"No." I said.
Runt blinked. "What?"
"You can't transform yourself, so you need me. That's what you said."
"You... want to go with me?"
I nodded.
"But...if you go up, you'll be TWO stages away from earth. It'll take you longer to get back
home."
"Yeah, well..."
"Why?"
I thought about this.
"When you went into town without me, you could have gone through the gateway and left
me behind. You didn't. You waited for me. So I reckon you can't be all that bad. And I met
those angels. They want to kill you, if they can. I don't want to leave until you're safe.
Besides, I like you."
Runt sighed.
"That's just my charm talking. If you weren't attracted to me, you'd hate me."
"I hated you when I met you. And I was attracted to you then, too."
Runt frowned at me. He didn't know how to react.
"Hurry up," I urged him, "We don't have long."
"Thank you," he said.
"Oh, don't get all teary eyed on me now."
I scooped him up into my arms, in which he fit like a baby, and I stooped through the red
archway.