There was an awkward pause in the room, the silent shuffling of bed-sheets, Gramps moving in the shadows.

"Liar." Gramps said with a hard finality. He coughed slightly and the cough became a wet, chuckle. It was innocent sounding, but it caught Shawn off guard. No one had ever really challenged him that way, let alone an adult.

"I know that you're a liar..." he said and Shawn could sense he was smiling. "...because I'm a liar too."

Shawn wasn't used to being exposed like this - even when someone saw through him in the past, he'd played it off as just being polite or friendly or agreeable. No one had ever straight out called him a liar. "What are you saying, Gramps?" He tried to chuckle a little, like either one of them could play it off as a joke if they wanted to.

"Nothing." Gramps lied, laughing a bit with Shawn, the both of them understanding each other. The simultaneous laughing showing Shawn that he wasn't going to press him, easing the tension.

"But.." he coughed. "I've always felt that you were like me. Even though we really never spent much time with one another. I've always felt that you, when you were very young, reminded me of myself. I know its a funny, selfish think to think, seeing how you are you own person."

"But I wanted to share with you, some things I've learned. So you might avoid some mistakes I've made..."

"...if you are like me.."

Shawn caught on pretty quick onto what Gramps was saying, and the defused tension gave him a chance to relax, even for a little bit. He didn't have to expose himself, but maybe he could be...'productively dishonest'. "Well, if I was like you, I'd want to listen to your advice, right?" More at ease now, Shawn found a chair and dragged it over to Gramps' bedside.

The old hospital chair creaked on the floor. As Shawn sat down, Gramps' face was still shrouded in the shadows. Maybe it was a good thing. Old people could look funny sometimes. Especially sick, old, people.

Gramps laughed. "Yes. Yes, you would, yes you would." He agreed.

"Do you like stories Shawn? I'd like to tell you one, if you'd let me."

"Sure, I'd love to hear a story." Shawn wasn't sure where Gramps was going with this, but for now he was content to simple go along for the ride.

Grandpa coughed a little, clearing his throat before beginning. His voice, though weak and quavering, began to

"The Birds and the Beasts declared war against each other. No compromise was possible, and so they went at it tooth and claw." He said, coughing again before resuming. "It is said the quarrel grew out of the persecution the race of Geese suffered at the teeth of the Fox family. The Beasts, too, had cause for fight. The Eagle was constantly pouncing on the Hare, and the Owl dined daily on Mice.

It was a terrible battle. Many a Hare and many a Mouse died. Chickens and Geese fell by the score—and the victor always stopped for a feast..."

He stopped, perhaps gauging in the silent darkness to see if Shawn was still with him, following the story.

Shawn was still genuinely attentive - he wasn't sure where this was going, but his interest was thoroughly piqued.

"Now the Bat family had not openly joined either side. They were a very politic race. So when they saw the Birds getting the better of it, they were Birds for all there was in it. But when the tide of battle turned, they immediately sided with the Beasts.

When the battle was over, the conduct of the Bats was discussed at the peace conference. Such deceit was unpardonable, and Birds and Beasts made common cause to drive out the Bats. And since then the Bat family hides in dark towers and deserted ruins, flying out only in the night."

"Do you know what the moral of the story is?" Grandpa asked after several moments of silence.

Shawn furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out Gramps' meaning. "I guess...the bats shouldn't have picked a side so early. They should have stayed neutral longer?"

Gramps shifted in the darkness. It was the kind of shift someone does when they aren't comfortable in bed. The restless movements of the sleepless.

"It is the bats." Gramps confimed. "You see it don't you? The bats, they were like...They were like us: they appeared friendly, smiling, happy. To both sides. To any side. They weren't honest Shawn. They did whatever they could to survive. Anything."

"But in the end, people saw through it Shawn."

"They saw through it."

"People who aren't honest Shawn. They end up like me."

"They end up...alone. Like a bat. In the lonely night."

"But the bats still had each other, Gramps. And in the end, they survived the war, didn't they?"

Gramps was silent for a moment. Maybe he was taken off guard. Or maybe he was just considering what Shawn had said. He broke the silence in a voice that was still weak-sounding, but it also seemed to be beaming with pride, for Shawn.

"That's right my boy." Gramps beamed from somewhere in the shadowy darkness, the recesses of the corner of the hospital room.

"They did survive. But they did so alone. They could only be with other bats. Life is full of choices Shawn. There might come a time when survival isn't the only concern of yours. Getting through middle school--and kids can be so cruel, believe you me--isn't the end-all and be-all. Just keep that in mind."

"Just like you and I try on different things, different faces, different opinions to get through life, you should also try-on sincerity once and a while. Just to make sure you don't lose your ability to communicate with the other members of the animal kingdom."

"Just consider that."

"I will, Gramps." But Shawn wondered if it was too late: he'd made his choice that night Mr. Cherrywinks visited him, and to take his mask off now could be fatal.

"There's something else too Shawn." Gramps said, with grave importance. His voice changed, and while it seemed that whatever information he was about to convey was important, it seemed like a different kind of importance.

The change in Gramps voice reminded him of how parents would sometimes switch from correcting children, telling them not to throw things, and then talk about the reasons why throwing things was bad. That's what Gramps' voice promised to Shawn during that moment.

Gramps waited for Shawn to reply.

"What is it?" Shawn was genuinely unsure where Gramps was going with this - he seemed so serious all of a sudden.

Gramps shuffled slightly in the bed, clearing his throat.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let a woman tell you want to do, or to be in charge." Gramps said finally.

Shawn nodded, but though he didn't have the exact words to argue with a grownup over this, he couldn't help but feel Gramps' advice didn't sound very good. Plus, he and Gramps had just finished bonding a little, so he wasn't going to disagree. "Okay Gramps." He had a feeling his Mom would be happier if he didn't mention this part of the conversation.

"Good." Gramps said, seemingly satisfied by the answer. Then, he switched back to the previous conversation, seamlessly, as if the tangent had never been broached.

"Now that I've told you, you must tell me. What are you going to do? I need to know, so I can tell you what I did. I know we're the same or similar enough. Tell me everything. And I'll tell how I did it." He said.

Shawn couldn't help but think that Gramps knew something. Or maybe it was the ramblings of just an old man, desperate for conversation.

"Well..." Shawn launched into an abbreviated story of his current situation. He left out the evil clowns and supernatural content, so it was mostly about Bobby and how he was trying to get the family to keep him.

Gramps kicked his foot out, sock loose and floppy as the sheet came up to expose a pasty, skinny leg. Then he settled himself, clearing his throat before responding to Shawn. Shawn still couldn't see Gramps' face. The room was too dark and Gramps was too far back into the corner.

"You want to keep Bobby huh? Its good for a kid like you to have some friends. Tough on a boy to work all the time--I don't like that." Gramps said, disapprovingly of Mom's actions, though he didn't say it outright.

"That's a good boy. You've got yourself a noble heart. A real noble heart Shawn. You just make sure that it stays that way. Its like I said: Everything is all fine and good when you're trying to survive. But you've got to try on honesty every now and then."

"Whatever trouble you're in, and I know that its something, you just know that Gramps is here for you. I might be sick, but anytime you need to see me, you just ride your bike here and I'll listen. Hell, maybe I'll even give you some advice. And maybe, if we get to know each other, I can point in the direction of some fun things that old Gramps did in his day? Huh? How about that?" Gramps said, voice excited like he made a new friend. Or perhaps, rekindled a relationship anew.

"Sounds good, Gramps." Gramps wasn't perfect, but even so, Shawn felt a little better thinking maybe someone had his back. He stood up to approach Gramps with a hug...

Shawn pushed through the shadows to hug Gramps who strained slightly, as if too weak to push himself up. As such, Shawn had to lean over the bed to hug Gramps, reaching. When he did so, he saw that Gramps' face was covered with deep, purple lesions. The man's eyes were swollen, deep bags of purple contrasted with pale, sickly skin.

"A hug for Gramps?" he said with a happy, weak voice.

Shawn hid his shock at how sick Gramps looked, and leaned in for a hug anyways/

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Ralph Isn't Happy