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The huge man wore a disgusting mask of rotting skin. Unkempt, curly hair nested on his head and his massive size sent chills across her hide. He grabbed the screaming girl and shoved her on top of a meat hook. Writhing and wriggling, it went on for far too long.

“Do we have to watch this?” Lys asked.

“Shh.” Rodil stared at the TV with wide eyes and wagging tail, but he never found out what happened next. “Hey.”

Lys dropped the remote on the couch. “I don’t want to watch this gross stuff anymore. Who’d watch sheddings like this?”

The icy glare he shot back made her feel like the next candidate for the meat hook. “Rodil would. It’s scary and fun.”

“It’s disgusting and horrible.”

“Called horror for a reason.”

“Yeah, only horrible people watch it.”

Rodil’s scowl melted into a sad frown that only a long, pointed muzzle could produce; if he’d had ears they’d be drooping. “Rodil isn’t horrible and he is guest. Isn’t the…the…house person supposed to be nice to guests?”

“The sick house person. Aren’t you supposed to be making sure I’m okay?” She faked a cough for good measure, but her scratchy throat obliged her with some real ones as punishment, scraping her chest with tiny barbs.

“Lys is right. Rodil not doing a good job.” He pushed himself off the couch and went into the kitchen. Lys watched him, trying to figure out what he was doing. The yellow kobold did his best to look busy, opening cabinets and drawers, but then he shrugged. “What am I supposed to do? Is Lys supposed to eat or drink something?”

“I?” she asked with a raised eyeridge. “Bad movies aren’t the only thing you’ve picked up from hanging around humans.”

He sneered. “Hmph.”

A smile formed on her face and she laughed. “Starting to talk like a human. Bad influence.”

“Lys right about that. Humans trick with nice words and horror movies and soft beds.”

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Rodil still doesn’t know if he trusts Jack and the old lady. Seems nice, but…”

“You keep calling her that, did you ever get her name?”

He shook his head. “Keep forgetting to ask. Rodil is sure she said it to him before, but his head is full of rocks. His tail only comes with him because it has to.” Roddy was always hard on himself and he’d had more than his fair share of tussles with unkind humans. “Does Lys need something?” He shrugged towards the shelves like they were supposed to tell him.

“Just some water, please.”

The yellow kobold scanned high and low.

She got off the couch and stepped into the kitchen. “They’re up there.” She pointed a claw to one of the cabinets. “Use the step tool.”

“Oh.” Rodil paused to admire it, pressing on each step, testing their strength. “Why doesn’t the old lady have one of these?”

“Maybe she isn’t used to having kobolds in her house. What do you do for her anyway? You her pet? One of those house bolds?”

“Not funny.” The rubber legs did little to stop the squeal it made as he dragged it along. “Rodil does chores. Cleaning, lifting, that kind of thing. Nothing new to him, except she doesn’t lie.” He paused at his own words, staring off and away at nothing. Lys knew that look; one she’d made all too often.

“They weren’t all bad,” Lys said.

“Enough were. Worked hard for people, promised things and never gave.” He fetched a glass out of the cabinet and tapped it with a claw. “Even ones who didn’t lie only wanted Rodil for short time. Need money all the time because humans want money all the time.”

“She pays you?”

“No. Food and sleeping inside, but that’s enough. She is nice to Rodil.” He smiled to himself.

“Nice, eh?” Lys snickered. “Pat you on the head and tell you you’re a good kobold?”

“That none of Lys’s business.” He turned on the faucet with a hard jerk. “Lys seems to be the house bold.” The yellow kobold sniffed loudly and switched off the water. “How does Lys become mated with a human? Used to be the one who made the most ‘human lover’ jokes.”

She groaned. “It happens when you climb into someone’s trunk.”

Rodil hopped down and passed the water on to her wearing a devious grin she didn’t understand. The yellow kobold pointed. “Lys doing the ‘poor scared kobold’ trick on people? Big sad eyes and nice voice for it. Made Red jealous he couldn’t do it.”

The water rippled in the glass, tiny waves bouncing back and forth from her twitching fingers. All the color went out of her world as she remembered the real reason for being out at that stupid gas station in the middle of nowhere. Little by little her lungs remembered how to breathe. Her eyes focused on her friend who was still wearing that smug grin. The glass slipped from her hand, shattering into a dozen pieces on the floor. “You can never, ever tell Jack about that. Understand?”

The stunned kobold stumbled backwards, trying not to step on the glass or slip on the water. “Rodil was—“

Her maw raised into a snarl. “Ev—“A coughing fit kept her from finishing. Her chest scraped and burned with each hack. Stars blurred her vision and she almost slipped on the floor, trying not to step on the shards herself. Before long Roddy was standing beside her with another glass and bracing her shoulder.

“Breathe, Lys. Here, drink.”

She nodded and took a fresh lungful of air followed by a sip of water. “Thanks,” she said before giving him another gaze of death. “I’m serious Roddy, you can never tell him about that. I-I don’t know what I’d do and I don’t know what he’d do, but you’d better just not.”

“I won’t tell. Rodil wasn’t going to.”

“Swear on your elders!”

“I swear.”

“And you said ‘I’ again, twice.”

He rolled his eyes, but said nothing. “Would Jack care so much?”

“I’m never going to find out because he’s never going to find out.” The green kobold rubbed her head and winced. “Was a really stupid idea anyway. What the hell was I thinking? Getting into people’s cars like that?” She shook her head. “Didn’t have to act scared, I was terrified every time.”

Rodil patted her on the back. “But people gave you things.”

“Sometimes and sometimes I got left in the middle of nowhere. Stupid, stupid.” She wrung her claws together a few times like she were straining the memory of it away. “And then I climb into someone’s trunk and the next thing you know he almost kills me. You remember what happened to Red when he thought he could ride that big dog?” She cracked a smile.

Rodil started to grin as well. “Yeah. Thought could ride it like a horse. Ran down the street and threw him over a fence right into a bush.”

The two of them laughed together and Lys nodded. “Yeah, it was like that only even a hundred times worse. Really bashed my leg up.” She started to frown again. “Imagine if Jack had left me in the middle of nowhere that night.”

“But Jack didn’t. He gave Lys some very nice things.” Rodil looked around the apartment and then back at Lys. “Very very nice things.”

“I don’t like the way you say that, Roddy.”

“Why is Lys getting mad again? Being mates is nice, isn’t it?” He raised his claws in defense and took a few steps back. “Being sick is making Lys tight-hided.”

“I don’t want you thinking that this is some big trick.”

“Rodil isn’t.” He scowled at her. “What kind of kobold Lys thinks Rodil is anyway? All Rodil said is that things went well for Lys.” His tail flitted back and forth. “Worked out good for Rodil too. Maybe the elders cut us a break for a change?”

Lys finished off the water with a gurgling groan. “Everything is luck and work. Horn-splitting dumb luck and tail-breaking hard work.”

Rodil pointed at the floor. “Speaking of work, better sweep up mess.”

Lys looked at the shattered glass and whined. “And Jack isn’t going to find out about this either.” She picked her steps through the kitchen and got out of the broom and mop. Roddy swept away the glass while she took care of the water. “And he still wants to take me to see his parents.”

“So?” Rodil asked, dumping the last of the shards into the trash.

“So? Think for a minute Roddy. How happy do you think two human parents are going to be when they find out their son is mated to a…” she looked herself up and down for and lifted a claw above her head, “…a short, green kobold? That won’t rest well in their skulls, the idea of no offspring and their child, well, think about it.”

“Ugh, Rodil doesn’t want to.” His snout scrunched up.

She buried her muzzle into her hands and sighed. “What if they tell us to go home? What if they never want to speak to him again? I can’t live with that, Roddy. I love him too much and they sound like really nice people. I don’t want that. And anyway, I can’t—“

A loud knock at the door made both of them jolt into the air. Lys dropped into a stance ready to run, eyeing the doorknob even though it was locked. Rodil pushed himself ahead of her on shaky legs, but then he straightened himself out, tail stiff as a post. “Who could be?” he whispered.

“I have no idea.”

There was no further knocking, just a tap near the floor and the sound of footfalls leading away. Lys pushed past Rodil though he tried to keep her back. “Wait Lys.”

“Stop, I think it’s a package. Jack must have ordered something.” She went over to the door and peered between the crack to make sure the coast was clear.

“Should wait for Jack to come home if it’s Jack’s package.”

“Oh stop. Sometimes he orders things and I bring them inside. I don’t trust people around here not to take them. I would.” She turned the knob and opened the door to a bright, autumn day. Warmer than usual and quite pleasant. A small box sat on the doormat. “See?” She pointed to it.

“Okay, take package and close door. Lys? Lys?”

Those golden rays felt too good to go back inside without enjoying it. It might be the last nice day of the year for all she knew. With no one around to spoil it she stepped next to the overlook, planting her claws on the weatherbeaten wood and rusty bars that kept everyone but the drunks from going over the edge. The sun felt better than any medicine she’d taken and she had to stop herself from thrumming in case it made her cough.

“Lys,” Rodil hissed at her from the door, but she ignored him. Head skyward, eyes closed, she might have slipped away completely if she hadn’t heard the telltale squeak of the door hinges.

She pivoted on her heels. “Rodil, don’t—“

*Slam*

“—close the door.”

The yellow kobold held his claws together with a look of confused guilt on his muzzle. “Why?”

Lys was already standing next to him trying the knob, it didn’t budge. “That’s why. Now we’re locked out and I left my key in the bedroom.” She tried the door a few more times before slumping against it in despair. “Great,” she flung her hands out, “we’re out here until Jack gets home. I said not to close it, didn’t I?”

“Rodil is sorry,” he said, his voice cracking. “Isn’t there anything can do?”

“Yeah, we can sit out here until Jack gets home!” Her tail slapped the door. She looked down at the box. A plain, unmarked cardboard package with nothing more than the address on it. She slapped it aside. “Damn it.”

“Rodil said he was sorry.”

“Don’t start moping now. We need a way back in. I’m not sitting out here all day.”

“What about front window?” He pointed to the glass.

Lys shrugged and stood up. “We can try. Here, give me a boost.” She motioned for him to get down. Rodil nodded and got underneath, bracing her on his shoulders. Old memories of checking shelves, reaching crawlspaces, and getting into places she shouldn’t came swirling back. She stuck her claws into the window, poking and prodding, but it refused to move. Her eyeridges formed into a pointed glare as she applied more pressure. The tips of her claws stuck into the edges. “Should have moved by now.” Then she spotted the lock from the inside designed to stop people from doing exactly what she was trying to do. “Forget it Roddy, we can’t get in this way.”

“What about bedroom window?”

“It’s going to be the same thing. Put me down.”

Rodil crouched down, letting her off. “Can’t Lys go around another way?”

“There is no other way. It’s a big building full of apartments. It’s not like there’s a back door.”

“Oh…” Rodil looked down at his feet, dejected. “How long until Jack comes home?”

“Not for,” she took her phone out of her pocket, “a long time.”

“Lys has phone? Can’t Lys call Jack to come home now?”

“No. The last thing I’m going to do is give him even more to worry about. If I tell him I locked myself out he’ll get more overprotective.” Lys shook her head slowly. “Like I haven’t taken care of myself for the past, well. Twenty-five or so years I guess?” She shrugged. “I don’t know and it doesn’t matter right now.”

“Is Jack so worried?”

“Yes, too worried.” Her tail swatted the wooden deck a few times. “Just because I had to survive and he went to a job doesn’t mean I didn’t look after myself. There are times where he looks at me and I don’t know if he sees a mate or a hatchling. Sometimes it really pis—” Her rant got cut short by a long chain of coughing.

Rodil placed a claw on her shoulder. “Lys can get mad when back inside.”

A loud growl ended her fit. She rubbed her chest a few times and nodded. “Y-You’re right. Anyway, Jack’s just…forget it.” Lys went back over to the door which seemed to be mocking her with its perpetual state of closedness. A growing desire to kick it welled up inside and she grabbed the doorknob, twisting it hard, but a light went on in her head. “Maybe we can…oh, I don’t like this.” She started looking around.

Rodil looked around with her “What? What is Lys thinking?”

“Maybe I can pick the lock, but I haven’t done anything like that in a long time and I don’t have anything to work with.”

“I can go look for what Lys needs.”

The green kobold sighed. “You don’t know what I need and you said ‘I’ again. Come on. I guess we’re going for a walk.” With a slight groan she pushed herself away from the door and stepped out into the sun again, gladder than ever for the warm day since she didn’t have her coat. “Besides, it’s better if we both look. If someone tries to stop us you can beat them up while I run away.”

“What?!” He stopped in his tracks.

“I was joking, mostly. Come on, you hatchling. Do you want to sit out here until evening?”

“No.”

Lys waited for him by the steps leading to the parking lot and looked down. A few people came and went, doing whatever it was they had to do. Her foot landed on the first step when vertigo took her. The rough, stucco wall braced her arm like a second thought.

“Is Lys okay?” Rodil grabbed her arm.

“I’m alright, but I’m still sick.” She took a deep breath.

“Let Rodil go look for things.”

“I need certain things.”

“Lys thinks Rodil is stupid.”

She glared at him. “Don’t start this now. How many locks have you picked?”

“Two!” He barked at her.

“No. You broke two locks and it happened to take them the things we were trying to open. Good thing too, because the others would have skinned your hide.”

“Humph!”

She didn’t offer any more arguments and went down the steps. Going without Jack felt liberating and nerve wracking at the same time and that was part of what this whole thing was about now, independence. Besides, she had Rodil even if he was being sassy. Each wooden slat creaked beneath her as they’d done before, some of them wobbled too much for her comfort. Her scaled feet touched the warm, worn asphalt. The nearby shrubs shuffled from the breeze and somewhere a dog barked. One might mistake it for early spring if not for the sight and smell of autumn leaves that coated most of the lot and more joining their number at every gust of wind. “Come on Roddy.”

“Sure this is good idea?”

“No, but it’s the only one I have.”

“What does Lys need to find.”

“Paper clips.”

“Is that all? Rodil can find paper clips.”

“No, that isn’t all,” she sniped at him. “We need several and I have no idea if this will work. If I jam the lock, we're as good as dead.”

Rodil shrugged. “Where will Lys find paperclips?”

“That’s the hard part and that’s why we need to start looking. So come on and look.” She started to walk, keeping her eyes to the ground, checking along the curbs. “I was never good at this, not like some of the others.”

“Neither was Rodil. Couldn’t we just ask for paper clips?”

Lys stopped and stared him dead in the eyes. “You want to go door to door asking for paper clips?”

He shook his head.

“You said ‘we’”

He mouthed it back to her in a mocking sneer. “Wait, what about there?” He pointed at a pile of damp leaves.

Lys saw nothing but the gutters and curbs stuffed with sticks and leaves. She kicked at a few of them, but the only things uncovered were soggy cigarette butts and bottle caps. “Just junk.”

“No wait.” The yellow kobold crouched down over the mess, tail wagging as he clawed through it. She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. Rodil tossed the sticks out of the way and dug deeper, making a low thrum. “Got something.”

“A bottle cap?”

He hissed and pulled out a wet mess of leaves, only it had the shape of something larger. She helped him clean it off, picking away grime and leaves revealing a copper wire underneath. “A hanger?”

“Can Lys use this?”

“No, this is way too big to stick in the lock, sorry Roddy.”

“Bah.” He tossed it aside and the two of them continued to walk the parking lot up and down, keeping one eye to the ground and another above in case anyone got suspicious.

“Alright.” She glanced around at the apartments, first at the ground floor then at the upper balconies. “Let’s peek in the cars.”

“Is Lys getting a fever?” Rodil reached out to touch her.

She slapped his hand away. “I am not sitting out here all day. If Jack comes home and sees us, I don’t know how he’ll take it and I don’t want to find out. Anyhow, when did you become such a lizard? You make it sound like we’ve never done this before.”

“Done before, but not for long time and not with so much to lose. What if Lys gets caught?”

She coughed a few times before continuing. “Then we run.”

“Yes, look ready to run alright. Did forget Rodil is supposed to take care of Lys? What will Jack do to Rodil if something happens? Better to wait.”

The green kobold’s tail swatted at him. “I asked you if you wanted to wait and you said no.”

“Changed mind. This is bad idea.”

“I’ll check the glove compartments and seats while you keep a lookout like old times.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets while his tail slapped the cars behind him. “Old times...”

Lys crept up to an unsuspecting red Toyota Camry in desperate need of a washing and peered between the blotches of dirt on the window. It looked like an ideal catch: coins scattered on the floorboard, old drink cups waiting to be thrown away, and other loose bits between the seats, but the doors. She smiled to herself to see the passenger side unlocked. “Alright Roddy, keep an eye open.”

He started to pace around while Lys walked to the other side of the car. “Bad idea, bad idea.”

“Shut up.” She pulled the handle and it opened with a muffled click. Not what she wanted to be doing on a nice day, but the day wouldn’t stay nice and she only had so much energy to spare. She tugged the door all the way open and the stench of secret sauce mixed with cigarettes attacked her snout hard enough to make her gag.

“Lys? What wrong?”

“N-nothing, just keep watch.”

The green kobold took a deep breath and climbed into the passenger seat. Gum wrappers, loose change, and too many cigarette butts to count, but no paper clips. A colony of mold had laid claim to both cups sitting in the holders and the piles of brown bags in the back didn’t look inviting enough to warrant searching so she went for the glove compartment; it opened with a pop. A deluge of greasy burger wrappers and old receipts vomited out of the plastic prison and onto the floorboard. “Just jam it up my tailhole, why don’t you?!”

“Lys? What going on?”

“Keep watch.” She tried to pack the mess back in, but every time she disturbed the greasy wad more came falling out. “Forget this.” She hopped out of the car and closed the door, leaving a nasty surprise behind. The slick mess on her claws made her wretch. Eyes darting about, she pushed past Rodil and ran for a nearby rain puddle.

“Why is Lys acting so weird?”

She dipped her hands in over and over and wiped them off on the grass. “Why are humans so damned disgusting?”

Rodil cocked his head.

“Don’t worry about it Roddy, let’s try another car. Something that looks a little cleaner this time.” A man passed them by on his way to the mailboxes. He gave them both a long, unamused look, but said nothing. The two kobolds slowed their pace, wandering an aimless gait.

“Still think this is bad idea.” Rodil looked up at the trees, trying to act disinterested. “If Jack finds out Rodil let Lys go out—“

“—He’ll what?” She practically snarled at him, making him leap back. “I can go where I want. I’m not a hatch—“She started to cough.

“No, but Lys is sick and if something happens Rodil was supposed to call Jack.”

“Grrrr.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Nothing is going to happen. I’ll get the door open, we’ll get back inside, and he’ll never be the wiser.”

Rodil narrowed his eyeridges at her. “For not wanting Rodil to think Lys is tricking Jack, Lys doesn’t seem to mind tricking Jack.”

“Shut up, Roddy. Is that guy gone yet?” She glanced over at the mailboxes.

“Think so. Hey, look!” Rodil bent over and snatched up something. “Here is paper clip.” He grinned wide and showed it to her like it was the finest of treasures. A bit bent, rusty, and covered in grime, but it was a paper clip. However, it had a glaring flaw.

“Too small.”

“Too small?” His tail did a loop.

She sighed. “Put it in your pocket anyway.”

“God and elders. If Lys needs special paper clips may be trapped out here forever. Maybe can just go to a store.”

“Do you have any money? Do you know where they sell paper clips?”

He folded his arms together. “Lots of places sell them, but Rodil doesn’t have money. Didn’t Jack give Lys money?”

Her fingers dipped into her shorts; an imitation leather wallet brushed against her scaly claw. “He gave me a charge card.” For some reason it made her embarrassed to say so. “But it’s for emergencies. If I spend anything he’s going to want to know why and then I’ll be in the same situation. Besides, I don’t know where they sell big paper clips. Now stop working your maw and let’s go.” She pushed him along and the two went back to casing cars.

“This one?”

She tried the door, locked.

“There?”

“I don’t like the look of that one, too nice looking. It might have an alarm.”

“Alarm in place like this?”

“Not worth risking.”

“How bout here?” An old 80s Ford Escort, clean on the outside. As for the inside, not a speck of dirt and a half empty bottle of Mountain Dew in one of the holders, but the doors were locked. Lys almost turned away, but noticed the old-style push locks and the windows weren’t completely rolled up.

“Rodil, do you have that hanger?”

“No, but can get it, hold on.” He dashed across the lot in a yellow blur. The sound of breaks biting down on rubber made Lys’s heart skip. Rodil didn’t bother to stop to take the tongue lashing from the driver, he didn’t stop at all. Lys watched him bolt over a nearby hill and out of the complex altogether. The guy behind the wheel said a few choice words in the yellow kobold’s direction and sped off. Lys started breathing again and went for the hanger herself once the coast was clear. The cold wire looked perfect for the job and since getting into the car would be a two-kobold job she sat down to start unbending it while she waited for Rodil to come back.

Her strong grip made it easy to untwist the top hook, but she stepped on it for more leverage to bend it out into a straight wire. She used her claw as something solid to bend the hanger around for the latch. It might not have been what she wanted to do, but a grin began spreading across her face.

“Did man leave?”

“Ah!” She stumbled back and started coughing up a storm, almost hacking up a lung. Rodil braced her until she caught her breath and then she hit him in the chest. “Don’t sneak up on me, you tailhole.”

“Oof! Sorry, was making sure Rodil wasn’t chased. Lys got hanger?”

“What does it look like?”

“Stop being mean. Need Rodil to give boost?”

She nodded. “In a minute.” She made a last check of her work and tapped it against the car for good measure. “Okay, let’s see if we can get this open without getting caught.”

Rodil knelt down and got her up on his shoulders. “Unnh! Is tall enough?”

“Woah. Be careful. It’s…get up on tippy claws, I can. Ung. Almost…you’re slamming me into the window.”

“Rodil can’t see up there and is trying to watch.”

“Don’t watch, just boost. Stop wiggling so much or I’m going to drop it. Get me up on your shoulders.”

“Lys is on Rodil’s shoulders, have no more shoulders to get.”

“I mean all the way up.”

“How can— “

“I’ll lean on the stupid car, hurry.”

“Rrrr!” He hoisted all the way, planting her clawed feet onto his shoulders. Each movement made them both sway like the leaves on the trees. She grabbed the edge of the car window to stabilize herself, but Rodil kept shaking. “Lys is heavier than she looks,” he grunted.

Now or never, her arm slipped into the gap, it felt about five degrees warmer inside. Lys dipped the wire in like trying to draw up water, but she came up short each time. She shoved her whole arm in and swung the makeshift hook around. “Come on.” Another dip at the lock, almost snagged it. Another still, so close.

“Lys get it?”

She happened to glance up to see a pair of shoes coming down one of the nearby steps. A hard yank got shoulder out of the window, another popped her wrist out, but she lost her grip on the hanger. Rodil couldn’t keep his balance and the two of them fell. Lys on top of him and Rodil onto the asphalt.

Lys opened her eyes into Rodil’s jacket. “Uhhhh.” He drew in a deep breath and brushed her off. “W-what happened? Lys moved and fell on me.” He laid there face up.

The green kobold didn’t fare any better, feeling a whole series of scrapes on her knees and elbows as well as a bruised wrist. “Someone was coming, had to bail.”

“Can wait for Jack now, please?”

“No. I almost had it.” Scales held up better than smooth skin, but it felt like whoever paved the parking lot had chosen the most jagged, crumbling material they could. Lys picked bits of the stuff out of her arms and legs for over a minute. “Is the coast clear?”

“Unnh.”

She sighed and did a slow walk about the car to check that whoever had come down was gone. She made one pass and then another, no time to get sloppy.

“Did you found the hanger yet?” she asked.

“Didn’t know to look for it.” He’d only now sat up and was clutching his stomach with a pained look on his muzzle. “Next time warn Rodil when going to fall on top of him.”

It broke her tunnel vision long enough to book her on a guilt trip. “I’m sorry, Roddy. I panicked.” She stepped over and knelt down beside him, giving him a sympathetic lick between the horns. “I’m getting mean, aren’t I?”

“Yes. Lys always gets mean when she wants something and Rodil always gets hurt. Is like when Lys wanted those stupid apples. Made Rodil stack a bunch of boxes.”

She laughed and hugged him about the shoulders. “You managed to grab some before they fell over.”

“And they were sour, complained all the way back home.”

“I did, didn’t I?” The memory of it tasted about as bitter. “Do you want to wait for Jack?”

He shrugged. “No, can try again.” The yellow kobold stood up. “Need to find hanger, yes?”

“Yes, I mean no. It’s right there.” She pointed down at his feet. Fortune decided to do them a solid, though looking at it now made her wrist ache worse and Rodil gave her a look like he’d rather do anything else but prop her up again. The large bend in the middle looked how she felt, perhaps waiting wasn’t so bad. The mid-morning sun seemed to halt at her thoughts. A long time to wait and loads of trouble she didn’t need. Straightening out the hanger was simple and in less than a minute they were ready to try again. Rodil got into position and her view went from car door to car window in record time. The hanger slipped in easily. One dip, two dips, three…

*Pop*

Lys wobbled on top of Rodil a few times before she hopped off onto the ground no worse for the wear. “Keep watch,” she said. Roddy nodded and she slipped into the vehicle. A soft cover around the car seat welcomed her scaly backside and the smell of pine air fresheners welcomed her inside. A five-star break-in experience compared to the last car. A quick check between the seats found a few pennies, but nothing more. She ducked onto the floor and looked underneath, but it was clean. Both back seats were clear as well. Finally, with shaky claws she checked the glove compartment. It opened to a stack of papers, pens, and rubber bands.

“Lys hurry, think someone is coming,” Rodil whispered.

She grabbed the handful of papers, set them on the seat, and began to search. Screws, cards, receipts, cough drops — cough drops! — she nicked a few, twigs, condoms, a dead bug, a loose aspirin.

“Lys.”

“I’m working on it.” A melted candy, a movie ticket. She started swiping things back and forth faster.

“Lys!”

“Grrr…” A pocket knife, a stick of gum, a small triangle wire, wait!

She snatched it into her claws. It looked like a paperclip just triangular in shape and it was the perfect thickness.

“Lys, now!”

Reaching behind her, she grabbed up the papers and shoved them back into the glove compartment in a mess and slammed it close, her second unpleasant surprise for the day. She tripped over the door getting out and met the hard street once more, earning another set of scrapes. The door slammed shut above her, Rodil closing it, no doubt.

“What are you kids, wait you aren’t kids.”

Rodil helped Lys up and the two found themselves staring at a thin, bony woman in tight jeans with a plain red shirt who exuded bubbly anger. Long, light brown hair that spent too much time permed drifted over a wrinkled face that seemed to spend all of its time either laughing or frowning, but never at rest. Wispy hands with hot pink nails held a diet soda can in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.

“Get away from Mike’s car and get out of here.” Her voice sounded like the world’s first natural human turkey call and each syllable out of her mouth raised her voice an entire octave. “Go on.” She pointed to the main street.

Lys felt the stings of her new wounds and clinched her teeth and claws together. “I liv—“ Rodil grabbed her by the shoulders and shook his head.

“Lys, go.” He motioned to the street. She turned away slowly and they started to leave with Diet Soda Suzie following after them every step of the way. Lys cast a glance up the steps to her own apartment and stopped.

“I said get out of here.”

Her harpy voice turned the green kobold’s world red for a moment and she envisioned a scene that would have given the massive man she’d seen in the horror movie a run for his money. Teeth, claws, and a shrieking old hag. Lys’s lip curled into a wicked grin and she might have done something if Rodil hadn’t shoved her along. The two of them stepped out onto the sidewalk and turned right with no real place to go, but away.

“If I ever see her again. “

“Lys will do nothing or she will get in big trouble.”

“Shut up, Roddy. I hate it when you’re the one making sense.”

“Still need to find another paper clip, yes?”

“Yes.” The occasional car passed on the road along with the occasional passerby on the sidewalk. She half expected to get some looks, but no one cared. People had better things to do like watch the road and wait for the stop lights than worry about a sick kobold and her friend. No, that kind of worry was reserved for people in convenience stores, restaurants, and apartment complexes.

The two of them made the turn at the corner, out of the shadow of the apartments and into the sunlight. She stopped to enjoy every moment of it, drowning out Rodil’s exaggerated sighs. “Is the sun. Will be there tomorrow.”

“I might not be though.”

“Lys is not that sick!” His tail wrapped around her leg and clung to her while he took hold of her hand.

She smiled. “Let’s go.” Her clawed feet tapped against the sidewalk, the warmth comforting her scaly soles. Jack never took her down this way and now she knew why. Boarded up buildings lined most of the street and the few that stayed open had bars on the windows. Motor oil and burnt rubber traded places in the open air, but what got her attention was the unmistakable smell of burgers and fries. “I’m hungry.”

“Rodil is too. Where do we go?”

“Still need to find a second paper clip and the sooner we do that the sooner we can go home and get some food.”

Roddy tugged at her like an excited hatchling and they picked up the pace, but she kept an eye on the grooves in the sidewalks and the gutters. Any kind of glint or sparkle. More than anything she wanted to be back inside before Jack got home. Her knight in shining armor would be a steel barricade if he ever caught wind of this and that got to her in a bad way. Keeping things from him put real strain on her, but losing a few scales from guilt felt better than anticipating never being let out again. It’d come to words eventually, no other way about it. It felt nice to have someone fuss over her, someone who cared, but Jack couldn’t be there to protect her from every idiot in the world, like today. If she couldn’t get back inside by herself, she might as well never leave the damn house again.

“Lys? Hello? Why is standing there?” Rodil cocked his head to the side.

“Coming.”

Rodil waited for her at the crosswalk, he’d already pushed the button several times and then he pushed it several more for good measure.

“You are such a hatchling,” Lys said.

“Rodil likes pushing the button. What’s wrong with pushing the button?” The red hand changed and the cars came to a stop. The crosswalk was the one place where Lys rarely had trouble.

“Alright, let’s look.” The two of them combed the street. Rodil checked the gutters while Lys looked up and down the sidewalk and corners without getting too close to storefronts, not that most of them were open. Cracks, gutters, potholes, the midday sun revealed nothing but useless trash. “Did you find anything, Roddy?”

“No.”

Lys popped one of her stolen cough drops and leaned up against a nearby trash can. Gloomy thoughts of Jack losing his tail filled her head, except he didn’t have one. The metal bowed under her weight, startling her. “Roddy, come here.”

“What? Rodil isn’t looking in the trash!”

“We’ve already looked everywhere else.”

“No way. It’ll get his nice jacket dirty.”

“At least you have a nice jacket. If it were cold out here I’d be freezing.”

“Why can’t Lys do it?”

“Did you forget that I’m sick and you’re supposed to be taking care of me? Stop acting like this is the first time you’ve ever gone through the garbage.”

“Rodil isn’t forgetting. Doesn’t mean he wants to do it again.”

“And you’re the one who locked us out. If we don’t get back inside before he comes home it could be the end of horror movie night.”

His jaw dropped. “Don’t want that.”

“Good, then I’ll keep watch.”

“Funny how Rodil keeps watch when is something nice and Lys keeps watch when is something nasty.” He went over to the trash can: an ugly rusted thing with faded lettering on the front too warped to make out anymore. Rodil pushed on the flap a few times and scrunched his snout up before giving Lys a pleading look.

“Come on.”

The yellow kobold pushed the flap open and stuck his head inside for a moment before ducking right back out again. “Too dark to see in there, no paper clips.”

“Don’t even. You’re the one who’s pure ‘Night Friend’ remember?”

“Rodil never said that.”

“Yeah, you never said it except every time I tripped over something in the dark or stepped on a bit of glass.” She gave him a slight shove.

He looked away from her. “Oh, yeah.”

“Yeah. So come on, do you want to eat or not?”

“Ugh. Wrong thing to say. Maybe Jack taking away horror movies not so bad.” He leapt up at the trash and started pushing himself inside. Lys watched him go head first and then tail.

She watched him go, shaking her head. “Taking away movies. Maybe we are hatchlings. I’m sorry Roddy,” she whispered.

“Lys say something?”

“Nothing Roddy, find anything?”

“Gross garbage.” The trash can echoed with the groans of an unhappy kobold. Lys stood by, feeling rather small at manipulating her friend. A faint breeze blew and the street stood clear. “Ugh, this terrible. Lot of things, but no clip.”

Lys held her head in her hands. “Keep looking, please.”

“Rodil looking, but smells bad.”

The lights changed several times, sending motorists on their way. Once in a while one of them looked out at her before speeding off and she pondered what they might be thinking when they saw her standing out there. So far she’d never heard of any kobold learning to drive, not that she could reach the pedals and look out the windshield at the same time, but surely there had to be something better than a bicycle not that she had one of those. The roads cleared and nary a soul to be seen. Lys sat down to rest her legs when her worst fears were realized. Three young men heading down the street, not there a moment ago, twenty-somethings she guessed, though probably a little younger. Jackets and jeans with plain shirts and sneakers save for the guy in front sporting a pair of boots. All three of them had already seen her, all three were wearing smirks that spelled trouble. “Roddy, get out of the can.” She banged on the side.

“What? Can’t hear.”

“Roddy, get out of there, now!”

“You talkin’ to a trash can?” The young man in boots said from halfway off wearing a snide grin. She stepped away, her eyes darting back and forth between him and the can. A moment later he was looming over her. “That your favorite trash can or something?” He inched up on her. A smell of poorly applied deodorant and strong bad breath assailed her senses. The other two went to check out the can.

“Ha! There’s another one in here.” The guy at the trash can held the flaps shut and the last one joined him. They took a quick look around, checking to see if the streets were still clear. Lys watched as the two of them started banging on the sides of the can and laughing.

“Stop it you assholes!” Lys tried to rush in, but the one in boots blocked her with his knee, sending her to the sidewalk.

“Watch your mouth,” he said, folding his arms, flashing that irritating smile. Lys could hear the other two beating on the can. She leapt to her feet and King Jerk took a step back, like he wanted to kick her. Instead of going for the can she pulled out her phone with a bloodthirsty look in her eye. “I’m calling the cops.” She started tapping out the number. “Alright, just having some fun.” His whole demeanor changed. The other two saw and stepped away from the garbage can as well.

“The fun is over,” she said, holding the phone to her cheek, tail whipping back and forth.

They went up the street muttering to each other and shooting her sideways glances. Lys watched them go, phone at the ready. She waited until she was sure they were gone before stepping over the trash can. “Roddy, are you alright?” She pushed open the flap and tried to reach inside.

“Unnh. Roddy’s head rings, but is fine.” Lys took hold of his hands and pulled the slimy kobold out of the trash. He smelled like a mixture of burnt coffee and rotten tomatoes. He clutched his head and shook it back and forth a few times. She wanted to hug him, but it was giving her flashbacks to the grease bomb in the glove compartment.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Rodil is okay, but his clothes are ruined.” He looked down at his jacket like he’d lost a friend.

“It’s not ruined, we’ll clean it when we get back. If we ever get inside.”

“Lys and Rodil are getting inside.”

“Don’t tell me you found one.”

With a wide grin he produced a large, slimy paper clip. “Here.” He pushed it into her claw before she could react and she did her best not to grimace. “Now we go home?”

She wiped it on her sleeve and looked it over. Perfect size. “Yes, now we go home and see if I can get the stupid door open.”

“Lys will. Lys good at such things.”

“Thank you Roddy, you saved our tails and everything attached to them.” She almost hugged him again.

Rodil walked along, head held high and tail swaying behind him like he was chief of the tribe. A smelly, slimy chief. They crossed the street and Lys went over the lock in her head. Tension, raking, tumblers. Lessons her father had shown her over the years. It’s not that daddy was trying to raise a career criminal, but he believed in being prepared and most kobolds knew how to get into places they didn’t belong. A point of pride even in polite company. She felt the phantom lockpick between her fingers, gliding it back and forth while thinking about all the clips and hairpins she’d broken. If she jammed that thing it’d be a hundred times worse than if they’d waited for Jack. Her unfocused eyes looked at the sidewalk while her mind played out the movements over and over and then her muzzle met the pavement.

“Get her phone and check her pockets.”

Hands groped at her waist. The pain was late in coming for her snout and she heard scuffling, a sound like someone getting struck then a loud snarl and someone screaming.

“My arm! Someone get that little—”

Several footfalls went sprinting away and Lys turned on her back to see one of the guys from earlier still trying to grab at the phone in her shorts. She kicked at his hand and he backed off long enough for her to get up. “Give me the damn phone.” Before she could get away he got hold of her tail and yanked hard.

“Someone help me!” But there was no one else around. His hand went for her pockets again, pulling. She grabbed him by the wrist and he whipped back like he’d been burnt, with a terrified look in his eye and that bought her all the time she needed to bolt towards the apartments.

“Give-the damn-phone,” the young thug said, huffing behind her and catching up fast. Her lungs blazed with every breath and each one threatened to send her into a coughing fit. She detoured down an alleyway with the creep on her heels. Fingers swiped at her several times and she almost slipped. The kobold couldn’t keep pace being sick like this, but succor came from an open basement window to the right. Not bothering to check where it went, she dove into the darkness, landing on a pile of something damp.

The only light came from the window she’d jumped through which vanished a moment later. The punk crouched down, casting a stony glare at her while he tired to figured out how to get in. The two of them noticed the door to the side at the same time and he disappeared from view. She heard him come down the steps and try the knob only to find it locked and latched many times over, but it didn’t stop him from kicking it several times before running off. Safe for the moment, she laid there and breathed.

The dark room spun around her and each lungful burned. Lys dug into her pocket for another cough drop, but they were all gone. “Those assholes...” The goon must have scattered them trying to steal her stuff. She took out her phone, a photo of Jack stared back at her with a reassuring smile that made it all the worse.

“9-1…” she stopped calling. Making good on her threat could go in too many directions. She could prove the phone was hers, but would it matter? Rodil had hurt one of those idiots. If they even found him they’d probably have to go to the police station and they might lock him up or something and then she’d have to call Jack one way or another and…

“God and elders, help—” She started coughing and sat up to breathe easier. The sounds she made were changing from light, scratchy hacks to deep, monstrous barks. She rubbed at her chest to soothe the ache and looked about. Some rusty shelves with nothing on them lined one of the brick walls and some molding cardboard boxes sat near another and she was sitting on more of the same. An unpleasant, musty smell filled her snout for good measure. If anyone owned the building they didn’t use this room often. Someone must have forgotten the window and she could have kissed whoever that was, but now she needed to get out.

Standing up proved challenging, her tired legs wobbled beneath her and her lungs still felt like sandpaper. A nap sounded great, but her fear of what they might have done to Roddy kept her alert. Her claw scraped against the brickwork, but there wasn’t enough gap for climbing. It’d have to be the shelves or nothing. Lys grabbed one of them with both claws and tugged.

“Woah!” It flew backwards, almost landing on top of her. She hadn’t expected them to be so light and while that made it easy to put in place it also meant it would come right apart. She pushed it against the wall and looked up. Her tail drooped, a short gap sat between the shelf and the window. She’d have to stand to reach it, which wouldn’t be a problem if the shelf wasn’t a rusted piece of crap, not that she had any choice. Today was a day of not-firsts. It wasn’t the first time she’d broken into cars or snuck into buildings and this wasn’t the first time she’d climbed onto shelves. Ignoring the pain in her legs, she pulled up on the second shelf while stepping on the first. It crumpled inward like a soda can, making her slip and fall forward, banging her chin.

“Grrrr.” No blood, but it stung like a mother. She pulled the shelf out and spun it about before slamming it back in place to try again. This time she grabbed the sides and planted her feet on each end, distributing her weight more evenly. The metal still made a dreadful creaking, but it held. She reached toward space between the shelf and pulled. First her right arm and then her leg, the metal dimpled.

Closing her eyes, she reached up with her left arm and took hold of the spacer between the shelf and finally lifted her left leg into place, halfway there. She shifted her weight to the right and planted her hand on the top shelf, welcoming the feel of the sun on her fingers while trying to ignore how the thing kept teetering. As she started to move her other hand into place her perspective shifted to the left.

“No.” The metal mess bowed hard almost sending her to the floor, but she used her tail to keep balance, swinging it to counter. The whole thing started to rise up and she slammed herself into it, crumpling another section. A horrible squeal echoed off the walls making Lys want to cover her tympanum. The rusted metal continued to buckle and her feet slipped. Snarling like a beast, she flung her arm forward, aiming towards the window. Her left claw landed in the top shelf, wounding it deep while her right hit the windowsill. Her legs crushed the upper parts turning most of it into scrap. Lys dug her claw into the windowsill, but the other was still stuck in the collapsing heap, threatening to take her with it. She kicked at the shelves, trying to get a better purchase.

“Rnnnggahhhhhh!” The twisted metal pulled her hand, tearing at her claws. She kicked at the shelves again and again trying to jostle them loose while she unhooked the tips. One and then another. “Ahhh!” Her legs gave out and she could lift them no more. Deep grooves peeled into the wooden window frame and a hairline crack formed on one side of the glass. Her stomach knotted up, electrical bolts fired down her arm all the way to the shoulder, but managed to get the last of her claws free just before the shelving fell into a pile of garbage beneath her. In one motion she planted her aching hand into the window and pulled. “Elders help me…” No amount of pain would compare to the horror of falling back into that basement, she’d have no hope of getting out of there short of calling for help.

“All of this to steal a phone.” She winced and dragged herself out. “All of this for paper clips.” The kobold checked her hand, a slight trickle of blood ran down from some of her fingers. Her eyes had trouble adjusting to the blinding rays of the afternoon sun and she cursed herself for having ever set foot outside the door this morning, but at least she was alone. Instead of heading towards the apartments she went down the other end of the street in case they were waiting for her.

I hope you’re okay Roddy. I hope you clawed the crap out of that smoothskin pile of puke while you were at it too.

The yellowing, sun-baked wall welcomed her arm while she paused to catch her breath. From here she could cut across a dozen or so yards, maybe make some busybodies mad in the process and then walk across the big lot of the apartment complex home free. With any luck Rodil would be waiting for her outside, he needed to be, he better be. Mustering up all the gas left in her tank, she coughed loud enough to scare the nearby birds.

I’m never leaving the house again.

The soft lawn sunk beneath her feet with each step, a welcome change from the hard street. She wanted to stay off the sidewalk and away from prying eyes, but some of the yards had fences, but some short short chain link and wooden privacy fences were joys compared to getting out of that basement and she could take some time. The spaces between the slats and links made it easy and getting over proved no challenge. Her reward came in the form of a sprinkler blast someone had left going. “Never, ever leaving the house again.”

She paused to admire the porch of the small, working-class home and wondered what it'd be to live there instead of the apartment. A real lawn with a backyard and a place on the street to park instead of a lot. She could go out to get the mail and wave at the neighbors. “Yeah, right.” All stuff and nonsense, she’d never fit in, those thugs proved that. Guys like that might be jerks to anyone, but they wouldn’t rob just anyone in broad daylight, it’d have to be someone or something who looked vulnerable, easy to mug, and somebody no one would care about. The longer she stared at the front porch the further away it seemed to be, until she had to swat herself with her own tail to get back to the present.

She climbed out of the yard, not giving the house a second look and so it went, a chain link fence, a wooden one, and a hedge. Navigating between toys left out in a yard, gaudy lawn ornaments, and one of those detestable yards that had replaced all the grass with rocks. Someone had done her a courtesy by leaving a pitcher of lemonade out on a table, which she stole a rather large gulp from.

Sorry, but I needed that.

Another wooden fence blocked her way, waist high for a human, but over her horns. The neat little pine fence had neat little pine knotholes practically made for clawed feet. If only all of them had been such. Lys climbed over and put herself down on a small path leading towards the backyard of another house, but she looked out towards the street and got the shock of her life.

“Look who it is,” one of them said, wearing a sneer. They closed in on her, she turned and ran towards the backyard, but there was nowhere to go and they knew it. Both of them walked towards her casually, hands in their pockets. “Been looking all over for you and your friend.” Fight or flight, fight or flight.

“Where is he?” Lys asked. They kept moving up, tall fences all around and no way out except through the two of them. Fight or flight.

“Give us that phone and whatever else you’ve got.” Fight.

Lys checked their arms, no marks and both of them in sneakers. Roddy had nailed the guy in boots so he was either still after him or in bad enough shape to have left. Or.

“Give it to me, now.” He held out his hand. Flight.

Fight.

“Come take it!” She held out her claws towards them in an open snarl, tail sweeping the grass behind her in wide strokes. Her head swiveled between the two of them and her heart liked to leap out of her chest. Instinct kicked in, but deep inside terror drove her. The two of them backed up, but they weren’t ready to let this go. Thug One started to flank while Thug Two stood there having second thoughts. Lys stood her ground, refusing to be backed into a corner.

“Ha-woah!” Thug One tried to kick her and almost got swiped, over-correcting so much he fell on his ass. Lys moved in on him, blinded by anger, but got shoved back by a muzzle full of sneakers. Thug Two tried to come up behind, but the moment she turned around he sprang away. “Hit it with something.”

“With what?”

“Anything.”

Thug Two found a loose wooden pole that looked like it once belonged on a hoe or a shovel and tried to swing it down at her, but she rolled away and dove at his legs. He dropped his hands in defense and the rest of him followed. She got him once on the hand lightly and once on the leg. Something hard hit her square in the back and she tumbled over, but she had so much adrenaline she couldn’t feel any pain. The punk stood over her ready to stomp her, but she was already on her feet and running for the front. “Stop it, don’t let it get away now!”

Thug One blocked her like a goalie, arms outstretched with hate in his eyes. Both men had a score to settle. Thug Two picked up the stick and tried to hit her with it again while One corralled her off. Lys didn’t feel much pain, but she could feel her body locking up on her and hear her lungs wheezing. Two grunted with another hard swing that slammed against the fence, leaving a crack in the wood where she’d been standing a moment ago.

Flight.

She fled towards the fence on the other side of the yard with both right at her. Leaping towards the splintering, dark wood like a cat. Her sore claw punished her for each dig she made into the fence and every muscle cried out “mercy”. By the time she went over the top she couldn’t hold on and fell over to the other side, landing in a thick mound of grass.

“Come on, get over.”

“You get over.”

They argued a moment more before Lys saw fingers gripping the edges of the fence. She ran across another yard that hadn’t been mowed for eons, she tripped over something in the browning field of grass and it wrapped around her foot.

“There!” One of them pointed at her and struggled to get over the top. She looked down and saw a garden hose wrapped around her ankle . It tugged at her from both ends and she couldn’t see in all the foliage where it began and ended. One of the punks was half way over the fence now, but trying hard not to teeter drop head first. Grabbing the whole hose up, she bit into one end. A foul taste of dirt and rubber filled her mouth, then she bit through the other end and was off and running again with part of the hose trailing behind her. Her claws bit into another fence, even with adrenaline surging her arms threatened to lock up and she couldn’t get a full breath of air.

“Gotchaashh!”

One of them grabbed the hose dangling off her ankle, but she kicked him as hard as she could and kept going. She flopped over the other end with a hard thump.

“Gonna kill it.”

“Do whatever. I’m out.”

“Get your ass over.”

Black dots swam before her eyes. All this to steal her phone. She pulled herself up, staggering about. “J-Jack…”

Growling, something growled at her. She looked at the porch and saw a massive dog behind a windowed door with murder in its eyes, biting and snapping. The wooden fence behind her cracked with the weight of the two goons climbing on it. Lys limped over to the porch and the dog went into a total frenzy, slamming against the door, the only thing standing between her and a violent death.

A loud pat announced Thug One. Lys turned around to see him on his hands and feet. Thug Two joined him a moment later. Once they saw Lys trapped on the porch they resumed their cocksure attitudes. Thug One clapped his hand into his fist. “Should have given it to me when you had the chance, now I’m gonna—“

Lys turned the knob and she got a muzzle full of door while her horns pierced the wall behind her. A slight ringing in her head died away to the sounds of snarling and screaming.

“Getitoffmegetitoffme!”

She peeked behind the door and saw the two punks preoccupied with a vicious demon of hell masquerading as a dog. Whatever she wanted to do to these creeps this thing was paying them back a hundredfold, her stomach turned.

Thug Two kicked the dog several times. Lys held her maw shut when the animal dove at the man, knocking him down. Thug One attempted to sneak off, leaving his friend for dog chow, but his own groaning attracted the beast again. Lys slipped off the porch, the longer she stayed there the more likely she’d be next. Quiet as she could, she snuck around the corner toward the front yard. A gate of iron bars stood between her and freedom. Much to her good fortune it wasn’t locked and the latches were within reach. Ignoring the horrible sounds behind her she stepped up and pushed her hand through the bar to lift up the outer latch, it squealed with age. She didn’t bother to look back, already anticipating paws galloping towards her. The gate screeched open, she squeezed herself through, trying not to open it any more than she needed. The latch closed back into place followed by a loud slam and a lot of vicious snarling.

She looked up from the ground at a mass of snapping jaws trying to force itself through the bars with the sole desire of tearing her to pieces. Perhaps on a nicer day she might have been able to ask Jack to call someone and have the animal muzzled, or taken away, or blown up, but this wasn’t a nicer day. At least now she could walk home in peace. The kobold got up and onto the sidewalk, struggling to leave before someone came to check on the awful din. New pain settled into her body as hints of purple settled into the sky. She tugged her phone out to check the time. Jack’s smiling face did nothing to ease her suffering.

Everyone has a phone. Why did they have to try and steal mine? They sounded so casual about it, like I was just holding it for them. I can’t do this anymore, I need to go home.

Rodil might have been right to wait for Jack and take whatever grief he might have given them. She wanted to call him to hear his voice, but it would do more harm than good. Her damp clothes stuck to her body and the breeze in the air gave her a chill. “Roddy, where in the world are you?” she muttered under her raspy breath. The universe decided to answer, because she saw a familiar figure off in the distance waving at her. “Roddy?” He had a limp. “Roddy!” She forgot her pain and rushed him. “God and elders, I thought they’d killed you,” she wrapped herself around him in a hug, forgetting his smell of rubbish.

Rodil squeezed her. “Rodil is fine,” he said, groaning.

She let go and looked him up and down, taking note of his limp. “No, you aren’t. What did they do to you?”

“They got Rodil once or twice, but—“

She hugged him again and started balling. “This is my fault. I’m sorry, Roddy.” She buried her head into his shoulder.

“Lys, stop. Rodil has been hit before, but he gives back. Rodil is fine. Should see human, he wound up worse.” He grinned at her, but then frowned. “What about Lys? Lys looks much worse than Rodil and wet all over.” He pointed at her ankle. “And what this?”

“Huh?” The green kobold looked down at the hose still wrapped around her. “That’s…” She untangled it and threw it as hard as she could. “It’s nothing,” she said like a curse.

“What happened to Lys?”

“I had a little trouble, but what about you? What if they?”

“Rodil doesn’t care. They hit Lys and tried to steal from her. Rodil makes them sorry. Besides, Rodil and Lys leaving now, yes?”

She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes. “Yes, they’re sorry alright. We made them sorry.” She patted him on the shoulder.

The yellow kobold raised an eyeridge and cocked his head.

“Let’s get out of here.” Before long they were standing at the door to the apartment. Lys took out the paper clips and bent them into shape while Rodil watched.

“Sure this will work?”

“I said from the beginning that I didn’t know if it would, didn’t I?”

“Sorry.”

She sighed. “It’s been a really long day Roddy.”

“Rodil knows. Will keep quiet.”

Her fingers pushed and pried them around until they looked as ready as they were going to get. “Alright, you already know.”

“Mmmhmm. Keep watch.”

She slipped the tension wrench clip inside and pressed. The lock didn’t turn so she applied more pressure then more and more. Her heavy eyelids closed with the worry that the clip wouldn’t stand up to the torture, but finally it turned to a point. She reached for her pick and slid it in, raking it along the tumblers, trying to feel the changes between her fingers like her father had shown her long ago.

*Click*

The lock turned a bit and stopped. With renewed vigor she raked over the tumblers again.

“Is almost done?”

The knob trembled in her claws. The cheap brass fogged up with her hard breaths, but she said nothing.

“Rodil will keep quiet.”

Lys applied more tension. The lock turned without resistance. Her back ached and all her scrapes stung in unison. Again, it stopped and the kobold went back to raking slowly, hoping to catch the next tumbler. “Is anyone coming, Roddy?”

“No, all clear.”

In and out, in and out. She strained to hear, but more than anything she tried to feel with the tips of her claws, there couldn’t be many more left to go now.

*Snick!*

The lock surrendered and a burst of cool air greeted her scaly face. Rodil began clapping for her, but Lys withheld her celebration, plucking the makeshift picks out of the lock.

“Lys did it!”

“Yes, yes,” she said like she’d finished her magnum opus. “Can you get that package off the doorstep?” She slunk inside and flopped over on the couch without waiting for him to respond.

“Umm, yeah,” Rodil said. She heard the sound of the door shut a few moments later. “Is Lys okay?”

She nodded, laying her hand upon her head. “I’m very tired.” Her snout scrunched up. “And you smell awful.”

“Was in trash, remember?” he said with a slight growl.

“I remember. Go take a shower.”

A long pause followed. “Shower? Here?”

“Yes, here. Why?”

“Do not know how to use the shower here.”

Lys opened a single, yellow eye at him and rolled it long and hard. “It’s not that…oh forget it.” She pulled herself off the couch, hiding the fact that she almost collapsed. “Come on.” The two of them went through the bedroom. “Grab a towel.” She pointed towards them and then walked to the bathroom. “Hot and cold…are you paying attention Roddy?”

“No, was getting towel.”

“Well, get in here. Hot and cold.”

The yellow kobold rushed over and watched. “Okay, Rodil is watching. Hot and cold.”

“And this turns on the shower head, get it? Great, now shower.” She turned around to leave.

“Wait! What turns on the shower head?”

Her feet lifted up off the tile like an aged colossus of stone, each step turning her about in a painful, glacial motion. “Roddy…”

“Lys went through it too fast.”

She stomped back over to the tub. “Hot.” She twisted the knob and a torrent of steaming water began to pour out. “Cold.” Likewise more water joined in. “Shower.” She tapped the switch and water began to shoot out of the shower head. “Get it?”

“Okay, I get it.” He’d already begun to strip.

“Hey, wait until I leave to do that. Roddy? Stop it!”

His jacket fell to the floor. “Why?”

“B-because it isn’t right.”

He peeled his shirt off and looked at it in disgust before turning back to her. “Lys is friend.”

“Yeah, but things are different now.” She walked out of the bathroom and went back to the couch. A puff of dust flew out of the cushions with how hard she landed on them. “I need some music, something relaxing. Alexa, play ‘Man in the Box’.”

“’Man in the Box’, By Alice in Chains.”

A moment later a harsh guitar and drum pulsed from the speaker, joined by the irreplaceable voice of Layne Staley. Lys cleared her throat as much as she could and began to sing along cough be damned. “I’m the man in the box…shove my nose in shit!” Pure catharsis.

“Lys?”

“What Roddy? I told you to-ahhh! Roddy!” She shielded her eyes.

“What? Why Lys freaking out? Has seen Roddy this way before. Friends bask together and never been a big deal.”

“I told you because it is. What do you want?”

“What want Rodil to do with dirty clothes?”

“Just leave them in the bathroom and I’ll get Jack to take them to the laundromat tomorrow.” She waved him off.

“But what is Rodil going to wear?”

The nerves behind her eyes sprouted thorns. “Get some of my shorts and grab a shirt out of the closet. “Now go take your stupid shower already and don’t come back out here again without something on.”

“Alright, alright! Lys got so weird since becoming human mate.”

She heard the door slam and peaked out from behind her claws to find herself alone again. Yanking a spare cushion into her face she screamed into it and then flopped back over once more. “Now I have to explain why Roddy is wearing my stuff.” All far too much to figure out now, she couldn’t care anymore, she ached all over, her clothes were damp, she needed a nap.

Alas, that was not to be. Staley had just denied his maker as the front door opened. Jack stepped inside with enough noise to deny her any rest. He looked tired, but gave her a warm smile. “Hello, sweet. Feeling any better?”

She struggled to sit up. “A-a little. How was your day?”

“Alexa stop.” The music came to an end. “Oh, terrible. Almost got written up for forgetting to use my horn coming around the corner and we got a new guy who doesn’t know his ass from-hey I was wondering when this would come.” He spotted the package on the table and went over to grab it. Lys watched him smile wide. He gestured at her with the box and shifted his eyebrows a few times.

“That’s not for me is it? I asked you not to buy me anything else.”

His grin kept getting bigger and bigger. He took a seat next to her and planted the box in her lap.“Took its sweet time to get here. I was hoping you’d be feeling better before it got here, but go on, open it.” He touched her. “Are your clothes wet?”

She scooted away and held the box in her hands, thinking about the debt of pain it owed her and how whatever was inside couldn’t possibly make up for what she and Rodil had gone through today. Aiming at the seam of the box, she pushed her claw in. “Hssst!”

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.” Lys switched to her other hand, making opening it a more awkward task, but the cardboard peeled off to reveal a white, flexible package with a big, colorful tag on it.

Jack tried to grab it. “Uhh, here let me have that.”

She snatched it up, not in the mood for any trickery. The lettering was done in a scaly motif of claws and tails with a cartoon kobold dressed in bondage gear at the bottom. “Scales and Tail: For the ‘Bold’ Connoisseur,” she said out loud. Turning to face her mate, her yellow eyes narrowed into slits. “What is this?” Her tail slapped the couch several times.

The love of her life waved his hand about. “Just open it and be careful. It took me a long time to find it.”

“Jack…”

“Just open it already.”

The white plastic tore easy, paper wadding fell all over making a mess on the carpet. Her hands touched something very smooth and soft. She pinched it between her claws and drew it out.

“I hope it fits.”

She gasped and wound up dropping it onto the couch before plucking it back up again. A deep red camisole in her size, made to fit a kobold’s figure, no jury-rigging, no patchwork, perfect.

“Do you like it?”

The kobold stared at it without making a sound. Her maw fell open.

“Lys? Lys?” Someone shook her.

“Do you think this is all I am?” She had no idea why that came out of her mouth, but there it was. She might as well have taken a bite out of Jack’s rear.

“What?! Alright then I’ll take it back.”

“Don’t you dare.” She clutched it in her hands and flung herself to the far side of the couch. “I love it. It’s the most wonderful thing you’ve ever given me.”

He flung his arms in the air. “Then what’s the problem?”

And she did love it, enough that she pushed up to her face to hide her tears. “I-I don’t know. I can’t think anymore.”

Jack moved next to her, setting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re alright? You sound terrible. Where is Rodil?” He looked around in an exaggerated way that irritated her to the core. The living room was empty, he knew it, she knew it, why did he have to do that?

“He’s taking a shower.”

He looked at her like she’d given Rodil permission to move in with them.

“What?” she asked.

“He’s supposed to be taking care of you.” He leaned in closer, like a doctor examining a patient. Lys pressed into the couch wanting to swat him away. His expression changed from agitated to worried. “Good God.” His hands swept over her scrapes and cuts and she hissed aloud. “What in the world have you been doing? What is going on?”

“Nothing is going on, I’m fine.”

“Fine? You look like you’ve been trying to bring back the street luge.”

“I don’t know what that is and I don’t care. Please stop asking me questions right now, I’m tired.” She pushed him away. “I want to be left alone.”

“What has gotten into you? You’re soaked and you look like you’ve been rock climbing.” He started prodding at her again. “And where is Rodil?”

“I just said he’s in the shower. Stop it Jack! We-I’ve had a long day.”

“No kidding. You’re bruised all over. What the hell is going on here?” Jack stood up straight and looked around again, bothering her to no end. He tried to apply his palm to his head, but missed in his panic, doing a half slap to the face. He settled for gesturing wildly. “Did he hit you?”

“No one hit me. Stop asking questions.” She got off the couch, all the muscles in her legs threatened to go, but she ignored them and went into the kitchen to get some water. The step stool looked higher than the Eiffel Tower.

Jack followed after her. “No, I’m not gonna stop asking questions because you won’t tell me anything. What am I supposed to think? I come home and…”

Lys felt him touch her from behind.

“You’re covered in gravel and you’ve got a shoe print on your back? Lys, what is going on and why won’t you tell me?”

She turned around, knocking the stool over with her tail, adding another bruise in the process. “Will you stop asking?”

“I’m supposed to pretend that everything is okay and you aren’t hiding something from me? Where have you been all day? Did you sneak out?”

“Sneak out? I am not a hatchling and if I want to go somewhere I will.”

“So you did go someplace and Rodil let you? Where is he?”

“For the third time, he’s in the damn shower and he didn’t ‘let’ me do anything.”

He turned around. “I want him out of here.”

She grabbed him by the shirt. “No, leave him alone.”

“I trusted him to take care of you.”

“And he did, don’t you dare touch him!”

“You freak out at me, you won’t tell me what’s going on, and he’s in the shower for some reason.”

She snarled at him. “What is wrong with him taking a shower? He’s my guest and my friend and he can do what he wants.”

Jack stepped away from her like one of those punks. His face screwed into a mask of anger he normally reserved for people who’d wronged her, but now he directed it at her. “This is my--“

Her tail swung back and forth striking the cabinets behind her. “This is your what? What is it?!”

The bedroom door opened. “Lys, Rodil can’t find shorts, where did—” Sweet silence reigned but for a moment. The quarreling couple turned their attention to the yellow kobold who had on Jack’s Judas Priest “Painkiller” shirt. Rodil’s relaxed expression turned to surprise and then terror followed by a high-pitched scream and the slamming of the door.

“Rodil is sorry!” he shouted from behind the door.

Lys was already headed for the bedroom. “Where are you going?” Jack asked.

“To get him some shorts.”

She pushed her way into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Picture frames and knickknacks toppled over when she wrenched the bottom draw open with both hands. She grabbed a pair of shorts without any discretion and threw them in Rodil’s direction. “Try these on.” The yellow kobold nodded and slipped into them without making a sound. “Fit?”

Rodil nodded again.

“Good.” She tried to walk back out, but she stumbled toward the bed and started to cry. “Roddy, I can’t handle this.” Rodil rushed over and grabbed her up in a hug. “What do I do?”

“This isn’t Lys’s fault or Jack’s fault. This is Rodil’s fault for closing the front door.”

“You didn't know it would lock.”

“But you told Rodil not to close it. Maybe should just tell Jack the whole thing?”

“No. If he finds out he may never want me to leave the house ever again.”

“Shouldn’t lie. Make things worse.”

The bedroom swung open. Jack stood there, lips pursed, brow furrowed. His arm shot out, ridged as a post with a finger pointed at Rodil. “Get out.”

Lys let go of Rodil and fixed her gaze on Jack. “Don’t tell my friends to get out.”

“He was supposed to take care of you and you look like someone dragged you through the street and since I have no clue what’s going on.”

The yellow kobold raised his hand. “Rodil can—“

“No.” Lys grabbed his arm. “This isn’t about you Roddy.” He gave her a nod, but got up and walked out anyway. Lys stayed eyes locked to her mate until she heard the front door open and close. “You think you can just tell my friends to leave like I’m some hatchling?”

“You’re acting like a hatchling and he broke my trust and you won’t tell me what’s going on and I have no idea why.” He raised his voice all the while.

“Nothing went on, no one broke in, no one hit me, nothing happened. This is why I don’t want to say anything, because you’ll freak out. You always freak out. I’ve been taking care of myself for twenty years, Jack. I don’t need you to take care of me all the time!” she screamed, but her voice gave out, turning into a guttural wheeze. The kobold pushed past her and back out into the living room, going toward the front door with Jack trailing behind.

“Freak out? I’m only trying to protect you. What if something happened to you?”

She burst out crying. “You have no idea what happened to me today.”

“I have no idea because you won’t tell me!” His voice rang out loud enough to be heard across the lot. So loud she cowered, afraid he might actually hit her, a reaction that didn’t appear lost on him. A big thump came up from the floor. A telltale sign their fighting had reached its apex. Lys kept staring into Jack’s eyes trying to find the resolution, but there’d be no jokes about how silly this was, no laughter to break the silence.

His lip quivered, his eyes sat unblinking, and he paced in place like he didn’t know which way he wanted to stomp off to before he went to the kitchen and grabbed a soda, doing his best to avoid eye contact. When she found the will to move again she went back to the bedroom and laid down on her side of the bed, numb and too tired to cry. She faded in and out while the purple outside the window gave way to black and at last, she fell into a deep sleep.