Will woke up with a shuddering gasp, eyes snapping open and darting around the room.
White walls, piles of junk, and a heap of blankets was all that looked back. Will slowly lowered himself back down into the couch, digging a finger into one of the comforter's holes. The warm cocoon of blankets seemed criminal to leave, when the sky outside was still black.
Danny had vanished at some point in the night, but there wasn't much he could do about that, except wait for him to get back.
'Speak of the devil' he thought sleepily, drawing the blankets back up to his chin and planning to nap again until morning. He could hear footsteps creaking the carpet outside, heralding the teen's approach. It was still surreal, the feeling of safety after… how long? Days? Weeks? He lost track a while ago.
Even if the black-haired teen wasn't quite… human… he'd still saved him from the monster, and fed him, and gave him a place to sleep.
There was a long moment of silence as Will waited for the rattle of keys and the door opening. How was he supposed to put that much gratitude into words?
From the other side of the door, a long, rattling hiss made his blood freeze.
Will sucked in a sharp breath, pulse jumping in his throat. The monster! It was here! He looked around wildly, trying to find a place to hide without making too much noise.
Everywhere he looked, only junk piles stood out. Even if he did move something, it'd definitely make a loud clatter. Feeling helpless, Will gripped the edge of his blankets, watching the door knob with a horrified fascination.
It twitched once and Will flinched at the accompanying whuffing noise, but the slow clicks and eerie murmure of the creature slowly shuffled away down the hallway.
Heart pounding, he slipped out of the blanket and grabbed a long knife from one of the piles. He noticed the cast iron pan was free of any soup residue, and the candle wax had long since hardened.
Will tucked himself behind a pile of plywood leaning against a wall in the kitchenette, terrified at every clank and clatter he made. What if the monster heard? He tried to quiet his own breathing, holding the knife at the ready and hoping there was enough room that he could flee if it really DID come back to find him.
Long seconds ticked by.
He adjusted his grip on the knife, arms starting to grow tired.
All he could hear was his own breathing, and the thump of his own heartbeat in his ears.
Ever-so-slowly, he lowered the knife.
When nothing immediately jumped out at him, he leaned his head against the wall, weariness sucking at his bones again. Was he even safe here, or was he just getting lucky?
Where was the strange teen anyway?
Had he been eaten?
Will lost himself to the meandering plans on what he'd do if Danny really had gotten eaten. He might try to set up base in this weirdly clean room. Use the scraps to make some traps and alarm systems. There was a lot of soup stockpiled, but… he'd have to make it back to his house from here, if he wanted to try and talk to his mom again.
Maybe he could fashion some armor out of the metal?
But… that wouldn't work. He was too small to use heavy armor. His body type was probably a chainmaille-and-leather kind of thing.
His head shot up when he heard the door handle turn, whipping the knife up at the ready.
A faint creak and the soft press of carpet, and the door swung open.
Will strained his ears, but he couldn't hear footsteps. He could feel his fingers trembling around the handle of the knife, as a rustle of plastic knocked against something wooden.
"Good morning! I found some more candles! Oh, hey, where-"
Plastic crinkled louder, and Will was already lowering the knife in relief.
"I'm here" He called out half-heartedly, shuffling out from under the plywood. Danny was already halfway through dumping a bag full of various candles onto the table. A second duffle bag looked stuffed to the gills, and Will shyly slipped over to tug curiously at the zipper. Thankfully, Danny didn't make a big deal about the way he had been hiding.
Inside, was packed a ton more canned fruits and vegetables. Lots of soups, and some containers of spices, oils, and other non-perishables he remembered his mom buying in bulk whenever they were on sale.
"Where did you get all these?" He wondered aloud.
Danny gave him a smile that looked like he was forcing himself to be cheerful. - it felt out of place after the stress he had just waited through, and Will averted his gaze.
"The grocery store on the corner gets more in pretty regularly. I've never seen it happen, but here we are."
Long fingers plucked up several cans, stacking it in his arms before heading toward one of the piles. This happened several times, and Will still couldn't figure out the rhyme or reason to why he was making the piles he was. Noodles and cans of soda and vegetables in a pile over there, then different vegetables and a bunch of rice over there. A whole cupboard full of different kinds of pastas was already crammed full, and now Danny was making a new pile devoted entirely to-
"That's a lot of tomato soup."
"Hmm?" Danny glanced over his shoulder distractedly, before looking down at what was in his arms. "Oh, yeah, I guess it is. You seemed to like it, though."
Will flushed, pulling out a box of Angel Hair noodles and tilting it to the side to watch the noodles slide around.
"I was hungry." He muttered, quickly gathering some more noodles in his arm and bringing it to the noodle cupboard.
"Ah! Not there!"
He stopped, looking down at his arms.
"What's wrong?"
"Here, let me- I just-" Danny started pulling the boxes out of his arms, easily balancing them in one of his own.
"I can help. Tell me where they go." The other boy slowed at his protest, looking a little embarrassed.
"Right, sorry, I just... " He cleared his throat, stepping back. "They're organized by, uh… cook time. So, how many candles do I need to make it? The thick noodles like Penne and Lasagna go over there-" He gestured to the pile in the far corner. "And stuff like Angel hair goes in that pile."
Danny dropped the blue box onto the aforementioned pile, tucking it against the wall. Will nodded. It made sense.
"The cupboard is for… weird noodles like wheat, that I don't really like. I mean, I'll eat it if I have to, but I just don't like the taste, y'know?"
Will couldn't help the smile creeping over his face. He didn't know if it was Danny's fumbling excuse to explain, or the idea that there really was reason within this giant mess. The flustered defensive expression reminded him of his brother.
Will walked over and dumped some Lasagna in the proper pile.
"So… What's in that pile?"
"Random shit I found."
That startled a snort out of him, which dissolved into stupid, relieved giggles. The teen seemed confused, but chuckled along, thankfully not commenting when the laughter started to gain a hysterical note, before petering out with a shuddering sigh.