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jubilantwriter · 3 years

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It All Began with a Big Crash

(AO3)

Summary: It's the one year anniversary of Boyfriend and Girlfriend's growing relationship, and Boyfriend absolutely, totally, DID NOT forget that today is that special day. And yet, that one single DID NOT FORGETTing leads to a domino effect, resulting in quite possibly one of the best nights of their lives.

After all, what's the point of a performance if no one's having fun during it?

Word Count: 7154

(A/N: Happy 1st Anniversary of Friday Night Funkin’! I literally wrote and edited this all in one day. Got home at midnight, started writing, and then I posted it at 10 am, took a nap, went to work, AND NOW I’M HERE ON TUMBLR :D Anyway, FNF has been a big comfort for me these past months, so it’s only fitting that I put myself through hell to get this little bit out. I hope you all enjoy!)

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Now, Boyfriend isn't a forgetful man. This thought crosses his mind as he stands up abruptly after paying for his lunch and racing for the door.

"Be-!"

"Eep!"

CRASH .

But sometimes things... slip from his mind, and while he's not one prone to panic, THIS is something worth panicking over.

"-EP. SHIT. SORRY!"

"My dishes!" A blonde server kneels on the ground, surrounded by the clumsy carnage created by Boyfriend inadvertently crashing into her on his rush out. She glares accusingly at him as the boy jogs in place. "Again, really?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He waves his hands in front of him before looking over his shoulder. "I'll pay for the dishes and shit uh, later!" He dashes out the door as she calls out behind him.

"That's what you said LAST time!"

Well, last time he was dirt poor, but now that he's pretty famous around town, he's actually got the moolah to pay for damages! So yeah, next time!

...Is what he meant to tell her, but he's already busting into the conveniently placed flower shop, panting as he looks around wildly for help. The florist in question glances at him completely unbothered by his entrance.

"Forgot an important date again?" she quips, staring back down at her phone as she drapes herself over the counter.

"BAP!" he says defensively, because he DIDN'T forget! It just... slipped his mind a little. In his defense, he'd gotten so used to being with Girlfriend that it felt ... normal! Like they've been together for YEARS and being with her just felt so right, and every day was the greatest day of his life because he had her by his side. So yeah, maybe the days slipped past him in a blissful sort of way, like when he gets super focused on his music or some arbitrary task, and the hours slip by and suddenly it's the next morning! It's kind of like that, but with a girl who makes him smile and laugh and forget that life is supposed to be difficult and hard, and not fun and invigorating. And to think they've only been together for a year...

...A year.

...Wait.

Shit.

SHIT.

He's doing it again!

He bustles over and slaps a fifty on the counter. "Bop!" he announces in a rush, tapping his fingers impatiently as the florist holds it up to the light.

With a low whistle, she puts it back on the table. "Wow, you're really going all out this time, huh?" Before Boyfriend can respond to her sarcasm, the florist calls out to her partner in the back. "Flower! Miku's lil bro is back at it again, dropping a fifty and hoping for the best."

"Again?" A husky voice makes its way over as a familiar bush of thick hair pops out from beyond the doorway. "Boyfriend, you should know by now that apology bouquets are at least a hundred."

"Ba- skida- AUGH! It's not an apology bouquet!" He stomps his foot, irritated to break out the English but knowing full well it’s a matter that needs clear communication. So not really a waste of words, just a waste of energy on two ladies who will give him shit regardless of the noise he makes.

"Oh yeah? What's the occasion?" The taller florist - Lily, hilariously enough - leans forward with a smirk as Flower keeps her deadpan stare.

"It's for my anniversary!" He crosses his arms and harrumphs as Lily whistles again.

"Damn, and you didn't invite us to the wedding? Harsh."

"No, not that-! Ugh, you know what I mean."

"Do we?" Lily and Flower exchange a look before Lily's smirk widens. "I dunno, you don't give us the dirt anymore. Remember when you'd come in here all the time, red in the face trying to get apology bouquets for that one boy? What's his name-"

"Pico," he answers, a bit flustered as the memories rush through his mind before shaking his head, "and he liked them all, by the way! But this isn't about him-"

"No, it's about your new girl, right?" Flower cuts in, leaning against the doorway with a bored expression. "What's her favorite color? It's not green, is it?"

"It's red, and please can you make it quick? I dunno when she wants us to meet up, so...!" He flashes them two thumbs up and is about to bounce, but Lily grabs the collar of his shirt with a chuckle.

"Not so fast, dumbass." She pulls him back to the counter as he whines pathetically. "You really think a fifty is enough for an anniversary bouquet?"

Oh no. He starts to sweat, feeling his wallet tremble in fear. They're doing it again. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean, Flower?" Lily turns back to the shorter florist as the other makes a thoughtful hum.

"One hundred, at least."

"Yeah, at least one hundo." Lily holds her hand out. "C'mon, cough it up, shorty."

This is beyond unreal, but at the same time, it is completely expected from people who teased him relentlessly since he was a kid. "If it wasn't for Miku, you guys wouldn't even be here!"

"We're only here because of convenience, please." Lily snorts as the boy continues to struggle. "So you aiming for an apology bouquet or an anniversary bouquet?"

"Just cut me a deal, please? For old time's sake?" He clasps his hands together and bats his eyelashes. "I'm still that cute little kid who used to pretend to be like Miku! Who could forget good ol' Mikuo?"

"One hundred." Flower cuts off the potential reminiscing and steps up to the counter. "Or it's an apology bouquet."

Grumbling miserably, Boyfriend digs around in his pocket and manages to snag something. He pulls out his hand and counts out four quarters. Quietly, he puts it on top of the fifty.

Flower and Lily both look at it silently.

"...Well," Flower begins, slowly taking the money, "I did say one hundred."

Roll with it roll with it roll with it-

"Yeah, and uh, four twenty-fives makes one hundred, right?"

"What, are we speaking French now?" Lily asks with a sneer.

"No," Boyfriend begins, blinking slowly, "pretty sure we're speaking English."

"Oh my god." She slaps her hand over Flower's. "We are not doing this."

"I gave you one hundred," he argues, sweating miserably as he turns up the confidence.

"He did give us one hundred," Flower agrees.

"You are not giving this to him. You know he didn't even plan this! He's too stupid to pull a slick move like that!"

Boyfriend just smiles and gives them a double thumbs up.

"It's not like anyone else is gonna be coming in to give us another job." Flower hums and stows the money in the register, much to Lily's chagrin. "And besides, if I get bored making it, I'll just take a nap."

"Flower-!" Before Lily can protest even more, Flower disappears into the backroom, no doubt to either work on the bouquet or take that nap. Lily turns back to Boyfriend and glares, jabbing a finger against his chest. "Be back here in a few hours. You're taking whatever the hell she makes for you, stingy little bitch."

"That's all I have on my person!"

"We accept credit and debit."

"I have bills to pay."

"You're such a little-!" Lily makes a strangling gesture with her hands before grabbing and shaking him. "You better give this girl a helluva anniversary."

"I'm trying!" He backs up and shoots the tall florist finger guns before vacating the premises. Okay, one thing down. Next: chocolates. Easy-peasy. What place sells heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and other cutesy, anniversary items?

Boyfriend makes a beeline for the local grocery store and spends only a total of thirty minutes there, making the proud purchase of a box of chocolates, a little teddy bear holding a heart, and even a balloon that says, "I Love You". Score! Damn, he's doing great so far. And it was such a quick purchase! Maybe Miku's friends could learn a thing or two about making quick sales instead of harassing him over every little thing.

What's next, what's next...

A place for dinner, right! Girlfriend loves the local bar. Great food, a nice atmosphere, open mic nights, a server who's familiar with them...

A server that he crashed into and made her drop all those dishes to the floor... like that other time he did it to her and held up the service for a sizable amount of time...

He gulps. Hm. She's probably still mad at him too. But uh, huh. He's not sure what to do. Maybe, maybe...

He takes out his phone and dials a familiar number. It rings only twice before a gruff, annoyed voice answers on the other side.

"I'm busy, the fuck you want?"

Without missing a beat, he gets on his metaphorical hands and knees. "Pico, can I ask a favor, please please pretty please?"

"Wow, English. Must be desperate." There's a loud crash on his end before Pico's voice yells at a pair of playful, young laughter. "Hey- hey! Watch it!"

"Pico, so uh, could you-?"

"Hey- give me that!" More raucous laughter fills the line as Pico sighs. "Sorry, Bee, don't think I can help ya today. I was supposed to just watch these two kids 'til Lila came back, but then I got a call from a pal who needs help at her joint and- Skid, Jesus fucking Christ -" There's some shuffling and a grunt as a playful squeal rings a little too close to the phone. Pico continues as though nothing happened on his end. "-and so basically I'm double booked for the night."

"Oh, okay." He tries not to let the disappointment seep into his voice, but another sigh from Pico suggests that he heard it regardless.

"Look, I'm real sorry, wish I could help, but a line's formin' and I can only do so much." Pico grunts and a soft thump is heard. Two voices chatter away distantly in the background, but Boyfriend focuses solely on Pico. "Why? What happened?"

"Well, today's me and Girlfriend's anniversary, and I wanted to take her out but-"

"Can't figure out a place to take her? C'mon man, you- Jesus, you two, slow down, I'm comin'- you already know one."

"Yeah, the bar but-"

"What, ya worried about 'bout lines or somethin'? I know it's busy and shit, but I'm sure Serv will get ya guys' a table easy. It's just you two, you'll be fine."

"Okay, but-"

"Oh my GOD, what the HELL is THAT?!"

A faint, childish voice answers Pico's horrified question as Boyfriend listens in. "That's Moloch!"

"...MOLOCH?"

A roar sounds from Pico's side of the phone call. The voice - uh, Skid, was it? - laughs excitedly. "Yeah! He's our friend!"

"He lives in Skid's attic!"

A demonic voice nearly blows out Boyfriend's eardrums. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"...Does your MOM know about this?!"

"Sorta! She thinks he's a rat."

"Hey hey HEY, back OFF-! Sorry, Bee, I'll call ya later!"

The last thing he hears is another roar before the line hangs up. Pico will probably be fine - he's handled worse after all, and even Boyfriend's faced off a demon or two! Maybe three, if that Lemon Man those two kids were friends with counted as well. Man, demons are just everywhere, huh?

...Speaking of demons. There’s one demon he really should be focusing on. Like getting their dinner date set up at her favorite bar in town. Even though he’s probably on that bar’s shitlist for knocking over their number one employee again .

But Girlfriend really does love going to that bar, and if it's for her... Fuck it, he'll suck it up and take whatever Server-chan's got against him. He'll just challenge her to a quick rap battle, win, and THEN they can have a nice dinner! Yeah, that's what he'll do. Lily's words replay in his mind as he walks off to his apartment to change into something nicer.

"You better give this girl a helluva anniversary."

Fuck yeah he will.

"Damn, after all these years, you still can't tie a tie." Lily frets over his outfit as she helps him tidy up a bit. A colorful ribbon now decorates the box of chocolates, tying it together with the teddy bear with the balloon also tied around its wrist. He grabs the tied together present after she rolls his sleeves up to his elbow.

"Bouquet?" he asks hopefully as Lily dusts off his shoulders for the hundredth time.

She huffs and shakes her head, blowing a stray hair out of her face. "You're lucky Flower didn't take a nap halfway through. It's her best work so far! All for the low, low cost of $51, tax not included."

"There's tax?!" He almost falls over, but Lily grabs him by the collar of his dress shirt.

"Chill out, we'll charge it to Miku's account."

"Oh, thanks." He swats away her hands when she tries to tuck in the other half of his shirt. "Fuck off, it's part of my style!"

"What, being sloppy?"

"The ladies love it."

"Your lady deserves better."

"But I'm the best there is!"

"Oh, God," Lily groans as her expression falls into despair. "Egotism really does run in the family."

"Enough about the family ego," Flower pipes up, her hands full with a large, beautiful bouquet. "These flowers need to be appreciated."

"Holy shit." Boyfriend takes the entire bouquet, admiring the reds, pinks, and whites. There's a smattering of small, lavender flowers here and there, making the other colors pop. "Roses!" he points out, the only flower he recognizes.

"Yup, and there's also lilies, alstroemeria, and-"

"Don't waste your breath," Lily cuts in, covering Flower's mouth before she can list them all out. "He won't remember any of the names."

A disappointed sigh escapes Flower, so he gives her the biggest grin he can muster. "Yo, I still think it's hella bomb to look at. I really think she'll love it!"

Flower perks up a bit, a small smile forming on her usually stoic face. "...Cool."

"Alright, get outta here." Lily shoves him back to the door with a grin. "You got a hot date, yeah? Go give her the night of her life!"

"Yeah!" He waves to the pair before leaving. "Gonna have a great night at the bar!"

Lily's smile falters as Flower's smile immediately disappears. "...The what?"

"See ya!"

"Wait, Boyfriend! You're taking her out to the fucking BAR?!"

He doesn't have the time to turn back and answer Lily, so he goes along his merry way, bouquet clutched tightly against his chest with the bear. Hopefully the incident from earlier today has been swept away. He really doesn't want to have a rap battle with Server-chan, but if he has to...

"Boyfriend!" A sweet, melodic voice pulls him from his thoughts as he looks over to see his beautiful, wonderful Girlfriend. Her iconic look now sports a sleek, black jacket reminiscent of her mother's own jacket. It looks stunning on her, and a soft, longing "beep" escapes him as she giggles and kisses his cheek. "Hey, hun. Happy anniversary!"

"Happy anniversary!" He holds out his gifts for her to take, and he delights in her unabashed joy as she takes them.

"Oh! This teddy bear is so cute, and these flowers are lovely!" Another giggle escapes her as she points at the bouquet. "Roses!"

"That's what I said!" They both share a laugh before her smile settles into something soft and relaxed.

"Now I wish I got you something too..." Girlfriend pouts a bit, but he kisses it away with a grin.

"Hey, don't sweat it! Lemme spoil you for the night instead." He offers her his arm, and she happily loops hers with his. They walk into the bar together and are met with a familiar face standing behind a podium. Despite being the hostess, Cassette Girl keeps her iconic cap on as she notices them and greets them with a lazy smile.

"Wooow," she drawls out, giving Boyfriend a knowing grin. "Back again so soon? And after that huge fuss you made."

"Fuss?" Girlfriend gives Boyfriend a curious look.

"Uhh, beep bah."

"Didn't tell her about your mishap, huh?" Cassette Girl raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "Well, if you wanted to know, Serv got it figured out. Called in a favor last minute, and luckily he was nice enough to help out."

"Sorry about that," he says sheepishly, and Cassette Girl merely shrugs.

"It's whatever. Not the first time you messed her up real good. And besides, you're not even the first person to make her crash and burn for a hot minute."

"Is this still about the fuss you guys are talking about?" Girlfriend looks between the two as Cassette Girl chuckles.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. Lemme take ya to your seats. Bar or nah?"

"Nah, it's our anniversary date today!"

"And you guys are spending it here?” She pauses for a second in thought before shaking her head. “Alright." Cassette Girl takes it in stride and seats them near the miniature stage.

"Oh, is it open mic night tonight?" Girlfriend sits down, already excited for the night as Cassette Girl chuckles and hands them the menus.

"Nah, originally we had a band booked tonight, but their back-up vocalist got injured, so they called it off last minute. It's gonna be a quiet night instead."

"Aww." The pout on Girlfriend's face lasts only a second before her smile returns. "Oh well! Sometimes quiet is nice too."

"Right you are. Anyway, your waiter will be with you guys in just a sec, so take your time. We're not too busy tonight, so feel free to cause more havoc." She flashes a grin before walking back to her station.

Girlfriend waves goodbye and turns back to Boyfriend with a smile. "Cassey is so nice! I wish we could talk to her more."

"Maybe we'll catch her on the street one of these days." He cracks open the menu, perusing the contents before deciding on getting his usual.

"Maybe! Should I try something new tonight?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

"But I don't know what to get..."

"Maybe we can ask the waiter?" He looks around for their supposed waiter, but all he sees is an unimpressed Pico standing at their table. "Oh! Pico! You're dressed like a waiter!"

True to his observations, Pico is dressed similarly to Server-chan; a black long sleeved shirt replaces his usual green sweater, and a pair of black slacks replaces his usual beige cargo pants. The only splash of color on his outfit is the bright orange apron that all servers seem to wear as per uniform, and it absolutely clashes with Pico's own bright, red hair.

"That's because I am the waiter, dumbass." The bite from his remark is lost from the tired slump of his shoulders, and the ginger begins to resemble Server-chan with each passing second. "At least for tonight. She called me in for a favor, and I agreed to help."

The conversation from earlier today pings in Boyfriend's memory. "Is this what you meant when you said you were double booked?"

"Yeah. Told me some blue-haired douchebag steamrolled her on his way out, and she ended up breaking a whole buncha dishes. She went out to go replace the whole set, so I'm coverin' for the rest of her shift while she takes care of it. Now that I think about it," Pico fixes him with a stern, knowing glare as Boyfriend shrinks under his sharp eyes, "I kinda already know about a certain blue-haired douchebag."

"I'll pay her back, I promise."

"You fuckin' better." Pico looks over to Girlfriend and offers her a tired grin when she waves cheerfully. "Hey, Red, he treatin' ya well tonight?"

"Yup! He got me chocolates, a bear, a balloon, AND a bouquet!"

"Really spoilin' ya there."

"Only the best for Gigi, right?" He nudges Pico playfully, the earlier irritation already melting away from his expression as he rolls his eyes and ruffles Boyfriend's hair.

"Yeah yeah. Ya guys ready to order?"

Pico takes their orders and departs quickly, the couple watching him disappear somewhere in the bar as their collective thoughts gather on one thing only.

"Mm, Pico should wear uniforms more often, huh?"

"It definitely looks flattering on him." They both hum before taking sips from the water Pico had set down earlier while taking their orders. With no ginger to distract them, Girlfriend's attention centers back on Boyfriend as she smiles. "Thanks for taking me out here for dinner! I know it's not easy for us to go out on dates since my parents still hover, so I'm really happy that we went out like you planned!"

"Oh yeah, totally." His easy grin hides the absolute panic he had for the entire half of his day when he realized he had nothing planned. "I wish I could treat you out for something better, but nothing else is really happening around this time of year-"

"Except for Spooky Month!" Two voices pipe up out of nowhere as the costumed duo surprise the couple.

"Oh, goodness, hello!" She laughs as Skid and, uh, Pump? Stand by their table looking curious. "How have you two been?"

"Okay! Mr. Pico has been babysitting us since Mom's been busy with her work stuff." Skid bounces on his heels as Pump looks up more calmly. "We wanted to introduce him to Moloch, but..."

"He didn't like him too much. He said Moloch is more scary than spooky." Pump sticks his tongue out and laughs. "Silly Mr. Pico! He does not understand that Moloch is our friend!"

"Moloch?" Girlfriend hums as bobs her head in thought. "That name sounds familiar. There was a demon that went missing months ago by that name..."

"Oh, weird!"

"Moloch came to us months ago too! But now he stays in Skid's attic."

"It's like a sleepover every day!"

"That sounds like fun!" She giggles as the kids bounce around her.

Boyfriend watches with a smile before remembering that “double booked” thing that Pico mentioned earlier. Were these the kids he was watching when Boyfriend called…? "So why are you guys here? If Pico is supposed to be babysitting you guys, but is working here instead..." Boyfriend wonders how Pico manages to balance so many jobs at once. He himself can barely handle the one!

"Mr. Pico said that he didn't trust Moloch and wanted us to stay somewhere safer."

"Which is weird, because Moloch is our friend! But it made him happier, so we came here with him."

"It's boring here, so Pump and I have been teaching lots of people how to spooky dance!"

"Oh?" Girlfriend indulges them and smiles as they crowd closer to her. "Can you show me too?"

"You don't know the spooky dance?"

"We should show her!"

"It goes like this!" The pair of children do a little dance for her, and a happy laugh escapes her as she watches. Boyfriend leans back and enjoys her happiness as the kids continue to chat with her.

"That looks like fun!"

"You can do it too!" Skid tugs on her hands, and it's enough to get her to stand up. "Just hold out your hands like this-"

"-and then you move like this!" The two of them demonstrate one more time before looking at Girlfriend expectantly. It takes her a few times, but the kids are surprisingly patient and more than happy to show her as many times as she requests until she gets it right. The sight of her having so much fun melts his heart, and he sighs as he watches her enjoy herself.

"Damn, look at you, meltin' into the table."

Boyfriend nearly slams his face against the table, making Pico guffaw as he puts their meals on the table. "Dude!"

"What? Just spittin' facts. Hey!" Pico's hands come to rest on his hips as he glares at the kids. Both Girlfriend and Boyfriend exchange a look, hiding their amused grins behind their hands as Pico takes on his caretaking role. "Skid, Pump, what did I say 'bout botherin' the customers?"

"Uhh..." The two kids freeze in place, looking at each other before looking at Pico. "Don't?"

"And what are you two doin'?"

"Bothering your friends!" Pump grins as Skid nods in agreement. "They are not customers, right?"

A puff of a laugh escapes Girlfriend as Boyfriend nudges Pico. "Yeah dude, we're your friends, not customers. We should get a de-"

A glare is enough to silence Boyfriend, but Girlfriend's composure quickly falls apart as a fit of giggles escapes her. Pico ignores her as he focuses his attention on his two charges. "They're still customers."

"But it's boring here!"

"Yeah, it's too quiet. You said there'd be music!"

"But there's no music, except for the soft elevator music."

"But that's boring too."

Both boys pout as Pico sighs and massages his temples. "Look, I didn't know the band would cancel today. After I'm done here, we can do something fun , okay?"

"Like getting candy?"

"Yeah, like gettin' candy." The two kids cheer and run off somewhere before Pico can stop them. "Hey-!"

"Damn, Pico, I didn't think you'd be good with kids." Boyfriend snickers as he eats a fry, watching as Pico sighs for the umpteenth time.

"You call that bein' good with kids?"

"It's better than I'd ever expect outta you."

"Rude little bitch." Pico snatches a few fries and chomps on them, ignoring Boyfriend's protests.

"When do you get off, Pico?" Girlfriend spins her fork around in her pasta before feeding the first bite to Boyfriend, keeping her eyes on Pico as the ginger hums thoughtfully.

"Technically nine, but I gotta watch the kids 'til ten. That's when Lila comes back from her shit."

"Do you wanna come over for movie night?" She looks over to Boyfriend who nods in agreement. Pico laughs and shakes his head.

"Ain't this supposed to be ya guys' anniversary date? Why the hell am I bein' invited?"

"'Cause it's more fun when you join us!" Boyfriend pipes up, making his eyes go wide with hope, knowing how much of a sucker Pico is for his puppy dog eyes. Like he predicts, Pico grumbles and looks away, a slight blush to his cheeks as he tries to regain his composure.

"Touchin', but nah. It's y'all's day. It's not my place to interrupt."

"You wouldn't be-!" A ringtone goes off in the middle of her sentence. Girlfriend pauses, taking her phone out as her smile vanishes. "Oh, just a minute." She leaves the table quickly as she answers her phone with a faint, "Hi, Daddy..."

"Hm." They watch her go outside before Pico turns back to Boyfriend. "I hope you have somethin' really good planned for tonight."

"Well, I don't have anything planned, per se-"

"Oh for fuck's sake-"

"But! Movie night is gonna be a thing! Or, was." Boyfriend frowns, not liking how it was her dad who called her. Knowing him, he could be asking her to come home earlier than planned, ruining their romantic movie night. "I was gonna play it by ear, y'know, in case something like that happens."

"Fair." Pico crosses his arms and fixes Boyfriend with a stare. "So how are you gonna save this night then?"

"Dunno yet." Boyfriend bites his lip and scratches at the table. "Like I said, I don't have much planned, so like..." His eyes wander over to the stage. A keyboard is the only instrument present on the stage alongside the stereos. He blinks slowly at the sight of it, a hum low in his throat.

"What? Ya suddenly got an idea?" Pico follows his gaze and whistles low. "Gonna sing a love song?"

"What? No." A pause. "Maybe. I dunno."

"You dunno?"

"I don't really have a song lined up." But it would be perfect. She loves it when he sings. Or raps. Or does anything really. And she did seem a little disappointed when she found out that there wasn't going to be a show tonight...

"You're a rapper," Pico supplies easily. "Just freestyle."

"But I don't have any beats." Which is true, unless he gets some help. His eyes wander up to meet Pico's gaze. "...Can I ask a favor?"

"Shoot."

"You still beatbox?"

And Pico smirks. "Only if ya got a plan."

Boyfriend looks around the bar, his eyes landing on the Spooky Boys and Cassette Girl. Music flows behind his eyes as he maps out the beats and flows on the spot. Fingers tap out the rhythm he wants to follow, and Pico taps his foot in tandem. "I think," he says, watching as Girlfriend comes back into the bar with a gloomy look on her face, "I've got a plan."

Pico leans forward, and Boyfriend quickly whispers it to him before shooing the ginger away. When Girlfriend takes her seat, Boyfriend takes it upon himself to buy some time for Pico as he keeps Girlfriend's attention on him.

"Something up?"

"Oh, it's just Daddy." Her frown deepens, and Boyfriend can feel his heart drop from the sight. She shouldn't be unhappy on their anniversary - of course her dad would ruin things for her. "He wants me to come home early, says he doesn't want me to stay over too late since he doesn't trust you to keep your hands to yourself."

"Tch. Your old man needs to lay off." From the corner of his eye, he sees Cassette Girl wander to some backroom, only to reappear with a few more coworkers as one of them takes over her position by the podium. Pico follows her next, helping her set up a couple of mics as she tests out the keyboard. The noises catch the attention of the patrons, including Girlfriend as she turns in interest at the ruckus.

"What's going on? Oh, is there a show happening after all?" A small smile forms on her lips as she watches the prep. "I wonder who they managed to get!"

"Yeah, I wonder." Boyfriend lets her watch them for a second longer before taking her attention again. "So how long can you stay out?"

"Mmm, at most, maybe an hour? Daddy's imps will come and pick me up, regardless of where I am." She puffs her cheeks out, which would normally be cute if she wasn't so distressed. "Mommy was okay with me spending the night! But Daddy won't even let me stay before midnight, so that ruins movie night..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. We can always have movie night whenever." He reaches over and takes her hand, giving it a firm, comforting squeeze.

"But today was supposed to be our day." She frowns again, holding onto his hand as she sighs softly. "We were supposed to have a nice night doing whatever we wanted. And now that's going to be ruined because my dad is being... himself again."

Random beats start playing. It takes them both by surprise as they turn around to see Pico messing with... some kind of pad? Is that a launchpad? Cassette Girl shakes her head and points to some buttons before Pico nods and- ah. So he didn't steal it from someone. Clearly, it was Cassette Girl's own device.

"What are they doing?" Girlfriend watches with more interest as the two kids clamber onto the stage, Pico talking to them softly as they nod along to whatever he's saying excitedly. He wags his finger like a metronome, and the boys both follow its movement before nodding furiously as he grins and pats the tops of their heads. As Pico looks up from the boys, he meets Boyfriend's gaze and gives a small nod before standing up.

"They're getting a show ready for you." Boyfriend grins when Girlfriend looks over to him bewildered.

"What do you mean, for me?"

"Heeeellloooo, everyone!" Cassette Girl speaks into the microphone with her familiar drawl, getting the patrons to quiet down as they watch with rapt attention. "Now, as you know, our booked gig for tonight ended up cancelling, but at the very last minute, we managed to snag another performer instead! You may be familiar with his bright blue hair and obnoxious voice," a rumble of laughter rolls through the crowd, but he takes it all in stride as he waits for the intro to end, "but he's gotten pretty famous throughout these parts for his amazing freestyle rap! Dedicated to his lovely Girlfriend of one year, we have Mr. Boyfriend, here to perform for one night only!"

"Boyfriend?!" Girlfriend's eyes widen in excitement as he stands from his seat, grinning confidently as he winks to her. It's not often he gets to perform for the sake of performing, so he wants to make this the best performance she's ever seen.

"You better give this girl a helluva anniversary."

As if he wasn't.

He takes the offered microphone from Cassette Girl as she takes her place behind the keyboard.

"Heya, folks!" He waves out to the crowd as the people who recognize him from his many rap battles cheer him on. Girlfriend cheers from the crowd, for once enjoying the show as just a normal person, instead of being in the thick of it. "Like Cassey said, this show is dedicated to my Girlfriend. I started this whole career for her, and if it weren't for her, I never would have found this flow in my life. I love her more than any song can convey, so I hope a show's worth of songs can get the message along. Now are you ready to get funkin' lit?!"

The crowd erupts into cheers as Girlfriend stands and cheers the loudest, her smile wide and bright as she pumps her fist in the air. They wait for the crowd to calm down before Pico starts his beatboxing. The beat begins slow, the notes sounding familiar as recognition settles on Girlfriend's features.

"Yo," he begins, holding the microphone close to his lips as he gets into the beat, "it's the remix." Pico's beatboxing continues before Cassette Girl joins in with her keyboard. The beat plays from the launchpad as the beatboxing ends, and that's his cue to start rapping.

"Don't look complacent, wearin' those rags, you ain't adjacent. Lookie, I'm fly, and you look basic. Look in her eyes, and I feel like takin' it for the win." He meets Girlfriend's gaze with a grin as he waves his hand back and forth, pumping the crowd up as he continues to rap.

"Her dad be evil, no twin. Skin purp' like the Sprite, sippin'. He open his yap and you wouldn't believe it's the sound of an angel when he spittin'." At Pico's cue, Skid and Pump join in with a chant of, "Go man go! Go man go!" They keep it up as Boyfriend continues to rap, the energy high and exciting as he performs for fun.

"Even though he look like a demon, hold my blue nuts as I battle for the takin'. Of this girl, I just wanna hold her hand. Look in our DM's and it's like candy land." Boyfriend kneels on the stage and gestures for Girlfriend to come closer. Without missing a beat, Girlfriend makes her way over, her head bobbing in time to the rhythm as she smiles blissfully.

"Yo, I really can't bust when her evil ass dad tryna make my ass be grass. So I got one shot, learned to spit real hot, and it might just go like this." As he takes her hand, he pulls her onto the stage and the Spooky Boys go quiet for his next lines.

"I don't mean no disrespect, but there's something about her I can't let go. Baby, you know that I love you, even though my balls are blue." The joke gets a giggle from Girlfriend, and it takes all his willpower not to stop rapping just to kiss her right there.

"I want to spend my life with her, even if her dad is evil or some shit. Now spit it like this: we gettin' freaky on a Friday night, chyeah!" The crowd goes wild as he scoops Girlfriend up in one arm, cradling her against his body as he continues to rap. Her arms wrap around his neck as she leans against him, warm and happy in his embrace.

As she should be.

The Spooky Boys return with the chant, pumping the crowd up some more as they cheer loudly with the rap.

"I just want to hold her tight, chyeah! Her hair, her eyes, her thighs, yeah. If I die, it'll all be worth it. Just to get a chance to show she's worth it!" He sways with the beat, watching as the crowd gets into the performance. Besides him, Cassette Girl is grinning, nodding her head to the beat as she plays the mellow tunes on her keyboard. Pico meanwhile focuses his attention alternating between beatboxing and playing the right beats on the launchpad, all while paying attention to the song and directing when the boys start and end their chant. Despite the amount of tasks on his shoulders, he holds himself high and proud, enjoying himself with a smile as he moves with the beat. Even the kids are enjoying themselves, bouncing on the spot and watching Pico intently for his cues. A part of Boyfriend wonders if they're even paying attention to the lyrics or if they're too engrossed in the beats and sounds coming from the keyboard and launchpad to even care.

Not that it matters.

All that matters is that they're all having fun . He looks out into the crowd and sees smile upon smile as they're all enjoying themselves to the music. This. This is what performing is all about. The energy, the enjoyment, everyone losing themselves to the music and forgetting their woes and worries for even just a minute-

That's what makes it all so worth it.

He raps the chorus one last time before letting the beat peter out, Pico ending the song with his beatboxing increasing in tempo before ending it abruptly. The crowd continues their cheers as Boyfriend yells into his microphone.

"You guys ready for more?!"

There's no doubt in his mind that he will absolutely be banned from the bar after this show, just with how rowdy the crowd is getting. But it's all worth it in the end as he nods to his friends to play whatever beat that comes to mind. He'll come up with the lyrics on the fly, all of them dedicated to Girlfriend as he sets her down and holds her tight to his side as they sway together.

He doesn't know how long they go for. All the hype and excitement pushes him to continue, and when he looks over to see if Pico or Cassette Girl or even the boys look just a little tired, he's surprised to see them too excited to even consider taking a break. The night is filled with raps filled with jokes and love as the clock finally strikes ten.

Time to end the show.

"Alriiiight, everyone!" Cassette Girl takes the microphone back from Boyfriend, panting slightly as she gestures to the crowd that grew during the performance. "Unfortunately, that's it for this show! Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed your meals, and please, come back again when we host another gig or open mic!" The crowd applauds as they all bow. Cassette Girl pats his shoulder with a grin and turns back to help Pico clean up. Girlfriend clings to his side, giggling and burying her face against his neck.

"Ohhh, that was so much fun!" Her giddiness makes him laugh as he hugs her tight, covering her face in kisses as he breathes for the first time since the performance began.

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Are you kidding?!" She laughs and picks him up, twirling them together in a circle before cuddling him midair. "That was the most fun I've had in ages!"

"I'm glad," he admits, relief washing over him that their night was a success after all. "Sucks we didn't finish our dinners though."

"I can get boxes for them." Pico shows up next to them, both kids curled up in his arms as they cling to him. "Or, uh, I can get Cass to get 'em for ya."

"Aww, are they tired?" Girlfriend sets Boyfriend down to take a look at the kids. "They did a really good job tonight!" Skid lifts his head up, a tired but bright smile on his face as he giggles.

"That was fun! I wanna do it again, Mr. Pico!"

"I'll think about it. Remember what we promised before the show?"

"No repeating the bad words around mom," both boys respond, although Pump's words are muffled against Pico's shirt. He chuckles and nods towards the couple.

"I gotta get these kids home. You guys get some rest too."

"We will." Boyfriend stretches, feeling worn out from the show.

"See ya."

"Bye, Pico!" Girlfriend waves as Pico walks off, the two kids waving from Pico's arms. "He really is good with kids, even if he won't admit it."

"He's always been protective of them." They both hum, the thought sobering them a bit as they watch the ginger disappear in the crowd. "We should visit him later and make sure he's okay too."

"Sounds like a plan." Girlfriend smiles and takes his hand, swinging their arms between them. A waitress comes by quickly, helping them pack their barely eaten dinners and shooing them out of the bar. As they leave, Boyfriend passes by Server-chan, her expression still looking exhausted as their eyes meet. But despite this, she smiles when she sees him, and he hopes she had fun too during his show.

He and Girlfriend walk for about five minutes before a limo pulls up beside them. She sighs and turns to hug him tight, her face buried in his shoulder before she kisses him softly.

"Thanks for the lovely night," she whispers, soft and tender as the warmth from her cheek seeps through his shirt. "It really was the best night of my life."

"I'm glad then," he whispers back, pressing a kiss to her temple. "'Cause I'm gonna make sure I make every night the best night of your life from now on."

She giggles, pulling herself away reluctantly before climbing into the limo. He watches as it drives away into the night, leaving him alone.

The night air is cold and brisk, but he finds himself warm regardless. A smile wide and bright on his face as he stuffs his hands into his pockets, a tune coming out in the form of a whistle as he walks home.

What a night to remember.

19 notes · View notes

rosiehunterwolf · 3 years

Text

For the Romping and the Roaring- Part 2

My submission for Day 2 of @serpentfever's Inhuman Event!

Link to read on ffn.net (Recommended if you are on mobile or haven't read the first part yet)

Preview:

The hair on the back of her neck raised, sensing the hit a moment before it came, but by then it was too late to dodge, even with her quick reflexes.

Kai’s hand shoved into her chest, and she hit the ground hard. She gasped, more from shock than pain, and then her brother was darting past her, out the door.

She gazed after him, dazed. She had experienced her fair share of fights with her brother, but he had never hit her before. It hadn’t hurt bad- she knew the raw strength he could pack, and that he had been holding back immensely, but it still- it still made her heart race.

“Nya!” Jay yelped, running over to her. “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine,” she breathed, her voice shaking hard. She swallowed, trying to force out the tremor.

This hadn’t changed anything. She wasn’t afraid of her brother. Just a bit shocked, that was all. He hadn’t meant to do it, he had just lashed out out of frustration.

He would never hurt her on purpose.

He would never.

(Full chapter under the cut)

Prompts Used: Injury

Word Count: 6,730 (wooo this one hopefully won't crash my browser)

Rating: T

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Dehumanization

“Lloyd, come away from the door. It’s too cold outside.”

Lloyd looked back reluctantly at Nya’s call. Kai peered at him from over the large grocery bag he was carrying.

“She’s right, bud. The last thing we need is for someone to get sick. Medicine is pricey,” he added, frowning at the lightness of his wallet.

Zane carried in another bag beside him and pulled the door shut. Nya walked over to him, ruffling Lloyd’s hair as she passed. “How are we doing on cash?”

“We still got enough for a little while. But not a ton. I guess I underestimated all the stuff we would need.” He frowned, glancing around at their makeshift home, shivering as a chill tickled through the air. “We should’ve gotten more blankets. With winter coming, it’s going to be tough having no heat.”

“We should take turns sleeping with Lloyd. He’s like a little living furnace.”

Kai smirked. “Well, at least that’s one person we shouldn’t have to worry about. I thought he might be more vulnerable because of how small he is, but those dragon and oni genes really seem to be doing something for him.”

“Speaking of which,” Nya sighed, “he nearly set Cole on fire today.”

Kai winced. “Did we lose anything?”

“Just a blanket and part of a shirt.”

Kai shook his head, turning towards the boy. “Lloyd, what did I say about using fire breath indoors?”

Lloyd hardly seemed to hear, gekkering softly as he climbed up a support beam, flapping his wings a few times to propel him up to the rafters. Red eyes glowed eerily down at them, and Kai sighed.

“He’s only getting more restless the longer we’re in here,” Nya growled. “You don’t know what a pain he is when you’re gone.”

Kai crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s been two weeks. We can’t keep him in here forever.”

“We can’t stay here forever,” Cole grunted, looking up from the book he was reading. “We’re already running low on funds. We’re going to have to get jobs, somehow. And we can’t live in an abandoned warehouse for the rest of our lives- already, we’re struggling with the winter coming. Jay’s already got a cold. Sooner or later, one of us is going to freeze to death.”

Kai drummed his fingers along his thigh, turning his gaze to where the lab hybrid was snuggled on the floor in a pile of blankets, near the center of the building, where it was warmest. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s gonna be fine, it’s just a common cold. We’re just letting him sleep it off. But winter’s only just beginning. It’s only going to get worse from here on out.”

“Cole’s right,” Zane said. “We have to try something else.”

“We’re just a bunch of kids,” Nya snapped, her voice tight. “We have no idea what we’re doing.”

“Perhaps it’s time… we start looking for help.”

Three wary gazes shifted to Zane.

Kai narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that? Everybody hates our skins. Who would help us?”

“We don’t know that for sure. Borg told us that the world had it out for us… but he also pretended to care about us when he was really just using us.”

“Are you suggesting we go to the police?!” Nya growled. “Do you want to die?”

“Borg lied about a lot of things. What if he was lying about this, too?”

“And what if he wasn’t?” Kai retorted. “That’s a huge risk, Zane. One we can’t afford to take.”

“It was only a suggestion.”

“I get where you’re coming from, Zane,” Cole sighed, “but they’re right. That’s a big risk, and if we’re chased out, we have nowhere to go this time.”

“So what do we-”

They were interrupted by a shrill shriek, and whipped around to see Jay jerking up into a sitting position, Lloyd half-slumped over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Lloyd, leave Jay alone, he’s resting,” Kai chastised, rushing over to scoop him off of Jay. Lloyd squirmed in his grip, and Kai sighed. “What is wrong with you today?”

“He’s got too much energy for this cramped little place,” Nya told him. “He’s gonna end up hurting someone if we don’t do something about it.”

“Take him outside,” Jay sniffed, “before he burns the whole place down. And besides, he’s the only one of us you guys haven’t let wander since we got here. How is this different from what Borg did to him his whole life?”

“We’re protecting him from Borg,” Kai growled sharply. “If it was up to Borg, he’d be dead right now. I think we’re doing a much better job.”

“I’m not saying we aren’t,” Jay corrected quickly, waving his hands. “But I thought we wanted to give him the freedom he never had.”

“It’s not that simple, Jay,” Nya sighed. “Lloyd’s wanted- we all are, but he’s got the most at risk. If he’s spotted by anyone from Borg- it’s dangerous, is what I’m trying to say.”

“Of course it is. But so is hiding in an abandoned building for the rest of our lives. So is having nothing but a quickly-dwindling stash of money to our name. So is sleeping in a cold building with no heat through the winter. So is keeping a frustrated, fire-breathing brat inside a flammable area for two weeks.”

Lloyd shot a plume of fire at his face, and Jay shrieked, ducking. “See? I told you!” “Nah, he’s just mad at you for calling him a brat,” Nya snickered.

Kai gritted his teeth, pushing Lloyd’s face to the side until he stopped. “Jay does have a point, though. Maybe it’s worth trying to take him out.”

“But Borg-”

“We’ll be really careful,” Kai told her. “I’ll make sure he’s ready, and on his best behavior. You plan out where we’re going to go.”

Cole frowned. “How many of us are going to be going?”

“Two, plus Lloyd, would be ideal. Any more would draw too much attention.”

“Three of us could still be risky,” Cole warned. “Everyone at Borg looking for us will know what we look like. Disguises can only go so far.”

“I don’t want to just send one person out with Lloyd, though. If things go south, we’re going to need to stall for a little bit until we can get away.”

Cole crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure how much I like the odds of two of you against a whole legion of Borg associates.”

“We don’t know for sure there’ll be that many,” Zane reminded. “And it will take a while to call backup.”

“And besides,” Kai added, “I’m not planning on getting noticed. It’s just a precaution if we do.”

Everyone stared expectantly at Cole, who remained silent. Lloyd struggled in his arms, and Kai let him go. The boy bounded over to the badger hybrid, and gripped his leg, looking up pleadingly. Cole looked down at him, his forehead creasing. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh.

“Alright, Kai, but I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

---

Kai, in fact, did not know what he was doing.

The plan was so simple in his head- teach Lloyd to blend in by having him get used to disguises and showing him the proper behaviors. They had done a very similar thing every time they had taken Lloyd out on one of their outings, back when they had still been living at Borg Tower. How hard could it be, really?

As it turned out, very hard.

Nya had not been lying about his exuberance. He seemed determined to make every little thing difficult.

“Lloyd, just put on this hat! You’ve done it before, quit being stubborn now!”

Lloyd jerked away from the hat like it was some sort of disease, hissing and batting at it. When Kai tried to pull it over his head, the boy grabbed it in his teeth and started pulling.

“No, no, don’t rip it! Augh, why can’t you just do as you’re told!”

“How’s the training going?” Nya laughed.

Kai turned to glare at her, releasing the hat. “Fine, thank you.”

“Really? Because it looks like your pupil just got away…”

Kai jerked his head back. Lloyd had dragged the hat, by his teeth, across the room, and was now slipping himself under the slab of wood that they had used as a foundation for a bed, which was much too low to the floor for Kai to even dream of fitting under.

He scowled, walking over to where Lloyd had wedged himself into, and stuck his arm underneath it, praying that he didn’t lose any fingers.

Luckily, Lloyd didn’t seem to be in a biting mood, but Kai could feel him cringing back from his touch.

“Come on, Lloyd, just come out of there already-”

He stopped as he realized Nya was giggling. Shooting her a glare, he growled, “What’s so funny?”

“You think you’re gonna have him ready to go by the end of the week?”

“You see if I don’t. You’re gonna be sorry you ever doubted me.”

“Uh-huh. If that’s what you need to tell yourself, I suppose.”

---

“Brr,” Jay huffed, as he and Nya pushed the door shut. “The wind’s really picking up out there.”

“Hopefully it’s just a cold streak,” she agreed. “I don’t want it to be too cold if we’re bringing Lloyd out in a couple days.”

“You guys still on for that?”

“I think so. Kai says he’s making progress with him. I guess we’ll have to see.”

“Hey Nya, Jay,” Cole nodded at them. “You feeling better, bro?”

“Oh, a lot better. Good as new! I think it was just a little cold. I can go back to helping out, now.”

Zane sighed. “We were fortunate, this time. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

“Lloyd,” Nya called, pulling a package of gummy bears out of one of the shopping bags. “We got a surprise for you!”

She cast her gaze to the rafters, expecting him to come leaping down, but was surprised when she saw him wriggle out from where he was dozing beside Kai, instead.

She handed him the bag. “Don’t eat them all at once, okay? We’re a little tight on money right now, so you won’t be getting any more for a while.”

The smile he shot her was small, with no teeth, as he took the bag. “Thanks, Nya.”

She frowned at him. The last time she had brought him candy, he had basically been jumping off the walls with excitement, his tail swishing and ears twitching. Now, he was barely even smiling, and stood abruptly still.

Tugging at the seal, his brow furrowed as it didn’t open. When he didn’t immediately tear it open with his fangs, and instead handed it to her so she could open it for him, she knew something was definitely off.

“What’s wrong, Lloyd? Are you feeling alright? Aren’t you happy with it?”

“No, I want it!” he yelped, grabbing for the bag.

She frowned at him, snatching it away. “Why are you acting so weird?”

Lloyd’s ears drooped, his hands dropping to his side. “Kai told me to act like the humans so I could go outside. Did I do bad?”

Nya felt her heart squeeze. “Oh, no, honey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I… I’m just not used to seeing you like this.”

He looked up at her, red eyes hopeful. “I did it right? I acted good?”

Nya took a slow breath. “Yeah, I mean… Lloyd, what exactly did Kai tell you to do?”

Lloyd shrugged. “He said if I smile too much, people can see my fangs.” Peeling back his lips, he pointed to the sharp teeth, as if Nya needed a demonstration. “Seeh?”

“Yes, Lloyd, I see. But why do you need to hide your fangs in here?”

“Kai said I’m prat-practicing,” Lloyd told her matter-of-factly, looking immensely pleased with himself for pronouncing the long word. “So I can be good when we go outside!”

Nya’s stomach felt hard. “What other kinds of things did he tell you to do, Lloyd?”

“He teached me how to not wiggle my ears so much.” He pointed to his ears, making a point of holding them still. “And we talked a lot. He’s showing me to walk on my feet better too, which is kinda wobbly though, and not as fast as using my hands, too. But Kai said I’m doing better than I was! Hey, Nya,” he added, pointing at her face, “you’re doing that thing Kai told me not to do. I can see your fangs!”

Nya unclenched her teeth, working her jaw. “Thanks, bubs. I’m gonna go talk to Kai now, okay? You have some of your gummies.”

Turning to where her brother was slouched against the wall, paging through a magazine, she stormed over to him. He glanced up at her nonchalantly, and Nya felt a surge of frustration in her chest at how calm he was.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why have you been teaching that stuff to Lloyd, Kai? Why is he acting so… weird?”

“You mean normal? It’s great, isn’t it? I gotta admit, it felt like an impossible task at the beginning of the week, but he’s reformed pretty quickly. I think he’s almost ready to go out!”

“It’s not great,” she growled. “You’ve completely changed who he is! There’s a difference between teaching him to stay low and to completely reforming him into human society!”

Kai eyed her testily. “I don’t see what the big deal is. What else were you expecting me to do?”

“I wanted you to hide him, not change his behavior! This isn’t him, Kai!”

“Relax, Nya, it’s just some minor modifications. He’s still our mischievous little brother!” “Really? Because he seemed much less feral to me.”

“Well, yeah! We can’t have him acting out in the middle of the city! I, for one, think this is an improvement. He hasn’t set anything on fire in days.”

“We’re not humans, Kai! We’re different than them, and that’s okay! He has to know that. He has to know what we are! We can’t just try to change him just because it’s what the world wants.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with being like the humans. They’ve gotten off alright, haven’t they? Meanwhile, we’ve spent our whole lives being cheated and used.”

“Just because something’s hard doesn’t mean we should just give up! I can’t believe you, don’t you care about your identity at all?” “I care about surviving. I’m trying to keep us safe! What’s a few little changes if it benefits us in the long run?”

“It might start as just some small changes, Kai, but eventually it’s going to snowball into something bigger.” She felt her voice catch in her throat. “I don’t want to teach him to hide who he is. I want him to be proud. He hasn’t done anything wrong! We left Borg to get away from that, didn’t we? So that we could start our own paths and be who we wanted to be?”

“You wanted to be homeless and poor?”

“Kai!”

“What? You’re upset with me for telling the truth? We ran away from Borg so we could live. It was out of necessity, not even a choice, really.”

“Borg was our captor. He lied to us our whole lives, made us believe he was the only one who cared when he couldn’t be bothered with us at all. If you’re seriously defending him right now-”

“I’m not defending him, of course I’m not!” Kai jumped to his feet, growling. “What kind of psychopath do you think I am? He tried to kill my baby brother! If you think I would be on his side after that-”

“But don’t you see, it’s more than just that! He was hurting all of us, for years. He was a bad person even before he decided to get rid of Lloyd. Now’s our chance to finally be free of all that. Now’s our chance to be ourselves, to-”

“To get captured again, according to you.”

“How could you say that? I want to protect everyone as much as you do, but I also think you are posing a threat to us by imposing on us the same rules Borg did-”

“How dare you compare me to him!” Kai roared. Nya flinched, and she felt the others turn their gazes on them. “I am nothing like that wretch, nothing, I want nothing more than to protect my family from him! I am doing what I must to keep us safe from him, to keep us as far away as possible. I am trying to avoid suspicion, and I don’t care about your sentimental values. I care about surviving!”

If it was anyone else, they would’ve backed down. Kai didn’t break out his roar at just any time, especially not on those he cared about. When he did, you knew he was seriously pissed. No one in their right minds would mess with him when he was mad.

But Nya was his sister, and her temper was just as hot. Although she might not have the strength of a lion behind her, or the fierceness of his roar, she wasn’t going to let her brother scare her.

“You are not protecting us, you are only restricting us, and the sooner you find out that you are just treating us like he did-”

The hair on the back of her neck raised, sensing the hit a moment before it came, but by then it was too late to dodge, even with her quick reflexes.

Kai’s hand shoved into her chest, and she hit the ground hard. She gasped, more from shock than pain, and then her brother was darting past her, out the door.

“Nya!” Jay yelped, running over to her. “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine,” she breathed, her voice shaking hard. She swallowed, trying to force out the tremor.

This hadn’t changed anything. She wasn’t afraid of her brother. Just a bit shocked, that was all. He hadn’t meant to do it, he had just lashed out out of frustration. And, although she still believed she was in the right, she had provoked him a bit, if she was being honest.

He would never hurt her on purpose.

He… he would never do that.

He would never.

He…

“Nya?”

She blinked, realizing Jay was extending a hand to her. She took it, and let Jay pull her to her feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No!” she hissed fiercely, and Jay flinched. Gentler, she added, “I’m fine. Kai would never do that.”

Jay didn’t meet her gaze, only gripped her hand tighter.

“Where did he go?” she asked the others, after her breathing had returned to a somewhat normal state.

“Straight out the door,” Zane replied. “No one saw which way he went.”

Nya glanced around the room, stopping when she realized Kai wasn’t the only one missing. “Where’s Lloyd?”

Zane pointed quietly under one of their makeshift beds. A pair of red eyes glowed from underneath.

Nya crouched down, reaching her hand in. “We didn’t mean to scare you, Lloyd. Come on out, it’s alright now.”

Lloyd burrowed deeper under the bed. Nya sighed, giving up. She knew he would only come out when he was ready.

“Should I go after Kai?” Cole asked, frowning.

Zane shook his head. “I think it’s best to give him some space to blow off some steam.”

“I just hope he’s careful. If he’s too full of anger to pay attention to what he’s doing…”Jay’s tail drooped. “The last thing we need is for anyone to get spotted now.”

“We’re pretty far out here,” Cole assured him. “If we were closer to the city, I’d be worried, but Kai’d have to get pretty far to get anywhere within the distance I think the Borg employees would be searching.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nya sighed. “One day, his temper is going to get him- or one of us- into a situation he can’t get out of.”

---

The next couple days were incredibly tense. Kai came back a few hours later, not speaking to anyone and going straight to bed. He and Nya hardly spoke to each other, and when they did, their interactions were short and argumentative. The others were careful to stay out of it, not picking any sides. Kai had a feeling that they were pretty uncomfortable around him, though.

He hadn’t meant to hit Nya. She was his sister. Even though she was being stupid and sentimental, he still loved her and never would want to hurt her. But it wasn’t like he had seriously wounded her, either. It had just been a little scuffle. He knew that Nya knew that, and that she was only mad about the argument. The others, however… they were overreacting. He didn’t understand, after all their years together, how they could seriously think he would harm one of them.

That’s what the point of all of this was, wasn’t it? To protect them? Why couldn’t anyone else see that?

He was sick of all this. Sick of all the fighting, sick of struggling and hiding all the time. He just wished they could be normal.

Although Nya wanted anything but that, it seemed.

He understood what she was saying, in a sense- they were different. But was it really so bad to want to change who you were if it meant a life of peace and safety?

Kai just didn’t know anymore. He was tired of being the one who had to decide. He missed when they were younger, and Borg had made all the decisions for them.

Not that he wanted Borg to be in charge of them anymore- but the sentiment still stood.

But life had a way of being against them.

Wishes weren’t going to fix anything.

---

When the scheduled day for Lloyd’s venture into the town rolled around, the circumstances hadn’t improved much. They had originally planned for him and Nya to accompany Lloyd- a decision he was regretting now, with the tension still between them. He almost considered asking one of the others to take his place, but decided against it. He wanted to be there with Lloyd- he had been the one who had spent all the time training him, after all. And he didn’t dare ask Nya to change her mind about going- she would probably argue just for the sake of it, and it wasn’t worth the confrontation right now. Things were already bad enough as it was.

As they wrapped Lloyd up in his winter gear, he complied much more easily than usual, and three of them set out quietly.

“Where are we gonna go?” Kai asked Nya as they approached the bus stop.

“I was thinking we could go downtown, more towards where the little shops are. The people there are pretty nice, and it’s usually bustling, so it’ll be easy to blend in with the crowds.”

“How many stops down is that,” he frowned, fingering through the bills in his wallet.

Nya watched him anxiously. “Not too far. We can walk, if that’s better.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you-” “I told you, it’s fine!” Nya jerked her gaze away sharply. “Excuse me for trying to be considerate, then.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’s too cold to walk.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I can’t tell if you’re trying to be caring or not.”

Kai growled. “Me neither.”

Lloyd squirmed by their feet, and Nya sighed. “Can we not do this, now?” She pointed down the street, to where the bus was rolling up. “The bus is here, anyway.”

Kai told the bus driver where they wanted to go, slipping him the proper payment, and the three of them piled on, taking a spot near the back, even though the bus was mostly empty. Kai knew, from his previous trips, that it would get more crowded the closer they got to town, and sitting in the back meant not many people would be looking at them.

Lloyd stared out the window for most of the ride, his wide eyes taking in the landscape rolling past. Kai watched too, and as the bus drove them deeper into the city, he saw the shining buildings, with trees and patches of greenery dispersed in between them. With winter arriving, most of the trees were skeletal, but some still had a spattering of leaves, coming in bright golds, soft reds, and blazing oranges. It wasn’t something Kai got to see often in his lifetime, in person, at least. The changing of the fall leaves was a very finicky and brief time of the year in Ninjago City, and he had been lucky if one of his outside visits fell during this time.

Deeper into the city, the buildings thickened, rows of homes filing in orderly lines. Blues, olives, tans, grays, whites- each one had its own unique charm, but they all felt like they belonged.

One house in particular caught his eye, though- one that stood out from all the rest. Its walls were a bright red, and the lawn was wildly overgrown. Too many chairs were crammed onto the small porch, paint chipping on the door. It was an eyesore compared to the rest of the neighborhood.

Being too unique was problematic, he supposed.

By now, they were getting into the thick of the city. Beautiful buildings soared above them, colorful graffiti decorated walls and bridges. Most noticeable of all, however, were the people. A father with his daughter sitting on his shoulders, an elderly couple each holding a hand of their grandson as they swung him between them. A young couple walking down the street, chatting, with their hands casually intertwined, a group of teenage boys, laughing and racing each other down the street on their skateboards.

Everyone had one thing in common- they looked happy, content, at peace.

Kai hoped they appreciated what they had.

For the first time since they had boarded the bus, he glanced over at Nya. She was staring out the window too, but her gaze wasn’t directed at the scenery beyond, like his, but instead at Lloyd’s reflection in the glass.

The bus screeched to a halt, arriving at their stop, and the three of them hopped out, thanking the driver.

Walking down the street, they found themselves in a charming little section of town, the shops modest but plentiful. Nya was right, there was plenty of activity to help hide them. All the footsteps and voices around him swamped Kai’s ears, and he shook his head, trying to press them flatter against his head. This was only a milder section of the city, he was going to have to get used to all the sounds of the urban environment if they were going to adapt to this place.

Kai wondered how Lloyd would be affected by the environment- the young boy had proven himself to have a strong sense of hearing as well, and had never been a fan of being swarmed.

But either Lloyd’s hat was muffling his senses, or he was simply too enamored by the shops to care. With every shop they went in- from t-shirts, to souvenirs, antiques, jewelry, fabrics, and a bakery, Lloyd always seemed to find some little shiny trinket or another. They couldn’t buy him much, but Lloyd seemed perfectly content with just looking, already moving onto the next object of interest within a minute or two, anyway.

They did actually make a purchase at the confectionary, though, letting Lloyd pick out a piece of candy. He had gone with a rainbow lollipop, a purchase Kai was pleased with, because it would actually last him a while, giving him and Nya time to pick up a few more essentials before heading back to the warehouse.

Emphasis on few.

“We don’t really need the new jacket, I know we have a needle and thread I can use to patch it up on my own.”

“Yeah, well what about all those protein bars, do you really need all those?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“They’re a good source of nutrients!” “Yeah, and they’re expensive. There’s gotta be a generic brand one you can get for cheaper.”

“These are the only ones I can get Lloyd to eat.”

“Well, he’s going to have to learn to adapt to our budget-”

“Buy them with this!” Lloyd purred, slipping a stack of bills into his hand.

Kai and Nya froze, slowly turning to look at him.

“Lloyd,” he asked slowly, “where did you get this?”

“I found it.”

No duh, Kai bit back. “Found it where?”

“Someone left it. At the store.”

“Lloyd!” Nya cried, sounding close to hysterics. “You can’t just take people’s money! You can’t take any of people’s things without permission. That’s stealing!” “They left it there,” Lloyd grumbled, kicking his foot. “I thought they were done with it. They should be more careful with their things. I’m careful with my things.”

Kai snorted a laugh, and Nya stared at him incredulously. “You can’t seriously think this is funny? He stole!”

“Oh, come on, Nya, he didn’t do it on purpose.”

“It’s still a crime.”

“He’s four!” “Doesn’t mean you should encourage him.”

“I wasn’t. In case you’re forgetting, he was the one who took it, not me.”

“But you don’t care.”

“I never said that!” “I’m your sister, I can tell.”

“Alright, alright, so maybe I wouldn’t mind a little extra cash. So what? We need it. Probably more than whoever was foolish enough to lose this.” “Kai! I can’t believe you!” “What? It’s not like we even know where to take it! Lloyd,” he turned to the boy, his voice sharp. “Where did you find the money? Which store?”

Lloyd was looking significantly less cheerful now, his eyes wary as he took a step back from them. “I dunno. Can’t remember.”

“See?” Kai snapped at Nya. “We couldn’t return it if we wanted to!” “So you’re just going to pocket it?”

“Where else would you have me take it? Like I told you, we need it more than the rich, privileged people around here.” Blood was roaring in Kai’s ears now, his breath coming in heavy pants. Why was there so much noise buzzing in his ears? There were people, so many people, and all that noise, mixing with his frustration, was making his heart slam against his chest in a dizzying rage.

“Just because they have more than us doesn’t make it right.”

“It makes it understandable.”

“I can’t believe we’re back to this again!”

“Back to what?”

“You’re trying to change Lloyd’s behavior again! I told you it would escalate- in only a few days, you’ve gone from having him hide his goofball side, to make him think stealing is okay, just because we’re in a rough patch!”

“You think I want to do this? I know it’s wrong! But sometimes an opportunity presents itself, and you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“We can’t just throw our values and everything about ourselves out the window just because things are difficult right now, Kai.”

“We haven’t really been given much choice, have we? In another week or two, we’ll have gone completely bankrupt, then what are we gonna do, huh?”

Nya paused for a moment, her breath hitching. “We’ll… we’ll figure something out. But this isn’t the answer.”

“Oh yeah? Let me know when you find one.” Turning away from her, he slipped the cash into his pocket. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was starting to feel lightheaded, now. He needed to end this.

“Kai, please, the last thing we need is another charge on our backs.”

“Going back to the shop to return this- even if we knew which shop to go to- would only put more suspicion on our backs. If we keep it, no one will probably ever even notice it’s missing.”

“But they could have security footage-” Nya stopped dead, the color draining from her cheeks.

“What?”

“Where’s Lloyd?”

---

Lloyd was running.

Ducking and weaving between the people roaming the streets, he tried his best to avoid running into them, but once or twice, his hand brushed against them, and he flinched away, hating the way the unfamiliar touch felt on his skin.

There were too many people here. He hated this feeling, being crowded around on all sides, like he couldn’t breathe. He just wanted to get out of here.

That was pretty impossible, though, when he had no idea where he was.

He shouldn’t have run off. Kai and Nya were going to be furious.

But… he just hadn’t been able to take it anymore.

He had been so happy when he had first brought them the money. He had thought he was helping, and that now they would be able to get more stuff and stop looking so worried all the time. But it had only made them start fighting again. Their raised voices had rung loud in his ears, too loud, and their smoldering gazes had scared him. That hadn’t been Kai and Nya- the big siblings he knew and loved. That had been something different, something Lloyd didn’t like one bit.

He hated it, every time they fought- every time the ugly side of them came out. But this time had been so much worse, because this time it was his fault, it had been him who messed things up by taking something he wasn’t supposed to.

He had just wanted to make them proud.

But maybe they would be better off without him.

He just wanted things to be the way they used to be, back when no one had fought or yelled at each other, when everyone had been happy, hanging out in their fun little room, giving him badger rides and letting him pick whatever movie he wanted.

But that had also been the time when he had spent his nights locked up alone, when strange people in long coats and scary masks would poke and prod him, and he wanted nothing more but to see his family again, but Dr. Borg wouldn’t let him.

But that was the way things had always been, hadn’t they? There was no perfect world.

At least not for monsters, like Lloyd.

Lloyd stumbled, his head reeling. All these thoughts were a little too much to take in.

Glancing around, he spotted an alleyway leading off of the streets. The perfect opportunity to get away from all the noises and people and clear his head.

Nearly crying in relief, he slipped into the comfort of the darkness.

---

“He was just here!” “Oh no, he must’ve run off again! You know how upset he gets when we fight!”

“Shit,” Kai muttered, his bubbling anger quickly giving way to panic. “He must’ve gone to look for somewhere to hide.”

“Dammit, he could be anywhere by now,” Nya whimpered, pressing her fingers to her temples. “This is all our fault!”

His frustration with her dying, Kai put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. He can’t have gotten far, I should be able to pick up his scent.”

Nya glanced around, surveying their surroundings. “Just try to be subtle about it. There are a lot of people here.”

It was harder to track Lloyd’s scent without getting down to the ground, and the many other crisscrossing scents in the area added to the complexity, but, luckily for them, Lloyd’s oni and dragon blood made for a distinctive tang that Kai was able to pick up on after only a minute, despite all the distractions.

They followed the trail for a few minutes, Nya hovering behind him anxiously as he went. After a while, Kai was starting to get worried he had somehow made a mistake, when they reached a busy market street.

Shaking his head, he pushed his way into the throng.

Immediately, he was overwhelmed with at least a dozen more scents, and he lost Lloyd’s for a moment. Desperately trying to pick it up again, Kai felt like he was floundering, all the scents and sounds making him stumble.

Nya grabbed his shoulder, steadying him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m… fine, it’s just… there’s a lot of people here.” He put a hand on his head. “It’s a lot.”

“Can you still smell Lloyd?”

“I don’t know.”

Nya turned to a shopping bag she was holding, rummaging through it until she found what she was looking for and pulled it out. Popping the cap, she handed him the bottle of water. “Here. This might help.”

Downing a few sips of the cold, fresh, liquid, Kai felt his heart rate slow slightly, the fog in his brain dissipating a bit. “Thanks, Nya.”

Turning back to his surroundings, he searched for Lloyd’s scent again. This time, he caught it rather quickly, and the two of them hurried down the street a little ways, until it led to a dark alleyway.

Kai slowed his pace, his steps wary. “Lloyd? Are you here?”

There was silence, for a moment, then a soft whimper replied him. Kai froze. “Lloyd?”

Nya pushed in front of him, and Kai caught sight of his sister’s pupils dilating to her night vision.

“See anything?”

Nya didn’t respond, and Kai blinked rapidly, urging his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. When he could finally see better, he looked over at her. Nya was standing frozen, her face white, as she stared down the alley.

Kai followed her gaze, and promptly felt his stomach lurch.

Although he couldn’t see nearly as well as Nya in the dark setting, it was well enough to identify the figure curled up in the back of the alley as Lloyd, pale and quivering as he grimaced at his leg, stretched out at an ugly looking angle, all twisted and bloody.

“Lloyd!” Nya screamed, running towards him as Kai gagged, trying hard not to puke at the scene. He tried to shake action back into his limbs, beginning to follow Nya where she was crouched over at Lloyd’s side, crying softly-

Kai froze, scenting the air. The overwhelming reek of blood and pain filled his nose, and he was still left muddled from the chaos of the busy market a moment ago, but…

Over all of that, he swore he could smell something else, something that seemed important.

“Nya, do you… do you smell that?”

“What?” Nya choked, wiping at her eyes. “Kai, he’s… it’s bad, come help me!” Kai was about to abandon the mysterious scent, when all of a sudden, it clicked.

Cold dread trickled down his spine. “Nya, look out, it’s-”

His words were cut off as something slammed against him, sending him to the ground, winded. Nets were thrown over him, and he felt strong yanks on his arms and legs as sharp rope dug into his wrists and ankles.

Blinding panic crashed through him as the full implication of what was happening hit him. No, no no, he couldn’t get captured, he couldn’t be brought back there, Lloyd couldn’t be brought back there, they would-

Kai threw back his head and roared as loudly as he could, hoping that someone, anyone would hear and come save him-

Sharp metal clashed against his jaw, sending spikes of agony through him as something was wrestled around his head. He tried to cry out again, but realized that he couldn’t move his mouth anymore, the metal device jamming it shut.

He could hear Nya’s screams from somewhere behind him, which abruptly cut off as she met his same fate. Muzzles, he realized with horror, the image of Lloyd, chained in that little room on that day they had first escaped flashing through his head.

Borg had found them. And now they were going to pay.

#ninjago #NinjagoInhumanAuWeek #For the Romping and the Roaring #R&R #Part 2 #woooo cliffhangers hope ya like those #not that you have to wait long for the next part #but i thought i was being clever #XD #rosie writes #my fic

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trolloled · 3 years

Note

💖 Cacoph and Damath

(Sure, why not? No harm doing specific characters)

> Ever since you ran into Damath at the grocery store, you had made sure to actually stay in contact this time. No more inadvertent ghosting based on whether or not he'd 'approve' of what you want to do.

> The weeks since then had blown by, and tonight's date had almost snuck up on you. Almost was the key word: You'd thought to get him something for Quadrant's Night to make up for what you'd done... and maybe feel a little less embarrassment over how your 'reunion' had went.

> But you had no idea where he lived, so you couldn't mail it! You also couldn't just ask, because that was weird, right? You don't just ask where someone lives. You settle on a compromise between giving it to him whenever you randomly run into him next and demanding his address: You invite him out to eat, ostensibly as a way to further make amends. So what if it just happened to be on Quadrant's Night, right?

> Somehow, it worked, too! You were seated at a middle-caste level diner, the kind where the floors were mostly clean and the wait staff at least pretended to be polite, and occasionally not even miserable.

> It was, frankly, still a little embarrassing to take someone like Damath out to a place like this, but...

R> Oh shit, there he is! He's walking into the diner, sending several nearby midbloods scattering in fright as they notice the sudden arrival of a (finless) seadweller. Not to mention the jadeblood you can see peering in through the window... was that his bodyguard that he mentioned?

> He waves off the troll that tries to seat him, or at least ask what someone like him is doing here, and spots you. He strides with purpose right up to the booth you're seated at, glancing down at you.

///Cac_ph. Interesting place y_u've ch_sen f_r us t_ meet in. I can't say I have ever spent time in a place s_...\\\

> He looks around, visibly trying to find the correct words to use.

///...C_l_rful.\\\

> You suppose that's the best you'll get out of him. It's a lot better than what he could have said, honestly. You greet him happily, scribbling down on your chalkboard that you're glad he found his way here and that he should take a seat.

> He nods, sliding into the seat across from you, looking thoroughly out of place. He rests his elbows against the table, watching you with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"///S_. I see y_u've invited me s_mewhere t_ eat. _n a h_liday dedicated t_ quadrants.\\\"

> Oh. Maybe you weren't quite as subtle as you thought.

> You try to start writing something, but are cut off by his bemused chuckle.

///Relax. I d_n't mind, if this is y_ur way _f trying t_ make amends. Th_ugh, i daresay s_me pe_ple might mistake us f_r a c_uple if we're seated in a b__th t_gether.\\\

> You blink, feeling heat creep up onto your face before you shake your head, scribbling out that you hadn't intended for that to be what people thought! You just wanted to do something nice with him!

> He shrugs, not seeming all that fussed by the idea of what people thought regardless. You take that as a good sign, then write down that you have something for him.

> That makes him pause, giving you a chance to sneak the box of chocolates you'd gotten up from the seat next to you and in front of him.

///...Y_u... G_t me s_mething? Ch_c_lates?\\\

> He looks surprised, or as surprised as he can be, anyway. He glances at the box, noting that it definitively is not the high brand of cocoa.

> However, he doesn't complain. In fact, after a few more moments, he quietly reaches out and pulls the box closer to himself.

///...Thank y_u, that was... Y_u didn't need t_ get me anything. N_w I feel as if I sh_uld have g_tten y_u s_mething...\\\

> You shake your head, writing down that it was just a gift, no expectations attached. He nods, reluctantly, then opens the box and selects a piece at random.

> He pops it into his mouth, chews on it, then almost gags.

///Augh! T__thpaste! Why d_ they always have a t__thpaste flav_r!?\\\

> You can't help but laugh (as much as you can with your mouth taped over) at the sight of the seadweller forcing himself to swallow the most heinous of flavors. It hadn't been your intention for him to get the Gag (literal) flavor first, but...

///_h, find that funny, d_ y_u? Well, we'll just see ab_ut that in a week. N_w. Where were we?\\\

> He picks up the menu in front of him as he sets the box aside, leaving you wondering what he meant by 'in a week.'

> ...

> A week later, a delivery troll knocks on your door with a heart shaped package. He hands it over, saying it's compliments of 'Damath.'

> Curious, and flattered, you open it. It's a bunch of chocolates, just like you got him! Delighted, you take one, removing your tape to eat it, and-

> You received: Toothpaste Chocolates!

↳ (Oh god, no. This is one of those gag gifts, where every single piece of chocolate, despite looking different, all have that same revolting flavor. It's not hard to notice this after three pieces all taste the same, and it becomes flat out impossible not to notice when you see the note stuck to the back of the lid: 'I really did appreciate the gift, honest. So, I thought I'd get one you'd get the biggest laugh out of - Damath.')

#ase-trollplays #asks #damath rp #lard writes #quadrant's day drabbles

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costellos · 4 years

Note

hi toya!! i love your content and you're an excellent writer!! :)) can i get mista + embarrassment??? thanks for all the gr8 pieces!!!

❥ ┋ ❝ send me a word / phrase + a character and I’ll write you a headcanon! — CLOSED

the most embarrassed you had ever seen Guido Mista happened while paying for groceries.

brown paper bags sat in his arms, the result of a shopping trip that Bucciarati had sent you both on. “Narancia’s sick,” the capo said after pulling you both aside after your usual Thursday night briefing. “can you pick up some groceries for him on your way home? I know he lives along your route. I’ll pay you back for it tomorrow.”

so you both obliged.

“augh... hey, [Name]? I can’t reach my wallet.” Mista tried to shuffle the bags to reach into his back pocket. alas, no luck. “grab it for me, will you?”

“wow, so you’ll pay for Narancia’s dinner but not mine? rude.”

“c’mon, I’m slipping! can you just—” he rearranged himself, trying to get a better grip of the bags in his arms, “—get it? please?”

that last “please” was a little too demanding for your taste, but considering he was offering to pay, you’d let it go (just this once). so you do as told, your fingers slipping around the cool leather square in his pocket. he told you that it’s the red card, the one tucked on the bottom compartment to the left. “yeah, yeah,” you replied, your hands at work opening the wallet.

and that was when it happened: out unfurled a roll of pictures, one by one, all the way down to your hip. all featured you and him on previous dates, all processed sometime outside your knowledge.

Mista looked at you.

you looked at Mista.

the cashier looked at both of you.

“wha— honey. what is this?” you blinked. wow. you remembered taking all of these with him, and... oh! he had a photo from your beach date along the Amalfi Coast!

Mista didn’t reply. instead, he dropped the bags, the sound of hard, metallic clanking filling the store. no doubt from the ungodly amount of soup Bucciarati had asked you to pick up. if it didn’t feel like everyone was staring at you both, it certainly did at that moment.

he swiped his wallet from your grasp, stuffing the roll of photos back into his wallet haphazardly. he then closed it, but upon realizing that he still needed to pay for the groceries, he opened it just enough to grab his card. you were giggling throughout the entire process.

a soft beep! rang from the card reader, effectively ending the transaction. the cashier giggled along with you as she handed Mista his receipt. he didn’t look at you or her, he just plucked the receipt from her hand, crumpled it up, and threw it in the nearest garbage can before picking up the brown paper bags again.

you pushed the doors to the exit open, holding it for Mista to cross. he refused to look at you, but it wasn’t because he was mad at you. no, this was different. his lips were pursed and his head was low, with that pink tint on his cheeks you recognized so easily as embarrassment.

“so.” you caught up to him, a click in your heel at your new-found realization that Guido Mista was that kind of boyfriend. “wanna tell me about those pictures?”

“nope.”

“wanna tell me that you got a whole plastic insert just so that you could put pictures from all of our dates in your wallet?”

“I’m good.”

“if you say so. here, let me help you.” you hopped in front of him, slipping your arms around one of the brown bags that he was carrying. the least you could do is make his job easier after putting him through that. but while he was distracted, transferring one bag from his grasp to yours, you took the opportunity to place a small kiss on his cheek. “and for the record, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I love you, dummy.”

from there, Mista’s face exploded into every shade of red that you could imagine. he still wouldn’t say anything. but how his shoulders rose, how his arms stiffened as he desperately tried to hold onto the bags—

after all that, he didn’t need to say anything for you to know that he loved you, too.

#guido mista #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #golden wind #headcanons #bigwriterenergy #SCREAMS #gooose!!!#thank you so much for the request!#I love your jjba works SO MUCH and this was such a pleasure to write for you #I'm so sorry it took so long #it took me FOREVER to think of something and I really wanted to do your prompt justice :^)#ty for requesting!!

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butterflyinthewell · 4 years

Text

Dad took some steps today. He needed the therapist right there because he was so off balance that he would’ve fallen without support along with his walker. One of his feet is curling sideways and inward because he hasn’t been putting weight on his feet. That will be a problem and he may need a brace to straighten that out. It’s related to the whole “don’t use it and you lose it” aspect of Parkinson’s disease, and I was afraid of this.

I hope he gets to walk again as much as he could before because he will be stuck in one room for the rest of his life if he doesn’t. I think that’s the one incentive that makes him want to get back on his feet. My fear is he will then proceed to get up at night like he was doing when he got hurt in the first place. He still keeps mom awake till 3 and 4am because she’s a people pleaser who will give until she’s dead. Black hole people like my dad love finding bleeding hearts like my mom.

I’ve told mom to just put her foot down and go to bed, but I stayed up once to see what really happens. Dad whines and complains if mom says she’s going to bed. Suddenly he will want to be put on his bedside commode (which takes forever and then you wait for him to go and heave him back into bed), or he will want a sandwich or just anything that makes mom have to be busy on his behalf until she’s wide awake again when she was sleepy enough for bed before.

Just...AUGH...every good thing always comes with shit right behind it.

I think I’m going to ask my counselor or psychiatrist if there’s a way to screen for ptsd. My mental health is in the toilet and I’m having bizarre dreams and nightmares several times a week. My sleep is disrupted now, and that’s never been a thing for me. I’m constantly hyper vigilant. I’m having anger outbursts and the kinds of thoughts that intrude upon my mind are horrible.

If something happens to mom, I am helpless in all the issues that matter. Food, I can figure out, but I’m worse than useless for everything else. I cannot move dad to his commode or wheelchair, and he needs some support to move onto them. I’m too small, he outweighs me by over 100 pounds.

Most of my bad dreams are things happening to my mom, or there’s word that something happened and I can’t get any info on if she’s okay or not. Another kind I have is I’ve contracted COVID, or someone who comes in to see us has it and spreads it, and I’m the only survivor. Other dreams are the body horror type where I amputate my own body parts with a saw and hand them to people because I feel useless. I had one recently where I literally ran up to Hannibal Lecter with a knife and fork and told him to eat me, but he took the silverware away and wouldn’t do it because “no, you’re not rude.” I said I was, but he wouldn’t do it. I was so angry! I was angry about that dream all day!

I don’t believe I deserve anything good and I don’t see myself as a good person. I don’t deserve help.

I’m scared a lot. Just...I can be sitting here watching a cute kitten video on YouTube or eating dinner and get hit with a wave of fear.

None of this is how my mind usually works. I’ve never been in mortal danger(recently), but I’ve had my routines and life disrupted to such severe degrees that I feel like I’ve lost control of my life, and to me that’s almost the same thing as dying. I’m autistic, and autistic people are more prone to trauma from ‘mundane’ things that a neurotypical person wouldn’t flinch at.

I’m just worried the “not life-threatening” aspect will immediately disqualify a diagnosis.

In June 2019, I went into burnout after home health visits for dad threw all my routines away and they’re still getting destroyed by it because they can’t keep a consistent fucking routine.

July that year was my dad getting his DBS batteries replaced. It was sensory hell because I got my period the day of the surgery and spent the whole time nauseated and cramping, but being silent about it...only to get called selfish and horrible for mentioning how bad I felt after we were all home again. (Outpatient surgery)

September 2019, mom’s gallbladder almost blew up and she was rushed to the hospital. I was alone with dad, without warning, and had to function using emergency reserves that I didn’t have because I was in burnout. I ran around terrified that any mistake I made would get me screamed at by both my dad and sister. Mom was out of the house from Friday to Tuesday. Dad did nothing but demand and demand from me and yelled at me for melting down. I was almost out of meds and for awhile didn’t know if or when I would get them. I had to grocery shop with sister’s help and she kept getting upset at me for arranging the cart like mom did, and I ended up forgetting things I needed even though I had a list right in front of my face the whole time. I was that out of it.

An aid had to come bathe dad because mom couldn’t do it for at least six weeks. That happened whenever someone could come, so dinner, my showers and mom’s ability to do things were disrupted by waiting for the call that the aid was coming. Coverage only lasted six weeks and then the help was yanked the second mom was declared fit to lift more than 5 pounds again.

October 2019, our car died and so routines got thrown further out of whack because mom and I had to depend on friends and family for rides to grocery shop or go to church. Trips stopped being at a set time and turned into “whenever someone can drive you” so I was uprooted from my day with little warning, and we didn’t get a new car until early December.

December 2019: We Christmas shopped late because of the car bullshit, mom barely got the cookies baked in time, and it was just a super stressful Christmas season.

I struggled through the death anniversary of my dog because that year he was gone as many years as he had lived and I spent most of it in a disassociated state.

Then mom had her bowel obstruction the day after Christmas and was in the hospital from Friday to Sunday. Yet again she was gone and the routine was blown apart without warning. My sister gave me shit the first time I wore my new ear defenders to the grocery store. Dad did nothing but demand and demand from me when I had nothing. I ruined a dinner that I didn’t know how to cook and went hungry but made him eat leftover ham from Christmas.

January 2020, the COVID shit started on the news.

March 2020, I went to the grocery store with mom and shelves were empty like a nuclear war was coming. I was terrified that I would catch COVID and kill my parents by passing it to them. Church closed. Stores opened for senior hours at butthole o’clock in the morning. Weekend routines were destroyed. Choir practices stopped. More routine disruptions.

August 2020, I started having anniversary distress related to what happened to mom the year before.

Then dad fell and broke his hip. I still clear as day see him in his blue shirt, sitting on the stair chair, being pulled backwards out the front door by paramedics with the ambulance lights flashing red and blue under the midnight sky and white street light.

Late September, as I’m struggling a bit with the anniversary of what happened to mom, worrying about dad getting COVID and beginning to relax because “dad is going to be away till he can walk again...” there comes that phone call from shithole New Orange Hills saying they’re sending him home and we find out they lied to us about every promise they made.

October 2020, dad was brought home and now he’s laying in an electric bed in the family room where mom can hear him if he needs her.

Writing that down has me realizing I’ve been experiencing almost continuous upheavals to my routines. Routines give me a sense of safety, and every time things settle something else throws it all to shit again.

So either I have ptsd or I’m possibly developing it, and I’m scared because this seems so ridiculous compared to the reasons other people get it.

#swearing #dad fall drama #disabled abusers #emotional abuse #food mention #tw menstruation #tw pet death

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sopwithwhump · 4 years

Text

Something Else is Taking Over

Hey y’all I overcame some writer’s block with some Welcome to Night Vale whump (just discovered the podcast, loving it! It has whumptential >:3) Cecil is experiencing strange blackouts, which lead him to waking up in different places, all beat up. Carlos cleans him up after he gets quite hurt from one such episode. Tw: possession

It first occurred to Cecil that something was amiss when he suddenly found himself in the diner. Except, it was the daytime. The diner was only open at night. Except, he was on the floor. Bleeding. The glass door was broken, a Cecil-shaped hole smashed into it.

He looked around. How the hell? It seemed that he was just at the grocery store, purchasing some wheat-free bread. Everything went black, for just a brief moment, and here he was.

Still attempting to process what happened, he slowly got up, then snatched some napkins from the nearest booth and pressed them to his bleeding arm. He then quietly opened the door and ran out, hoping he wouldn’t have to explain his break-and-enter to the sheriff’s secret police.

His car was out in the parking lot. The purple Volkswagen’s driver door was open and the keys were still in the ignition, although it was not running. Cecil was left with many questions. Usually he did not entertain questions, because he would go insane if he tried to search for answers to every question his Night Vale life created. He was conditioned to accept the strangeness of his town, to be fond of it even. But never had he been buying bread and then suddenly transported into a diner, seemingly having to have broken in to the place.

He carried on with his duties of the day. Attending a press conference on the new playground adjacent to the dog park, and how no children are allowed to play on it, visiting Carlos to see what he had discovered about Night Vale today, and going out into the sand wastes to observe the giant sand snake and the blue helicopters circling above.

When the evening came, Cecil sat in his recording booth. He flipped a switch, which caused the ‘ON AIR’ sign to illuminate. The broadcast then began.

“A man in a black coat means misfortune. A man not wearing a black coat also means misfortune. You are not safe. Welcome to-”

He blacked out. Then, a brief vision of the front of city hall. Then black again. After that, Cecil suddenly shook awake on the grimy space-themed carpet of the arcade in the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex.

“Hey! Cecil! You alright?” A middle-aged man in a bowling shirt called as he ran over, carrying a red bag with a white cross.

“Teddy? Oh… my head… my nose…”

“Don’t move, Cecil. So… what happened to him?” said Teddy Williams, looking up at two boys who stood nearby.

The first boy looked up at Dr. Williams nervously. “Well… you see… you were probably in the back… when he went totally berserk! He ran across the nice lanes, sir! And then he ran into the arcade-”

The second boy slapped him. “Get to the point. You threw a five-pin bowling ball at his head. Hit him right in the face. That’s why his nose is bleeding!”

“Dr. Williams, this isn’t true! I’m not the one who threw the bowling ball, Jimmy is!”

“I don’t care who threw the ball, get outta my bowling alley!” snapped Teddy Williams. “Balls are not to be taken out of the lane area, nor thrown at people! Get out!” The two boys quickly exited the premises as Teddy kneeled in front of Cecil.

“Cecil? You alright, buddy?” He took a penlight and shined it in Cecil’s eyes.

“Bowling ball?” said Cecil, “Oww. Listen Teddy… I don’t know how I got here…”

“I was listening to your broadcast. You got cut off. Then there were… a lot of crashing sounds. Then dead air. Soon enough someone comes running to me about a man trying to crawl into the pin retrieval area of lane ten. I was ready with my broom to chase the intruder when someone again came to my office to tell me that the ‘radio guy’ got hit in the head with a bowling ball. So I put the broom down and brought my medical kit instead.”

“That… what? I… I blacked out, Teddy… I was running around like a madman? Owww… that explains the pain throbbing through my whole head. Maybe that kid was right to hit me with a bowling ball.”

“I don’t know, I didn’t see. That’s not important right now Cecil, what’s important is getting you fixed up. Pupil response is fine, your brain didn’t get scrambled. Your nose needs some fixing, though. Come to my office.” Teddy helped Cecil up and gave him some gauze to hold to his face.

“Sit down… lemme see here…” said Teddy as he took his light and examined Cecil’s nose. “Swollen like a balloon. I… think we should wait for the swelling to go down so the damage can be seen easier. Plus, this is a bowling alley, not a medical facility. Tough luck, Cecil. Just put some ice on it and see someone in a day or two.”

“Thanks, Teddy…” said Cecil, sulking out of the office. Teddy tossed him a cold pack.

“Keep it. I… hope you’ll be alright, Cecil.”

Cecil spent the rest of the evening laying around in pain, holding ice to his face. He eventually went to bed in an attempt to get some rest. These blackouts had left him tired and achy for some reason. Maybe I should get an appointment with the doctor. Or the jam salesman, perhaps, he thought before going to sleep.

Cecil’s morning went as normally as normal could be. The shrill cries of various sand-monsters in his backyard woke him up at the crack of dawn. After chasing them off his property with his broom, he kneeled at the blood stone circle in his kitchen, still wearing his purple collared pyjamas, to begin the day with a short devotional.

And that’s when he blacked out once again. This time he caught a glimpse of the outside of the library, and then the interior of the Arby’s. After another period of sensing nothing but void, he awakened on a cold linoleum floor. In pain. A lot of pain.

“Cecil! Oh god… it’s you! How is it you? What? I…” he heard the voice of Carlos say. Cecil grimaced and groaned in pain as Carlos tried his best to gently roll him over. “Cecil… you just… smashed through the window… but… you didn’t look like you. Your eyes… they were all white. You… you could float… oh man… there’s blood everywhere…”

“C-Carlos?” Cecil groaned, looking up at his boyfriend, “Carlos… w-what are you implying? Augh… it hurts… help me…”

“Whatever. We’ll address that later. Let’s just… get you cleaned up.” He gently lifted Cecil in his arms, grimacing when Cecil did from the pain. He made his way back into the lab, cleared off the top of a lab bench, and laid Cecil on it.

“Hang in there, Cecil…” said Carlos as he frantically gathered medical supplies, “I’m not a doctor, but I’ve got enough knowledge in advanced first aid…” he rummaged through a large first aid kit and laid out bandages, antiseptic, a pair of forceps, a cold pack, and many more items. He folded up an extra lab coat and placed it behind Cecil’s head, then proceeded to put on some blue medical gloves.

“Alright, Cecil, let’s just have a look…” he said in a calm, yet concerned voice, “glass… some much glass, oh Cecil…” Cecil had suffered a large number of cuts from smashing through the window and whatever else he did before ending up here, many with glass embedded in the wound. As Carlos continued assessing his boyfriend’s condition, he noticed that Cecil’s left arm was very swollen. He gently brought Cecil’s arm over, which caused Cecil to flinch.

“Sorry... just hold still, I gotta feel this… I’m worried it’s broken…” Carlos felt the injured arm until Cecil couldn’t help but convulse in pain.

“I’m not sure if that’s broken or not… oh dear… but your nose does seem broken, however. Ok, we’ll deal with bones later… I need to take care of the bleeding… you okay, Cecil?”

“H-hanging in there, Carlos…” he whimpered. Carlos looked a Cecil with concern and compassion before getting the gauze and other supplies ready. After sterilizing the forceps, he’s decided to start with removing a larger shard of glass.

“Okay, Cecil... this is going to hurt...” he said, taking Cecil’s right arm. He picked up the forceps. “Hold still... deep breath...” Cecil followed that instruction, drawing air in and holding it as Carlos swiftly worked the piece of glass out of the wound. After dropping it aside on a metal tray, he quickly applied pressure to the cut.

“Okay… two more. These ones aren’t as big.” He quickly removed the next two pieces of glass and worked to get the bleeding under control. Cecil whimpered.

“Hey, deep breaths. I know it hurts. I’m going to get you to the hospital after I clean and bandage the worst of these cuts, okay?” Carlos put his hand on Cecil’s chest. “Breathe.”

Cecil nodded and followed the instruction to take a deep breath through the pain. It hurt quite a lot. Everywhere. His arms, his head, his legs, everything. As Carlos kept one comforting hand on Cecil’s chest, he used the other to gather some gauze. He took it away to soak the cotton in antiseptic.

“This will sting, hold still…” Carlos gently cleaned the wounds, pausing whenever Cecil winced or made a sound of discomfort. Eventually, he had gently cleaned all the cuts he could see and had covered them.

“Okay, you did really good… I’ll just put that arm in a sling and we’ll get you to the hospital. Come on, I’ll help you down from there.” Carlos proceeded to help Cecil sit up, then move to a stool next to the lab bench.

“I’ll just take your arm… now Cecil… I just want to know… what’s happening to you?”

“I started blacking out and waking up in different- ouch! -places,” Cecil explained, flinching when Carlos moved his arm the wrong way. “Sometimes catching glimpses of random locations… I always seem to be floating. And… at a high speed…”

Carlos gently tied up the injured arm in the sling. “Yeah… yeah you were. Flying, I mean. Your eyes… they were all white… no pupils. It took me a second to realize it was you… but… not you. You scared me. Cecil… I don’t think I even have to ask, but are cases of… possession common here?”

“It happens, for sure,” said Cecil, “but- ah! Easy there! I keep myself protected with blood stone rituals and whatever… oh no…”

“Can whatever is possessing you be driven out? Like… is there a cure?”

“Depends on the thing, I guess…”

“Alright. Maybe the doctors at the hospital know more than I do. But we gotta stop whatever this thing is from just… completely wrecking your body.”

Cecil nodded. “But I mean… without a host, wouldn’t it die? Or possess someone else?”

“Cecil, don’t sympathize with whatever is possessing you, please. I’m sure they’ll kill it before it affects anyone else. Or something. I don’t exactly know how these things work yet. Let’s just get to the hospital, shall we?”

Carlos helped Cecil into the passenger seat of his car, then quickly drove off to Night Vale General Hospital. After paying a parking fee of five tears, he helped Cecil into the emergency department.

It was a busy night; they were in for a long wait. “Hour and a half, at least,” said the tired triage nurse at the desk, “take a seat.” Cecil sat down. He was shaking a little, and Carlos noticed this.

“You okay?” said Carlos, putting his hand on Cecil’s shoulder.

“Oh? Me?” Cecil then sighed. “Yeah… yeah I never liked hospitals. They’re too bright. They smell too clean. There’s too many machines. They also smell of the miasma of disease. I don’t know which is stronger.”

“Ah. Yeah, I know it can be uncomfortable. This is my kind of element, of course, working in science, but I can see how it’s unsettling to someone who works in a cozy, dark recording booth. I’m here, Cecil. Just focus on me.”

Cecil closed his eyes and nodded. He held Carlos’ hand as he settled in for the long wait.

About 15 minutes had passed when Cecil blacked out again. This blackout was very brief this time. When he woke up he was in a hospital bed. His whole body felt numb and heavy, as if he had had a couple drinks. Carlos looked into his eyes.

“Cuh… Carlos?” He groaned, “Carlos… what… happened…”

“You, uh… you had another episode. They sedated you. Fixed you up. Got rid of that demon that had taken up residence. Put it in a demon-proof jar for me to study. I’m glad you’re awake,” Carlos explained gently, “I gotcha. You’re going to be alright.”

“Thank you… Carlos…” said Cecil weakly. Carlos held on to Cecil’s limp hand.

“Don’t mention it. Now get some rest. I’ll be right here.”

#welcome to night vale #wtnv cecil #cecil x carlos #wtnv whump #whump fic #possession tw #possession whump

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