Flip the Coin [BL] Chapter 296. Childish (Grumpy) dog

"This is...." The commander opened his mouth in shock, closing it again, unable to continue. Well, there was a difference between knowing or at least guessing and seeing the real deal for oneself—one’s counterpart.

"Where does he co from?" He eventually forced that question out.

"Go away, give us a minute." I answered.

"Why only a minute?" Henry, recovering quicker from seeing the commander, asked in a tone dripping with accusation, probably thinking that I would put him away after the ntioned minute was over.

"Do you want to fight in front of him or what?" I ran my hand through my hair, feeling like a husband dealing with his overdramatic wife.

"Who is fighting? We are just having a conversation." This dumb, stubborn dog.

"Yeah, thanks for clarifying that." I snorted before turning back to the commander.

"Go the fuck away. This is a private conversation here."

The commander finally tore his gaze away from Henry and looked at .

"After you were so heavily injured not long ago, do you really want to stay outside at night?"

"What does that an? I thought this wasn’t your blood." Henry growled, grabbing my jaw before I could groan in annoyance at soone saying the wrong thing at the wrong ti.

And I never said it wasn’t my blood, just that I wasn’t injured.

"Half of his face was missing." The commander beca more annoying with each passing second.

I was scrutinized again, my puppy clenching his jaw while touching the side of my face that still had dried blood on it—my eye, my cheek, my nose—all with his paw, thankfully without the acidifying gas added.

"He is alright again." The commander crossed his arms, still holding the hamr, watching us perform for him.

"Shut the fuck up." I hissed at him before Henry turned my face back to him again.

When he was finally satisfied, he let go and put his arm around my neck, much tighter than he would normally do.

"Didn’t you hear him? Go away." He commanded as if the commander were his personal subordinate.

"We are coming back soon." I waved the unnecessary audience away.

He froze before laughing angrily; it was unknown if his anger was directed at Henry or , but eventually he turned around and actually left. THANKFULLY.

"Why is he here? No, forget that—what happened to your face?"

"Okay. Calm down first. Today my blood touched a crystalline figure, and that thing absorbed my blood and went berserk, but I killed it—so everything is fine now. I am alright."

"...Why were you bleeding in the first place?"

"Because I overused my powers, and before you ask for the reason, I can’t tell you because of the ti paradox shit."

Henry let know of his unhappiness with his ironclad grip around my neck, though the mont I lightly moved my head, he would instantly loosen his grip, ensuring I could breathe before tightening it again. Pfft.

"You think this is funny?" Henry asked.

"Nope. I am so fucking somber I could go crash a funeral." I looked at him, proving that this was no laughing matter with all the seriousness I had to offer.

"Yes, your funeral."

"No, yours," I shot back.

"Yours."

"Yours. So childish—stop it now. I’ll tell you what I can tell you: two survivors until now plus the commander, the crystalline counterparts mirror their human counterparts but an no harm as long as you don’t encounter them with malice. Ah, there is another survivor, but he started to behave like a crystalline figure because the figure I killed was his counterpart. There should be others around here as well, so that’s it."

"How do you plan on going back?" Henry focused on sothing else, his intense blue eyes glowing with a warning that I should better have a plan ready to return to his present self.

"Either waiting until this world crashes with ours or until I can use the giant’s powers again and bring us all out."

"With teleportation? You can teleport with people?"

"With the giant’s power, yes, but I can’t teleport at the mont." I conjured up a wet towel and started to rub the dried blood from my face.

"Mhm. Tell if my presence is sucking away your strength." Henry took the towel from and started to wipe my face and throat with much more tenderness than I had used.

I hadn’t thought about it, but I had no nosebleeds or headaches, telling that him being here was not overusing my power.

"I won’t send you back as long as you promise that no matter what happens, you will behave the sa way you did before I conjured you up when you eventually go back at so point."

"I promise. I also don’t want ti to go ’paradox’, though I don’t think I would go back to the past with my mories of this place intact." Henry grabbed my chin and pulled it up, searching for any more dried blood.

"Clean." He stuffed the towel back into my hands, as if he just rembered that he was still angry with .

I suppressed my laughter and turned around to change into fresh clothes before motioning for Henry to co with us.

"True, we only know after we sent you back." Or I could ask present Henry when I visit him tomorrow in Harry’s or Patrick’s body.

"Let’s go back, or that fucker cos again. If you think of a question I can actually answer, then ask it tomorrow." I looked at him, but besides putting his arm around my neck, he didn’t answer.

"Ah, by the way, your future self can teleport anwhile."

He was just looking at the lit-up flowers around us as we walked back to the cave.

"I can?"

"Mhm, just telling you." I peeked at his face but found my dog not wagging his tail in happiness, instead just looking like suppressed fury itself.

I know it was my fault for disappearing and fighting the giant on my own back then, and I understand why the current situation triggered him moderately. But this ti it was clearly not my fault. Though... I did go kill people using the giant’s power, which was probably the reason why it went out of control in the end.

Yes, yes, it’s my fault, all my fault.

"Do you want sothing to eat...? Or drink...?" I asked him, not recognizing my own voice that suddenly sounded like a butler’s and not like a master’s.

"Neither hungry nor thirsty." This guy was really so childish—unbelievable.

I swallowed the ’suit yourself’ that lay on my tongue and instead chose a friendlier version.

"Then tell if you get hungry or thirsty."

Henry didn’t answer , and we soon spotted the commander standing in front of the entrance. On the ground behind him lay an unconscious Mr. Aslan.

"You knocked him out?" I asked the commander. No wonder he hadn’t co together with his current target of imitation to the spot where Henry and I had talked.

"Mhm." The commander’s eyes were stuck on Henry again as he entered the cave with us.

"You got everyone mattresses, blankets, and pillows." Henry noted unhappily, looking at the still-sleeping office guys and the one who was unconscious with enmity.

"Here is my mattress. Let’s sleep a bit more." I pointed at the one closest to us, and Henry nodded briefly, taking a seat at the end while I let myself fall directly into the bed.

"Can’t you get him his own mattress?" The commander asked .

"No." I simply answered, noting a tendency towards unwanted talkativeness in both the commander and Henry.

"Max and Sarah, I t them." Henry humd all of a sudden, still sitting at the end of the bed.

I could feel the air stagnate for a mont and looked at the ceiling in resignation.

"Very nice and polite children. I also t your wife—she thought I was you." Henry continued.

I sighed audibly, unsure if I should step in, because contrary to and my counterparts, they were not trying to kill themselves, so it was going sowhat well? I an, they aren’t friendly to each other, but they are still just talking.

I conjured up another pillow for Henry and closed my eyes.

"She did? But we look nothing alike." The commander chuckled dangerously.

"I agree. I am so much better looking, younger, and stronger than you." Kindergarten—though he was right.

"Do you want to go out and test that theory?" Kindergarten2—no, Kindergarten3 if you go after the number telling which world the commander was from.

"Sure." Henry answered.

I propped myself up on my arms to look at Henry’s back, and sure enough, his hand was wrapped in shadowy energy.

"What the hell is that?" The commander hissed, looking at for a mont before looking again at his counterpart’s hand.

"Do you want to tou—"

"Henry." I interrupted.

"Co here." It was a clear command, and the mont I spoke it out, Henry let the shadow disappear and moved backward to lie down beside .

"We’ll sleep, and then we’ll continue our journey tomorrow," I decided, lying down sideways and putting my arm over Henry’s upper body, ignoring the commander’s presence.

The stubborn dog didn’t close his eyes or cuddle with , which was probably good because of the others, but he also didn’t push away.

I flipped the coin, seeing that Henry would still be there when I would wake up tomorrow.

Soon after I heard the commander going wherever, I feigned to be asleep, taking deep and regular breaths, asking myself if I would finally get my hug in the end, and who would have thought?

Henry eventually sneaked closer to , cautiously placing my head on his chest, before he finally held in his arms. After squeezing lightly, he sighed in content.

With his heartbeat, his warmth, and his antics, I was suddenly so damn grateful to have him right beside again.

Having a grumpy dog was far better than not having a dog at all.

Everything was better than not having the dog.