"Joey??" Hearing my name, I snap my eyes wide open.
Opening my eyes I see Inv looking back at me with a small smile on his face.
Did I fall asleep? I didn't even notice I passed out…
"Sorry Inv, I didn't mean to fall asleep" I groggily say to Inv. When I move my arm to rub my eyes, I notice that my body is completely wrapped in Inv's fur now…
Thankfully the fur offers little resistance and I'm able to move my arm with ease.
"Et ok! I didn wan tu wak u up... bu I wemeber yu sai yu wonted tu tak me tu a sheter??" Hearing Inv back in a happy mood makes me relieved. Rubbing my eyes from the sleepiness a thought pops into my head…
"Inv… how long was I asleep?"
"Onl fo a litle bi…" Inv says back shyly looking away from me.
…
'Was… was he watching me sleep?'
…
Still hearing the howling clouds in the distance, I can tell the cycle is still over. It's really a good thing that the period of time while it rains is around 3 days long. There's still plenty of time until the next cycle starts.
Rising up slowly, I stretch a little bit. Being able to easily rise out of Invs fur completely removes my fear of his fur being dangerous. I can just see it as a personal blanket now.
Being a bit further awake I see Invs skin is back to its casual blue. It's great to see Inv has calmed down now.
Noticing my movement, Inv turns back to look at me.
"You ok now Inv?" I ask Inv.
"Mhm! Me ok noaw!" Inv's head bobs up and down while saying this.
'Good… just gotta get Inv to fill up on the popcorn plant and we can head to the shelter'
"S-su… befor i… I ded... Dat... wher di yu wan tu bit me?" Inv asks me his face turning a bit red.
Hearing his question I'm reminded about the whole marking situation.
In all honesty I completely forgot about it…
"Inv, we don't have to do that still…" I say to Inv.
"B-bu I wan tu!" Inv says back in seriousness.
"Are you sure?" I ask Inv making sure if this is something he really wants.
"Y-yesh! I wan u tu bit me!!" Inv says, his face starting to glow red.
'Well, he at least seems sure about this compared to the… stunt he did earlier'
"OK Inv but…" I hop off of Invs back on the hard surface. Feeling hard cold floor again makes me already miss laying on Invs back.
"Joey?" Inv says my name in confusion and stands up as well.
"We can do all of that in the shelter Inv. So, fill up on the popcorn plant and we can start heading to the shelter" I explain to Inv while he turns to me.
While I could mark him out here, I feel like we have wasted enough time. The last thing I need is to pass out again while outside the shelter.
Looking down at me, Inv shakes his head in understanding.
"O-ok!" In a flash Inv moves to the front of the popcorn plant and starts eating at a much faster speed than I've seen before.
'Damn does he really want to be bit by me that bad??'
Watching Inv, I see him eat several more oversized kernels in record time. After eating a 3rd one Inv stops and turns back to me.
"OK! I ful!" Inv says with excitement.
'Great! Now we just need to get to the shelter!'
With the goal of getting Inv into the shelter in sight I start getting a bit excited.
"Alright Inv let's go! Just follow me!"
With some boosted energy I jump up grabbing the pole that's above us. Pulling myself up I balance myself and jump up onto the ledge that leads back into the corridor where I killed the dropwig earlier.
Turning around I see Inv behind me with a beaming smile pointed right at me. Seeing this I start making my way down the corridor getting back to the shelter.
But while walking down the corridor something strange happens…
Halfway through the corridor I spot a blue creature popping out of the ceiling. With only a singular eyeball, I see it start looking around its surroundings.
'An overseer? I've never seen one come out during the end of a cycle before… that's weird'
HISSSSS*
Hearing the loud hiss right beside me I look to my left in shock at Inv who's hissing at the overseer.
"I-inv? What's wrong?" I ask with a bit of fear wondering why he's hissing at an overseer.
"I hat Dat ting! Whe eve I se et somthin ba alwa hapen!" Inv says with venom in his voice.
Seeing Inv acting like this makes me raise my guard up a bit.
Looking back at the overseer I see it now looking at the both of us. I've seen overseers before. They usually pop up out of nowhere, take a quick glance at me and go somewhere else. But right now…
It's just staring at us, its singular eye widened looking at us…
…
…
…
Seeing the overseer act like this I start growing unbearably uncomfortable.
…
…
…
'What the hell? Why is it acting like this?'
…
After an uncomfortable amount of time the overseer disappears back into the ceiling.
…
…
…
'What the fuck just hap-
Before I can finish this thought the overseer pops back up right in front of us. Its eye quickly looking back and forth at me and Inv.
HISSSSS*
Hearing Inv's hiss I see him quickly swipe at the overseer barely even seeing an afterimage of Inv's swipe. A blinding flash makes my eyes shut tight.
'Fuck! What the hell just happened?!'
Quickly wiping my eyes, I open them again and see Inv still standing in one piece. Moving my attention to where the overseer was all I see now is the dead eyeball of the overseer which I can mostly assume is from Inv attacking it just now.
-----------------------
A/N: They are finally making their way to the shelter! I wonder what will happen when they get there...