WEAFF Snippet 2, preslash

[gilascave]

"What Else Are Friends For?"

Peter had dragged everyone into the kitchen, and was now trying to wait patiently. Ray was handing out bowls, and Winston had two boxes of cereal in his hands. One was the sugary, neon-coloured stuff Ray always ate and which Egon only ate when no one was in the kitchen to see him. The other was a sugary, non-neon-coloured cereal which turned the milk to a thick chocolate. They usually had two or three bowls of cereal in the mornings; then all four of them would be wound up and ready to tackle ghosts.

Right now they were eating it because no one felt like cooking anything for lunch and they were too hungry to wait for pizza. Peter knew he could go ahead and tell them his news, but he wanted to wait until he didn't have to repeat himself, between the "where's the milk" and "did you finish off the box already" conversation going on. His left leg was bouncing, and he stilled it, then poured entirely too much Cocoa Crunch into his bowl and had to sprinkle just the barest amount of Fruity Circles on the top.

They'd come down to the kitchen after Peter had barely started to tell Egon about the revelation he'd had. Winston had poked his head in and asked if they were coming down to join them for lunch and Peter figured he may as well do it all at once.

Now he was waiting, and Egon kept looking at him thoughtfully. The thoughtful looks were making him want to just go ahead and blurt it out -- or possibly say he'd changed his mind and run out for a hamburger. Finally everyone was sitting down and the milk was making everyone's cereal nicely soggy. Peter quickly ate the top mound of cereal off his bowl, then put his spoon down.

Everyone was suddenly looking at him.

Peter stared back. "I haven't said anything yet."

"Yeah, but you've got that 'I have an annoucenment' look on your face," Winston said. "Not to mention you're nearly as hyper as Ray, and you haven't had enough cereal to justify it."

"All right, so I've got an announcement." Peter resisted making a face at Winston. He realised he'd stopped doing that sort of thing at all, lately and shelved the thought for later consideration. He started to explain, then stopped again, mouth half-open. This was suddenly a lot harder than just telling Egon.

"Peter?" Ray sounded concerned. Peter wanted to tell him it was all right.

"This *is* about why you threw the newspaper all over the floor?" Egon asked in his usual dry tone, but with that undercurrent of support which only Egon's closest friends ever seemed able to detect. Peter found himself trying to think of the first time he'd heard it, and reined his thoughts back in.

"Sorry, guys. I didn't expect this to be so hard." He saw their faces freeze, varying expressions of concern and, on Ray's face, a little fear. "Not anything bad! It's just...embarassing."

Their expressions changed to looks of confusion. Peter didn't blame them. On the other hand, he realised that his revelation was true -- and when he burst into a wide grin his friends looked even more confused. He opened his mouth to say it again, when Ray suddenly shouted.

"Peter!" He leapt up, dropping his spoon and flinging cereal across the table. Winston glared at him and grabbed a napkin, and wiped milk off the back of his hand. Ray didn't even notice. "Peter, you're embarrassed!"

"So what?" Winston asked, then he stopped. "Wait, is that--"

"Are you certain, Peter?" Egon asked.

Peter shrugged. "I don't know -- it isn't like I have anything to compare it to. But I have all the symptoms." He couldn't stop grinning. Ray ran around the table and pounded him on the back.

"This is great! We should record this; Egon, do we have the data log set up yet? Peter, can you describe exactly what you feel?"

"The log is on the computer in the lab, Ray. Although I think--"

"Data log?" Peter asked. "What data log?"

Egon looked slightly...quieter, which on him meant he really didn't want to answer the question. Ray just said, "We're keeping records! What you do, what you feel. So we can track your progress! It'll be great! Peter, just think -- it's only been a month since your first emotion and now you've got another one! I wonder if you'll start learning them faster as you go?

Peter squelched the urge to run. Then he wondered why he was squelching it. "You're not gonna hook me up to anything, are you?" He ignored Winston's chuckle.

"Well, not right away," Ray said, sounding disappointed. "We don't have the calibrator working yet. Then we have to get some control data -- getting data from humans will be easy enough, but I wish we could get some readings from demons as a baseline for lack of emotions. Peter...I don't suppose you know anyone who would come in for an afternoon?"

He blinked. He stared at Ray, reminded himself that yes, in fact, there was every reason to think Ray was totally serious. He turned to Egon who was trying to act like all he wanted was to eat his cereal. Winston was just laughing, now, and of absolutely no help.

"Ray?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"You remember how demons are the bad guys, right?"

"Oh, sure--"

"And you remember how 'bad guys' means that they'd like to eat New York City, or possibly just the firehouse?"

"Not all demons eat buildings, Peter," was Ray's response.

"Because those that don't eat buildings just blow them up, or tear them down; yes, Ray, I know. Being one myself I'm familiar with their habits." He gave Ray a very stern look, as stern as he could without actually showing his horns, red eyes, or looking away from Ray who was starting to give him the whipped puppy look. "We're not inviting other demons into the lab to take measurements off them. OK?"

"I only meant, if you knew any *nice* ones."

"Ray, as far as I know, I'm the only thing that even remotely resembles a nice demon. And if you try to hook *me* up to one of your gadgets, I'll start munching on part of the firehouse myself."

"We could take readings someone where else," Ray suggested. "A large empty backlot? That way the firehouse wouldn't be in any danger."

Peter blinked again. He looked at Winston, who shook his head. He glanced at Egon who was still pretending he liked cereal much more than scientific endeavours, which probably meant he'd come up with this idea in the first place. "If I let you take readings of my emotions or lack thereof, will you promise me not to go raising other demons?"

"Of course! I mean -- I still think we need complete data," Ray frowned. "But I suppose it isn't strictly necessary." He started to look cheerful again, then gave Peter a look. "You were going to let us take the measurements, anyhow, weren't you?"

Peter sighed. "Yes, Ray."

At least if they did melt his head, he could put it back later.