Thomas spat out yet more glitter into the bathroom sink. The stuff seemed never ending - every time he thought he had finally cleaned his mouth, he’d feel more, and then find more.

He rinsed his mouth for the umpteenth time, watching flakes of glitter disappear down the drain. “That’s right. Die, you little shiny bastards.” He said, satisfied. Then, a claw tapped him on the shoulder.

Thomas turned to see Javqua, standing awkwardly beside him. “Umm...is your mouth clean?” She asked quietly, and he sighed as he shook his head. Turning to the bathroom mirror, he opened his mouth wide. He couldn’t see any glitter, but he could feel its harsh, grainy texture, and it was driving him crazy.

“Here -” Javqua gently grabbed his chin, turning his head towards her. Thomas didn’t resist as she pried open his mouth, leaning down close to his face to see better.

Then, the bathroom door opened.

Thomas and Javqua turned to see a muscular Krakovak - presumably Javqua’s father, standing in the doorway. “Woah! Sorry if I’m interrupting something,” He boomed, laughing deeply as he closed the door again.

“Dad! It’s not like - dad!” Javqua sprinted out of the bathroom, and once Thomas knew she was out of earshot, he began laughing himself.

Thomas eventually gave up on removing the glitter and left the bathroom.

He spent a little bit of time looking more closely around Javqua’s house - it was cozy looking. The walls were a fair blue, wood-like material, that made him feel calm - and there were translucent patches of walls that acted like windows, letting in light, but obscuring the outside world.

Thomas awkwardly began looking for Javqua - but before he could do that, a small krakovak around the height of his neck just...appeared out of thin air. She stared intently up at him, in a slightly unnerving way.

“Hi!” She squealed loudly, seemingly unable to control the volume of her voice. From what he could remember, this was the girl from before - Ora.

Ora didn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space - evident by the fact that she was right up in his face, with her wide, childish smile.

Not really knowing how to respond, he gingerly greeted her back. “Hi.”

“You're the human Javi’s dating, right?” Ora exclaimed, and Thomas turned a deep red.

“I...uhh... wh-what…” Thomas didn’t even get to finish stammering, as Ora babbled on.

“Why is your face so red? Are you sick? Ew! I don’t like sick people! They smell bad!” She covered her nostrils, backing away. Before Thomas could respond, another one of Javqua’s younger siblings appeared - also a female. How many siblings does she have? Thomas wondered. He only had Alex, and…yeah, let’s stop that thought.

“Leave him alone Ora.” The girl said quietly, and Ora pouted. “You're no fun Lyra!” She grumbled before dashing away.

“Umm...I’m sorry about the glitter...” Lyra mumbled before chasing after her sister.

Well...that was certainly something. Thomas thought to himself before the smell of cooking meat reached his nose. He headed for the kitchen downstairs, going down the stairs...very slowly this time.

Once making it to the bottom, he saw what appeared to be Javqua’s mother, cooking enormous chunks of meat.

Thomas approached her a bit awkwardly, building up his resolve. “Hello! Mrs…” It was then Thomas realized that he had never asked Javqua for her last name. That was if she even had a last name.

“O’dea.” Mrs. O’dea answered, a small knowing smile forming on her face, and Thomas nodded.

“Thank you...yes, hello Mrs. O’dea. I’m Thomas. Javqua’s...friend. I think you’ve heard of me?” He said hesitantly.

“Oh, yes, Javqua talked about you a lot.” Mrs. O'dea said cheerfully, as she flipped the delicious smelling meat.

“She has?” Thomas said a bit too excitedly, and Mrs. O’dea turned to face him. The expression on her face resembled someone with their eyebrows raised, not that she had any.

“Yes - and I’m glad she does. Usually, there’s at least a few predators in the same grade, but...there weren't any this year. At least until you came along.” Mrs. O’dea gave him a toothy smile, and he smiled back sheepishly, not entirely sure where this conversation was going.

“If you're looking for her, she’s talking with her father downstairs.” Mrs. O’dea said, gesturing with her tail towards stairs that lead downwards.

“Uhh, yes, thank you.” Thomas said.

As he descended slowly down the stairs, gripping onto the handrail tightly, he could hear Javqua in an argument with her father.

“You sure you don’t have a thing for the little guy? I won't lie, he’s adorable.” Mr. O’dea said, chuckling, and Thomas peered around a corner to see Javqua clutching her face in her claws, distressed.

“Daaad! I’m telling you, he’s a predator!” Javqua insisted.

“An adorable predator,” Javqua’s father snorted.

Thomas couldn’t help but let out a muffled laugh, which was thankfully covered up by Mr. O’dea’s roaring laughter.

Being as casual as possible, he revealed himself, pretending he hadn't heard their conversation. “Hey!” He greeted happily, and he watched as Javqua and Mr. O’dea jumped, almost like they hadn’t heard him coming.

“Well well well, if it isn't my daughter’s boyfri-'' He started before Javqua jabbed him in the side with her claw. Not hard, but not soft either.

“Ow! Ah! Okay, okay, my daughter’s very close male ‘acquaintance’.” Mr. O’dea smiled.

“That’s me!” Thomas smiled back, making sure to seem as clueless as possible.

He couldn’t tell if Javqua was more embarrassed, or less - she had gone back to hiding her face in her hands.

“Any idea what’s for dinner?” Thomas said conversationally, and Mr. O’dea flexed his claws.

“Meat.” The krakovak responded bluntly.

“Well, I should have seen that coming,” Thomas said as Mr. O’dea began to laugh again.

“I like your ‘friend’ a lot, Javqua!” Mr. O’dea wiped tears from his eyes as he walked past Thomas, heading upstairs. “I can tell he’s great already.”

As the sound of his footsteps disappeared, Javqua let out a sound of frustration.

“Hey, dad’s are meant to be embarrassing, right?” Thomas joked reassuringly, and Javqua nodded, a small chuckle leaving her maw.

He looked around the basement - it was cool and dark, and there seemed to be several enormous fridges and freezer things scattered around.

“Hey Javi, what’s in these?” Thomas asked, using Ora’s nickname for Javqua as he touched the nearest freezer.

It was ice cold, and he pulled his hand back, shivering.

“Bodies.” Javqua answered casually, and Thomas did a double-take. “What?” He said, and Javqua shook her head.

“Okay, I could’ve probably said that better. They’re for animal corpses, that we butcher and eat ourselves,” Javqua explained.

“You don’t have supermarkets?” Thomas asked curiously, and Javqua flicked her tail. “We do, but...my parents like tradition, and sometimes use the hunting reserve’s, they're areas for us to hunt food ourselves.”

“Wow. That’s pretty cool.” Thomas said.

As he enjoyed the refreshing coolness of the basement in silence, he realized Javqua was staring at him, and he turned to her.

“Look...Thomas. I don’t know how to say this, but...is there...” Javqua fidgeted with her claws awkwardly, her voice dying down.

Thomas could only stand there awkwardly, waiting for her to finish speaking.

“A-are we...maybe...more than just fr-” “DINNER’S READY!” Mr. O’dea roared, and Thomas jumped.

He turned back to Javqua, but she was already speed walking to the stairs, avoiding his gaze.

Thomas decided not to bring up what she was saying, although his eyebrows raised in confusion.

Did she mean...what he thought she was going to say?... nah.