Coye Vol 2 Ch. 13

Getting pretty close to finishing up on volume two, just five more chapters to rewrite! We'll see how things go. I'll make sure to do a RotGM chapter soonish, maybe after the next one.

-

Given that the boy had all sorts of reasons to be happy, a big ol' smile was plastered across his face as he stepped out the front door and exited his lover's shop. The crisp morning air sank into his skin, smelling like a new day full of possibility and sunshine.

Being well-laid put a spring in your step, Coye was pleased to discover.

While he was excited to make his way back to the Guild and see what sort of questing action he could get up to, there was something he desired even more. He wanted to dip into the nearest alleyway and talk to Shayla away from prying eyes.

Their conversation earlier that morning was tense, so they hadn't yet had a chance to talk about the sudden changes in Coye's life. He had so many things to say to his companion that he rushed out the door without caring, hoping to say them sooner.

Moments where Coye let down his guard are few and far between. As a rule of thumb, he was always on edge, even when casually strolling through the town or minding his own business. It wasn't just because of his instincts honed through tumultuous training, either.

It was because whenever he slipped up, she was somehow always there waiting in the wings to make him regret it.

A creeping sensation prickled down Shayla's spine, sensing the threat before Coye knew what was coming.

'Whoa, watch out!' She called out to him, using her magic to soften the ground beneath his feet so that he tripped and fell over backward.

"Oof-" Coye landed flat on his ass and looked around, confused yet searching for any danger signs. "Why did you...?" he mumbled softly to his Pixie before quickly noticing what Shayla did.

Only a foot away was a hidden tripwire trap someone rigged in front of Darkwood General, and if Shayla hadn't stopped him, he would've walked straight in and triggered it. He frowned as soon as he saw it, knowing that only one person he knew was crazy enough to pull a stunt like this.

There goes my good mood, Coye thought to himself as he scanned his surroundings, looking for any trace of the perpetrator.

Seemingly on a roll, Shayla saw a threat in the distance and alerted Coye to an arrow shot from above, hurtling toward him. 'Above you, dummy! Think fast!'

Coye reached out, intending to catch the arrow with his bare hand before it could hit him. Shayla thought that was a crazy idea, so she conjured a small puff of wind in front of him that slowed the projectile to a crawl.

He could pluck it safely now as it hovered before him like an unrevealed RealMonster card.

Taking a closer look at it, Coye saw that instead of a pointed arrowhead, the tip was a circular sack tied and glued tightly to the shaft. He was sure it would've exploded and spread strange liquid or irritable powder all over him if it had made contact.

The thought alone made him cringe, remembering the few times when she actually managed to hit him with one.

One of them was a homemade stinkbomb of such legendary foulness that it lingered on his skin for an entire week afterward. It was so bad that Dorothy had no choice but to quarantine him in the basement until it finally left him many baths later. The perpetrator got in trouble for that little stunt and was barred from questing for a few days, but it didn't stop her from nearly ruining his tunic a week later with a new trick arrow that created a stain that only magic could cleanse.

Whatever the arrow in his hands would've done, Coye had no desire to find out.

"Byng," Coye called out her name, disappointment heavy on his voice from being forced into this game so early in the morning. "Wherever you are, can you please, please just leave me alone...?" He begged, standing and dusting his pants off with his free hand.

Reasoning with her never worked, but chalk it up to his current optimism to give it a little try.

"Not a chance!" An enthusiastic, high-pitched yet slightly gruff voice responded to his plea not too far off in the distance.

Coye scanned the surrounding area and found that it was quiet. Only a fraction of the townsfolk went about their business at this time of day, and none of them paid any mind to the adventurer or his loud stalker until she jumped from a building across the way from Darkwood General Store.

Byng was a four-and-a-half-foot-tall girl with green skin, pointed ears, a sharp smile that showed off her equally sharp teeth, and short, purplish-black hair that was never informed of the existence of brushes. She wore little more than a tribal-looking ensemble with a leather bikini top, and clutched tight in her hand was a rough-looking bow that Coye assumed she carved herself.

As the dust settled from her dramatic landing, she looked up, smiled, and started to strut toward Coye, the onlookers eventually losing interest.

His eyes quickly found the ground below, and he clutched the folder Suzette had given him like it were his trusty shield. Before he did, he had time to take in the smaller girl's form that she so proudly showed off in that get-up of hers.

Byng had a healthy pear-shaped body with small breasts, a tummy that wasn't big yet wasn't small, and explosive hips and thighs that spread out wider than the wings of a falcon. Despite her round, childlike face and short stature, the facts were that she was a full-figured woman Coye found attractive, which only unsettled him more whenever she was around.

The only solace as she approached him was that he wasn't as intimidated by Byng's good looks this time around, installing in Coye another newfound gratefulness for his growing number of sexual experiences.

Shayla, who had been holding her tongue as she sized up this new presence that Coye seemed familiar with, finally remembered that he had mentioned something about this girl before. 'Oh, this is that one chick you told me about the other day, isn't it?'

Coye subtly nodded.

He hadn't told her much, but the gist of it was that there was a peculiar girl who wouldn't leave him alone and enjoyed teasing him that wasn't a part of his group of regular bullies.

In many regards, Byng was an outsider. She was crazy enough to spend most of her time in the Gnarled Woods and only ever dipped into town to take on hunting quests at the Guild or trade some of the meat, pelts, and other materials gathered during her hunts.

Shortly after she first showed up in Cransmere a year and a half ago, she developed a strange fixation on the boy, and it became part of Coye's daily routine to dodge sudden trick arrows and search his surroundings for traps around every corner.

Coye assumed Byng did all this because she was a bully, plain and simple.

Going off of her little information, Shayla came to a much different conclusion- that Byng was undertaking a particular type of hunt Coye was oblivious to.

Shayla had only just laid eyes on this girl, and already she felt that they were kindred spirits. Mischief brewed in her mind, the beginnings of a plan sparking deep within.

Coye blinked a single time, and Byng had already sprinted up to him, pressing her face right up in his business and ignoring his personal space entirely. "Sup? How'd you stop my arrow, huh? You just thrust your hand out, and it stopped like whoosh. The heck's up with that?"

More so than it ever had before, Byng's closeness brought out the color in his cheeks. So much for feeling more experienced, he thought.

Her upturned, golden eyes that burned with a brighter orange as opposed to Suzette's clearer shade stared at him with unflinching innocence and curiosity, complimenting the wide and toothy grin.

The smell that overtook his senses as the gap between Byng and himself shrunk was overpowering. He stepped backward and clutched his book even tighter to his chest, shocked at how the smell contradicted his memory.

Byng having a strange scent was nothing new, and it served as just another reason why her presence was so hard to tolerate. She smelled precisely as one would expect a tomboyish girl who lived out in the woods and rarely bathed would, a distinct aromatic combination of earth, sweat, and stank.

Until today, Byng's scent never made Coye's head dizzy or created a curious tingle in his lower half. It was almost like he enjoyed it, but that couldn't be. That would be gross... it's not like he was a pervert or anything...

Coye answered, trying his best to develop a believable excuse as to how he stopped an arrow in mid-flight. "Um, I-I want to reclass to a Spellsword eventually... s-so, you know... I've been practicing my magic."

Unblinking, Byng stared Coye down and sized his response up before accepting it and patting his shoulder. "Nice, keep it up! It's important to mix things up a little and try new things. Oh! Speaking of, it's a shame my arrow didn't hit you. I was really hoping to see whether or not my new itching powder would work on a human!"

Byng talked a mile a minute, making her hard for the boy to follow along with at times. All he got out of her words was a need to throw the itchy arrow back at its owner, who caught it with a smirk.

"W-Well try it out on someone else, for once! You think I wanna be all itchy?!"

"Oooh, someone's feisty today! Love it!" Byng cackled and gestured for him to give her a casual fist bump, which Coye rudely left hanging. If it bothered her, she didn't show it. "Sorry to tell you that's not gonna happen, though. It wouldn't be any fun if I shot at random townsfolk, y'know? Not to mention I'd probably get in trouble if I did that, but eh, not the point. I'm sure you understand why it's gotta be you."

"No," feeling braver than usual, Coye put his foot down and managed to look her in her sharp eyes. "I-I don't get why it has to be me, and I'd love it if you gave me an actual answer, for once..."

Byng stared at him in silence with a look that Shayla took as impressed, maybe a little proud. "You don't? Welp, if you can't figure it out, then there's no use letting you in on this sweet, sweet-ass secret of mine. Maybe you'll figure it out. Maybe not. Hunters are patient either way."

Ah, I just love it when my job is easy, Shayla thought. Byng was cheekier about her affections than a particular store owner was, but she was just as obvious.

It's just too bad he didn't see it.

Coye continued pouting and put his head down, walking past Byng in an attempt to disengage with the girl like he always did. "Whatever... if you won't tell me why you always bother me of all people, then... I-I have nothing else to say to you. I gotta get back to the Guild, so-"

'Oh no, you don't,' Shayla pounded on Coye's scalp with her fist, charging it with magic, so he felt a little spark where it hit. 'You aren't going anywhere till you chat with this goblin chick or whatever the heck she is for a little longer.'

Coye stopped right there in his tracks and opened his mouth despite knowing he couldn't say anything in response.

What was Shayla playing at, and why did she want him to waste his time talking to Byng instead of adventuring like he was supposed to?

He thought of just walking away and ignoring Shayla's command, but she spoke up again before he could follow through.

'I get that she puts you off, but I don't think we see the same thing when looking at her. Rather than spelling it out for you, big guy, I want you to think about this differently. Do you really believe Byng goes out of her way to mess with you whenever she's in town just so she can test new arrows on you? Nah, man. She's trying to get you to notice her.'

Coye wondered if that could really be true, and it was uncomfortable for him to admit that it might be. Shayla being right about Suzette forced him to face reality and understand he had a much poorer grasp on the thoughts and intentions of women than he even thought.

The possibility that Byng might just be crushing on him in a weird, distinctly Byng way was not zero, and the boy didn't know how he felt about that.

Looking over his shoulder at the girl in question, he saw she was still smiling at him even after he tried to walk out on her. She tilted her head, totally nonplussed as she asked, "What's up? Weren't you heading back to work?"

As he stared, Shayla tried to motivate him even further. 'I bet you've never even taken a chance and tried getting to know her, have you? She probably scared you off, and you just wrote her off as another of your bullies.'

Coye wouldn't compare the pranks that Byng did to the bullying he received from Britni and her entourage, but he did run away from her all the same...

He didn't want to admit that Shayla had a point, but at the very least, he figured it was worth indulging her if only to prove how interacting with Byng was more trouble than it was worth.

He blushed as he turned around, loosening his posture and the grip around his folder. "In a bit, yeah... but I, um..." he struggled with all his heart to come up with small talk, ending up with, "I was just wondering what you were, uh, d-doing back in town?

It was a sloppy attempt, but Shayla was proud all the same.

Byng stared.

He couldn't tell whether she was surprised that Coye was actually attempting to start a conversation with her or if she was thinking carefully of a well-articulated response. Byng was difficult to read, and all his guesses proved to be off his mark when she took the conversation in an unexpected direction.

"Oh, suddenly interested in what I'm up to, are you? Hehehe..." Coye didn't like the look in her eyes that sparked up, and he started to regret his decision. "It's no big deal, but if you really wanna know, then I'll tell you if you answer why you stayed in that shop overnight."

Coye lost his breath and felt his heart sink as Byng stared at him, just another little rabbit caught in one of her snares.

'Holy shit, I think I love this one!' Shayla knew she was on the mark about the whole kindred spirit thing. This green-skinned girl was one of her own, and she was up to no good. Shayla lived for every second of it.

Struggling to decide whether to lie or tell the truth, Coye took the easy way out and stuttered a half-assed lie. "T-T-That's... er... I wasn't f-f-feeling good a-a-and-"

"Oh, no! Poor baby." Byng stepped straight up into his personal space once again. "I've been in there before. It's a nice place. Boy, I sure hope the shopkeep took good 'care' of you..."

"Yes, yes, Mrs. Lill-" Coye choked and corrected himself, "I m-mean Suzette and me-"

Again, Byng tilted her head and blinked. "So, Suzette's her name, huh? She's real pretty, mn... it's funny. I didn't know you two were that close?"

Damn it, Coye cursed his newly-formed habit and changed the subject.

"What, w-were you spying on me, or something?"

"No, of course not..." she flashed her sharp teeth in an even wider smile. "I just saw you head in yesterday and thought I'd hang around until you left, try and catch you with an arrow or two on the way out... only... not that long after you walked in, Suzette closed her shop super early- while you were still inside, no less!"

His eyes found his feet, who at this point might as well have been their best friends. Byng had him in the palm of her hands, and he had felt no greater embarrassment in all his life than being caught during his walk of shame.

He remembered feeling like he was being watched yesterday, too... even though his lust distracted him at the time, Coye beat himself up for not realizing it was Byng.

"When morning came around, I thought I'd come by and see if my suspicions were correct. Wouldn't ya know it..." Byng leaned in and made things a hundred times more awkward by pressing her nose against Coye's tunic and then taking three long-lasting, profound sniffs.

"Oh yeah, someone had a good time in there, alright..." she exhaled in a way that was threatening yet erotic.

As Coye's jaw dropped and he froze on the spot where he stood, Shayla was on the edge of her seat. This was the most entertainment she'd had since leaving the forest, and she was ready to do just about anything to ensure that Coye hooked up with this chick.

He waited for Byng to do something- anything- with the knowledge of his sexual affair with the well-endowed widow, but all she did was slide up to his side and give him another whole-hearted smile as she wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Good for you, shorty! It's about time you started acting like a man." She said, seemingly one hundred percent genuine in her celebration on his behalf.

"...T-Thanks," he muttered, not knowing what else he expected.

As much as Shayla wanted him to give her a chance, Byng made him uncomfortable at the best of times, and this? This was on a whole new level.

Coye didn't understand her, and he felt that he didn't want to. No matter how much he tried, he was sure he'd never be able to keep up with Byng and that he was better off forgetting this ever happened and running back to the Guild after all.

He was on the verge of doing just that when Byng suddenly realized she might've pushed too far and took a step back.

Coye was relieved, and he tried not to think about how much he missed her scent after only a few seconds.

He thought that she might've been about to let him be on his way but was disheartened to learn Byng was just giving him space enough to continue their conversation.

She pointed at his folder, asking, "What's that all about, by the way?"

Still refusing to look at Byng, he mumbled, "A new hobby... don't worry about it, it's not important..."

"Cool," Byng brushed off his attempt to dismiss her, trying harder than she usually did to get the time of day from him. "Can I see? Tell me about it!"

All he did was shake his head and ignore her.

For the first time in their short interaction, Byng frowned. "Fine, sorry I asked... no skin off my back.."

'...Coye,' Shayla was stung from all the second-hand disappointment radiating off the weird, stinky green girl, and it hurt to see just how bad he actually was when it came to other people.

Recalling everyone else she'd seen him interact with, mainly Dorothy, Suzette, and Tammy, none of them evoked this kind of reaction from him. Tammy was the closest since he felt intimidated by her for whatever reason, but he could at least hold a semi-normal conversation with her.

Whether or not Coye could actually manage to get closer to Byng or not was irrelevant to the Pixie at that moment.

Shayla only saw the boy drawing back into his shell to the detriment of everyone else around him, and she knew then that she would do anything it took to help him move past this kind of behavior.

This wasn't healthy, and it hurt to watch.

Byng shrugged her shoulders, seeming to give up for now. "Anyway, I can see where I'm not wanted, so... I guess I'll get out of your hair. It was nice seeing you, Coye."

Coye breathed a sigh of relief as Byng turned around with a sad expression, about to walk away of her own accord, only for him to lose all semblance of composure when the following order from on high came down to him.

'Don't let her get away. You got one chance to ask Byng to go on a quest with you, and if you don't, I'll use my magic to rip up your clothes right here in front of the whole town.'

"WHAT?!" Coye barked, unable to stop his reaction to Shayla's shocking demand.

Byng turned back and gave him a concerned look. "Uh, what're you so surprised about?"

Coye didn't know what to do. He tried imagining what it would be like to go on a quest with Byng, but nothing appeared in the backdrop of his mind. It didn't make sense.

He hoped that Shayla was bluffing, but that hope was quickly shut down.

'Don't test me, baby. You know I'll do it.' Shayla magicked open a small hole in the back of his trousers where Coye felt the open air creep in to make this fact absolutely clear.

There was no getting out of this.

"D-Don't worry, it's nothing... ahaha..." Coye tried to downplay his outburst, fighting against his reluctance to make this happen and please his partner's whim. "Um, before you go, I just remembered that I had something t-to ask you if that's ok...?"

This caught Byng off guard, and she didn't know how to react. She started playing with one of her big spiky curls and told him, "Why would I care? Go for it."

The boy gulped, shutting his eyes. He reaffirmed to himself that he could do this, focusing on the progress he made on his confidence thanks to Suzette. This wasn't that different, he told himself.

It's just another girl, even if it's a scarier one...

Throwing caution to the wind, he asked, "Do you m-maybe wanna... I don't know... go on a quest together sometime? I-I mean, I know we both usually work alone, so uh... I... gah, nevermind, it's stupid, I-"

'Good enough,' Shayla nodded and mended Coye's pants to reward his compliance. 'Next time, try and sound more confident.'

"Oh?" Byng's eyes and smile widened, surprised by this sudden proposition. "Now, where did this come from...?"

Coye shuffled about in place, doing anything to hide his nervousness. "It's not a big deal, it- it was just a random thought... I don't know... it's no big deal or anything, y-you can say no if you want..."

Shayla was on the verge of yanking his hair for trying to wiggle out of it, but Byng spoke up before that could happen.

"A random thought, huh? I like it! You should try having more of those, shorty." Byng cackled, closing the distance and elbowing him from the side. "I can't believe it, man, oh man... to think I'd live to see the day where you ask me out on a... crap, what was it you Karnallians call that weird mating ritual of yours? A date?"

"Wh- No! I-I wasn't asking you out on a date, that's..." unthinkable is what he wanted to say, but he couldn't say something so rude, especially not when she seemed so excited about it.

"Too late," Byng pulled away as she laughed and laughed, Coye noticing a red blush on her face for the first time. "There's no way I'm letting you take that one back! I'll swing by the Guild tomorrow morning, pick you up, and we'll figure out what kinda quest we feel like going on. Sound good?"

Although part of him wanted to reiterate that this wasn't a date, Coye couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw how big and bright Byng's smile was.

"...Yeah, ok. Sounds good." He nodded meekly.

"Great! Word of warning, though. It's not gonna be easy to impress me, so you better bring your A-game!" Byng declared, packing up her tripwire trap and then triumphantly heading off in higher spirits than Coye could ever remember seeing her in.

Coye's day was upended just like that, and he faced the looming date with Byng that hung on the horizon. Now more than ever, he needed to talk to Shayla about what she'd done, but he wasn't sure what to say or how.

As he was about to duck into an alley and talk in detail with his partner, Shayla spoke first. '...Uh, I know you probably have a lot you wanna say to me right now, but you might wanna look behind you, big guy.'

While he was hardly in the mood to listen to more of Shayla's whims, her voice seemed urgent, so he followed suit, not expecting the frightful sight he had in store.

From the half-opened door of her shop, Suzette's head poked out. A dark shadow was overcast on her pale face, bringing the menacing light of her golden stare to bare down on his soul. He didn't need to ask how long she'd been watching. He knew it was the entire time.

Suzette stepped out and folded her arms now that she'd been caught. The morning sun illuminated her darkness, easing up the visual threat level significantly, but the glare she was giving him still caused alarm.

"Darling," she spoke slowly and with a quiet fury. "Surely I'm mistaken, but it looked like you just asked another girl out on a date not even five feet away from my doorstep. Do you have anything to say about that? Hm?"

'Oh, fuck, I'm sorry-' Shayla gulped, reeling from fear just as much as Coye.

The boy trembled at the older woman's presence, cursing Shayla for making him do what he did. It hadn't lasted long, but he really liked Suzette and was excited for what a future with her in it would've looked like.

"N-No, I... I mean yet, but it wasn't a date! I was just asking her to go on a quest with me! It's not what it looks like, I... I...!" In his moment of panic, little tears welled up in his eyes as he struggled to find the right words that would explain the situation to Suzette.

This pitiable sight was too much for her, and Suzette started to feel guilty. She broke character and started laughing out loud to the point where she had trouble controlling herself. "Oh, I can't tease you like this... not when you're already so flustered..."

"I- ...what?"

'Phew, safe!' Shayla wiped away a bead of sweat, happy to see that her selfish demands had no negative repercussions.

"I didn't mean to be nosy, but when I saw you talking to that Outrealm girl, I couldn't help myself. After that, I thought I'd tease you a little..."

"Y-You're not mad?" Coye asked.

"No, of course not. I doubt I can keep up with you myself as it is. Are you disappointed, Darling? Would you rather I was jealous and demand all of your affection?"

Coye pictured what a truly jealous Suzette might be like and where that might lead and was not thrilled with what his imagination conjured up.

"Uh, no... that's alright..."

"Then don't worry about me and enjoy your date tomorrow, you silly boy. Make sure you stop by sometime and let me know how it goes!" Suzette winked and retreated back into her shop, closing the door and flipping her 'closed' sign.

Coye stood there in a daze, wondering if that interaction happened or if it was just a surreal fever dream. It was good that Suzette wasn't jealous, but that didn't make it any less strange. The only thing Coye learned for sure was that Suzette excelled at being terrifying when she wanted to be.

'...Man, I thought she was gonna come out here and like, stab you or something,' Shayla laughed, a hint of nervousness betraying her relief.

"Same..." Coye mumbled under his breath and finally found the time to hide in the nearest alley, eager to give Shayla a piece of his mind.

After checking the place for any signs of Byng, the boy sat atop a big pile of empty crates clinging to the side of a tavern. "I-I hope you know I'm not very happy with you," he sighed.

'You will be when you tap that thick, green ass, baby. Did you see how big that thing was when she turned around? Damn, son!'

"Not the point," Coye folded his arms, blushing.

'Ok, ok, so I might've gone a little far that time... but if you think about it, it's only fair. You got to choose Suzette as your first target, so as your partner, I get to choose your second!'

"I'm not even looking for more sex! I have you, and I have Suzette... that... that should be enough for me..." he said, even as a sinking feeling of doubt took hold of him, making him wonder if he really did hunger for more or not.

'But what if it's not? Suzette doesn't mind, and I mostly don't mind, so you should spread your wings a little. Just in case.'

"...Still,"

'You're only acting like this because it's Byng, aren't you?'

"Is that so wrong? I don't really know her, and she messes with me all the time... even if she's kinda cute, that doesn't mean I can just-"

'When you first saw those cards, you weren't sure if you liked them or not, right?'

"Um, I don't see how that-"

'Shush, dummy, I'm building up to a metaphor!' Shayla snapped, giving him a light bop on his head to quiet him down. 'What I'm getting at is you tried to ignore them and downplayed your interest, but Suzette called your bluff and gave you some anyway. Look at what happened next!'

"...I had sex with Suzette?"

Slapping her forehead into her palm, Shayla groaned. 'No, Coye. You opened the cards, and you liked them. You thought they were really cool, and now you want even more of them. Now, pretend that people are like cards. You didn't know what was going on in Suzette's head until you made an effort to get to know her, and now that you do, you like her a whole lot.'

"..."

'Do you have absolutely no interest in Byng? Because if there's really not a single spark on your side of things, I'll change my mind and back off just this once. The thing is, I think you do feel a little interested in her, and you're just stopping yourself from pursuing it because you're you. If I'm wrong, then tell me.'

Coye searched himself for the answer, and while he first thought it would be a simple 'no,' it turned out more complex than he anticipated. Putting aside Byng's attractive figure and her odd, intoxicating smell, he kept thinking of little things that stood out in their brief encounter, things that were much less superficial.

There was the way Byng smiled at him, the disappointment in her eyes when he brushed her off, and the excitement she clearly felt when Coye tried reaching out after Shayla forced him to, the spring in her step as she walked away after scheduling their date.

And then he remembered how her green skin made the redness of her cheeks stand out and how strangely beautiful it made Byng look. After that, he found he couldn't possibly argue against Shayla's accusation.

There was something.

It was small, but he couldn't deny it was there, and Shayla was right that he was trying to ignore it.

"Ok," Coye spoke after a long period of contemplative silence.

'Ok, what?'

"I'll give Byng a chance and try to get to know her better... you're right, Shayla. I-I don't know if what I'm feeling is curiosity, or lust, or something else, but... whatever it is I feel for Byng, it's not nothing."

'That's my boy,' Shayla exhaled, deeply proud of Coye for his maturity. 'I just want you to try once, ok? We'll see if anything happens with her, and if nothing does, then what've you got to lose?'

Embarrassment, anxiety, disappointment, humiliation, shame, awkwardness... there were a lot of responses Coye could come up with, but he knew what all of them were.

Excuses.

"Nothing," he said, taking in a deep breath of air.

'Exactly,' Shayla began to stroke Coye's head to calm the spike of emotions he knew he was feeling, and to her surprise, it worked. Her little hands calmed him and brought a gradual smile to his face as they sat there together in the alleyway.

To anyone who might've passed them by, they would only have seen a content boy looking pleased with himself as he sat by his lonesome and missed what an intimate moment this truly was.

Shayla was unpredictable- a wildcard. She was dangerous one moment, comforting the next, a mystical creature of extremes. Despite that, she again proved her unconventional wisdom to the boy and made him appreciate her more than he knew possible.

'You ready to get going, baby?' She asked, patting his head to motion him to get up.

"Yeah," Coye nodded, hopping up from the pile of boxes, still grinning ear to ear.

'That's my boy, let's go find you some ass to kick!'