Kellan would have loved to say that Monique declaring herself his Girlfriend, or rather him being declared as hers, had changed his perception of reality.

  Rose colored Glasses and all that. But the truth was much less interesting. Kellan Bishop was always in love with someone, since he could Neurocognitively be into people, he had been into people.

  In elementary school he had been sent to the Principal's office and had his parents called, for kissing a boy.

  It hadn't been intentional, that time.

  Although every other time he'd done it, it was.

  Kellan didn't think he was in love with Monique. At least not romantically. Not yet at least. However He was into her, in all of the ways one could be into people. Platonically - he definitely wanted to be better friends. Romantically - he wanted to do all of the romantic stuff, like dinner and watching movies. Intellectually - she was really interesting to talk to, or at least she had been in the past. Sexually - Goth girls…. And that was all the exploring of that particular thought he would allow himself for now.

  Monique's phone had rang and she was staring at the screen. Kellan didn't really know what to do. There was family stuff involved and that was dangerous for someone who didn't know what exactly was going on. Anti-personnel landmines were a war crime for a reason.

  She hopped off his lap and took the call.

  Monique was notoriously bad at phonecalls, everyone knew.

  Already she was pacing around in front of the bench they had been sitting on. He couldn't hear what the other end of the call was saying but Monique seemed to be somewhat agitated.

  “Yes. “ She said.

  “No, I'm in the park. “ She shook her head.

  “I'm sorry for not coming home yesterday, I really didn't think you would worry.” She sighed “Really, it's safer than ever, you're being manipulated Dad!”

  Kellan felt bad for listening in , even if he really couldn't help it. Even he, who up until a few hours ago had only been on the periphery of her friend group knew that she and her dad didn't have a good relationship.

  “... I know it's dangerous, I honestly wasn't really thinking. I'm sorry for worrying you.”

  She sounded small.

  Well Emotionally small, Monique was always small.

  Kellan wanted to put her on the top shelf, but that would just mean a kick to the face.

  “No, I already ate something. Dad, Connor said he's coming! I'm waiting for him. “

  Kellan, in these past few hours had become almost jealous of the way her face just lit up when she talked about her brother. Not really jealous, because he understood that if he was away for a long time then his siblings would probably be excited about everything related to him as well.

  It was very cute, but a part of him wanted her to be excited about him, and not her brother. Which of course was ridiculous.

  He zoned back in.

  “No! And I'm not stopping being friends with Tyler just because you have stopped accepting his existence. You didn't give a shit when I became friends with him years ago, and now it's suddenly a problem? The only thing that has changed is your opinions. “ Monique was gesticulating wildly, Kellan had to dodge a hand or two.

  She gave him an apologetic look and took a step back. She nodded at what was being said on the other side - which was completely meaningless since she was on a phone call.

  “yes. I understand your concerns. But Dad, there's always people on the other side. Every number was a person once. “ She told her father quietly over the phone.

  Then she grinned at Kellan “Besides, I'm not alone anyway I have company. “

  She winked. He winked back.

  “Yes it's a boy. “

  She rolled her eyes annoyed.

  “Ugh yes. You and mom taught me about that, back before you changed your mind about women having agency. “

  Kellan blushed at what was being implied.

  “Yes, that is exactly what you're doing, you just don't want to admit it. “

  Kellan wouldn't want to be the ground right now with the force of the glare that Monique was piercing it with.

  “I didn't make it about sex, you did. I'm not planning on doing anything like that. Besides Connor trusts him.”

  Kellan was realizing that hearing only one side of the conversation meant that he was missing a lot of very important context.

  Which wasn't his most cerebral realization but it was an important one nonetheless.

  “What do you mean ‘Connor trusts him’ is not a good argument? “ Monique's glare had softened somewhat. “Would you say the same about the president? Because Connor got that medal, which means that the president trusts Connor and Connor trusts Kellan. “

  Kellan was pretty sure that was not how Transitive Property worked.

  “Y-yes. “ Monique was blushing now, or at least he thought so, but by now she had partially turned away from him.

  “Damn it… I i love you too…”

  Kellan gave an adoring sigh, Monique was so cute.

  “What? R-really…?”

  Kellan almost jumped for the tonal whiplash as she went from reluctant agreement to full on happiness in a single exchange.

  “S-she went? “

  Monique was actually crying now.

  It was not cute.

  She wasn't sobbing yet, but still her face was scrunched up and honestly kinda ugly.

  At least Kellan thought so.

  “P-please tell her I'm proud of her. And that I love her. “ She wiped her tears.

  “Yes. I'll come back with Connor. I love you. “

  Monique turned back around to Kellan.

  “Thanks for telling me.”

  She hung up, and gave Kellan a bright if wobbly grin.

  “I hate phone calls. “

  Kellan gave her a look over.

  “Are you… good?” He asked hesitantly.

  She drew in a shuddering breath and then nodded ”y-yeah. There's some stuff, and I don't really want to talk about it, but I think it's going better than I thought it was.”

  Kellan smiled “then I won't ask and just be happy for you “

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She stepped back over to him and pat his cheek “Good boy”

  Right, okay. That's new. Good. Maybe.

  She snickered but didn't tease him further. Now that she was closer he could see her face much better.

  “Your makeup isn't even smeared, that's kinda amazing…” he told her.

  “It isn't? Woah… “ Monique's eyes gleamed for a moment. “It's really cool, it's this small little online store that Naomi told me about and…” suddenly she looked accusatory ”You're trying to change the topic!”

  Damn.

  Got him there.

  He nodded ”is it working?”

  She huffed “Don't get smart with me. Also pointing out that I'm pretty right after an emotional conversation isn't exactly good form.“

  He nodded, but then shrugged “I would rather you be mad at me for being tactless than sad.”

  “That's a stupid thing to do. You should do both. “

  He nodded again “I'll try. I'm… much better at starting than I am at continuing.”

  He didn't want to be this honest but something about her just drew it out of him.

  He was actually very sweet, at least Monique thought so.

  “I can't help but notice that you didn't actually tell me what you actually were, before we got distracted. And yes, I am changing the topic, but it's fine when I do it.” Monique said through narrowed eyes.

  Kellan sighed.

  “ To summarize, way back in the woods I spoke to something. And it didn’t take me… it just marked me.”

  He tapped the center of his chest, just beneath his sternum.

  “There’s something in me now. Something listening. It gives me insight. Sometimes... strength. Sometimes it leaks.”

  His hand lowered.

  “They sometimes call people like me ‘Keys.’ We open things. We invite.”

  He looked her straight in the eyes, had she mentioned she liked his eyes, because she did.

  “But you? You’re the door they want to open. The undeveloped land. The condo to renovate.”

  Monique stared at him, something ancient and electric crawling up her spine. Like that one fuzzy Pocketmonster but like old.

  Hey Kellan,

  You know what else leaks?

  You know what else you should mark~?

  FOR FUCK’S SAKE, SHADOW.

  Monique clenched her jaw just tight enough to keep herself from physically cringing, while Shadow practically vibrated in the background of her mind with the delight of a demon who’d just discovered innuendo and had no intention of letting go.

  She exhaled slowly, ignoring the heat rising to her cheeks and the cursed mental imagery that came way too fast after the word “mark.”

  Instead, she sat down on the bench next to him, leaned back on her hands, legs folded, and gave Kellan a slow, toothy grin. One that said: I don't know what I’m doing, but I want to learn. At least that's what she hoped she was communicating.

  “So you’re saying,” she drawled, “if we do the whole ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ thing I definitely win?”

  Kellan looked at her.

  Paused.

  Then laughed, not mocking, just a bit awkward. Just a single, sharp bark of amusement like she’d surprised him.

  Again.

  “I mean, yeah,” he said, half-shrugging. “You’d probably win. I’m just the ghost door. Or the key really. You’re the whole ass haunted mansion.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “With bloodstained curtains and everything?”

  “Oh, yeah. Ornate candelabras. Victorian trauma. Whispering wallpaper.”

  He leaned a little closer, lips twitching with a smirk of his own.

  “But the haunted mansion doesn’t get to complain when someone wants to explore the basement.”

  Monique made a face. “That was so close and then you made it viscerally upsetting.”

  He grinned. “Balance.”

  Behind her mind’s eye, Shadow swooned.

  He’s perfect for us. Let him into the attic. Or the sewers, especially the sewers. Our pipes really need to be cleaned.

  NO.

  I wasn’t just talking about human marking... Our Boy Toy probably talked to a canine of some kind and you know how they mark their territory...

  You- Monique blinked. I’m not even going to process that right now.

  She refused to visualize it. Not the lifted leg. Not the smug expression. Not the weird, possessive energy that was weirdly hot in theory and horrifying in detail.

  Shuyet giggled like a goblin with a Tumblr account. “Soon~.”

  Monique sighed. A long, slow, soul-weary sigh.

  “Connor said he’d be here soon,” she muttered, brushing a hand through her hair. “Well, like, in two hours or whatever.”

  She looked at Kellan, one brow raised, the tired sarcasm creeping back in like a welcome ghost. “So, are there any more bombshells to drop on your end? Or have you finished casually dismantling my understanding of reality for the day?” That dismantling was happening with increased frequency, but she hoped it was just a series of bad draws, since she honestly didn't think her reality could take much more dismantling.

  Kellan looked down, fiddling with an empty takeout box like it could absorb some of the awkwardness.

  Then he nodded. “One more.”

  For fucks sake.

  Monique tilted her head, sighed and waited for him to speak.

  He took a breath. “Connor didn’t just send me to watch you. He… kind of asked me to anchor you.”

  She blinked. “What does that mean?”

  Kellan glanced up, serious now. “If you started to destabilize emotionally, metaphysically, poetically I was supposed to bring you back. I’m… trained in grounding. In binding, if it came to that. Soul tethering.”

  Hell yeah. Binding! just imagine it, being helpless beneath him. Completely at his mercy….

  STOP PUTTING IMAGES IN MY MIND

  I'm just the voice inside your head that you refuse to hear

  Monique started. Put the Images and the foo fighters out of her mind and slowly repeated, “Binding?”

  Kellan held up his hands quickly. “Only if necessary! Like, worst case. You were showing signs of fragmentation, and if a full composite starts unraveling, things can slip through. Not just ghosts. Things from below.”

  “Below” she echoed, deadpan.

  “Like… the place nightmares look up at.”

  Monique took another long breath.

  “Cool,” she muttered. “So my brother sent a hot idiot to be my emotional leash in case I turned into a psychic volcano.”

  Kellan blinked. “…When you say it like that, it sounds worse.”

  She looked at him, one corner of her mouth twitching. “That’s because it is worse.”

  She didn't give him time to blink before she threw him on his back. Her thighs bracketing his hips, her hands on his chest, her smirk somewhere between bratty chaos goblin and feral flirt from hell. Probably. Hopefully.

  “D-does it hurt?” she whimpered theatrically, just going for it, for now other reason than she wanted to try doing it “Being bound to you, sir? W-would s-senpai like it when I’m on his leash like a good pet?”

  Her voice trembled just enough to sound convincingly vulnerable, if you ignored the way she was smirking.

  Kellan’s eyes went wide.

  She could tell that his brain had exploded.

  And in the back of her mind, Shuyet, purred.

  Damn,

  You don’t even need my advice anymore. Just went for it, huh?

  I dont know what the fuck im doing please help

  No. This is too much fun. I am very proud of you though.

  Somehow that makes it worse.

  Monique, still straddling the man who had technically been sent to contain her, tilted her head innocently, as if she hadn’t just sent him to horny jail without trial.

  Kellan made a small, broken noise. It was very cute, so she smirked wider.

  “…Why are you like this?” he asked, voice hoarse.

  She batted her lashes. “I don't know. You said you were supposed to keep me grounded. I’m just giving you a firm grip on reality.”

  “Reality doesn’t usually come with thighs.”

  “Mine does.”

  His mouth opened-then closed. “They are very good thighs.”

  “Ill take that under consideration.”

  He made a helpless motion with his hands, like he was debating whether to push her off or pull her closer.

  Then, with the air of someone who knew he was probably going to die, he muttered

  “I’m not trained for this.”

  Monique leaned closer, lips barely brushing his ear.

  “Good,” she whispered. “That makes two of us.”

  As he laid there she could tell every muscle in his body was vibrating somewhere between arousal, panic, and deep existential confusion, at least she hoped so.

  Monique tilted her head and dropped another conversational bomb because she had just remembered something.

  “I remember being invited and attending your seventh birthday, though,” she said thoughtfully, still straddling him, fingers idly tracing circles on his chest like she wasn’t casually delivering a psychological uppercut. “So you were already a regular side character in my life before Connor got his fingers in your pie…”

  She paused.

  Frowned.

  Then gagged visibly.

  “Wait, no. That makes it sound like you slept with my brother. Ew. Gross. Delete. Control-Z.”

  Kellan wheezed. “Please never say ‘Connor got his fingers in my pie’ ever again.”

  She groaned, covering her face with both hands while still seated firmly on him.

  “I hate myself.”

  “You should.”

  “And yet, here I am.”

  “Still on top of me,” he added helpfully.

  “Don’t push your luck, Bishop.”

  He raised his hands in mock surrender, though the grin threatening his face was not innocent.

  “You remember my seventh birthday?” he asked after a moment, genuinely surprised.

  Monique shrugged, slightly awkward. “Yeah. You had a big cake. You were dressed like Ash. You tried to duel me with a water balloon. Or maybe that never happened.”

  He blinked. “I literally thought I imagined that.”

  “You fucking lost.”

  “You cheated.”

  “I improvised.”

  “Wait. I thought I first met you like four years ago? What? “ Kellan said, frowning.

  “No that definitely doesn't work with your comment on the kidney earlier” Monique said, frowning as well.

  Thank you for reading! Next chapter on Tuesday! Feedback is as always appreciated