'Cub! I'm home!'

I'm on my feet the moment I hear Scar returning, hurrying to the hallway to greet him.

'Any luck with Grian?' I ask, leaning on the doorframe. Scar sighs.

'None. And I filled out the entire form perfectly, you know I did. Apparently the area's not for sale... but I have another idea for making money.' He gives the little giggle I know comes with ideas Scar's particularly proud of. I give a curious smile back.

'Oh?'

'So... Wait, let's head to the kitchen so I can start cooking dinner. I'm starving...' As Scar speaks he bounds towards the kitchen. I follow, grabbing cutlery and plates to set the table while Scar cooks. 'So, anyway, as I was saying... Grian's been hiding the fact that, you won't believe it, he's a ghost hunter!'

'A ghost hunter? Really?' I'm glad I'm turned away and able to hide my unease. He should know as well as I do that any ghost hunters would be against Vexlings like him.

'I know right?! He left me on hold while one of his ghost hunting friends called, but he mentioned jobs, which makes me think they're making money. So I looked it up, I found the ghost hunting group, and some videos about it, and they're charging a lot for their hunting. And then I found an email, for anyone to get in contact with them about stuff. So I sent an email about joining them, and now I might become a ghost hunter Cub! And you can join us as well, and we'll make tons of money, and fund future ConCorp ventures... it'll be so much fun!'

'Yeah...' I have to reply to Scar's ramble. 'Maybe.'

A pause.

'Cub?' He turns, frowning, from the onions he's frying. 'What's wrong?'

'Look, Scar...' I try to find a way of backtracking, before realising I can't. 'Aren't you worried about them finding out you're a Vexling?'

'The ghost hunter descriptions said one of them was a Were-deer.'

'You know vexlings are treated differently to Wereish. What if they try to exorcise the Vex against your will. Without realising it'll kill you. Or maybe they'll do it because it'll kill you?'

'What?' Scar's eyes widen. 'But Grian's nice! And all the others seem really friendly... there's a primary school teacher! You can't work with children and then exorcise a poor, poor man against his will!'

'Scar, seriously.' I step closer, hands on his shoulders. 'I don't want to lose you. And certainly not like that.'

'Then... I won't tell them I'm a Vexling. I'll keep it hidden. None of the traits are really obvious. And Grian's known me for years and has never been suspicious.'

'You don't know that, Scar.'

'And we'll get more money. More steadily than all my random jobs.'

'We've got enough money, Scar.'

'But I don't want to spend all your inheritance on bills, or taxes, or food! I want to be able to give you something, Cub! I want to provide for us as much as you do!'

'You're providing plenty, Scar... oh, your onions are burning.'

'Oh shoot!' Scar turns, turning down the hob as far as he can to save the smoking vegetables. 'See?! I can't even cook onions right!'

'Scar, seriously. You're fine. We're fine. Ok?' For a moment, Scar just focuses on the onions. I lay a hand on his shoulder. 'Ok?'

Scar nods.

'Ok,' he mutters. 'I just wanted to do something. And ghosthunting sounded really exciting. I already know so much about ghosts, but getting to interact with them personally would be amoyzing. And GIGS don't even hurt the ghosts they find. They just explain what's going on to the house owner, maybe re-home it or tell the owners to avoid areas. Even with Vex. Well... they did exorcise 1 Vengeant. But that's a Vengeant. They're always meanie and dangerous. I just thought it would be fun, Cub,' I can hear the pleading in Scar's voice and, against my better judgement, relent.

'Alright, man. If you really want to go, then you can go. I'm just personally a little wary.'

'Wait, you're letting me go?'

'I mean... yeah.'

Scar beams, excited.

'Thanks, Cub! I promise to be on my best, least-vexy behaviour. And I promise to leave GIGS if it gets too dangerous, or I get badly hurt.'

'And share your earnings with me.' I reply playfully. Scar swats at me with a wooden spoon.

'You really think I'd betray the great Captain Jack and ConCorp and keep it all myself?'

'I mean... I don't know. You are a chaotic Vexling...' Scar gives a look of mock offence. I laugh.

'Nah, only joking, only joking...' Scar returns to cooking, his smile not fading. For a couple minutes I finish laying the table before there's a meow from behind. Sure enough, Mr Finnegan is there wandering along the surface I'd just laid for dinner. He glances up, meowing again. Next to him, I catch a silvery shimmer of a second cat-like creature — Scar's Were, Jellie.

'Hey! Finnie! You're not allowed up there!' Scar protests, but is too busy handling the spaghetti to move him. So I lift him off the counter, cuddling the all-too-curious kitten. He meows a third time.

'I fed you earlier, dude... No need to have our food too.'

Another meow. Finnie wriggles free of my arms, climbing onto my shoulders. I laugh, trying to grab him again. Scar glances over, hastily serves the last of the spaghetti, and rescues me.

'Come on, Finnie... don't attack poor Cub like that. Oh, and good evening Jellie!'

The Were meows as her name is mentioned, bounding after Scar. A flicker of vex power at Scar's hand, allows him to fuss the ghost cat. Jellie purrs, nuzzling closer. I finish serving the food (which looks amazing as usual), allowing my worry about Scar becoming a ghost hunter to subside slightly. He's good with the supernatural, and I don't want to disappoint him when he's showing that much excitement.

As Jellie disappears and Scar returns attention to dinner, I speak again.

'You'll be an amazing ghosthunter, Scar.'

'Wait, really?'.

'I mean... we live with a were. You know tons about ghosts. And I don't know any ghost that can resist befriending you after spending any time with you.'

'Aww, thanks, Cub!'

I smile. Scar smiles back, before we sit down to eat dinner.