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kip-kats · 16 days ago

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chapter 5 snippet (unedited)

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“ASHER! Oh my goooood! I missed you sooo much, bestie!”

Kipo flinched slightly at the volume of Doag’s squeal. Asher’s loud and full laughter made it worth listening to, though. It might be one of her favorite sounds: Asher and Doag’s laughter together. She watched with a fond smile on her face as they hugged and jumped up and down, squeals not getting any quieter.

“You have to tell me everything!” Doag said as she pulled back to press a quick peck to Asher’s cheek. “Pictures, too.”

“Of course, gorgeous!” Asher’s smile was bigger than ever, and Kipo couldn’t be happier.

What happened in Asher’s room… scared her, to say the least. She’s never seen them cry like that. Their whole body was shaking with sobs. Asher had cried in front of her before, they were sensitive, but not with that much emotion behind it. She couldn’t stop thinking about what they had said. ‘I don’t wanna hurt anybody.’ How could someone like Asher, who cried when they stepped on bugs, hurt somebody? It just didn’t make any sense. At all.

“Hey, Kipo!” Jumping at the sudden shout in her ear, she turned to see Dahlia smirking through her laughter.

“Dee! What the fuck?!” Dahlia looked almost exactly as she had before the Berdacs had left. Her hair was a little longer than before, just like Asher’s, the curls framing her face coming down to her shoulders now. Kipo still had to look down at her, something that continued to make Dahlia angry ever since they met. She wore an oversized, bright blue football jersey, paired with black basketball shorts that just barely peeked out from under it.

“Sorry, sorry. I know staring at Ash is your favorite hobby, but I’m here too.” Dahlia teased. Her eyes darted around for a second. “Where’s everybody else?”

“They’re down by the water already. Me and Doag wanted to meet you guys up here.” Her face burned from the sun. She was suddenly thankful for all the sunscreen Benson had slapped on her.

“‘Kay. I’m so fucking hungry. Is it too early for pizza still?” Dahlia sighed and threw her head back. Another loud round of squeals came from Asher and Doag. They’d both pulled out their phones and were gushing over something.

“Dunno. You’d have to ask Doag, she’s the one with all the money.” Kipo shrugged. Benson had already bought some of his own snacks along with Troy, and Mom had given them some freshly cut fruit, ‘Just to have something healthy on the side!’ she’d said. Wolf had made a fairly large dent in those so far. Sometimes she thinks her little sister’s stomach is a black hole.

“Right… I’m gonna go see what Benny and Troy are up to. You can deal with those two.” As she pointed a thumb back at Asher and Doag, Dahlia strutted towards the sand-covered stairs that led to the beach.

“Wha- Dee!” Kipo blinked in confusion. Dahlia didn’t even look back; she just kept on walking down the stairs. The audacity of that girl! Kipo groaned and rolled her eyes. Dahlia really was the annoying twin sometimes.

“Hey, Keeps.” Asher’s voice was soft and sweet, just like them. A small smile greeted Kipo as Asher walked up to her. Something that caught her attention was the smoothness of their face. All of the hair that was on their chin and upper lip was gone. They stopped just a few inches in front of her, their arms raised awkwardly up like they were going in for a hug.

“Hi, Ash.” Kipo closed the gap and wrapped her arms around their waist. She ducked her head into their neck, taking a deep breath in, smelling their scent. Cocoa butter and coconut, as always. But there was something else too, something sharp. Masculine. Turning her head slightly, she sniffed their cheek. Huh. It smelled like… cologne? No, that can be it. Asher wore very gender neutral perfumes usually. Unless they put something different on today?

Asher pulled back from the hug but kept their arms around Kipo’s shoulders. Seeing the confused look on her face, they furrowed their brows. They whispered as their eyes squinted from the sun, “You okay?”

“Are you wearing cologne?” She blurted out. Shit, she really didn’t mean say that! That was for later analysis in the comfort of her room at night!

Asher’s face scrunched up even more, a mild panic now coming over them. “What? No-”

“Hey, guys! I’m still here, you know?” Doag giggled as the two jumped away from each other. She looked between them with a smug smile on her face like she knew something they didn’t. A gross and hot shiver went down Kipo’s back. What was that supposed to mean? Doag smirked at Asher and wiggled her brows, “You guys wanna come with me to get the pizza? I’ll need Asher’s big and strong arms to carry it all.”

“Heh, sure.” Asher’s cheeks were pink, but that could be from the sun (not from Doag).

Kipo took a breath before replying, “Yeah, I’ll help too.”

She didn’t know why, but that gross feeling got worse as Doag linked her arms with Asher’s as they walked toward the boardwalk. Kipo lagged behind them, listening to their giggles and girlish gossip. She shoved her hands in her purple swimtrunks pockets. The boardwalk wasn’t crowded much today. Good, Asher didn’t like crowds. Kipo tried to tune out whatever Doag was ranting about as they passed by the shops, looking at the tourists and locals passing by.

Sometimes Kipo wondered what it was like to not live near the beach. What a sad and boring life that must be. Sure, there were lakes and pools or whatever, but those have no chance of beating the literal ocean. From the pictures Asher would show her the beaches in Italy were even more beautiful than the one in Las Vistas. To Kipo, they honestly looked like they came right out of a movie, the almost fictional-looking blueish green water drawing her in. Asher was beautiful like that too, so pretty that they don’t seem real sometimes.

A loud laugh interrupted her thoughts. Asher was losing it over something Doag had said, their cheeks still a bright pink. Kipo’s stomach flipped. What could she have said that was so funny? Kipo’s funny, too. She’s not special.

“Seriously, though. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Doag continued on. Her bare shoulder was bumping against Asher’s as they walked. The closeness made the back of Kipo’s neck hot.

“You’re so bad. I could never.” Asher huffed between giggles, their pretty smile directed at Doag. Kipo’s eye twitched as Doag smirked back.

“Of course you couldn’t. You’re too much of a sweetie to do anything like that.” Now that she was looking at them, Kipo saw the matching outfits. They looked like they were together. Like a… couple. The thought made her sick, made Kipo want to throw up. “Besides, it’s not like he’ll ground me or something. He’s, like, physically incapable of telling me no.”

“That’s crazy. Mama would kill me if I spent that much on clothes.” Asher shook their head in disbelief. Their smile dimmed a little when they mentioned their mom.

“Well, today I’m gonna spend all that and more on pizza!” Doag cheered. They stopped in front of the only place the twins would eat pizza from. A small pizzeria owned by an Italian family. As they entered, a tiny but loud bell rang out, and a worker at the front welcomed them in. It seemed they weren’t busy today, only one other person sitting by the window seat quietly eating.

Doag stopped them before they reached the counter fully. “Okay! What does everyone want?”

“Can I have cheese?! Just cheese…” Asher said excitedly. They loved pizza, it was one of their favorite foods.

“Sure, Ash. Do you know what Dee wants?” Doag asks. Asher tilts their head to the side cutely, thinking for a moment before shrugging.

“I dunno. She picks randomly every time we come here.” Rolling her eyes fondly, Doag turns to Kipo.

“What do you, Wolf, and Ben want?”

“Uhhh. Half spinach and tomato half mushroom.” Should be good enough. Benson will probably eat some of Troy’s pizza anyway.

“Ok, cool. I’ll just get an extra-large pepperoni for me, Troy, and Dee.” Doag walks off to the counter to order. Kipo’s eyes trail after her before she hears the scrape of a metal chair across the floor. Asher had taken a seat nearby. They looked at Kipo with a worried expression as she sat down across from them.

“Hey, is… everything okay?” They whispered. Asher slid their hands across the table to put them over hers. All Kipo could focus on, though, was their long and pretty eyelashes batting as they blinked. “You’ve been really quiet…”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m cool.” She shrugged. Asher's big brown eyes stared into hers, making her feel like the worst person alive for not participating in the conversation earlier. “Just… I missed you.”

“Kip Kat, we saw each other like an hour ago.” They chuckled. Asher started to play with her fingers. Kipo looked down at their hands. Had Asher’s fingers always been that small? Or are her hands just big? Asher had always been smaller than her, it was one the things that made them so cute.

“I know, but…” Kipo didn’t know how to say ‘I want you to myself’ without sounding like a jealous weirdo. She didn’t know why Asher talking to Doag made her so angry. It's just that… Asher was her best friend. “You were really upset earlier and… yeah.”

Asher smiled softly. They were looking down at their hands, too. “I'm better now. And I missed you, too. For the record.”

“Good. That was… scary.” Kipo shook her head like she could shake away the image of Asher shaking and sobbing. After everything that happened this summer, she couldn't handle her best friend also breaking down. One of them had to be solid.

“It was.” Asher wrapped their fingers around one of hers, their entire hand covering just one of her fingers. It got her thinking. Asher had such nice, clean, and pretty hands. Maybe they should paint their nails.

“You wanna come over next week after school?” The question flew out of her mouth unprompted.

“Like, a sleepover? Yeah, obviously.” Asher answered, like it was the easiest thing to say. They opened their mouth to say something else but stopped when Doag leaned over the table, appearing out of nowhere.

“I was being serious when I said I would need help.”

Asher playfully sighed before standing up and following Doag to the counter. Kipo watched as Asher went to pick up the largest box but was stopped by Doag. The blonde stared at Kipo for a second, motioning for her to come over.

“Sorry.” Kipo quickly jogged over to the counter. Instead of just grabbing the largest box, she stacked all of them in her arms and headed towards the door.

“Thank god Kipo’s here. Us delicate flowers are only supposed to hold handbags and totes.” Doag chimed. Asher’s girly giggle rang in Kipo’s ear. She tried to ignore the way they both locked arms again and walked past her out the door.

The burning heat from the pizza hurt less than the way Asher didn’t even spare her a glance.

Kipo sighed and pushed the door open with her back, catching up to the two fairly quickly. This time, she paid attention to the conversation.

“How was Italy? Did you guys do anything new?” Doag asked. Her steps were in sync with Asher’s.

“Uhhh. I dunno. Not really.” Asher shrugged and looked around at the shops. They didn’t seem too upset at the mention of being away, but Kipo wasn’t that good at reading their mind lately.

“Why do you guys go so much if you don’t even do anything?” Doag swayed slightly into their shoulder.

“Ask my Papa. He’s the one who drags us all the way over there.” They scoffed. Asher was smiling, but there was no amusement in their voice.

“Wait, can I ask you a question?” Doag peeks at Asher for a second.

“You just did, but go ahead.” They smirked. Doag lightly smacked their chest before chuckling.

“Shut up! Anyway, do you speak Italian, like, fluently?” Her tone was serious. Kind of rare coming from Doag, honestly.

“Yeah.” Asher nodded. They raised their shoulders up and down in an exaggerated motion.

“Sooo, did you, like, grow up speaking it?” She continued.

“Um, yes? It’s my first language…” Asher looked confused at the question. Kipo was curious too. Sometimes Asher had an accent when they said certain words. It was adorable if you asked her.

“Oh. So you learned it first?”

“Yeah. Papa said that it was easier than teaching us later. We learned English in school and from Mama.” Asher explained.

Doag pauses for a second. “Is it harder to speak in English than Italian?”

“No. I only really do it if, like, Dee or Papa are. Sometimes it’s better to get my point across to him that way.”

“I’ve never heard Dee say anything in Italian.” Doag looked at Asher in disbelief. Asher’s lips were pressed into a hard line, like they were holding in laughter.

“Heh, yeah. She’s, like, embarrassed about it for some reason.”

Doag furrowed her brows in confusion. “Why? If I could speak a second language, I would be doing it all the time…”

“If you wanna hear her do it, then ask her what cuss words are her favorite.” They suggested.

“Oooh. Okay! Duely noted.” Doag giggled as they arrived at the stairs to the beach.

They made their way down the stairs, feet dragging in the sand as they followed Doag to the little space they’d claimed. It looked like Dahlia and Troy were in an intense arm wrestling match, and Benson was cheering on his boyfriend. Wolf was sitting off to the side, her ear defenders (a gift from Mom) firmly on her head. She wasn’t interested in the match in the slightest. She was lying on her back and occasionally putting a piece of fruit into her mouth.

“Hey guuuys! Food’s here!” Doag shouted. Dahlia’s head shot up at the mention of food, the distraction causing her to lose the match, her arm slamming into the sand.

“HA! Eat it, Berdacs!” Troy’s smile was bordering on evil as her leered at Dahlia. She groaned loudly as Benson gave him a loud and wet smooch on the lips.

“Ugh… I’m gonna be sick,” Dahlia fake gagged. She sat back on her knees and turned away like she was barfing.

“Didn’t know you were homophobic, Dee.” Benson feinged sadness. He wrapped his arms around Troy’s shoulders and leaned his head on his boyfriend’s. “I thought you were an ally…”

“Oh, please! I am not on your side if you’re gonna do all that.” Dahlia scoffed.

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jealous kipo is so fucking fun to write. im also enjoying asher just not being aware of it at all. doag and asher are so cutesy and adorable i love them so bad. i cant wait to show you guys dahlia's relationship with troy its so bromance coded.

#asher berdacs #kipo oak #kipasher #dahlia berdacs #doag kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #benson mekler #wolf oak #troy sandoval #troy x benson #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #kataow #pool side au

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