[beware the bear, man!]

Joe drove home by reflex, his brain numb. He'd had the presence of mind to call in sick for the rest of the week. That was about all he could manage. He hadn't said why to Joan, but she knew. He could tell.

He just sat in his car when he got to his apartment. He should go in, maybe go lie down. Maybe go drink. Drinking had a certain appeal. It was safe enough, in his apartment. The monsters never came out when he did. He'd made sure of that. There were enough charms and talismans and pieces of art with alleged powers to keep the hosts of heaven at bay. Not that he was worried about angels.

Snuffles looked back at him from the passenger seat. He was safely belted in. Joe had even dropped the shoulder strap down as far as it would go. Probably silly, but it made sense at the time.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, buddy," he said to the bear. "We both got abandoned. Still, the castoffs should stick together, right?"

The bear didn't answer.

"Ah, the strong, silent type, huh? I like that in a guy. They can't lie to you that way. 'Course, Alex never lied to me. I should've known. Just because they don't lie to you doesn't mean they're telling you the truth.

"I loved him, you know. I really did. I even told him. I never told anyone that before. Look how good that turned out."

Joe snorted. "He never said it back. I should've know. God, I was stupid. Just some guy he had, just a dance partner. I was only there for the good times."

He unbuckled the bear and sat him on the steering wheel. "I won't abandon you, guy. You're mine, now, and I promise, I won't leave you behind. Old and grey together, huh?"

Joe leaned in and gave Snuffles a kiss on the nose. The bear smelled faintly of smoke and Alex. That was okay. He'd be a reminder of mistakes past.

"Time for your new home, buddy." Joe unbuckled himself and walked up to his apartment.

As he got closer a guy approached him from the other end of the corridor. Relatively young and darkly tanned, he was wearing a blue jacket and a baseball hat, and carried a clipboard.

"Excuse me," the man said as he approached.

The smell of smoke from Snuffles got stronger. It was enough to set off the headache that had been brewing. Stress always made Joe's head hurt, and it didn't take much to trigger one. The smell and lunch were enough to make his stomach churn some, the nausea just adding to his misery.

"What?" Joe snapped. He regretted it, but didn't feel up to apologizing.

"I'm with the electric company," the man said.

That was a bald-faced lie. The guy was probably working some sort of charity scam or collecting for something. At least a few times a year someone in the complex would get caught by one of those. His next-door neighbor had been burned by one over the Christmas holidays, and at least twice in the time he'd lived there people had been robbed by fake repairmen.

Normally Joe would just brush this guy off. It wasn't worth the hassle, and there probably wasn't any way to prove he was up to something. Today his head hurt, his stomach ached, and his boyfriend had run away.

"Bullshit," he said. "I know exactly who you are and what you want. I'm not impressed, and I'm not caught, and you can go f**K off."

Joe unlocked the door to his apartment. The man didn't leave as he did. Joe could feel him watching. When he heard the footstep as the guy moved in, Joe whirled around.

"You! Go away! The teddy bear is loaded and I'm not afraid to use him!" He brandished Snuffles at the man. He was sure it looked ludicrous, but it probably looked insane as well. The man backed away, surely convinced Joe was mad.

"Never f**K with a man with a bear," he said. Joe slammed the door shut behind him.