Ant and Four

Ant and Four Chapter 10

This is a story about two boys growing up in the galaxy, in a distant future. Neither of them is human.

It is not an erotic tale, but one of friendship and love. The story contains no AI-generated material.

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Thoughts and comments? Write to me at winterimage(at)hotmail(dot)com.   

**Ant and Four 10 - Clear Blue Sky
**

by Winter

 The windows of Indoor Mountain rattled slightly with the next rumble, and anxious voices were being raised all around. Gently, Ant ran his fingers through Four's hair. Tearing his eyes away from his friend's still face took all his willpower. But he had to see, had to know.

What had happened to the Fourtitude?

He could feel eyes on him, as he made his way to the door and opened it. The sound of explosions was clearly audible now, coming from the other side of town. From where Four stood parked. A shudder went through Ant, and he would have lost his balance if Caleb hadn't caught him by the shoulders.

"What's going on? What happened to Four?"

"I'm not sure." Ant's voice sounded like that of a lost little pup. "Th-the Fourtitude..."

"Will he be okay?"

"I don't know." Ant took a deep breath, and let it out with a hiss. "I have to go. I have to help."

"No!" Another of the climbers grabbed Ant's arm, but he shook him off. "Please, don't. They're attacking again."

"Who is?" Ant glanced at Caleb, who merely shrugged. "And why?"

"Pirates."

* * * * * *

"Are you really serious?" Ant asked, frowning as he looked from worried face to worried face. "Has everyone here got pirates on their brains?"

"It's true," Allen said gravely. "There was an attack here a while back, and one on Toscana after that."

"It must be them!" The man who had grabbed Ant was wild-eyed, and he kept glancing at the door. "Why else...? Who else...?"

"Mack, calm down." Caleb stepped up to the man and met his eyes. "We don't know..."

Just then the ground shook, and several weights in the gym fell over with loud clanks. Without thinking, Ant moved to cover Four with his own body. Someone cried out, as the ceiling lights flickered. When everything calmed down, Ant turned to Chee.

"Will you watch over him? Please! I have to... I have to go and help."

"Ant..." Tears were falling from the young woman's eyes. "Ant, look at him. He's... he's..."

"Chee, did he tell you he has a proxy body?"

"Yes, but..."

"He's not dead, he can't be." Ant clenched his hands tightly, claws biting painfully into his palms. He had to be right. Had to! "But something's happened, and..."

"The telephones are down," a woman said. "So's the datanet. I've been trying to reach my husband."

"My daughters are out there!" the man called Mack yelled. "I have to go find them!"

"No." Allen tried to stop him, but had to step back as Mack took a swing. "Caleb, help me."

"I'm going." Ant's voice was calm, but even he could hear the steely edge in it. The others froze in mid-brawl, and stared at him. "Right now. If you wanna come with me, that's fine, but I can't help you look. My priority is the Fourtitude."

"Ant..."

"No, Caleb, don't try to stop me. You don't understand. Four, he... His whole self, his whole mind, is inside the ferry. If it's been hurt..."

"I'm not trying to stop you," Caleb said grimly. "I'm going with you. My mother lives right next to the square."

"Okay." Ant turned to take one more look at Four. "Chee...?"

"I'll look after him." She smiled wanly. "Godspeed, guys."

Ant wasn't sure what she meant, but he gave her a thankful nod. All in all, five people set out from Indoor Mountain, while more explosions could be heard from the town centre. Allen joined them, as well as the woman who had been trying to call her husband. Ant barely heard her, as she introduced herself as Arene. His mind was filled with all kinds of scary thoughts, but he silenced them as well as he could. The Fourtitude had to be okay. Four would live. He ached to run, as fast as he could, but the others knew the lay of the land better. As things were, he would accept any help given.

* * * * * *

The mist had gone during the forenoon, and so had the clouds, but a column of thick smoke rose from the town centre while they passed through the suburbs. There was no one in sight, and Ant gritted his teeth. They were all smarter than him. They were all hiding. He tried the datapad again, but it wasn't working at all. And every time he looked at it made him even more anxious, as he saw the background picture of himself and Four. Had that been only yesterday?

"There!"

Allen's call made Ant look up, and the sight made him gasp. A metal-grey spaceship hung in the air above the town, almost hidden by the smoke. It was huge, larger than any ship Ant had ever seen. As he watched, two streaks of vapour shot out of it. Seconds later, breath was knocked from his lungs by twin explosions. Mack started running, yelling loudly, and Caleb followed. Ant was still dazed by the loudness of the blasts, but he hurried to join them. The other two fell behind, but Ant barely noticed. His eyes were set on forward.

Beyond the fake bridge, they met the first signs of destruction. A car had been turned over and its batteries had caught fire, and there were shards of glass everywhere. Ant saw that all the windows in all the houses had turned into gaping holes. He gritted his teeth. Why hadn't he taken a moment to put his shoes back on? As soon as he stepped out onto the main street, pain erupted in his feet.

He ignored it. If there were any chance, any chance at all, that he could save Four, he had to take it.

There were more explosions up ahead, followed by a continuous roar as an entire building collapsed. Smoke and dust filled the air, and Ant couldn't even see the fountain. If he had a free path, he could reach the parking lot in just a few minutes, but now...? They might not even make it to the square.

Something moved to his left, and he saw people running for shelter. A small child fell over, as the ground shook again, and Ant bit back a curse. He really didn't have time to stop. Nevertheless, he picked the crying kid up as gently as he could, then hobbled over to the shelter door. Ignoring the screams and the yells and the horrified stares aimed his way, he handed the child over to a woman he hoped was its mother.

Then he had to run, in order to catch up with Caleb and Mack.

* * * * * *

As Ant had feared, they were halted when the buildings ended. The open space of the square was littered with rubble from the houses at the far end, which were almost completely gone. All that remained were skeletons of metal and concrete. Ant tried to stop his mind from going through memories, but it was no use. The café where he and Four had bought a picnic basket yesterday, was gone. The book store was gone.

And Ant still couldn't see the parking lot, for all the dust.

"My mom lives over there," Caleb said, pointing to a building that was damaged, but still standing. He looked pale. "I hope she's down in the shelter."

"You go find her," Ant said, bumping fists with the young man. Then he turned to Mack. "And you?"

"Over there... Oh gods..." The man nodded toward the most damaged building. "Next street over from... that."

"Don't give up, you hear?" Ant patted his shoulder. "As long as there's hope."

"You, too."

Ant took as deep a breath he could, without coughing, then let it out slowly. It didn't help with his fear, and it didn't help with the despair that was gnawing at his insides. But, it gave him the resolve he needed to start running.

Together, the three of them set off. Ant and Mack moved to the right, to find a way around the demolished buildings, while Caleb ran towards the far left corner of the square. They did not get far.

* * * * * *

Ant first knew that something was wrong when he heard a high-pitched noise, almost a whistle. Then a small hole opened up in the smoke and the dust, just above the square. Air currents twisted and swirled around and behind the missile, and it would have been beautiful if it hadn't been so deadly. He opened his mouth to cry out a warning to the other two, but there was no time.

To his left, the fountain turned into a ball of flame. A clap of thunder slammed into Ant and lifted him off his feet. Fire engulfed him, while he was pelted with debris. Something large struck him, and it took a second or two to realise that it was the ground. He rolled to a stop, his whole body hurting. Especially his ears. When the explosion finally, mercifully, died down, he tried to call out for the others. Only to find that he couldn't hear. Except for a buzzing inside his head, there was nothing but a barely discernible, faraway noise. Too distant for Ant to know if it came from outside or inside his own mind.

Ahead, he could see Mack stagger to his feet, but when he tried to do the same his left ankle protested. Mack glanced back, but Ant waved for him to go. He would make his own way to the Fourtitude. Mack had to get his kids.

When he finally got up, Ant saw that he was leaving bloody footprints behind. All that glass was cutting his soles to shreds. He was just about to set off running as best he could, when there came a sound he recognised. The whine of a spaceship engine, loud enough to penetrate his deafness. A smaller craft pushed the dust aside, and settled in to land at the centre of the square. Almost exactly where the fountain had been. Ant hid behind a slab of stone, and peered through one of the holes where water had once poured.

The ship looked like a wheelless motorcar, though not as aerodynamic. Bulkier. A dull grey rectangle of deadly metal. As he watched, a door opened and three figures stepped down a ramp. They were all dressed in red-and-black uniforms, a colour pattern that had haunted Ant's dreams on and off for over a year. Steelwood pirates. It really was a pirate attack! A snarl crept onto his lips, as he readied himself to run. Surely, in all the dust, they wouldn't be able to see him?

But...

His eyes couldn't look away. Ears ringing, nose bleeding, body hurting all over, Ant stared as one more pirate exited the ship. The tallest man he had ever seen, towering over the others. He wore the same uniform, but with a hood covering his head and face. Pointing toward the town hall, he seemed to call out orders, which were swiftly obeyed. The pirate boss? Ant searched around with his hands, hoping to find something, anything he could use as a weapon. The rest of the pirates were gone now, only the two of them remained.

His right hand found a piece of steel. A water pipe from the fountain, maybe. He clutched it hard; it was heavy, solid, and if he swung it, he would crush bone... But no, he couldn't fight, he had to get to Four! He had to run, hoping that the large man was slower than him. Just then, the pirate turned his way, and yelled to someone. Ant's battered ears heard next to nothing, but the hood slid back. Just a little.

To reveal a hint of an elongated muzzle, a glimpse of tan fur. White fangs gleamed in what little light there was.

A wolf.

A pirate wolf.

* * * * * *

A small part of Ant wanted to call out to him. I'm here! I'm like you! But no, this was a pirate. The pirates' leader! He took a couple of steps Ant's way, and Ant found himself cowering behind his shelter. Shivering with terror. It was an impossible situation; his ears weren't working, his nose was clogged up with dust and blood, and he wasn't sure he could trust his eyes anymore. Because surely, what he just saw couldn't be.

He needed to find out for sure. He had to see again. When he blinked grit out of his eyes and peered through the hole, the wolf... man... whatever... was right in front of him. The face inside the hood was moving in a curious way, and Ant realised that he was sniffing. Trying to catch Ant's scent! It was all he could do, to bite back a cry of fear. The pirate moved closer still. Only one more step and he would surely be able to see Ant, hiding behind a piece of fountain.

It didn't happen. The other pirates returned, carrying heavy boxes and crates, and the tall one joined them. Went back inside their ship, and took off.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ant scurried to his feet, and ran for the edge of the square. But the pirates had one more present for Lakeview. Two missiles slammed down along the main street, and Ant felt them more than he heard them. Turning around, he saw the paved road buckle and bend, as the street was torn apart. The shockwave knocked him over, but he got right back up, and didn't seem too much worse for wear. He glanced around. No more buildings looked to be too badly damaged. Ant thought about the child he had handed to its mother, right there, and he hoped that the shelter had held.

Because he couldn't go back to help. He just couldn't.

Couldn't...

This time he was sure he yelled out loud, although of course he couldn't hear his own curse, as he limped along the edges of the ruptured street, to the nearest house.

* * * * * *

She clutched the child to her chest. A girl. They were among the last to come out of the shelter, climbing over the remnants of the broken door. Cracks in the building, that had been small when the evacuation began, were now widening at an alarming rate. Someone spoke to Ant, but all he could do was to touch his ears and shake his head. He was still as good as deaf, but for the ringing inside his head.

One man shone a flashlight into the shelter, then showed a thumbs-up. It was clear. Not a moment too soon, because the house shook, and pieces of concrete rained down. The whole thing might collapse before long.

One of the people who had helped Ant get the door open, had been one of the glarers from earlier. The woman on the bus. Her eyes had hardened when she first saw him, but after she took a closer look, she seemed to relent. He was, after all, a pretty sorry sight. His shirt was torn half off, his fur was singed and matted with dust and dirt and blood. His nose was still bleeding, and of course his feet. As Ant moved over to the next building, she followed. So did everyone who was in any shape to help. Nobody glared, and nobody backed away when he came too close. Instead they pried the shelter door open, together.

Hours seemed to pass, as a second and a third building were cleared. And finally, when a man told Ant that everyone was safe, he could hear the words. At least, a little. He spotted Xandra, the artist, handing out water bottles, and he gratefully accepted one. Though he used more of it in his stinging eyes, than he drank. Several people spoke to him at the same time, but he shrugged them off. He had dawdled for too long already. It was time to get to the parking lot. Ant's hopes had waned as he saw all the destruction the pirates left behind, but he had to know for sure. He started walking, but came to a halt after just a couple of steps.

Because there it was. The cube-shaped, steel-grey Fourtitude was slowly gliding across the square towards the town hall, the number four clearly visible on its side. Ant opened his mouth to yell, but before he could get a word out the ferry changed directions, as if Four had spotted him. The door opened, and the ramp began lowering as soon as it had landed. Right next to Ant.

People milled out, more than Ant would have thought could fit inside. A lot of them were children, and Ant yipped happily when he saw Mack, holding two young girls. The man grinned at him, said something, and pointed up the ramp. Ant didn't need to hear it. As soon as the way was clear, he dashed inside.

Four's screen self had tears running down his cheeks, and his lips moved. Ant touched his ears and shook his head, and when Four spoke again his voice was a lot louder.

"I was so scared, Ant! When I lost touch with my body, and when I couldn't call you... And then I saw you and, here you are!"

"What happened?" Ant croaked. His throat was still sore from all the dust. "You... you just passed out."

"They were blocking all kinds of signals. Including me. I was in here all the time, but I couldn't get back to you." Four smiled, when Ant came over and touched first the screen, then the access port where he had placed a heart-shaped sticker. "I missed you, too! They were pirates, Ant, did you know? The people who attacked."

"Yeah, I know. I think I saw their leader."

"They were shooting at everything, so I flew closer to town and hid behind the buildings. Then I picked up people who were hurt."

"And stray kids?"

"Yeah. There's just no way I could stand by and not help. I hope they all find their parents, but I'm not sure. I think a lot of people died."

"Mack found his daughters."

"The guy from Indoor Mountain? Did he come with you?" Ant nodded. "The girls came running when their house was hit, so I picked them up. But what happened to you, Ant? You've got blood everywhere, and your poor feet..."

"Did you see what's left of the fountain?" Four nodded. "I was running past it when it blew up."

"Oh no!" Four squeaked. "How... how did... how did you even survive?"

"I kept breathing."

"Ant, this isn't funny! None of it is."

"I know." He sat down on the couch, and started picking glass shards out of the soles of his feet. "But if I think about it all, I'm just gonna break down and cry. Ouch!"

"You need to see a doctor."

"Let them deal with the serious injuries, first. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? The communications are back up now, so I can call if you want."

"Maybe later, if my hearing doesn't come back all the way. But you should call Indoor Mountain. Chee was really worried about you."

"My body's working again, so I've already told them you're okay. The gyms have turned into a kind of refuge, for people who lost their homes, so we're keeping busy. But where's Caleb? He was with you too, right?"

"I don't know. I lost sight of him back at the square. He was gonna find his mom."

Satisfied that his feet were as clean as they would get, Ant tore up a couple of his shirts, for makeshift bandages. Then he left the ferry, as the Fourtitude was more or less commandeered to transport injured people to the hospital in Mountainside. Ant had half a mind to object, but Four seemed eager to help. So, limping on his sprained ankle, he returned to what had once been the town square.

* * * * * *

They found Caleb, close to where Ant had been when he saw the pirates. He lay half buried underneath a large slab of concrete, and his eyes were closed. Whimpering, Ant sank to his knees next to him, but there was nothing anyone could do. His death had been as swift as it was final. Ant wanted to help dig him out, but when his foot gave way and he almost fell, others took over. They placed Caleb on a stretcher, used a piece of cloth to cover his face, and took him away.

Ant sat down on the littered ground, and finally allowed himself to cry.

* * * * * *

Much, much later, Ant lay half slumped on the couch, with both robot Four and screen Four fussing over him. The Fourtitude stood parked outside Indoor Mountain, which was closed following Caleb's death. Instead of climbers, it now hosted cots and mattresses, where people stayed who had nowhere else to go. Allen had made it back, and he and Ant shared a long hug, after Ant relayed the news. Arene also survived, but she was in the hospital after the last attack on the main street.

Ant's feet had been properly bandaged, and his left ankle was set with a temporary cast. His hearing hadn't worried the doctors much; it would return in time, they assured him. Everything else was just scrapes and cuts and bruises, and although he hurt, he would heal.

Not everyone had been so lucky. In all, twenty-two people had died. One of them had been Arene's husband. Another, of course, was Caleb. Hundreds were injured. Even more were homeless. Just so the pirates could rob the town hall. Because that's what had happened. The crates Ant had seen, had been filled with some kind of papers that were interchangeable for money. He didn't fully understand those. The rest was gold and precious gems, investments made by the Range government. The pirates had known exactly where to look for it all.

Ant had spent a lot of time talking to the local police, while he was being patched up. They asked the same questions over and over. Why had he been at the square? What exactly had he seen? Was he sure the pirates knew where to go? The one thing they didn't ask, which Ant was both expecting and dreading, was why he was travelling with a stolen ferry. He did, of course, not bring it up. Nor did he tell them that he thought the pirate leader was a wolf. Partly because he still wasn't sure exactly what he had seen, but also because he felt ashamed. One of his own kin. Someone who had survived slaving away inside dangerous mines. A pirate? It shouldn't be possible. The thought of hurting others should be repulsive to all wolfs.

Yet he, himself, had grabbed a metal pipe. He, himself, had been ready to fight.

With Four in his arms, whispering soothing and reassuring words, Ant finally drowsed away just as the next day was dawning. His dreams were filled with explosions, collapsed buildings, and a huge pirate looming above him. And one dead friend.

* * * * * *

Ant had never felt so out of place, as he did entering a small stone building just outside Lakeview. The dark suit he had borrowed was stiff and made him feel ungainly, and it had very little room for his tail. All eyes were on him and Four, except for the ones he actually wanted to see again. Caleb lay in a wooden box at the front of the room, half the lid open to reveal his upper body. He was dressed in a nice suit, and his eyes were closed. To Ant, it was a near-unbearable sight. He wanted nothing more than to leave. Leave the building, leave the Range. Leave the entire star cluster.

But Caleb's mother had approached him and Four, while they did what they could to help clean up the mess the pirates had so callously caused. The funeral was a way to pay last respects to the deceased, and she had asked them to attend. Caleb had, albeit briefly, been Ant's friend. So how could he refuse?

The whole process was completely alien to Ant, and he really needed Four's gentle hand in his. First, everyone present took their turn to stand next to the casket, to say a few words. Ant didn't remember what he said, only that it all but freaked him out, to see a dead body just lying there. In the Mining Belt, the dead were swiftly removed by the foremen. Or, if they were too radioactive to handle, by machines. The burners that melted the raw ore, dealt with them quickly. Caleb would be buried, left deep below the ground. Ant wanted to protest, wanted to beg, please, don't do this to my friend! But it wasn't his call to make.

An old man wearing a footside robe spoke next, talking about Caleb and how he had lived. And how he had died. And how he would live again, beyond death. Another idea that Ant couldn't fit into his mind. How could someone live while they were dead? He tried his best to remain stoic, hoping that his puzzlement would be taken for grief. Because there was that, too. He heard Four sob quietly, right next to him, and he could hear other mourners cry. Not very well; his hearing was still not back in full.

Ant had already done his crying, back in the square, next to the place where Caleb died. He would miss him, and he would think about him, but wolf mourning was usually a brief affair. So all he could really do, was to try and listen to the talking man, and try to understand what was going on.

After it was all over, Caleb's mother hugged both him and Four, and thanked them for being there. They followed the gathering to a lawn out back, where food had been laid out. Everyone commiserated, or talked about their memories of their friend. Or in Ant's case, felt ever more awkward.

He refused to witness the interring. That was a line he could not cross. He had lived underground for a long time, back in the Belt, and the thought of dead bodies down in the tunnels was more than he could stand. After a brief goodbye, he limped back to the Fourtitude. Four chose to stay, but Ant still, thankfully, had screen Four to give him comfort.

When robot Four returned, an hour or so later, Ant had already fallen asleep, his suit lying in a heap on the floor.

* * * * * *

The next day, they left the Range behind. Ant did not want to return. Not ever. What he wanted, needed, was to find new memories. Good ones to replace the bad. He was sitting on the floor in the workshop, idly playing with his bridge, when Four came in and sat next to him. Neither of them said anything, while Ant drove a tin car across the unfinished wood structure, turned it around and drove back. Over and over, while he tried to quiet the ringing tone in his ears, and the turmoil in his mind. It didn't work.

"I've set us on a circular course." Four leaned against him, and Ant was thankful for the touch. Unlike playing, contact did soothe. "We can go somewhere, when we're ready for it."

"What about supplies? I thought we were low on pretty much everything."

"Chee and Mr Allen helped me restock, while you were sleeping. We can stay out here for as long as we need."

"I feel so useless."

"Ant, don't!" Four wrapped his arms around Ant's neck. "You'd just been hurt, and you needed your rest. They were happy to help."

"Not just that, everything." It took effort to keep his voice down. What Ant really wanted to do was scream, and maybe smash the bridge against the wall. "I was hiding, cowering, when maybe I could have saved him."

"From what you told me, there was nothing anyone could have done."

"But I could have tried!" The tin car crumpled in his hand, and a set of wheels rolled across the floor. Ant sighed. "I'm sorry, Four. It's not your fault, none of it is, I shouldn't take it out on you. I just..."

"I understand, Ant, I really do." The hug tightened. "You can yell if it helps, I know it's not aimed at me. But you did help. You helped a lot of people."

"Not Caleb."

"You helped the ones who were trapped inside the shelters, Xandra told me about that. And you helped Mr Mack."

"You saved those girls."

"And you made sure he found us. He told me so. You gave him the courage to get out there, and you helped him focus so he could do it."

"I don't know..." Ant turned into the hug, and buried his face against the nape of Four's neck, breathing in his scent. Small hands roamed up and down his back. "It all just feels... wrong."

"It is wrong," Four whispered. "All of it. But it's not our fault, or anyone else's back in Lakeview."

"Those damned pirates."

"Yeah, them. It's all their fault."

"And one of them was a wolf. I can't believe it!"

"Are you sure that's what you saw?"

"Yes. No." Ant sighed. "I don't know. But what else could he be? Teeth like that, no humans have them, right?"

"No. No muzzles, either." Four let out a soft giggle. "Some humans do dress up like animals, for Halloween and to be sports mascots and the like, or for fun. But that's just costumes."

"I wanted to kill him. For a second, I truly did. But I was too scared."

"Ant, you had just been exploded, you can't blame yourself. Me, I was scared half out of my wits the whole time."

"You were awesome."

"So were you!" Four leaned back, and kissed Ant's cheek. "And so was Mr Mack, and Xandra, and a lot of people. We all helped."

"Four, I'm real tired, but I'm scared to dream. Will you... will you hold me, while I sleep."

"Any time. I'll hold you, like you always hold me. And I'll try and chase the bad dreams away."

Four broke their long hug, and stood up, then he helped Ant to his feet. Leaning against his friend, for more than just physical support, Ant slowly made his way to the couch. Five minutes later, with Four's arms around him, he fell into a mostly dreamless sleep.

* * * * * *

The following couple of weeks were a blur to Ant. He slept whenever he couldn't keep his eyes open, and he ate reluctantly whenever Four gave him food. The rest of the time he spent in the workshop, keeping himself busy. He didn't talk much, unless Four started up a conversation, and even then his replies were short to the point of brusque. Shelf after shelf filled up with unpainted toys, and when he ran out of raw material, he picked old projects apart and started over.

What finally broke this cycle was when he pricked his finger, while sewing a stuffed wolf for the third time. One droplet of blood, but Ant stared at it as if seeing something else entirely. In the end, he tore the toy to pieces with a growl, and burst into tears.

Four was there at once. Of course he was. His precious, sweet Four who had withstood his foul mood without complaint. Four, who washed him in the shower then dried him and brushed his fur afterwards, who cooked for him even though Ant sometimes just scoffed at the food. Four, who deserved so much more, so much better. Ant hugged him, clung to him as if he were a lifebuoy in a sea of despair, and cried.

The tears that, maybe, he should have shed at Caleb's funeral, now wet Four's shirt. Ant wept for the unfairness, how one casual act of cruelty had crushed so many lives. For his own inability to save more people. Through it all, Four held him the way a mother would hold her pup, kept him safe and warm and sane while a storm of emotions raged through him. And, eventually, abated.

Right there, on the floor next to the workbench, Ant slept with his head in his dear friend's lap. Slept, and for once, did not dream at all.

He felt better the next day. Not good, but better. His feet still pained him, and his hearing was a bit off, but his mood had lightened. Together, the two of them made sandwiches and soup for an early lunch, and Ant ate while Four leaned against him. It felt wholesome, it felt right. It felt as if a light that had been hidden by dark clouds, shone at last on him.

For the rest of that day, Ant sat curled up on the couch, reading books. Safe ones, without battles and fighting and death and grief. In the meantime, Four caught up with his paintbrushes, bringing Ant's frantic rush of work to life. After supper, and a shower, they were back to their old sleeping arrangement, with Four in Ant's arms.

"I think I'm ready to go somewhere." Ant's voice was hoarse, for lack of proper use. "Somewhere peaceful."

"Maybe we should go back to Wishing Well," Four said. "We've got plenty of new toys made, we could stock up Anita's store."

"I don't know..."

"If those teen guys come back, I'll scare them away." Four grinned, flexing his lanky arms, and Ant laughed. "It's good to see you smile again."

"It's good to smile." Ant kissed the back of his friend's head. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For looking after me. For being here for me."

"Always." Four turned around inside Ant's arms, and rubbed noses with him. "For you, always."

"What about our plans to go further in?"

"Towards the galaxy's core." Ant nodded. "We can do that later. For now, I think we need a vacation from vacationing."

"Sounds good to me," Ant said with a yawn. "Anita's nice, I'd like to see her again."

"And people know us already, so there'll be less staring."

"Even better."