The air outside was tepid and stuffy as the group journeyed back to Moonhaven, but it gradually turned brisk as they entered their secret grotto in Riviam Point.

At the center of the grotto sat a round steel tub, inside of it held an umpteen of crickets, caterpillars, earthworms, roly polies, red velvet mites, and at least three daddy long legs. Somewhere in the depths of the small tub, Skelkin was waiting to be found.

"Fun," Alex said cheerily, as he crouched down by the tub to get a better look of its biotic contents.

"Not bad," Lev agreed. He and Ziro stood closer, observing the tub as well.

"Your best work yet, Tick," Carsyn praised. She had crouched down on the opposite side of the tub across from Alex, beholding the unnerving sight also.

"Dude, seriously, a masterpiece." Jeremi had plopped down on his knees between Alex and Carsyn, leaning his face as close as he could to one of the visible daddy long legs the crawled limply over the surface.

"How'd you have time to...find all of these?" Six asked as she stood vigilantly next to Ziro, peering sparingly at the creatures inside the tub. Evan stood next to Lev, squeamish as she glanced every couple of seconds at the tub.

Tate strolled over to the tub to marvel at his work, and an undaunted laugh escaped him. "A few late night ventures here and there," he explained. "No big whoop. Although I did have to fight off a bunch of greedy lizards every now and then. Again, no big whoop." Carsyn, Lev and Evan all scoffed in unison, but Tate ignored them.

"What are the rules?" Ziro finally asked.

"It's quite simple boys and girls," Tate went on. "We each have sixty seconds to reach in with both hands and find Skelkin. If you find him, raise him high in the air, then put him back somewhere in the tub while everyone's turned around."

"Seriously? In all of that? Dude, what if we get bitten or something?" Evan questioned.

"Relax, Eva. They're harmless, all of 'em," Tate said. "One of the worst case scenarios is something tries to nibble on you a bit. I'll say it one more time, no big whoop."

"What do you get if you do find him?" Carsyn asked, a grin spread wide across her lips.

"Those successful at locating Skelkin will have the luxury of lounging away while the losers will be tasked with cooking a back-to-school feast, and clean up afterwards of course. There's a surprise menu for the losers to prepare from scratch, provided by one, Silas Mitchell," Tate announced, looking to Ziro to confirm that all of that could take place at his house.

"Sounds fair," Ziro agreed.

"Your idea of fair is seriously out of whack. It's one thing to touch one of them, but having both arms swimming around in there is seriously revolting," Evan protested.

"Hey, it's not like you have to eat 'em," Tate laughed. "Likely that's what Skelkin's doing right now, so I suggest we get this show on the road before he cleans out the whole competition."

"Can I go first?" Alex asked. The pain from his inked neck was subsiding at last, so he straightened himself as if he were ready to leap head-first into the tub.

"Alright, A.P.! That's the eager-beaver attitude we're looking for!" Tate reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and set a timer for sixty seconds. His finger hovered over the start button. "Ready on the front-line!"

Alex got on one knee, leaning forward over the tub, hands ready to dive in.

Tate tapped the green button. "And go!"

The air cooled and sun had sunk at half mast on the horizon as evening began. The group had dawdled back to Umbramoor Manor, bringing along the tub of insects and worms so that Skelkin too, could have a feast of his own.

Evan, Jeremi, Six and Ziro had been unable to find the salamander in sixty seconds, so they had sulked their way straight into the kitchen upon entering the manor. Tate joined Carsyn on the sofa while Lev headed upstairs to use the bathroom. No one commented as Alex followed him. Lev strolled into the bathroom of the guest room that Alex was staying in, while Alex plopped back onto the queen-sized bed to wait for him.

It had been about three weeks since his ominous first night in the hospital. He'd immediately told Lev about his meeting with the baleful individual, Eric Hyve was his name, and Lev hadn't hesitated to inform Ziro, who had then recounted the story to the rest of the group, and they had all returned the next morning to non-abrasively question Alex and offer un-ending comfort. Even Skelkin, who Alex had thought could somehow sense his uneasiness, continuously licked the grooves between his fingers all throughout the night.

Even with all the comfort and licks, Alex still couldn't shake the dread that he really would see him again one day. He had only met him once, but Eric Hyve just wasn't someone he could forget.

The door of the bathroom creaked open a few minutes later, but Alex hadn't heard it. Lev came out and noticed how distracted Alex looked. Without warning, Lev leapt onto the bed making a clean landing next to Alex.

"What're you thinking about, Prior?" he asked, ignoring how surprised Alex now looked by his sudden presence.

"Just...thinking about how you managed to psyche out Ziro and get him to lose today," Alex told him.

Lev's chuckle was diabolical. "You'd think after seventeen years he'd know better. Now tell me what you're really thinking about." Alex sighed, defeated. He knew he wouldn't put up much of a fight if Lev pressed him, but somehow right now he couldn't bring himself to say anything. "Tell me you're not thinking about that red haired jackass in bed," Lev said mockingly.

"Very funny," Alex chuckled. He rolled over so that he was now facing Lev, who was propped up one arm and gazing down at him.

"Glad you enjoyed it, but only part of that was a joke," Lev said. "I thought you dropped this. I've told you — we've told you already — that you're never gonna see that creep again. If by some freak chance you did, he's gonna need more than just words to get through us."

Another sigh slipped away as Alex asked, "but...what about him? What about Turtleneck?"

In one swift movement, Lev maneuvered his palms planting them on either side of Alex's head, and he hovered himself over the rest of Alex's body. Forced to remain in the narrow space between Lev's and feeling safely trapped, Alex let his hands rest atop his stomach, his eyes continuing to gaze at Lev's imposing stature.

"No," Lev started, voice low and unyielding. "You did what you did to help a friend, but now that dealer's not your problem anymore. Just worry about yourself, you can't get involved in any of that. For all we know, that guy was just messing with you anyway. So forget about it, all of it. Starting now. Got it?"

When Alex didn't immediately respond and instead gazed downward at his fiddling fingers over his stomach, Lev lowered himself so that his forehead and nose barely touched Alex's.

He asked again, softer, "got it?"

"...got it..." Alex breathed, and let his eyes slowly drift closed.

"Good." Lev tilted his head so that his lips could better reach Alex's.

Alex only had a second before Lev's warm lips pressed against his. He noticed that Lev's tongue wasn't battling for entry into his mouth like it usually had been lately, and he had to admit to himself in the moment, that he was somewhat disappointed.

Half of a half-hour later, Alex and Lev re-emerged downstairs; Lev at the forehead with Alex trailing behind as usual. The tv blared vicious sounds of a mixed martial arts match, but no one seemed to be bothered by the noise.

Carsyn was alone on the sofa, and despite the boisterous roughhousing emitting from the television, she still managed to hear the two boys descend from the stairs. She craned her head towards them and said, "geez, how long does it take to wizz, Novas? And Lexy, I know watching him do the deed must be a spectacle, but come on. What the hell else were you two doing up there?"

Even after weeks of being with the group and coexisting with Ziro's rules, Alex decided that there were some things that should be kept a secret. Not for the sake of keeping a secret, but to protect the rest of the group, including himself, from any more worry over something he needed to put in the past.

"Watching porn," Alex fibbed, voice sounding minimally timid.

"Ha, very funny. Seriously, Lexy."

Alex hesitated to produce another answer, but before he could spout any more words, Lev threw an arm around his neck and tugged him along toward the unoccupied side of the sofa.

Coolly, he replied for Alex, "he just told you." When they reached the sofa, he lightly shoved Alex into an empty spot before crossing by and grabbing the seat between him and Carsyn. He said to Alex, "if you tell her what kind, your underwear's going over your head."

Gratitude welling in him, Alex leaned over and settled a kiss on Lev's cheek. He didn't think much about it; it was one of those rare moments where everything else around him just didn't matter except for Lev. A grin snuck onto Carsyn's lips she crossed her legs on the sofa, eyeing the two with curious eyes.

They were all pried from the moment when Tate re-entered the living room. "A.P., you're finally back! Was it that much of a milestone to watch your lover relieve himself?"

"Apparently that wasn't the only thing he was watching," Carsyn commented as she glanced back at Tate with a sleazy grin.

Somehow, Tate was able to solve the cryptic yet lewd words, and a sleazy grin of his own quickly formed. "Holy alien-pee-pods-" he didn't get to finish, as a leather cushion was launched at his face. Lacking much athletic skill, Tate failed to dodge or catch it, and stumbled to pick it up as he frowned at the obvious suspect.

"Shut it," Lev said softly with a menacing smile over the words.

Tate threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey, alright. Don't attack the messenger."

"What's the message?" Alex asked.

"Well well, if you take a look up at the sky, you'll get a good look at a two-for-one-night special." Tate strolled over to the rear of the living room and drew open the curtains of a wide, four square sectored window.

Both Alex and Carsyn eagerly got up and went over as well, leaving Lev to slowly trail after them. He stopped midway when he heard movement coming from behind him, and when he turned to look he saw Evan, Jeremi, Six and Ziro surfacing from the kitchen with their aprons abandoned.

"Hey, shouldn't you guys be busy in the kitchen?" Lev questioned.

"Union break," Six stated.

"Fifteen minutes," Evan affirmed.

"Them's the rules, dude," Jeremi added.

Lev scoffed, "since when was that a rule." He looked to Tate, but Tate continued to look through the window as if he hadn't heard anything.

Ziro answered instead. "Since five minutes ago." He playfully punched Lev's shoulder on his way to the window, and Lev grumbled as he followed.

"Holy shit..." Carsyn gasped.

Way up in the dimmed sky was Moonhaven's famed lavender moon, illuminating in full form. Beside it on its left side, was the regular moon that the rest of the world knew, also illuminating in full form.

"Beautiful..." Alex whispered. "Is this the first time this has happened in Moonhaven?" he asked no one in particular.

Ziro nodded and answered. "As far as any of us know."

"You know," Six started, "I think I read somewhere that this is like a sign for things to come."

Tate snorted, "a sign? Are you for real?"

"I'm serious! They described this exact thing happening with the full moons, and it being some kind of sign," Six protested.

"A sign for what though?" Jeremi asked.

"That's just it, it didn't say whether it would be good things or bad things, just things. Maybe even both."

This time, Carsyn snorted. "No offense Six, but that sounds like the plot of some lame fantasy movie. Come on Lexy, time for a photo-shoot. If we're lucky, the moons will be like that all night, which means we have a long photo session ahead of us." She handed Alex her phone, then positioned herself against the window, posing dramatically.

Without any complaints, and a hint of enthusiasm, Alex opened the phone's camera and got to work as professionally as he could seem. Lev watched them, looking vexed as he shoved his hands inside his pants pockets.

"Jealous it isn't you he's capturing on camera?" Evan whispered to him.

Lev glared at her as she skipped away, and groaned when he heard Ziro chuckling. "Tomorrow couldn't come sooner."