✧ 61 ✧
The awkward moment between Ilya and Billy did not completely pass. The boy had been acting strange around the older man, but Billy thought he must still be in shock after what happened to him in the vampires' coven. Or maybe it was just the vibes of this room.
"Sorry about the mess," Billy started, scratching the back of his head in the process. "I haven't been me for a while. Beast wreaked havoc in my room and apparently through the whole town in his era." Then he eyed the boy with a friendly empathetic gaze. "But not anymore."
Ilya only met him with a questionable gaze from his mystical big eyes.
The proximity between the two sent goosebumps across Ilya's skin, which Billy failed to notice due to nostalgia and his awe of the boy's beauty.
Billy finally snapped out of it and reached under the mattress. From there, he pulled a set of cards.
He had an idea to break the ice between them.
"Do you know how to play a game of twenty-one?"
Billy shuffled the cards in his hands.
Ilya braced himself for the worst—Another game.
However, the panic slowly quieted down when Billy brought a cake that had been sitting on a nearby medical cart.
"If you win three times out of 5, then you'll get this cake all to yourself," Billy explained. "But if you lose—" Ilya shivered "—We'll get to share the cake."
Ilya blinked a few times, trying to process what had just been said to him. What kind of loss is this? There's no catch. Either way, I'll get a cake.
The sweet gesture drew a soft smile on Ilya's face. But before he could respond, his stomach did the talking.
Ilya hasn't eaten a proper meal since yesterday, or whatever days have passed since Pig's place. His body was trembling—cold and hungry. His fingers and legs jittered. His eyes felt heavy with exhaustion. He was about to go into another diabetic shock.
Then Billy said, "Holy crap! You must be starving."
He combed around the room for anything edible a human could eat, gathering whatever he could find. That was when Ilya noticed Billy's diet—it was nothing but junk food: chocolate, chips, and soda, like a child who had been deprived of sweets for years and was finally allowed to indulge.
"I got these from Pig," Billy explained as he handed the kid some chips, biscuits, and a juice box. "Go on. Take them." He eagerly waited for a look of gratitude from that angelic face. "They're all yours."
Billy placed the food in front of the boy and went straight to shuffling the cards. He tried so hard to give the impression that he wasn't watching him.
Ilya had no reason to trust Billy—this stranger who acted like Prince Charming, saving the damsel in distress every time—but he was hungry.
He felt a bit of courage, comfortable enough to take the food.
He started with the juice; he needed the sugar to stop the trembling.
Then he chomped on the chips and biscuits.
All while Billy watched from the corner of his eyes.
His cheeks reddened. His heart raced. And that damn fluttering sensation overwhelmed his stomach.
The way that boy munched on his food like that was too adorable.
When Ilya finished, Billy started explaining the rules of the game:
Two opponents would first draw two cards, one face up and one face down.
They can look at the face-down card, but don't reveal it.
Then, each turn, the players would either draw a card (hit) or end their turn (stand).
The object of the game is to get closer to 21 than the other player without going over 21.
The player with the card sum closest to 21 wins.
Any player with a score higher than 21 automatically loses.
The rules were simple enough for Ilya to give it a try.
"Scoot over."
Billy slowly approached the kid to sit opposite him on the mattress.
Ilya scooted over with a hint of a shiver, which made Billy extra cautious not to make any sudden moves, as if handling a scared little animal in the wild.
They start playing the game. Ilya won the first round. It was a close score: 19 to 18.
"Ah, man."
Billy made a frowny face after losing, which forced a small chuckle out of Ilya—it was the cutest sound Billy had ever heard.
The game went smoothly after that. No more tension. No more staying on guard every second. Just pure fun.
Fun... Ilya had almost forgotten what that felt like.
By the next two rounds, the score stood at two for Ilya and one for Billy. Then Billy made the mistake of brushing against the boy's hand while collecting the cards.
Ilya flinched and drew back his hand. His fingers closed and made fists with a slight shudder, not noticeable except to Billy the Beast.
The two were enjoying the game until that moment. That was when Billy realized something.
"You're still afraid of me."
Ilya scoffed and put on a brave face. "No." But then he lowered his gaze as if struck by Billy's stare. "I'm not."
"You know I can tell when you're lying," Billy said. "I can hear your heartbeats and smell your fear." He shrugged. "I'm part wolf after all, so you can't hide that from me... Now." He gave the kid a stern, but calm, look. "Are you scared of me?"
Ilya felt like he was being interrogated.
Hot flashes washed over his face. The urge to confess clawed at his chest, or else the monster within Billy would be unleashed.
However, words wouldn't come out of his mouth.
He could only stare at his lap, fumbling nervously with his hands, trying extremely hard not to have a panic attack.
"Or," Billy continued after a brief silence. "You're afraid that Beast might take over my body."
That caught Ilya's attention. He didn't know why he was afraid of this nice stranger who had saved his life, or he hadn't been given the chance to think about it. His body acted on pure survival instinct, but Billy gave him a logical explanation.
Beast could come back any minute now!
"Don't worry," Billy assured him with his friendly smile. "Everything is fine. I'm in control now."
Comforting words, yet somehow Ilya doubted it.