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Alex had turned away from the closet only to have Yin start telling him that he wanted him to stay in the room and refused to have him stay anywhere else. Alex wondered what Yin would do if Alex in turn refused to stay in the room, but wasn't really in the mood for arguing when he'd just gotten home and was still eager to see his mom and get some home made food into himself finally.

"Of course you aren't forcing me out, Yin, I just thought you might like to have some privacy. If you'd rather I stayed too then that's no problem. But.." He frowned, "I don't actually sleep so all I would be doing is reading or watching skellyvision, but I can do that downstairs so that I don't keep you awake. It is quite a bit warmer in here then I'm used to, but if I'm just using the room to get my clothes or grab a book or two then it's really no big deal. If you want me to keep you company during a hideout situation though...then we can turn the heat down a little" He smiled.

He stopped to drop his bag, then bent down to unzip it, pulling out his skateboard first and putting that to the side, then pulling out the couple of books he'd brought along, then the few articles of clothing, which he stood up and began hanging in the empty closet. The bag itself he then just kicked inside to leave on the closet floor, and he turned to pick up his books and skateboard and find a place to put them as well. The book shelf was too full, so he just placed one on top of the other on the stand next to the lamp, then went and propped his skateboard up next to the open door. It was rather a lot nicer next to the hallway, where the cold air was battling it's way inside as the heat escaped.

Alex stood by the door and waited, though it wasn't long before Yin was finished with his things and waiting to see what they were going to do now. "Well, I think I should probably go and see my mom." He grinned, though he was slightly concerned over the lack of sisters so far. What were they up to? Were the twins hiding in their room ready to jump out at him as they walked past? He shuddered inwardly at the thought, but still managed to make himself shuffle out into the hallway.

He passed the room without any surprises, and listened carefully as he shuffled along, not hearing any noises from within. Maybe they were just all downstairs in the kitchen with his mom. He led Yin back down the stairs, then turned right down a very short hall that opened up into the dining room. It was huge, with a table that stretched across the room and looked large enough to seat 50 or more. His dad was seated at one end of the table with a plate of food sitting in front of him that he was quietly consuming. He looked up when the two boils entered and gestured towards the kitchen. "Mom has lunch for you." he said with a bloody smile before bending back to his task.

Alex may have picked up his pace a little bit at that point. There was food to be had, and all he'd eaten so far was half a bag of snacks on the train before they got dumped on the floor. He made his way through the dining room, towards an arched doorway that led into the kitchen.

The kitchen, just like the other two downstairs rooms, was also quite large. There was a giant fridge, expansive counter tops, an oven (it wasn't used for much but it still got used). Cupboards lined the wall above the countertops and below, and a large island in the middle of the room was where his mom stood, chopping up raw meat with a large knife clutched in one skeletal hand. She looked eerily like Alex had when he had been turned into a ghoul, though perhaps a bit shorter then he had been. Her hair was also longer then Alex's had been, but fell in loose curls the way his had. Her eyes were the same shade of pale pale grey that Alex's were, and she looked up with those eyes now with a small smile. "Alexander." She said, putting down her knife and wiping her bloody hands on the apron she wore, which was also currently covered in splatters of blood stains. She then walked over to him, in a strangely familiar way to the one that Alex walked, the reason becoming apparent as she moved around the counter towards her son, revealing that her left foot was also skeletal, as Alex's was.

She reached up towards Alex when she neared him and wrapped her arms around him in a gentle embrace, not at all like the rough, bone crushing hug he had received from his dad earlier. He wrapped his own long arms around her, as she whispered "I missed you."

His reply? "Me too mom, where's lunch?"

His mom stepped back from him with a frown, though it was obvious she was trying to hold back a smile and failing. She gave Alex a firm slap on the arm though with her skeletal hand and he winced, though he continued to grin.

His mom was now turning towards Yin with an exasperated look on her face. "You see what I have to deal with here?" She said to him, then smiled and held out her hand towards him as well. "Hello Yǐn Cáng, it's a pleasure to have you in our home. A friend of Alexander's is welcome here anytime."

Alex watched on with faint amusement, but was also quietly inching his way towards the cutting board with all of it's chopped up meat as his mom introduced herself to Yin. He had snagged a piece of meat and popped into into his mouth, but then almost choked on the bit of food when he saw that Yin was going to actually kiss his mothers hand. The meat dislodged from his throat fairly quickly to continue on it's way down to his stomach, but it left a strange feeling in his throat that he attempted to cough away as he raised an arm to cover his mouth.

Alex's mom, however, seemed pleased as could be, though shook her head slightly at the 'mistress' comment. ]"I am not a Mistress, Yǐn Cáng. To us that word would indicate ownership of somebody, and I do not own you. Many of our kind have masters and mistresses, but not us, and I would not want anybody to see me as thus, especially not my son's best friend." She pulled her hand away from him when he was finished, and then smiled warmly.

"Now, are you two hungry? You must be after such a long morning. Alexander, grab some plates, please. Yǐn Cáng, do you prefer your food cooked or raw? I can throw it in the oven for a little while or cook it on the stove top if you prefer." She was already moving back towards the chopped up meat, which she had rubbed some amount of spices in earlier, as Alex, who's coughing fit seemed to have subsided for now, wandered over to a cupboard to grab some plates.

"Are you having any, mom? And uh...where are the ghouls? Should I get some down for them as well....? I think Nathaniel went to find his own lunch."

His mom just shook her head from where she stood. "I'll have a plate, yes, but your sisters are all at your Uncle Jeremy's for today, and tonight. They'll be home tomorrow when the rest of the family comes. I thought that it might be...easier..for your friend if they weren't here to start with." She glanced up at Yin before grabbing ahold of the knife and beginning to cut up the meat once more.

Alex was ecstatic. No sisters for a day! Well, he wouldn't have minded if Isabella had been home, but it was fine with him that the twins were nowhere near at the moment. He bet that they had just hated being sent away too. That just made Alex all the more happy, as he took down the plates and made his way over to his mom and all that delicious meat she was chopping up. He spread the plates out on the counter top next to the cutting board, then watched as his mom set down the knife and grabbed a large spoon down from the rack hanging over head, and began scooping up very large portions of meat onto each plate.

Alex mom nodded her approval at the new title Yin had given her, obviously preferring it to the 'mistress' he had used to start with. She then untied her apron, slipping it off and shuffling over to hang it on a peg sticking out of the wall, and turned back towards the two boils with a smile still on her face. "Ok then, grab a plate and go and eat." She nodded towards the dining room, urging them on. "And Alex, after lunch maybe you and Yǐn Cáng, and your father could go and capture something for dinner? I have all the food I need for tomorrow, but nothing for later today."

Alex's face fell a little. Ugh..hunting. He wasn't opposed to it by any means, but he was always the slowest of the group and usually ended up not being helpful at all and just shambling along, not really enjoying himself. He was much better at just sitting and lying in wait for some poor unfortunate creature to stumble upon him itself, rather then go chasing after things that could move much faster then he did. Regardless, he answered with a "Yes, mom." and then, almost as an afterthought "Oh, did you happen to get anything for Yin to drink? I know I forgot to ask." Before grabbing his plate. His mom pointed to the fridge.

"Bottom shelf, bottles of water. Help yourself Yǐn Cáng" she made no movement to follow them into the dining room, instead just stood there picking out bits of meat to pop into her own mouth and chew on quietly, looking thoughtful.

"Great, thanks!" Alex replied before making his way towards the dining room. When he got there, his dad was still sitting, but with a plate that was almost empty in front of him. "Mom wants us to go hunting after lunch." He said, as he pulled out the chair closest to his dad, putting his plate down and collapsing into the chair. His dad just nodded in reply, probably his mom had already told him when he'd grabbed his own lunch from her. Alex waited for Yin to sit down as well before beginning to devour his meal.

Alex paused in his devouring to glance up at Yin, but before he could answer his dad was already speaking, so he just shrugged and went back to his lunch, happily scooping up pieces of deliciously seasoned meat with his fingers and shoving it into his mouth.

"Hallowdeer." The big man rumbled "Big ones. Other things too, but Hallowdeer is best." He reached down to grab the last piece of meat from his plate and pop it in his mouth, before pushing back his chair with a loud scraping noise and raising to take his plate back to the kitchen, where Alex's mom still was. Alex wasn't quite sure why his mom had chosen to eat in there. Probably because she didn't want Yin to feel uncomfortable by being around. His mom was earning more awesome points in his mind with every passing moment.

"We have a herd of wild, hallowdeer in the forest surrounding our home. They're quite large as far as animals go, and we try not to kill too many of them, or any of the babies, to keep the population strong. There are other things out their too, wild foxfires and chinchillies, that sort of stuff, but it would take a lot longer to find enough for dinner." Alex thought he should provide a little more information then his dad had, now that he was gone and Alex had finished the food that was in his mouth. He reached out for another handful, already nearly finished what was on his plate. He wondered idly if there was anything else to eat in the fridge, but decided if they were going hunting he might be able to find something to snack on out there.

Alex was barely finished with his meal before Yin was whisking his plate away and heading towards the kitchen. Alex chuckled to himself, but pushed back his chair to stumble to his feet and follow along, trailing behind Yin and entering the kitchen as Yin was already starting to wash the dishes. Alex's mom was staring at Yin, mouth partially open as though she were about to protest, and then snapping shut as her gaze wandered to Alex and gave him a look like "is this actually happening?" before answering Yin. "No, that's fine dear, just leave them on the rack please, I will get to them while you are outside."

Then she turned back to Alex, and spoke. "I've decided that I like him. You can bring him around anytime you want." And with a smirk, she turned towards her husband, reaching up to squeeze his arm briefly.

"Try and find Nathaniel while you are out there, it worries me when he is gone for too long. With those disappearances they've been talking about on the news..." She pursed her lips, and then nodded at Yin "Thank you but I've already taken care of everything else."

Alex just stood there, feeling a slight pang of jealousy from his mom praising Yin but he quickly squashed it. She deserved to have somebody around that would help her out around the house more, anyways, and Alex was pretty much completely useless for that. "If you want I can leave him here with you when I go back to school. I'm sure Yin would just love that." He laughed a little at his own humor then glanced towards his dad.

"Ready when you are, I guess. Let's get this over with."

There was a back door in the kitchen, and that's where Alex's dad headed now, with Alex following behind him. They went outside, and stood beside the wooded area, and Alex awaited instruction.

"Split up." His dad said. "Find a deer, bring it down. Meet back here in two hours?" Alex nodded, though he could see the potential for two deer to be brought down in this case, but maybe Alex's dad didn't think Yin would be able to find one.

Alex watched as his dad took off into the forest, more then happy with the plan because it meant that he could just sit back, relax, and let the other two do all of the work without anybody knowing that he hadn't done a thing. Nobody really expected him to catch anything anyways, right?

Right.

As he was about to step into the forest after his dad, Yin spoke up, and Alex gave a fake grimace, though he was smiling "Of course I wouldn't actually leave you here, Yin." Then he tried to give his friend a serious face, but was failing miserably as he couldn't keep the laughter out of his eyes, or his voice, or keep his mouth from still attempting to twitch up into a smile. "Besides, I know how miserable you would be without me in your life. I wouldn't want to put anybody through that kind of pain. Good luck to you too." he finished, watching as his friend quickly sped off into the woods, much faster then Alex would ever be able to go.

Slowly, Alex shambled into the woods. His feet, as he moved along, were constantly snagging on undergrowth and making him stumble and nearly fall to the ground. He didn't plan on going very far, however. He hadn't been at it long when he found a nice, semi-hollowed tree he could sit down and relax at. Flopping to the ground, he scooted into the hollowed bit of the tree and leaned back, hands behind his neck and legs crossed as he patiently waited for either the two hours to be up or for some ridiculously stupid creature to come stumbling into his lap.

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Mean while, further into the forest, Nathaniel was in a tree. He had been worrying away on a bone from whatever poor creature he had captured and subsequently eaten. His face and hands and shirt were all smeared with fresh blood, and his pale blue eyes were bright. Suddenly he heard a sound, and his head snapped to attention as his nostrils flared. It was that stupid friend of Alex's, the one that had threatened to eat Nathaniel and had snapped his sharp teeth at. Scowling, the young zomboil turned around, grabbing ahold of the trunk of a tree and digging his fingers in to find purchase. He then slowly and methodically pulled himself up into the tree, already planning his ambush, should the weird looking boil come anywhere within jumping distance of Nathaniel.

And then he saw movement in the tree's, his viewpoint giving him the advantage. It didn't seem quite right though, what he was seeing. Whatever was coming was taller then that stupid boil with the antennae had been, and Nathaniel frowned, a funny feeling entering the pit of his stomach as he remembered what his mom had told him about being careful when he went out into the forest alone. It was too late now though, whatever was coming, was coming fast, and Nathaniel gasped when it came into view.

It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

The...thing...was moving towards the tree that Nathaniel was situated in, moving rapidly and scaling the tree towards him. Nathaniel thought about jumping ship, and he was just standing up to do so when the thing talked to him.

It knew his name.

Startled, Nathaniel's eyes widened one foot moving back wards, only to land on nothing but air.

And that was it, Nathaniel was falling to the ground, hitting the forest floor with a loud thud and a groan.

Somewhere in the distance, Alex was pondering things. Things such as, which video games he might wish to play later, or what tie he might wear tomorrow for when his family all came by, or what he was going to do about all these stupid feelings that wouldn't just go away. Plenty of time to reflect on the very most important subjects of life.