Once bared, Cooper tugged his sleeping clothes on with haste, and Chaos rose from his crouch in indignation. “You weren’tnude,” he accused. “You kept your underwear on.”
Cooper made a surprised sound, glancing down at himself, then gave Chaos a sympathetic nod, almost as if he was teasing. “False advertising?”
“Incredibly false,” Chaos agreed with a pout.
And Cooper laughed.
Chaos had been right—it was a very pretty sound. It wasn’t bright or boisterous like Chaos’s cackling tended to be. Instead it was soft and gentle, like a happy little babbling brook.
Chaos let it fill his head, a pleasing chime he’d replay when he was feeling restless.
When his soft laughter had trailed off, Cooper asked, “What will you do while I sleep?”
“I don’t know.” Chaos’s tail swished in agitation. “It’s bound to be dull though.” He cocked his head. “Perhaps if you slept just a very little amount.”
Cooper rubbed at the back of his neck with a sigh. “I know I’ve passed out, like, twice already, but I really am exhausted. I don’t think a couple hours is gonna cut it. I could set you up with a movie?”
“No,” Chaos said immediately, not caring if he sounded petulant. “I’ve spent centurieswatching. No more.”
Cooper looked around, as if to search for ideas. After a moment, his face brightened. “Hey, have you ever played a video game?” He immediately shook his head, not waiting for Chaos’s answer. “Of course you haven’t. Do you want to try?”
Chaos would try anything once.
Not too many minutes later, Chaos was in front of one of the machines in the machine room, and Cooper was showing him how to use the “mouse” and the “keys” to play something calledWorld of Warcraft.
As lovely as his puppy’s attention to his needs was, Chaos was a little skeptical. “I’ve watched humans playing video games through the Void,” he whined. “It’s very dull.”
Cooper shrugged. He was leaning over Chaos to help him with the keyboard, and that part of it was very nice. Cooper smelled good and sweet, and his arm brushed against Chaos’s face every now and again. “Yeah, it can be boring to watch someone else play, but… I think you might like playing yourself. You get to create a character, be someone else for a while. Follow quests. Kill things.”
“Really?” Chaos leaned forward, studying the screen. He didn’t usually yearn to be anything other than himself, but hehadbeen stuck in the Void with only his own thoughts for a very long time. And killing things was always fun.
He examined the character options and wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want to be a warrior.”
Warriors were boring. Just ask Kai.
“You don’t have to be,” Cooper reassured him. “You’d probably fit well as a rogue…or maybe a demon slayer.” Cooper bit at his lip, smiling to himself at his little joke. It was very endearing. “If you hate it, we’ll try something else tomorrow.”
He had set up a video on the laptop next to Chaos, one that had a man explaining how the game worked, just in case Chaos got stuck or confused. Overall, it didn’t seem like a terrible way to spend the time Cooper would be sleeping. It was something new, at least. Chaos had beeninsidethe machine, but what was showing on the screen now was nothing like the ones and zeros he’d been surrounded by. It was sort of like the animated movies humans watched, except Chaos would be controlling the action this time.
“Yes, this will do nicely.” Chaos gave Cooper’s arm a fond pat. “You may sleep now, puppy.”
Cooper straightened, raising a brow. “How very generous of you,” he drawled.
He was getting more comfortable with Chaos already. And Chaos didn’t mind a little sass, if it meant his puppy would be less nervous around him.
So he only nodded sagely. “Yes. I know.”
Cooper padded off to bed, and Chaos was left with the machines.
7
Cooper
This time, Cooper woke up in his bed. That was great, right? Waking up in a bed like a normal person. Things were getting back on the right track.
Except he also woke up with an inhuman screech leaving his throat, because there was a pair of fox eyes a hair’s breadth away from his face, staring, unblinking, at him.
Without his glasses on, they were kind of a fuzzy blur in the dim, curtained-off room, but it was still fucking startling.
