to slow down, but nothing happened. His body started to slow down on its own. He was floating down gently. Slowly.
Johnny opened his eyes and saw Hawk smiling down at him. He felt him untie his hands, pulling him in his arms. Johnny sighed against his mate’s chest. Whatever just happened to him, he wanted it again.
“How do you feel, pretty baby?”
“Like Silly Putty.”
Hawk laughed softly, petting Johnny’s back.
* * * *
“Wow. Look at all these stores. Where are we going?” Johnny was like a kid at Christmas. His eyes darted everywhere at once. There were so many people that he held Cecil’s hand, afraid of getting lost. Hawk and Maverick walked behind them talking about “business.” Boring. He dragged Cecil along when he spotted pretty slippers in a window. They had little pink bows on them. There was even a matching robe with pretty bows on the pockets. Johnny smashed his face into the glass, trying to get a closer look.
“You know, we can always go in and look at it.” Cecil pulled him along, taking him over to where the robe and slippers were. He took one off the rack and had Johnny try it on. With everyone feeding him, Johnny had gained a good ten pounds in the last three weeks. He looked healthier, but he still had a long way to go.
Cecil had made himself Johnny’s personal nutritionist. The Internet was a wealth of knowledge, and he scanned the sites for a proper diet that would help him. Cecil had made him step on a scale to see where he was at so he could plan accordingly. Fucking eighty pounds. Cecil almost fell over. One of Hawk’s thighs probably weighed that much.
Cecil had him pick out the slippers he wanted as well, and then they headed to the register.
* * * *
Johnny pulled out his wallet that Hawk gave him and got his credit card out that his mate sent away for. It even had his name on it. He was nervous, though, never having used one before. Cecil promised to help if he forgot what Hawk told him.
The cashier rang up his purchase, and Johnny handed him his credit card. He waited for the man to ask if he wanted credit or debit. Excited buzzed through him. He repeated his pin over and over again until he had it memorized.
“Credit or—”
“Debit!” Oops. He was a little too excited. Cecil giggled beside him, and Johnny blushed. The man smiled and asked him to enter his pin. Johnny carefully pushed the buttons, repeating the numbers in his head. Hawk said not to tell anyone the numbers even if they asked. His mate said people stole those numbers and spent other people’s money. No one was going to steal Johnny’s money.
The man handed him his card and receipt. He took his bag and ran out to Hawk to show him what he bought. Cecil told Hawk that he didn’t need any help.
“You did good, pretty baby. And the robe and slippers are pretty.” Hawk leaned down and whispered in Johnny’s ear. “You can show them off to me tonight.” He winked at him.
Johnny blushed and nodded.
“Put your credit card away, sweetie. It’s still in your hand.” Johnny looked down and saw the silver plastic clutched in his fist. He folded his receipt and stuffed both away. Grabbing Cecil’s hand, they were off again. Johnny looked over his shoulder to make sure Hawk was still behind them. Hawk winked at him as he talked with Maverick. Johnny smiled then turned back around.
Cecil had taken him into a dark store that had all kinds of weird things, like skulls and crossbones and little elves and fairies. The music was blasting, and it was creepy. People kept bumping into him, and they even had piercings sticking out of their noses and lips. Johnny began to panic. He didn’t like this store and wanted to leave. He pulled on Cecil’s hand, but Cecil kept going deeper into the store.
Johnny pulled his hand from Cecil’s and covered his ears. The music hurt. It wasn’t like the music at home. This music sang about suicide and blood. Johnny bumped into people as he tried to escape. He
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley