Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 406. Apple

I woke up with my left arm numb and a weight on my chest, which was a slightly worrying combination of symptoms.

When I raised my head, I found Henry half sprawled on me, and he was even hugging me while lying on his stomach.

As for my numb left arm that was stretched out to my side, the kid had wrapped himself around it like a little monkey.

Oh, and something fluffy was tickling my ear. When I caught it with my other hand, I found that it was Kitty’s tail.

What the hell is this?

I chuckled, but then I noticed Henry was breathing irregularly and felt that his heartbeat was too fast.

I let go of the tail and combed through Henry’s hair.

"Wake up, Henry," I whispered.

It seemed he was having a nightmare.

"Henry, wake up." I shook him slightly before his whole body flinched, which startled me in return.

"Woah. What’s wrong?" I asked him when he raised his head and looked at me dazedly.

"Nightmare?"

He scanned my face and shrugged before lying back down on my chest again.

"Not sure."

"Well... we’ve seen a bunch of scary things." I continued to stroke his fur, and he sighed happily.

Though I noticed how his hand sneaked out from under my body to my arm, where he tried to poke the kid so that he would let go of me.

"Stop that. Why the fuck are you bullying a kid?" I chuckled and watched as said finger and hand retracted themselves just as slowly as they came until he was hugging me again.

A few minutes of silence later, he shamelessly feigned ignorance.

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

I clamped my mouth shut to not burst into laughter at his cuteness.

"Sure, I must have imagined it."

Henry nodded and sighed happily again.

It was bright outside, but I felt too well-rested for just a few hours of sleep.

"Did we sleep a whole twenty-four hours?" I asked him.

"Mhm. The kid was meanwhile outside to eat and learn. But he came back."

"Did you put his fingerprint into the lock?" I asked, surprised.

"Hell no. I left the door unlocked in case the tiger finally decided to leave."

Mhm, thought so.

"So Kitty likes being a pillow?" As if he were agreeing, the tail again wandered to my ear, though this time Henry grabbed and squeezed it until Kitty growled.

"Stop bullying kids and animals." I slapped his hand away, and he snuck it back under me only to continue acting innocent.

"Hm? I just dozed off again..."

"Pffft...Is there any news from Omar’s side?"

"I don’t know, but Danny and Jordan apparently needed to go home for a few days; Ethan wrote me..."

"Oh?" True. Danny lived with his mother; Jordan had both of his parents.

If after everything with the apocalypse and rats and stuff, something had happened to them, they would have surely told me—and being normal, alive parents, they surely wanted their kids with them.

And given the current apocalyptic situation, they had already been away from home for a long time because they had been staying here during the time our rescue was planned.

Additionally, if the Lawrence family had troubles like someone invading and killing the new family head, and they somehow heard of that, they would surely want their children back.

"Just us here then, huh?" I mumbled.

"Yeah... JUST the kid, the tiger, your grandmother, Ethan, the staff sergeant, the brown-haired girl, the doctor, that Jeyjey girl, and the other one." Henry hissed sarcastically while burrowing his face into my chest, not even saying Henrietta’s name.

"... can’t really say anything to that." I admitted.

"Why is it not just the two of us..." Henry whined, reverting back to being a kid himself.

"Can you cook?"

"It’s okay; you can cook." Shameless.

"So I’ll have to serve the snitch who secretly takes pictures of me at night like some fucked-up creep?"

Henry froze before raising his head to look at me with sleepy but alarmed eyes.

"..." He didn’t say anything and looked away before licking his lips.

"Did you delete them?" He finally asked when meeting my eyes.

"That is your worry now?" I smacked his forehead, and he hid back on my chest.

"How could you beat me when I am just worshiping you?"

"Yeah, worship me less perverted and stalker-like—"

"No." He interrupted me before I could continue.

Damn, his refusal to behave normally gave me a bout of satisfaction that was unnerving.

"...and not in front of others?!" I finished after forcing my own crazy self to behave.

And I know I said we were even, but just thinking about that got me angry.

It’s also my fault, being so accustomed to him doing this stuff that I didn’t react instantly.

But who could have thought he was not just whining and hiding in my neck but making kissing sounds and everything?

Fuck... How embarrassing.

The staff sergeant had been MORTIFIED, and Danny had this annoying look of ’I knew it!’ on his face... in addition to him saying it out loud.

"Okay... I’m sorry..."

I sighed long and forcefully because I again had the urge to undeservedly praise him.

"I’m sorry. Kenny. Kenny? Kennykennykennykenny-" Henry raised his head again to get on my nerves.

He was really sent to annoy the hell out of me.

I grabbed his face for him to shut up.

He licked my palm.

...

I am so done with his shit.

"Okay, I got it. I already said we are even. Just don’t do it again," I implored him before sinking back inside the tiger, only noticing now that I had raised my upper body a bit, as I had prepared to beat some specific person.

"Rrrrrou." The tiger responded to me as I put all my exhausted weight on him.

"Okay." Henry grinned happily, and peace was established for a few minutes, with Henry snuggling up to me and rubbing his face against my chest to regain my approval, when somebody knocked on the door.

It could only be Ethan, as this was a very polite knock.

"Yeah?" I said while Henry whined, "Nooo!" simultaneously.

"Mrs. Howard has time to teach the child... she said you should come as well." He spoke through the closed door.

"She has time now? What the hell is she doing other times to have time ’now’? Is she granting fucking audiences?"

"Mr. Howard..." Ethan spoke through the door, knowing full well that we could hear him.

He sounded so desperate that I pitied him.

"Fine, we are coming!" I looked at my numb arm and moved it a bit, the little monkey not letting go at all, curled up all around it.

I think I could go upstairs like this with the kid not waking up at all.

"...Mrs. Howard said... that Henry isn’t allowed inside her lesson..." Ethan said while quietly scratching the door with his finger, as if he was scared of the consequences and wanted to invoke even more pity.

"Mhm... Can we have breakfast during the lesson?" I continued to move my arm, even lifting it, amazed at the kid refusing to let go.

Additionally, it was unscientific how the child had reduced himself into such a compromised ball to serve as my new arm accessory.

I raised my upper body, but Henry pushed me down again.

"We won’t leave you here, so stand up now." I patted his head, and Henry eventually let go.

I sat up, and the kid finally woke up and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Wake up, kid. We’ll go eat and learn." I moved my arm again, and the kid sat up by himself, nodding sheepishly.

Kitty moved as well, yawning and stretching his body, making a few movements to regain a feeling in his bones that he had surely lost during these twenty-four hours or so.

Standing up, I didn’t feel like washing up or anything, so I walked to the door with Henry hanging on me and the kid running after us, taking my hand.

Heavily loaded, I went upstairs and knocked on the throne room door before opening it.

The old dragon sat on the throne (where the fuck else), scowling when she saw us.

Surprisingly, the big desk to her left, where not long ago a rat corpse had been lying, had three stools around it, as well as papers, books, and colored pencils.

Another proof that there had been more than enough seating options all along...this hag.

"Where is breakfast?" I asked her and steered both babies, refusing to let go, to the desk.

"He is not allowed in my lesson," my grandma pointed at Henry with her finger that sported one of many dark green painted long nails, making her look like Gollum.

"Why am I even asked to partake in this lesson?" I ignored her.

"Why? Education would be good for you." She smiled wickedly.

"You.didn’t.even.finish.high.school."

Henry on me flinched, and I froze—that had hit deeper than I wanted to admit.

"I was busy saving an old lady who took a nap under a monster..." I said after a moment of speechlessness.

My grandmother just harrumphed and stood up.

I noted that she had no walking stick around her this time as well... why do I think Ethan had confiscated them to guarantee everyone’s safety?

When we were at the desk, the kid let go of me and hopped to his chair, next to the one my grandma took a seat in.

And I saw the unbelievable ... my grandmother patted the kid’s head with a genuine smile.

... What the hell?

Ethan knocked and came in with a tray of hot chocolate, which he placed on the desk.

"Lunch will soon be ready." And with this sentence, he had now... completed the full transformation into a butler.

That poor guy, he had so much potential before getting into my grandmother’s grasp.

"I need to talk to you, Henry. About that night." Seeing my compassionate gaze, Ethan looked away uncomfortably, and I patted Henry’s hands around me to tell him to go.

I really didn’t want to think of the shit that had happened because I feared another paranoid fit, not to mention recounting it.

I am already paranoid if you don’t give me a reason, so don’t let me discover additional childhood shit I had no idea about—that’s not good for me.

I scratched my neck, feeling itchy just thinking about the number of worms we had been confronted with and what they had managed to grow into.

"Mhm. I’ll go. Mrs. Howard, don’t let him scratch himself," Henry addressed her as if he hadn’t roared at her just yesterday or the day before, and that in front of an audience.

"Don’t tell me what to do!" She screeched before looking at me and the hand on my neck.

"WILL YOU STOP SCRATCHING YOURSELF LIKE SOME VAGRANT??"

Henry chuckled and was a second away from being screamed at by her as well when he followed Ethan outside and fled.

I put my hand away and took a seat across from the other two, which was apparently the seat intended for me.

My grandmother calmed down as well and searched through the things on the table before taking out cards.

"What is that?" She asked the kid, much friendlier than I had ever heard her speak, while putting a card in front of him.

My jaw nearly dropped, and I asked myself if she wanted to make me ’jealous,’ like, ’Look how good of a grandmother I can be, just not to you,’ or some shit.

The kid’s eyes lit up, and he took a pen, scribbling for some time before proudly giving my grandma the card back.

She patted his head and gave the card to me.

I took it, seeing an apple illustrated on it, just a black outline. And under it were five lines, where the child had spelled the word ’apple’ very correctly.

"Color the apple." My grandmother provocatively pushed a glass full of wax crayons to me.

I was again rendered speechless.

"I mean... I can do it..." But why the fuck?

"You can?" She asked, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows as if she wasn’t sure, given that I didn’t finish high school.

I raised my hands helplessly, asking her silently if she really wanted to fight it out.

"Go on." She pushed the glass with crayons even closer to me, omitting the words written across her face, which were ’Give it a try, you uneducated bastard.’

The kid tilted his head, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

I sighed and took the red crayon.

I don’t know anymore; let’s get this fucking apple done.