Page 56 of Butterfly

Teddy pushed Ollie down to the bed, clambered on top, then kissed him breathless.

Teddy grabbed a book from the library to show Ollie what their caterpillars would turn into.

Ollie whistled. “That’s one hell of a metamorphosis.”

The butterflies Teddy pointed out were huge, primarily red in colour but with big black and purple spots, and splashes of yellow. They were beautiful, but the maggots squirming around in their tub were not.

Einstein arrived with another rat full of contraband.

“We don’t need more.”

“Food.” Einstein smirked.

Ollie shot Teddy a mischievous smile. “I was hoping for a mallet.”

Teddy’s expression flat-lined.

The head of the rat came off easier the second time, and Ollie stuck his hand inside the chest cavity only to howl and curse in pain. Teddy shot from the bed, holding on to him while he shook out his throbbing hand.

“What the hell?”

Teddy grabbed Ollie’s wrist to inspect the damage. Raised white bumps covered his reddening fingers.

“It stings.”

Teddy crouched, snatching up the rat. He turned it upside down, gave it a shake, and green leaves dropped to the floor.

“Fucking stinging nettles,” Ollie hissed.

Teddy touched Ollie’s lips, snorting,Language.

“But it hurts.” Ollie looked at his hand. “I may need to visit the hospital wing.”

Teddy pulled Ollie flush against him while shaking his head. He leaned back to press kisses all over Ollie’s face, then took hold of Ollie’s wrist.

Teddy blew against Ollie’s fingers. It didn’t help with the burn, but Ollie appreciated it all the same.

He kissed Ollie’s fingers until eventually the throbbing stopped.

“Nice creatures don’t eatstingingnettles,” Ollie said. “They eat dog or cat food.”

Teddy smirked. He released Ollie, picked up tweezers from the sink, then picked a leaf off the floor. Ollie clambered onto his bunk and watched Teddy feed a leaf to his new pets.

“Woah,” Ian said from the doorway. He glanced over his shoulder, then stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He toed at the leaves with his trainer. “What if an officer had seen?”

“They’re not marijuana leaves; they’re stinging nettles,” Ollie replied.

Ian frowned. “You can get high off stinging nettles?”

Teddy turned to Ian, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Right,” Ian blurted. “Letter.”

He held it out to Ollie.

Ollie knew it was another from Howard. It had the same flowing handwriting and gold corners.

“Thanks.”

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