flames, which he ignores as he makes his way upstairs.]