Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

focused on Fohi again. My brain kept telling me to look at Paci, to stare at him and try and figure out what was going through his head, but I ignored the compulsion. I’d already caused enough problems paying him too much attention.
    “Hey, Little Bee. How’s it hangin’?” I asked, sitting down next to him.
    “I’m not sure. Why don’t you check and see?” He opened his eyes and grinned at me weakly.
    “Ew , no thanks.”
    That seemed to wake him up. “Ew? You’re saying ew about my man-junk. Geez, way to shoot a guy down. Talk about shrinkage.”
    I laughed. “No offense, Bee. Just not in the mood to see the old twig and berries right now, shrunken or otherwise.”
    “That’s alright,” he said. “I’m saving myself anyway.”
    “Dude, you’re such a girl,” said Rob, sitting down next to his friend’s head.
    Fohi angled himself to look up at Rob. “Shut the hell up, dick. Just because I’ve got plans for my future that don’t include screwing around with any old girl, doesn’t mean I’m a chick. It means I’m intelligent .”
    “Yeah. Intelligent. That’s you, man. You hungry?”
    “Yeah. But I have food already on the way.” He smiled smugly at his friend, just as Winky was walking into the alcove.
    “Here you go, Fohi. Room service at your service.”
    Winky probably had no idea that she was sending Fohi’s heart into a flutter, but there was no mistaking the expression on his face; he had total goo-goo eyes for her. It was too bad that she seemed to be staring more at Rob than anyone else.
    “Thanks, Winky. That’s really nice of you. You’re always looking out for me like that.” Fohi struggled to sit up.
    Rob helped him by pushing on his back, not looking at Winky at all. It seemed almost deliberate how he stared at anything but her.
    “No big deal,” she responded. “We need to get you better so you can kick some canner butt later.”
    “You said it. I got demolitions to set up and traps to put together. I gotta get off my ass asap.” He grabbed a hunk of bread off the plate and bit into it, chewing like a cow.
    “You’re not going anywhere or doing any of that crap for at least a week or two,” said Rob.
    “Says who? You?” Crumbs were flying out of Fohi’s mouth. “You’re not the boss of me, Rob . You’re not even the boss of this kitten.” Fohi shifted the sleepy ball of fur from his lap to his shoulder where the little guy managed to curl back up and fall asleep with his claws digging into Fohi’s shirt.
    “You still aren’t going. Try it and I’ll bash you over the head with a shovel.”
    I lifted my eyebrows at that. Rob was seriously worried about his friend. He might actually have been serious about knocking his friend unconscious.
    “Ha. You could try, but then you’d better wear a cup the rest of your life. I hold a grudge you know.” Fohi gnawed off another hunk of stale bread.
    Rob laughed. “Bullshit. You couldn’t hold a grudge if your life depended on it.”
    “Go to hell, Rob. You don’t know me as well as you think you do.” Fohi looked at Winky. “So, you come around here often?”
    She snorted. “Not if I can help it. You want anything else?”
    “As a matter of fact …”
    Rob punched him hard in the back. “Nah, he’s good.”
    Winky walked away, shaking her head and smiling.
    I glanced up in time to see a ghost of a smile on Paci’s face. He looked at me and I turned back to Fohi, avoiding his gaze.
    “What the hell?!” shouted Fohi, wincing when his outburst caused the kitten to claw his shoulder in fright. “Ow, little kitty cat, ease up on the skin removal, will ya?” He pulled her off his shirt and set her down on the ground. “Go away, Fuzzybeans. Scat. I’m busy.”
    She picked her way across his blanket to his plate and helped herself to part of his breakfast, completely ignoring his dismissal. Her litter mate was sound asleep on a spare corner of the sleeping spot, not interested so much in the close and personal style of cuddling her sister was doing with Fohi, apparently.
    Fohi frowned at her for a second before turning his ire back on Rob. “What they hell’d you punch me for, assbag? I’m friggin injured in case you hadn’t noticed. And I’m trying to eat. You raised in a barn, or what?”
    Rob stood. “Just shut up for five minutes, would ya?” He walked away without saying another word, heading to the breakfast buffet.
    “What the heck’s wrong with him, anyway? What’d I say?” Fohi