ʀɪᴄʜɪᴇ (beepbeep) wrote in noexits, @ 2022-04-19 10:47:00 |
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If Matt never had to step foot in another jungle again, it would be too soon. It was destinations like these that made Matt really miss the concrete jungle of Hell’s Kitchen. At least there the only things he had to contend with were criminals with guns and the occasional ninja, not man-eating dinosaurs and God knows what else Derleth had in store for them this week. His heightened senses returned, but so had his blindness, but that was perfectly alright. This was what he was accustomed to… Matt considered having sight right now would be a hindrance. He moved carefully through the underbrush, carrying the spear that he’d crafted, keeping his phone on mute to prevent from giving away his position. The sun’s rays warmed his face, letting him know that he was entering a small clearing, and he listened carefully all around. There were these huge flying creatures overhead, and something large on four legs, but that was far away enough and going in the opposite direction so it wasn’t worrying. He tilted his head up and took a deep sniff. Richie, Matt thought of his boyfriend’s name, hoping that he was now close enough for their mental connection to connect. You doing alright? Please let me know. Richie had been trying - he’d been attempting to reach out to Matt, to solidify something through their usual link, which was a testament to how strongly and how deeply he loved and it was a lot. Trashmouth Tozier was a huge goddamn sap and he wasn’t ashamed of that - but their mental link also came in handy for a few other ways, practical ones and sexier ones. A shame the sexier ones weren’t going to get to be immediately indulged, however. And, honestly, being without that link last week had been the worst - Richie felt empty. Like he had some kind of void in his head (no comments from the peanut gallery), one that opened up to a vault in whatever his soul was that was also equally empty - because the person he loved was connected to both, head and soul. Heart. All of that. Now wasn’t the time to think about that - he just needed to be grateful that his weird mind powers were back, even if they weren’t entirely up to snuff. I’m here, he called back, and the jungle felt like a soaked blanket covering him. Everything was very green - chock full of creatures, maybe, but he’d also come across some useful resources so he couldn’t complain. Much. Maybe a little. Or, well, I’m alright, I should say because it’s not like any of us know where the fuck we are - I found a cave but haven’t gone inside yet. I think I can feel you though - can you still smell me? Weird question. But relevant. The moment he heard Richie’s voice in his mind, Matt sighed deeply with relief. Thank God, was his immediate thought, followed quickly by, Don’t go inside the cave! Not until I can check it out. Who knows what the hell is living in there. Thanks to the reestablished mental connection plus the scent, Matt was able to hone in on Richie’s location. He started moving quicker and in doing so, made a bit more noise than he had been. The last time we went into a cave, there were skeleton pirates. There might be a fucking skeleton dinosaur for all we know. And yes, I can smell you loud and clear. I’m on my way. In his excitement to reunite with Richie, he wasn’t paying as much attention to his surroundings as before. It was a recipe for danger. I won’t go in yet but maybe there’s good stuff in there - more treasure, Richie replied excitedly and even tacked on an aaaaar for good measure. Fighting skeletons during their pirate adventure had actually been kinda fun? Or actually, the way they furiously went at each other after had been fun - who would have thought that kicking ass made someone so horny? Now after having been with Matt for awhile, Richie knew exactly what got him going - and kicking ass was definitely up there on the list. Hot. But he followed instructions and wouldn’t make things more difficult - he simply loitered outside the cave, studying the various flora and seeing if anything would be useful to pick up for crafting. He’d come across a few corpses of dead things and the gem told him he could harvest stuff from that, so. Fun. Also there was access to berries that would rehydrate you, so he munched on a few of those while he waited too. The pirate imitation made Matt chuckle a little. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes…” if something didn’t attack and kill him, “...you better wait for me.” At the moment, Matt was far more concerned about survival and reuniting with Richie than having sex with him, but who knows? Maybe later? The last few weeks weren’t conducive to intimacy, with Richie first being a rabbit, and then him switching bodies with a young adult. It would be nice, though… and those thoughts started filtering over to Richie with loving undertones. Until he heard a branch snap to his left, and he froze in place, focusing all his attention to finding out if it was a threat. Matt couldn’t forget that this location was one of constant danger, even from above with flying creatures that swooped down with deadly talons and beaks. He held his breath as he listened, and when he decided that he wasn’t in any immediate threat, he continued. True to his word, it didn’t take long before he came to a small clearing where he found Richie waiting. Matt was still wearing the jeans, NYPD t-shirt, sneakers and jacket that he always reset in. His sunglasses were in his pocket, being unnecessary. The crude spear he’d crafted was more important for survival. “Hey,” he greeted Richie, a little winded but now smiling. “Heeeey you,” Richie breathed out, heading right for Matt and throwing arms around him - because Richie was relieved. He’d been doing okay, he guessed, because he was stubborn enough to not die - but also let’s be honest, he wasn’t suited for long-term life in the wilderness and really roughing it. Camping was not his thing - give him a hotel room where he could order pizza and put on Netflix, with air-conditioning blasting on his face, rather than the sweltering jungle and birds that could swallow him when they swooped down from the sky. For weapons, he’d managed to make a hatchet - it was pretty small, no battle axe size, but it helped him in terms of hitting stuff to take with him for crafting. Matt’s spear was pretty badass though. “I can’t believe we’re in this week - like this fucking sucks.” Didn’t it always though? As promised, Richie was sweating - he wished he smelled better, but shit was it was, and he pushed his glasses up on his nose (eventually he’d have to clean them because the muggy air meant they got foggy quick). “So what should we do? Build a house? Explore together? Pretend like we’re on vacation?” The crappiest vacation ever. Matt walked forward to meet Richie half-way, returning the embrace with deep, satisfying breaths, which also took in that familiar scent. Richie might’ve wished he smelled better, but it was what led him here, and he was grateful. Matt lifted his face and turned his head, listening for danger, and finding none he jokingly said, “Could be worse. You could be a rabbit again.” There was something else he smelled on Richie’s mouth. “What have you been eating? Berries? Do you have any more? I’m hungry as hell.” He knew the answer as soon as he asked, his sense of smell calling his attention to the small mound collected where Richie had been waiting, but he wanted Richie to tell him about it, so he waited. “Vacation? Sure. The Everglades, where the gators are as big as cars.” He then turned his head in the direction of the cave entrance, a gaping hole in the side of a rocky hill. “Dinner first, and then maybe do some exploring in there? It goes in pretty deep, but I’m not picking up any immediate threats. “ “Berries,” Richie confirmed with a chuckle - he had a bunch of them, and he’d share. First he kissed Matt’s cheek a few times, trailing along his jawline and dropping a few teeth-nibbles there - because Richie was just so glad to see him. The super senses were wild, how he could smell and taste and hear everything - it definitely made Richie hyper-aware of what he was giving off, however, and goddamn. He wished he had soap. But yeah, the smell of manly musk was how Matt found him - so he guessed he couldn’t be too down on his own sweat stench. He tugged Matt in the direction of where he’d put together some food and resources while he waited, just kind of setting up the most makeshift, bare bones camp ever - but he had those berries and he pressed the pouch into Matt’s hand so he could take whatever he wanted. “Dinner and a romantic spelunking adventure,” he snorted. “Sounds good to me. I see a cave, I gotta go in it - and if we’re not going to get eaten, even better. I also got some meat and if we build a fire we can cook it.” Otherwise it would spoil and that would suck. Matt’s skin was also covered in sweat and dirt, so as much as he loved Richie’s trail of kisses, it wouldn’t have tasted very amazing. A bath would be amazing. After he was taken to the spot, Matt removed the jacket, which he kept on despite it being incredibly hot because it provided some protection to his arms from the foliage he walked through, and set it aside before sitting upon the ground to eat. Surprisingly, he wasn’t as tired as he thought he should be after trailblazing for hours in a jungle, but the berries were refreshing. “Meat? Richie, are you telling me you went hunting?” Matt was in a joking mood, but it was a sincere question. Richie didn’t strike him as the hunter type, but surviving in Derleth this long would certainly condition and change people into doing things they normally wouldn’t. For example, Matt never thought he’d be carrying around a spear to defend himself from dinosaurs. Matt had smelled the meat nearby but hadn’t given it much thought until Richie called his attention to it. “Probably ought to cook it. The meat is still alright, but it’s going to go bad fairly soon. The risk is, either way… raw or cooked… the smell might attract predators. It’s up to you, because to be honest, these berries are pretty much hitting the spot.” “Hunting? Pshh,” Richie scoffed. If he was ever out here throwing spears at fish or shooting handcrafted arrows at dodos please check him for a fever (though as he and Yennefer talked about, those dodos were pretty tasty). “The non-consent gem says you can harvest meat from corpses which sounds like a surefire way to die but it actually works? You just gotta cook it quick.” And he planned to - he had enough thatch and wood gathered, and some spark powder. It was so weird, just knowing these things - and to be quite honest he was already over this week. Could they just have one that didn’t suck? Jesus. But he got to work, building a small campfire that would allow meat to be cooked - and they’d put it out when they were done. Soon enough he got the flames popping like little mini firecrackers, and he felt really damn accomplished. “I hate this, by the way,” he added because he wanted to bitch about it. “It’s like the worst honeymoon and we’re not even married. Yet. I mean - “ Okay, maybe he was tumbling down an awkward rabbit hole here. “It’s hard to get married in Derleth. Not that I’m asking. I just maybe wouldn’t mind, in theory. I don’t know.” Heeeeeelp. “Corpses? What sort of corpses?” Matt smelled the cooking meat again, but couldn’t identify it as anything he’d smelled in a kitchen before. Was this how dinosaur smelled? He knew Richie wouldn’t serve him anything sus, but still… “You’ve tinkered around with your gem more than I.” He turned his attention to his wrist where he knew the gem was embedded. It was foreign on his skin, and itchy, but otherwise didn’t give off any special vibrations until he concentrated on it, just like the network post said. That was how the instructions to build the spear popped into his head, using only sticks and rocks that he found on the ground that somehow came together. “I was focused more on finding you to check it out as much.” He was about to ask Richie what learned from the gem when the whole awkward marriage thing was brought up. At first, Matt figured it was another joke, and he even chuckled in between chewing berries, but then realized… Richie’s tone of voice wasn’t joking… his heart rate had quickened but not in a way to denote lying, but in a way that showed he was nervous. Another smell confirmed that Richie’s sweat was now starting to give off nervous pheromones. Richie was serious, and suddenly so was Matt. Marriage? That was something that hadn’t even crossed his mind. Being boyfriends was one thing, but husbands? “Yeah…” Matt said after what felt like a looooong silence. “I imagine it is hard.” Here was where Richie would make a hard joke - or, well, give it a second. “I mean, it’s not yet but - if you keep smelling me we’ll get there,” he quipped, and alright, there we go. What could he say, he was kind of an old-fashioned sort of Trashmouth - he liked the idea of being married even if it was damn near impossible in their circumstances. But 1950s Richie, when he was fake-married to some gal and having an affair with Matt - he’d wanted the wedding for the two of them instead, Richie just loved him that much. It had been weird at the time because they weren’t together yet, like they were now, but now he could sort of see the appeal more. But he of course wouldn’t put any pressure on Matt if it’s not what he wanted - especially in Derleth, right now, where it was damn near impossible. He just focused on meat instead (more hardy-har-hars to be had) and getting through this week - that was what they were all constantly doing. “So you didn’t hear anything too threatening in the cave?” he asked, picking some juicy bits off the bone of...whatever he was consuming. It tasted good, that was the important thing. Kind of reminded him of gnawing on a leg of mutton in ye olden days when he was a bunny. The little joke made Matt smile, but he knew what Richie was trying to do, and he wasn’t sure how to respond besides chuckle awkwardly and shake his head. Change of topic, let’s do that instead, but it would do little to erase what had already been said and the topic remained in the back of Matt’s mind. He turned his ear toward the cave again, listening. “There are some creatures in there, but deeper down. The caverns go pretty far and wind around. Are you able to make a torch for yourself?” He would be able to navigate in the dark no problem, but Richie would be at a handicap. Any suggestion that Richie stay behind while he went into the caves would be a waste of time; Richie would never let Matt go into those caves solo. A torch? Richie had to consult the Gemstone O’Knowledge for that sort of shit - but it didn’t seem too hard. “Yeah, I got it,” he said. Wood, stone, flint - no problem. He didn’t have super senses so something mundane would have to do, in order to ensure he didn’t fucking die in the cave (though apparently he’d just return five seconds later, like someone hit the ‘restart’ button - this was so goddamn video game and he was over it). “We won’t go too far in - not far enough to get eaten.” He set about making one of those torches, the wood pliable - he was able to wind it around and shape it, at least, so he could get a vague torch shape going and so all he would need to do now was strike the flint. Probably wouldn’t be perfect but it would do. “I’ll keep a mind link with you too?” he suggested. “In case we get separated. I just want some treasure, damnit.” Come on. There was always something good in caves. Besides bat dung. Or doooooom. Matt observed Richie as he went about making the torch, every so often scanning the immediate area for danger. “There’s something big coming our way,” he said, facing the direction where he sensed it. “It’s slow, but I think it’s attracted to the smell of the meat. If we get into the cave, it won’t be able to follow, and I’m not very confident in our abilities to take it down.” At the entrance to the cave, he smirked “Treasure? The only treasure I want is a couple one-way tickets out of here. But yeah…” he then switched to their link, Communication this way will be better, especially in there. Upon entering, Matt paused to use his senses to look around. This way. To the right there’s a hole in the ground that’s a sure death-drop Richie quickly put out the small campfire he’d built, burying whatever was necessary to help ensure predators wouldn’t easily stumble across it either - and, welp, guess they’d see what happened. If something was coming this way all they could do was try to evade it - because like Matt said, their odds for slaying a dinosaur were probably slim to none. Following you, Mattimus, he said cheerfully, inching into the cave - he used the torch to light the way a little, though since Matt could sense damn near everything he was probably their best shot at finding something useful. Still, Richie scooched in further - he made sure to avoid the right so he didn’t go falling to his death. Coming right back, naked, and having to ransack his own body wasn’t a thing he wanted for himself - or for Matt to have to deal with either. I think I see...something sparkling? It also smells in here. Musty, earthy, damp - that was to be expected, however. But the view of your ass is nice. Just saying. It did smell, not in the way Matt was accustomed to in Hell’s Kitchen; the concrete jungle was very different from this Jurassic Park, and he was still learning to identify new scents all the time. Strong scents made it easier to navigate, to pick out objects, creatures, and people in contrast, though it did get to be too much to handle. Matt moved confidently in the darkness, his feet sure of every step, it was for Richie’s safety that was more a concern. Unable to think of a better retort, Matt simply joked back, I’m the nice ass, you’re the smart ass. He then concentrated around them. Sparkling? What do you mean? Something reflecting your torch light? I don’t sense anything out of the ordinary. It’s - well, there’s metal too. Can you smell the metal? Richie asked, stooping to pick up a couple rocks that were clearly made of the stuff - but combined with the scent of the cave, that musty and somewhat sweet-sour aroma (no doubt a shit ton of bats were nesting in here, maybe?), it might be hard to pick up. They might need metal, however, so he made sure to take those. But a node of glittering sparkles was what caught his eye further. They’re crystals! If he sounded excited about it, that probably was due to the fact that he was. Look, he was a magpie, he liked shiny things - sue him. A whole node of them. Clear crystals - or maybe kind of murky white, I guess. I bet we can make things out of them though. That would also require consulting the gemstone in their wrist - however, first Richie drew out his hatchet to see about breaking a few of those nodes off to take with them. You mean ore? Matt turned his head slowly to try and detect it. Metal really doesn’t have a smell. When somebody says you smell something metallic, it’s really the metal coming into contact with humans, welcome to my Ted Talk. He paid attention to what Richie picked up. Find out if we can upgrade our weapons. That would be great. Making sure he kept close to Richie, he was curious about the crystals that had caused so much excitement. Hope they’re not cured or some bullshit like that. This week wasn’t as magical as their last destination, but they’d only just arrived… there was no real way to be certain. A skittering sound caught Matt’s attention from afar, and Matt became on high alert, taking on a defensive stance with his spear. Think you can speed it up there, babe? Company’s on its way. He paused to reach out with his senses for more detail. It’s like a huge centipede, crawling on the ceiling, heading our way, He let out an exasperated mental sigh - but it was fond, because sure, why not go all science teacher on him? The ore then, Richie replied, wanting to grab Matt’s ass and give him a spanking. That is such a lawyer thing to say. The crystals were sort of murky - they looked like the color of spilled milk, from what Richie could see in the dark with the torch lighting his way; he hurried up, however, working quickly to dislodge them and break pieces off so he could take them along for the journey. But wait. What? There’s a WHAT???? A huge centipede on the ceiling, and Matt made it sound so casual. Oh my FUCKING god, are you - no. Nope, nope, nope. The crystals he’d managed to break off were stuffed into his Pack Of Stuff, and he shivered and shuddered, getting ready to run. Let’s go. That was when he heard the skittering too - it sounded like a creepy symphony crawling up and down his spine. Matt defended himself by saying, Well, if there’s just clumps of metal laying around for the taking, I’d wonder about that, too. He could hear Richie mining the crystals behind him, but his main focus was on…. Well, shit. It moved a hell of a lot faster than anticipated. Keeping his spear at the ready, his concern was for Richie’s reaction. Then Matt remembered… didn’t Richie say that he and his friends fought and killed that killer alien clown thing in a cave? And that it had turned into a giant spider? Was Richie having a flashback to that trauma, or was it just … you know… the usual panic of having a monster centipede advance on you in the dark of a damp cave? I’ll fend it off while you get out, Matt sent the mental message, going into protective mode. He had strong reservations against killing… people. But bugs? That was a different category. There wasn’t much difference between spearing this centipede and squashing a cockroach with his shoe back in his New York apartment, right? Matt - fucking no. Richie’s protest was firm, because he wasn’t leaving Matt here to fend it off - he did this shit all the time (the big damn hero he was) and, sure, maybe Richie wasn’t ‘much’ in terms of fighting skills. But he could improvise with the best of them and, besides, Matt had also been teaching him a few things here and there. When they actually had a minute to focus on themselves and weren’t running for their lives or away from shit like centipedes. We go together, okay?? he insisted, stuffing the crystals into his bag and gripping the hatchet so hard his knuckles turned white - he’d use it if he had to, and no, he wasn’t one of those people shooing black widow spiders beneath jars to catch them and release them into the wild. We’re talking full-on squish all up in here. Let’s do this thing - we head for the exit. They’d make it out alive. They had to. Then Richie would celebrate by kissing the hell out of him, and he didn’t care if Matt literally tasted like dirt. The centipede was so close now that Matt could hear it open its mandibles and… was that poison he smelled? The acidity in the air made him curl his nostrils. As if being a monster insect wasn’t enough. Fuck. No point in telling Richie, it would only cause more panic. Where the hell would Matt even strike it? The head? Externally, he looked calm and focused, but inside his heart raced out of fear, as quickly as Richie’s. We go together, Matt agreed. They needed to escape, and he wasn’t in the mood to argue. Lower your torch and back up slowly… His spear was still leveled upward, poised to thrust if necessary. ... together. Richie’s heart was definitely galloping - it was a whole herd of elephants at this point, and he attempted to calm himself down so he didn’t give himself a stroke or something. But it was difficult, when the roar and rush of blood in his ears sounded like the swell of a stormy ocean - he breathed in and out, nodding, fully prepared to not flip his shit. Okay, lowering the torch and backing up slowly, he agreed, making sure that the torch was as dim as he could make it - if he shined it right on the cave ceiling that would spell trouble, not to mention a beam of light just screamed ‘come and get me’ to pretty much anything in the cave that wanted to eat them. However, he was able to do it - he moved slowly and carefully, scooting back with a deliberate tip-toe of a pace, making sure that Matt was still in his line of sight. He could see his boyfriend’s silhouette in the dark - could hear him too, even if he couldn’t hear everything. Let me know when we can just make a break for it and run... Probably when the thing began attacking with its weird-ass centipede barbs or whatever it had. Did he mention this week sucked? Because it did. Slowly, slowly, two steps away from Richie. Matt focused on the prehistoric insect who remained motionless on the ceiling except for the slow opening and closing of its mandibles. It was difficult without being distracted by the pounding rate of his boyfriend’s heartbeat, and he was concerned. He’d been around Richie when he was scared before, but never been like this. We’re almost to the exit Matt confidently told Richie in hopes it would help, but they were still several feet away and still very much in danger. Was it actually going to let them leave without attacking? If only they were so lucky. With a high pitched, blood curdling screech the centipede lunged toward them. Matt countered with a loud battle roar as he thrust the spear. Somewhere in the middle, the spear pierced the insect’s head with a sickening, squelching sound, and it continued to screech as it dropped to the ground and thrashed about. Matt’s teeth were clenched, but he held the spear firm, pinning it down. Liquid spattered, a combination of venom and the creature’s blood, and it burned like a motherfucker when drops of it fell on Matt’s skin and clothes, causing him to yell in pain, but he wasn’t going to let go of the spear. Holy shit. It was actually kind of funny, the way the centipede screamed and Matt screamed back - it was like establishing dominance or something, and Richie would have laughed if he wasn’t screaming too. So he just added his own yell to the party (with an f-bomb tacked on there) and did what any red-blooded American would do in this situation. He went for the head. Or neck, actually. That’s what he always did with a hatchet (Rest in Piss, Henry Bowers) and he was damn good at it by now - he had excellent aim, but since Matt already pinned the creature with a spear it wasn’t difficult to go for the killing blow. Drops of acid splattered on him too, burning like the blazing coals of a fire, and he yelled out another “fuck you!” for good measure before - squish. There. It had a thousand (or so) legs but no head. And it wasn’t getting up again after that. “...babe, I think it’s dead.” The adrenaline rushing through Matt’s veins was high, and he continued to grit his teeth as he held the shaft of the spear so tightly that his knuckles had turned pale. It was dead, Richie was right… of course he was right. It’s heartbeat was cut off with the first swing of Richie’s hatchet, but their safety hadn’t really sunk in until those words. A horrible sour smell flooded his nostrils, and he quickly realized it was coming from the spear itself - the creature’s blood was so corrosive that it had started to burn away at the wood, so he released the weapon and stepped back before any more of that shit got on either of them. He turned, facing Richie, breathing so heavily that his shoulders rose with every inhale. “You got what you wanted? Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Matt held Richie’s hand tightly and pulled him as he ran for the entrance, before any more of those centipedes showed up. There was danger outside as much as it was in this cave, but for some reason Matt decided he’d rather face a T-Rex in all its towering deadliness than another one of those things. No need to tell him twice. Richie was gonna book it with these long legs, high-tailing it out of the cave while holding onto Matt - he didn’t let go, just kept up as they weaved and twisted back the way they came; luckily they hadn’t gone too far into the cave, and so soon - sunlight was just within their reach. He was outside and he breathed fresh air, even though it felt like maple syrup because of how humid and muggy this portion of the jungle was - oh well, he’d take it. “Yeah, let’s - “ Richie paused to take a breath, realizing that he was clutching his pack in his other hand with a death grip - a quick glimpse told him he hadn’t dropped anything, that the crystals still glittered inside and they’d actually come back with a decent stash. The burns from the creepy-crawly acid were healing quickly so he was pretty sure he’d be okay. Jesus - this was like the second time he and Matt nearly died together though. He could think of better ways to bond as a couple. “Let’s just chill here for a bit - or find a safe spot, whatever. As long as we stick together.” The humidity struck him like a wet blanket,and the sunshine was uncomfortably warm on his skin, but it was welcomed. Without letting Richie go, he became very still, listening… smelling… his eyes rolled sightless in their sockets as he opened and shut his mouth, tasting the air. Only after he was certain, he said, “Nothing’s following us, thank God, and there aren’t any immediate threats around.” He then nodded his head, enthusiastically. “I’ll find us someplace safe. Are you alright?” Matt then placed his hand upon Richie’s cheek and kissed him hard, grateful they got out of there in one piece. Yeah, there were reports that if you died, you’d just reset like waking up from a sleep, but you still experienced the pain and trauma. Fine, yes, Richie was good - he could barely think though, because of the way Matt kissed him. Got him seeing stars and whole-ass colliding galaxies in those beautiful, cartoon birds circling, twitterpated sorts of ways - and he didn’t care if they were both hot and sweaty and probably needed a shower (how was bathing handled here anyway? Guess they’d have to find a lake to take a dunk in, and hope it wasn’t tainted with leeches or something oh god). “I’m okay,” he swayed a bit, grinning, adjusting his glasses on his face as he held onto Matt. “I’ll be better when we’re safe though.” At least they had gotten some good booty from the whole experience - maybe they’d even get to keep these crystals when the reset happened, who knew. “Lead the way, Mattimus - then I might take a nap and sleep hard.” They’d sleep in shifts too. Watch out for each other - because that was what you did, when you loved someone. |