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Ben felt somewhat chagrined. That dream hadn't been all he'd intended. It had all seemed just a little flat, missing many of the emotional responses he'd hoped for. Maybe Luke had been wanting something different? He certainly had made his boy wake up at the end, though!

Could it be that some of its references were a little too close to reality? Luke certainly had been stinky last night. He'd even taken a shower before going to bed. But wouldn't that association have increased the immediacy and made the emotions stronger?

Perhaps he just misunderstood how much Luke liked water. That didn't seem likely, though. He certainly seemed happy when splashing in the other room, often humming loudly. It had to be rather loud for Ben to hear it over the noise of the shower water itself.

Maybe Luke just had other things on his mind, keeping him from getting deeply involved. The way he'd been running around cleaning the apartment, for example, using that nasty, noisy vacuum cleaner. He must be getting ready for something.

A cleaner like that was another thing Ben had never seen before, and really didn't want to hear again. The one at the store had been a lot quieter. Hopefully this one wouldn't be taken out of hiding very often. At least it had let Ben see some of what was hidden behind one of the closed doors, one that he'd never dared open. He'd caught a glimpse of a coat or two, a very large umbrella and maybe some boxes on a shelf. Was it a closet?

The books and computer had been rearranged, too. Now, they were all neatly stacked on the desk, leaving the table clear. The stink of the oily cleaning rag Luke had used on the table and every other flat surface had almost made Ben sneeze. Luke had. Several times. Loudly. And then dumped more oil on the rag.

And then Luke had grabbed up all the dirty clothes from the corner, bundled them up in the bedsheets with some other things, and taken them away. (At least there were no bees in them. Ben was sure of that. They had been full of wonderful smells of Luke, though.) It was a while before he brought them back, and then they all smelled different. Not like him at all; even the pillowcase had changed. The new scent was something like flowers, but not really, especially not like the flowers of the dream tundra. This scent was too artificial. Thank goodness the clothes now were all in the chest of drawers: out of sight, out of smell.

All these changes were a little disturbing. Ben had barely had time to get used to his new home, and now it was so different.

Today, he didn't even dare move now that Luke had left. For one thing, he'd certainly wrinkle something, leaving telltale signs. After getting up, Luke had straightened and smoothed all the bedclothes, carefully arranging Ben in the middle. Then, jokingly (yes, joking, right?), he had admonished Ben to "Stay!" Surely he didn't suspect; no, that was impossible. Still, it all made Ben feel like he was on display again.

Oh, no. It couldn't be. Please, no. Luke couldn't possibly be thinking of selling him, could he? It had been such a short time! Ben couldn't even imagine how horrible it would be not to have Luke any more. Well, he could, but it was just too painful to think about for long.

But Luke had been humming most of the time, both last night while he was cleaning and then again this morning as he left. At least he must have been happy. That was what really mattered. The future couldn't be all that bad.

Still slightly distraught, Ben slept.