GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Catharsis' mouth was a sharp grin when Ghost started whining, not that he'd turn around and let him see it. After that mess in the dungeons, he'd had the damndest time getting the attacker to leave safe zones. So, no more dungeoning for them; he couldn't agree more. What Cat couldn't stand for was having to foot the bill for things as Ghost's income went out the window. He'd consider doing that in some emergency instances, but not all the time. Not even for a friend.

It physically pained him to do it.

Ghost's question had his smile thankfully lessen into something more smooth, and he turned on his heel to face him, backing into a tree and leaning against it to pretend he'd done that on purpose. "I mean, I could." He said, voice smooth as he tilted his head at the guy. "But that wouldn't be as fun." He knew, very well, that Ghost would see right through to his real reason; crafting for himself was expensive as hell. He was playing with the idea of making something for himself, to make life in general easier on him, but ... it would have to wait until it didn't eat too much into what he'd earned.

"Come on, it's an adventure. And it's not even high risk, we'll be fine." He insisted, dusting himself off as he stood and turning to go deeper. It was weird, honestly, how little wildlife there was so far. He'd think there'd be something, some kind of smaller mobs, but maybe it'd been cleared out by a player that got there first? That'd suck.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

In the time Cat had gotten to know Ghost, he'd never known him to be cautious. He frowned, taking a closer look at him. He was in stark contrast from what the Empath had gotten used to, and that bothered him. Sure, the Wendigo nearly sucking all his health with one touch had shaken him, but they had lived. With so much time having passed since then, he would've thought they'd both at least appear to be over it by now.

Then again, part of that probably was just his refusal to actually think about what bothered him when he could distract himself instead. Such coping mechanisms were a lot harder when the result of near death and trauma was right in front of him, making him address it. Perhaps that was why he hadn't tried to drag Ghost out of the house before now. "Hey, don't worry." He said, as cheery as he could manage. "I've got you."

After all, what else could be looming over Ghost so darkly?

Cat had nearly failed to protect him, and he winced away from the greasy feeling that thought had left him with, looking to the side when Ghost pointed out the nest they'd just stumbled on. Huh. If they hadn't stopped, he wondered if he would have noticed it. "Hey, good eye." He said, grinning even with Ghost playing the part of the voice of reason. "This might be easier than I thought."

Of course, where there was a nest as fresh as this, there was probably a mother. He paused at the thought, looking around for any signs of one. Maybe that had been why the wildlife had been so scarce.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Ghost changed, but it didn't feel for the better. It felt dishonest, or maybe fragile. Catharsis didn't like it, but Ghost was harder to study now that he'd caught onto Cat. All the Empath knew was that this was a front, and that was it. He tried not to let on, switching into his usual smile. If he let on that he knew, whatever this was would probably just get worse. Asking him to handle someone else's emotional issues was the equivalent to handling a compound fracture by wrapping it in gauze and telling the sucker if they just walked on it, they'd be fine. He couldn't even help himself.

Everything had been easier before when the only person he kept coming back to was ... simpler. Less complex to read than most, even it was in a way others might avoid. Now, he was surrounded by people with wants and needs and emotions that were nearly as loud as his own, with no emotional equivalent to white noise to come home to. It wasn't that he couldn't get a read, figure things out, but it was ... exhausting, being expected to do it day in and day out for people who couldn't even guarantee they'd be there for him at the end of the day. And the fact was, no one could guarantee that, not here.

Before he could try to continue to read Ghost, the man dove right into the nest in a fervor even Cat wanted to protest. Alarm bells rang in his head, and he moved to follow, alert. He had to admit that he had done this to himself; he had been pushing Ghost, so it made sense for the guy to run into it in hindsight. Cat only kept himself out of the clearing by reminding himself, repeatedly, that Ghost had portals to protect himself with.

It was then that he heard the guttural click that was so synonymous with dinosaur in pop culture. He looked, but couldn't see anything. Uh, well, fuck. "Hurry." He hissed, unsure if the guy could even hear him.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Ghost hadn't heard him.

It was obvious, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, because if Ghost hadn't heard him what else hadn't he picked up on? It was like he was watching a horror flick, whispering the same age old warnings of "no, you fuck, turn around," to someone just as nonresponsive, except that the consequences would be very real to him. His heart began to beat wildly in his chest.

From his vantage point, he was able to see the dinosaur as it broke through the treeline just as Ghost began to move. He hadn't even had a moment to calm down and be relieved at the fact that the Phantom was choosing to escape. All he could think was that this had been his grand fucking idea. Fantastic. Catharsis didn't think when Ghost shouted out to him, just sending up a barrier behind the Phantom as best as he could to buy them some extra time. With that, he whipped around and lead the way in racing right back to the shoreline.