Chapter Text

“Twenty-seven bottles of beers on the wall! Twenty-seven bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, twenty-six bottles of beer on the wall!”



“WILL YOU SHUT UP?!”



Arthur chuckled but continued on with his song, determined to finish it for once. After all, they had nothing else to do. They were after all stuck in a coma body for the past four months with only the dark vacuüm of what seemed endless space between them.



How they entered into this coma though, it was all Arthur's fault. He knew that his bloodline carried a sliver of the seven deadly sins. He knew that there were spots on Earth where the sin could gather more energy and become more powerful. He knew that his parents died because they came pass a spot where his father's Wraith became more powerful, and he crashed the car fighting for control which killed them all.



Arthur knew all of this, but he still allowed his Envy to overshadow his own thoughts and he even joined a paranormal investigation team for Pete's sake. All because he couldn't stand losing Lewis.



“Hunk at three o'clock,” the sin, Envy as Arthur called him, purred.



Arthur stopped his mental singing and listened as well. “Hey Arthur,” a deep baritone voice greeted him.



“Lewis,” Arthur whimpered, wanting to wrap his arms around him and never let him go.



The reason Arthur was in this state was that he had listened to Envy more and more. Envy first popped his ugly head in when he and Lewis started dating and a girl checked him out when Arthur was teaching him pool. Ever since, it stayed active in his head, always stringing along lies and deceptions. In high school, it was much worse since Arthur was afraid of the bullies. It gotten so bad that Lewis had put their relationship on hold, which Arthur now doesn't blame him, he was a dick.



“Oh, I love these magic hands,” Envy sighed as Lewis got to work with their sore muscles.



“We wouldn't need these magic hands if you didn't try to push Lewis over the edge of that cliff,” Arthur growled.



“Yeah yeah, blame me for your weakness,” the sin said without a care in the world. “If you just came out of the closet, then you wouldn't have joined that little merry band of idiots now would you?”



“Lewis and Vivi aren't idiots!” Arthur yelled.



“No, I suppose that is all you huh?”



Arthur wished that he was able to have hands in his mind, and that Envy had a neck so that he could strangle him.



“Oh! A little lower lover boy,” Envy said when Lewis went to work on Arthur's lower back.



Scratch that, he wanted a dagger so that he could kill him in the most painful way.



“Temper temper,” Envy chided, “you need to relax Arthur. We are, after all, stuck here until the doctor fixes that head of yours.”



“Yeah, but aren't you an oh-so-powerful supernatural creäture? Couldn't you just heal us up instead keep us awake in here?” Arthur asked.



He heard the sin grumble but Arthur couldn't catch it. He smiled, well not really since he couldn't control his body in this state, but he would have smiled if he could right there. It wasn't that often that he got Envy to shut up so he took it while he could.



Arthur laid there for a while, enjoying the company of his lover. Lewis was able to work all the kinks that the damn therapist put in and now he was holding his hand. This reminded Arthur the time they drove five hours just to go to a beach during the freshman year.

 💔

Lewis had just gotten his driver's license and was able to borrow his parent's car. Arthur was fuming in the front seat of the car the entire ride there, Envy stringing tales on how Tiffany from English was going to take Lewis away.



“Come on Arthur, I'm really trying here,” Lewis had sighed after a few hours in the drive.



“Just like Tiffany?” Arthur mumbled as he looked out the window, watching the trees fly by.



“Who?” Lewis asked, confused.



“Oh don't give me that,” Arthur growled. He then raised his voice to mock Tiffany's. “Lewis, I am having sooo much trouble with Hamlet's Romeo and Juliet. Can you act like Romeo so I can get the idea?”



“Okay, first off, you sound too much like her,” Lewis mused. “Second, Hamlet is a play written by Shakespeare, who also wrote Romeo and Juliet. ”



“See! You just admitted that I sound like her, and not even a full fucking minute ago you didn't know who I was talking about!” Arthur growled as he threw his hands up.



“Arthur, you know I don't care about anyone but you,” Lewis said with a sad tone. He tried to grab Arthur's hand but the blond moved his hand out-of-the-way. “Please just drop the jealous act okay? I'm trying to take you out on a nice date here.”



Arthur looked down to his own lap, feeling guilty while Envy chuckled in his head. “Sorry, I'll try,” he muttered.



“That's all I ask for,” Lewis smiled softly.



It took them a moment but after the rocky start, they started to have some fun. They played at the beach for hours, making a sandcastle, running in and out of the freezing water, Arthur even got bury Lewis and shape it like he was a merman. They didn't leave until near sunset, enjoying each others company and holding their hands.

♡

“Mr. Pepper, visiting hour are now over,” a female voice said from across the room.



Arthur whined as Lewis let go of his hand to put the chair back where it belong. “I love you,” Lewis hummed as he kissed Arthur's forehead.



“I love you too,” Arthur whispered even though the only one who could hear it was Envy. He wanted to curl up and cry as he heard Lewis's footsteps get farther and farther away.



“Oh stop your whining,” Envy sighed , “he'll be back tomorrow.”



“Shut up,” Arthur huffed.



“Is he gone?” a male voice asked as heavy footsteps entered as well.



“Yes sir,” the female answered as Envy let out growl.



“I don't like the doc,” the sin said with a snarl.



“I don't think you like anyone.”



“Shut up, they're talking.”



While normally Arthur wouldn't dare to listen to Envy anymore, when the doctor said “pull the plug”, that got his attention.



“Are you sure that's wise?” the female asked with worry in her tone. “I'm sure that if we actually tried, we can save this boy.”



“Are you stupid May? This boy has type A blood, and my brother needs that liver transplant,” the male voice growled. “He doesn't have a next of kin written down and it took me four months to convince that bonehead upstairs that this boy isn't going to live without these machines. Now hurry up and pull that plug.”



“What is he talking about?” Arthur asked, fear wrapping her familiar cold fingers around him.



“He's talking about killing us,” Envy snapped.



“He..but he can't do that! I'm still alive!”



“It's done sure,” the woman said.



Arthur noticed that there was sound lacking in the room, but what more, he was starting to have trouble breathing.



“Envy, help me!” Arthur cried. He didn't want to die, not yet. He wanted to apologize to Lewis, to beg for his forgiveness, and to kiss him one last time.



“Move aside weakling,” Envy commanded.



Arthur actually felt something warm around himself before pushing him to a cold spot. Soon, he felt his real body take a deep breath as Envy focused on making the body they shared to just live.



“Henry, look!” the female voice said with joy. “He's breathing on his own! He's getting better!”



“Not on my watch,” the doctor growled.

Both Envy and Arthur felt something poke into their left arm. Suddenly, it felt as if they were surrounded in a dense fog and Envy was having a trouble time making the body breath.



“What did you do?” the woman gasped in horror.



“Don't worry, the drug won't ruin his organs or show up in a lab report,” the doctor said smugly. “It's just an insurance I brought with me just in case.”



“Arthur, I don't think I can make us breath for much longer,” Envy admitted.



“No! Don't stop!” Arthur begged . “Please Envy, I don't want to die.”



“I'll...I'll do my best,” Envy promised, not wanting to die either with this boy.



Envy focused all his energy on making Arthur live but when he was ten minutes away from the three-hour mark, he couldn't.



“Arthur, I can't keep doing this,” he said as gave up.



“No! No! Please keep trying Envy. I'm not ready to die!” Arthur begged, already feeling the lack of air.



“And you're not going to.”



“Huh?”



As Arthur's body tried to breathe, his soul was seeing for the first time since this coma. He was in a black room, just floating. And there was a person in front of him that looked like him, but didn't at the same time. The person had the same blond hair style up to something like the anime boys that Vivi's coworker Chloe always read; he had the same thin built and the same goatee that Arthur grew to seem more mature. But that's where the similarity ends. The other him had dark green skin like pines from the evergreen trees, he even wore a suit with an orange Ascot. And his eyes. The retina was black, not white like they were supposed to be and his pupils were a glowing green.



“Envy?” Arthur asked in shock to see the sin.



The other him, Envy, nodded. “That's right Arty boy, this is what I look like.”



Arthur looked to him for a moment longer before he slumped a bit. “Copycat,” he muttered.



Envy let out a laugh, showing rows of sharp teeth. “Of course that comes out of your mouth first,” he chuckled. Arthur opened his mouth to snap at the other but Envy put his hand over his mouth. “Now all jokes aside, I can't keep this body alive Arthur.”



Arthur pushed the hand down, his eyes widen with fear. “But you said I wouldn't die!” he cried.



“And you won't my puppet, but only if you give yourself to me,” Envy hummed as he wiped a tear that fell from Arthur's eye.



“What does that mean?” Arthur asked in confusion .



“Just like it sounds,” Envy said . “I can't save this body but I can make us a new body. You just have to give yourself to me, your entire soul.”



“But I would die!” Arthur accused.



“No you wouldn't, I promise,” Envy swore.



Arthur narrowed his eyes as he looked to his tormentor for the past nine years. “How can I trust you?”



“You can't,” Envy admitted, “but I'm the only way you can live. So Arthur, are you willing to live again in a whole new body? Or do you wish to die at the murder's hands so he can have your liver?”



Arthur looked to Envy but then looked down. “I don't want to die, not like this.” He then looked up to Envy, determination written all over his face. “All right, save me Envy, no matter what.”



E nvy smiled as he grabbed Arthur's waist by one hand and pulled his arm close to him with the other. “As you wish,” he purred as he slammed his mouth onto the human's.



Arthur's eyes widen, not knowing what to do. Soon enough, black dots swam around his sight and his energy was slipping away. It didn't take too long for him to go limp in Envy's embrace and as his eyes closed for the last time, he swore he heard an echo laugh.

Chapter Text

Lewis wouldn't guess that in a million years that Arthur would die before him. He knew that he would die one day of course, he wasn't that naïve. It's just...Arthur died so young, being only twenty-two. If Lewis had to plan a way for Arthur to die, it would have been somewhere in his nineties, after they were old, gray, and setting up bets on who was faster in their walkers.



“At least he didn't feel anything,” Lewis's father tried to say after hearing the news of Arthur's death.



“Yeah, but he was doing so good,” Lewis said, wanting to cry some more but after two hours of none stop crying, there were no tears left to shed. “His swelling has gone down and he would sometimes squeeze my hand when I held his.”



“And that's why I'm suing,” Lance growled.



The Peppers looked to the smaller male. Lance was Arthur's uncle, the one who took him in when his parents died when he was ten due to a car accident. He was short, being roughly four feet but there was no doubt that Lance and Arthur are relatives. They had the same blond hair with the brown streak, and they had the same shape of head. Lance and Arthur's similarities stopped there though as their fashion sense told them apart even with the height difference.



Arthur was always dressed in yellow baggy pants, a beat up white t-shirt, and an orange vest when he wasn't working. Lance though looked like a biker with baggy blue jeans that was held up with a wrestling belt, a torn up sleeved white shirt, finger-less black gloves, and the same orange vest that Arthur wore.



Four hours after Lewis left the hospital, Lance went over there for the paperwork to fill out. For some reason, Arthur hadn't put anyone as next to kin and since Lance wasn't his parents, the hospital refused to release any information to him. Lance had to jump through so many hoops to prove that he was Arthur's only living relative, but it was all for not. A few hours before Lance was able to pull up to the hospital, Arthur's doctor had pulled the plug when it was deemed that he wouldn't be able to survive without the machines. His body was already in the morgue, his organs being harvested since he was an organ donor.



Lance stayed only a thirty minutes more after hearing the news before he drove straight to the Peppers', not caring that it was getting close to ten at night. Lance knew that Arthur and Lewis were dating and that they still cared for each other, so he knew that Arthur would want Lewis to be the first person to know.



“Why are you suing them?” Lewis asked with confusion.



“Because Arthur was doing better until two weeks ago!” Lance snarled as he twisted his hands together in anger. “The doc I spoke with said that Arthur was doing so good, but he took a nose dive then. They couldn't figure it out and from what they read on his machines that were still hook up, he was able to breathe on his own for close to three fucking hours. Something ain't right here and I plan to show that hospital dirty laundry for all to see!”



“And I'll help you,” Lewis said as his own hands curled up in a fist.



“Lewis, I don't think that's wise,” Mrs. Pepper said as she put a her hand on his shoulder.



Lewis shook his shoulder out from his mother's hold as he looked at her with hard purple eyes. “Mom, you don't understand. Arthur was getting better! Just today, I saw his lip move when I was giving him a message! He was alive and aware of me. That plug shouldn't have been pulled in the first place!”



“I don't think so either Lewis, but would Arthur want this?” Mrs. Pepper asked. “Would he want you to seek revenge?”



Lewis deflated as he looked to his hands. “No, he wouldn't. He would want us to move on.”



“Well, I don't need you in this anyway,” Lance said. “I'll deal with the suing, you just get yourself healed up.”



With saying that, Lance left with a good-bye and telling them he would call them in the morning to tell them when the funeral will be. Lewis hugged his parents shortly afterwards as he retired up to his room, not noticing a vase with a freshly picked yellow rose in it on his dresser.

Chapter Text

While it would take long before the suing could start, a funeral had to take place first. After Arthur's organs were harvested and taken to their new owners, Uncle Lance will have him cremated as tradition in their family. He then will hold a wake that’s already scheduled in two days time in his home. Afterwards, Arthur's ashes would be buried with his parents in the cemetery.

Lewis felt like it couldn't be true when he heard the news the next morning. He continued to work even though his parents told him he could take the week off just for something to do. After his shift he went to do his normal routine in a small daze and only snapped out of it when he got into his car. He couldn't go to the hospital anymore but he still went to the flower shop. That day he bought an orange zinnias as it meant he was missing someone and that someone was Arthur.

When he got home he was confused as he saw on his dresser was a purple aster flower. This worried him a bit because when he woke that morning he finally noticed the yellow rose and thought nothing of it. He put it in a vase downstairs but now two flowers in the same spot was too much of a convenient.

“Hey mama, has anyone been in my room?” Lewis asked as he brought the flower to put in the vase with the other.

“That was me. A flower delivery came for you today and I put it in your room,” Mrs. Pepper said.

“How about yesterday? Was there one then too?” Lewis asked.

“Not that I know of. Why?”

“It's probably nothing,” Lewis shook his head. He was just probably over thinking it. His mom admitted that there was one today, but now he was curious.

“Are you okay Lewis?” Mrs. Pepper asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Lewis left the kitchen then and went to check his sister's room. When Arthur was his secret admirer and gave him flowers, his sisters were interested in finding out who kept leaving him flowers too. Belle and Paprika were mainly in because it was so romantic and they became his little helpers. It was Paprika who figured out that each flower means something. So Lewis was hoping that they were in their room but he only saw Cayenne.

“Hey Cayenne, do you know where Paprika is?” he asked.

Cayenne looked up to Lewis from her little project she was doing. Out of the triplets, she was the troublemaker and he knew right away she was planning a prank. She used most of her ten-year old body to cover the notebook she was writing in and tried to give her most innocent smile which only made her look even more guilty.

“She's with Papa in the restaurant kitchen,” she answered.

“Okay and be nice for the next few days. That means no pranks,” Lewis said.

Cayenne playfully gasped and he knew she was batting her eyes at him even though he can't tell with her bangs in the way.

“Me? Pull pranks? Lewis, you know I only pull masterpieces. Just ask Arth-”

When she stopped talking the room was filled with awkward silence. Arthur and Cayenne got along in the beginning years with her pranks. At first she wasn't that good but with Arthur's help she learned how to be more sneaky and which pranks were perfect for her target.

The last prank Lewis could remember Cayenne pulling was when the Mystery Skulls gang where at the restaurant to have lunch before going on the cave trip. Arthur asked to have a raspberry blend shake while the others ordered shakes of familiar styles. However Cayenne added some jalapeño juice to Arthur’s though and with no spicy tolerance, it felt like hell to him. When it was calmed down, everyone expected Arthur to laugh it off like normal and congratulate Cayenne, but instead he just asked if they can go ahead since it was a bit far to get to the cave.

“Yeah, they are,” Lewis said with a smile to break the awkward pause. “Just be careful this week okay?”

“I will, I promise,” Cayenne promised.

Lewis left it at that and went downstairs where their restaurant was located. There he went to the kitchen and saw his dad with his two sister making something.

“Hi Lewis!” Belle said with a big grin which caused the band-aid on her nose to crinkle up cutely.

“Hey Belle,” Lewis greeted. “What are you guys making?”

“Papa is helping us make a pie for the wake,” Paprika explained. “Do you want to help?”

Lewis shook his head. “Actually Paprika, can you help me? Someone has left me flowers and I'm trying to figure out what they mean.”

“Someone is sending you flowers?” Belle asked. “Do you think it's Arthur?”

“It can't be, he's dead,” Paprika pointed out.

“Yeah but that doesn't mean he can't be a ghost. Vivi says that they're real,” Belle countered.

“How about we find out this mystery before we jump into conclusions,” Mr. Pepper suggested, fearing if they kept talking like this would upset Lewis. “The crust has to chill for a bit so why don't you go help your brother Paprika? Belle, want to help me get tomorrow's food ready?”

“Okay,” both girls said in unison.

Paprika went to wash her hands and then took Lewis's hand so she can lead him to their living room. There she pulled out the book of different flower meanings.

“What flowers did you get?” Paprika asked.

“Yesterday I got a yellow rose and today I got a purple aster.”

Paprika nodded and had them both sit on the couch. Lewis looked around the room while she looked up the flowers. Their house was a pretty great place and big enough for them. Their restaurant could hold up to two hundred and eighty-six customers at a time which means they got to have a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment upstairs. Lewis had his own room, the triplets share the second biggest room and their parents had their own room.

Then the living area was a decent size. Their living room was painted a light tan which was only a shade darker than the hardwood floors that covered everywhere except the bathrooms. In the living room they have a dark brown sectional that took most of a wall and the breakfast nook. They also had a dark brown bookshelf and it has a TV mounted on the wall across from the couch. Under it was a small shelving system that held their TV box, game consoles and some pictures.

Behind their couch was the kitchen. It was small and painted a light green to make it seem bigger. The breakfast nook had just enough space and bar stools for the family to eat and hang out. There was a simple stove and other appliances that was black to match the their black granite counters. It was nothing fancy because if they ever hosted events they made everything downstairs in their restaurant kitchen.

“Okay, I found them,” Paprika announced as Lewis was staring at a picture of him and Arthur at the fair. They each were holding a stuffed animal they won each other. Arthur won Lewis an orange alpaca and Lewis won him a Pikachu that was as big as their torso's.

“Okay, so the yellow rose has a couple of meanings but all flowers do really. It means joy, gladness, friendship, promise of a new beginning, remember me, and it's usually given to someone you view as a friend with little to no romantic feelings,” Paprika explained. “Now the aster one is kind of cool. It was used in the past by burning their leaves to ward off evil serpents. Asters themselves are a symbol of love and patience and the purple ones mean wisdom and royalty.”

Lewis was interested in their meanings but he was more confused on why he would get those flowers. The yellow flower he could see his friends giving him after Arthur's death and he brushed it off as that. Now the purple aster, why?

“Thanks Paprika, this helped a lot,” Lewis said.

“You're welcome Lewis,” Paprika smiled. “If you get more flowers, can we look it up together again?”

“Of course Pap, I won’t break our promise,” Lewis swore.

“Thank you,” Paprika said with a hug.

After giving his sister one last squeeze, they both left to get back to do their respected chores but Lewis stopped when he saw Cayenne sneaking into her room with a bottle of milk. No food or drinks were allowed outside the kitchens so he frowned at the sight.

“Cayenne, what are you doing?” Lewis asked.

Cayenne jumped but instead of answering, she ran to her room and closed the door. Lewis huffed as he went to their room but to his shock, she had locked the door. None of the girls locked their door even though each room was capable.

“Cayenne, open this door,” Lewis demanded.

“No! You’ll make me give her away and she needs me,” Cayenne said.

She? Did Cayenne bring another injured animal inside? For being the hellion of the triplets, she and Belle where big animal lovers. They would often bring injured animals into their home even with their parents telling them multiple times that they can’t. There the girls would take turns taking care of the animal until they got caught and they would be forced to take them to the vet with their dad and then take them to the pound.

“Cayenne, did you bring another animal in?” Lewis asked. When he heard no reply he knew then that it was true. “What did you bring in this time? Did you do research on them?”

“I’m not stupid,” Cayenne snapped. “They need goat milk to survive but we don’t have any goat milk so I’m going to give them regular milk.”

“Cayenne, if it says you need goat milk then you need goat milk. You might hurt the animal if you give them anything else,” Lewis tried to reason. He didn’t hear anything again but when he was about to try to pursue his sister, he heard the door unlock and she opened it with a determined look on her face.

“If you go get me goat milk, then I will show you Rose,” Cayenne promised.

“How about you show me Rose and then we’ll go get what she needs together?” Lewis said.

Cayenne frowned as she crossed her arms. After a moment she nodded and lead Lewis inside. He had to wait a moment as she brought a shoe box with holes on top. So it wasn’t a dog or a cat but it got Lewis curious.

“Before I show you Rose, you have to promise me to help take care of her,” Cayenne demanded.

“Cayenne, I can’t promise that,” Lewis sighed.

“At least promise me you won’t tell mom or dad for a few days then. Just until I can find her family,” Cayenne begged.

Lewis knew he shouldn’t promise this but perhaps they needed this. The Pepper’s didn’t have any pets due to living above a restaurant but with how this week had been, maybe this was needed.

“I promise I won’t tell mom or dad until after Arthur’s funeral. How’s that?” Lewis offered.

“Good enough,” Cayenne said. She lifted the lead with as much flourish she could without harming the animal inside. “Say hello to Rose.”

Lewis looked inside the box and to his shock, he saw on top of one of his old sweaters and curling around one of Cayenne's socks was a baby black bat fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Lewis looked at the baby bat with shock and then to Cayenne who looked like a proud cat who brought its owner a present.

“Cayenne, this is a bat,” Lewis said slowly.

“Nooooo, I thought is was a bird,” Cayenne said with sarcasm. “I know that it’s a bat Lewis.”

“It could have rabies,” Lewis warned.

“She’s not foaming in her mouth and she hasn’t tried to bite me,” Cayenne stated.

“That’s not-,” Lewis stopped there, knowing that Cayenne inherited their mother’s stubbornness and trying to convince her to otherwise would be a waste. “Where did you even find her?”

“In the living room,” Cayenne said. “She was clinging on the TV shelf near the Nintendo. I think Arthur sent her so we have to take good care of her.”

“I don’t think Arthur would send a bat if he could,” Lewis chuckled. Arthur was terrified of bats after all. When they were in the cave, Arthur saw one and hid under Lewis’s arm with a yelp. It had warmed his heart at that time that even though they were no longer together, he still viewed Lewis as someone who would protect him. He frowned though as a dark side of his mind told him while that may have been the case, Lewis wasn’t able to help him when he needed him the most.

“Well I think so and that’s why I named her Rose,” Cayenne said.

She then reached down into the box and pulled the bat out. She let out a small squeak of alarm from being woken up from her sleep. Cayenne ignored her though and brought her close to her chest so she could pet her. Lewis was worried about the bat harming her but other than letting out a few squeaks, she didn’t fight the child.

“See? Isn’t she the sweetest?” Cayenne cooed which she seemed to only do for her animals.

“She is pretty tame,” Lewis said as he reached down to pet her head.

Rose let out a squeak and brought her head back so that she can look at who was petting her. Her bright green eyes looked at him before she squeaked again and hooked one of her claws into his shirt. Lewis stiffened but Cayenne giggled as they both watched as the baby bat clawed her way on to his arm before hanging upside down to sleep again.

“I’m going to put her to bed and then we can go find goat milk,” Cayenne declared. She gently unlatched Rose from Lewis and put her back into the box. Lewis couldn’t help but smile as Cayenne cooed at the bat in Spanish, promising her that she will be back with some food for her.

“I’ll go grab the car keys,” Lewis said, “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Okay,” Cayenne said before running out.

Lewis grabbed his car keys and the two were able to slip past their family without being really noticed. It took them a while though to find a place to sell them goat milk and while Lewis drove, Cayenne researched some more on what the baby bat needed to live. Once they came back, they were carrying some bags to their apartment when they heard cooing and giggling. Confused Lewis went inside first and saw his other sisters sitting in the living room with an open box on the ground. Their parents were sitting on the couch and his mom held Rose in a cloth in her hand. Their dad in the meantime was giving her a small syringe that looked like it had milk in it.

“Look at her cobbling it up,” Belle cooed.

“He eats more than Vivi!” Paprika exclaimed.

“Bats have to eat a lot to gain energy,” their dad explained, “baby bats themselves eat thirty times their own weight.”

“Which is a good thing Lewis and Cayenne is back with more supplies for it,” Mama Pepper calmly stated.

Cayenne and Lewis looked at each other before sighing. They were so grounded.

“Go put the groceries away now you two and once you’re done, we’re going to have a little talk about bringing bats inside the house,” their father said sternly.

“And about what you two will be doing for the next week while you’re grounded,” their mama added.

Cayenne groaned on how it’s not fair but Lewis excepted it. He may be twenty-one and an adult but he knew the rules and if his parents wanted to ground him, he wasn’t going to fight it. After they put the groceries away, the two troublemakers came in and sat down on the couch.

“What did you name her?” Paprika asked.

“Rose,” Cayenne answered.

“Hi Rose,” Belle said as she gave her a quick pet.

Rose blinked and looked at Belle. She gave the youngest Pepper a squeak which had everyone’s heart melt due to her trying to eat at the same time.

“Are bats eyes supposed to be green?” Lewis asked.

“No. They’re normally dark brown,” Mama Pepper said.

“The vet we called though told us not to worry that much. While it’s odd, she don’t think the baby bat is sick or anything yet,” Papa Pepper reassured. “She’s going to come tomorrow to take a look at her and then to take her to a bat sanctuary where she will be taken care of before being released.”

“No! I want to keep Rose. Please,” Cayenne begged.

“Sorry sweetheart but Rose needs to go back in the wild. She doesn’t belong with humans,” Papa smiled sadly. He hated saying no to their children but they all knew they shouldn’t keep little Rose as is. This didn’t help Cayenne though.

“But Arthur sent her! He had to because I found her in the house near his favorite game!” Cayenne argued.

“Arthur wouldn’t send a bat though,” Paprika argued.

“Yeah! Arthur would send a hamster if he sent an animal,” Belle agreed.

“But-”

“We had found a hole in Lewis’s window screen and we all know that he likes to sleep with the window open. The bat could have come in that way,” Mama said.

Lewis thought that was more reasonable than the bat suddenly appearing in their house. Lewis also knew about the hole in the screen because he and Arthur put it there one time when he stayed the night. It was an accident but it also happened in the fall so Lewis saw no rush on fixing it. He was kind of glad now that he didn’t because Rose clearly needed some help if she came in through a hole barely any bigger than her.

“Can’t we just keep her anyway?” Cayenne begged.

“No Cayenne, Mama and Papa are right,” Lewis said. “Taking care of a bat is a lot of responsibility and you girls have school during the day and need to sleep at night. Bats are nocturnal and we can’t afford physically to take care of her.”

“You guys never let me keep a pet,” Cayenne shouted.

Rose squeaked in alarm at the sudden noise but Cayenne ignored her as she ran to her room. Papa and Mama looked at each other before Papa left the couch. Mama took the small syringe to continue to feed the bat.

“Come here you three, I’ll teach you how to take care of a bat,” Mama said.

Her three remaining children went to her side and watched as she took care of the baby bat. Lewis spaced a bit though as he watched the bat. Even while she ate, she kept her eyes on Lewis most of the time. When the syringe was empty, their mom took care of her needs with Rose crying out with her strange squeaks. Once she was done, Mama Pepper wrapped her in what could be affectionately called a baby bat burrito to calm her down a bit. The bat just laid comfortably in the cloth while sucking on a small bottle nipple. Lewis couldn’t help but smile as he gave her a quick pet before putting her back in her box to rest.

“And with that, it’s bedtime,” Mrs. Pepper stated.

Belle and Paprika both complained but Lewis only checked his watch and nodded. “It is pretty late,” he said.

The two girls complained once more but didn’t fight it. If Lewis was agreeing with their mama, they weren’t going to get out of it. Lewis was going to go get ready for bed himself but he was stopped by his mother putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Not for you Lewis. You and Cayenne wanted to hide the bat so you get to stay up with it tonight,” Mrs. Pepper said.

Lewis frowned but only took the box when it was handed to him. He looked down and saw that even with a full belly and a bottle nipple to pacify her, she was wide awake. Lewis sighed as he took her to his room. This was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

After getting ready for bed, Lewis has gone back to his room where the box were Rose laid was on his desk. He thought of all places, she would be safe there.

His full size bed was comfy sure but he had even of he placed Rose there, he was scared she would climb out of the box and get stuck there. He didn't want to untangle her from his comforter or the alpacas that Arthur and his family gifted him.

His next thought to put Rose was his dresser. It was tall and a light brown like his other furniture in his room. There wasn't even much for Rose to get stuck on too with only his vase with his two flowers and a couple of pictures was there. However it was pretty tall, almost as tall as him. If Rose fell from that height, he was afraid she would get hurt.

So he was left with his desk. His parents got it for him when he entered high school. He had a couple of cook books and notebooks which he used as a small wall around Rose's box. Lewis looked down and smiled as he saw Rose. She had gotten out of her blanket burrito as he had feared but she just curled on top of the blanket, still sucking on the bottle tip.

“You're a crafty little girl,” Lewis chuckled.

Thinking nothing of it, he picked her up and sat with her on the floor. He sat on the super fuzzy purple rug that Vivi got for him for his last birthday. That gave him an idea and brought out his phone. He took a picture of Rose looking all cute in his hand, still sucking away and sent it to Vivi. It only took it a few seconds before his best friend face called him. Lewis chuckled and accepted the call.

“Lewis Pepper, where did you get that bat?” Vivi demanded. By the way she was wearing a white beat up tank top and he background being her map of the states, he knew she was in her bedroom. She was most likely at her desk and researching more cases. Even with Arthur hurt, Vivi still checked into cases and did her best to weed out the fakes from real hauntings.

“Cayenne found her in our living room today,” Lewis answered.

There was some squeaking from Rose when Lewis wasn't paying attention to her. Vivi's eyes grew wide as saucers. “Is that the bat?” she asked. Instead of answering her, Lewis lifted her up and showed her to Vivi. Rose continued to cry but Lewis suspect it was due to her losing her makeshift binky. “She is so cute!”

“Hold on Vi, let me settle her down,” Lewis stated.

He put his phone down and began to wrap her up again. While he did that, he heard Vivi telling Mystery to stay down. It seemed her dog was even curious about Rose.

“Do you have an idea on how she got into your house?” Vivi asked.

“The theory is the hole that Arthur put in my screen during middle school summer,” Lewis answered.

“Really?” Vivi asked. “That’s from when you guys decided to play catch inside right? That was before you two even dated! Why haven’t you gotten it fixed?”

“I didn’t have a reason to.”

With Rose in a burrito once more and her pacifier working wonders, Lewis brought her up to his chest. He held her close so that Vivi can still look at her but not having to worry too much about the camera.

“Should we be wary of rabies?” Vivi asked.

“Not every bat can carry rabies Vivi. Besides, she is quite calm and just disoriented.”

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have rabies. You need to be careful Lew. With Arthur gone, your voice of reason is gone.”

“I know.”

Lewis looked down to Rose and was sad. He thought what Arthur might have said about her. Thinking about it, Arthur might be against touching Rose until she got cleared from a vet but knowing how big hearted he was, Arthur would still do his best to take of her.

“She’s not going to stay long anyway. Mama and Papa already called a vet who's going to look over her before taking her to a bat sanctuary.”

“Lewis, are you on the phone?” Papa Pepper asked at his door.

“Yes,” Lewis answered.

“You have five minutes to say goodbye to Vivi. Your phone privilege is going down starting now,” his papa warned.

“Okay, thank you,” Lewis said. He was thankful too. His mama would normally make him hang up now but his father always allowed him to wrap up the phone calls he made if needed.

“Grounded huh?” Vivi asked with a big grin on her face.

“Yeah. I was helping Cayenne keep Rose a secret,” Lewis admitted.

“That sucks. Is it okay if I visit you tomorrow? I want to check in on you,” she admitted. “I would have sooner but, well-”

“It’s okay Vi. I’m okay,”  he assured her. “How about tomorrow when you visit, you tell me how your date with Chloe went huh?”

“That sounds like a plan. Until tomorrow.”

With one final goodbye, the two friends hung up and Lewis put his phone on the charger. If he is correct, his parents would want to keep his phone as hostage for most of his grounding. He just hoped that his parents would allow him to visit with her.

He couldn’t think much more of it though because Rose began to squeak again. Lewis brought the baby with him and went to work as caretaker of the night.

The next morning Lewis was extremely tired. Rose kept him up most of the night with feeding and cuddles. Since they didn’t have a heating pad for her to use, she was most comfortable in Lewis’s hands where she was kept warm. With that being the case, Lewis was too afraid of falling asleep in fear of rolling on top of her while they slept. Instead, he kept awake by reading his cookbooks and writing down songs that he should practice on his violin.

So when Mama came in at nine in the morning to tell Lewis that it was time to go to the vets, Lewis was both happy and sad to hear the news. Mama took care of Rose while Lewis got ready and then he joined her and Cayenne for the car ride.

Cayenne was mostly quiet on the way there, only wanting to hold onto the sleeping bat. When they got to the vet, Lewis had to take Rose from his sister because she tried to run off with the bat. This caused her groundation to go for longer but Lewis felt the same. All he wanted to do is take Rose because while she was a handful, he bonded with her during the night.

He didn’t run though because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to take care of Rose. So he took her in the shoebox to the vet office. He ignored her as she squeaked when she wanted cuddles. He had to wait until they were called and when he did, he saw two woman.

One woman had to be the Vet as the clinic they were at was called Dr. Pat’s Pet Care and on her lab coat it said that her name is Dr. Pat. She was a elderly looking lady with long silver hair tied into a bun but with sharp gold eyes. She looked no older than his own mother with only more crow lines from all the smiling she had done. She herself was only a couple of inches shorter than her mother but when her pale hand was in his for a handshake, her grip almost had him. Lewis quickly learned that the woman may be pretty skinny woman who was wearing a scrubs with cartoon cats on it, but her grip could even have Vivi impressed.

The other person though was a young man not much older than Vivi. Half of his head was shaved and his other side was long black hair with golden tips. His eyes were a bright red which popped out his lightly tan skin. He was wearing a dark green shirt with a bat sanctuary logo on it called “Stellaluna’s Rehabilitation center” and a moon. He was also wearing black vans and a bright yellow skinny jeans.

“You must be the Peppers. Please bring the bat you found to the table,” the man said with a small smile.

Lewis put the shoebox on the table and opened it. Rose had quieted down when the box was opened and the young man put some gloves on before picking her up. She let out squeaks as the man unwrapped her to check her over. He muttered a bit to himself as he brought out her wings.

“How is she?” Cayenne asked.

“Well, he’s pretty healthy juvenile,” the man said. “Where did you say you found him?”

“In our living room, why?” Mama Pepper asked.

“Because this bat doesn’t live anywhere near us normally,” the man answered. “This here is a giant golden-crowned flying fox and they’re found in the Philippines. They’re endangered too!”

“How did he get to Texas then?” Lewis asked.

“My best bet is that he was brought her illegally. They’re not a very aggressive breed towards humans and they eat fruit so they seem like an easy house pet,” the man explained. He put Rose back into her box and shook his head. “Bats though are not good pets. They’re meant to be in the wild and helping out the ecosystem, not caged up.”

“Wait, Rose is a boy?” Cayenne asked.

The man nodded a little confused but Lewis chuckled. “Yeah. Now I have to take him to the sanctuary but I would suggest that if he gave you any open wounds you should get a rabies shot. While his breed isn’t aggressive like I said, his breed can carry rabies. For future reference, don’t ever pick up a bat with your bare hands. If you find one, put it in a shoe box like you have and just before dark, hang up your shirt. If the bat isn’t injured, they should be able to fly on their own. If they are injured, just call us and we will take care of it.”

“Thank you young man, we will be sure to remember that the next time,” Mama Pepper promised.

“You’re welcome and thank you for calling us when you did,” the man said.

“What’s going to happen to him now?” Cayenne asked.

“Well, I’m going to take him to the sanctuary and we’ll try to get ahold of another one in the Philippines to see what they want done. We will do our best to take care of him until he can be taken home,” he promised.

With that, Cayenne said goodbye to Rose and the vet checked them over real quick. Even with Rose being very clingy, he didn’t leave a mark on either of them. With that, they were okayed to go home and they did just that.

“So, how’s Rose?” was the first thing they heard when they entered the restaurant. Sitting at a table was Lewis’s best friend Vivi. She had some dishes already in front of her, with only one milkshake and a sandwich still having anything on it. She smiled as she pointed over her stack to the only empty seat "I want to hear everything."