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Kai sat down at the table placing his hand within the other twiddling his thumbs, Ashton took another awkward sip as the pause grew into a full on silence. “I guess it’s like riding a constant wave, everyday another new discovery or experience. Knowing that there’ve been drifter’s that came before you all at the start of their journey, just like you. You all end up on different paths from just moving along the fabric of reality.”

“Woah. That’s uhh- deep”, Ashton took a nervous sip looking at Whiskers nodding his head in agreement.

“Yeah, but pretty soon all that ‘deep shit’ goes out the window when you realize that one wrong exploration could get you killed, or worse.” Kai’s demeanor took on a darker expression as he tightened his grip. Ash was instantly reminded of his experience with that thing from last night, starting to break out in a slight cold sweat. Those lingering fears drifted away, allowing him to refocus on the conversation. 

“Worse?” 

“You could end up like that Corruption from last night…”. Ashton leaned back in his chair, almost spilling the hot coffee all over himself. The puzzled look on his face, Kai kept on divulging. “Corruptions are creatures that spread their misfortune to everyone, through contact, I mean the name is self explanatory, right?” 

Ashton nodded his head, taking another sip and feeling on his bandaged arm.

“But the good thing about being pulled into this world, is that you are not alone, there are tons of us out there, like me.” Kai pointed lazily to his face, “ I know you didn’t ask for this, so I’mma make sure you stay safe.” Kai reached into his pocket rummaging around, until he brandished a beaded bracelet. Tossing towards Ashton, he fumbled around, safely putting his drink down first before he caught it in his hands. The accessory was an onyx, black, so cold to the touch it felt almost slick. Between each sphere of bead was a hexagonal, shaped piece of metal that pricked his finger, when he ran it across. “Go on, Ash put it on.”

Timidly, Ashton donned the bracelet, instantaneously he felt weak, dizzy even. “Woah,” he mumbled softly trying to hold down the pizza rolls, “What is this ?”. Bracing himself on the table, Ashton gradually felt the space around, and his energy stabilize once again to a normal level, but he something was missing this time.

“A flow limiter, and for good reason too.” Kai sighed leaning one arm on the back of his chair, “Mr. Whiskers and I thought it would be a good idea, if one Corruption already found you when you were a regular, then it would be even worse now. Like a walking flow buffet, they would be crawling all over this campus looking for you, and attacking anyone with an unusually high flow.”

“So I have to keep this on at all times?”

“Never take that off, under any circumstance.”

Ash took another look at the now, marble gray cloaking device wrapped around his wrist. The black color seem too fade into its new setting in a murky, smoke-like occurrence. Picking out a singular bead, rolling it between his index finger and his thumb, the feeling of emptiness lingered in his mind aggressively.

“Let’s get you home, man” Kai pushed his chair back from the table. “That was a small break down, but-” Ashton noticed his words trailed off as Kai looked at the bracelet one more time before continuing. “-just don’t take it off, okay?”

Ash nodded.

The ride back was a quiet one, not of awkwardness like it would seem to an outsider. Ashton was lost in thought, his brain was full of the knowledge Kai dropped onto him. He felt sick, his heart was beating in his chest, anxiously he looked over at his palm, almost burning a hole through it with his eyes.

How could sit there and do nothing, his worldview had been opened up by this guy he claims to be his saviour. Of course he was skeptical, but Ashton knew what he saw. What he felt, that fear coursing through his entire body, shuddering in his seat. The rhythmic bumping, and lurching of the car shook him out his head back to reality.

“I know it’s a lot to handle, kid, but trust me we will keep in touch. I’ll help you through this.”  Kai talked, his hands dancing on the brown leather steering wheel in pretty used condition. Ashton’s mind couldn’t focus on his existential dread when the car he was in was obviously inspired by old soulful cats from the 70s. The neon fur covered dice hanging from the rearview mirror, low lean back seats, complete with proper cushioning. For such a nice car Kai drove it like it was a hand me down, Ashton caught himself clutching the seatbelt a little tighter. 

“Don’t worry, we will get you back safe and sound!” And for some reason, he didn’t believe him. By some grace of a higher power, they managed to find themselves outside of his dorm room , in one piece. As the door flew open, Ashton almost kissed the ground like it was his long lost ex. “You don’t have to make it so obvious, man, “ Kai muttered under his breath, slightly annoyed.

“What do I tell my roommates ? We’re too close- I can’t just disappear for a day, and not even say anything.”

“You figure it out, it’s your lie. I’m just dropping you off at your place so you can find some sense of normalcy? “ The intonation of Kai’s words rose up like he wasn’t sure if ‘this’ was even working. “ Listen, go to your room, decompress , and then text me when you’ve made your mind up.”  Ashton nodded in reluctant understanding. Kai nodded back, before driving around the drop off roundabout pulling off.

Reshifting his backpack, he looked up to the third floor windows, trying to spot his out of the various decals that were in each one. Anxiety churned in his stomach as he opened the metal door that separated him from the sweet release of his mattress. First, he had to traverse the three flights of the damp mildew smelling stairwell, stained with things he would rather not think about. Each footstep echoing as he trudged along further and further. Ashton couldn’t shake the idea of what his roommates would say. Hell, would they even believe him ? 

He didn’t care; he turned the corner and finally landed on his floor. Luckily, the last stretch  before the door of his room. The familiar chrome door handle creaked as he twisted it slowly, each inch opening the gap widened, he crept his eyes to the edge of the threshold, the room was dark, pitch black even. He felt the presence of the dorm suite, hush all over, nobody was up. Tip-toeing, backpack and keys dangling, throwing the sweet music of his arrival echoing across the living room. Letting him fully encompass the monotone ambient buzz of complete silence. The echoes of sound waves really cement that fact, but why did he feel like there were two eyes burned into the back of his neck. He really needed to stop letting people, things, stop sneaking up on him.

Ashton turned to face the blue, patchy, loveseat-recliner mix breed from heaven. His eyes struggled to make out the figure that was enshrouded in the covers that were customary for maximum comfort. 

“Oh those are just covers…” Ashton yawned at the pile folded like a cotton cinnamon roll, anxiety fading away. As he walked out of the empty living room, he chuckled sleepily to the thought of someone pulling the “angry-parent-trope” card on him. He crashed on a memory foam pillow, and in seconds he was out.