13. It’s Not Cheating If…
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Egg Hunter: Cluster Headache

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Chapter 13: It’s Not Cheating If…

 

When Hunter woke up, he found himself on the floor right in front of his mentor’s office. His entire body screamed at him in excruciating pain. It felt like he had just been electrocuted. Why was he even down here? He couldn’t remember falling down or fainting. 

 

The sound of an opening door caught his attention, and as he shakily stood up, he found himself staring at his mentor’s back. She looked over her shoulder right at him. “Remember to stay out of my office unless I invite you in, Hunter,” she said… her face seemed paler than usual. “And please stop leering at my staff. You’re making them uncomfortable.” With that, she walked into her office and closed the door behind her. 

 

Where had she just been? Wasn’t she supposed to have been in her office talking to Mamata and Eternity? How long had it been since he had come over here?

 

Since she clearly wasn’t inviting him back into her office yet, Hunter took the hint and drifted back over to the children's section of the library. His eyes drifted over to Robbie who had been sitting in front of Mark, listening to them read a picture book. Now though, the kid was staring at him again to Mark’s confusion.

 

Was that even actually Mark though? When Zoey fronted, she could see his astral body as clearly as Robbie could so she clearly wasn’t in control at the moment. Karen was the one who supposedly was supposed to be given fronting time at the moment, but there was really no way to tell if it was her. Then there was the original Mark that Hunter had met… 

 

It was giving him a headache trying to differentiate the body of Mark from the personality that he knew as Mark. When they finally cracked, he couldn’t help but wonder if they would pick a different name for themself from what their legal name would become when they got that changed. It would certainly become easier to keep things straight that way.

 

Hunter worried if Mark was having the same problem. Having confusion between referring to Hunter’s body and his personality. Maybe he should consider picking a new name to make things easier on them, Gráinne, and anyone else who was aware of Mamata’s existence?

 

Shakari…

 

No! No! That damn name was just something hypothetical that he had come up with whenever someone wanted to guess what name he would have as a girl. It was completely irrelevant because he was not a girl! 

 

Hunter could feel his mood rapidly sinking. He would think about a secondary name for himself later… a male name. It would be better for him to just let Karen and Zoey know about what he saw in the pit instead of thinking about this.

 

Hunter shot himself towards the gap in Mark’s mental defenses but stopped abruptly before passing through. The plug that he had made had visibly shrunken even more than it had been earlier. Last time, the hole had already shrunken to be just a third of the size it had been previously, and now it had shrunk again to just half of that. The hole might just be fully healed soon. He decided to think about why that might be later, but if it did heal up, it would be tricky getting back into Mark’s head the next time.

 

Hunter dove through the hole and was surprised to find himself somewhere familiar. He was back in the dollhouse, only this time the door had been broken down and two of the human sized Barbie dolls had been torn apart. The heads and arms had been popped off and their shirts removed. Only the Ken in the trenchcoat seemed to be left alone.

 

Something out of the corner of his eye caught Hunter’s attention. Glitches… odd polygonal distortions in the air flickered around something on the ground. He reached down to grab whatever it was and discovered that it was probably a denim jacket at some point. Now though, it had clearly been torn apart and covered in stains. The sleeves were missing, there was a row of gashes on the back, the bottom of it was completely frayed, and bloodstains along with worse smelling bodily fluids covered it.

 

More distorted glitches appeared out of the corner of his eye and Hunter turned to look at the distortions. A feeling of unease crept into him as the distortions swarmed around the broken door.

 

A furred hand grabbed the door frame as a hulking form leaned down to duck through and into the house. Hunter’s heart started racing as the beast came fully into sight. He wanted to bolt but found his body paralyzed in fear.

 

“Li- Lilly!” A hoarse and stuttered growl echoed. “Li- llli- ttle- r- r- ra- “

 

The beast towered over him as it entered the house. Its emaciated form was thin enough to see the bones under its skin at some points. Glitches and distortions concentrated around it as the skin began to melt from its face revealing the skull face that Hunter had seen before. Its already tall height grew even further and it’s clawed arms lengthened as patches of fur fell away, revealing rotten flesh underneath. 

 

The Hex Girls shirt that the monster had apparently stolen from one of the Barbies began to wear away before his eyes and the unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt it wore over that unraveled at the same time, both becoming threadbare in moments.

 

“Rab- b- bit! Wh- whe- where- is L- L- Li-”

 

NOPE! Fuck this! The moment Hunter could control his own body again, he scrunched his eyes shut tightly. The next moment after that, the raspy voice vanished along with all other sounds. 

 

Hunter curled up in on himself and let himself drop to the ground in the fetal position with his eyes still shut tight. It took a minute for his pulse to slow back down to normal and as his body let itself relax, he felt something fall out of his previously vice-like grip.

 

His eyes opened to see that he had still been clutching onto the torn up denim jacket, only now… the bloodstains were gone, as was most of the fraying and glitches. It no longer looked like something that a murder victim had been wearing and now just looked like a dirty old jacket. 

 

Hunter’s mind raced to try to come up with an explanation for what had happened. He couldn’t think clearly in the moment but now that it was over he knew that something weird was going on. A couple of glitches still danced around on the jacket and looking at them slightly renewed that feeling of apprehension and dread… Wait! Dread!

 

He had felt that feeling before and pieces slowly clicked into place. Looking over the glitches again, he could feel traces of psychic energy that dissipated away as the glitches vanished as well… remnants of a hallucination.

 

He hated to remember when he had felt that feeling before… that dread. He had been so far away from the center of that aura of fear that the villain Dread had been letting out but that feeling had still been an order of magnitude worse than what the werewolf had been emitting. Even just thinking of that villain’s name brought back memories of that horrible day when he was still just a kid. Most of the people that experienced it that day would forget just how intense that fear had been the moment that it ended, but for people like Hunter… for psychics… that feeling couldn’t be forgotten so easily…

 

Hunter pushed those feelings back down. He couldn’t forget them, but he could at least suppress them. He was good at doing that so long as there wasn’t a reminder. As he pulled himself out of his thoughts, he realized that someone had been petting his head and back for who knows how long.

 

He flinched away from the unexpected touching to find Caitlyn standing over him once more. He was back in the neighborhood and the tall blond smiled at him as she leaned back in with her hand out.

 

“Stop touching me!” Hunter yelled at her.

 

“I- um… okay. I’ll stop touching!” the woman said with her hands raised in surrender. “It’s just… you’re just so cute! I bet you’re even cuter in person.“

 

Hunter said nothing but couldn’t help but blush hard. The real him wasn’t… maybe like this he could be cute but he was a guy and guys just weren’t cute. He couldn’t even say that the real him was handsome or manly either… he just-

 

“Are you heading back to the fronting room?” Cautiously, Hunter nodded which made Caitlyn smile even wider. “Perfect! So was I!”

 

He took a couple of steps away from her and said, “Just… keep your distance. Respect my personal space, please.” People shouldn’t have to be told that kind of thing…

 

She followed him as he walked toward the office building. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that she was staying about ten feet back, but somehow he didn’t feel like he was safe. She had a predatory smile on her face still… she was plotting…

 

“What are Hex Girls?” Caitlyn suddenly asked. She was still keeping her distance but could see the confusion on Hunter’s face. “That rag you’re holding… It has Hex Girls written on it.”

 

He looked back at the denim jacket in his hand. She was right about the writing. It was heavily faded and he hadn’t noticed it past all the glitches, but now that those had fully vanished he could see it written in big white letters on the back of the jacket.

 

“Uh… I don’t know? Some minor Scooby Doo villains or something?” It was a guess. Hunter had heard of them but didn’t really know what their deal was.

 

“Thank you for telling me,” Caitlyn said. “Good Girl!”

 

Chills ran down Hunter’s back and he cringed away as he felt his head get pet again but… he glared at her and strangely she was still ten feet away from him. Maybe he just imagined it? He turned to keep walking and immediately recoiled again as he felt something touch his rear end. He looked around in confusion but saw no one except Caitlyn who was still keeping her distance. That predatory grin still plastered on her face.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked with feigned ignorance.

 

Something was definitely up. Hunter put up a psychic barrier around himself, just in case. He wasn’t strong enough to block anything physically larger than a mouse with it, but the barrier had other uses too.

 

He felt a tingle as he turned around again, immediately followed by a cry from Caitlyn. She was kneeling on the ground now, still a fair distance away, and clutching at her head.

 

“Are you using psychic powers on me!?” Hunter yelled in outrage.

 

“Aaah! Wh- what is happening!? What is with this headache?” She wasn’t on the verge of tears but she was clearly in considerable pain.

 

“Backlash from your power failing… or you’ve just overused it and are running out of energy.” There wasn’t a lot of compassion in Hunter’s response. Whatever power she had manifested, she had been using it on him and he didn’t appreciate it. People abusing their powers like this was the reason that psychics had a bad reputation in general and had to hide themselves.

 

“H- how do you make it stop!?” 

 

That… was actually a good question. There wasn’t much that could be done for a backlash other than waiting it out and his usual go-to solution was to drink some Mentali-tea if his energy was low. How did it work for Mark’s headmates though? Could they feel a headache from overusing their energy? Hunter hadn’t felt Eternity’s overuse of his power until he had taken control of the body…

 

He shrugged. “Wait it out or something?” It wasn’t a lie. He really didn’t know. 

 

“Wait! Aren’t you going to help me with this!? Aren’t you supposed to be a professional at this stuff or something!?”

 

“I’m not a professional though. I’m just a project manager at some company. I’d need years more of training to be a psychic professionally.” It likely wouldn’t have taken too long to get professional certification, but even that would mean longer than necessary training under his mentor. He’d made it very clear to her that he didn’t want to work as a psychic… which probably contributed to her increasing the intensity of his training for a period. 

 

But really, even if he did become certified, what kind of job would he get with his specialization? Being able to astrally project could be useful for spying if he wanted to go into the intelligence field, but he had absolutely no interest in becoming a spy. His telekinesis was extraordinarily weak and his reaction speed was pitifully average so becoming a soldier or mercenary would be beyond him, if he ever developed a desire to do such work. He didn’t! 

 

Becoming an exorcist was equally off the table. His lackluster performance at that would just be used to prop up his cousin’s reputation. She would definitely use any opportunity that she could to try to humiliate him. Saoirse hated the fact that Aintín Gráinne stayed in America after training Hunter in the basics instead of moving back to Ireland.

 

He was getting off topic again…

 

Caitlyn was still on the ground groaning in pain and Hunter wasn’t completely heartless, so instead of just leaving her to suffer alone, he offered her a hand up.

 

“Let's get to the fronting room. Just take it nice and easy…” Hunter allowed her to lean on his shoulder as they walked up to and through the office building. Thankfully, she didn’t take advantage of him as he helped her along.

 

“Hey! What took so long? Are you doing okay, H?” Zoey called out from one of the couches as they reached the fronting room in the clouds over the neighborhood.

 

Oww… Head’s suddenly killing me out of nowhere…

 

Karen’s voice echoed throughout the space at almost the same moment they got there. Based on the view out of Mark (the body’s) eyes, she hadn’t fallen to the ground in pain like Caitlyn had.

 

Hunter helped Caitlyn onto the same couch that Mark (the personality) was sitting on along with the skater girl, Avril, before moving to the other couch to sit next to Zoey. There was another guy that Hunter didn’t recognize sitting next to her, but he immediately became distracted by Zoey’s hand which started scritching behind his ear. It felt incredible! Hunter could feel his eyes wanting to roll into the back of his head in pleasure, but he could never let that feeling show on his face in front of so many people.

 

“Good Bunny!” Zoey said loud enough for everyone to hear before getting close to his ear to whisper. “Good Girl!” She dug her nails into his ear fur as she redoubled the intensity of the scritches. It felt too good to worry about getting flustered or correcting her over. Hunter was practically melting into her as Zoey continued scritching away.

 

“So… did you get lost lil bun?” Zoey asked after finally letting up on the petting and scratching. Hunter couldn’t help but let out a groan of dissatisfaction at the end of the pampering.

 

“No, I didn’t get lost… I just went to check if Aintín Gráinne was done talking with Mamata and Eternity,” he answered, not elaborating that he had apparently been knocked out without a clue as to what had happened out there.

 

“See anything out in the fog?” Zoey started only to be interrupted by Karen’s voice echoing throughout the headspace.

 

More importantly, what about in the prison!?

 

“Umm… nothing in that void prison other than a big gaping hole straight into the fog,” Hunter answered.

 

Damn…

 

“There is someone else out in the fog though.” Instantly, Hunter could feel Mark’s body perk up in interest at those words. “I don’t know if it’s the Jolene you’re looking for, but I think the ‘monster’ that I came across might be someone with a psychic fear aura.”

 

Hunter’s gaze drifted over to Caitlyn who was still groaning in pain on the other couch next to Mark. “If they don’t know how to control it, then it might just be activating without them intending to. When I saw it this time, it wasn’t as frightening as it was before but it seemed to be becoming more monstrous the longer we were near each other. If that was Jolene… the power probably contributed to the panic I felt being dropped into that jail the first time.”

 

Jolene is an imaginary friend though. How would she even have psychic powers?

 

That was a good question, one that Hunter didn’t have an answer for. He’d never met a psychic with imaginary friends before… at least not one that was open about it. It wouldn’t make sense for them to develop psychic powers. They weren’t even real people… and yet Mamata had started developing psychic powers of her own. She could see people’s auras in a way that he wasn’t able to. Didn’t she count as a real person? She had started out as just a psychic construct but she was definitely a real person now. If a construct could become a person, then why couldn’t an imaginary friend do it as well?

 

“I don’t know if an imaginary friend could develop psychic powers out of nowhere, but what if she’s become something more than just an imaginary friend?” Hunter mulled it over in his mind a bit before adding, “It might not have been Jolene, but what if she hadn’t been the only person trapped in that prison?”

 

I- I just don’t-

 

The screen that was showing what was happening in the real world turned black a moment before Karen stood up from the fronting chair. She looked at Hunter in a way that seemed like it held some deeper meaning to it, but whatever that might have been, Hunter couldn’t tell.

 

“I don’t know if there’s anyone else that has been sent down there before!” Karen said. Her breathing was starting to quicken and her voice cracked as she spoke. “I didn’t even know that Jolene was down there until after I dropped you into it. The knowledge just kind of came to me out of nowhere.”

 

“Maybe there’s something that we could do to jog more of those memories?” Zoey offered.

 

“I don’t know if that’s possible anymore,” Karen admitted. “The memory was vague at first, but now it feels more like something that was told to me instead of something that I actually knew had happened. I think those memories went with EmoBoy when he split off from me.”

 

“It’s another reason for you to go look for him out in the fog,” Zoey practically whispered that next to Hunter’s ear. It sent shivers down his spine for some reason. Maybe it was the proximity or something, but her voice just sounded so… intimate?

 

“I- umm… yeah…” Hunter responded lamely. “Umm… Do you know what Jolene is supposed to look like, Karen? So I know what I should be keeping an eye out for.”

 

Karen sighed, “No… All I know is that she was an imaginary friend from when we were a kid. I don't know what she looked like or even why she was down in there… the only other thing that I know is that when I remembered her, there was a lot of guilt there too.”

 

Hunter felt Zoey knead into his shoulder blade with her thumb. It was amazing! Not as nice as the ear scritches, but still…

 

“The monster may or may not be Jolene, but maybe if you describe what it looked like again it could jog some of Karen’s memories? It's worth a try,” Zoey suggested. Another press into his shoulder was plenty of encouragement for Hunter.

 

“I already told you, I don't have the memories anymore. They were taken by Emo-”

 

“Let’s just give it a try!” Zoey repeated firmly.

 

Hunter thought back to the encounter and tried to visualize the beast the best that he could, trying to think about what it truly looked like without the fear aura clouding his perception of it. “It just kinda looked like a humanoid wolf wearing clothes that it has stolen off some life sized Barbie Doll-”

 

Describing it out loud made Hunter pause. The description was eerily familiar to something else that he had seen just earlier that morning. He glanced back at the old torn up jacket that he had left next to him on the couch. 

 

“Does the name Missus Clawford sound at all familiar?” Almost everyone else in the room started chuckling a bit at that. “What?”

 

“Did you suddenly develop a lisp or something, cutie?” Zoey asked with a playful pinch to his neck.

 

“What? No…?”

 

“Did you mean to say Crawford?” Mark asked with a barely concealed snicker. “You know… my last name?” 

 

Giggles started erupting from some of the others, sending a blush into Hunter’s face. Being surrounded by people laughing at him was never a comfortable thing, but at least this time he had an idea of why they were laughing.

 

“No… Clawford, with an ‘L’! How about Uncle Marv? Do either of those names ring any kinds of bells?” Hunter asked. For a few seconds the only response he received was silence and looks of confusion.

 

“Isn’t Marv Eternity’s real name?” the guy sitting on the other side of Zoey asked uncertainly.

 

“It is,” Karen answered before asking, “What makes you bring it up, Hunter?”

 

He hesitated a moment before finally answering, “It was something that I saw in Eternity’s memories… at least I think that was what it was. It was from when he was a kid and his Uncle Marv ripped apart a wolf plushie of his that was named Misses Clawford… except that wasn’t the whole memory. There was a part where she came to life or something. She also looked like a humanoid wolf-girl and was surrounded by life sized Barbie dolls.”

 

He lifted up the tattered denim jacket and showed off the faded logo that was on the back. “She had been wearing a denim jacket and was pretending to be a bouncer at a Hex Girls concert.”

 

Karen took the jacket from Hunter and looked closely at it but eventually shook her head with a sigh. “I’m sorry… it still doesn’t sound familiar at all.”

 

“Damn! I thought I was onto something…”

 

“Hey, it’s okay!” Zoey said softly as she pulled Hunter into another hug. “Just because Karen doesn’t remember, doesn’t mean that the one you met in the fog isn’t the same Missus Clawford.” She gave some kind of odd look to Karen as she added, “Since Karen insists that Eternity was always one of us, that means that if he had an imaginary friend named Missus Clawford, then I can’t think of where else she would have ended up except in that jail or out in the fog. It’s not like I remember anything from back when we were a kid…”

 

There was a chorus of sighs all around them as Karen and Mark agreed, while Avril added, “I don’t even know if I’ve ever even controlled the body. No way that I could have any of those memories.” The other guy nodded along to that.

 

“Wait!” Mark suddenly interjected. “Does no one here actually remember our childhood?” There was a troubled look on their face as they stood up to get a better look at everyone else. Their gaze ran from person to person expectantly.

 

A tablet appeared in Karen’s hand which she started fiddling with. “I’ve got nothing from before high school. I’d have to check my records, but I think some of the people in the neighborhood should have some fragments of our childhood memories. I’d have to double check through their baggage…” All of her focus was on the tablet as she started wandering away towards the staircase down.

 

A sudden scratch at the base of his ear brought Hunter’s attention back to Zoey. “Someone’s gotta get back in the body and keep an eye on the kid. Might as well be me since I’m the one Granny’s going to want to talk to.”

 

“I’ll go help The Admin look through the records…” the other guy said as he got up and followed Karen towards the staircase.

 

“Her name is Karen now, Pete!” Zoey said sternly before dropping down into the fronting chair.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Well…” Avril interrupted the sudden silence that was forming from everyone else’s sudden departure. “I’m gonna get going too. Can’t even bother to think of an excuse, but I’m sure you two don’t need me to be a third wheel or anything. See ya!”

 

With everyone else having suddenly left, it was just Hunter and Mark remaining.

 

Mark didn’t say anything right away and neither did Hunter. The sounds from the outside world had been shut off by Zoey without Hunter realizing it and without there being anyone or anything else to make any noise, the silence grew oppressive. 

 

Hunter could feel goosebumps starting to form on his arms and neck. It almost felt like the tense stillness that a prey animal felt moments before being slaughtered by the predator stalking it. Any moment now, the tension was absolutely going to reach its breaking point and Mark would start calling him a freak again or yell at him for invading their privacy, he just knew it. Despite how distressing the silence was for him though, the longer he let it last, the longer he could avoid the impending tongue-lashing that was coming. He didn’t dare be the one to break it.

 

“Ugh…” A sudden groan shattered the silence as Caitlyn sat up from the couch she had been laying on. She looked around in confusion before her eyes settled on Hunter and Mark. “Why is my head hurting so much?”

 

Hunter could feel her predative eyes narrow and they lingered on him for way too long. Instinctively, he shifted to hide himself behind Mark. He hadn’t even realized that they had been approaching him, but he was thankful for it. Despite the anxiety he had been feeling about Mark moments before, right now their presence was intensely comforting. 

 

At least whatever it was that Mark might do to him, he knew that he at least deserved it. Caitlyn on the other hand… he was much more afraid of whatever harassment she was about to send at him again. The fact that the metaphor that he had been playing around with in his head was coming true, frankly sucked, even if she was a different kind of predator from what he had been imagining.

 

“I’m not going to bite your head off or anything, little bun…” she purred in what Hunter assumed was supposed to be a sultry tone but just sounded… off. The headache from drained mental energy was probably still affecting her.

 

Why was he acting afraid of her anyways? Sure, she didn’t respect his boundaries and even grabbed his butt like an absolute creep, but her inability to even bypass his defenses once he put them up, was what put her out of commission in the first place. As long as he didn’t want her to, she wouldn’t be able to touch him. That thought instantly filled Hunter with new confidence as he reactivated his psychic barrier. He squared his shoulders as he prepared to stop hiding behind Mark.

 

“Can you stop acting like a total creep Kate? You’re scaring…” Mark suddenly stopped what they were in the middle of saying and turned around to look at Hunter. He couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden attention. “You’re scaring Hunter!”

 

Chills started going down Hunter’s spine, and not the nice kind like what Zoey’s affection gave him. Before his eyes, the blur that had been surrounding Mark’s form started fading away to return them to their normal form… except it wasn’t just their normal body. As Mark squared their shoulders and stood protectively in front of him, Hunter could see their form change to become even more masculine than it was in reality. Their muscles seemed just a bit more defined, as was their jawline, and a very clear layer of stubble appeared.

 

Oh fuck! What did he just do to make Mark regress!? Zoey had told him that the blurriness around Mark’s form had been a sign that they were in the process of exploring who they wanted to be. They should have been getting closer to realizing that they were trans, but in just a moment, they had fully regressed into their masculine facade.

 

But damn… what a facade it was. The chiseled jaw… the wide shoulders… that rear end that he could see as they turned to face down Caitlyn again. Hunter’s body was physically reacting to the sight with more than just butterflies. That gooey and warm but unfamiliar feeling that was spreading throughout his lower body… It felt so strange but so good. Leagues better than how his real body responded to arousal.

 

Dammit, this was not the time to be feeling like this! 

 

Conflicting feelings welled up in Hunter. On the one hand, the strange euphoria he was experiencing felt so good that he decided then and there not to return his privates in this form to what they should have been. On the other hand, intense shame was building up within him. Shame that his cowardice was making him act like some damsel in distress. Shame that he made Mark feel the need to man-up to protect him. Shame that he enjoyed the way this body felt when aroused. Shame that he was letting himself objectify Mark… he wasn’t much better than Caitlyn in that regard, was he?

 

“I’m not even doing anything to her,” Caitlyn shot back at Mark. “And just because I chose not to be a man anymore, don't think you can intimidate me!” she growled at them… although part of the growl might have been out of pain rather than an attempt to intimidate them back.

 

Can you all stop whatever it is you’re currently doing? It’s giving me a headache

 

Zoey’s voice suddenly echoed out throughout the place.

 

M, her name is Caitlyn, not Kate. Please remember that. Caitlyn, please stop whatever it is you’re doing that’s scaring Hunter.

 

“All I wanted to do was pet her cuz she’s cute! Why is it fine when you do it, but I’m the bad guy for wanting to do the same!?”

 

Because I asked for consent first!

 

Caitlyn grumbled something that Hunter couldn’t understand in response to that.

 

Well, I don’t care-

 

Zoey’s voice disappeared mid-sentence, although Caitlyn reacted as if she should still hear her. Emotions flickered across her face, although Hunter wasn’t quite sure what they were supposed to be. He didn’t want to look too closely in case Caitlyn took that as some kind of invitation for prolonged eye contact.

 

“That isn’t fair!” Caitlyn suddenly burst out. She was yelling vaguely in the direction of the sky. “Fine!” 

 

She took one last look full of a strange longing at Hunter before she turned and stormed off towards the stairs leading out of the fronting room.

 

This would be a good time for the two of you to make up…” Zoey’s voice echoed in Hunter’s head. 

 

He didn’t respond to her and simply looked over at Mark who also was reacting as if they had gotten an unexpected telepathic message. Hunter stood there awkwardly as Mark stayed where they were with their back still to him. It seemed to last at least a minute before Mark finally turned to face him.

 

“Look, H-”

 

“Thank you!” Hunter suddenly blurted out, interrupting whatever Mark had been about to say. “Thanks for scaring Caitlyn off for me…”

 

He knew that he needed to apologize to Mark, but he hoped that by thanking them first they would hear the sincerity in his voice and not doubt that his apology was genuine. It still took him a moment though to work up the nerve to say anything more. It didn’t help that Mark was staring at him expectantly… they could tell that he had more to say.

 

“I- I’m really, really sorry that I violated your privacy!” Hunter finally managed to force out. He looked up to look Mark in the eyes and struggled to not look away. He didn’t want Mark to misunderstand his discomfort for dishonesty. They were pretty eyes though. A fierce blush was creeping up into Hunter’s face that he tried to ignore… among other ways that his body was reacting.

 

“I tried to read your mind without you knowing and then invaded it… twice… when you weren’t expecting it. I- I had a good reason for doing it, I swear, but still… If you think that what I did was unforgivable, I understand…” He couldn’t keep the eye contact any longer. There were already tears forming in his eyes and yet Mark’s expression was completely inscrutable. Hunter turned his eyes to the cloud floor beneath him and tried to control his breathing. It was a few excruciatingly long moments before Mark finally responded.

 

“It- It’s fine…” they said lamely. Hunter could feel his heart starting to break. He had tried so hard to make sure that Mark knew that he was being sincere, but it wasn’t enough…

 

“Hunter! Hunter, stop!” Mark’s shouting snapped him out of his thoughts. They had their hands on his shoulders and had been shaking him out of the state that he’d been in. Hunter blinked the tears out of his eyes and looked up at Mark’s face… they were blushing…

 

“I forgive you, alright!” This time Mark was the one to avert their gaze first. “I get it… Maybe you shouldn’t have been reading my mind, but you noticed that Zoey and Karen were in a lot of pain suppressing themselves and you came into my head to help them…”

 

That… wasn’t exactly true. He hadn’t even known that anyone else existed in here when he forced his way in. 

 

“You did a good thing for us and I- I shouldn’t have lashed out and called you a freak.” A strange silence permeated the place as the two of them avoided looking at each other. Finally, Mark broke it by speaking up again as he sat down on one of the couches.

 

“I’m sorry I’ve been acting so weird lately,” Mark suddenly said. “I’ve been avoiding you and… I’ve been acting kinda jealous.”

 

What were they talking about now? Jealous? Of him? Hunter sat down on the couch too, leaving a few feet of space in between them.

 

“I know that me and Mamata have been having some great chemistry together, and I really like her… like really, really like her…” They paused for a moment to stare off wistfully into space. “It’s a bit confusing for me though, all this plurality stuff. I know that the two of you are different people, I can talk to her and it’s obvious that you aren’t the same person. But sometimes… when I’m looking at you it’s hard to keep these feelings separate.”

 

Mark suddenly burst with energy and gestured expressively with their hands as they spoke. “Like, she’ll do something really really cute in your body, and the next time I see you, I can’t help but still think you’re adorable, even though you aren’t her.”

 

Hunter tried to keep the sinking feeling off of his face. Mark was so animated and it was so cute to see them like this, but he didn’t want to see this happen in the context…

 

“I know that I shouldn’t be feeling like this, but even seeing you like… this… I can’t stop thinking about how cute you are.” The gesturing slowed down a lot as a blush crossed Mark’s face. “I can’t help but feel a bit possessive, I guess. I keep seeing how cute you get when Zoey is doting on you, and I just keep thinking…”

 

Mark stopped talking. Hunter tried to read the unspoken part from their face, but it just eluded him.

 

“Sorry. I shouldn’t be feeling like this,” Mark said as they hung their head down. “It isn’t fair to you. You and Zoey are really cute together and I shouldn’t be feeling like you’re cheating right in front of me.”

 

An awkward silence spread out and Hunter really wasn’t sure how to feel. Mark thought he was cute and was misunderstanding his relationship with Zoey and getting jealous. It gave him butterflies and he wanted to tell them that there wasn’t anything going on between him and Zoey… but that wouldn’t be fair to Mamata. Mark was trying to set some kind of boundary, and trying to undermine that would just-

 

I don’t mind sharing, you know…

 

Zoey’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Had she been eavesdropping this entire time?

 

Wait… what did she mean by sharing!?

 

Mark couldn’t keep their own blush hidden either as they stammered out, “Sh- sharing!?”

 

Well, yeah. Hunter is absolutely adorable but I don’t want to keep ‘em to myself if ‘ey are interested in other people. As long as Hunter is okay with it, feel free to flirt away all you want! Even in front of me!

 

Hunter buried his face in his hands to hide just how fiercely he had started blushing. Was… was Zoey really flirting with him this whole time!? She was interested in him!? And she was even encouraging Mark to flirt with him as well!? He could barely believe it!

 

“Wh- no!” Mark blurted out. “That would be cheating on Mamata!”

 

You can date them both, dork! As long as they’re both okay with it.

 

“But… that would be cheating… wouldn’t it?” 

 

Hunter’s ears perked up a bit at that. Something in Mark’s voice sounded… hopeful? Would Mark actually want to date him in addition to Mamata if they were given permission?

 

God… have you really never heard of polyamory?

 

“...”

 

“...” Neither Hunter or Mark had heard of it, it seemed…

 

Seriously!? Stinking amnesia… I was not this ignorant when I was the one controlling the body!

 

Zoey seemed genuinely annoyed for some reason. Hunter guessed that it made sense. Mark hadn’t even been aware that they were plural, and it seemed like they didn’t remember too much from the time before they even started controlling their body. It wasn’t like they didn't have any memories from before then but there was enough missing for them to not realize that their current personality was completely different from how it used to be.

 

That… would have to be rough to deal with. Hunter couldn’t imagine what it would be like to find out that he was missing a bunch of memories and the ones that he did have weren’t even his own. How was Mark handling all of this? He suddenly realized that the two of them had started avoiding each other at the same time that Mark found out about all of this. 

 

Hunter didn’t know how well Mark was coping with this. Had they talked to Mamata about it when he wasn’t paying attention? Were their headmates helping them with it? Or were they just suppressing it all and ignoring the whole thing? He should probably talk to them about it at some point.

 

Look! As long as everyone is aware and consents to it, then you can date multiple people without it being cheating…

 

“Um…” 

 

Oh crap! Mark was looking at them and Hunter had been zoning out again. His heart started racing in anticipation.

 

“I know that Mamata and I have a thing going on between us, Hunter, but I also think you’re really cute and um… I’m… um… I’d like to… um… with you too…” Mark’s face was bright red as they stuttered along and Hunter just found himself nodding along dumbly as he fought off his own embarrassment. “If you’re okay with it…”

 

“I- I’d love to!” Hunter blurted out. His heart was racing like mad and he could feel his body reacting to the situation again. He didn’t try to suppress it this time though. Mark was asking him out! He was allowed to act like this! 

 

Hunter scrunched his eyes closed tightly as he let his lips pucker up in expectation. Any moment now, they were gonna…

 

He didn’t feel Mark’s lips on his own. Instead he felt them ruffle his hair a bit. He let his eyes reopen as he unconsciously let out a needy whine of disappointment. There was a reluctant grimace on Mark’s face and they turned their head away to avoid looking at Hunter. 

 

What was going on? They had just asked him out! They should be making out or something, right!? Hunter had tried to give them some privacy when they had been with Mamata, but he already knew that the two of them had smooched already… why not with him?

 

He couldn’t help but sob as the tears filled his eyes. Was Mark actually being serious about this or not? He knew that he was dumb at times, but there couldn’t be any way that he was misinterpreting this situation!

 

“I… um…” Mark stuttered and sighed, “Sorry, H… I- I need to make sure that Mamata is okay with this too first…”

 

Hunter choked back another sob but couldn’t stop himself from continuing to cry, even if what Mark was saying made sense.

 

*Sigh* Tag me in, M?

 

Mark hesitated a bit before taking their hands off Hunter and standing up from the couch. They were only halfway to the fronting chair before-

 

Oh crap! Just a-

 

Suddenly, the sounds from the outside world returned.

 

“You might as well come with me as well Mr. Crawford,” the voice of Hunter’s mentor said as Zoey turned their body to look at her approach. She looked and sounded incredibly tired.

 

She just called for you to go with her Hunter!

 

Hunter squashed all the tumultuous emotions that were bouncing around in him. In a tone that sounded half dead, he responded, “You should stay in the body for now Zoey, you’re the one she’s going to need to talk to…”

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