(Andrew)
Andrew put his hands down on his knees and panted hard as his SOUL became gray again. He had known Drake would be heavy, but dang, he was like a bag of large bowling balls! Even w/ BRAVERY! As Andrew kept breathing hard, he looked up and noticed Drake's shocked expression.
"...You... saved me...?" Drake asked quietly in disbelief.
Andrew took some more breaths before answering.
"Of *huff* fricking *huff* course *huff* I did!" Andrew said w/ a grin.
"...Why?" Drake asked.
After panting for a bit longer, Andrew stood up.
"Because I wasn't just going to you die," Andrew said frankly.
"...You really should have..." Drake said.
Drake then turned and slumped onto the floor. Andrew hesitated for a bit. He then slowly moved forward and sat next to Drake's big, fluffy head. After a bit, Andrew finally spoke.
"How about we start over? My name's Andrew."
Silence ensued. After a full minute, Drake responded.
"...Mine's Drake... not that it matters..." Drake said softly.
Andrew, alarmed, noticed that Drake's teeth were a dentist's nightmare. Some were missing, and the gum looked pretty damaged. As for the remaining teeth, they jagged and chipped. Andrew also noticed that there were bruises around his eyes alongside dark circles. He faintly noticed that there were several wounds on Drake's arm.
"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you so... fricked up?" Andrew asked.
"...I was born w/ a dumpster fire for a face..." Drake replied.
Andrew gave him a look.
"Ok, 1. are you blind? 2. I meant all the wounds, bruises, and missing teeth."
Drake remained silent.
"Um, Drake?" Andrew asked worriedly.
"...Please... don't ask me about that..."
"But... ok," Andrew replied.
A few seconds of silence passed. After that, Andrew raised his hand over Drake's giant head.
"Uh..., can I...?," Andrew asked timidly.
Drake looked up at the stitched hand. He then sighed.
"...Yes...," Drake replied.

(Drake)
Drake expected Andrew to just bring the hand down hard to harm him. Drake wouldn't've really cared either way. He was too used to being beaten up already. What he didn't expect, however, was for Andrew to start petting him! Rather than beat Drake w/ the stitched hand, Andrew simply glid it gently through Drake's fur and across his pelt. Drake had no idea how to react to this. He'd never been shown affection like this before!
Wha...? Drake thought.
Then Drake, involuntarily, began to... purr? He didn't know why, but he began to make a low, soft rumbling in his throat. Something about Andrew's stitched hand running through his fur felt... good?
I see someone's enjoying himself, Alter said w/ the impression of a smile.
Drake, feeling that he shouldn't be allowed to enjoy himself, immediately got up and tore himself away from Andrew's petting hand. Andrew gave Drake a pursed-lip look.
Aw, why'd you stop it? Alter asked. That felt great!
Andrew then looked behind Drake w/ a confused look. Before he could ask anything, Andrew's phone rang.
"Yeah?" Andrew asked.
After a bit, Andrew hung up.
"My C-dad's here," Andrew said while getting up.
Drake got up as well.

(Andrew)
As Drake was about to leave, Andrew got a thought.
"Hey, wait," he said as Drake was a few feet away.
Drake stopped.
"Would you like to... I don't know, come over?" Andrew asked.
Drake paused for a bit.
"...You don't want that..."
Andrew walked over to him. He then gently touched Drake's right arm.
"I would love nothing more than to have you over," Andrew said earnestly.
Drake turned.
"...I'm sorry, but... do you have some sort of condition that makes you near braindead...?" Drake asked.
Andrew gave him a firm look.
"No. I seriously want you to come over," Andrew said.

(Drake)
Drake just couldn't help but look at Andrew as if he had rabies.
Y'know, you really should take him up on that, said Alter.
Drake looked at his blank face.
Are you sure? You know, having me around never leads to a good time, Drake thought to him.
Alter gave a sigh.
Honestly, what options do you have? You know home is hell, and considering what Andrew is like, it looks like he has a good home life.
Which is why I shouldn't go... Drake replied.
If Alter had a face, it would be frowning.
Drake... just go w/ him. What have you got to lose? He asked.
Drake didn't answer.
C'mon, just give it a try...

(Andrew)
The time that Andrew spent watching Drake speak to the spirit next to him was the fascinating thing he'd ever seen. While Andrew had seen spectres before, he'd never seen one as strange as this! Even better, this spirit was the first Andrew really heard talk for a length of time. While Andrew didn't know what Drake was thinking, he was happy to listen to what his friend had to say. Eventually, though, Drake finally spoke out loud.
"...Ok... I'll go..." Drake muttered out.
Andrew's face immediately lit up. He then held out his hand. Drake looked at it hesitantly. After putting his hoodie back on, he then slowly moved his hand towards Andrew's.
"Ok, this might feel weird at first, and you'll probably be disoriented afterward," Andrew said once they held hands.

(Drake)
Drake, confused, was about to say something but didn't get the chance. He was immediately pulled into a tight tunnel at light speed! On the other side, Drake and Andrew ended up in front of the school. Despite Andrew's warning, Drake didn't feel any worse than he usually did.
"You like my teleportation ability?" Andrew asked.
"...Teleportation?" Drake asked.
"Yeah," Andrew said.

(Andrew)
Andrew then looked around. After a bit, he spotted someone quite pleasant-looking. The man's head fur looked similar to Drake's. He had a smiley-faced shirt, and he appeared to be quite chubby. Finally, the man had a mask over his mouth and glasses over his eyes. When the fluffy man noticed the two, he waved them over. Andrew walked over to him, w/ Drake slowly trailing behind.
"Hello!" the man said once the two were near.
"Um, are you Drake's dad?" Andrew asked.
"Why, yes, I am! And who are you?" The man asked cheerily.
Andrew was taken aback. Considering what Drake looked and acted like, he had assumed that Drake's dad would be a horrible man, but this guy seemed pretty nice.
"My name's Andrew," Andrew said w/ a smile.
The man then held his left hand out.
"Mine's Natas, my boy!" He said as they shook hands.
"Um, why are you wearing a mask?" Andrew asked.
Looking closer, he could see that the mask had a moustache on it.
"Oh, this?" Natas asked while pointing to his face mask, "I have a facial deformity. I wear this to keep it covered."
At that, Drake sighed. Andrew saw that there were two raw spots on either side of the mask.
"Ok, then. Uh, I have a couple more questions for you."
Natas gave a hearty chuckle at that. Andrew idly noticed that Natas kept his eyes closed throughout their conversation.
"Sure, ask away."
"Why is your son so beat up?" Andrew asked.
At that, Natas gave a sigh.
"Well, you see,... I have no idea. He refuses to tell me, and, despite the hours of investigation that the police and I have poured into finding out why we can't seem to find any answers..."
Andrew's expression softened at that. Drake did seem like the type to keep something like that hidden.
"Oh, wow... Do you know who's causing it?" Andrew asked.
"Sadly, no. We've tried time and time again to find out who's causing this, but we've been having no luck," Natas explained.
Andrew looked down at that.
"Is that all?" Natas asked.
"No, I have one more question. Would it be alright if your son came over to my house?" Andrew asked.
A shadow seemed to fall over Natas' face at that. But, just as quickly as it appeared, Natas' face lit up, and he grabbed his belly.
"Ha, ha! My boy finally found a friend, did he?"
Natas then pulled Andrew into a great big hug. Drake's expression became horrified at that.
"Of course he can go w/ you!" Natas shouted gleefully.
After he put Andrew down, he brought out a small notebook and pen.
"Let's exchange phone numbers first so that we can keep in touch," Natas said.
Once the exchange was done, Natas gave a chuckle.
"Goodbye," Natas said.

(Drake)
As the two walked away, Drake had to fight to keep tears from leaking out.
Looks like he's fooled another one... Drake thought.
Alter didn't say anything, but he did radiate a sort of sad aura. As Andrew and Drake walked away, Drake looked over his shoulder. While his dad didn't say anything, he did open his eyes a tiny bit, and Drake noticed a glint in them.
... Drake thought.
After walking forward a bit, Andrew and Drake finally met up w/ Andrew's dad. Aside from the claws, tail, and horns, Andrew didn't seem to share many traits w/ this man.
Probably gets most of his looks from his other parent, Alter said.
When the dark-skinned man noticed them, he smiled at Andrew but gave a wide-eyed look up at Drake.
"Um, Andrew, who's this?" the man asked in both a concerned and alarmed tone.
Andrew giggled.
"This is my new friend, Drake!" he said while holding onto Drake's hand.
The man looked Drake over for a bit. After a nervous sigh, he held his left hand out.
"Nice to... meet you. My name's Cedric," the man said.
After Drake awkwardly shook the hand, Andrew took over.
"Dad, I invited him over to stay."
Cedric gave a funny look at that.
"Um, do his parents know about this?"
"Well, we just ran into Drake's dad, and he said yes," Andrew said.
After looking the two over for a bit, Cedric sighed again.
"Well, if his dad said yes, then fine."
Cedric then held both his hands out. Drake grabbed the left while Andrew grabbed the right. As both Andrew and Cedric twitched their tail, the three disappeared.