Sean's hand felt so weak and small in Logan's scaly hand. Logan's long talon nails curled entirely around his hand, the sharp tips pressing into the back of his hand. Sean winced, mumbling out shakily. "Easy on your grip." Logan released him, blushing as he uttered under his breath. "Sorry... We don't usually shake hands. I'm still learning..." Sean pulled his hand back, feeling something stick to his palm. Turning his hand over he saw a patch of wet skin that wasn't his own. Logan hunched his shoulders with embarrassment, reaching out to peel the skin off his hand. Unable to make eye contact with him now, Logan was barely audible when he said. "That's happening more and more lately... I'm... still growing." Sean discreetly wiped his palm across his thigh, asking a little surprised. "Still growing? But you're already so big... How old are you?" Logan finally looked at him, answering dryly. "In human years or Reptilian?" Sean blinked perplexed. That thought hadn't really occurred to him. How long did lizards live for? Logan smirked at Sean's reaction, before simply adding a little amused. "I'm seven in Reptilian years. Which makes me... Seventy-two in Human years."

Sean's eyes widened in disbelief as he squeaked out. "Seventy-two?! How long do you guys live for?!" Logan lifted a hand to count with his fingers, lost in thought for a minute as he mumbled things in another language that he couldn't completely hear. After a minute, he lowered his hand and answered bluntly. "We live for about two-hundred years in human time. Which would make the average Reptilian age about two-thousand and eight hundred years old?" Sean's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Pointing to Logan, Sean stammered out. "So, you are... A kid?" Logan nodded, asking a little confused. "Yes. I just told you that." Sean sat forward, saying completely dumbfounded. "But you were going to hack into NASA and... You were gonna..." Sean pointed to the bed unable to finish that part. He had thought he was dealing with a large adult predator, but now it was more frightening to think that was just a kid! Logan snorted with a blushing smile as he said. "By Reptilian standard, I'm what you'd call a teenager. I reached 'maturity' as you humans put it, last month."

Sean raised an eyebrow, mumbling out to himself. "And you're practically a kid genius... Well, that makes me feel stupid." Logan rolled his eyes, grumbling out. "I'm actually the dumbest kid in my class... but thank you." Sean crossed his arms, collecting himself better as he blurted out. "What a minute... Then that means you've NEVER hunted before?" Logan's tail tapped the floor anxiously as he uttered out. "Again. I told you that... I've never killed anything... I thought it would be easy. The adults make it sound so easy. But smelling your fear and hearing your distress... It is..." Logan suddenly sprang out onto all fours, locking eyes with Sean as he rushed out in a panic. "Look you can't tell anyone! They'll kill us both if any of this gets out! I shouldn't even be talking to you!" Sean slammed his back up against the nightstand, extending out a hand toward Logan's long scaly nose as he rushed out in a barely contained voice. "Whoa! I won't! No one would believe me anyway... I'm not even sure I believe any of this!"

Logan leaned back to his crouched position, covering his face with his hand and he whined out a little. "My dad's gonna kill me... I can't do anything right... I can't even kill you..." Sean lowered his hand, saying gently. "Hey... Don't say that. You escaped your guards and managed to get to me before revealing yourself. That's not bad for your first time around humans." Logan lowered his hand, flinching as his stomach growled loudly. For a few seconds, a silence fell between them, until Sean chuckled out. "Oh... How long has it been since you've last eaten anything?" Logan shifted uneasily on his feet, rubbing his scaly stomach as he admitted gruffly. "Not since I ran away... It's been getting worse..." Sean climbed to his feet slowly, telling him with a chuckle. "Well... That explains your growing mood swings. See, humans get kind of bitter when we're hungry too. Just stay here." Logan moved to the door before Sean reached it, nervously mumbling out. "What are you going to do?"

Sean put the key into the door, unlocking as he told him. "I'm going to get you something to eat. Just... Stay here." Logan moved away from the door and Sean slipped out into the dark hallway. Shaking his head, he mumbled under his breath as he went to the kitchen. "Great... I've become prey and a parent all in less than an hour." Sliding his hand across the wall, he navigated the darkness and made his way into the kitchen. He was familiar enough with the layout to get to the fridge. Removing his shirt, he kneeled down and opened the fridge. They had a few leftovers and lunch meat stuff that he hoped Logan could eat. Anything to keep himself off the menu. Piling it all on his shirt, he wrapped his shirt around it and snuck his way back. Slipping back into the room, Sean froze. Logan was sitting back against the bed and chewing on Mark's metal baseball bat like a dog with a chew toy. Shaking his head, he closed the door and told Logan. "I got you something. I hope you can eat it."

Logan stopped chewing on the handle of the bat as he excitedly said. "That was fast. I thought it would take longer to kill the dog." Sean whirled to face him, squeaking out. "What?! I didn't kill Chica. Why would you even-?" Logan shrugged, innocently asking. "Isn't that why you humans keep pets? To eat them?" Sean shook his head, stating out. "No." Logan blinked confused now as he retorted. "But you eat cows and sheep?" Sean nodded before he realized what Logan was getting at and interjected quickly. "No. Wait. Different animals. We don't eat dogs and cats." Logan raised his head with understanding as he said. "Oh! I get it. Their poisonous." Sean moved to Logan, taking the bat from him before saying nicely. "No. We just... We just don't." Logan crossed his scaly arms, raising his eyebrow, upon answering perplexed. "Your kind is so weird... Everything you do is so complicated." Sean set his shirt down at Logan's feet, telling him honestly. "Ya... I guess, I can see that from your prospective. But... don't you guys have pets?" Logan leaned forward to sniff the shirt, answering coolly. "Of course. We can't afford to store meat for too long. We kill what we need."

Sean cleared his throat uneasily, taking a seat back by the nightstand to watch Logan. Logan looked over the lunch meat containers, asking him curiously. "What is this?" Sean reached out to take it, peeling back the lid to take a piece as he answered. "Turkey. It's meat." Logan watched him eat it, then took it back to sniff it. Poking it with his talon, he pulled out a few pieces to lick it. Sean couldn't help chuckling. It was strange watching a creature like Logan be so hesitant to eat something. Opening his jaws, Logan put all the pieces into his mouth and began to chew. Sean waited to see if he'd spit it out. Logan swallowed after a minute, his eyes widening before he tilted the container to eat the rest in one big mouthful. Sean watched Logan grab another, prying the container open with his teeth and eating the contents in another big mouthful. Sean found it fascinating to watch him. He used his teeth more than his hands. He even used his tail to pull things closer. Tilting his head a little, he asked Logan curiously. "Hey, Logan... If you don't shake hands... What do you do?"

Logan swallowed, looking up as he said a little startled. "You really want to know?" Sean shrugged, telling him truthfully. "Ya. I'm curious about your kind... and I'm sure you're curious about mine?" Logan tensed a bit, mumbling out like a scared child. "I don't know... I'm not supposed to say. I've seen your movies... You'll use what I say to hurt us..." Sean gestured to himself, telling him with a smile. "You shouldn't believe what you see in the movies... Not everyone acts like that. Some of us are more open to cultures than others. Movies are... they are dramas. Stories that we tell each other to express feelings over the unknown. To us... Everything new is scary." Logan relaxed a little, saying softly. "My dad says that about your kind. It's why he's been trying to use media to see your reactions. He thinks we can find a way to work together... He says that humans are like us... but your feelings are deeper than ours. The more generations we have... the more we adapt human traits. The human DNA in us is... changing us emotionally. And we can't understand it. That scares the Order... We're drifting from our own kind and becoming... something else."

Sean sat up a bit straighter, saying softly to himself. "That's why they won't go save him. He's on our side and their afraid of what they are becoming." Logan flinched a little, causing Sean to add apologetically. "Sorry. I was just... Thinking out loud..." Logan turned fragile eyes on his scaly hand, telling Sean softly. "It's ok. You're not wrong... I'm just so worried." Sean set the chewed-up bat off to the side, telling him comfortingly. "I'm sure I have more reason to be worried than you. I mean... Mark is human and knows nothing about all this. Your dad is probably more skilled and knows how to survive better than anyone. He wouldn't be a leader if he wasn't, right?" Logan sniffled, nodding as his eyes brimmed with tears. Sean let out a quiet sigh. Knowing Logan was so young really pulled at his heartstrings. Climbing to his feet, he moved closer to put a hand on his scaly shoulder. Squeezing his shoulder, Sean told him in a confident voice. "I don't really know what I can do to help... but I'll help you bring him home. Just... Don't scare me like that again... My heart can't handle real horror..."

Sean felt better seeing Logan's scaly lips pull into a small smile. Climbing into bed, Sean laid down, telling him gruffly. "I'll need some sleep if I'm going to run off with you tomorrow. You should get some rest too... but don't let Mark's mother see you. I don't think I could make up a lie that quickly." Logan turned, resting his elbow on the bed as he asked him curiously. "Sean? What do you mean by that? Real horror, I mean." Sean snuggled into his pillow, pointing to the tv as he told him through a yawn. "I play video games on YouTube as my job. So, the horror isn't real... It's like a movie." Sean closed his eyes, starting to drift off. He heard the TV turn on and the lights turn off, but the glow of the TV was still dancing behind his eyelids when he fell asleep. He slept peacefully through the night, waking only to the sunlight streaming into the room from between the curtains. Inhaling, Sean sat up on his elbows and looked around. He wasn't sure if last night had been real... until he saw Logan.

Logan was sleeping on Mark's side of the bed, facing the TV that was in the middle of playing one of his alien themed games. Carefully sliding off the bed, he tried not to wake Logan. How long had he been up last night? Turning off the TV, Sean looked at all the empty food containers and began to clean up. When he finished throwing away all the trash, he paused to really look at Logan. Logan looked so different when he slept. He looked so gentle in his sleep. He'd never been a guy that liked reptiles... but Logan had made him want to learn so much more about them. Slipping into the bathroom, Sean relieved himself and splashed his face with cold water to help wake himself up. He needed coffee to truly wake himself up, but the cold water would help him at least get dressed. Looking up at himself in the mirror, he exhaled and tried to think of something to tell Mark's mom. He couldn't just leave without giving her some sort of reason. Heading back out of the bathroom, his mind was spinning with ideas. Distracting him from the looming shadow standing just off from the door.

When he noticed the dark form that shouldn't be there, he peeked out of the corner of his eyes. All he saw was a chest of scales before his body leapt sideways into the wall. Pressing himself into the corner, his heart spun wildly around in his chest. Logan winced guilty, pointing to the bathroom as he mumbled out. "Sorry... I just wanted..."  Drifting off, Logan slipped awkwardly into the bathroom without another word. Sean watched the door close, sliding down to the floor as he uttered out. "Oh, my heart..." If he wasn't awake before, he was now. Collecting himself, he slowly rose and headed out of the bedroom. Heading down the hall, he heard Mark's mother humming to herself in the kitchen. As he moved to the kitchen, Chica rushed to greet him. He reached out to pet her and she skidded to halt to smell him with an uneasiness. Pulling his hand back, he greeted Mark's mother and headed for the freshly made coffee. She greeted him, then did a doubletake when she noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He blushed sipping his black coffee, mumbling around the lip of the glass. "What? It was hot last night."

She looked away from him, telling him innocently. "I guess... Were you always so pale? You should get some more sun. Get some vitamin C in you." Rolling his eyes, he sipped his drink, then told her sweetly. "Yes. I was. And no. I'll burn. It's the curse of the Irish. We are full of enough fire to make our hair turn red... but when exposed to the sun... we cancel each other out." She laughed, then asked him curiously. "Is that really true?" Taking another sig from his coffee cup, he answered playfully as he made his way back toward the bedroom. "I don't know. Probably." She flicked a dish towel at him, chuckling out. "Put a shirt on then before you combust!" Sean snorted into his mug. He never went shirtless around her if he could help it. He wasn't particularly happy with the way he looked, and he just got more self-conscious about it as he got older. He was going from a stick figure body that could eat anything to... gaining all his adult weight at once. Mark loved his 'dad body,' but he didn't. Everyday it was a constant reminder that he was getting older... and his fans were beginning to point it out more and more.

Lowering his cup from his mouth, his positivity drained away at the thought. Without Mark on the platform, YouTube just wasn't the same for him. He didn't know if he could go back to it. He was falling out of touch with everything as he cared less for trends and more about spending the rest of his time with Mark. He'd always followed Mark, but he didn't want to admit to himself that he was getting older. Mark always adapted better than himself. Looking at the planet bracelet on his wrist, he let out a heavy sigh and tried to push it all from his mind. He couldn't think about that now with a lizard in his bedroom. Right now, he needed to focus on how they were going to trick Mark's mother into letting him leave. Along with how a seven-year-old Reptilian was going to steal a damn space shuttle without NASA noticing. Entering the bedroom, Sean stopped in the doorway to see Logan laying across his bed. His tail was wagging over him as he watched a Disney movie on the TV. Sean closed the door quickly behind him as Logan told Sean with a grin. "My little sister loves this movie." To Be Continued...