The folders, admittedly, do answer some questions.

Dew stays up all night looking through them (instead of his art. Honestly, Captain Rowan better be goddamn thankful) and once he's finally done, circa 4:00 in the morning, he decides that he may have been unnecessarily difficult about this.

They clear up a lot of things, mostly about the other nations in the world. Dew finds himself really wanting to visit them, simply because leaving the Westhem would generally be pretty awesome.

Evidently, a war between the underground people and the sky people would essentially rip the planet apart, if it gets too crazy, and that's why it needs to be stopped. The Avians want the Westhem to join them, but King Marley thinks that would be a bad idea so they currently have not chosen a side.

Dew, personally, thinks the entire thing is stupid. Who goes to war over being unhappy where your home is? What's so bad about living underground? Okay, yeah, Dew really wants to visit. Too bad he likely will not. At least, not any time in the near future

However, one thing that the folders do not mention, is why the king has kept this from the civilians for so long. It doesn't make any sense to do, and he'd really appreciate it if Marley would tell everyone that the Westhem isn't alone. That, or explain why he can't.

Ding Dong

Dew looks up from his art. Okay, so maybe he actually never went to sleep last night. He needs his art time! Sue him.

Dew makes his way over to the door, finding the captain on the other side. So much for coming later, huh?

"What are you doing here?" Dew asks.

"Work," is how Rowan responds. Dew rolls his eyes. He turns around and, just like last time, leads Rowan to his kitchen.

"I actually looked through the folders," Dew notifies the Captain. Rowan doesn't respond, which is a bummer because Dew was genuinely hoping for a pat on the back. Those things were boring.

Dew decides to make it a routine, and makes himself a cup of coffee. He asks Rowan if he wants a cup and, just like last time, the guy declines. Perhaps he can only drink blood?

That thought is what gets Dew to walk over to his spice cabinet and grab some garlic. Time to test this out. After all, if Rowan was a vampire, of course he'd tell Dew that they don't exist. It makes sense. Dew grabs the spice and walks over to the table Rowan is sitting at, finding that the man has brought some files of his own with him.

Dew dumps half the contents of the garlic onto the table, right in front of Rowan. Rowan, who just turns his gaze up to Dew, visibly confused.

Also, unaffected. Ugh. So, okay, he's not a vampire. Dew can smell it from where he's standing, a few feet away from the table. If Rowan was a vampire he'd probably be in convulsions right now.

Then what is he? He's not human, or Dew's abnormality would work on him.

"Are you okay?" Rowan asks, eyebrow raised. Dew rolls his eyes. Yup, definitely not a vampire. How boring.

Dew starts to scrape the garlic off the table and into his hand, grumbling under his breath about the pointless mess. He doesn't even answer Rowan, mostly because Dewey Price hasn't been okay for years. That's a whole other conversation, though.

Once Dew has his coffee and is finally seated at the table, he finds Rowan reading a paper from the file.

"So what's the scoop?" Dew asks. Rowan looks up from the file, then slides it over. It doesn't take Dew long to figure out that it's a map.

"We're going to the Easthem, where the Origin is first recorded being."

Dew's eyebrows raise. "I'm sorry, what?"

Is this man suggesting the two of them travel across the Atlantic Ocean, to the complete wasteland on the other side of the world, for a simple investigation? There's no way. That's such a bad idea! It's supposed to be uninhabitable for human life over there! Although, well, there are already people living over there... but still! It's not safe!

Also, Dew doesn't like to travel. Sue him.

"We will leave next week. Clear your schedule."

"What are you expecting we find over there? It's been like 200 years!"

Not to mention Dew needs at least two weeks in advance before asking for days off at Bandy's. They will not be happy with him, that's for sure.

"I believe that it would be wise to investigate over there. Do you disagree?"

Dew scrunches up his face, is this man on crack? What in the world could they possibly find? "Yes? Why do you think that's a good idea?"

Rowan purses his lips. "Why do you not?"

Oh. So they're playing this game. Sure, Dew stated previously that leaving the Westhem would be cool, but not to go to the Easthem! It's supposed to absolutely suck over there!

"Um because it's been 200 years? And it's supposed to be a wasteland over there? Also, how do you even know where the origin appeared?"

"Records."

"Whatever. I don't see what you're basing this off of."

"Call it a hunch."

"A hunch? We're traveling across the world because of your hunch?"

"How about you just trust me?" Rowan raises his eyebrows, studying Dew, who feels like he's suddenly been put under a microscope. Ugh, why did he have to pull the 'trust me' card? Now Dew feels like if he disagrees then they'll never be friends. What an unfortunate situation.

Dew deflates. "Fine. Whatever. Next week."

"Thank you. How much of this have you looked through?" He's referring to the stack of files.

"All of it."

"Okay, well the ones I've brought today contain more information about the Origin. I'd like for you to look through them."

Dew sort of wants to throw a tantrum about this whole thing, but reluctantly decides against it. He just sighs, "whatever."

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Tomorrow. At eight o'clock. AGAIN.

The Captain stands up, disappearing out of the kitchen, and it suddenly hits Dew how tired he is. After he hears the front door close, he groans, standing up, walking to his bedroom, and face planting into his bed.

-

Blood.

That's what that is. Running down Dew's arms and pooling on the bathroom floor. A lot of blood, more than he's ever seen in his life. It gathers on the floor, and he notices that blood is a lot thicker than he ever thought. It builds up into dense puddles on the ground, more solid than expected.

The world is getting blurry, and he knows it's because of the loss of such a vital substance. Dew doesn't even know where his knife is, but his arms have since passed the point of pain. He feels more numb than ever.

The last thing he hears is a scream, one distantly recognizable as Mom, before everything fades away.

-

Beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep.

Beep bee-

Dew smacks the cancel button, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. Oh god, now he has to go to work. Unlucky.

He throws his legs over the side of the bed and makes his way over to the spot he'd thrown his work clothes the previous night. He picks them up and tugs them on, before walking to his bathroom and brushing his teeth.

See, Dew's dreams like to alternate between flashbacks of his less than spectacular childhood and complete and utter nonsense. If Dew's being honest, he prefers the nonsense. Dreams about being eaten by a rainbow gargoyle or riding a robotic duck are much more preferable than the crippling emptiness he feels within himself when he has to think about that.

Dew finishes that up, and exits his room. He finds Spikes on the counter, right on time, and he begins making her Spike Porridge. Once he's finished that, he makes his way out his front door.

The walk to Bandy's is uneventful, and pretty soon Dew reaches the small parking lot that leads to the fast food place. He walks in through the back door, which leads to the kitchen, and is quickly greeted by Sheryl;

"Hey Dew!"

Dew is immediately hit by a truck of emotions. That is, every emotion everyone in the restaurant is feeling. He takes a second to adjust, pausing in the doorway, then waves back at her. Sheryl is the actual manager, and she's typically really nice. When Dew is around her, he always feels an underlying attraction, so he's pretty sure the 30 year old has a bit of a thing for him.

Dew walks over to the punch card wall, and clocks in, before fastening his visor around his head so that his hair is out of his face. He makes his way over to the grills and finds that the two other cooks—Drew and Jerome—haven't made the double cheeseburger for the next car yet. So, he gets started on that.

His shift drags on uneventfully, and before he knows it, it hits 11:00 and Bandy's is closed. It takes about 30 minutes to mop and do all the closing duties, as well as ask for the next week off (to Sheryl's displeasure), and pretty soon Dew is done and exiting the place, waving goodbye to his coworkers. Ten minutes later and he's walking back through his front door.

After greeting Spikes, who is chilling on the fluffy rug in the main room, Dew walks to his bedroom and strips down, eventually getting a shower.

Before Dew knows it, he's back at his desk with a pencil in his hand, staring down at a piece of watercolor paper he's taped to the hard wood. What to paint tonight...

Dew decides that tonight is going to be a night where he doesn't even think about it, instead drawing a circle. He draws a line along one side of it, then connects it around the other side. It doesn't take him long to realize he's drawn a jaw. Okay, so this is gonna be a person.

Dew continues sketching out a rough draft, before he grabs his paint brush, deciding to go for some bright colors. Yes, he's gonna go for more of a trippy, neon palette. Dew smiles at this, giving the guy red hair, skin many shades lighter than Dew's own, and closed eyes....

Wait.

Once Dew has finally finished, and pulls away, he realizes what he's drawn. Or, who.

Rowan Lux, in all his neon watercolor glory.

Dew blinks down at it, wondering what to even do with this. He momentarily contemplates actually giving it to Rowan, but decides that would be way too creepy. With that thought, he peels off the tape and shoves the paper into the bottom of his desk drawer, deciding to forget all about this whole night.

Dew starts another painting, shaking his head. It's not the first time he's drawn someone he knows, but it's definitely the first time he's done it unknowingly.

His mind briefly reminds him of the files Rowan gave him, but he ignores that as he starts to draw a bug

Dew should probably go to bed earlier, tonight.